That’s Irish for “Merry Christmas.” With Christmas quickly closing in on us, I thought I’d talk about my latest Christmas anthology and some of the Irish Christmas traditions I uncovered while researching my novella.

My first three fictions sales were for novellas. The way this works with my publisher is that an author comes up with an idea for an anthology then recruits three other authors to work with them.(One can be unpublished but three of the authors must already be established with my publisher) Once the anthology team is assembled, the group brainstorms ideas and decides in which direction they want to go and then a proposal is put together and submitted to the editor. Each author will write a 20,000 word novella. Sometimes these novella collections are very closely linked by family or town. Those require much more collaboration than ones linked only by theme.

A Bride by Christmas is my latest novella collection. The stories in it have several tie-ins:

1. One of the characters must marry by Christmas or something bad   
     will happen

2. The stories must be set on the prairie.

3. The heroines must not be American, but from another country
     and some of her Christmas traditions must be included in the
     story.

Here’s a blurb about my novella, An Irish Bride for Christmas:

When Jackson Lancaster’s brother and wife are killed in a stage holdup, he takes his three-year-old niece home. But a meddling busy-body makes the local judge give her custody, “because an unmarried man shouldn’t raise a little girl.” Now Jackson has until Christmas to find a bride or lose his niece forever. Larkin Doyle is grateful her employer took in the orphan and believes Jackson abandoned his niece. When her heart decides otherwise, will romance blossom?   

And here are some Irish Christmas traditions. There are many more, but these are the more widely known ones.

THE CANDLE:

The placing of a lighted candle in the window of a house on Christmas Eve had a number of purposes, but primarily it was a symbol of welcome to Mary and Joseph as they traveled looking for shelter. The candle was a way of saying there was room for Jesus’ parents in these homes even if there was none in Bethlehem. The candle should be lit by the youngest member of the household and could only be extinguished by a girl bearing the name ‘Mary.’ (That could explain why that name used to be so popular)

THE LADEN TABLE:After the evening meal on Christmas Eve the kitchen table was again set and on it was placed a loaf of bread filled with caraway seeds and raisins, a pitcher of milk, and a large lit candle. The door to the house was left unlatched so that Mary and Joseph, or any wandering travelers, could avail of the welcome.

DECORATIONS:The placing of a ring of holly on doors originated in Ireland as holly was one of the main plants that flourished at Christmas time and gave the poor ample means with which to decorate their dwellings. All decorations are traditionally taken down on Little Christmas (January 6th.) and it is considered to be bad luck to take them down beforehand.

CHRISTMAS DINNER:

Roast goose, stuffed with potatoes and onions, pig’s head garlanded with curly cabbage, a piece of salt beef, and an abundance of potatoes was, and is, the never-changing menu in humble Irish households. In wealthier homes, rice pudding, plentifully sprinkled with currants, or plum pudding, was served. Among the more traditional Irish elements were spiced beef (spiced over several days, cooked, and then pressed) which can be served either hot or cold. The traditional dessert is usually composed of mince pies, Christmas pudding, and brandy or rum sauce.

Gift Giving and St. Stephen’s Day:

Before Christmas it was customary to give small gifts, usually of the cash variety, to deliverymen. Long ago, this was done on St. Stephen’s day, also known as Boxing Day (the day after Christmas). Traditionally, pantomime plays are performed on St. Stephen’s day, in which women play the men’s roles and vice-versa. In Dublin there are usually several plays going on with subjects including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, and Babes in the Wood.

THE WREN BOY PROCESSION:

The wren, the wren,
the king of all birds

Most people treat the Wren Boys to porter and pudding. Any young people in the house are cajoled to continue on with the gang until there is a decent assembly of young folk being followed by most of the children in the neighborhood. They will end up in some neighbor’s house, and if someone produces a fiddle, the party begins.

Irish Christmas traditions draw to a close on January 6th. The 12 days of the Irish Christmas season mark the twelve days between the birth of Christ and the arrival of the “Three Wise Men”, the Magi. January 6th is the day of the feast of the Epiphany. It is called “Little Christmas” in Ireland, Nollaig Bheag in Gaelic.

