Mythical Monday (24)

It seems there are many books based on or influenced by Myths and Mythological Beings.

There are so many different Mythology and Mythological Beings recorded. Some are very popular and well known, others not so much. There are many similar beings, yet different depending on the culture it’s based in.  The definition of Myth covers about anything in the Urban Fantasy/Fantasy realm to me.

I’ve invited authors to share briefly the Mythological being or Myth that influenced their character(s) or story, or what their character(s) are based on influencing their books.  Hosting here, one author and being or myth per week.

This week we have:

Fantasy author Celine Kiernan

Talking of Ghosts.

So many thanks to Melissa for inviting me to participate in Mythic Mondays. I am so so very sorry for being late with the post though! I swear I meet myself coming in these days - I've become the ghost haunting my own life!

I chose to write about ghosts today as they feature in many of my books and short stories. I used to believe in them, very much so, and come from a family where ghosts and ghostly appearances were recounted with absolute sincerity (I still believe in the sincerity of those accounts today ) Since my father's death I've become more ambivalent about my belief in an afterlife and so my actual believe in ghosts has declined. This doesn't mean I'm not open to any and all possibilities though, and certainly as a literary device they still fascinate me. (and probably never will considering my plans to write a children's novel in which a ghost plays a major role)

So...

Ghosts: sentient echoes of the hidden past.

I have always been fascinated by the stories people keep from each other: the things we won’t tell and the histories we don’t discuss. I'm most especially fascinated by silences that are maintained (or enforced) out of the belief that forgetting is the best for everyone - as if ignorance of the past can ever help ensure a better future. These self -imposed silences exist everywhere. Mankind is always suppressing its own history-- or reshaping it in the telling. On a domestic level, many people go about happy lives blissfully unaware of the family dramas that have preceded them, the memories of which have been purposefully and tacitly consigned to silent cupboards and 'forgotten' by those involved.

Photo By: Adventures in Photography by Grace Kiernan,

But silencing the past doesn't always kill it. Sometimes the past seeps up through the cracks, like pollution in the ground water, often to the discomfort and despair of later generations. Emotional residue, social tension, instability: regardless of whether their origins are understood or not, these things can remain.

Ghosts are like walking scraps of such unwanted history. Pressing themselves into the world of the living, they intrude into the silence of the older generations. Unignorable and unavoidable, they force us, for better or for worse, to face our past. They demand that things long broken be fixed, or maybe just that they seen, recognized, and accepted as true.

In my books, this forced unearthing of buried conflict or pain can often come at a price for the innocent members of the present generation. It can be uncomfortable, even damaging, to be made fully aware of the truth. The age-mellowed grandfather or kindly mother may have - in other, younger, circumstances - been less than gentle, and worse than ruthless. The deeds performed, in war, in poverty, the sadnesses lived through, may indeed have been be better left alone. But - in my books - ghosts have no choice about telling the truth; they are nothing but the truth. They are the past crystallized, the very essence of never having moved on. Regardless of the consequences they cannot help but drag everything out into the light. Sentient echoes of the hidden past they will continue to sidle and creep and badger and wail, until the living are forced to turn and look and - for better or for worse - recognize them for what they are.



Author Bio:
Celine Kiernan is the author of the award winning and critically acclaimed The Moorehawke Trilogy, a dark, complex trilogy of fantasy YA books set in an alternative renaissance Europe. The three books of The Moorehawke Trilogy are The Poison Throne, The Crowded Shadows and The Rebel Prince. First published in Celine’s native Ireland in 2008, the trilogy has since been published in 15 different territories, and as of this typing has been translated to 10 different languages. In 2009 the first book of the Moorehawke Trilogy, The Poison Throne, won The Readers’ Association of Ireland Award for best book, it was included in the White Raven Collection and short listed for the 2009 Irish Book Awards in two categories (best newcomer and best children’s book snr catagory). In 2010 it was long-listed for an Australian Silver Inky Award.

Celine’s forth book, Taken Away (aka Into The Grey) – a YA ghost story set in 1970′s Ireland – is the winner of the 2012 CBI Book of the Year (formerly The Bisto award) and the CBI Children’s Choice Award. It is the first book to have won both categories.

Celine lives in rural Ireland with her husband and two teenage children. Her next novel Resonance - A supernatural/sc-fi which her publishers are calling ‘metaphysical gothic’ – is set in 1890′s Ireland and is due for publication in 2013.


Find Celine Kiernan:
Site:  The Writing of Celine Kiernan
Blog:  All Things Moorehawke and Otherwise
Twitter:  @Celine_Kiernan

Musical Sound Track Tour, INTO THE GREY by Celine Kiernan

I read the Moorehawke series by Celine Kiernan, and fell in love.  Now Celine is releasing a new book, Into the Grey.  And I'm thrilled to have her by today with a guest post telling a bit about Into the Grey and one of the playlist songs.


