Music Monday: It's Obvious...Child

There is nothing related to any of my WIP or my published work in this week's Music Monday. What is there is some motivation. I have to go back to the DayJob® tomorrow and to say I'm not looking forward to it is an understatement. For the first time since Eugene pulled up and made my life awful, I actually have to go to campus and y'all...I am not as healed as I like to make people think. But needs must, so I'm sure I will have this one on LOUD repeat in the car. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!!

Stanley doesn't have his own blog like our Bryn did, but I can wish him a happy 3rd Birthday here! We're so lucky to have you in our family, my sweet cinnamon roll boy. Love you to the moon and back.

Our Bánbhuí Beastie, Stanley

Music Monday: Still Uninvited

So, this song by Alanis Morissette has been speaking to me about a big bad fight in an upcoming WIP, but when I heard this version it blew me out of the water. I love Brandi Carlisle and she did this total justice. Rage on, sister. Rage.

UninvitedSong by Alanis Morissette
Like anyone would beI am flattered by your fascination with meLike any hot-blooded womanI have simply wanted an object to craveBut you, you're not allowedYou're uninvitedAn unfortunate slight
Must be strangely excitingTo watch the stoic squirmMust be somewhat hearteningTo watch shepherd need shepherdBut you, you're not allowedYou're uninvitedAn unfortunate slight
Like any uncharted territoryI must seem greatly intriguingYou speak of my love likeYou have experienced love like mine beforeBut this is not allowedYou're uninvitedAn unfortunate slight
I don't think you unworthyI need a moment to deliberate

Newsletter, August 2026

Hey, y'all!

Lots has happened since I last wrote...LOTS. Some of it is on the personal side, and let's just say that we are on a good path as far as that's concerned.

Coming soon, our new boy Stanley (shown here with me at the Georgia Renaissance Festival last spring) will be three... this month! Not a day goes by that I don't wish our big girls Bryn and Ciaragh were still here to show him the ropes, but he has healed the holes that they left in my heart...if not the ones in the yard.

As far as the Nancy E. Dunne side, there's loads to tell there too.

• I'm getting back on track with events and shows to meet more and more of you and get signed copies of my book babies in your hands. The events I have left this year are the Upstate Renaissance Festival, 18-20 September in Spartanburg, SC; Multiverse Con, 16-18 October in Peachtree City, GA; and SC Comicon Junior, 25 October in Greenville, SC.
• There's also a new way to get your hands on signed copies of my novels! Click on the button down there to access The Bookshop, where you can order signed copies and pre-order physical copies of upcoming stories. (If digital copies are your thing, you can get those as usual in my Amazon book listings here.)

Finally, the new edition in the Orana's Legacy novellas is coming in October: The Druid's Nature. 

THERE'S STILL ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT.

Elys has never questioned her devotion to Kildir, her sworn deity. When he gives her a mission to complete without a lot of explanation, she takes it...even though it leads to another separation from Hack and tests all of the parts of her nature, those things that make her who she is. Will she be able to complete this mission in time to save the gnome she loves? Can she live up to the mantle of Guardian of the Wilds?

This novella fits into the Orana Chronicles timeline after the events of Red, The Temple, and Hero. Click on the link below for more information and to pre-order your copy!

Visit the Bookshop

I hope your August is fantastic, and I will see you back here in September.

Music Monday: Elys and Hack

I'm almost to edits on the latest novella in my Orana Chronicles series, and this one focuses on two of my favorite secondary characters, Elys and Hack. Elys is a wood elf druid who prefers burning things to healing her party members and Hack is a gnome warrior that adores her. They go through a lot to be together, and their banter is one of my favorite parts of writing them. This song just made me think of them. Enjoy.

Music Monday: Summer Memories

Life is always in flux, isn't it? It seems like you get comfortable and then something shifts and CHANGE happens. We are supposed to be able to handle that, right? Adulting, I think we call it.

Sometimes, though, I want to go back to when I didn't have to handle any of it. If you were to ask me if I'd go back to high school, I'd say absolutely not. But some of my youth--lived not as loudly as I would have preferred--comes back to me with this song. I remember listening to it as I was going to my bookshop job in Keighley on the train, and wondering how I ended up there...thousands of miles from that moon and those stars. And here, in the final days of summer, I'm still wondering how I ended up here...so fast.

No regrets, though. No wish to turn back time or be a teenager again. Just...a desire for that feeling, from time to time. I know I'm not alone in that, right? Enjoy.

The Tale of the Tennis Ball

I was framed. - Willow-Pickle

So the temps and the sudden onset sideways rain that we have here during Summer in the Southland makes for dreary days for the Dunne Dogs. Today, though, there was a bit of excitement.

(This is long...but I think it's entertaining.)

I let them both out and for a change let the resident Old Bird Willow out into the backyard. Her arthritis in her back legs has removed her Flight Risk designation and she normally goes unleashed to the front yard, does her business, and toddles back inside. (If you knew her when she was younger, before both knee replacements, you know why this 💔 a bit.)

