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Welcome to Another World, Tir na Nua
May 2nd, 2009 by L Stephen O
Tir na Nua
 I have imagined a world apart. A land out of time. I have collected some information on this strange new land on this page. HERE

Now, on Earth, there is little doubt about some things which have happened, they have been recorded as history.  These things are written.  Before and between the stone of written history are legends of things not written, but perhaps true none-the-less.  In fact, the mortar of reality is the life between the stones of history, some of it legend, some of it mundane.

History and Legend, Tir na Nua is neither and both. Have you wished that there was a land where the Celtic world did not fall beneath the Roman? Have you wondered what that world might have been? Such things have happened in the new land and we have word of it, remembered by bards, lineage by rote, History in mind and on their lips, a legend, a mirror of reality, but not reality itself.  I bring these Stories.

Stories That Grow in the Telling

Tir na Nua means the new land.  That is appropriate, as I work out both detail and the craft of writing here on these pages.  New can mean rough and unrefined, but it can also mean fresh.  I hope, more than the former, that my take on Celtic myth and legend and in particular Irish lore, is a fresh take on a fascinating people and time.  The why and how of what I’m doing on these pages are on my Author’s page: HERE

I have in mind several novels, but I have made so little progress putting them on paper in a traditional manner that when a friend encouraged me to write a blog I decided to do it when I realized that I could write fiction in a blog format instead of engaging in the usual navel gazing that populates my conception of what a blog is (in particular one that I might write.) SO, to begin writing, I have taken breaks and lunches at my current J.O.B. to fictionalize.  I think of these stories as my writer’s note-book, writing exercises, process, and I confess that they are rough because they are not well thought out AND because it has been a pretty long time since I’ve done much more than thought about writing. Anyway, here is a page that gives access to some of these Stories.

Free CELTIC Fiction

My hope is to create fiction that speaks to the Celtic Heart.  I am concerned that my current skill does not do it justice, nervous to present what I’ve done so far.  I found myself writing about Eskimos and Ismaelites and the Elven instead of what I really intend to present.  Well, that should not be.  Warts and all here is a new story that I rip from Celtic legend and set in my new world, Tir na Nua, the Red Son of Concubar.

the Abbott and the Djinn

I’ve begun to post a rough first draft novel that I plan to finish on or before my birthday 2011. At least that is my intent.  the Abbott and the Djinn is the tale of a long lived grey elf orphan, who comes to be called Iamerge in this story, and a monk of my Biblious House named Gospels.  Iamerge follows Gospels and eleven other companions Eastward on an odyssey of discovery, both personal and corporate.  I am writing this on the fly without recourse to a lot of notes or plotting so that I am often surprised by the turns that the story takes. 

Here is the novel beginnings: Intro to and Beginning of The Abbot and the Djinn.  Follow my progress HERE.

Rough Draft Fiction Free Online

I don’t pretend to be a polished novelist. Let’s just say I’m a work in progress. Still, despite getting B’s in English (I thought I had done better than that, but I guess Mr. White wasn’t as complimentary as I remembered), I always wanted to write fiction and I felt like I could.

After all, I’m a man with a story. Even my name, O’Neill, has tales attached to it (like this one of the Hand Gules that is prominent in our heraldry,) but don’t we all? I love old tales, tales of heroes, tales of real people in strange times and strange people in real times. I have wanted to write such tales and, prodded by my friend, Jeffery, I have.

Using a sort of “just start writing and see where it goes” technique I’ve completed the first draft of a short story.  In the end, Concerning The Deer Riders wandered a bit farther than I had anticipated.  Legendary wanderings?  You can read Concerning the Deer Riders yourself and see what you think.

My Polished Stones

Since this is my process, a good deal of it is rough here as I begin.  My hope is to get better and better at writing Celtic Fiction so that reading it free will become a bargain and not a chore.  I plan to work on a few of my stories to make works of fiction closer to my potential.  That is, I plan to polish them by rewriting them for your reading pleasure and in particular the reading pleasure of those who might come across this sight and have little patience for my early fumblings unfiltered from my imagination?

Recently I’ve realized that I should not.  My first goal was to get something, anything here, secondly I NEEDED to write because it had been a long time since I had.  I have courted your opinion to no effect, but then why should I expect it?  Do I read other’s work and offer up my opinion, my help?  Not recently and can I help? 

So, I intend to polish up a few of the stories that have accumulated.  The raw novelization of the Abbott and the Djinn will continue, undoubtedly I’ll put up more unfiltered imaginings like the Deer Riders and Child of Moss.  Then, in a section before those unpolished stones, I will begin to offer some that have had my attention and effort so that you can judge me or at least have a better chance of being reliably entertained.  Some may read on to the raw.  HERE is the page that will list the more polished work. (it is currently empty <sigh>)

Other Stuff

I am in the process of writing several novels, but on the way to that I offer these thoughts, insights, resources, and diversions of interest to me and, I hope, to you.  Here I hope to gather legends and lore, notes on antiquity, and present day reality.  Have a look HERE

For now, welcome, and please tell me what you like or you don’t.  I value your insights.

LSO

PS. HERE are some authors I have read and admire by way of giving you hints about where I’m aiming

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17 Responses  
Brian W. writes:
July 6th, 2009 at 12:44 am

Hullo Steve!

I like the site design, it is very shiny. :D

L Stephen O writes:
July 9th, 2009 at 8:59 pm

Yeah, I can only claim picking it out of a few someone set up as possibilities.