Little Christmas is sacred as a celebration of God’s manifestation to us in human form…Jesus. Some say that long ago, before Western Civilization adopted the Gregorian calendar, the Epiphany was the traditional day to celebrate the birth of Christ, and that this is the reason the Irish still call this day Little Christmas.

Isn’t it interesting how many of our traditions today date back to some of these? I did a lot of research on Irish Christmas celebrations but was able to use very little of it in my short novella. Of course, I’m saving it, and maybe one of these days, I’ll write a longer book and have the chance to incorporate more of my research.

Here’s a link if you’d like to buy my book: http://www.amazon.com/Bride-Christmas-English-Inspirational-Collection/dp/1602601194/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226017067&sr=1-2

If you care to make a comment, your name will be entered in a drawing to receive a free copy of A Bride by Christmas.

Vickie McDonough

“No wonder skies upon you frown,
You’ve nailed the horse-shoe upside down;
Just turn it round, and soon you’ll see
How you and Fortune will agree.”

~ James T. Fields

The world over horseshoes are a symbol of good luck. I’m not overly superstitious but I am endlessly curious.  I’ve always liked horseshoe art and I grew up tossing horseshoes in the back yard…so what makes a horseshoe ”lucky”? Is just any old horsehoe a ”lucky” horseshoe?

Turns out there are some Lucky Horseshoe Rules: A truly lucky horseshoe has been used (not new), or found (not purchased).

In all traditions, luck (good or bad) is contained in the shoe and can pour out through the ends. In regions where the horseshoe is placed facing upward, folks believe the horseshoe must point up “or the luck runs out.” In places where it is hung facing downward they say exactly the opposite — “it must point down so the luck can pour onto you.” However, in its function as an amulet for magical protection, especially over the doorways of barns and stables, the horseshoe usually points downward and it is said that “no evil or witch will pass under it.”

So, where did this horseshoe luck come from?

Horseshoes were actually used by the Greeks as early as the 4th Century B.C. Since horses were believed to be one of the most sacred of animals, their crescent-shaped shoes became symbols of good luck. The origin is also believed to be tied to the proscribed magical powers of iron. Iron is considered lucky because it is born from the marriage of rock and fire, two of the basic elements in ancient times. Blacksmiths, makers and users of iron, were alchemical masters of the elements and their byproducts. Accordingly, their creations were believed to be endowed with supernatural powers.

Another aspect of the horseshoe that added to it’s good luck was the fact that it was commonly held in place by seven iron nails. Since ancient times, the number seven was considered very important. Life was divided into seven ages; a rainbow has seven colors; astrology once held that seven planets made up the universe; there are seven deadly sins; a seventh child was thought to have special powers; there are seven days in a week; the moon changes from one phase to another every seven days.

One reputed origin of the tradition of lucky horseshoes is the story of Saint Dunstan and the Devil. Dunstan, who became the Archbishop of Canterbury in AD 959, was a blacksmith by trade. The story relates that he once nailed a horseshoe to the Devil’s hoof when he was asked to reshoe the Devil’s hoof. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after the Devil promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is hung over the door.

Some believe that if guests come to a house where a horseshoe is above the door, they must leave by the same door through which they entered or they will take the luck from the horseshoe with them from the house.

How ’bout you?  Any horseshoes hanging ’round?  Do you hang them up, or hang them down?

Charlene Sands                                            

It’s true, you may not want to read this if you’re a lover of Hollywood’s version of the old West!  But I live twenty minutes from the screen capital of the world.  Hardly a day goes by that I don’t meet someone, or speak to someone, or SEE someone related to the industry.  My very own daughter will soon have in-laws high in the ranks of television and movie producing, but I digress.  

 Some people ask, why don’t we see more westerns on the screen?

