Goodreads Giveaway and a New Irish Novel!

To start off the New Year, I’m hoping to help out book-lovers going through hard times…by giving the gift of reading. This month, you can enter to win 1 of 100 copies of my recent Irish book, The Little Irish Gift Shop, Book 1 of my new Fairy Cottage of Ballydara mini-series!

In this sparkling novella, Dublin girl Emma Carey jumps at the opportunity to start fresh in America—her old friend Fitzwilliam has offered her a job running a picturesque Irish shop in Seattle. Arriving at her new home, Emma discovers the shop is full of surprises. And so is geeky Fitz... Brimming with heart and humor, The Little Irish Gift Shop is just the beginning of Emma’s unforgettable journey to her heart’s desire.

The Goodreads Giveaway will be in Kindle ebook format, available to Goodreads’ members in the US, and runs through January 31—I hope you’ll take a look!

New Release in the Series!

The new Fairy Cottage mini-series begins in Seattle, but the Emma Carey books are very much part of the world of Ballydara, in County Galway, Ireland. Book 2 of the mini-series, Becoming Emma, is the sequel to The Little Irish Gift Shop, and is now available!

You'll find  more about Becoming Emma on my website, at www.susancolleenbrowne.com, along with free books and lots more Irish stuff...  and you can now reach me on Facebook! 

Free Irish Mini-Book!

Do you love Irish words and expressions?

When I discovered the novels of Marian Keyes and Maeve Binchy, I was entranced by the Irish idioms and expressions they used, and quickly fell in love with books by Irish authors. As I began writing my own novels and stories set in Ireland, I started a list of the Irish expressions I particularly enjoyed, so I could include a few in my books. To help out my readers, I’d add a brief glossary of Irish words at the front of my books, with an emphasis on “brief.”

Free mini-book!

As the years went by, and I read even more Irish literature, I amassed more and more loose pages of my handwritten glossary. Then I had an epiphany…instead of including only a short list of Irish words in my novels, why not type up all the expressions I’d collected and share them with other fans of Irish books!

You might have seen lots of these expressions in books by English or Scottish authors as well—the people of the British Isles share lots of the same language traditions. Keep in mind that with some words, I’ve had to guess a bit with the translation, but I’ve given all my interpretations my best shot. FYI: I recently discovered another Irish author whose novels are filled with really fun and colorful Irish speech: Felicity Hayes-McCoy...I hope you'll take a look at her books.

In any event, I extend a big thanks to all the Irish authors I’ve read for their inspiration, and helping me “flavor” my stories with Irish speech!

Here's a start:

A head on someone: hangover

Arse: impolite terms for backside

Article: sometimes a thing and other times a person

As the humor takes a person: as the mood takes them

Away off: don’t be stupid

Banjaxed: damaged, injured

Barney: fight

Be a number: dating someone

Bin it: throw something away

Blagger: faker, blusterer, braggart

Blarney: silly or useless talk

Blether: useless talk or annoying speech... for the full glossary, click here! 

You'll find more fun Irish stuff, including a list of Irish books and movies and travel resources, at  www.susancolleenbrowne.com !

Irish Recipe: Soda Bread Extraordinaire

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, I'm inspired to bake up a few Irish specialties. In an earlier blog post, "Baking Irish," I shared my first experience making Irish soda bread, with a recipe from Irish chef Darina Allen. Since I played with the bread's ingredients a little too much, I got mixed results--but when a new opportunity came up to share some yummy Irish food (a bookstore event for my Irish novel, Mother Love), I figured it was time to up my game. I consulted my treasured copy of Darina's comprehensive cookery book, Forgotten Skills of Cooking, and decided to bake soda bread again...but with a twist: "Spotted Dog."

Why the strange name? In addition to the usual flour, soda, salt and buttermilk, for "Spotted Dog," Darina uses a touch of sugar, raisins, and an organic egg, making a richer, more cake-like soda bread. The raisins create the "spots."

