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| visiting around and about, wandering here and there... |
The Curse of Conchobar―A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series by David Fitz-Gerald
A Tale of Two Mountains
I like to write fiction that is grounded in history and soars with the spirits, and I use that phrase like a mission statement. My Adirondack Spirit Series is an epic, multi-generational family saga. Each book stands alone. What they have in common are ancestry, the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, natural history, and supernatural tendencies that just seem to run in the family. All that said, many of the settings are decidedly ALPINE.
After writing Wanders Far and She Sees Ghosts, similarly set, I decided to write a new beginning to the series. A character appeared in my head and compelled me to build a story around him. He seemed like the perfect, ancient ancestor for my series. Since I planned to drop him in a new world where he would head for the mountains, I wanted him to come from a mountain as well.
I had the pleasure of visiting Ireland in 2019 with my family. If we had known what was coming, I bet we would have stayed much longer. My favorite part of our visit was the day that we spent at the Cliffs of Moher. I would love to have visited Skellig Michael, where Conchobar grew up among monks and learned to be a mason. As a hiker and mountain climber, I would love to have climbed the steps to see the ancient structures. Fortunately, I found this stunningly beautiful drone footage by Peter Cox Photography on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxU6kk24mho
As an Adirondack 46-er, I’ve hiked to the top of every mountain with an elevation higher than 4,000 feet. My favorite climb is New York State’s second tallest mountain, Algonquin Peak. From there, you can walk a ridge that leads to the eighth tallest mountain, Iroquois Peak. The Adirondack Mountains are very different from Skellig Michael, but these are the mountains that beckoned Conchobar in his new world.
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| Algonquin Puddles, taken from Algonquin Peak, showing Iroquois Peak beyond, and Lake Champlain in the background, Photo by David Fitz-Gerald |
Between his mountainous backstory and alpine ending, Conchobar became a pawn in a never-ending war between rival villages, precursors to the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois people who later inhabited what is now New York State. The scenes I set depict life in the eastern woodlands. In addition to its historical and supernatural elements, this is a book about surviving in the wild. I hope that a reader will experience the hardship of living from hand to mouth, the life of a hunter and gatherer. If I did my job, readers will even imagine a face full of spiderwebs as they read about Conchobar’s ride in a canoe, and then wonder where the spider that lived there ended up.
Are you a fan of the beach or do you prefer the mountains? I enjoy a little time at the beach, lots of time on the prairies, but nothing tops the mountains as far as I’m concerned. Like Conchobar, I’m happiest at an elevation of 4,000 feet or more, with my head in the clouds, or better yet, on a clear day with a 360-degree view beyond my feet.
Happy reading!
© David Fitz-Gerald
Banished by one tribe. Condemned by another. Will an outcast's supernatural strengths be enough to keep him alive?
549 AD. Raised by monks, Conchobar is committed to a life of obedience and peace. But when his fishing vessel is blown off-course, the young man's relief over surviving the sea's storms is swamped by the terrors of harsh new shores. And after capture by violent natives puts him at death's door, he's stunned when he develops strange telepathic abilities.
Learning his new family's language through the mind of his mentor, Conchobar soon falls for the war chief's ferocious daughter. But when she trains him to follow in her path as a fighter, he's horrified when his uncanny misfortune twists reality, causing more disastrous deaths and making him a pariah.
Can Conchobar defeat the darkness painting his steps with blood?
The Curse of Conchobar is the richly detailed prequel to the mystical Adirondack Spirit Series of historical fiction. If you like inspiring heroes, unsettling powers, and lasting legacies, then you'll love David Fitz-Gerald's captivating tale.
Buy The Curse of Conchobar to break free from the fates today!
Trigger Warnings: Violence
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ABOUT DAVID
David Fitz-Gerald writes fiction that is grounded in history and soars with the spirits. Dave enjoys getting lost in the settings he imagines and spending time with the characters he creates. Writing historical fiction is like making paintings of the past. He loves to weave fact and fiction together, stirring in action, adventure, romance, and a heavy dose of the supernatural with the hope of transporting the reader to another time and place. He is an Adirondack 46-er, which means he has hiked all of the highest peaks in New York State, so it should not be surprising when Dave attempts to glorify hikers as swashbuckling superheroes in his writing.
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Website: https://www.itsoag.com/
The Curse of Conchobar is available for free in exchange for signing up for David’s email list via BookFunnel: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/iwczowhp8q
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