In the fenced yard was a gift bequeathed upon His Grace, Sir Stanley the Cautious, from his favourite human alive: his Daddy. It is a GIANT DAY GLOW KONG TENNIS BALL, and it is Stanley's precious. He barely squeaks it as he runs around the yard with utter joyful abandon, as if he knows what a fleeting thing a squeaker in a dog toy can be. He gallups like the blessed bow-legged creature he is, scoops it up, and runs at what full speed would be if he didn't have back legs periodically go akimbo. 

It makes me love him even more to watch. 

Remember I said Willow was in the yard today? With the delicacy and stealth of a HEAT/TENNIS BALL SEEKING MISSLE, she scuttled across the grass and scooped it up. It is nearly the size of her noggin, so it was easy for me to retrieve as Stanley stood by, watching and worrying. 

The first time, anyway. 

I threw it for him and he took a victory lap before dropping it for me to throw again. This time it threw it just out in front of Willow and she toddled over to claim it before making a sharp turn back toward the house. This lady was taking her toys and going home. I intercepted and threw a belter for Stanley to chase and retrieve. Such a happy boy! This went on for two more rounds until Willow figured out the game and how to cheat.

On round four she chomped down on that ball and I could swear I heard the life go out of it in one prolonged squeeeeeeeeakmmfphh. Again, her trajectory was the house and she was off like...well, not a shot but there was some pretty determined scuttling. I grabbed the ball, tilted her head up to look at me, and gave her the command to drop it. She went 💯 terrier and doubled down. Air hissed from the tennis ball. 

A tennis ball, I might add, that was made by Kong. Dog owners, iykyk. 

Again with the scuttling to the fence. At one terrifying moment, Stanley ran up to sniff his poor precious tennis ball. She didn't growl but she also didn't stop. My sweet house horse looked back at me like HELP, MOMMY and I forgot myself. I caught up to her and grabbed the ball, trying to pry her jaws off it. 

Y'all, don't do that. What do you think will happen when the ball moves around in her mouth? It certainly isn't that she holds her jaws open for you to remove the ball. 

Lucky for me and my fingers, the ball didn't budge. I opened the gate and she trotted happily toward the house. Stanley followed her, keeping a respectful distance. We got inside and I grabbed one of the triaged toys on top of the fridge that she has ripped open (it's awaiting sutures) and took it over to trade. Finally, it worked and I was fast enought to snatch the ball and the toy from the Jaws of Madness. 

The toy was returned to the fridge and I had the ball. Stanley sniffed it and looked up at me like this: 🥺 It was flattened with a hole on one side. I managed to un-flatten it and presented it again. He sniffed it, then took it, and after a much-diminished victory lap he stopped at the kitchen door, ready to go out again. I opened the door and my sweet boy went to the gate, then into the backyard and he danced, wagged, and then dropped the ball to go back inside. He put his toy back where it belonged!

Willow stayed indoors to sulk, obviously. I've gotten loads of side-eye and loud, annoyed sighs, and she has finally dozed off again. 

Welcome to life with the Dunne Dogs. 😂❤️

Music Monday: No Roots

There is no tie in to a WIP here (unless it is Scarlet who would like to escape the duties that come with her roots...) I just rediscovered this on an old playlist and bopped up the interstate from work listening to it. Enjoy. 

Music Monday: Thanks ever so much, Bonnie...

This song has been in my inspiration playlist for as long as I've been writing Gin and Sath. I know that I've featured it in Music Monday before, but with her passing how could I not? This lyric video is a little on the bonkers side, but enjoy.

Music Monday: I'm not saying she's a cousin...

But if I can claim David {McDonald) Tennant...and I do...I can claim Amy MacDonald. I was introduced to her by my other half, and I happened to run across this song in a reel on social media and it made me think...I really need to be writing. It's like all my characters ganged up to YELL at me to get going. And so I am. 

Enjoy. The lyrics are in the video, but I dare you to hear that music and not get up and jump around...and sometimes that's what we need on Mondays, right?

Music Monday: Familiar...Advice

Yesterday I played Dungeons and Dragons in a one off in between our regular group, Lorem Ipsum's sessions. As it turns out, the real big bad in D&D is scheduling when you are playing as an adult with jobs, side gigs, dog shows, dance gigs, and author signings to try to sort through. So the son of one of my friends from LI (who also runs a character in that current campaign) DM'd for us and our regular DM got to play a character. Very cool.

[Note to self: It doesn't matter how long you have researched to find just the right name for your character...Róisín (Roh-sheen) looks like raisin to everyone that doesn't have any experience in the Irish language, and they will call you that. Anyway, back to the post...]

One of the things we do to frustrate our regular DM is that we keep picking up familiars. Strays, they are. I honestly don't remember how it happened with the first one, Terrence the Wombat, but since then we have another wombat, two goats, and several horses in our group. So this song by Colm R. McGuinness jumped out at me the first time I heard it, and I thought it was appropriate for this week. Enjoy, and remember, a troll is not a familiar.

