Crann na beatha Stories and Poetry

A programing note to start off: I tried just offering audio files to accompany these weekly articles and after retrospect, I decided to go back to videos again. You have the choice, once again, of watching me or just reading the article. If you truly just want to listen to an audio post, you can find the audio podcast on most major podcast platforms and also on my website at www.crann-na-beatha.com. Thank you for indulging me once again.FáilteWelcome to The Village Oak TreeI am your host, Terrance Ó Domhnaill.Thank you for joining me.I have so much going on this month, I’m having trouble keeping up, so I’m going to make this a short one this week, sort of.Lately, I’ve been picking up more and more IT gig work from this company I’ve been working for, for the last five years. They want me to take care of corporate computer refreshes and network printer installs out the wazoo lately and I can’t seem to get ahead on my own work. The worst part is, like all gig work, the pay sucks and there’s no benefits. How many of you can relate?This week, I want to touch on a point again about something near and dear to my heart. I know I’ve said this a few times before that I’m married to a foreign born wife, who has a daughter living in another state, also foreign born and these days, I’m constantly worried for their safety.So, gather round, sit you down somewhere comfortable for a bit and let’s talk about what Trump’s latest anti-immigrant foreign policies might mean for people like us.I watched a MS Now news story last Sunday about a Chinese asylum seeker that hit home for me and it got me thinking about all of this again. I’m also including this story from Zeteo that they published last Sunday to add to this.Trump and Stephen Miller want to come after everyone they don’t like, period, full stop. They’ve never tried to hide this but in the last week, they’ve decided to ramp things up even more.In the wake of the killing and wounding of those two national guard soldiers a couple of weeks ago, Trump and company have decided that immigration services will now be tasked with “reviewing” all green card holders and naturalized citizenship grantees from nineteen countries that Trump and Miller have decided that are national security risks or high risk.They even pulled out a couple of people from the que at a naturalization ceremony in Boston last week because they were originally from one of the countries on Trump’s new list. They were told to just go home. Their swearing in ceremony canceled indefinitely as they do a deeper dive on their records. Now, they’re worried about being deported.In accordance with The Office of Homeland Security Statistics, there are approximately 12.8 million legal Permanent residents with valid green cards living in the U.S. Many of whom have been living here for decades. According to the Migrant Policy Institute, there are nearly 25 million naturalized citizens living in the U.S. Both classes of immigrants constituting nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population now in 2025. Do the Project 2025 founders truly think they will remain in power long enough to deport 10 percent of the American population at some point in the future? Anyone with half a brain knows they can’t possibly do this by the end of 2028, so what’s their plan?Back in 2011, I was single and dating a French Canadian widow for a time, who has been living in the U.S. under a green card for decades. Her kids, adults, were born in the U.S. We were both living in a border town in north eastern Maine and she has extensive family living across the border in New Brunswick, Canada. I would take her to visit her family members now and again during the year we dated and I never had any issues crossing back and forth across the border at either the Limestone, Maine crossing or at the Madawaska, Maine crossing. The point I’m making here, is that there are a lot of Canadians living in the U.S. with just green cards from Maine to Washington State. What if Trump decides on a whim that he doesn’t like Canadians and wants them all deported, regardless of immigration status? This is what he’s saying he wants to do to the Somalians, Haitians, Afghans and all of these people from the 19 countries he’s just decided he doesn’t like.Think about that for a minute. This means that valid Permanent Resident Aliens with green cards are no longer safe, especially if they’re from one of these nineteen countries. As we all know, this list will expand at the whim of Der Führer. Rubio has been revoking green cards since last January, so this is nothing real new, but it is an expansion, something those of us who’ve been paying attention, have said would be coming.We’re there now.On top of all of that, there is the story I mentioned at the beginning of today’s show. That story about the Chinese immigrant who came to the U.S. to apply for sanctuary, or asylum as they call it. CBP arrested him at his last immigration check in meeting a couple of months ago and they also too

