Young Writers Society

Okay, as some of you know, I've been "working" on this project for a long time now, kind of like a bottle of old wine that's best once it's fermented for a really long time. And, as the Irish are renowned for their (for lack of a better word) drunkenness, it seems an apt comparison, da?

My main character is Fineena O'Malley, a high-spirited Irish lass of sixteen who is living during the Great Potato Famine. I don't have much of a story yet, but I do know that Fineena is coping with the loss of her first love, Sean, to cholera (or some other common disease). Along with that, her brother Patrick is arrested on a petty charge of theft, and therefore is taken away to the jails. One traveler to Ireland sees Fineena and takes pity on her and gives her the best way he knows possible for her to escape the misery--money for passage to New York. Eventually she brings her family over to New York, and on the way meets her future husband Peter and his sister Bridget, who becomes her best friend. Lots of work, I daresay.

I'm reading Paddy's Lament by Thomas Gallagher right now, and even for those of you who don't have to do research, it's a fascinating read and I highly recommend it. Yay for Bookmooch and free books!

I hope to have full character profiles by time school resumes, along with a tentative first chapter. I just want to get something done.

Ah, historical fiction! Lovely! And the Irish supply a fertile earth, yes? ^^ Best of luck, Wiggy--I look forward to seeing these. ^~

Wow. It sounds really good, and I love th' Irish.

I'm thinking of this like a movie, it's so intricate! *whistles* That's going to be a chore. Better you than me, though! XD

Good luck with it!

Darling, if you're interested in An Ocras Mór (the Great Hunger), I don't know what age you are, but in my opinion you're never too old for the Marita Conlon McKenna Children of the Famine trilogy! Sorry, I read them when I was ten and last summer wrote my essay in my history exam on the famine based entirely on that without doing any study. Fields of Home might really interest you, it's similar circumstances to this...

anyway, yeah, I'd really be interested in this! You don't want to switch the girl's nme to Fionnuala just for me? No? I just love that name...

Sounds very interesting. I'd love to read it.

At last, some explaination as to who this Fineena is. Good luck, no matter how long it takes to get written, you'll post something and let me know!

Hehe... This has been a long time coming, Wiggy. Congrats on finally getting to write about the Irish. Hot blooded sort of people or at least my family is. XD We have a hard time conducting ourselves "normally" in public, lol. We drink, we sing, and if the wrong tone is slightly offensive, we're not afraid to rise to the occasion. Sound like your kind of Irish folk, Wiggy?

Then their is the Scottish roots... Eep!

*waves*

We don't spend ALL our time drinking... although we're just a little insane sometimes... and our folk songs are quite disturbing (Páidín's wife, anyone?)... but apart from that-and our love of potatoes- the stereotypes are, well, stereotyped.

*Does a Little Dance!*

Wiggy, you know I love it already.



Wiggy you might want to research what would happen to Peter more. It might be more likely that Peter is convicted and sent on a coffin ship to Australia as a convict, or even hung because of his crime.

Can't wait to see this in writing.

And talk about fermenting, I feel that way about my characters for Guttersnipe, they've been in my head for almost three years. Now, I just wish they story would jump out on paper and stop fermenting, though.

Ta, hon.
Cal.

Send him off like Michael in the Fields of Athenry! "For you stole Trevelyan's corn, so the young might see the morn, now the prison ship lies waiting in the bay... Sure she'll wait and hope and pray, for her love in Botany Bay, it's so lonely round the fields of Athenry..." That's a good idea right there from Caligula

*hugs Wiggy*

You must post this.

And no, that's not a request, that's a demand. ^_~

*looks up* Umm, yeah, it's been a yearish?

Oy.

BUT! Good news! I've started writing again! This time, it's all about characters. I've changed Peter around a bit--I think he's going to be an English landlord, and Fineena's still the high-spirited Irish whippersnapper that I love. I'm having a bit of trouble discovering who they are, though. I've been writing letters to them, discovered a bit of their looks, but seriously, Peter is so elusive! He's got the whole dark hair thing going, but I'm not quite sure what his eyes are yet. Dark with green flecks? Something that draws Fineena in...cause she knows she wants him, but she definitely can't have him.

To writing!

Yeah, so Peter's eyes are gonna be blue with black flecks. Shweeeet! They see everything (not your cliched "piercing blue eyes" but something to that effect), and he shoots right through Fineena's blarney. He's definitely the landlord's son, and I'm thinking he's going to be visiting to survey the land for his father, getting the feel of the land for when his inheritance comes into play (ooo, brain wave, perhaps his inheritance is botched because of his father's gambling debts? Yes, yes, I'm liking this...), and there he meets and becomes captivated by Fineena. Though he doesn't show it.

Yes, delicious, I know.

I'm thinking of calling the novel "Captivating" instead of Emerald Hearts. Yes? No? Your thoughts.