We Are Three

First, Jen wrote the tale of Kiernan Maguire, the first Duke of Beinn as we know it.  Following that was Devon 100 years later. 

Now there is me.

I am Benen Maguire, another Duke of Beinn, a — as I hear it — fictional town in central Ireland.  To be correct, there is a real town in Beinn’s location.  ‘Tis called Athlone.  One could say Beinn was Athlone’s precursor and would not be far mistaken as “beinn” is naught but a Gaelic word meaning “village.”

As I am the third and the newest, ’twas decided amongst Kiernan and Devon that I be subjected to this new way of communicating.

That said, I will now close.  I confess I am yet angry with how I was “introduced” and have no wish to discuss it with anyone save Nerys.

It Is Finished

It seems difficult for me to believe that with the problems we’ve had in getting my story written that it is now finished.

Complete.

It seems strange to me to stop the story when Aidan and I were truly beginning our lives together.  Yet, what do I know of writing and the process that goes with it?  Jen is the expert there so if she says it is done, then it is.

I understand the work is not fully finished but the story itself is.

Right now, she doesn’t have any ideas for further books for my family, either in my time or yours.  I trust that will change, though.  We Maguires aren’t easily forgotten.

A seirc.

I Am Well Pleased

We are making great progress on my story.  Today we have been working on what Jen calls chapter 18.

Unfortunately, my Aidan has been kidnapped by her own father if you can believe it!  I can’t.  Nor can I believe Jen has allowed this to take place and even encouraged it.

Still…  It will be an easy matter to find her and I know that when I do, it will be forever.  I think she said there are two or three of these chapters left and then Aidan and I can live in happiness.

Or as much as can be possible in my life and time, which is — as I’ve made clear here on many occasions — quite different than this one.

Don’t forget about the Dictionary.  There are some new additions to it.

A seirc.

You Call It “AWOL”

Away without leave, correct?

I’ve been after my writer to let me speak to you more often than she does.  She insists “later.”

Well, “later” finally came when she was looking at the information for Creatif this morning and saw someone had clicked my link over there to find me here.

And what did they find?

Quite possibly overwhelming silence.  I hate to think what form of creature may have overtaken this space since I have been absent so long.

(I am being assured on this “Internet,” such a thing is not possible since it isn’t exactly physical space.  Whatever; it makes no sense to me.)

I can’t be too put out with her, however.  My story is moving along quite nicely and my Aidan is so close to seeing things my way.  Only a bit longer and she will be mine for certain, I have no doubt.

At least she hasn’t left me in limbo for over a month nearly dying.  That is not something I want to relive, but according to what she has been doing with my ancestor, once this is done, there will be at least one more go-over where she makes changes so everything will have to be relived again?  I don’t know if I can stand it, but if I must, I must.

A seirc.

Water Is Your Friend!

This is Jen taking over Kiernan’s blog for a minute. 

Yes, this is a bit off-topic for this blog, but considering some stuff I’ve been through with a family member this weekend, I have to say it.

Bear with me a minute, guys.  I have to say this.

People, it doesn’t matter if I know you very well or not, PLEASE STAY HYDRATED!!!  If you get too hot, you can easily get dehydrated.  That can make your blood pressure plummet rapidly.  It can send your eyes and your kidneys into shock. 

When your kidneys go into shock, they stop functioning.

DON’T let that happen.  It’s preventable.  DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!!!

Water Is Your Friend!

This is Jen taking over Devon’s blog.

Yes, this is a bit off-topic for this blog, but considering some stuff I’ve been through with a family member this weekend, I have to say it.

Bear with me a minute, guys.  I have to say this.

People, it doesn’t matter if I know you very well or not, PLEASE STAY HYDRATED!!!  If you get too hot, you can easily get dehydrated.  That can make your blood pressure plummet rapidly.  It can send your eyes and your kidneys into shock. 

When your kidneys go into shock, they stop functioning.

DON’T let that happen.  It’s preventable.  DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER!!!

I Cannot Decide If I Like This

I have been silent for a while.  For now, Jen works on Devon’s story while mine rests.  This is good.  When she gets back to it, she will be able to look at it with some distance and be better able to improve it.