This venture is an experiment to see if anyone likes these kinds of stories. I have more, if there’s an interest. If you don’t like stories like this, let it go and I’ll be back with my regular podcast next Wednesday for those who would rather I talk and write about what’s going on in the world. If you do like it, let me know.FáilteWelcome to The Village Oak TreeI am your seanchaí, Terrance Ó Domhnaill.Thank you for joining me.Today, I'm going to start reading a short story I wrote a couple of years ago. I will break it down into short bits so the written portion fits on your mobiles and give it to you over the next couple of weekends. If people tell me they like this sort of thing now and again, I'll do it again sometime. I have a few other stories I've written, plus some of the olde ones that I can bring to the village oak tree to tell.So, gather round, sit you down somewhere comfortable for a bit and let me tell you the story of Sean Murphy and The Púka of Log na Coille.Sean Murphy, Big Murph as his mates called him in the local pub, was a big man, both in size and temperament, he always had been. And he knew it too. He never had a problem pushing himself around the town trying to be the big man and being well liked by all of his neighbors and mates.He was a noted hiker and loved to hike up on Log na Coille or Lug Mountain as the tourists called it, from where he lived in the little town of Cnoc an Aragain (Knocknarrigan). He would go up for hours at a time looking for lost treasures left by the tourists and the legend of Sidhe treasure whenever he had free time. Truth be told, he was more interested in finding the Sidhe treasure that was supposed to be on this mountain, according to the old stories.Tourists rarely left anything of real value but he would always take a small bag because, as he would tell his mates over a pint, “You never know what you might find up there someday”. He knew the towns people thought he was a bit touched in the head over his obsession with finding any Sidhe treasure but he wasn’t afraid of anyone and he would tell them so after he’d downed a pint or two. No one dared to come right out and say it to his face as he would threaten them with a thrashing if they did.Despite the snickering and remarks behind his back, he continued his trips up the mountain to see what he could find. When he was younger, he would brag to any and all about how he was going to find the Sidhe gold someday and show them all he was right. As he never found anything through the years, he eventually stopped talking about it in the pub. He knew everyone was making fun of him but he just knew it was only a matter of time. He told himself he mustn’t give up the quest.By now, he was starting to get a little on in years and his little shop was doing well enough for him to get by comfortably these days. The fever to find a rich hoard of Sidhe gold wasn’t as strong as it was in his more adventurous younger days. Nowadays, he continued to scavenge the tourist trails, looking for lost items like the occasional gold bracelet or other small treasures, all lost by the many tourists who climbed the trail around the mountain. What little he found, he would take to the local lost and found in the town and if no one claimed it within a certain time, he’d pawn it off and drink the money up at the pub.He usually went up the mountain late in the afternoons on the weekends, after most of the tourists had left the park. Lug mountain was not a place to be wandering the trails after dark though. There were the usual dangers of the fog and rain at the top and in the valleys around. Then, there were all of the legends of the Fae who were supposed to be out and about in the more rugged areas off the marked trails.This is where Big Murph liked to go after he had scavenged the tourist trails. Especially if he didn’t find anything of value around the tourist trails. He had lived in Cnoc an Aragain all of his life and he knew all of the stories. He also knew that despite the legends, the mountain could be dangerous all on its own. There were rocky cliffs and hard walking off the trails where a man could make a wrong turn or trip on a rock and it would be over before anyone could find him.On this particular Saturday, he waited until late afternoon, as he was wont to do, before setting out on the main trail from town. He’d been this way so many times since his youth, he could hike it blindfolded. Not that he would. Despite his familiarity, there were too many things that could happen without warning, such as the weather, and it didn’t pay to take chances or take anything for granted.While he walked up the familiar trail, he would tip his hat to the tourists. It paid to be nice as they provided the town a nice revenue stream from their tourism. His little shop being one of the beneficiaries of that money. Sean Murphy’s shop sold metal trinkets that he made himself out in a little shop in the back of his store. There were little metal bra

FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week after my holiday with more stories and poems from authors around the world.This week, I have three stories and two poemsI continue with The Grave Diggers of Orpheus chapter 10, another short scary story from the same author, an scary Irish story from a Medium writer, and two poems. I will be reading one of my own scary poems this week as this is the last show before Samhain and finish up with a nice thought provoking, meditative poem from Bulgaria.Some notes about future changes to this show. I had talked before about making some changes regarding this show starting in November and I decided to stretch things out a bit. I will continue the current schedule and title until next July but I will be uploading the shows under The Village Oak Tree heading on rss.com starting in November. The same for my Substack page. By next July, everything will be under that heading and Crann na beatha Stories and Poetry as a separate show will cease. I figured it would be better for everyone if I changed things up slowly rather than doing anything abrupt.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the Crann na beatha, the tree of life. To offer a glimpse into what I did last week while on holiday, I will give you a couple of details.My wife and I went up to Brooklyn, New York so my wife could celebrate our youngest grandson’s first birthday. Sounds simple enough, right?Our difficulty lies in that we drove our RV motorhome. I hate hotels. I managed to find an RV campsite somewhat close to Brooklyn, in Jersey City, New Jersey. The campground had high ratings in our guidebook and their website touted the closeness to the Statue of Liberty, plus upscale camping facilities and so on.It turned out to be just the opposite. The campground was run down and shabby looking, run by some folks who needed to find some investors. The electrical system was a mess with me fighting with it to keep things on. We kept tripping breakers when we needed something besides just lights. The place was just an old converted downtown parking lot next to the dock yards. Miles from the Statue of Liberty. You could see it from the docks but it was at least five miles off. I did manage to get a couple of pictures with my large zoom lens.My son in-law told me that the reason the place was so expensive, was that Jersey City is considered a high rent district. Given the high rises surrounding us, I could believe it but my issue was the deception by the campground. The place looked nothing like the pictures on their website. Needless to say, we will never stay there again.Otherwise, the visit with children and grandchildren was great. They went to the restaurant to eat and enjoy the party and I stayed behind at my son in-law’s house to dog sit and get a little work done on my book. Everybody was happy.We like to travel in our RV whenever we can. My wife loves to visit national and state parks to enjoy nature, or as much as one can from an RV park. We have visited some parks where there were no hookups per say and had a great time. We have also discovered RV parks that sucked and marked them off our list of returns someday.My wife wants me to take her back to Key West, Florida someday so she can watch the sunrise and sunset from the same camping spot. We didn’t get to do that last time we went a couple years ago.Next year, we are going out west to make a loop through all of the more famous national parks, such as Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Bryson Canyon, the Grand Canyon and so forth. I will take lots of pictures to share.In the meantime, I will keep reading stories and poems throughout the cold weather months much like my ancestors did in ancient times. We don’t have a meeting hall with a big fireplace to sit around drinking mead while the seanchaí tells the old stories these days but I do try to bring something close to that here.That’s it for this week. I appreciate everyone who drops by to listen to the stories and poems, and read a little bit about my adventures now and again. Sláinte As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. "May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane to the pub. May your travels bring you to a quiet place where the ocean meets the sky and the birds greet you with a kind word or two." Slán go fóill - goodbye for now.Stories and Poems for the week:The Arianrhod TreasureA mantle of feminine powerAuthor, D. Denise DianatyThe HungerTerrance Ó DomhnaillA New DayComes with the dawnMariana BusarovaCrann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that I did not have the time to record any stories and poems this week as I am going on holiday for the weekend. My schedule was so busy, I was unable to manage the time to record something earlier in the week.I will be back on schedule next week with the stories I had saved up for this week. Thank you for understanding. SláinteT. Ó Domhnaill - Gaelic Seanchaí This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.This week, I have three science fiction stories and a poem about the children of PalestineI continue with the two serialized space faring stories this week from Substack writers, with a scary science fiction story and the poem I just mentioned. This episode may be a bit shorter than usual as I had a time trying to find enough decent stories to fill the half hour. Next week, I will start bringing seasonal stories and poetry as I can find them as we get closer to Samhain.