A TRIO OF IRISH TALES II Has Released!

A TRIO OF IRISH TALES II is on sale!

Available on Amazon:

For Kindle  & in Paperback http://tinyurl.com/joao798

Continuing the popular A TRIO OF IRISH TALES, this collection presents two continued adventures of characters from the first volume in Patrick's Path and The Fairy Tree, plus an entirely new cast in Two Houses. 

Three modern tales steeped in the lore of an ancient land that will call to your Celtic soul, even if you never thought you had one.

ALMOST THERE ... "Two Houses" ~ A Preview

We are days from publication of A TRIO OF IRISH TALES II . . . and here is one more preview, this time of the final story.

Two Houses (Preview)

By Judith Cullen

© 2015

“Mark, the top has to be here somewhere!”

Mark Murphy glanced at the tourist map one more time, but it might as well have been written in Greek for all the sense it made to him.  “I know, we both saw it.”  He paused, lowering his voice, “I should have asked for directions, I’ll admit it.”

Cate turned to him indulgently, “I’ll take that admission, and I won’t abuse you with it.  Not much, anyhow.”  Then she laughed and threw her head back in that way he loved. 

This was part of why he had married her – life was just that much brighter, that much “more” when Cate was around.   Like now, when they were lost in Ireland on their honeymoon, looking for a hilltop they had both seen clearly from the front lawn Rathmore House.  It had seemed like such a natural thing to spend their honeymoon exploring their mutual Irish heritage. They were inexperienced as world travelers, at best, and they really should have done more homework than they had.  Still and all adversity can lead to adventure, and so far they had shared that in abundance.

“Look here!  This lane seems to go up.  This could be promising. Let’s try it and see where it goes.”  She was pointing towards a disheveled gate and a scraggly lane of trees leading uphill. What waited at the end of the lane was not clearly in view.

“You call this ‘promising’?”  He eyed the gate and the road that left the main track and disappeared to God only knew where.  It was a single metal gate between two square stone pillars.  They might have been nicely finished once, with an outer coating of sandstone or something to dress them.  The metal had a few vestiges of ornamentation left – tiny metal swirls and flourishes.  But one of the pillars was almost entirely crumbled away, and the gate hung from the remaining pillar by a single hinge.  Squinting his eyes, Mark wasn’t even sure of that.  He had the feeling that the gate was held there by habit alone, not by any actual constructive attachment.

FOR THE HOLIDAYS . . .

Convenient for stocking stuffing, or with the new Kindle Matchbook program, you can get a lovely discount when you buy both the Kindle and Print version of any title. So buy them both, keep the Kindle for yourself, and gift the print version to a friend or for your part in that great holiday tradition: the gift exchange.


Now Available - A TRIO OF TRAVELING TALES - the last collection for 2014 featuring three great new original stories. This Trio includes: "The Unexpected Path", "The Empire Builder", and the popular "Lawrence Street."

Available on Amazon for Kindle and in Paperback

All my titles are available in time for whatever gift-giving necessity you have.  I doesn't have to be dawned with holly and mistletoe.  It might involve a kinara or a dreidel. It could include the burning of a Yule Log.  Does not matter.

Who on your list might enjoy one of these? Click and see!

COMING IN SEPTEMBER!

"Some journeys are measured in city blocks, and some can only be measured by how they change your life."

In this new collection in the Trio Tales Series, the stories are focused on journeys, large and small, which take unexpected turns or which lead to unanticipated places.

In The Unexpected Path, little seven year old Ann thinks she knows best and takes an alternate route to travel the block and a half to school in the middle of a harsh mid-western winter. It all goes well, until she gets stuck in the snow.

In The Empire Builder, a young woman leaves her home and family to journey to a University thousands of miles away.  Taking the train from Seattle to Chicago, and then on to central Indiana, she has three days on her own to contemplate this decision to cross half a continent.

In Lawrence Street, a street that was once traveled every single day is revisited 40 years later - "Things are the same on Lawrence Street, but they are different too.  The bones of familiarity are there, clear and comforting, but sometimes dressed in garments that do not seem as familiar.

. . . and more!  Coming soon to Amazon for Kindle and in Paperback.

'TIS THE SEASON TO STREAM!

With one book in review and one about to release, it is time to share previews of the newest story collections! I will be streaming live not once, not twice, but FOUR times in the next week.

On Wednesday, March 12th at 7pm Pacific, I will be sharing selections from A YEAR IN TULFARRIS by friend Caitlin Walsh with excellent photos by her husband, Alfred Hellstern.  Cait and her family celebrate Saint Patrick's Day in Ireland, enjoying the delights of March on the Emerald Isle.