The answer might be as simple as the bottom line.  Time period movies are very costly.  Setting up towns, designing the costumes, acquiring the props of everyday items used in the west is expensive.  Notice they don’t make “B” movie westerns, better known back in the day as Audie Murphy or Ronald Reagan films because in order to make a western, big stars, like Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Renee Zelwigger, Ed Harris or Kevin Costner have to be associated with the project to bring in the big producing dollars. 

I am looking forward to the new western movie called Appaloosa which does look terrific. If we’re lucky, we get one really great western per year! 

So, what is fact and what is myth in the Old West? 

 The towns we recognize on the silver screen may not have looked like that in real life.  A town usually was plotted out to have many more streets than just one down the center of town.  In movies, rarely do we see residential homes in town, yet the majority of people living in the area, aside from ranchers and farmers, did live within the town’s limits in houses.  Most homes were located at the end of the streets to avoid summer dust and spring mud as people drove by. Decent folk, often wanted to stay away from the center of town, where saloons brought in gamblers and drunks.  Also, good people segregated their families from the part of town known as the “dead line” where brothels and immoral practices were doing business.

Towns in the west were dirty, smelly and cramped (except Wildflower Junction) with most buildings right next to each other so if one would catch fire, often the entire street burned down.  

Railroad towns were formed in the shape of a T where the top portion being the street paralleling the railroad and the straight part being the main street in town.   

 Not So Wild West

Lawlessness in the West, has been blown way out of proportion.  Yes, there was crime, but not to the extreme that we see onscreen with shoot-outs and duels and bank robberies happening in every other scene. Dime novels helped to spur this myth  with gunfights in the streets and stagecoach robberies and stories that were clearly made up fantasies of some very imaginative writers. The true story is much more boring, of hard work, and fending for oneself and trying to make ends meet. Many did carry guns, but that was less for protection from gunmen and more to hunt for food and to protect themselves from wild animals.  In fact, many towns had ordinances that made it illegal to carry guns in town. People entering the town often stopped by the sheriff office to surrender their weapons during their stay.  Yes, the frontier, mountain and plains towns had some violence, but many would more likely die from starvation, thirst, falling off a mountain or horse, freezing, snakebite or being attacked by wild animals.

Not nearly as romantic, is it? 

Myth-Busters Revealed

Here are  some widely used scenes in movies and maybe even in books that are have truly failed when actually tried, according to the TV show Myth-Busters.

Horse Jailbreak:

Procedure/Experimental Design: Build a wild west jail and attach a strong rope to the bars. Attach the other end of the rope to a horse. Make the horse gallop as fast as he can with the most power possible to try to pull the bars off the wall.

Results: The horses couldn’t pull the bars out.Conclusion: Required force not capable of being supplied by horses.

Procedure/Experimental Design: —- To build a jail wall to the specs of a true old west jail cell 

 Conclusion: —- A stick of dynamite will potentially kill the person you are attempting to free and barely loosens the bars enough to remove them

Busted or Not Busted: —-Busted

So, I guess what we lovers of westerns have to do, is suspend our disbelief for a few hours and simply enjoy the aura of the Wild West. 

Just pretend you didn’t read this.

And tell us what other westerns clichés you notice that couldn’t possibly hold true?  What favorite western, either book or movie depicted the grittiness and truth that was the Old West?

Since our 2^nd Prize Sizzling Stampede Contest winner didn’t claim their prize, post a comment and we’ll draw a name randomly today for that wonderful prize of two autographed books and a Tom Selleck DVD!

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Is it possible that early rules for courtly love written down in the 12th century formed the basic characteristics for relationships that we have today?

Some experts certainly believe so.

There is evidence that the “Treatise on Love” written by Andreas Capellanus defined for the first time the intricate relationships between men and women. Capellanus’ work lays down the building blocks of romantic behavior in a sense.

Bet you didn’t know that the ideas and beliefs about love and romance we have today originated in Medieval courts of French, German and English knights and ladies, kings and queens.

Though some principles have changed somewhat over time, for the most part the fabric of courtly love has remained the same. The hearts of the characters in our romance books revolve around these rules. We see them used over and over in novels, movies, TV shows and even in music.

(But not only do our characters use the Rules of Courtly Love. We all use them in one way or another in our personal relationships whether we know it or not.)