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. Click play above to listen to the stories and poem.I am struggling a bit to find enough stories and poems again to fill the half hour these days. Today was a good example. I came in just under the thirty minute mark. I do have a couple of stories and poems set for next week, plus the two serialized stories I have been reading. I have tried very hard not to offer two stories from the same writer but I will be making an exception next week, since we are coming up on Samhain.This is the time of year when all of us write spooky stories and poetry and I am no exception. I have one of my own scary poems I dusted off and tweaked a little bit for next week. I rarely read any of my own work because this show is supposed to be for other writers whom I find that write such excellent material. I will let the audience judge whether I am making a mistake or not.All of which brings me back to the future of this podcast. I will scrounge up enough stories to maintain my current schedule until the end of this month. Then, I will be combining my podcasts back into one. The Village Oak Tree.I will still read stories and poetry on a regular basis but only when I have found enough stories and poems to make up a thirty minute show. So, it might be once a week, or I might skip a week to give me time to gather up enough stories.I will create a audio and video broadcast with these details as we get closer to the end of the month and post it in all of my media platforms and social media accounts.It is time to get back to work on my book writing and I can’t do that if I am spending my work week producing podcasts. I have decided after a year, to prioritize my goals. I have had fun doing these shows but it is time to turn back to writing the stories that are bouncing around in my head.Especially since I am not charging for these podcasts, like some people on the podcast circuit seem to think I should be doing. I am content to keep my Substack page the way it is for now. If someone wants to be generous and offer a little support, there are many ways to do so. The obvious way is to be a paid subscriber here but this is probably the only time anyone has ever seen me say so here. I am not one to go around hat in hand, just so you know.I do mention my donations opportunities for my efforts on my podcast web page at rss.com and on my website at www.crann-na-beatha.com for anyone with some spare change or so in each podcast as a commercial break.Enough about that. I leave you the readers of these small newsletters with my thank you for all of the support you have to offer. Even if it’s just a bit of a read now and again. Sláinte As a Seanchaí, I hope you will allow me to continue delighting you with a story or a poem here under the Crann na beatha. Maybe they will bring you a smile and take you away from your troubles for a time. As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. "Let the devil take the low road and you take the high road. Ne’re the two of you ever meet at the pub when you arrive there" Slán go fóill - goodbye for now.T. Ó Domnhaill - Gaelic SeanchaíI near forgot to add in the links to the stories and poem. Here they are a day late. Sorry.Don’t ReadIt’s life-threateningNevena PascalevaWhispers of Innocence:The of Children Palestine… A PoemCreative CapricornThanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.This week, I have three stories and a lovely poem from my friend in BulgariaI am starting a new space opera series today, along with the ongoing story The Gravediggers of Orpheus. My last story is a short story about loneliness, and the poem is about sadness.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. Click the play button above to listen to this week’s selections if you want to hear the audio podcast.I wish once again to thank the writers that allow me to read their stories and poems to the world. I can’t thank them enough as without them, this little show wouldn’t be possible.I will also add that this podcast is growing in listeners as more and more people seem to be looking for a little time out from all of the chaos going on. Not only on Substack but through my hosting platform at rss.com, where this show is distributed all over the world. I don’t have many listeners outside of the U.S. but there are a handful so I have hopes that maybe I can reach more people around the world with these stories and poems.I am sure that some of this is due to the language barrier and I wish there was a way for me to set up a translator for this podcast audiobook so it could be broadcast in multiple languages around the world. I did set up Google Translate on my website at www.crann-na-beatha.com so that people around the world can read what I have there. I tested it myself when I set it up and it reverted the website to Gaeilge just fine, and back to English again with no troubles at all. There are many more available languages in the translator tool than I can relate here but you get the idea. I put the link dead center of the Home page so you can hardly miss it. I’m afraid that it only translates the written words though and not the audio in the podcast episodes. That is something I wish I could set up. I wonder if there is an app for that? Does Substack have an option for these posts to be translated into other languages? If so, how does a body check that in the settings? Wouldn’t it be grand if I could record this podcast and have it translated to the majority of the world’s primary languages? Languages such as French, German, Russian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Hindi, Arabic, Farsi and so many others to be able to name here.Could you imagine the impact our writings and podcasts would have if more people around the world could read and listen to our words in their native languages?Sure and I am dreaming big, weighty thoughts here but it’s worth thinking