Some more little bits from RAVEN
We are on schedule with RAVEN. As of now we have eleven chapters written and that’s almost 20% of the book. (Yes, RAVEN will be shorter than TERRA LUNA.) Today, we’ll share with you some scenes we particularly like.
Here Banning MacTamick is hard at work:
“Banning found himself with a bit of a problem. He wanted to draw her with some dignity, but the black-tailed jackrabbit is a ridiculous-looking thing. She appears to have been assembled from parts meant for other animals. Her ears are not long and folded against her body like those of a respectable rabbit. They resemble gravy boats that have been sewn onto her head. She also lacks a cotton-ball tail. Her’s appears to be the stubby end of a wolf’s tail, which Coyote the Trickster switched out while everyone was sleeping. Surely the wolf was annoyed the next day, when he woke up and found himself with a tiny little thing from a medicine bottle stuck to his backside. Banning laughed at the idea — silently, so as not go bother his animal friends — and made a note to tell Raven the story. I bet she knows a lot of Coyote lore.
The black-tail finished her bit of Douglas fir and moved on.”
The Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
See what we mean?
Here’s a scene where Banning and Raven are getting to know each other, over breakfast:
“You drink tea, then? I’ve got some around, I think.”
“Actually, I don’t drink anything with caffeine,” he said. “I get way too hyper.”
“Yeah, I know lots of people like that,” she said absently. “I wondered if my Treehouse would bother you — whether you were afraid of heights. I guess not, huh?”
“I am afraid of heights, but not like most people,” Banning said, before he remembered not to. If I tell her the rest, she’ll decide once and for all that I’m a freak. And crazy.
“How are ‘most people’ afraid of heights?” she asked.
“They’re afraid of falling. I . . .I’m afraid of jumping. I get to the top of something, and I want to let go. I’m not suicidal,” he added quickly. “I don’t want to die! It’s just that I always had this feeling that if I stepped off, I’d stay in the air. I could go even higher if I didn’t have anything holding me down. I’m sorry, you don’t want to hear me being nutso.”
“You think you would fly?”
Banning hesitated. “It’s more that I don’t think I’d fall.”
“How long have you felt that way?”
“As far as I can remember,” Banning admitted. “I’ve climbed trees and buildings since I was a child. But the feeling I get at the top scares me. I’m very happy going up, but when I get to the top it’s not enough.”
“I’ve felt the same way all my life,” said Raven. “Ever since I can remember, the only thing I really wanted was to fly.”
They stared at each other over the remains of breakfast. For a moment, a wild energy surged through Banning’s body. I will fly. The sky is my home. Something must have showed in his face, because Raven flinched. She recovered before Banning could apologize — for what? — and began to clear away the breakfast scraps
Monarch, 1902
We’re plugging away on RAVEN, and we’re up to Chapter 10 as of today. Every few chapters, the story flashes back to the year that the Western Faerie Circle was founded. Today, we present a 1901 interlude that explains why the Western Faeries are so different from the Georgia Circle members. (You will recall that the Western Circle members left Georgia so the families with Faerie, Part-Faerie and human members could continue to live together.)
Before we begin, I would like to say that while I work this afternoon, I’m playing music from Ian’s Playlist, a selection of bagpipe music on YouTube that Ian put together for us. Take a few moments to visit the page and hear some of Ian’s favorites.
1901
Monterey County
The Ventana Wilderness
Ezekiel and Jeremiah Murphy sat in a circle with eleven other men and five women. There were six Esselen Indians, three men and three women. They spoke a mix of Spanish, English and their native Hokan language. One of them, a man named Poncio, spoke a bit more English than the others, and translated for them.