I will be streaming selections from  A TRIO OF IRISH TALES II, at two different times this week Check out the Judy's Stories Live! tab for dates, times, and how to access the stream from YOUR computer.

What adventures await in A TRIO OF IRISH TALES II ?

Two Houses - a newlywed couple on their honeymoon in Ireland discover a mystery: two houses incredibly alike but one thrives while the other is in ruins.  They are drawn to and connected with this very Irish puzzle in a way they could not have foreseen.

The Fairy Tree - Young Liam is back! (from The Shadow by the Gate) Armed with a new sense of belief in the unseen, he confidently goes back into the Wicklow countryside and discovers the power and the danger of getting what you wished for.

A Rock Beyond - Patrick is always left behind, or so it seems.  Eager to prove himself, he vows to spend the night at Teach Duinn, the gathering place of the dead on the most western crag of Irish soil.  What will Pat find beneath the rocks, among the waves, and beneath the cliffs?  Will he find himself?  Or perhaps he'll discover more than he bargained for!

Tune in and check out these emerging adventures!

Welcome, Welcome 2014!

I have some great stories coming up this year, as I enter the second year of Trio Tales, and my first novella-length work.  Here's what's in the works!

LATE BREAKING NEWS: A Preview of Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales will be streamed online LIVE Monday, January 13th at 7PM.  CLICK HERE for instructions ... be sure your home computer is enabled in advance to listen in.

MIRACLES: A TRIO OF ISLAND TALES
Belief is essential part of life.  If there is a through-line to most of my work, it is the essential need for all of us to believe in something beyond ourselves.  It does not matter what.  Simply believe.  By believing in something beyond yourself, you learn to better understand your world: to believe in yourself.

Belief is woven into all three stories in Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.  These stories are fictionalizations of family stories shared by my collaborator, Saane Tome.  She is a native born Tongan and devout Christian. The power of her stories is moving and undeniable.  You may or may not share her belief system, and that does not really matter.  It is hard to hear her stories and not recognize the essential power of them.

TWO HALVES, ONE SOUL
An Elven Adventure-Romance about opposites coming together, healing each other, and forming a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Meet Griff, a Dark Elf once distinguished as a Captain of Guards in a great Kingdom.  When that Kingdom collapsed under the weight of its own good intentions, Griff blames himself.  He finds a rugged, rough land and establishes a homestead, building a community for those who seek peace and cannot find it elsewhere. Reserved, subtle, quiet - Griff is not prepared for Kas' unexpected arrival on his doorstep.

Kas is a Snow Elf, pure white, whose ancestors come from the far North.  She is bright, enthusiastic, spontaneous, and open hearted.  When she seeks shelter with Griff, she is a quiet shadow of her former self, in danger of fading from existence, and full of secrets.

Join Kas and Griff as they wrestle with their pasts secrets, present dangers, and the possibility of a future together.

***

Stay tuned for more information and previews of these and other titles, including A Trio of Irish Tales II!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

 “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol 

PART ONE ~
Monday, December 23rd at 4:00pm, & 9:00pm Pacific 
(NOTE:  The 9:00pm session is by special request an on strem only. I will have the system up and running at that time.  If you log in after 9:10pm and there is nothing running, it will mean those who requested the reading were not able to log in.  Apologies in advance if that inconvenience occurs)

PART TWO ~
Tuesday, December 24th at 4:00pm Pacific

IMPORTANT NOTE . . . In order to be able to listen on your computer or device, you may need to use an enabling application. Don't wait till story time!: CLICK HERE for links to helpful sites to make certain you are able to listen to streaming audio on your computer

 . . . CLICK HERE to be connected to the Shoutcast stream, which will go live 10 minutes before the posted start time.  

NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!

Available in Paperback just in time to fill your last minute gift-giving nooks and crannies. Click Here to go directly to the Amazon page

Short Story Author Judith Cullen presents a collection of collections!  All of the Trio Tales series of fiction monographs published in 2013 (Irish Tales, Cat Tales, and My Father’s Tales), plus additional short stories.

Visit the clueless, techno-savvy teenager from The Shadow by the Gate; experience the horrors of moving from a cat’s perspective in Travels with S; and be amused at a military convoy missing the mark in Flying Down to Coeur D’Alene.  Add to that the sensual delight of a toddler experiencing the world around him in Walking to the Music, and the award-winning ghost story Her Own Words in the additional material.

The "My Writing Process Blog Tour"

My turn! Today the My Writing Process Blog Tour passes through the simply creative borders of Ttown here at Judith Cullen - Stories. In the paragraphs below I’ll answer a few questions about how and why I write, but before I get started I’d like to thank my friend Jackson Arthur, author of PDA and other delightful paranormal science fiction works.

Jackson posted his writing process last week on his Portals – Jackson Arthur’s Universe blog, and I’d urge you to checkout his writing process by clicking here.