about. I would love to think I can use this podcast to bring the world’s peoples a little closer together for a brief spell every week. God’s know we could all use a time out now and again from all of the world’s troubles. I will leave everyone who reads this with this thought. Do you think the world would be a better place to live in if we all could move past our differences in language, cultures, the colors of our skin and so on? Imagine a place where there were no more wars and abject poverty to the point of starvation? A world of smiling people all eager to help one another out in trying times? We can dream can’t we.Go raibh maith agat. Thank you for reading this and listening to the show (hopefully). I hope you enjoyed the variety of stories and poems again this week. If you like the show, please share it with anyone you care to. I offer it for free so everyone that can find it will have an opportunity to listen to the stories and poems, for which I will add links to at the bottom here.As a Seanchaí, I hope you will allow me to continue delighting you with a story or a poem here under the Crann na beatha. Maybe they will bring you a smile and take you away from your troubles for a time. As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. "May your days bring you peace and contentment and your hearths be welcoming to all who visit your home." Slán go fóill - goodbye for now.T. Ó Domhnaill - Gaelic SeanchaíThe Gravediggers of Orpheus [8]Kathrine ElaineYou Have to Love Yourself TooA short story inspired by one of my favorite quotes from “Once Upon a Time”Sara FellersSilver in the Fleeting GlowA spiral of sadnessMariana BusarovaThanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.This week, I have two stories and three poems for everyoneMy first fiction story is from a new writer I found. Then, another episode of The gravediggers of Orpheus. The three poems I bring are written to make one think. The last two are about the war in Palestine and are a bit harsh. One is from an Australian woman who rages against imperialism on her Substack page, and my last one is from another activist who lives in the north of Ireland. I will do my best to record this poem in her own voice as she posted a video of herself reading this poem on her Substack page. Her voice is so much better than mine when it comes to this kind of poem. I will add their page links in the newsletters later today.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. Click the play button above to listen to this special show.I will say that when I recorded Ramona McCloskey’s own reading of her poem, it turned out better than I expected. Her special Palestine poem is the very last one for the day. I hope anyone reading this takes some time to listen to her in the show.That is the theme for today’s show, sort of. The first story is a bit of an activist kind of story if you read between the lines a bit, and the last two poems were definitely pro-Palestine poems. Although Caitlin Johnstone’s poem is more of a rage against the imperialists that are allowing all of this carnage to happen in the first place.I subscribe to both of these people’s Substack pages and get their articles in my email box. I also subscribe to a lot of other people as well, both on Substack and Medium. I try to support all those I can, as I can, as funds allow.I also subscribe to Jessica Wildfire, wherever she goes on the internet as well. But she doesn’t publish anything I would use for this show. I just wanted to giver her a shout out as she is struggling a bit now trying to find a stable platform to host her website. People like her need all the help they can get in these trying times.I will say this again. This is what this podcast and newsletter are all about. To support all of those who write and are struggling to make ends meet from week to week. Some of you are doing okay financially and that is good too. I still want to do what I can to support writers struggling to make themselves stand out from the crowd. The very large crowd of world-wide online writers and poets.This will continue for as long as I can. Maybe under a different name, sort of, soon but the stories and poems will still be there for all to hear on a weekly or semi-weekly basis.If I do slow down a bit, I will probably lose my air spot on WAA Radio but that is okay. They aren’t paying me anything anyway. That’s what happens when you agree to work for a non-profit. You do so out of the kindness of your heart, or so they tell me.Who knows, they may censor me anyway after the reading of these two poems today. No great loss if they do. This podcast airs in a time slot that only appeals to people working the evening or graveyard shift anyway. I have been told that it is mostly the trucking industry that listens to their radio show and we know that a majority of truck drivers are very conservative as a rule.I am anticipating an email from the station manager next week regarding my selections for this week’s show telling me that people called in complaining about these poems. I have an answer for him if he does.I am looking for more stories and poetry that support the Palestinians and to raise a voice to stop the genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and now, maybe Lebanon. If any of you have anything you wish to offer, I will be glad to read them for you