To me, "Spotted Dog" is far tastier than regular soda bread. I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, and it turned out great! They add enough sweetness to offset the soda, I think. A bit of technique: The trick to soda bread, according to Darina, is to mix things the traditional way, with your hands, not a spoon: first the dry ingredients, lifting the flour mixture and letting it sift through your fingers. Then make a "well" in the dry stuff, and pour in your the wet ingredients, mixing with your hands as well. The first time I made soda bread, I made the mistake of soaking the raisins in a little boiling water before combining. The wet raisins made the dough soggy and the bread heavy, so  just put your dried fruit in with the flour mixture. Then get your hands right into the flour and swirl it around!

I also found that if you use a bit less salt than the recipe calls for, the bread doesn't have that trace of bitterness that baking soda can impart. I never liked soda bread much before, but John and I have made this "dog" a regular item here at Berryridge Farm!

Here's Darina's recipe:

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2/3 cup golden or seedless raisins
1 organic egg
1 1/3 cup buttermilk

You use the same basic techniques for regular soda bread. (See above.) You mix the dry stuff (and raisins) together and sort of fluff things up with your fingers. Then you mix in the egg and buttermilk at the same time, again, hand mixing with your fingers. Try not to over mix! You "tidy up the dough" then pat it into a round and transfer to a baking sheet. Don't forget to cut a cross into the top with a sharp knife, plus pricking the four corners to "let the fairies out"!

Bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes. You can serve this bread fresh out of the oven...and eat it the Irish way, smeared with lots of butter and jam!

4th Village of Ballydara novel

By the way, Kerry McCormack, the country girl-heroine of my latest Irish novel, The Galway Girls, is a great one for making soda bread...you can find out more about The Galway Girls at
www.susancolleenbrowne.com!

New Book! A sample of Little Farm Homegrown

Welcome to the Little Farm

It was the Great Septic Blowout that did it.

That is, the event that inspired this “Little Farm” sequel. As a novelist, I always figured my original Little Farm in the Foothills memoir would be my first, last and only true-life book—a story about starting a small homestead in the Pacific Northwest, and how my husband and I pursued our dream of moving to the country for a simpler life. But when our septic tank very spectacularly belched a river of sewage into our shop, I had an epiphany. Actually, after three days of mucking out the mess and sanitizing everything in sight, and taking another full day to recover from the trauma, then I had my epiphany.

New Little Farm Book!

Being a former city girl—moving out to the Cascade Mountains’ Foothills as a germophobe cupcake gardener—I’d learned so much about organic food-growing and coping with our new, more self-reliant life in the country. Why not write a second book, to help other backyard farmers and food gardeners avoid the same expensive and time-consuming boo-boos that John and I made?

Some of you may know me as my other persona—Susan Colleen Browne, spinner of Irish tales in my Village of Ballydara series. But when I’m not at my computer dreaming up Irish stories, I’m dressed in dirty Carhartts and an ancient red Pooh Bear sweatshirt, immersed in running our little corner of food-raising heaven, Berryridge Farm…

Later in the story…

One mild June afternoon, weeding my biggest strawberry bed, I caught a funny smell. The merest whiff of…manure?

I looked over at the chickens, pecking away in the orchard. We didn’t let the hens into our main yard, although we heard they were great for your garden—fluffing up the soil with their scratching, and of course, “nutriating” (as sustainable farmer Joel Salatin would say) the soil with their droppings. We did let them in—once. After only a few minutes the hens had torn up a spot I hadn’t wanted tearing up. When John and I tried to catch them, all four proved to be masterful escape artists. After a half an hour of bird-chasing, we finally caught them all, never to repeat the experiment again.  

Now, I meandered over to John’s new shed site, where he was framing in a wall. “I’m smelling something strange, near the septic tank,” I told him. “Do you think we should like…get someone out to look at it?”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he said. “We’ve got that extra-large tank—it’ll be good for years.”

