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Yesterday was a happy writing day.

Robert Dunbar in the Irish Times had this to say about the Sleeping Baobab Tree …

Finally, with Paula Leyden’s The Sleeping Baobab Tree , we travel to Zambia for a mind-opening novel featuring twin sisters, the boy next door and his formidable greatgrandmother: a car journey involving all four provides a wonderfully sustained piece of comic writing in a novel that nevertheless engages with serious contemporary themes.

But as for the “best”? My Honour Award for fiction would go to the Paula Leyden title, which, as some duplication is allowed, would also carry off the book-of-the-year award. 

Now. I know this is one person’s opinion – and as I said in a previous post, the shortlist is a strong one and I am a newbie so my expectations are low – but I am thrilled to be on the list and his comments warmed my heart. I especially loved that he was amused by the book ..Thank you Robert!

Then, a review of Tom O’Neill’s book (Tom is my partner) Fionn and the Legends of the Blood Emeralds by Mary Esther Judy of Fallen Star Stories

FIONN AND THE LEGEND OF THE BLOOD EMERALDS
author: Tom O’Neill
HeroicRealm.com (2013)
ISBN: 9781909483279
Dark McLeans’ Uncle Connie has been struck down by a mysterious illness: an illness of alarmingly rapid progress with no obvious cause or treatment; an illness that is killing him. Dark is now in a race against time to find a cure. Their sinister neighbour is shadowing Darks’ every move, his friends are abandoning him and Dark is losing hope and courage. Each night, Dark ventures into a nearby fairy ring in desperation. Perhaps the Old People know of a cure. Each night, Dark is told a tale….. a tale of a young man called Matha who, long ago, was on a similar quest to his own; a tale of Fionn MacCumhaill and ancient journeys, of bards and battles and a magical land. As time is running out for Uncle Connie, Dark begins to understand the true meaning behind his uncles’ words: “They walk among us.”
Tom O’Neills’ previous book, “Old Friends: The Lost Tales of Fionn MacCumhaill” was thoroughly gripping. 

This one is even more. This one is simply spell-binding, packed with lyrical story-telling, raw and complex emotional impact and evocative characters and setting. The flow of the contemporary story into the mythical is smooth, and the correlations drawn between the two stories create an ebb and flow that pulls the reader into the tale. Each chapter is genuine, believable and intriguing. The power behind the words is tangible and will keep you awake well into the night reading on…. and casting your vision out into the night wondering what is actually going on out there in the trees and hills. A wondrous adventure that blurs the lines between reality and mythology. Just loved it!

Erin McKean, who is OUP’s chief consulting editor for American dictionaries when she’s not busy being “America’s lexicographical sweetheart,” filled in this past Sunday for a vacationing William Safire, devoting the New York Times Magazine’s “On Language” column to a subject that should be familiar to readers of this column: the Oxford English Corpus and the fascinating things that it tells us about our changing language. (more…)

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