Eternal Wanderings by Danielle Ackley-McPhail ***Guest Post -- Excerpt -- Giveaway***

Eternal Wanderings

by Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Urban Fantasy / Celtic Fantasy

Date Published: April 1, 2019

Publisher: eSpec Books (Paper Phoenix Press imprint)

Mortal. Immortal. Musician. Mage. 

On a journey from the boroughs of New York to the heart of Tir na nÓg, from innocence to the deepest darkest crevices of her soul, Kara O’Keefe found power and strength in the discovery of self. But with that peace came a hard truth. As a bridge connecting many worlds, none of them held a place for her.

She must find her own way, forge her own path.

To honor a vow to Granddame Rose, a matriarch of the Kalderaš Clan, Kara joins the Romani caravan, only to find herself even more of an outsider than before. While she strives for acceptance, and to honor her vow, little does she know she has once more become a lure to an ancient and deadly enemy, drawing danger into the midst of her unsuspecting hosts.

Once savior of the world, Kara must now save herself and the innocents around her.

She has come into her legacy, but where will destiny take her?

****

Based on the Eternal Cycle Series of Novels:

Yesterday's Dreams

Tomorrow's Memories

Today's Promise

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Includes six bonus short stories.

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Guest Post

Cultural Appropriation in Writing

By Danielle Ackley-McPhail

It has gotten so difficult to be a writer. One group complains if you aren’t inclusive when you represent society. Another objects if you dare to use ethnic elements in your fiction.

The current buzz word is ‘cultural appropriation’. While this generally applies to matters of dress or affectation based on a culture or ethnicity other than your own, it has cropped up in relation to storytelling as well.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, Cultural Appropriation is “The unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.”

While the Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.”

I think the key to this in fiction is ‘respect’. Recently, when writing my novella, Eternal Wanderings, I struggled with this concern. See, the story takes place almost solely against the backdrop of a Romani caravan. Not familiar with what that is? How about if I said ‘gypsy’ caravan? A much more familiar term, right? Of course, back to the respect I was talking about. Most people don’t realize it because it is such a familiar term, but ‘gypsy’ is actually a slur. It is important to understand such things when writing about a culture not your own.

I had to do much research as I wrote, not just to make sure I was getting details correct, but in an effort to accurately and respectfully capture a culture few have had the honor of experiencing. It was quite a challenge as elements of life I take for granted are drastically different among these people.

Fortunate for me there are books, articles, and websites written by the Rom themselves that I could reference.

My advice to those wanting to write about a culture not their own. Read. Check your sources. Talk to people. Go directly to the source, sites and descriptions by the very people you wish to represent. You will never capture them perfectly, but you do the best that you can. Make sure you are not falling back on stereotype, which can often be both wrong and insulting. If you are writing unfavorably about a character, base it on their character and their actions, not their ethnicity.

Most importantly, don’t presume to understand a culture unless you are a part of that culture. And it is quite okay to make that clear in your writing. My main character, Kara O’Keefe, comes to live among the Rom, but as an outsider. Throughout the story, her beliefs and understandings continually conflict with theirs. It is okay to acknowledge that and a perfect opportunity to show respect for the differences we have as various cultures coexisting together.

We will not always agree. We will not always understand. But as long as we show respect—in both life and our work—we can celebrate the diversity that is humanity.

Will some people still object? Of course. There is no way around that. Do the best you can, don’t write irresponsibly or disrespectfully, and tell the tale you were meant to tell.

After all, if someone is inclined to complain they will find a reason…just don’t go making it easy for them.

Excerpt

The wagon looked deserted. Kara had watched all morning. No one had come or gone from it. The Romani might have claimed Tony from the Sidhe, but none among them cared for him. Heck, Sveta wouldn’t even say his name. Only now, looking more closely at the wagon, Kara noted various charms had been hung from any available protrusion and symbols to contain evil likewise marked wherever the carving allowed. None of them held power that Kara could see. What the Rom did not seem to grasp is that charms guarding against evil already decorated the wagon. The symbols carved when the vardo was made were imbued with mage power. Old and faded, but still strong.

If Tony were evil, he never could have entered the damned wagon, to begin with.

