MJ Schiller, Bestselling Romance Author: Ireland

Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts

You Should Pick Up The Phone ~ It's SATAN, LINE ONE!

Hello, All! It's been many a moon since I've blogged, but that's because I've been working on writing some great books for you. Well, that and Life. Life happens. Which is good, because it also makes me a better writer--but I digress.

Anyway...I wanted to share with you the story behind my new release, SATAN, LINE ONE. Like much from this series, the book ties in with my real life. Back when I was a lunch lady, there was a coworker of ours who could be, well...a bit uptight. We grew to love her, but she could make things challenging at times. I believe it was my best friend--the inspiration for my character Sam--who gave her the title "Satan." (Possibly a little unkind, but the reason it was funny was because she was so not Satan, but we liked to exaggerate things for our amusement. For instance, we liked to say the Athletic Club was evil because they left messes behind that we had to clean up. They then became the subject to blame for anything from global warming and terrorism, to the reason for the stain in the sink, and everything in between.) Then, I think I was the first one to say, when our rigid, domineering coworker would call, "Satan, line one." Someone added that this would be a good book title and I was off to the races! When I began the first book in the series, TO HELL IN A COACH BAG, it only seemed natural that SATAN, LINE ONE would find its way into the DEVILISH DIVAS SERIES.

Now--I had a title, where was the story? Out of the title, a character was inspired, one Josephine Compton. I wanted another character who could have a nickname like a men's name, like Sam (Samantha), Dani (Danielle), Max (Maxine), and Alex (Alexis). Enter Jo! Jo (Josephine) took on the rigidity of our coworker, but why was she like that? Jo's backstory fell into place easily. She was from a large, chaotic family. The kind who put the fun in dysfunctional. In order to reinstate order in her life, Jo developed a disciplined, rule-following personality. To stick out in a family where it was easy to be overlooked, she became a high-achiever and a principal at a young age.

Being a new principal, or a new boss in any setting, has its challenges. A lot of people (myself included) don't like change. We become comfortable with the status quo and change throws us off-balance. That being true, anyone walking into a new role in this sort of environment is already disliked, even before they slap a name plate on their office door. Long before they've made their first decision, they are seen as the enemy.

Who, then, to pair with our little anal-retentive principal? Hello, Killian Murphey! Killian is the anti-Jo. He is laid-back to the point that it is a detriment to his growth. How did he get that way? His parents died and left him an orphan, shuttled off from his home in Ireland to an uncle's in the United States. Like his father, Killian was easy-going and comfortable in his role as a bartender. Until he finds someone who inspires him to reach further and become more than what he is settling for.

When Jo walks into his bar, Killian is smitten right from the start. The more he learns about this naive, lonely woman, the more he falls in love with her. He watches on as Dani and Sam try to coach Jo--or Josie, as they sometimes call her--in the fine art of picking up men. Making Sam and Dani see him as a contender for Jo's heart then becomes the hurdle that Killian needs to leap. In his mind a lowly bartender is no match for a woman of Josephine's statue. Thank goodness Jo doesn't see things the same way. But in her eyes, she's no match for his charm, good-looks, and worldliness. Like most good partnerships, the two fill in each other's gaps, and help one another to grow.

Well, now you've seen how it all started, you need to see how things end up. Pick up SATAN, LINE ONE at the following retailers and give it a read. Jo and Killian are dying to tell you their story!

And then be on the lookout for Book Five, PITCHFORK IN THE ROAD. When Zoe and Zack are reunited as adults, how can they overcome the pain caused by their breakup? And, with Nick in the picture now, how can Zoe make a choice between her two best friends?

PITCHFORK is in the development stage with the publisher, and Book Six, A SIN WORTH THE PENANCE, will be a continuation of Killian's story. The devilish divas certainly have a lot to share with you! So hop on over to Amazon--or whatever retailer you prefer--and get started!

Amazon: mybook.to/SatanLineOne

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/satan-line-one-mj-schiller/1129033880?ean=9781947833968

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/satan-line-one-the-devilish-divas-series-book-4

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/mt/book/satan-line-one-the-devilish-divas-series-book-4/id1434162174?mt=11

As always, thanks for reading!

FALLING FOR HEROES FUNDRAISER

Hey, all! Today I have the honor of participating in a fundraiser celebrating the release of author Eryn LaPlant's newest addition to her FALLING FOR HEROES SERIES, FALLING FOR SACRIFICE! Eryn knows that there are all types of heroes in this world, so she has teamed up with the CABLE Project out of Drogheda, Ireland, to raise money in support of Hannah the Warrior Princess.

Hannah The Warrior Princess is a 16 year old girl with Apert Syndrome and has been in the hospital for quite some time and would love to get home. She is a hero all on her own, but the amount raised will take a lot of financial stress away from the family and will help them achieve their goals of adapting their house for Hannah's return and in purchasing wheelchair accessible van. For more information on Hannah, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Hannah-The-Warrior-Princess-1419434105048542/

To help you join in support of Hannah, Eryn has set up a raffle with prizes donated by authors and others. Check it out here: https://rafflecreator.com/pages/23134/falling-for-heroes-fundraiser
For as little as $2 you can help to bring a child home to their family, and possibly win a prize! Won't you help us? Be a hero today and get some raffle tickets!