The elected Faerie leader was Scoithín. Like the other Faeries, he had his wings out for the occasion. It was important that the Indians understand they were not dealing with human beings. Three thousand years ago the Faeries in Ireland had been worshipped by the few humans who lived there. The Murphy brothers did not want to inspire the same exact response — they were good Catholics, after all — but they needed the Indians to share the same awe that simple humans felt for the Winged People. They could talk all day about the beliefs that Faeries shared with the Esselens: respect for all creatures, love of Earth, the spirit world and so on. But talk was just talk, and the Indians had heard a century and half of the White Man talking. In that time, the Esselen lost their land, their way of life and their traditions, while the White Man never stopped talking. The Fairies must show the Indians they could be trusted. The Murphys therefore encouraged the Faeries to take every chance to fly and use their Powers around their new friends. If the Faeries were not human, then they surely were not White Men, either.
Poncio held up an eagle feather to begin the discussion.
“We are not sitting right,” he said in his heavily accented English. “Valdez is head man. He sits here. We have no warrior. Juan is oldest. He sit here,” he indicated the left side of Valdez, “and Anna our eldest woman sit next. Domingo leads our ceremonies. But among you, who is head man? He must be across from Valdez, with warrior, eldest man, eldest woman and the man greatest in spirit. Other men sit on right, the women are on left.”
Ezekiel translated this message into Faerie Gaelic. “This is the way his people traditionally make a council,” he added. “I suggest we try to accommodate them. I can explain that we do not make war, so we don’t have a warrior. But it would be best if Olcán sat next to you, Scoithín. He is our youngest member of the Elders, and his name means ‘wolf’. Then I guess Rúadhán and Líadan should be together, followed by whoever we call our spiritual leader. Who would that be?”
Scoithín was tall for a Faerie, with wheat-colored hair and a small, neat beard. He was missing the last two fingers of his left hand, which he absent-mindedly used to stroke his chin while he thought about it.
“Dermot, you sing very strongly in the Circle,” he said finally. “Take the seat next to Líadan. Ezekiel, am I to understand that only the one holding the eagle feather may speak, and nobody can interrupted him?”
“That is their custom.”
“Then how will we understand one another? Explain to them that I can manage only a little English, not enough to converse. Poncio must repeat what they say to you, and you must repeat it to me. Otherwise, we cannot make our agreements.”
“They understand that already. Who ever holds the feather will pause now and then for us to translate. The problem is that the feather must go around the circle to everyone. We won’t go back-and-forth like humans negotiating a deal. We’ll have to go around and around, probably for hours. Each time you get the feather, repeat what we’re offering and say what you want.”
“How will we know when we get to an agreement?”
“First, you’ll notice that all the Esselen are saying the same thing, and have been for an hour. Then Valdez will suggest we all get up and stain our hands with berry juice. After that, we’ll all make handprints on that rock over there,” Ezekiel said, pointing to a boulder that stuck out of the hillside. “That’s like signing a contract. The spirit of the boulder will watch over us all, to make us keep our pledges.”
“The spirit of the boulder?” Scoithín was skeptical.
“I told you before, the Esselen believe that everything has a spirit. Their very name means ‘rock.’ “
“This could go on for hours.”
“Then we’d best begin.”
“Very well. Who goes first.”
“As the guests, we do, which means you get the feather.”
Jeremiah Murphy’s luggage held paperwork giving the Murphy brothers title to over 8,000 acres of wooded Ventana mountain land, purchased directly from the Federal Government and the State of California. The ground where the Faeries and Indians sat together was deep inside the new Monterey Faerie Circle Lands. Nonetheless, Scoithín and the other Faeries understood why the Esselen referred to them as “guests.” Poncio handed the eagle feather to the Faerie Leader, who stood and began his speech.
The Faeries, like the Indians, had lost their Lands several times over and sought a refuge from violence and persecution. They had secured land from the humans where they could live undisturbed, even by the human laws. They were few and needed help. In return for it, they offered the Esselen a place to build a village where they could live according to their own customs and traditions. There would be no forced conversion to any religion. The Esselen could worship in the Catholic Church where they had been baptized, or celebrate their own rituals and dances. The Faeries would also use their Powers to help the Esselen establish their community, especially Healing and the ability to find such useful things as water. They would work side-by-side to plant farms and manage herds. The Esselen were free to hunt, but must do so only on the clearly-defined Western edge of the Lands. The animals that befriended the Faeries and sought refuge with them must be left strictly alone. Disputes would be settled by councils such as this one.