Music Monday: Uninvited but still Inspired

On that same drive that inspired last week's post, I also heard a song that has been in Lark's playlist for awhile: Uninvited by the fabulous Alanis Morissette. I have loved this song for awhile now and it has stuck in my head like someone WANTED me to hear it. Apparently that person is Lark. She is a demanding soul, for sure.
Anyway, as I listened to that one in stop and go traffic, I thought of a scene that I've had trouble visualizing: the final battle with the big bad (I'm trying to avoid spoilers, y'all, I really am). Lark has to stare down her mortal enemy and potentially end him, coming out still...alive? on the other side. The tricky thing with writing vampires is that there is SO MUCH lore about what they can do to humans and to each other, and I have been working on not letting one of those...things ruin this scene. 
Whew. I may need to sit down after all that avoiding.
Well, anyway, as I was listening to that song, I was seeing other scenes in my head. Other battles she fights along the way, both physical and mental. And it came to me...the battles we fight lead us to a place where we are strong enough to do the really hard things. They don't "make us stronger," exactly; I'm not a fan of people telling me how strong I am to have beaten cancer and be still standing because I am not strong. It was awful. There were times when I wanted to just give up but I didn't have a choice. Lark doesn't have a choice in the memories coming to her because of the others in those memories and that's what makes her strong enough for that fight. 
Well. We hope so. I mean, it could go sideways. Spoilers, sweetie. Anyway...here's her inspiration--and mine. 

Music Monday: Carry You Home

I was driving back from an interpreting gig recently and heard a song come on my playlist that I think I added after hearing it in a commercial. Now, y'all know that my style of writing is to watch my characters do whatever it is they want to show me and then write up the incident report, right? Well, sometimes they decide to talk to me when I can't write...like when I am driving. I've tried doing a speech to text note in my phone but the Google is a fickle mistress when I'm stuck in traffic on I-85.

Last week on my way down to see my sister I saw a trailer being towed by a vehicle (because it merged in almost on top of me) that was painted red and had the name Lark in the upper left corner. Lark. Sweetie. Please, I want to hear from you and I want to get you and Connor out into the wild but THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO GET MY ATTENTION. Creole vampires, I tell ya.

Well this song hit me today in almost the same way, so my co-author (bless him) got a speech to text message from me detailing what popped into my mind. I think we have sorted out another bit of our take on vampire lore which is good, but again, NOT IN THE CAR and NOT WHILE I'M DRIVING, PLEASE?

Anyway, here's the song. Might be more like 150 years for Connor and Lark, but it still applies. Enjoy.

Music Monday: Beauty and the Beast

I'm a long time fan of Beauty and the Beast. I mean, come on...Sath and Gin? Also, the tv show with Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton? Yes please. So when I heard last week that Greenville, SC native Peabo Bryson died, this was all I could think of. Thank you for this amazing performance.

LyricsSongwriters: Howard Elliott Ashman / Alan Irwin Menken

Tale as old as time

True as it can be

Barely even friends

Then somebody bends

Unexpectedly

Just a little change

Small to say the least

Both a little scared

Neither one prepared

Beauty and the Beast

Ever just the same

Ever a surprise

Ever as before

And ever just as sure

As the sun will rise

Ever just the same

And ever a surprise, yeah

Ever as before

And ever just as sure

As the sun will rise

Tale as old as time

Tune as old as song

Bittersweet and strange

Finding you can change

Learning you were wrong

Certain as the sun

(Certain as the sun)

Rising in the east

Tale as old as time

Song as old as rhyme

Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time

Song as old as rhyme

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and...

Beauty and the Beast

Music Monday: Ghosts...in the Machine?

I am a recent convert to all things Yungblud. I discovered this amazing young artist at the time we lost Ozzy because they had an absolutely beautiful friendship...and I've gradually been listening to his work. This song hit me pretty hard today when I saw a concert clip of him performing it on social media, and now it is in the back of my head singing to me about Sath and Gin, Em and Lex, and Lark and Connor (who you haven't met yet but I hope you will soon). It's is just beautiful, and I hope you enjoy it. Lyrics are in the video.

Music Monday: Release the ..Florence?

Now, I love Florence + the Machine. Love. Adore. Will stop dead in my tracks if she comes on the radio or playlist. But this new one, Kraken, hit me right in the chest with the first line: "Sometimes my body seems so alien to me..."

Anyone that has had cancer treatment can relate, but I think when your treatment involves an amputation like a double mastectomy, it makes that feeling more vivid. My clothes don't fit like they did. I can't trust that I can put things away in a high cupboard or even do things like brush my teeth. My hair was growing back with luscious curls and then when I started on the next to the last phase, Verzenio, it became thin again. 

"...so when your hand reached out I just pushed it farther down..."

I've reached the point where I'm starting to be okay with me and I'm finding the tribe that buoyed me up during active treatment has gone back to their regular lives...and while that is okay, I mean if course it is, I do feel invisible. A lot. To the point that Florence saves me yet again:

"Do you see me now?"

Enjoy. 

Music Monday: Relax my Beloved...Ginny

I was hopping around among playlists on a LONG drive recently and found an old one called "Music for Orana." As I was on my way to a book event in Knoxville (hello LONG delays on I40 from Asheville to the Tennessee state line), I put that on to get me in the headspace to sell the stories I wrote about my Orana characters...who have in many ways become more real to me than some real people in my life. Authors, you know what I mean about the voices that wake you up in the middle of the night to deliver a plot twist...