Farewell, Our Lovely Island!

Thursday, the last day of our tour, we started off by visiting the grave site of William Butler Yeats.

Next was a cruise down the River Shannon. We boarded our ship and yummy sandwiches were already waiting for us on the table. An entertainer told jokes and played Irish music for us as we traveled leisurely along the banks, catching sight of wild life and some wonderful landscape.

Goats

These swans reminded me of the Irish legend of the Children of Lir. Lir was a king and he had four children who were beautiful and talented and their stepmother was jealous and turned them into swans which broke their father's heart.

Our coach.

I thought our entertainer had a lovely voice!

After our cruise we headed to Dublin. The coach dropped us off near Trinity College for a couple of hours and we went to see the Book of Kells and the library, built in the 18th century. This is still a working college so there were students everywhere and you did feel like you were walking across a college campus instead of in the heart of Dublin. The Book of Kells is a ninth century highly illustrated book of the gospels discovered in a, you guessed it, peat bog. (How it wasn't lost to the world is truly a miracle. The picture below is from the library's Long Room. George Lucas wanted to copy its design to use as the Jedi library, but they refused to let him take pictures so he simply recreated it from memory. Over 200,000 old books are housed here.

I forgot to add these photos, and I'm not sure what day it was on, but we crossed over the Shannon from County Kerry to County Clare. We drove our bus onto a ferry at Tarbert and took a twenty minute journey to the other side. It was very blustery, so no one got out to view the crossing on the upper deck. Looking out my window I could see a little snack shop built into the ferry, and little more. I took the photos as the ferry was coming in to dock.

Here's one I forgot to add from The Brooks Hotel in Dublin

Then we walked to see the National Art Gallery, but they had very little to see as they were undergoing renovations. So, what else had we to do than spend the rest of our time in a pub. We entered one and found Cheryl and Woody there, and soon our guide Steven joined us. We enjoyed our time until it was time to head back to our last castle for the night, The Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel.

These were roomier than twins, so we just used one.

I love that their pub was called the Dungeon!

The whole crew with Max, the dog.

We had a Farewell Dinner (I had Sticky Caramel Pudding, which was awesome!) with wine and a toast to our tour guide. In the morning our bus took us to the airport. Customs was easy, I slept most of the flight home. We retrieved our car from hotel parking and had a fairly eventless ride home. A spectacular sunset welcomed us. It was a wonderful trip, but always good to arrive our your own doorstep!

Thank any of you that have stayed with me through the whole journey! It was nice sharing our memories with you! I hope you'll come back again soon. Happy Halloween!

Though Sunny, Things Are Looking Belleek!

Wednesday -- We continued north to Sligo where we had lunch at the private home of Damien and Paula Brennan overlooking Lough Gill. Paula is a chef, and Damien is an expert on William Butler Yeats. Much of the landscape that Yeats wrote about in his poems was right outside their windows.

So while we enjoyed Paula's wonderful cooking, Damien read Yeats to us and told us stories about him and his family. We had open-faced ham sandwhiches and chicken salad and these Guinness brownies that were out of this world. The tables were beautifully decorated and there was a wide variety of art around their home, very eclectic collection. I really liked some of their pieces though.

I really loved these vases!

It was enjoyable and I think some of the guests were surprised by how much they liked the poetry. Of course, sitting in the heart of the country it was written about added a lot. We said our goodbyes to Damien and Paula (after I had plucked a couple more brownies off unguarded trays) and drove a short way to a grotto.

We continued north to slip into Northern Ireland and find out how Belleek Porcelain is made. In 1849 John Caldwell Bloomfield, an amateur mineralogist, inherited property in the County of Fermanagh in Northern Ireland which encompassed the village of Belleek. (Wouldn't it be nice to inherit a village?) Like Henry Mitchell, he was concerned for his tenants during the Great Potato Famine, so he had a survey done of the land and found it was rich in minerals.

So Bloomfield had the feldspar, kaolin, flint and waterpower that was necessary to make the ceramics. The clay he made was incredibly thin and pearly, but deceptively strong. He had the materials, but not the artist's skill to form it. He searched out Robert Armstrong at the Worchester Porcelain Co. Once Armstrong saw the beautiful white ceramic material, he signed on. Now they just needed a backer. Enter banker David McBirney, an acquaintance of Armstrong's. The only thing left to acquire was rail service. Bloomsfield rallied and lobbied and soon they had trains that brought in the coal for the kiln, and took the finished product to customers far and wide. I love stories like this when someone is so resourceful and overcomes obstacle after obstacle to reach their dream. John Caldwell Bloomfield put Belleek on the map and made Ireland one of the top porcelain distributing countries in the world.

So, of course it was necessary to purchase some of this, to literally bring home a piece of Ireland.

Front

Back

After this we traveled to the 15th century Lough Eske Castle Hotel. We checked in, strolled around the grounds and took some pictures. Then we ate dinner at the castle's pub and enjoyed cocktails. I think one I had was called an Irish Sunrise. The interior of this hotel was fabulous and I loved the outdoor statuary. Still, it didn't have the picturesque grounds that Ballynahinch did.