The Esselen members of the council replied with polite skepticism. If the Faeries were strong in medicine, why was their history so tragic, and why did they need help? Taking their cue from Scoithín, the Faeries repeated over and over: we live among trees and animals, preferably on mountains. The air is our home as much as the land. We can give trust when it is deserved, because our Powers include Discernment. We hold our Powers as a covenant with God; so long as we worship Him in the ways He has decreed for us, our Powers keep us safe. Nonetheless, we are few and must rely on Concealment, to protect us from the humans, who are fallen through their error in the Garden of Eden.
That last bit was the sticking point.
Anna, the eldest female, held the eagle feather. As all the Esselen had been asking for over an hour, she wanted to know, Are the Faeries Christians? Are they like the Catholics of Spain, who destroyed the Esselen culture for their God?
“But we have said over and over that we are not Christian,” Scoithín protested. “Why do they keep asking us that? Is it because you and Jeremiah wear the crucifix? Did you explain that the Part-Faeries follow human ways of worship — most of them? Tell them what your Church did to the Part-Faeries and others in Ireland who followed the old ways,” he ordered. “Make them see that we are different!”
Ezekiel sighed. “We already said all that. Be patient. We will need to say it a few dozen times more, and maybe they will believe us. As for the crucifixes my brother and I wear, if we had known what trouble they’d be, we’d have left them behind tonight.”
“You lived with these people for six months, brother,” said Jeremiah. “Is there any way to break the logjam?”
“Nothing that occurs to me.”
“Then I have a suggestion. “ Jeremiah addressed Scoithín directly. “Say that some of the Faeries will adopt their faith. That’s not blasphemy according to the Faeries, is it? You can learn the Esselen dances and prayers and rituals, and make hand-marks as they do. You’ll give thanks to the animals and plants, and rocks, too if that’s important. In your Circle, you sing of your love for the Earth and your gratitude for the companionship of animals. Couldn’t you just add a bit to your songs? Or would the other Faeries refuse?”
“My mother was a Cherokee,” Olcán said. “I do the Cherokee dances and prayers already. I will become an Esselen, if they ask, but of course I must still worship as a Faerie and a Cherokee.”
Elderly little Líadan was one of the Faeries of Ireland who had come to Georgia in the Departure fifty-one years earlier. Again she had made a long journey west, this time so that she could remain close to her children and grandchildren. She patted Olcán’s shoulder. “If Inola were here,” she said, “your mother would tell you to respect our new friends. She would not mind that you became an Esselen, as long as you remember that you were a Cherokee first.”
“Thank you, Líadan,” said Olcán.
“What about you, Scoithín? As the ‘head man,’ what you do is very important to the Esselen,” said Ezekiel.
“Explain to me why the Esselen would join us simply because we shared their rituals of worship? How does that solve the trust problem?”
“It answers their question, ‘Are we Christian?’ They know from their experience with Catholic priests that Christians are forbidden to practice the rituals of other faiths. They understand that the Mother Church regards their old teachings as ‘pagan.’ If we worship with them, it proves that we are outside the Sacraments of Christianity,” said Ezekiel. “I should have thought of that, brother,” he said turning to Jeremiah. “After all, I’m the one who’s been out here with them for half a year.”
“Yes,” said a grinning Jeremiah, “but I was always the smart one, brother.”
Ezekiel ignored the teasing and spoke to Scoithín again. “Will you worship with the Esselen? As I said, what you do matters to them, because you’re the Leader. I realize this will be a burden on you. But all of us here in this council should make the pledge.”
Scoithín sighed. “I do not think I will betray God by joining our Esselen friends in their rituals. But I can’t speak for all the Faeries. This will surely be a contentious matter for some of them. And what about the Part-Faeries? You who are Catholic, or Quaker? You worship by the grace of the human Redeemer, who shed his blood only for your human ancestors, not your Faerie kin.”
“It would be enough for Juan and his people if the Elders committed to doing Esselen rituals. As for me,” said Ezekiel, “I learned a long time ago that a Part-Faerie never makes a full Confession in the booth. If my conscience bothers me, I’ll take that up directly with God — at least, until such time as there’s such a thing as a Part-Faery priest.”