Well, what did I know about septic systems? John’s first home with his former wife had a septic tank, and their system never gave them a problem. Besides, this aroma was really faint. And I tend to be a little sensitive about smells. Chemical odors, fragrances in personal care products, vehicle exhaust—not to mention the tiniest waft of wood smoke inside the house—makes me cranky.

Taking a page from John, I decided not to take the odor too seriously—it was the middle of strawberry season. Between picking and putting up fruit, and trying to maintain the rest of the garden with John away so often, I decided it was a waste of energy to dwell on either the smell or its source...

As you've probably guessed, the septic tank wasn't fine... To read the rest of the book, you can request the print or ebook at your local library, or order the print book at your neighborhood bookstore. You can also find the ebook at your favorite online retailer! 

Lots of fun Irish stuff on my new site!

I've recently updated and redesigned www.susancolleenbrowne.com to include lots more Irish content: besides my Village of Ballydara series, you'll find a list of terrific Irish movies, books, and resources on Irish culture and history. There's also a special offer for a free copy of one of my Irish short stories, The Secret Well... I hope you'll take a look!

Just in time for Halloween, a spooky adventure for tweens

Take The Goonies Anniversary Celebration, add a Victorian haunted house and a mysterious skeleton, and you have The Secret Astoria Scavenger Hunt, Book 3 of the Morgan Carey series for tweens!

The new book in the Morgan Carey series

Here's Chapter 1...

The Skeleton in the Floor

The human skeleton dangled from an invisible cord beneath a clear floor panel, light from the nearby fireplace flickering on the top of its skull. Shivering, Morgan tore her eyes from the creepy hole at her feet. “Guys! Come see this!” She stepped around a sign on a metal stand that said, Proud Sponsor of “The Goonies” Anniversary Celebration, and waved at her cousins, sitting at a table at the Smuggler’s Hole Café.

“I’m drawing,” said Sean without looking up.

Ronan slid from his chair, scooting over to join Morgan. “What’s going on?”

“Look at that!”

Ronan peered into the dim pit, covered with a hard plastic square. “You don’t think the skeleton is real, do you?”

“It’s fake, of course.” Morgan tried to sound casual, though her heart beat faster. After that strange Halloween she’d had back in the fifth grade, she knew that even unbelievable things can happen to you—and it can be awfully hard to figure out what’s true and what’s made up. “I mean, what kind of restaurant would have a human skeleton in a hole, except as a joke?”

Ronan stepped onto the plastic panel and jumped on it. “Ronan!” hissed Morgan. Almost ten, Ronan could be a little too mischievous. “You’ll break it! And get us into trouble—”

“No, look, it’s solid,” said Ronan. “Like, double super-glued.” He called to his big brother, “Sean—come over here!”

“Got to finish this first,” Sean said. Morgan hid a smile. Sean, just turned eleven, was the kind of kid who got completely absorbed in whatever he was doing. And when he was really into something, the whole world could blow up and he would hardly notice.

“We watched The Goonies again last night, to get ready for this weekend,” said Ronan. “I guess Sean got all inspired to draw a picture about the movie.”

“I watched it too, before we left home,” Morgan told him. She and her mom were visiting her aunt’s family in the small riverside town of Astoria, Oregon, for The Goonies Anniversary Celebration. “I can’t wait to go to all the events tomorrow! You’re so lucky to live here.”

“You mean ’cause The Goonies was filmed in Astoria?” asked Ronan. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Every time Sean and I watch the movie we look for the real places around town.” He eyed the panel like he wanted to stomp on it again.

“Don’t even think about it,” Morgan warned. “The last thing we need is to get grounded, when we’ve got all kinds of Anniversary plans.” Now that she was almost thirteen, starting eighth grade in the fall, naturally her mom was bringing her along to all the parties.

“All right,” said Ronan, pretending to pout.

