finbarsfiddle

Now that Finbar’s Fiddle is out on Amazon, I thought I would write some of my reflections about writing my first book. Finbar’s Fiddle is actually my second book. The first one, which bears the distinctive name Untitled, remains locked away in the hard drive of my computer.

I wrote Untitled over a span of four years. It is really not very good, but it is a finished book. I will never try to publish it. It will never see the light of day. Untitled is important though. If I had never written Untitled, I probably would not have written Finbar’s Fiddle. Untitled taught me a lot about writing.

Untitled taught me that writing is difficult, time consuming, exhausting even. It also taught me the wonder of bringing thoughts to the page. The excitement of bringing characters to life.   It was the first step on what I hope to be a long journey.

The first road we travel on any journey is the driveway. It may not be long. It may not be impressive, but if we don’t travel that road we will never go anywhere. My first book taught me to begin the journey.

I spent a lot of time on the road this holiday season. Roads are wonderful because you can take them anywhere. All roads lead to other roads. You can go anywhere if you have the time.

Many of the best stories take place on the road. The Hobbit, for example, is a long journey. When I was young I read Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. I did not understand some of the Scottish words, but the story of a young boy making his way through wild Scotland got me hooked on reading.

The road is full of endless possibilities. Anything can happen when you leave your door.  You can see new places or familiar faces you haven’t seen in a while. Perhaps this is why road stories are so much fun to read. Each page is like a bend in the road with something new waiting behind it.

I hope all your roads lead to happiness in 2013.

Now that I’ve got Finbar’s Fiddle up on Amazon I thought I would blog about some of my inspirations for the story.  I started this book a few years ago when my children were small and nursery rhymes were part of my life.

The imagery is intriguing.  A cat and a fiddle. How does that work? A cow over the moon is like a bad Chick-Fil-A commercial. The language is also intriguing.  What is up with that crazy weasel anyway?

If you search the internet (where only the most reliable information is found) you will discover that these rhymes are largely based on events in English history. Many of these events were quite bloody.  Don’t believe me, look up Mary, Mary Quite Contrary.  London Bridges is based on a viking attack. Ring ‘Round the Rosey, the plague.  Nothing says fun like the plague.

The meanings of a lot of them are unknown or disputed. It is interesting how we pass on these ancient cultural references without even knowing it. Oh and the weasel?  It has something to do with Cockney slang or spinning wheels.  It’s complicated.

I found most of the information on a British site called Rhymes.org which I’ve linked here. They have words and explanations for rhymes familiar and bizarre. They also have lots of ads linked to their text so click carefully.

What rhymes do you remember from childhood?