At least, that is my hope.

But what is it I cannot decide if I like?

While it is resting, she has a friend who wants to read one of her books that she has written.  She gave the friend a choice between mine, which is technically finished (or so I am told) or Devon’s, which she is only on chapter 8.  (I stand corrected.  Chapter 9 now.)

Personally, it matters little to me.  But it makes Jen nervous and unsure of herself.  While she is doing the writing that needs to be done, she cannot afford to dwell on uncertainties.  Nor can she go elsewhere to hide, which is what she wants to do.

This too shall pass.  Hopefully quickly.  My descendant has had to wait too long for his story, largely to no fault of Jen’s.  As she would say, “Life happens.”

Progress

I know Jen has already talked some about this in her posting on Créatif yesterday, but it bears mentioning here as well since it directly concerns me.

Just when I begin to wonder if we will make any more progress or if it is stuck where we left off, she surprises me with a burst of writing that brings us almost to where I thought we should be.

Jen says she needs feedback while writing so she doesn’t feel like she’s writing, as she put it, “in a void.”  I suppose mine doesn’t count?

It is disconcerting to be in a time where my word carries such little weight when I am used to my time where my word was near law, so long as it didn’t contradict the king’s dictates.

Ach, well, there is nothing to be done for it now, though, except to hope that Jen continues with this inspiration/motivation and writes steadily.  The sooner we are done, the sooner I can return to my Aidan.

At least now we are nearly done with the nasty business where I nearly died.  That is enough to make anyone have nightmares.

A seirc.

Modern INconveniences

I thought the conveniences your modern society offers were for everyone to use, providing they could pay.

Was I mistaken?

The lights went out at Jen’s house yesterday.  Personally, I didn’t think that was much of an issue.  Even without the lights, there was enough to see by.  Not to mention the candles and hand-held lights — pardon, flashlights — they have.

Jen’s father didn’t see it that way.  (If I understand correctly, they moved in with her some time back, but that’s not for this post nor this blog.)  He insisted she go to the place where her mother works every day.  Not only that, but she had to take some things with her to stay the night there.

She spent the night sleeping on a padded bench she called a couch.  (It looked more like a settle with a back and thick cushioning to me.)  This morning, she woke up tired but at least her back didn’t hurt.

Midmorning — pardon, 10:00 — she called a few people trying to get back to her house.  No one was home.  She called for a car to come get her. 

And waited.

And waited.

And waited yet more.

She called again.  Whoever she talked to said they forgot.  (Those “phone” things are also strange to me.)  She ended up walking home.

I know where this car place is.  I can see it from the window.  But Jen won’t let me go over there and talk to whoever she talked to.  I’m certain I can make them see it my way, but she says it would cause too many problems for me to take care of it.  So I will sit back while she does … what?  Nothing?

I suppose I have no choice, though.  It is not my fight, no matter how I would prefer it and no matter that I honestly could have it taken care of quickly.

This tale doesn’t end there.  When she got home, she looked at yet another one of those “phones” and saw there had been a call logged on it at “5:35″ yesterday evening.

There was no reason at all for her to sleep at the “office.”  She could have slept a lot more comfortably in her own bed.  Perhaps then she wouldn’t be in a bad mood and would be willing to work on my story.

Perhaps later.

If anyone were to treat my Aidan that way, they would answer to me regardless of what anyone else had to say.  There is no reason for such treatment.  The “Middle Ages,” as so many of you call my time, may not have been as “civilized” (shows how bloody little you know of the time!), but we knew how to treat people, especially those we cared about. 

A seirc.

Another Lesson

This one was more than words for me.  More on that in a moment.

buitseach – witch
donnan mooar – blithering idiot

You can insult me and I will take it.  Do not think to insult anyone in my family, including my wife.  I nigh took her father’s head off for treating her the way he did.

Aye.  I know this is, as you would say, cryptic.  Yet if I were to say more on it, I fear I would challenge him anyway.  That would undo the uneasy truce we have between our clans at the moment.

Of a certainty, I am not talking about your modern times but an event in my time that we (Jen and myself) just covered in my tale.

A seirc.