Anyway, the title for this song by Alex Clare slid onto the screen just behind my steering wheel and I took a quick second to remember what part of the books was inspired by this song. Two seconds later I knew... This is what I imagine it is like for Gin to feel the bond in her mind when Taeben is controlling her but convincing her he does it because he cares for her. 

Relax my beloved, don't worry for me

Don't shed a tear for me, always be near for me

Be confident my love, don't bow your head for me

Promise you'll smile for me, don't ever cry for me

He is soothing her and convincing her to let him take care of her. He wants her to be the best version of herself, unlike the Qatu Sath who wants to hold her back so he has to rescue her. He begs her to smile for him, though her smile is the bit that brings into sharp focus what he is actually doing, and it breaks him a bit each time.

Enjoy. The lyrics are in the video.

Music Monday: Not Irrelevant At All

 I've got nothing to add to this, really, except that this is where I am in this quagmire of a timeline we're living in now, and it helps to remind me what I need to stand for and stand up to...because you can call me irrelevant, insignificant...I won't call on you at all.

Music Monday: May the Fourth be With You...

 ...and also with you. (I am nothing if not a good UMC preacher's daughter/sister/sister in law/niece.) Enjoy.

Music Monday: Celts at Faire

This weekend was my first one back at the Georgia Renaissance Festival (spring) and despite the dust and a slightly skittish wolfhound it was glorious. One more Irish tune to play for this weekend of pipes, drums, and Celtic culture, i nGaeilge of course. It mentions Grace O'Malley! How could I not...enjoy.
Lyrics below.

Oró Sé Do Bheatha 'Bhaile by Seth Staton Watkins
Óró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró 'sé do bheatha ′bhaile!Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh!
Óró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaile!Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh!
′Sé do bheatha a bhean ba léanmharB'é ár gcreach tú bheith i ngéibhinnDo dhúiche bhreá i seilibh meirleach!Is tú díolta leis na Gallaibh
Óró 'sé do bheatha ′bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaile!Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh
Tá Gráinne Mhaol ag teacht thar sáileÓglaigh armtha léi mar ghardaGaeil iad féin is ní Gaill ná Spáinnigh!Cuirfidh siad ruaig ar Ghallaibh!
Óró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró 'sé do bheatha ′bhaile!Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh
A bhuí le rí na bhfeart go bhfeiceannMuna mbíonn beo ina dhiaidh ach seachtainGráinne Mhaol is míle gaiscíochAg fógairt fáin ar Ghallaibh
Óró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaile!Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh
Óró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaileÓró 'sé do bheatha ′bhaileÓró ′sé do bheatha 'bhaile!Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh

Music Monday: Sanctuary, for those Searching

There seems to be similarity among those of us in GenX when it comes to ways to de-stress. One of them is dancing to fantastic 80s music--whether you're in the car or your kitchen, it is a hit of dopamine that apparently we need from time to time. There's even a group of women of a certain age that I follow on the socials that post nothing but videos of them dancing to the songs that were the soundtrack to my life in the 80s and I am HERE FOR IT.

This one showed up for me this morning and I'd forgotten how wonderful this song is...and how much it helps. Soooooo much. (lyrics below)

She Sells Sanctuary-The Cult
Oh, the heads that turnMake my back burnAnd those heads that turnMake my back, make my back burn
The sparkle in your eyesKeeps me aliveAnd the sparkle in your eyesKeeps me alive, keeps me alive
The worldOh, the world turns aroundThe world and the world, yeahThe world drags me down
Oh, the heads that turnMake my back burnAnd those heads that turnMake my back, make my back burn, yeahYeah, yeah, yeah
The fire in your eyes keeps me aliveAnd the fire in your eyes keeps me aliveInside her you'll find sanctuaryInside her you'll find sanctuary
And the world, the world turns aroundAnd the world, and the world, the world drags me downAnd the world, and the world, and the world, the world turns aroundAnd the world, and the world, and the world, and the worldThe world drags me down
Ah, hey yeah, hey yeahAnd the world, and the world turns aroundAnd the world, and the worldYeah, the world drags me downAnd the world, yeah, the world turns aroundAnd the world, and the world, the world drags me down
SanctuarySanctuary

Music Monday, err...Tuesday?

One more from Chasing Abbey because I am more and more in love with this band...and I'm still waiting for them to release Saoirse... But this one speaks to the state of our country and our world today. 

"The scars of war are hard to fade/so who's to gain?/So who's to gain? Ní mise (not me)/Ní tusa (not you)\Ní mise (not me)/Ní tusa (not you)."

Appearance Alert: SC Comicon!

For my second signing event in 2026, I'm over the moon (with Artemis II) to get to tell you I will be at SC Comicon this weekend! Saturday and Sunday, 10-6ish, I will be in the Vendor Hall in Artist's Alley with books ready to go home with you!

I will be in space 1032 (marked on the floor map below) which is on the opposite side of the hall from last fall if you came to the one day Fall Comicon, and will have all of my Orana Chronicles epic fantasy novels, The World of Arcstone litRPG duology, and the first in the alternative fiction series Luminous Beings series, Strið.

