Behind the scenes

At the moment, I’m working on my Irish slave book, and I thought I’d share some of the inspiration behind the story. Last year, I visited Ireland and went to a reenactment village at Craggaunowen. One of the smaller ringfort exhibits had a woodworker’s shelter set up, as you see here. This is a model of an ancient lathe, used to turn wood and make furniture. Since my own father is a woodworker, I was interested in seeing how a medieval craftsman would create furnishings and carvings. The character of Kieran O’Brannon was born in my mind.

He developed even further when I saw carvings like this one at Bunratty Castle. Although this is a 15th century piece made in Germany, the carving techniques must have been passed down. I’ve seen sculptures and stonework from ancient Egypt that were every bit as detailed as this. I started imagining Kieran carving a woman’s face, the face of a woman he loved but couldn’t have. And the rest of the story evolved from there.

I wanted to take the love story of Tristan and Iseult and give it a happy ending. It will still be wonderfully tragic and heartwrenching in places, but ultimately, I want these two to have happiness.

Speaking of tearjerkers, have you read any books lately that have been deeply emotional? Any that made you sniffle? If not, what’s your favorite movie that made you cry?