“I’ll do the same,” said Jeremiah. There were no other Part-Faeries present for the occasion except Susannah, a part-Black woman who was the only midwife to make the trip West. More importantly, she was the only Quaker Part-Faerie present for the council. Scoithín turned and asked her, “Can you speak for the Quakers? Will any of your group share the Esselen worship, for the sake of persuading them we are trustworthy? Is that blasphemy under your rules?”
“When you asked me if I could ‘Speak for the Quakers,’ Scoithín, you just proved that you don’t understand us at all,” she said drily. “We Quakers answer only to the call of God in our hearts. I will join the Esselen in their worship if they invite me, and that doesn’t trouble my conscience. Most of us will feel the same way, I’m sure of it. I’ll suggest a Meeting for Worship with Consideration for Business to consider the matter. Scoithín, I suggest you to sit with us for a Meeting so you can hear us explain our beliefs. If we are to have one leader of the Faeries and Part-Faeries, that leader needs to understand the Quakers.”
“Very well.” Scoithín sighed again, deeply. “Ezekiel, yell Juan that I and all the Elders and many others ask that the Esselen lead us in their worship and we will celebrate their spirit world as they do.”
The Faerie offer was well received. The Indians showed their appreciation at once. Nevertheless, the eagle feather went around the circle more times than Jeremiah bothered to count, before Valdez and his people stood and and embraced their new neighbors. The berries were brought out from a woven basket and crushed. One by one, they each stained their hands and made their handprints on the white boulder that jutted from the hillside. Then both parties brought out food and they shared a meal.
“This is just the beginning,” Ezekiel warned the Faeries and Part-Faeries. “We still have to agree on the exact location of the Esselen village, and there are other details that will need arranging.”
“I can always pray,” Scoithín muttered, “that my time as Leader will be brief.”
Cherry Laurel Prologue
It’s been muggy and rainy here in Tallahassee, so we’ve been indoors a lot, working on RAVEN. We’re pleased to report that we are now on Chapter Nine. In the meantime, we also wrote the Prologue to CHERRY LAUREL. Tell us what you think.
PROLOGUE
Over the American Southwest, between Dallas and Los Angeles
Twenty-Five Years Ago
Four-year-old Cherry Laurel looked out the window of the airliner as it made a a great, sweeping turn to the west. She watched the skyscrapers of the city until they disappeared in the haze. She loved big buildings, the kind her Daddy drew so that other people could build them. But today she was unable to enjoy the view. Something was very, very wrong in her life, and she lacked the understanding to put it into words.
She looked down at the sneakers her Daddy made her put on in Dallas.
I don’t like these ugly boy’s shoes. I want my shiny Mary Jane shoes back. But Daddy put them in the suitcase. He put away my dresses, too.
She wore blue overalls, and her hair was cut short, with bangs, but no bows. For the first time in her short life, she felt out-of-place. Daddy dressed her like a boy, with a baseball cap. He called her “Laurie,” not “Cherry Berry” or “Cherry Laurel.” Mommie was somewhere very far away and Daddy wouldn’t say where.
“Daddy, when will we go back to the Treehouse?” she asked. “Is Mommie waiting for me there? Is she finished with the Circle?”
Her Father shushed her. “Laurie, your Mother is a long way away. We won’t talk about her now.” Even in a relatively spacious First-Class cabin there is no real privacy, so Adair whispered. “Here,” he said in a more normal voice, “I got you a present. Something for the plane ride.” He handed her a package wrapped in paper printed with fire engines and Dalmatians.
She unwrapped the paper slowly and neatly, the way she did everything. It was a drawing kit, with shading pencils, a drawing pad, rulers and T-squares and an instruction book with pictures of big buildings. “Thank you, Daddy! This is bigger than my other one.” She studied it for a second. “It doesn’t have colors.”
“Grown-ups use pencils without colors, mostly. You’re ready to draw like a grown-up. Draw something for me, Laurie. We’ve got a long flight. Imagine a new skyscraper.”
