1 Year of Blogging

Salutations!
Today is the one-year anniversary of starting Stories by Megs!
To celebrate, you are all invited to my party!

The Party:

Welcome, one and all!
Please make yourselves comfortable. The seats are plentiful, and the refreshments are refreshing.
What's that? Your glass has a chip? Oh I'm terribly sorry. I guess that one of my helpers must have tipped the glass while setting up the table.

Amy: "Must have been Josh. I was lighting the candle on the cake." 
Josh: "Oh sure, blame the innocent redhead!"
Amy: "Don't mind him. Here you go, reader. Have some chocolate cake."

Don't fret about the tiny chip; I'm sure it's perfectly harmless, just sip from the other side. The lemonade is delicious, our resident chief made it himself.

Josh: "That would be me."

So, in celebration, I not only hired my dear characters as helpers for this party, but they're also going to be the entertainment!

We'll have several activities for your enjoyment!
1) 12 "Fun facts" about me
2) 12 "Fun facts" about my book, Trouble in Scotland
3) A rousing game of Simon Says

Aaron. "Careful there, reader. I haven't quite finished hanging the banners. You're about to bump into that sage green-"
Ivy: "I got it! You go ahead and sit down. There, it's clipped back onto the ceiling."
Aaron: "Thanks, sis. Now then! What would you readers like to do first?"


The first 12 Fun facts? Sounds reasonable, since they're the first on the list, eh?
Right then, let's see if I can even find 12 even slightly interesting things about myself...


12 Facts about Moi:

1. I have lived in only 1 state my entire life. Washington State.

2. I have moved 3 times in my life.

4. I have been to 19 States: Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

5. I have never left the Country.

6. I have met Ken Ham in person several times.

7. I am the tallest person in my family.

8. It's really hard to come up with these answers.

8. I have owned three horses in my life.

10. I've never lived in town, or in a city.

11. My favorite school history was/and always will be, History.

12. My favorite weather is cool, cloudy, and rainy.

13. I love English and Scottish Country Dancing, and Swing Dancing.


Whew! That was tough...

Ivy: "Megs, you made three errors in your list."

What? Where?

Ivy: "You said you'd write 12 facts. That last one is numbered 13..."
 
Ah, but did you count the numbers? I promise there are 12 facts. Though I cannot promise there are 12 numbers...

Josh: "Ohh, I get it. One of your games, huh?"

Eh, close enough.
Oh, here dear reader, let me refill your glass of lemonade.
There! Now, did you find my list extremely tiresome? Oh, well that's good.
*snores*
Josh, I know you're not asleep. You just said something not a minute ago.

Josh: "Ever hear of sleep talking?"
 
*Ahem!*
Right...next list.
This one I've printed out on sheets of paper. I'm not gonna read it out loud...

12 Fun Facts about Trouble in Scotland

1. Josh and Amy were originally in an abandoned school room when they discovered the watch.

2. Amy's name was spelled Aimee when I wrote the first draft. Pronounced: A-May.

3. Josh Peterson was Josh Lane.

4. I almost used unicorns instead of dragons in the storyline.

5. It took me three years to write the first draft. Only about one to edit, proof, and publish.

6. Aaron and Josh are named after my two most favorite baby goats. Don't let them know this one...I'd never hear the end of it.

7. It was originally set in Ireland.

8. I titled it: In Search of the Irish Prince.

9. I changed the location to Scotland, as my family heritage is strongly Scottish.

10. If you look closely at the cover, you'll see from left to right, Josh, Amy, Ivy, then Aaron.

11. The whole royal family Conchobair is actually based off a short story idea I came up with when I was younger.

12. Book 2 is already twice the length of the 1st. I hope to have it finished before the year is over.


Alright, you may put your pages down. Now that you've read them, I will come around and collect them --thank you, and now lock them up where my characters won't find them.

Aaron: "Why can't we see the facts about our own story?"

*Laughs nervously, slamming the safe door shut*
Oh, no reason. I don't want to confuse you, ya know. It's...It's a writer thing. You wouldn't understand.

All four: *suspicious looks*

Ok readers! This is getting to be a rather long post.
Would you care to join in a game of Simon Says?

Josh: "I'll be it!"

Alright, we have a volunteer.
Now stand in a circle everyone. That's it. We're all friends here, no need to be shy!

Josh: "Alright, Simon Says...Touch your nose!"
Amy: "Wow. Sooo original."
Josh: "Ah, but you touched it."
Ivy: "Ok, now what?"
Josh: "Stop touching your nose."
Aaron: *pulls finger away, put quickly replaces it.*
Josh: "Ah ha! You moved. I didn't say Simon Says. You're out!"

Oh ho, he caught you on that one, Aaron.

Josh: "Simon says...Jump!"

*thud*

Josh: "Ah, but Simon didn't say land. You're all out!"

Clever Josh, very clever...
I hope you all enjoyed yourselves! Thank you for coming to my party!

Time Travelers: "Bye! Thanks for playing! See you soon!"

Shall we do this again next year?
I believe that would be jolly.
Thank you for coming--oh? Oh yes! You all get to keep a balloon as a party-favor. Don't forget to grab one on your way out.

