UPDATE on A TRIO OF IRISH TALES!

Thank you to those who bought the first copies!  You got the special versions with some pesky, sneaky text errors.  As of today the "as good as it's going to be" version has gone live on Amazon and is available for purchase in the Kindle Store: A Trio of Irish Tales

No Kindle? No Problem!  Two options:
~ Visit Amazon's Free Kindle Reading Apps page and download a version appropriate for your computer
~ Hang on a bit ... a paperback monograph version is in final proofs for Print-On-Demand through CreateSpace and will be available for sale on Amazon. (Stay Tuned here for details.)

In Other Great News!
We are taking it to the streets!  Well, actually to the seats with Public Readings from A Trio of Irish Tales and Reflections from The Golden Wheel.  Come, bring a beverage, sit back and enjoy some lovely shared time together, and let me read you a story!

Saturday, March 23rd at 2pm (60-90 minutes)
Mason United Methodist Church
2710 North Madison Street in the Proctor District

Sunday, April 7th at 4pm (for 20 minutes only)
The WomenArt Swans Day Celebration - Tacoma
King's Books
218 St Helens Ave - Stadium District

Sunday, April 7th at 7pm (60-90 minutes)
Lakewood Playhouse
5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd - Lakewood Towne Center

And if THAT weren't enough ... here's a little something to tease you with.  A selection from "In The Mists", the first Chapter in A Trio of Irish Tales.

Click here to Listen!

TRIO OF IRISH TALES Finally Released!

As of this morning, A Trio of Irish Tales is on sale, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

Meet Ireland's legendary "Man of the Mists", experience the life of one woman through a sacred oak tree, or delight in the old-world vs new-world clash between an annoyed pooka and a digitally savvy teenager. In this first volume of the "Trio Tales" series, author Judith Cullen celebrates her heritage inspired by family and friends, and she even invites the fairies out to dance. 

Don't have a Kindle?  No problem!   Amazon has Free Kindle Reading Apps available to download to you computer or other device of "personal digital satisfaction". (thank you David Fischer!)

You can also "borrow" it ... see Amazon for more details.  These are digital days, and the more "hits" the higher it gets on the radar of the book buying world.  Of course, one hopes people will actually buy it as well.  That's the big dream - love the stories, buy the book!

Wonderful cover photo was done by friend Micki McIntyre in Second Life.  Coming shortly ... Reflections on The Golden Wheel, with more short stories, both fictional and non-fiction, and another lovely bit of virtual photography by Micki.

BLOG RECONSTRUCTION!

Spring is almost in the air and it is time to refresh the blog.  Things got a bit complicated in the bleak midwinter, but some new things are on the horizon.  Look for new selections from Dickens, more of the Letters of Abigail Adams, and some more of my original work!

Also coming, a tip function!  Selections will continue to be offered freely, and if you see your way to help us enrich the lives of people all over the world through the "sounds of stories" ...please do.

Sadly, because of adding the tip function some posts will be deleted from the archive to keep us in total compliance with the DCMA, and out of respect for the rights of those living authors.

Come see us thrive this Spring!  Stories help us understand, express, and dream. Be a part of it! 

January 25th: ROBERT BURNS DAY!

We're baaaaack!

And, remarkably, it is another Scottish Holiday today!  Whether you call it "Burns Day", or "Burns Night" or whatever ...it celebrates the life and works of another "Bard."  You thought there was only the one from Avon?  Think again!

"The annual celebratory tribute to the life, works and spirit of the great Scottish poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796). Celebrated on, or about, the Bard's birthday, January 25th, Burns Suppers range from stentoriously formal gatherings of esthetes and scholars to uproariously informal rave-ups of drunkards and louts. Most Burns Suppers fall in the middle of this range, and adhere, more or less, to some sort of time honoured form which includes the eating of a traditional Scottish meal, the drinking of Scotch whisky, and the recitation of works by, about, and in the spirit of the Bard."

To learn more about Scotland's Bard, Click Here

Burns wrote many poems and songs that you may know, not realizing they were written by him or that they were over 200 years old:  "Auld Lang Syne" (sung at New Years) "Sweet Afton" ("Flow gently, sweet Afton...").  Here are two poems by Burns, which does not even come near to the range of his canon. One you may know, and one might be new to you. Enjoy!

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns (poem)
The Farewell by Robert Burns (poem)

Recordings (c) 2013 by Judith Cullen
NOT for Commercial Use

NOTE: These poems are read in "translated" versions.  Burns wrote in a number of "dialects" based on spoken Scottish - they range from incomprehensible to the totally understandable to the English/American ear. Reading the translations was safer.  Also A Red, Red Rose contains a gender switch from the original: "lass" to "lad."

THE DICKENS PROJECT!

Where have I been?  Immersed in design projects, story projects, and audiobooks!  Check out the pictures on my Design site of the beta test of The Dickens Project, whose ultimate realization would be an interactive virtual environment where you could walk in the steps of Ebenezer Scrooge through a detailed virtual environment, guided by a live storyteller and the words of Dickens ... all of them!

The Dickens Project - Virtual Immersion in Literature

 

FYI : I will be reading the entirety of A Christmas Carol Live in two sessions (half the novella each) in Second Life (c) as I have for the past several years - December  23rd at 3:00pm Pacific Time, and December 24th at 3:00pm Pacific Time. 

The Dickens Project is free, donations accepted to benefit the Community Virtual Library.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/179/204/23

DECEMBER 9th: "Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus"

I remember the very first time I heard Frank P. Church's letter from the New York Sun, and really understood it.  I still read it every December, and frequently with a few tears.  He so perfectly states my own feeling that there is so much in this world that is unseen and unseeable, that we really cannot honestly pretend that we have a handle on it all.  Or as Shakespeare wrote,“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”  

It is a time of year when we need belief.  The winter is upon us. Even thought the spring comes every year as the great wheel continues around, we have our moments of doubt in the cold and dark.  Doubts in the world around us, nature, the universe, in others, and most profoundly in ourselves.  The answer is always the same, if we just listen and trust, "Yes ..."  Believe.

Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus by Francis P. Church

Recording (c) 2012 by Judith Cullen
NOT for Commercial Use

DECEMBER 6th: "Meet Ebenezer Scrooge"

"Old Marley was dead..."  begins Charles Dickens' classic ghostly tale of discovery and redemption.  From a previous post you'll not that I am working on a Dickens Centenary event in Second Life (c) called The Dickens Project.

Dickens was written to be read aloud.  In fact the author diligently read his work to family and friends.  Remembering there were no radios, televisions, vhs or dvd, much less internet in those days.  Gathering to hear stories read or told was a common social activity.  In fact all those things I listed are also storytelling tools, though one might argue that they are getting more and more impersonal.  But that's another conversation.  Dickens was meant to be read and read aloud.

The language is delicious, and while I might not give it the same quality that a Patrick Stewart, Albert Finney, or Ian McKellen might, it is still a grand story beautifully if not economically told.  I have read it out loud every year for the past four years and every time I discover something new.

Consider reading it yourself!  It can be gotten free at several online sites, including Project Gutenberg.

"Meet Ebenezer Scrooge" from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Recording (c) 2012 by Judith Cullen
NOT for Commercial Use