#YAieDay and Octocon

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So, #YAieDay is on Twitter tomorrow, a day when we celebrate all things YA in Ireland, and I’m going to be on from 1.10-1.50 swearing… sorry “talking” about swearing with Kim Hood and Sally Nicholls. Follow the #YAieDay hashtag on Twitter and the full (amazing) lineup and programme is here. Thanks to the marvellous Michelle Moloney King for putting this together.

And then, next week it’s Octocon. And the programme is now up online too. Another brilliant line up of people and lots of YA here.

So this is what I’ll be up to.

Busy busy busy…

  • Friday, October 9
    7pm
    Ireland as a location
    A. Tivoli/Yeats, 7pm – 8pm
  • Saturday, October 10
    1pm
    As the creator Intended?
    C. Gaiety, 1pm – 2pm
  • 3pm
    Historical Inaccuracies.
    B. Abbey, 3pm – 4pm
  • 7pm
    Late Night Panel: Sex In Fiction/Erotica
    B. Abbey, 7pm – 8pm
  • Sunday, October 11
    2pm
    A Fantasy of My Own
    A. Tivoli/Yeats, 2pm – 3pm
  • 3pm
    Irish Mythology And Its International Spread
    A. Tivoli/Yeats, 3pm – 4pm
  • 4pm
    Readings from our Authors featuring Planetfall by Emma Newman
    B. Abbey, 4pm – 5pm
  • 5pm
    Practical Magic: Perspectives of Pagans, Gamers, and Fantasy Authors
    B. Abbey, 5pm – 6pm

The whole programme can be found here. Come along and say hello! I will probably be the person rushing between panels but say hello anyway! 😀

Magical Places of Dubh Linn: The Dubh Linn Gardens & Chester Beatty Library

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DubhLinnGarden

In the grounds of Dublin Castle, the Dubh Linn gardens sit on the site of the original black pool. They are decorated with intertwined brick pathways representing eels. The central lawn double jobs as a helicopter landing pad, while small gardens, such as the Garda Memorial Garden, occupy the corners. It is also the site of the Chester Beatty Library, one of my favorite places to visit in Dublin.

Magical Places of Dubh Linn: Dublin Castle

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DublinCastel

Dublin Castle sits in the heart of old Dublin, on the highest point of land in the area, a ridge between the Liffey and the Poddle (which now flows underground). A sheltered harbour on the Poddle, Dubh Linn was the original Black Pool from which Dublin gets its name. It was probably the site of an ancient ringfort which guarded the harbour, and from the 930s a Viking settlement stood there. The Norman castle was founded in 1204 and the gates were once decorated with the decapitated heads of rebels and invaders. This gate is on Palace Street, the shortest in Dublin with only two addresses, one of which is the Sick and Indigent Roomkeepers Society, founded in 1790. Next door to it is the lovely Chez Max.

Magical Places of Dubh Linn: The Hellfire Club

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Hellfire

Montpelier Hill looms large in the supernatural tales of Dublin and even larger in Dubh Linn. Standing on top of it is the Hellfire Club, once a hunting lodge built in 1725. Stones from the cairn beside it were used in the construction and that sort of thing never ends well. It was used by members of the Irish Hellfire Club for meetings and the stories of wild behaviour, gambling, drunkenness and deals with the devil soon followed. They abandoned it after a fire which was reputedly started by one of the members when a footman spilled his brandy. His solution? Setting the man on fire.

Strange occurances, ghostly reports and bad luck continue to be associated with the Hellfire Club.

 

Magical Places of Dubh Linn: Sídheway gate on Bray Head

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Sidheway

Doorways to Dubh Linn are everywhere. Sometimes they can be seen and sometimes not, but there’s always some sort of marker, something to identify them. While doing research for A Hollow in the Hills on Bray Head we came across this tree (or maybe these trees?) right in the middle of the path (I use the term loosely, it’s quite a scramble). I had to put it in.

Magical places of Dubh Linn: Shielmartin Hill

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Sheilmartin Hill, Howth in A Hollow in the Hills by Ruth Frances Long
Shielmartin Hill, Howth in A Hollow in the Hills by Ruth Frances Long

Shielmartin hill is part of Howth Head, overlooking Dublin and features in A Hollow in the Hills. Local tradition says that the cairn on the summit was the burial place of Crimthann. Most of the summit appears to be made up of the cairn, with other cairns built on top of it.

One of my many magical places around Dublin featuring in A Crack in Everything and A Hollow in the Hills.

I’m going to post some more of them over the next while.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime check out the Goodreads giveaway running for another 8 days.

Booklaunch

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Windows

We had a wonderful evening on Wednesday. Thank you to everyone who came along or send good wishes. And thank you especially to Bob and the staff of The Gutter Bookshop for putting on such an amazing night.

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Meanwhile, over on Goodreads, The O’Brien Press are giving away three copies of A Hollow in the Hills. You can enter here.

And in their review of A Hollow in the Hills Parents in Touch said ‘Brilliantly drawn characters & a tightly knit plot combine to make an exhilarating read.’

A Hollow in the Hills Playlist

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To celebrate the release of A Hollow in the Hills (all right, it escaped a bit early  but I think they have it firmly under control now) here is my playlist –

AHollowInTheHillsPlaylist

There are songs for different characters, and various events. There are songs that are for overall mood as well.

And you can listen to them on YouTube too.

A Hollow in the Hills is out now from O’Brien Press and available at your local bookshop or online.

Something is stirring beneath Dubh Linn.
When an ancient and forbidden power is unleashed, Izzy, who is still coming to terms with her newfound powers, must prevent a war from engulfing Dublin and the fae realm of Dubh Linn. But by refusing to sacrifice Jinx – fae warrior and her ‘not-really-ex’ – Izzy sets in motion a chain of events which will see them hunted across the city and into the hills where she’ll face the greatest challenge of all. In the deepest and darkest Hollow, an angel of death is waiting …and the price he asks for his help might be too high …