I hope to see you, not just because my books need homes but because the line up for this Comicon is amazing! Anson Mount (Star Trek: SNW), Ron Perlman (Beauty and the Beast), Ruth Connell (SPN), Mark Sheppard (SPN, Firefly)...it's going to be amazing! Also, there will be authors I love there, including Darin Kennedy, Matthew Saunders, and the Crowded Shelf!

For more info, click here. See you this weekend!

Music Monday: Arís is arís for...reasons.

I'm not going to pretend that y'all don't know what is going on in the world right now. We all do, especially those of us in the US as we watch the juxtaposition of reports out of Iran and its neighbors and the rhetoric coming from the White House. Again and again...and it's only been a year and a half. 

This song is not about that, but it feels like the entire world is crying arís is arís (again and again) every time a new atrocity happens. Also, this past weekend was the 110th anniversary of the Easter Rising, and I would imagine that the ancestors are looking at us in amazement and horror that we have not yet learned those lessons. Cén uair a chríochaíonn sé? (When does it end?)

Hopefully before the Dorchadas, Dorchadas, Dorchadas sa chroí (Darkness, Darkness Darkness in the heart)...

Music Monday: Ruaghéim

I've been listening to a lot of Irish music this spring, and finding that I can pick up more Gaeilge (Irish) that way than I am on Duolingo or by just looking up words and sentences. While waiting for Chasing Abbey to put out Saoirse, I'm sharing a song from the Irish Kings. Enjoy...and ROAR.

Lyrics:

Fair auld pride for the county I
Was called upon to lead
Was born and bred with a braisened head
By a wild Atlantic sea

Through fear we ride and death we stride
And face a life of toil
We're marching on where we belong
On Ireland's rugged soil

So run and power on and power on
And follow me
I'll bring you to the light
In through the fight

As men we live and bleed
So fear be gone and blood be on
Our tweed and garments wore
And men will pray and rue the day
They hear the Irish roar

Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.
(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)

Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.
(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)


We are but land and grit and sand
And bog and stone and flame
Our spirits wake through crashing lakes
And songs without a name

From Clare to Down, from hill to town
The bloodline runs afar
And every grave where good men lay
Shall guide us through the dark

So rise and power on and power on
And follow me
I'll lead you through the light, into the fight
As men we shall but lead

Our mothers weep, their sorrows deep
But know the cause is true
For every son that bears a gun
A thousand more will do

Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.
(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)

Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.
(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)


Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.
(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)

Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.
(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)


(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)

(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)

(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)

(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)


Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.


Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.

Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.

Ireland
Bleed Ireland
Live Ireland
Breathe Ireland
Lift Ireland
Lead Ireland
Be I.R.E.L.A.N.D.


(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)
(Glóir, Croí, Grá, Éire)

Music Monday: 7 reasons why (I love this song)...

When I was living in the UK this song was in an advert for The Sarah Silverman Show and it was one of my favorites...the show and the song. I can't get it on Spotify now, but it came up in my social media memories yesterday and I had to listen to it and smile. Also, the lyrics make me think of some of my couples...specifically Luke and Scarlet, whom y'all haven't met yet. Enjoy. {The lyrics are in the captions.}

Music Monday: The Statues are...Golden...

I watched the Oscars last night, and while I was really hoping that Sinners would win all 16 categories for which it was nominated, I was also holding hope for "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters as the best original song. Not just because that bop is a total earworm, but because it's been a first. The first KPop song nominated for an Oscar (I think). And as it happens, the first one to win an Oscar...and before they could say much, they were played off. But they won...and here is the lyric video for the song. It speaks to me as me as well as my characters, with the theme of working through obstacles to get to who you are meant to be. 즐기다 (pronounced jeulgida...Enjoy.)

On the most magical of dogs...🍀

[I sent a part of this essay to the program 1A on NPR this morning, but it had to be short. If you have met an Irish Wolfhound, you know that there is nothing short in that experience, so here is the rest.]

Bryn (L) and Ciaragh (R)

When I was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, my Irish Wolfhounds really saw me through it. This is my thank you to them...and don't worry, Willow-Pickle has her own story.

Ciaragh at GARF

Ciaragh (Keerah), my younger girl, was diagnosed with lymphoma shortly after I started chemo. At almost 7, she didn't make it through that battle, even though we were briefly on in the same chemo regimine, so when I rang that bell in Dec of 2023, I could feel her clobberpaws on my chest. You can see it in the video... It looks like I grabbed the rope and got knocked backwards a step or two. Our Cailín Ádh. We were the lucky ones, my Kiki-Bear.

Bryn after a successful heist at GARF

When I finished treatment in 2024, I didn't know it at the time but I was being given the time to focus on walking my 11.5 year old wolfhound Bryn home to the Bridge, as she deserved. Always there with her silly expression and snuggly nature, she made sure that I never gave up because someone had to feed her and give her treats when my husband was at work! Our Bryndled Beastie, who taught us so much about living with these giant, mythical dogs...and how to hide my snacks up HIGH.