Into the Grey is a ghost story about twin brothers, Pat and Dom Finnerty, whose lives are turned upside

down by the loss of their home and by a subsequent haunting. The book has quite a few chills, there's quite a bit of political history in it, much exploration of death and loss--but there’s also a lot of love and kindness in it, a fair few laughs and a lot of bravery. I thought I’d have a bit of fun with that side of the book on this blog tour, so these posts will be all about music! Why certain songs feature in the story, what they mean to me, what memories are associated with them etc . Into the Grey is set in the Irish seaside town of Skerries in 1974, all the songs featured are evocative to me of both that time and that (very real) place As you will see, they all speak very much to the story, too, and to the characters and the rather desperate situation with which they find themselves entwined.

WaterLoo: ABBA (Chapter: Waterloo)
NOTE: How could I set in a story in April 1974 without mentioning ABBA’s outstanding Eurovision victory? In this scene, Pat’s frantic attempt to have a poptastically good time, while underneath secretly falling apart, is something I recall from my early teens: the feeling that everything is darkness under a plastically smiling exterior, the constant struggle to seem normal when you feel anything but. I recall always wondering why I seemed to be the only one noticing all the brokenness – why couldn’t I just get on board with the rest of the well adjusted, laughing human-race and have a great time like everyone else? It took me a long time to figure out everyone feels the exact same, that we are all dragging our invisible demons around.

I remember when ABBA won, the TV station cut to the news before the victory performance was over, and Ma leapt up and ran into the kitchen to turn on the radio. Larry Gogan was still commenting on the show and he played the song all the way to the end. Ma raced back in and grabbed me by my hands and hauled me to my feet, and we danced all around the kitchen, singing along at the tops of our voices.

In that moment, I felt feverishly happy. I was almost hysterically happy. And when the song was over I remember thinking, No! No! Don’t let it stop. Let it go on forever. So that I could go on forever, dancing and singing in the kitchen with Ma. And not have to go upstairs.

But it did stop, and it was dead late, and Dad carried Dee to bed, and Ma started doing the dishes. I stood in the middle of the kitchen, the harsh centre light beating down on me, while Ma and Dom had a conversation with each other that was all sound and no words and seemed to come from very far away. I stood there in my pyjamas and dressing-gown, tired and lost and bloody terrified, looking at nothing in particular, thinking of nothing but how scared I was. Then Dom came quietly up behind me, took my elbow in his hand, and led me up the stairs.

This is Musical Book Playlist #3.  (Curious about the rest of the books?  You can visit the tour stops.)

Into The Grey
A pacy, chilling ghost story from the creator of the internationally acclaimed Moorehawke Trilogy.


I think the fire changed us – me and Dom. I think that’s how the goblin-boy was able to see us. Though he’d been there for every summer of our childhood, we’d only been stupid boys until then. Stupid, happy, ignorant boys. And what in hell would he have had in common with two stupid boys? But after the fire we were different. We were maybe a little bit like him. And so he saw us, at last, and he thought he’d found a home…

Purchase at:
 or at Book Depository

Looking Forward To...(64)

There are so many amazing books already on the shelves and new ones coming out.

For a list of books yet to be released I'm looking to get, you can also look on my right Sidebar at the ever growing list titled Desired Reads - just scroll down. Of course there are tones of other new books to come out that are amazing as well, but these ones are part of series I have already started or for one reason or another caught my eye (and haven't seen much on other blogs yet). But I will highlight one here each week.

(mentioned in order of Release Date then Alphabetical if there are more than one book coming out on the same date.)

Next Book Is...

Into the Grey

(or in other parts of world called Taken Away)

By:  Celine Keirnan

Due Out:  September 6, 2011

This book caught my eye after reading Celine's Moorehawke trilogy.  This one has a different sound to it, but I really like what I've seen on her blog/site of the excerpts. It sounds spooky, but yet reminds me of the old fey/goblin celtic tales.  I really like the feel of this one.  Now this book will be releases overseas, or overseas to me.  She is in Ireland.  And I don't know if it's coming to the US or not.  But thanks to Book Depository I can still order it. :) YES!

I do have to say Celine is going to be doing a giveaway for this book this week too.  So go check out her blog and see if she has it up yet. :) If not, keep visiting as it will be up soon.

If you would like to read an excerpt, visit Celines blog on this direct link to the excerpt.

Goodreads Synopsis:
A pacy, chilling ghost story from the creator of the internationally acclaimed Moorehawke Trilogy.

I think the fire changed us – me and Dom. I think that’s how the goblin-boy was able to see us. Though he’d been there for every summer of our childhood, we’d only been stupid boys until then. Stupid, happy, ignorant boys. And what in hell would he have had in common with two stupid boys? But after the fire we were different. We were maybe a little bit like him. And so he saw us, at last, and he thought he’d found a home…

And depending on where you live this might be the book and title.