here.Feck the Americans and their corporate censors if they don’t like it.That’s another thing you may start seeing a little more of as I become more angry at the world we find ourselves in. My Irish idioms are starting to bleed through a little bit more with my temper. Please excuse me. I am starting to lose my patience with these ijits that call themselves world leaders and elected politicians. This applies to all of the countries everywhere, including Ireland.I read another newsletter from Sinn Féin this week talking about how they have lost a generation of young professionals who have left Ireland for Australia and Canada as there are no houses or apartments available or affordable in Ireland anymore. Notice I did not say the United States. No one but the uninformed poor want to come to America anymore.In the U.S., Canada, and Australia, affordable and available housing is a big issue as well. I won’t even mention the UK as they are in a category all to themselves.But I digress. This is how angry I have become as I watch the world start to go up in flames everywhere.If you w

Cead FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.This week, I have three stories for everyoneWe continue with part 2 of that Bulgarian tale about a girl and dragons. Then, another episode of The gravediggers of Orpheus, and a scary techno thriller called The Suff, which apparently is a urban legend on Substack these days with other writers posting stories about this character.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life.I am starting to enter into a new phase leading up to the New Year at the end of October. I finally made up my mind on how I want to change things up to help me manage my time better throughout the work week.I will be combining this podcast with my other one, The Village Oak Tree, starting on November first in line with the Celtic new year. I had determined a few months ago that what I have been doing every week wasn’t sustainable for me over the long run and I needed to think about the best way to manage all of this.I came to the conclusion this week that drawing down a little was the only thing I could do it and still maintain the relationships I have with the writers and WAA Radio.My plan is to put everything under one umbrella, The Village Oak Tree, and see how things work out. If it is still too much, such as keeping me from doing the other things I have on my to do list, I will slow it down even more but that remains to be seen.I do enjoy reading the stories and poems for everyone. That is the easy part, the reading. Then I have to edit and that is the bulk of the work that takes up nearly a whole day to create the final podcast, get it posted, then write the newsletters and post to social media.I still like to create news commentary and interview people as well but I think that part of my media company will slow way down. Reading stories and poems will become my primary podcast material.My intent is to free up more of my time to finish writing my books. I didn’t know how much was involved in writing books until I ventured down that path last year. That adventure has cost me a lot of money (And I am still spending) to get a book published, with a good cover design, proof reading (Something I just found out I need) and marketing, which in itself is a big expense and leg work.Who knew back in early 2023, when I decided to self-publish my story, Fugitives in a New United States, that it would cost me so much in time and money way beyond just setting my story on digital paper.They say that you learn your lessons on the first go around and it gets better going forward. I certainly hope so. I have contacted an indie publishing company this week that I hope will be good to work with. I have heard so many horror stories from other authors about their efforts to publish their books that I am very leery now. I don’t want to get taken advantage of, like Danielle Orsino did, whom I interviewed a couple of weeks ago.I have had a LinkedIn account for many years because of my former vocations. When I started writing, I redid my profile to reflect my new writing career. Here lately, I have been inundated with young people from the U.S., and central — west Africa trying to get me to ‘hire’ them to digitally market my book.I obviously politely said no thank you. I understand that this kind of work is a good work from home gig, if you can get the clients, but I am not going to put my trust in anyone I don’t know or can not verify on the internet. Especially when we are talking about several hundred dollars for dubious services.I am also dubious about someone who tries to low-ball me for services as that might be a sign that they are not who they say they are. I am looking at someone right now that looks a little fishy to proof read my book.That is something I am learning about LinkedIn of late. It used to be website for professional people to network on. A search for reputable companies that may be hiring and so on. Now, I think it may have gone to the dogs. It seems to be full of possible scammers these days. I have never been flooded with so many people sending me messages wanting me to hire them to work on my book and they with nothing but a profile on LinkedIn.This all started when I had a reader leave a review on Amazon last month stating that there are lots of grammar and spelling errors that distracted from the story. So, now I am looking for a professional proof reader to scrub the manuscript for me so I can make any corrections and resubmit to my book distributors.I worked so hard with Suzy Jacobson Cherry when she offered her expertise in editing this book in the beginning. Now, I feel bad that I have to scrub it again just to make sure. Sorry Suzy, if you read this.Are there any professional proof readers on Medium or Substack who might be interested in proof reading