Anger kindled hot and heavy in her breast. Tony was a victim. Foolish, perhaps. A delinquent who unwittingly invited the trouble that had been visited upon him, most certainly. But nothing about him as a person was evil. Kara knew this. Intimately. She had seen evil, been touched by it. Banished it. Destroying Olcas and his brothers had been a good start to keeping her vow to Granddame Rose, but it wasn’t enough when Tony’s spirit remained shackled. Not when his own people had clearly cast him out in all but deed.

Time to get to work.

She returned to the wagon she shared with Sveta and her young sons and gathered what cleaning supplies she could find, leaving a twenty on the table. When she stepped back outside, Beag Scath appeared at her feet. The fierce scowl on the sprite’s face reflected her own heart. Together they crossed the camp to the ancient-looking vardo where Rose’s grandson was housed. Kara knocked. No one answered, but the ill-latched door opened beneath her hand. Stale, musty air wafted out, causing Kara to cough as she peered within. The interior was dark as twilight, and nothing moved. In the faint light, she spied a man-shaped form huddled on the far bunk beneath a moth-eaten blanket. Part of her marveled at how he’d folded his 5’10” frame so small; most of her fumed at his living conditions.

Kara set Quicksilver and her supplies beside the door and stepped inside. She opened the two shutters at either end to let in fresh air, and then returned outside to deal with the exterior of the wagon. It took several minutes and no small amount of clambering by herself and Beag Scath to strip away most of the charms. Those left had been crudely painted on and would need to be scrubbed off. Still, it was a start. Squaring her shoulders and setting her jaw, she pivoted and headed for the communal fire at the center of the camp. Without a word to anyone, but challenge in her gaze, she dumped the charms into the flames and returned to Tony’s vardo.

There was not much else she could do about the condition of the wagon, but she would not give up on the man inside.

Returning to the main camp she approached the nearest vardo where one of the women, Susan Simko, prepared a meal. The herb-laden aroma of stewed lamb and vegetables set Kara’s stomach rumbling.

“Please, may I have a portion?” Kara asked, respectful, but determined, holding the woman’s gaze, daring her to look away.

“Mizhak,” Susan muttered as she spat into the dirt, her gaze clearly on Tony’s wagon. There was no doubt of her meaning.

“No,” Kara answered, her tone polite, but forceful. “Broken, not wicked. Family.”

She had no doubt the woman understood her words…and her determination.

Spitting again, Susan glared but shoved a smooth wooden bowl in Kara’s direction before disappearing into her wagon, slamming the door behind her. Holding the bowl with one hand, Kara took up the ladle hanging over the cook pot with the other and scooped out a single modest portion of the savory stew before hanging up the ladle again.

“Thank you,” she called out to the woman inside before carefully carrying the meal back to Tony’s wagon. When she reached her destination, she looked back only to see Susan not only dump out the remainder of the meal but throw both the pot and ladle away. Kara frowned and felt the bite of guilt deep in her belly. The Rom were proud people, without much in the way of worldly goods. Kara had forgotten they had very strong beliefs. And superstitions. She would not make the same mistake again. Tonight, she would ask Sveta what arrangements had been made to meet Tony’s needs, while allowing the others in the caravan to feel protected.

Mentally pushing up her sleeves, she went inside.

The bundle on the bed had cocooned tighter.

Kara set the bowl down on a massive wooden spindle that had been bolted to the floor as a table. She then moved to the bed and gently pulled the scratchy woolen blanket away.

Tony’s head whipped up, his face drawn and pale, framed by dark, unruly curls that had started to grow out of the neat style he’d worn in New York. He glared at her with dark, bloodshot eyes, dull and slightly glassy. As he realized who she was, he paled even further, his hand shaking as it reached up to tug the blanket back. She didn’t let him.

“Come on,” she said as if nothing were off at all. “Time to eat.”

Silently, he rose and did as she bid.

~*~

About the Author

Award-winning author and editor Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for longer than she cares to admit. In 2014 she joined forces with husband Mike McPhail and friend Greg Schauer to form her own publishing house, eSpec Books (www.especbooks.com).

Her published works include six novels, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, and Eternal Wanderings, the non-fiction writers’ guide, The Literary Handyman, and is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and In an Iron Cage. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections.

In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale.

Danielle lives in New Jersey with husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and three extremely spoiled cats.

To learn more about her work, visit www.sidhenadaire.com or www.especbooks.

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