BUT

I believe the colors are customizable, stay tuned as I might change some of the color scheme.

Please advise if changes I make promote shininess or if the alterations cause a diminishment of aforementioned shiny as shiny is our goal here at LStephenOneill.

Steve

PS. Note to self: make sure that the goal of shininess is stated somewhere in the pages of this… …uh… …website.

PPS. Additional note to self: Find out if “shininess” is how you spell shininess or if I’m going to have to work toward some other goal if indeed shininess is a word but doesn’t mean the quality or degree to which a thing is shiny. OR fix the spelling.

Wendy writes:
August 7th, 2009 at 9:00 pm

Very proud of you, hon! Keep up the good work.

Love you!
Wendy

Louise from Exterminators Dyer writes:
November 25th, 2009 at 9:16 am

Have you ever seen the film “Into the West”? It’s a great family movie about Irish children in search of Tir Na Nau. Sounds like it might be right up your alley.

L Stephen O writes:
November 25th, 2009 at 9:22 pm

Dear Louise,

I think “Into the West” sounds very interesting. I’ll have to see if I can find it at my local video store. Thanks for the recommendation.

As to seeking Tir na Nog, it is the Irish land of eternal youth. There are legends, notably of Osian who followed a deer, really a fae woman, and lived there with her for years. He went back to the regular world to see his father (Finn MacCumhail) and his son (Oscar), but they were long dead. Time moves differently in the land of eternal youth. He was warned not to touch the ground, but to help an old woman (I think) he got off his horse and instantly turned into an old man.

Not sure what all that has to do with what you mentioned, but if the children in “Into the West” are seeking Tir Na Nua, I should see it. I thought I was being quite original with my Irish dictionary: Tir Na (Land of) Nua (New).

Thanks for stopping by my little pages.

LSO

Sukanta Sarangi writes:
January 12th, 2010 at 10:12 pm

As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me in social network promotion. Thank you

Max from Walnut Flooring writes:
January 15th, 2010 at 11:48 am

Hi! Nice entry, very interesting to read. Yes, I love legends, they are wonderful stories indeed. :) Thanks for your post.

L Stephen O writes:
January 19th, 2010 at 2:22 pm

Dear Max,

I hope then, that you have a look through my pages. I’m taking names, stories, ideas, from the past and setting them in another world. I suspect that many Angus(es), and Niall(s), and Cu(es), and Finn(es) contributed to the tales we now have. I may make a break from those older legends in my new (Nua) mythos but I intend for the spirit to be the same.

In the meantime I’ve started a couple of new legends on my own. Have a look at Anuniaq and the Deer Riders.

Tell me what you think.

LSO

Chuck from Cheap Wood Flooring writes:
February 20th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

The story lives on as it is told form teller to teller. As it lives it grows old and changes and takes a turn here and there. The main theme remains or rather evolves as each telling adds to and forgets a bit here and there.

L Stephen O writes:
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:47 pm

It does and it does. On these pages those stories leap into another world. A place that has never been, but could be.

Often one of the changes that happens is that names change. Stories from long long ago are told of someone nearer adding to that legend the bones of the old. Sometimes though, old names resurface, and new tales echo the old.

LSO

Paul from Indian Recipes writes:
April 17th, 2010 at 8:19 pm

into the west? is that like into the wild?

L Stephen O writes:
April 19th, 2010 at 2:28 pm

Dear Paul,

Yes and No. If I understand what happened to the young man who went “into the wild”, I believe he ate something toxic and died. In that sense, yes, as some Celts imagined their heaven, or Tir na Nog (The land of youth for the Irish), as being in the West.

The term and that idea was used by JRR Tolkien in his Lord of the Rings. The Elves, leaving middle earth, departed Grey Havens for the West. Going into the West, sybolically, is associated with death. That is an association that I was making, something that is generally referenced in one sense, but which I have changed into something else.

As an American, West has had association with newness, not necessarily wildness but certainly freedom, This new land is pre-wild, there is nothing, perhaps American settlers saw the West that way too, that there was nothing until they built.

In both the former and the later senses the West, because it is the reward at the end of life, or because it is new and offers hope, especially as it has been idealized as a paradise, there are positive association and in that sense I think no.

Does that help?

LSO

massage therapist ny writes:
June 26th, 2010 at 9:35 am

Putting poetry or the poetic approach aside for awhile, let’s discuss word count; when is a short-story too long to still be a short? Is there an official point where a short becomes a novella, another where a novella becomes a novel? Is Hemingway’s The Old Man & the Sea (very short) truly a novel?

Data Recovery Software writes:
July 31st, 2010 at 3:39 am

Thanks for sharing this story,
How can I download more stories written by you?

L Stephen O writes:
August 2nd, 2010 at 5:44 pm

Tis easily done. Meerly click on the various offerings to the left and enjoy. No muss, no fuss.

LSO

Offshoreally Only writes:
August 29th, 2010 at 10:08 pm

Great post. I really enjoyed every part of it. Its a very informative. Thanks!!

L Stephen O writes:
August 30th, 2010 at 10:48 pm

Okay, I know this is a Spam post, but I think this is an opportunity to point out that this post is NOT good, it is bad. I need to fix this post. Actually I’ve already rewritten it a bit, but I left it on the wrong drive where I can’t get to it. Hopefully I can fix this soonish.

Sincerely,

LSO

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