Cead FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.This week, I have three stories and two poems.My first story is part 1 of a Bulgarian tale about a young girl and dragons. I will read part 2 next week. My second story is a take from old Scottish Gael stories about Brownies. Then the third is from Africa. A story about a parrot and his love. The poems I picked out are about war and death and a dark poem about Autumn from a Substack writer.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life.The days grow shorter as the harvest season comes to another year end. The days grow cooler now as we head into Autumn. For some, this brings on the changing fall colors of the trees and setting the heat for the cooler nights ahead. When I lived way up north, I would already be burning wood to warm the house up at night by this time of year.I am traveling a bit more now and trying to keep up with my work week, so to speak. I keep telling myself that I am supposed to be retired. My plan after the turn of the new year is to spend less time with podcasting and more time with traveling and writing.I will still put forth this podcast/audiobook every week to promote the writers I find as they can surely use the exposure.I have stopped considering my own fortunes as it has become obvious after this summer that my little blog articles and newsletters will only reach a handful of people around the world. I am now content with that. Which is why I am slowing down a bit.I am not a professional blog writer and I don’t have the time to write something at least once a day like so many others. If I want to say something that is on my mind at the time, I will post something. Otherwise, I am moving on to other things like marketing my current book, writing other books, and traveling more during the spring and fall.There would be a lot of people who would miss this half hour story time as well so I at least need to continue that for as long as I can. This podcast is broadcast all over the world using my podcast platform at rss.com and the amount of listeners outside of these platforms are pretty substantial.If you have ever listened to the show, you would know that I introduce every story and poem with the name of the piece, the author and the publication, if known, at the start of each reading. This is how all of the writers I select to read get world-wide attention.That is all I have to say today. I will return again next week with more stories for everyone. I have three stories set to go for next week. Part 2 of Dragon’s Wings, another chapter of the space opera I have been reading by a Substack writer and another science fiction story by another Substack writer.Here are the links to this weeks selections:Dragon’s Wings — Part 1Unbearable fearsMariana BusarovaBrownies and CreamWhen a minor annoyance takes a surprising turn to something more, folklore and a mother’s worry work to even the scoreArpad NagyWhat did the Parrot’s Lover do to help It?Ignatious C AI, Whom Time Abandoned~ it’s all too familiar, you see ~Farida HaqueGo raibh maith agat. Thank you for your timeAs I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May the warm winds of summer still warm you a bit, and the cold rain stay off your shoulders as you prepare for Samhain.” Go sit you by the warmth of the fire to rid you of the chill and listen to the my stories as the days grow shorter. Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic SeanchaiThanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.Today, I have four stories and a poem for everyone.I will start off with a short western, then a futuristic story, a sad romantic story, the last story is the first chapter about a young adult getting a start on a new life, and lastly, a poem that will resonate with a lot of people.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life.I want to thank those few readers who are still with me as I get close to my two year anniversary for this podcast/audiobook. Hard to believe it has been nearly two years since I started reading Medium stories and poems for the world in a podcast. I didn’t start the YouTube uploads until last November, I think, but my first upload to rss.com was on November 15th, 2022.At first, it was just my own stories and blog articles I had written, then it was the news stories but by August of 2023, I was reading other peoples stories and I don’t think I have taken a week off since I started reading other peoples stories last year.Not that I haven’t taken any small vacations here and there but I always made sure I had an episode in the can, so to speak, before I left on holiday.Which is what I will be doing next week. Another miniature holiday early next week on reservations we made a year ago. That is how popular this particular place is. You have to make reservations a year in advance if you want to go