Time for the train to chug through this station as the tour thunders on!

What am I working on?

 

I am working at putting the finishing elements into Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales – the fourth and final installment in this year’s Trio Tales series.  It will be released this year, followed by an anthology of the 2013 Trio Tales series with additional short stories and possibly some poetry.  Then we start fresh in 2014 with a new series of short story collections!

I also started a project this summer which is turning into a novella length fiction piece, and will probably come out in early 2014, fulfilling my personal goal the develop the "chops" to write longer works.  It is a romance and  fantasy involving a dark elf, a snow elf, and a diverse community of elves around them.  These are not wee elves that make cookies in trees. They are closer to Tolkien’s elves, had his narratives had focused on a working class.  It lacks a title yet, but I have hopes one will come to me before I actually “press play” on the release.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I am, at the moment, primarily a writer of short fiction.  I think of it as practice for writing longer chapter books.  I like publishing “fictional monographs” on a single subject, and that is what the Trio Tales series is envisioned to be: easy to read and share, suited for electronic devices. It also allows me to explore an array of different subjects and not get boxed into one genre.I am fond of saying I am an author in search of a genre, or perhaps avoiding one.

I haven’t decided whether this is a wise approach or a foolish one yet.  It is simply where I am.  I tell good stories.  The more I tell them, the better they get.  They bring me joy, and I am pleased that others seem to enjoy them as well.

Why do I write what I do?

“There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy...”

So said Shakespeare’s damned Danish prince, and I agree.  I believe that we are granted all the magic we need in our lives, for good and ill both.  Call it God, the Universe, Karma, call it whatever you will.  It is all inside us and we have to make choices about how we use what we were given.  That is the journey we call life.  I do not pretend to take sides and make choices for other people.  

I tend to gravitate towards stories of self-discovery, stories that make you laugh, make you cheer for a character, and leave you with a lingering “hmm…” percolating in your mind.  That is what my stories do for me, and I hope those who read them feel the same. I like exploring new places and new environments in my work, and sharing those discoveries in my work.

How does your writing process work?

I have worked in theater and opera as a designer for a long time.  I recognize there that my best work starts with the germ of an idea.  It can be anything: a sleeve joint on a gown, a shape, a texture, a metaphor.  In my writing it is much the same thing.  What would the world truly look like from the cat’s perspective?  What if a technically savvy teenager was suddenly faced with very real legends come to life? What if the thing that haunted you were you own words?

From there the stories build.  I have written a mix of stories that are pure fiction, and fictional interpretations of real events.  What I have learned so far is that the story and I work in partnership.  If I wrench a story in to being, or have an agenda with the story to the exclusion of all else, the writing is not as good. My number one rule is “serve the story, not yourself.” If I open myself up, and remain open to the evolution of the plot, the words and ideas flow.

My best work is when I am emotionally engaged in the plot and its characters, not simply functioning as their puppet master.  It is especially fruitful if I am so engaged when I am in "raw text" or "first draft" mode.  My fingers will pound at the keys, and sometimes I will barely be able to keep up with where the story is taking me - the "passionate me" hard at it.  If the reader cannot connect directly with some character in the piece, whether empathetically or emotionally, the work is flat.When I follow up and refine in a number of subsequent passes, that is time for the "rational me" to be working.

I do my best writing early in the morning or late at night.  I need quiet and focus.  Because I write primarily short stories, I only use rough notes as outline, but I can already see from my novella project that I will need more structured outlines for longer works.  

Because my writing really sprung from my work as a voice artist and presenter of literature, reading my work aloud is crucial.  I need to hear it several times.  I also find I read it differently if I read it to someone, as opposed to muttering it to myself.  If there is a section that doesn’t scan or flow, it becomes obvious read out loud. 

I also have a few well-trusted proofreader/beta-readers who give me feedback.  I think that will be more and more handy the longer my written works become.  It has been a great journey so far, and I look forward to more adventures in that wonderful, ethereal world where it is just me, the ideas, and words.  My heart and soul are in my best works. There’s a lot of “Judy” in all my stories.

 ***

Thanks for taking the time to read about my writing process. Next week the tour will be visiting long time friend Amy Jarecki. Please be sure to look in on this fascinating and talented lady next week!

Next Week

 

Amy Jarecki: Amy Jarecki writes contemporary romance and Scottish historical romance. Her award winning romantic suspense, VIRTUE will be released on December 6th. For fun, she hikes, bikes and plays a mean game of golf. Born in northeastern California, Amy holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Visit her online at www.amyjarecki.com and visit her blog

COMING SOON ... "Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales"

Belief is essential to a good life.  If there is a through-line to most of my work, it is the essential need for all of us to believe in something beyond ourselves.  It does not matter what.  Simply believe.  By believing in something beyond yourself, you learn to better understand your world: to believe in yourself.

