In the witchy world of Sorrows Hill, where faerie mounds exist alongside a collection of magic makers, military men and ordinary folk just trying to get along, the Shee drift in and out, meddling in human affairs wherever it suits them. In the Old World of the British Isles they were called the Sidhe, and they’ve starred in countless stories, songs and artworks ever since. And why shouldn’t they be in the New World as well? Maddie Cain knows them all too well- she’s the local healer and hedge witch - smart, formidable and fiercely protective of the people of Hart Mountain, a fictional place somewhere on the border of today’s Virginia and West Virginia.
This is the first standalone story featuring Maddie, with more to come if readers want to get to know her better.
Some Songs for the Road:
Just a few bits of music that you might enjoy, plus some pretty videos. I’ve always loved music videos - the best ones are small stories in themselves.
Christy Moore’s “Ride On” is a haunting song with multiple meanings. Some say it’s about death and loss, others about change and moving on. But I just thought it was about a magical creature who traveled to places a human couldn’t follow - an idea that made its way into my Iraq war story, “A Cold Wind.”
Sabaton, “A Christmas Truce” - even if you aren’t a metalhead like me, this is a lovely song about the Christmas Truce of 1914, when just for a tiny stretch of time on Christmas Day, troops along the front lines of the First World War laid down their weapons and celebrated the holiday with sports and gifts. The video for this song is stunning, with haunting closing vocals by Floor Jansen of Nightwish.
Speaking of Nightwish, here’s “Elan” - whimsical and lyrical, this song captures the best of Floor Jansen’s soaring voice and composer Thomas Holopainen’s vision. Again, the video for this song is a magical little story.
TV and Cinema Bits:
I’ve been watching all four seasons of “Preacher” on Netflix. It’s adapted from a comic book so of course it’s full of over the top cartoony violence and way too many buckets of blood. But the outrageous story of an amateur preacher possessed by an angel-demon hybrid is also populated by a core trio of characters who are real and vulnerable even when doing some pretty silly things. It features an Irish vampire and an immortal gunman — and I do want to see if they ever find God.
“The Irregulars” - also on Netflix, is a weird mishmash of a YA found family story and the familiar tropes of Sherlock Holmes, but this one-season wonder has some interesting twists and turns, with a very different backstory for Sherlock, a villainous take on Watson, and lots of monsters of the week. I’m always fascinated by stories that take well known tropes and turn them inside out.
On the Craft: When Characters Become Real
I had a recent exchange with another writer who said they liked the main character in their new story. Not “I liked creating him,” or “I liked writing about him,” but that they liked him as a person and wanted him to end up well.
When you’ve created a character who can stand on their own as a real person you can like (or hate), you’ve created a truly dimensional individual. If you feel that way, readers will too - and they’ll care what happens to them. Plot is important, of course, but readers don’t fall in love with plots. They fall in love with characters - people who feel real enough to root for and rail against, whatever the plot serves up for them.
Any songs, shows or recent reads to share? Let me know in the comments and I’ll put together a list.
Till next time,
JM