Irish traditions ~ St Patrick’s Day!

Irish traditions

 

Aye, Irish traditions, folklore and myths. Who else could spin a yarn about finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Let’s not forget those mischevious leprechauns, too.

And the movie Waking Ned Devine takes place in Ireland. Only in the movies could that convoluted a plan to claim the lottery winnings happen. My favourite part of the movie (apart from watching Jackie and Michael tearing around the countryside on a motorcycle in their birthday suits) was the beautiful scenery of the country.

The Quiet Man starring Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne also takes place in Ireland. This is one of the few John Wayne movies I like.

I’ve schmoozed with Royalty having met Princess Anne but we never had the opportunity to chat about our favourite tipple – mostly our families and my connection to the place where we met. However, I do have one thing in common with former President Obama and his First Lady – Guinness! Although, I find it doesn’t taste as good here as there. Maybe because it’s too chilled in my part of the world? Dunno.

Irish
By Pete Souza (Executive Office of the President of the United States) (White House Flickr) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
There is an art to pulling the perfect pint and it looks like the First Lady has mastered it, even under extremely close scrutiny…

More modern Irish traditions include drinking green beer on March 17th. I’ve seen pictures of it and while it looks good, it’s not my choice of colour for beer. I’ll stick with Guinness or an Irish amber – Kilkenny Cream Ale.

No wonder people look ‘green’ the day after St Patrick’s Day after consuming copious amounts of green beer. And we’ve not even touched on the whiskies.

Irish traditions
Cafeirlandais at en.wikipedia / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)

How about a tune suitable to the occasion when many of your have partaken in copious amounts of green beer and/or Irish Whisky.

Enjoy your St Patrick’s Day no matter how you celebrate (or if you celebrate).

I’ll close this post with the Irish proverb…

May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven
half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.

The Pi Game! Let’s play! 3.14159

The Pi Game!

Not this Pi,

nor this pie.

Rhododendrites [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]
No, the Pi Game has nothing to do with our little friend, Pi, nor the kind of pie you eat.

This is a fun game for the authors out there, and it somewhat relates to Pi in that it’s going to involve the third chapter and the fourteenth line of text on the page.

Here’s a sampling of line 14 in Chapter 3 of my books.

First up, from the second edition of A Shadow in the Past

and filthy. Her knees stung like someone scraped sandpaper over them.

From the sequel, Shadows From Her Past

Jenny. “And I missed you, too, sweetie.”

My supernatural with ‘spicy’ romance, The Secret of Hillcrest House

room. I just made a fresh pot of coffee. Can you stay for a cup,

Romantic suspense/psychological thriller, YESTERDAY TODAY ALWAYS…

shelter of the doorway to meet him. “Hope you’ve not been out

Sweet Christmas Romance, It Happened on Dufferin Terrace…

on her MacBook Air and searched jonathans.

Sweet Romance with suspense, It Happened in Gastown…

end, or at least until she had information to take to them to

You get the idea.

And here’s our little buddy, Pi, who inspired me to come up with the “Pi Game.”

Pi Day

So enjoy the day and when you think of it, remember our little friend 3.14159.

Before I leave, here’s the link to the Pi Day post I shared last year.

I’ve shared some of my line fourteens from chapter three in my books. Leave a comment with yours. I’d love to see them. Just remember, keep the posts clean – at least PG13. 🙂

2020 Reader’s Choice Awards

A different book – a different contest. This time it’s the 2020 Reader’s Choice Awards by TCK Publishing.

And what is the title of my entry? Drum roll, please … It Happened in Gastown!

2020 Reader's Choice Awards

Blurb

Trainspotting meets Hot Pursuit

Hilary Dunbar is a uniformed constable with the Vancouver Police with an agenda to rid the streets of drugs, especially the bad ones the notorious dealer, Carlos Navarra, is trafficking.

Heroin addict, Erik Layne, has lived on the streets of Gastown for as long as he can remember, having left home and Toronto as a rebellious teenage addict. His and Hilary’s paths cross when she finds him unconscious in an alley after injecting a batch of the contaminated drug. He must fight for his life to keep from dying, not only from the tainted smack but also from the man who provided it.

A domestic disturbance call goes wrong, and Hilary suffers life-changing injuries as a result. As luck would have it, she and Erik are hospitalized in the same ward at Vancouver General Hospital. When she sinks into a deep depression, it’s he who pulls her out of her doldrums.

But will Hilary’s obsession with bringing down Navarra and others like him destroy their relationship and, more importantly, jeopardize their lives?

Buy Links

Kindle

Kobo

I hope you’ll show my sweet romance some love and vote for it at https://www.tckpublishing.com/2020-readers-choice-voting-page/. Please note the “How to Vote” section above the titles.

You’ll find my entry in the 2020 Reader’s Choice Awards on Page 7.

 

AllAuthor Cover of the Month contest!

They say not to judge a book by its cover but I need you to do just that. If you liked the cover of my book, YESTERDAY TODAY ALWAYS, please vote for it for the Cover of the Month contest on AllAuthor.com!

I’m getting closer to clinch the “Cover of the Month” contest on AllAuthor! I’d need as much support from you guys. Please take a short moment to vote for my book cover here:
Click to VoteAllAuthor cover of the month

in the AllAuthor Cover of the Month contest!

Doesn’t this cover make you want to open the book and start reading?

Blurb

Who is stalking Katherine and why?

Still reeling from the death of her husband in the London Bombings, Katherine builds a wall around her heart to prevent further hurt.

In a serendipitous moment, her first love, Jared Martin, walks back into her life. Old feelings are rekindled, but as their second-chance-relationship develops, another cruel twist of fate strikes. The helicopter Jared is a passenger on ditches in the North Sea.

Who, if anyone, will survive the ordeal? Is fate still not done its dirty deeds?

Will a reckless moment from her past come back to haunt her?

Whet your imagination?

You can buy YESTERDAY TODAY ALWAYS from Amazon and Kobo for $2.99.

kindle

Kobo