Stanley, the Ken Doll of Irish Wolfhounds

And now that I'm navigating my new normal and new body, I have Stanley... He is a huge, gorgeous, blond boy who has learned to help me up off the floor and is just always there, carrying the souls of my two big girls in his beautiful caramel colored eyes. Our Bánbhuí Beastie...my sweet protector and buddy, here to lead me out of my sadness and into the backyard.

🍀

Go raibh míle maith agaibh, a mhadraí luachmhara. Is leatsa mo ghrá go léir.

🍀

Music Monday: Féile Éireannach

This weekend was the Irish Fest in Camden, SC. We took Stanley and Willow and had a pretty good if not SUNNY AND HOT good time. Today's music choice is one I was already familiar with and heard played...it's an absolute banger and a sad take on the leftovers after the British ruled Ireland. Éire go deo.

Music Monday: Zombie

(No, Tony, I am not making the turn into writing horror...)

This is my latest hyperfixation, partially because he is from West Yorks and his accent makes me homesick but also because he was so close with Ozzy. That makes someone A-OK in my book. But this song took my breath away a little bit, and then more when he said it was for nurses. I remember hearing him say in an interview that it was about his grandparents. For me...it's about me. I'm in a phase right now where the differences Eugene left in me are in the forefront. Not just the weirdly curly hair or the pain in my joints, but the brain fog and the fatigue and everything left by the efforts to yeet Eugene. The lines: 

If I was to talk about the words

They would hurt, they would hurt

So if you were to ask about the pain

I would lie, I would lie

To fix my mind, I need time

I want me back, but I am forced to get to know this new me...and I don't always like her. Don't worry...I will make peace with her, it's just taking a longer time than I'd thought.

Enjoy. The lyrics are in TEENY captions on the screen.

Music Monday: Meet me at the...South Korea?

It's a total earworm, y'all, and since I need something these days to keep my mind off all of the EVERYTHING that is going on, both in my personal life and the world at large, I find myself singing this more than I'd really care to admit. Just don't ask Willow-Pickle or Stanley, they will tell you how much...

Next thing you know it will be the soundtrack to K Pop Demon Hunters...aw man, now it's a medley of this and Golden. *bops away in Old Lady*

Apparently this song is based on a drinking game in Korea. I don't know from that, and my drinking game days are WELL behind me, but here's my latest...comfort song? Good gracious. Enjoy--lyrics are on the video.

Music Monday: Once More, into D&D

It is true, what the memes say, that one of the worst of the big bads in Dungeons and Dragons when you play as an adult is scheduling. Take the schedules of 6-8 grown humans and try to make them fit into a single weekend day where everyone is available and let me know what you come up with, please?

Pure chaos, that's what you will come up with...but somehow, my group (Lorem Ipsum) seems to manage even when it has been several months between sessions. So today's Music Monday is for them...and for Barb, DK, Annet, Sloane, Rei, Widow, and Maera, our characters who were left in a pretty precarious situation yesterday. Huzzah! Chaotic Social Worker Wombat Wranglers Assemble! (It's cooler than it sounds, I promise.)

[Verse 1]Stuck in a dungeon, no gold to my name,

Kobolds in my face, and the cleric’s effing lame.

Spellbook’s heavy, but my heart’s full of spite,

Gonna light this crypt up with some arcane dynamite!

I’m no apprentice, I’m a wizard supreme,

Forget your lame ass healing potions, I’m living the dream.

One somatic gesture, and the whole room’s toast,

Fireball’s my baby, let’s burn down the coast!

[Pre-Chorus]

No more sneaking, rogue, put your daggers away,

This ain’t a stealth mission, it’s a blaze of glory day!

Point and shoot, let the flames run wild,

Fireball’s the spell that makes the DM cry!

[Chorus]

Fireball, let it rip, watch the whole place fry!

8 D 6 damage, kiss those minions goodbye!

Boom, crash, burn, let the chaos ignite,

Fireball, Fireball, we’re exploding tonight!

Scorch the beholder, roast the troll’s ugly mug,

Bard’s on fire, guess he shouldn’t have shrugged!

Raise your staff, let the inferno fly,

Fireball, Fireball, watching everybody die!

[Verse 2]

Party’s screaming, “Aim it somewhere else, you dick!”

But I’m laughing like a lich as the flames start to lick.

Fighter’s got plate mail, but it’s melting to slag,

“Sorry, bro, you’re crispy—blame my spell slot brag!”

Forget your Eldritch Blast, that’s warlock trash,

Ice Knife’s for hipsters, and Thunderwave’s a rash.

Fireball’s the king, it’s the wizard’s true jam,

One bad reflex save, and you’re ash in a can!

[Pre-Chorus]

No counterspell’s touching this, I’m a magical god,

Arcane focus my power, prepare to be awed

From the Underdark to the tavern’s front door,

Fireball’s the reason we keep settling scores!

[Chorus]

Fireball, let it rip, watch the whole place fry!

8 D 6 damage, kiss your minions goodbye!

Boom, crash, burn, let the chaos ignite,

Fireball, Fireball, we’re exploding tonight!