The ideas that resonate are that good character is an essential quality of lovers. Heroes and heroines must be worthy of each other and their love must show it. They have an intense desire to impress and please each other. Sound familiar? We read stories about characters who practice this behavior. And we show these things in our personal relationships. They are timeless themes. True love cannot be bought. It comes from the heart out of grace and a selfless desire to please our mates. We ask nothing except that we are loved in return.

Capellanus believed, and I agree, that love taken by force isn’t love at all. He also felt that fidelity was the key to happiness and fulfillment. Men and women, and certainly characters in romance novels, are totally miserable as they work toward the relationships they want. They can’t sleep, eat, or keep their minds off their love interest. It consumes them.

Here are 10 of Capellanus’ 31 Rules of Love:

* He who does not feel jealousy is not capable of loving.

* No one can love two people at the same time.

* Whatever a lover takes against his lover’s will has no savor.

* It is unseemly to love anyone whom you would be ashamed to marry.

* A true lover does not desire the passionate embraces of anyone else but his beloved.

* Love easily obtained is of little value; difficulty in obtaining it makes it precious.

* On suddenly catching sight of his beloved, the heart of the lover begins to palpitate.

* A man tormented by the thought of love eats and sleeps very little.

* Love can deny nothing to love.

* A true lover is continually and without interruption obsessed by the image of his beloved.

* * * * * *

So, I’m just curious. Did men and women know these things long before Andreas Capellanus came along? I’m sure they must’ve. Afterall, Adam loved Eve with all his heart, even though she ate that durn apple. Maybe they just didn’t know how to put these thoughts into words. Maybe it took one man sitting down and really thinking about love and how it felt to express what others had in their hearts. When did the world not have any romance in it?

Do you find it strange that the rules written down centuries ago by some old geezer have such bearing on love and romance today? Or are we following the natural course of life as it was meant and shouldn’t examine it too closely? Or do you think romance in movies and novels is portrayed accurately?

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As my logo may indicate, I love dragonflies.  Growing up in the country I was surrounded by them in the summertime–the tiny blue ones, the giant green ones–they’ve always been my favorite insect. When coming up with a logo I wanted something I’d enjoy seeing and sharing with others and since I write dusty westerns I asked my graphic designer to give my personal dragonfly a snake-like tail. He did, and I love it. 

Not long after, my cousin saw my logo and said “Oh, Snake Doctors!” I had never heard the term and was instantly fascinated. She told me that while growing up her whole family called dragonflies “snake doctors” and she’d never heard the term dragonfly until she was much older. This got me to wondering about dragonfly lore. If there’s anything I love as much as westerns and dragonflies it’s lore, myths and legends!  Must be the storyteller in me, but I love Greek Mythology and while researching Indian tribes and cultures I became fascinated with Native American folklore. Surely the term “snake doctors” had to be connected to some interesting legend.  Well, my search did not disappoint. In fact, dragonflies are connected to a variety of lore and legends all around the world!

Some Dragonfly Lore accordiing to Wikipedia:

• The Southern United States term “snake doctor” refers to a folk belief that dragonflies follow snakes around and stitch them back together if they are injured. (Seems in the south when dragonflies are about snakes are nearby *g* )
• In Europe, dragonflies have often been seen as sinister and known as ”devil’s darning needle” and “ear cutter”, link them with evil or injury.
• A Romanian folk tale says that the dragonfly was once a horse possessed by the devil. This is also seen in the Maltese culture as the word for dragonfly which is “Debba ta’ l-infern” literally means Hell’s mare.
• Swedish folklore holds that the devil uses dragonflies to weigh people’s souls. Another Swedish legend holds that trolls use the dragonflies as spindles when weaving their clothes (hence the Swedish word for dragonfly trollslända, lit. “troll’s spindle”) as well as sending them to poke out the eyes of their enemies.
• The Norwegian name for dragonflies is “Øyenstikker”, which literally means Eye Poker. They are often associated with snakes, as in the Welsh name gwas-y-neidr, “adder’s servant”.
• The Lithuanian word “Laumžirgis” is a composite word meaning “the Lauma’s horse”, while in Dutch, Aeshna mixta is called “Paardenbijter” or “horse biter”.
• In some South American countries, dragonflies are also called matacaballo (horse killer), or caballito del diablo (devil’s horse), since they were perceived as harmful, some species being quite large for an insect.
• In East Asia and among Native Americans, dragonflies have a far better reputation, one that can also be said to have positively influenced modern day views about dragonflies in most countries.
• For some Native American tribes they represent swiftness and activity, and for the Navajo they symbolize pure water. Dragonflies are a common motif in Zuni pottery; stylized as a double-barred cross, they appear in Hopi rock art and on Pueblo necklaces. It is said in some Native American beliefs that dragonflies are a symbol of renewal after a time of great hardship.
• In Japan dragonflies are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness, and they often appear in art and literature, especially haiku. In ancient mythology, Japan was known as Akitsushima, which means “Land of the Dragonflies”. The love for dragonflies is reflected by the fact that there are traditional names for almost all of the 200 species of dragonflies found in and around Japan.
• Vietnamese people have a traditional way to forecast rain by seeing dragonflies: Dragonflies fly at low level, it is rainy; dragonflies fly at high level, it is sunny; dragonflies fly at medium level, it is shadowy.

Some Dragonfly Facts:

• A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera.
• It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, and an elongated body.
• Dragonflies are our largest and most ancient of insects.
• Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants and butterflies. They are therefore valued as predators, since they help control populations of harmful insects.
• Dragonflies are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as “nymphs”, are aquatic. Adult dragonflies do not bite or sting humans.

Also found a fun article on Clinton Journal, here’s a short clip:

“Glimmering, shimmering, glittering, shining, iridescent - these graceful children of the sun are especially loved for the beauty of their long membranous wings and colorful bodies. Their brilliant colors, bold, acrobatic flight, complex behaviors, and ubiquity around bodies of water in mid-summer are making them increasingly popular subjects for study.

A dragonfly can hover, fly sideways, stop on a dime, change direction, and even spurt backwards at astonishing speeds. Rather than slipping air smoothly over sleek airfoils as birds do, dragonflies create furious vortices which swirl much faster than the surrounding airflow around the surface of the wings. The speed of the air immediately adjacent to the wing produces lift in both planes. The wings vibrate as fast as sixteen hundred times per minute, allowing the dragonfly to reach speeds of over thirty miles per hour…

Ferocious, voracious, carnivorous, insatiable - darting above the prairie, dragonflies are searching for food. The “Odonates,” the toothed ones, are voracious predators with serrated jaws. Plucking winged pests from the air, devouring them in flight with an almost insatiable appetite, the dragonfly captures and eats hordes of flying insects by skimming through the air, scooping up its victims in a basket formed by spine-fringed legs.”

For those who stop in over at Writers At Play this may be repeated info, but last week my mom sent me a card that rekindled my focus on dragonfly lore. When I opened the card and saw this gorgeous hand painted dragonfly on the front I thought, “My mom is the best.” (She really is *g*).  I read on, expecting a delightful birthday message.  But what I found was this:

Having flown the earth for 300 million years, dragonflies symbolize our ability to overcome times of hardship. Sighting a dragonfly is meant to remind us to take time to reconnect with our own strength, courage and happiness.

(on the inside:) You’ll get past this, your heart lifted by dragonfly wings. Followed by a handwritten “Get this book done! The dragonfly will help to give you strength and reconnect. I have faith in you. ~Love Your Mom”

Needless to say, THIS has become my favorite of all the dragonfly lore I’ve uncovered so far

What about you?  Do you know dragonflies by any other name?  Any interesting nature terms or nicknames or insect lore in your neck of the woods that may be new to an easterner, westerner or southerner?

 Today one comment poster will win a copy of THE BOUNTY HUNTER AND THE HEIRESS - a great western by Carol Finch!

Wishing Y’all a dragonfly sighting

Available Now!