Belief is woven into all three stories in Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.  These stories are fictionalizations of family stories shared by my collaborator, Saane Tome.  She is a native born Tongan and devout Christian. The power of her stories is moving and undeniable.  You may or may not share her belief system, and that does not really matter.  It is hard to hear her stories and not recognize the essential power of them.

Meet King Tupou I of Tonga.  He was the first in a line of Tongan Kings that has remained unbroken to the present day - through nine generations!  He is  part of Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.

During his near century-long life he transformed Tonga from a collection of bickering, war lords to a unified Kingdom.  He is the King Arthur of the South Pacific.  He was smart, ambitious, and he saw that the only way to combat foreign colonialism in the 19th Century was with one Tonga, under one ruler.  He knew that otherwise, the atoll and the people would be picked apart by outside interests.

King Tupou I of Tonga outside his Palace

In the 1830's he was baptized as a Christian, and he used his faith and beliefs as a tool in building the sovereign kingdom of Tonga.  He was a formidable man, and one of the few Polynesian rulers that was dealt with as an equal by other world leaders.  The Tonga he passed on at his death in 1893 was radically different from the one he was born into. Not only did he build a sovereign nation and develop a constitution, but he made serfdom illegal, secured the land of Tonga for Tongans forever by making it illegal for anyone other than native Tongans to own land, and he built a Christian Church that took its roots from the Wesleyan Church, but was essentially Tongan.

Learn more about this remarkable man and the paradise he dreamed of in Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.

Don't forget to take the WHICH ARE YOUR FAVORITES Reader Poll!

TRIO TALES UPDATE ~ Everyone has an opinion. What's yours? Take Our Poll!

Okay, let's face it ...I am not J.K. Rowling.  Who the heck is?  But I have come to believe that the audience for short stories, short subjects, microfiction in general is growing.  You can read it on a commute, while waiting, when you just need a break.

Short Stories help me learn as a writer, and refine my craft as I work towards longer compositions.  I am in love with the form, and I cannot imagine not writing short stories. Some of the stories already published could yet emerge as longer works. Maybe even "proper books."  Which are your favorites?  Take the WHICH ARE YOUR FAVORITES? poll in the right margin, and share your thoughts!

There were some great responses after last weekends TRIO TALES Promotion ... here's the most recent:

"Each one of these three stories contains a learning lesson. Two of them were military in nature so I felt more at home with both of those. 

"... I was trying to pick my favorite but am unable as all of them resonated with me.

"Highly recommended."      ~ Amazon Reader Review, FIVE Stars

"A TRIO OF CAT TALES could actually have been written by a cat!
 
"Judy has such a way of telling these sweet stories from the feline point of view that the reader could almost believe that "S" had taken the keyboard and written them herself. "S" tells her tale as she goes through different life situations with her owner "She". As the reigning Cat of the House "S" sizes up each of the scenarios she is dealt and handles them with kitty-cat grace and aplomb. Well...except for in "Travels with S", which is tale #2. Here we do witness a good bit of yowling and more than a few tears, but don't worry. Everything ends okay. As a cat-owned human who has moved several times with felines in tow I got a big kick out of "Travels with S"!
 
"Those humans who have a cat reigning in their household will especially enjoy this book."      ~ Amazon Reader Review, FIVE Stars

"... Judy’s characters are strong and very real. The dialog rings true, and fellow Irish-Americans will enjoy (and perhaps recognize) the familial banter in the second tale, The Shadow by the Gate. Liam, its young protagonist, reminds me a little of me as a teen.

"A TRIO OF IRISH TALES is not a thriller, but it does keep you turning pages. Judy does with pooka, the man of the mists, and dancing fairies what others do with bullets and mayhem. The book’s charming mysticism grabs with plenty of character and just a pinch of suspense. The writing is conversational, and Judy’s voice is as friendly and open in her book as it is at her readings. The pace, flow, and tone precisely complements the stories.

Although they are fresh from Judy’s mind and two of three stories take place in today’s world, all read like traditional tales. In the first tale, entitled “In the Mist” a girl’s dream of romance is shattered, and her passion draws her from safety into the hidden dangers of the mist. In the Shadow by the Gate, Liam, a jaded teenaged technophile is thrust into a startlingly real world of traditional mysticism. The book finishes with The Oak, a story of one woman’s life as the river of time flows past her, her home, and her family.
 
A TRIO OF IRISH TALES is a great read. It’s both pleasant and engaging and should appeal to all readers, not just those of us of Irish descent. I recommend it. 
~ Amazon Reader Review, FIVE Stars