Scorch the beholder, roast the troll’s ugly mug,

Bard’s on fire, guess he shouldn’t have shrugged!

Raise your staff, let the inferno fly,

Fireball, Fireball, watch the hit points die!

[Bridge]

Roll, roll, roll those dice, let the damage stack!

Paladin’s praying, but his god ain’t got his back!

Cast, cast, cast, no regrets, full send!

“Sorry, Druid, your treant’s kindling—make amends!”

You’re not just a caster, you’re a walking apocalypse,

Turning goblins to charcoal with a flick of your wrist!

So crank the volume, let the table go mad,

Fireball’s the spell that makes the whole campaign sad!

[Final Chorus]

Fireball, let it rip, watch the whole place fry!

8 D 6 damage, kiss your minions goodbye!

Boom, crash, burn, let the chaos ignite,

Fireball, Fireball, we’re exploding tonight!

Nuke the mind flayer, torch the lich’s whole vibe,

DM’s screaming, “My plotline won’t survive!”

Raise your staff, let the inferno fly,

Fireball, Fireball, watch the hit points die!

Another Day, Another Scammy Email

Here's a quick non-musical post to follow up on the last one about receiving scammy emails. There are two kinds, in my opinion, and the last post was in the "I've never read the books I'm writing you about." This one is similar. 

The other category is "I can legit do something for you as an author but you have to pay me loads of money that you shouldn't have to pay under normal circumstances." I will get to that one in a minute.

Over the weekend while at a book signing event, I received another of the first category of scams. It was pretty obvious from the subject line: Podcast & Radio Opportunities for "My Name Is Resolute: A Novel by the Author of Sarah's Quilt " This Quarter Nancy E. Dunne, Writer

What? I haven't written anything with a title even close to that, and normally I would just delete it (bye bye, AI!) but my curiosity got the better of me. After all, who of us hasn't sent an email to the wrong recipient? No? Just me? Cool, cool.

So I read on as my email program previews the first bits of it and the first paragraph contained this line: "Hello Nancy E. Dunne, Writer

I don’t reach out often like this, butcHers To Keep genuinely "My Name Is Resolute: A Novel by the Author of Sarah's Quilt" 

What?

So I'm sorry, Ava Holmes, Author & Media Outreach Consultant, Podcast & FM Radio Interview Placement, Helping authors connect with engaged listeners beyond social media, but maybe next time use a better AI to type your clearly mass-sent email? Yeesh.

Now, on to the other type that requires a lot of money...usually I can see these coming a mile away, but for the most recent one I was genuinely taken in and it hurt my feelings a little bit, if I'm honest, to realize what was happening with that email.

The subject line looked like something I would have written (which should have been a clue, I guess): Rift — One of the best books I’ve read in a looong time. Now, I'm sure for authors with huge followings these emails come all the time. Not for me. I'm lucky if I have three readers that might react to one of my books like this (and I know which three by name), so I started off thinking this had to be a scam.

Was it written by AI? No idea. The email read like it came from a real person who was able to pass my normal Is This AI tests as though she had read the book. She went on to describe the service she provides--book trailers--and even sent me a mock up sample of a script and an audio of said script. Her signature even included how much she loved my storytelling. Oof.

Listening to that audio left me in tears, I will admit. At a book event last summer I met a young man who has a podcast focused on supporting indie authors by performing an audio selection of their books--I wrote about that here and it can still be found by searching The Wandering Tavern wherever you get your podcasts. It was real. My words, read by someone else. So this hit me right in those feels again.

However, I kept enough of my wits about me to ask a very important question (after I found out the price for such a production, which was out of my budget and clued me in that something was up here): how much AI is used to produce these trailers because I am against using AI voices instead of real human voice actors. She assured me that even though the snippet she'd sent me was an AI voice, that was a choice the author could make. If you preferred a human voice actor instead, that could be arranged.

Finally, I asked if the project could be put on hold because I wasn't able to afford the price she quoted. SURE, she said, but then went on to offer me discounts on doing both Rift and Storm and using voice actors and OHHHHHH but she loved the books so much she was already coming up with ideas for compelling trailers in her head and SOOOO excited to get to work on them.

No. I just didn't answer any of those things and said no, I couldn't do that right now, but thank you for sending the scripts and the audio file and have a good day. No response. Here's where the hurt feelings come in--I wanted it to be real. I wanted her to write back and say she understood or hoped that there would be a third Arcstone book or something. Crickets. Of course, because it wasn't real.

Indie published and self published authors, stay frosty when you open emails. The AI is getting better. The "promoters" are becoming smarter. But at the end of the day, the only people that will promote our work is us...and those three readers of mine. I wish I had a happy ending involving massive real engagement or a movie/TV option, but I don't. The former is a work in progress and the latter would be a scam anyway.

Back to work on the WIP.

Music Monday: Generational Wars

Quick one today...I saw this in a meme on social media and I've internalized it now so...Congrats, Gen Alpha. You poked the GenX bear and here we go. 

(8, 8, I FORGET WHAT 8 WAS FOR is the answer to 6 7.)