“My dad teases me and Mom that the movie is just a dorky fantasy, but we think the whole weekend is going to be a blast!” Morgan peeked at the skeleton one last time. It seemed to move a tiny bit, like it was being shaken by an invisible hand. “Uh, Ronan, there’s something…”

He’d already turned toward the table. “Sean!” he called again. “Will you just get over—”

“Never mind.” Morgan shook her head as if to clear it. Seeing this skeleton and knowing she had two whole days in the world of The Goonies had her imagination working overtime. “We’ll get him to look at the hole on our way out.”

They ambled back to the table, the worn floorboards creaking under Morgan’s feet. The Café was located in one of the oldest structures in town, built on a wooden pier that extended directly over the Columbia River. A summer evening breeze drifted through the Café’s open windows, smelling briny and sea-weedy, and Morgan could hear the river lapping against the wood pilings. Her gaze wandered back to the area around the hole. Her aunt said that part was built right over the river. I’ll bet if I went over there and stomped on the plastic, harder than Ronan, the floor would open up and I’d fall right next to that skeleton. She shivered again...

You'll find more about The Secret Astoria Scavenger Hunt and the other Morgan Carey books at www.susancolleenbrowne.com !

A Story of Love, Marriage, and Following Your Dreams

If you're in the mood for a tender love story with a holiday theme, you might enjoy The Hopeful Romantic, Book 3 of the Village of Ballydara series!

Kerry McCormack, a young Dublin wife and mother, dreams of trading her cubicle-bound job for a simpler life. After years of a satisfying marriage, she’s grown apart from her husband Stephen, the strong, silent type whose practical nature masks his longing for a close family.  Unresolved grief is only creating more distance between them…just as a dilemma from Kerry’s past suddenly comes to light.

When Kerry accepts an unexpected invitation from an old friend of Stephen’s—a friend she once fancied— to have an American Thanksgiving weekend in the little village of Ballydara, she’s anticipating an idyllic family holiday with free-spirited Will and his family. Yet the grief shadowing her makes her a little too susceptible to Will’s charm. He’s the catalyst that exposes long-buried secrets between Kerry and Stephen, and the regrets that haunt them both.

As Kerry’s hopes for love and following her dreams are turned upside down, she wonders: will she have the courage for a fresh start?

“The Hopeful Romantic was a pleasure to read for its engaging characters, its authenticity, and its unforgettable moments…a poignant and sometimes humorous, old-fashioned romantic story.”         —Chanticleer Reviews 

Here's brief excerpt:

Every fix I’ve gotten myself into, every eejit thing I’ve ever done, is because of my fatal flaw—I’m a hopeless romantic. And just look where it’s got me.

I gazed at the snowy pasture from the kitchen window, huddled in Stephen’s old work coat, the one item of his I’d taken with me when I’d left Dublin three days ago. Okay, there was the ring too—the new gem-studded wedding band Stephen had surprised me with last month. He’d given it to me over the holiday we’d spent with our friend Will, when everything had changed. Well, more like…imploded. But I couldn’t quite go there. Not today. Not on Christmas Eve.

I rubbed my bare ring finger with my thumb. Why I thought of the ring as Stephen’s…I’d never felt such a flashy piece of jewelry belonged to me, even though he’d had Kerry, Forever, engraved on the inside—such a sentimental gesture for such a prosaic guy. Out of respect, I’d kept wearing the ring, even after he left. But I’d not worn it since arriving here at the farm. I’d put the ring into a saucer next to the kitchen sink and there it had stayed. I would try not to look at it, but invariably, my eyes would be drawn to the flash of sparkle against the countertop. Whether my ring was mocking me or guilt-tripping me, I wasn’t sure.

You may ask, why wear a posh wedding band anyway, after your husband says we need a break? Exactly. But the bigger question was, what had possessed me to come to the farm at all? On the spur of the moment, I’d decided that staying here for a few days would be like a…well, a mini-retreat. On my own, without distractions, I’d find the answers to all my problems. Instead, following this rash, madzer impulse, I’d gotten myself completely stranded. Which is where my fatal flaw comes in…

Available at Amazon, Nook, iBooks and Kobo... You'll find more Irish stories at www.susancolleenbrowne.com!