The Forgotten One

For writers, everything is fair game when it comes to research. It's been said that there are really only 12 basic plot lines, and every one's been done a bajillion times over. So, in search of that unique twist or irresistable hook, writers wait, watch, and read for that nugget of research that will set a story in motion.

For me, it's usually an obscure, nearly forgotten factoid buried in a dusty book or archived article that piques my interest. A one-liner about a faery that melts into a puddle of water should it get caught in a shaft of sunlight. An tiny reference to a minor civil war skirmish that took place on the most haunted coastline in America. A statement uttered by an angel "expert" that had me raising my eyebrow and muttering, "Oh really? But what if..."

The spark that lit the fuse for my upcoming novella "Wildish Things" came while I was reading Patricia Monaghan's "The Red Haired Girl from the Bog." She mentioned a goddess so old that no one remembers her name, or even what rituals were used to worship her. In Irish/Scottish folklore she is known simply as "The Cailleach", a word which has no real translation. She is thought to be old, the oldest of all goddesses. Possibly the mother of all goddesses. Her bones are the rocks; the plants and trees, her skin; her blood, the water.

And I got to thinking, what must life be like for this goddess? So much age, so much power - and the ability to scare the snot out of anyone. What would happen if one day she got tired of being bored and lonely, and decided to stir up a little trouble?

So, to do my little bit to make sure no one forgets her completely, I wrote "Wildish Things." Hopefully she will like my offering well enough to keep her meddling fingers out of MY life! Although, come to think of it, this old broad might be fun to lift a pint with.

Slainte,
Carolan
WILDISH THINGS, coming in eBook and trade paperback Nov. 1 from SamhainPublishing.com