Music Monday: What Dreams May...Be Wild

Back to the beginning here...we didn't lose power during the storm, and we've had another one since then--just snow this time--and during all this time with nowhere to go and plenty of time to write...I haven't.

By write, I mean put words on a page. I have, though, had some of the craziest dreams and I've been taking notes and I may have a second book in the steampunk adjacent series in the bare bones stage. It's the wildest dreams phase.

This song first came to my attention on what I lovingly call the clock app, in a series of videos describing the MMC in a rom com, but even though I don't write those I can use the descriptions from the videos and the general feel of the song. Hang on, Elys and Hack, your story is developing.

Music Monday: If you're seeing this...

I'm writing this early this time. It's Friday, 23 January, and we are staring down a winter storm that will almost certainly bring ice and mean that by this time actually on Monday I won't have power or heat. So I do what anyone else would do...I turn to Dolly Parton, who just celebrated her birthday recently. This special version of one of her songs from 1977 makes my heart happy because of the amazing artists joining her--but let's be honest, she does that all on her own. Enjoy...and if you're looking at this on a phone screen huddled up under a blanket, I see you. I won't share my blanket with you, but I see you. 😃

(lyrics below)

Light of a Clear Blue Morningby Dolly Parton
It's been a long dark nightAnd I've been a waitin' for the morningIt's been a long hard fightBut I see a brand new day a dawningI've been looking for the sunshineYou know I ain't seen it in so longBut everything's gonna work out just fineAnd everything's gonna be all rightThat's been all wrong
'Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morningI can see the light of a brand new dayI can see the light of a clear blue morningOh, and everything's gonna be all rightIt's gonna be okay
It's been a long long timeSince I've known the taste of freedomAnd those clinging vinesThat had me bound, well I don't need 'emOh, I've been like a captured eagle, you know an eagle's born to flyNow that I have won my freedom, like an eagle I am eager for the sky
And I can see the light of a clear blue morningI can see the light of brand new dayI can see the light of a clear blue morningOh, and everything's gonna be all rightIt's gonna be okay
I can see the light of a clear blue morningI can see the light of brand new dayI can see the light of a clear blue morningOoh, everything's gonna be all rightEverything's gonna be all rightEverything's gonna be all rightIt's gonna be okay
And I can see the light of a clear blue morningI can see the light of a brand new dayI can see the light of a clear blue morningOoh and everything's gonna be all rightEverything's gonna be all rightEverything's gonna be all rightIt's gonna be okay
I can see the light of a clear blue morningI can see the light of brand new dayI can see the light of a clear blue morningEverything's gonna be all rightEverything's gonna be all rightEverything's gonna be all rightIt's gonna be okay

Music Monday: MLK Day, 2026

Here we are in January of 2026. One year after our nation changed--irrevocably? That remains to be seen. Five years after a mob of insurrectionists, white supremacists, and other such angry people stormed our nation's capitol and broke things, stole things, and killed/injured people.

But we have moments of peace in this January, 2026. A group of venerable monks and their dog, Aloka, are currently on a 2,300 journey from Texas to Washington DC to promote peace. Just knowing that they are there makes my heart sing.

It's dark out there, y'all. The country I grew up in is unrecognizable now, and while I kept trusting that things would get better--trusting that the people that other folks sent to congress would do their jobs and put a stop to this (I'm from SC y'all, Lindsey Graham and Nancy Mace territory. When I write to Rep. Timmons he writes me back to mansplain why I am wrong.). They haven't--maybe they can't--but it just gets worse and worse. Dunne Evacuation back to the UK is in the expidited planning stages now.

But during all this awful, we remember that this is the month we celebrate one of our country's most notable fighters for equality who is often mistaken as only seeking peace. We remember the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his convictions and determination during January. For today's Music Monday, I looked for his favorite hymns. His absolute favorite, from what I could find, was the one I've shared today. "Take my hand, Precious Lord." Fill in Precious Lord with whatever deity or philosophy makes you feel seen, precious, and safe. 

Namaste.🤟

Music Monday: ASL FTW

 Veering off into my past, I give you an ASL version of a song that is speaking to me about some characters that I'm not actively working with right now. Because of course. Enjoy.

Music Monday: So Unfair

Oh, welcome to the new year. While I'm trying to make it my mantra in 2026 to not be so negative, to protect my own calm and peace, and to worry about my reaction to things/people/rhetoric rather that those things themselves. During my holiday break from the DayJob in years past I have enjoyed being a full time writer for two weeks, spending my days working on manuscripts, editing, and generally living my dream of doing this full time.

Then January rolls around and it's time to go back to gathering schedules and making sure that my students have their accommodations and keeping up with classes and zoom sessions and the like. I don't dislike my job... but without interpreting in the mix, it isn't the same as it was. When you have something that makes you as happy and fulfilled as writing does for me, it's hard to put it down for anything less than a lateral move.

In that vein, today's Music Monday is speaking to my feelings--that I have firmly crawled up inside, mind you, with a soft blanket and a mug of warm cider--and I hope it will speak to you too, if you have your own blanket to stave off the back to work after the holiday blues. Captions are on the video. Enjoy... if you can.