My New Muse

Do you know what authors need for writing? That's right, a pen and a sheet of paper. A laptop might be better for some. The rest of the needs are subjective: Gillian Flynn needs total silence, Chris Bohjalian needs cats, I've heard others need cookies and candies. Well, I need music. My books take place in Ireland, around the green meadows and restless rivers, among the castle ruins and beneath the Celtic magic. I need Celtic music.

I am sure the first artist that comes to mind is Enya. I still can't decide on her best song. I used to think it was "Carribean Blue," then I thought it was "Celtic Fiddle," then "May It Be."

Enya is the Goddess of Celtic music, but she's not my only muse.

Loreena Mckennitt is my greatest love when it comes to Celtic music. Her music is multi-layered, beautiful, inspiring. Also, she looks like a forest nymph, or rather, the Queen of the Forest Nymphs. 

 

There is one more beautiful artist I have to mention. She might not be as famous as Enya or Loreena, but she has an incredible voice and a song so beautiful that I have spent countless hours listening her sing. She is Miriam Stockley, and her "The Song of the Seahorse" is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard.

And just recently I have discovered my new muse--Cécile Corbel. What a sweet, beautiful voice she has! And she's not just a singer but also a harpist and composes the most touching, mellifluous music. She's absolutely what I needed for my new fantasy series and have been listening to her most of the last week.

Listen to her and tell me Cécile is not a medieval maiden singing in the king's hall to soothe his anger and pacify his wrath. That's the role I have given to her, well, to my character actually, who sings in her voice, at least in my imagination.

Is this the writers' anthem?

Just stumbled upon something very funny on YouTube. Weird Al Yankovic strikes again. I thought nothing, nothing could be better than the "Amish Paradise," but I was wrong. 

This could easily be the writers' official anthem. Or maybe this suits more to editors and proofreaders? I hung my head in shame when I recollected the typos in my first book. That's why now I have two editors and one proofreader. And oh, last night I was reading George R.R. Martin and found two typos in his traditionally published TSOIAF. I have even highlighted them 3:) And there were three typos in Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time." Still doesn't make me feel better about my own typos.

But wait, I got carried away a bit. Weird Al Yankovic - Word Crimes.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes 

 

Very funny. And very true. The lyrics are great, as always.
For example:

Say you got a "It"
Followed by apostrophe, "s"
Now what does that mean?
You would not use this in this case
As a possessive
It's a contraction
What's a contraction?
Well, it's the shortening of a word, or a group of words
By the emission of a sound or letter.

Enjoy the song and proofread your books. At least twice ;)

Book 4 is available!

Here it is! Witch Hollow and the Spider Mistress, 4th book of the "Witch Hollow" series. Available on Kindle and in Paperback.

Well, this certainly took longer than I had expected. 110.000 words, and as Amazon states, 345 pages. I am exhausted.

The book will be available for just $0.99 for the first few days. Then it'll go up to $3.99.

Remember the ending of the 3rd book? I'm sure you do ;) So many of you were asking about that ending, well, now you might learn the answers to some of the questions. Not to all. We need the 5th book to give us all the answers :)

This is the penultimate book in series, and to be honest, I am already missing my characters. Can't believe we have almost reached the end. This was such a great journey, and also a good experience to me as an indie author. I've learned so much in the past two years I might write a few blog posts about indie publishing.

As always, don't be shy and share with me your thoughts on this book. I am always happy to read your emails. Even if I don't reply immediately, I always do that later, when I have more time on my hands. Now, I'll go back to writing the 5th book, as well as sketch my new series, one of which is a Witch Hollow spin-off about the Witchcraft Academy.
Happy reading!

Love you all,

I.D.

p.s. If you can't afford any of my books, drop me an email, and I'll send you a free copy in exchange for your honest review.