She worked for a very long time, drawing a tall, round building with antennas, a landing pad for helicopters and on the very top, a little grove of trees with small, winged people flying among them. Her father dozed while she worked. When she was finished, she woke him up to show off her work.
“See, Daddy?”
Her father frowned. The drawing kit had several large erasers. He took the biggest one and used it to remove the tree grove and and the winged people, before handing it back to her.
“Very good, Laurie. Now it’s perfect.”
Happy Second Birthday, Aurora Caiomhe MacTamick!
If you’ve finished our book already, you know that a Very Important Person was born two years ago today! ”Welcome to the world, Aurora.”
A WORD ABOUT THE KINDLE
We’ve been giving out cards to promote TERRA LUNA, and some folks have said to us, “Oh, I don’t own a Kindle.” We want you to know that you can still read Kindle books. Amazon has a Kindle Application for Windows Computers, Macs, iPhones/iPads/iPods, Android phones and Android pads. You can buy, download and read Kindle books on any of these machines. The Kindle Application is free, no matter which one you need. You can find the download links on Amazon’s home page at www.Amazon.com, any time you want to get started in the Kindle world.
We’re Published!
The Return of the Fiorgaels, Part 1: TERRA LUNA is now on our bookshelf in Amazon Kindle! Our book is in review, so it will be available for purchase tomorrow. We’ll post the link then.In the meantime, we have a pdf file with the first half of the book available for you to read or download here.
It’s been a long, hard road to get to where we are now, but we will keep at it. By the end of the week we will have many new features available on the blog. See you Friday!
UPDATE: Here’s our Amazon link! After all this time, you can finally buy a copy of our book.
We’re almost there!
Terra Luna is done! Yes, Book 1 is written, edited and proofread. The able and efficient Shelley Holloway (of Atlanta!) is formatting our book, while the cover art is finalized. We are looking at a publication date of May 9.
In the meantime, the best place to start is here.
Oh, and if you got one of our cards at Jazzfest, welcome and we hope this little taste gets you excited about our books
Is anything happening here?
Yes, there’s something happening here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear . . .
OK, sorry, I got carried away for a moment.
Vikki and I have been racing to finish TERRA LUNA and publish it. Our goal is to get it on Amazon by May 1st. Then it will take a few days to appear in the Kindle Direct Publishing area. We’ll certainly let you know when THAT happens. Right now we are doing the last two chapters and final edits. In the meantime, I have added some things to the site. Bagpipe Rock, Ian’s Playlist, A Quick Guide for the New Rugby Fan and Nana’s Devotionals are all up. So is a bit of family history on the MacTamicks. Other bits and pieces will be added, as fast as maybe.
In the meantime, the first few chapters of TERRA LUNA are here for you to read ALREADY. You can also see the Memoirs of Captain Isaiah MacTamick (from Book One) and the first few chapters of RAVEN, the sequel. Last, but not least, John has another move-lin-progress, called ANJA WANTS YOU TO KNOW SHE WON’T BE EASY TO KILL. You can find the first half of the book at Goodreads.com, in the Creative Writing section. Use this link. There’s a MacTamick in it, but you don’t meet him right away.
Get reading! “It all begins on Halloween night in Atlanta, 20 stories up a skyscraper.“
Under Construction!
Start with “The Return of the Fiorgaels” — that explains what it is we do here. Most our other material is “pending,” but we have three free book samples: The first chapters of Book One: TERRA LUNA, the Memoirs of Captain Isaiah MacTamick (also from Book One) and a bit from Book Two: RAVEN. Also, check out “Lindsey and Fiona’s Guide to Sealing the Deal with Your Man,” “Nana’s Recipes” and “Ian’s Opinions.” More to come, SOON!
(About the name . . . sorry if you came here looking for Scotch Whiskey! MacTamick’s Finest Scotch, Ltd. is the name of the family firm where Ian MacTamick, our hero, works. We named the website for his smooth but potent product. If you need a good Scotch, try The Balvenie or Laphroig.)
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