~ Did you enjoy my "party"?
~ Has anybody ever pulled that Simon Says trick on you before?
~ Which "book fact" did you find the most interesting?

Thanks for reading,

God bless!


Megan

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Beannachtaí!
Greetings, dear reader.
A very happy St. Patrick's day to you!
This is one of my favorite Holidays.

How familiar are you with the story of St. Patrick?
I'll start off with some fun facts!

1. St. Patrick wasn't Irish; he was born in either Scotland, or Wales.
2. His real name was Maewyn Succat, changed to Patrick after becoming a priest.
3. St. Patrick didn't even wear green, but wore "Saint Patrick's blue"!

Check this out to learn about this saint and the holiday that celebrates him:

https://drivethruhistoryadventures.com/st-patrick/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=The+History+of+St++Patrick+s+Day+-+Free+DTHA+Video%21&utm_campaign=Saint+Patricks+Day+Side+Road 

Traditions
They say, "Everybody is Irish on St. Patrick's day".
Now, having Irish heritage in my blood, I do love to celebrate this holiday by wearing a bit o' Irish green, and this year, I shall add a bit of St. Patrick Blue too!

Music:
I like to listen to as much Irish music as I can, since it's not only one of my favorite genres of music, but it adds to the feel of Irish on the holiday!
Some of my favorite groups are: Celtic Thunder, Celtic Woman, and High Kings.
And my favorite Irish tenor: Emmet Cahill.
He not only sings the lovely Irish classics like Danny Boy, or When Irish Eyes are Smiling, he also sings beautiful renditions of hymns like; Be Thou My Vision and How Great Thou Art.

Foods:
Have you tried Irish Soda bread? It's super simple to make, and delicious too! Of course, I like mine with raisins, (which aren't used traditionally), but this is a tasty recipe I like to use:

content://com.sec.android.app.sbrowser/readinglist/0302220025.mhtml

Some delicious Irish foods include Shepherd's Pie, (fun fact: it's only considered "Shepherd's" if it contains sheep meat. Otherwise, it is called "Cottage Pie"!), Corned Beef, and of course, a hearty Irish Stew!

I think that's it for this post!
So what are some things you enjoy doing (or eating!) for St. Patrick's Day?

Thanks for reading!
I shall leave off with a lovely, (and my personal favourite) Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Until next time,

God bless!

 Megan

On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

Hello there, my name is Colm O'Reilly. (pronounced; Call-um).
You haven't met me yet, but my story is still a work in process. It's quite long.
Megan has been working on it for a couple years, but not a lot, so it's coming along slowly.

Anyhow, I hope you all had a very lovely Christmas!
I decided to see what sort of post Miss Hyde wrote yesterday, (I found it enjoyable, I hope you did as well!) and I decided that I am going to share a different sort of post.
I thought I would share some of my Irish Christmas traditions.

Nollaig Shona Duit!

This is the Gaelic greeting for this festive time of the year. Though I normally speak English myself, I do like to use my native tongue on occasion!
Nollaig Shona Duit is, as you have probably already guessed, means Merry Christmas.
You pronounce it: "Null-ig hun-a dit."

Decorations

Since my family isn't much for expensive decorations or extravagance, most of our decorations are handmade.
Ever since I was a wee lad, I liked to make the annual Holly Wreath.
It is still my job to build the wreath every year, but I always let my ten year old sister, Sarah, help me gather the prickly greenery.
Holly Wreaths are a very common sight here in Ireland. Since holly grows wild, the richest even to the poorest of us can make a lovely bit of decoration for our front doors.

Besides our annual holly, we always have a large pillar candle in our front window that we keep lit from Cristmas Eve, all the way to what we like to call "Little Christmas", or, Epiphany. (January 6th).

A frosty holly wreath

Celebrations

We have a small family celebration on Christmas day, a lovely meal with a nicely roast goose, potatoes, a Christmas pudding, and sometimes a few delicious rolls.
I dearly love Christmas celebrations, rejoicing for the birth of our Savior and King!
My family and I, which consists of my father, mother, younger brother Jack, and little sister Sarah; gather in our living room and sing Christmas carols, then give each other our gifts.
January 6th is a special day for the mothers, sisters and wives in our lives. We like to give them a day off, so us men take over the cooking, dishes, and all their usual housework while they get to visit each other and just enjoy a full day of no worries or work. In my opinion, our ladies should have far more than one day vacation from work, they work so very hard to make our lives easy and enjoyable... But I digress.

At the end of the 6th, we take all decorations down. Nobody dares to take them down before, as it is considered bad-luck to take down our Christmas decorations before the 6th. Perhaps it's a silly superstition, but we treat it as tradition. The decorations are lovely, so I'm never in a hurry to take any of them down.

Goodness, I think this post has been long enough, I don't want to bore any of you with my dull writing skills!

I had better go, I have some wood to chop. It's rather nippy outside, and I don't want the cold to find its way in here...

Nollaig Shona Duit, readers!

Thanks for sharing, Colm.

Hope ya'll enjoyed reading my dear character's post!

Hope you come back for tomorrows post, too.

God bless!

Megan