camping there.We will be back in time for me to create another show next Friday, don’t worry. I will be taking a extended vacation next spring though. For that, I might have to skip a week or so as we plan to be gone for at least a month.With the literary world of online publishing the way it is, I am sure few will miss me while I am gone. Maybe I will post a travel log of our adventures as we travel around the country. I think that will depend on the availability of the internet during our trip.I continue to mix things up with both Medium and Substack writers and plan to continue as I like the diversity. I have found one Substack writer living outside the United States who writes stories of all sorts. From romance to science fiction. I will also pick out one or two others as they come across my feeds.As always, I have my medium writers that I can sort through for stories and poetry. Keep writing everybody as we head into our third year together soon.With that, let me give you this week’s selections to read while you listen.The Price of GoldA short western storyAmalia CotovanMiss Anne’s Book NookEvery story has a lesson for the characters to learn. And sometimes, the reader, too.Sara FellersCastles in the SkyGather them in rhymesMariana BusarovaThat is all for this week. I am glad you joined me once again as we continue on this journey together. As always, feel free to reach out with any suggestions and I will see what I can do. I couldn’t do this without any of you. Until next week, SláinteGo raibh maith agat. I hope you enjoyed the variety of stories and poems again this week. If you like the show, please clap, subscribe and reply as this goes a long way towards reaching more listeners around the world.As a Seanchaí, I hope you will allow me to continue delighting you with a story or a poem here under the Crann na beatha, The Tree of Life. Maybe they will bring you a smile and take you away from your troubles for a time.As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May the wind be at your back and the sun kiss your cheeks as you travel about your business over the next week until we meet again.” Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic SeanchaíThanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.I have three more stories this week for this half hour show.I am beginning with the continuation of the serialized space operas from my Substack writers, The Guardians, and The Gravediggers of Orpheus. The third story is a fable from Africa. A wonderful story about a hippo published by a Medium writer.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. Click the play button to listen to the stories.This will be another short newsletter as I have family visiting and I am spending some much needed time with my children and grandchildren this week.This week, I don’t have any poetry as I only had room for these three wonderful stories. This will be the last Guardian chapter though as the subsequent chapters are all about war and the gruesome details of such. I have to try my best to keep this podcast at PG or a G rating as I can. I pre-recorded this podcast last weekend before my family arrived as I knew things would be a little chaotic with young children running around.I do have other stories lined up for next week and my personal schedule will return to normal after this weekend.I love my kids and grandkids but I will be a little glad to get things back to some semblance of normal next week.Please enjoy these fine writers by listening to the podcast above and, if you want, hit the links below to read along as you wish.The Legend of the Magic Water LiliesA fableJojo TeckinaThat’s all I have this week. I will be back again next week with more stories and poems for everyone. SláinteT. Ó Domhnaill - Gaelic SeanchaíThanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteWelcome to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.I have three stories and two poems this week.First up are the continuation of two space operas from Substack writers that I began a couple of weeks ago. The third is also a futuristic space story from a Medium writer and two poems. One about about gardens from a new writer and an poem about dreams and time.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, The Tree of Life. Click play above to listen to this week’s stories and poems.As I mention in the show, and you will see here at the bottom where I will post the links to this week’s selections again, I am reading more stories from Substack writers now. I have a couple of writers I have found that offer serialized space operas and other stories that are pretty entertaining.I don’t know whether you will be able to read their stories without subscribing but Substack offers a different style of paywall system that is author managed, not the platform. Which is why I offer my podcasts on my Substack page free for the first thirty days.In other news, I will be entertaining my grandchildren over the next week so I may be a little slower at responding to messages here. I will still post a new show for next Friday though. I plan to work on it before they arrive this weekend and post it next Friday as usual.I promised my family that I would not slave away in my studio office while they are here so I need to get as much as I can completed ahead of time to stay out of trouble.I also want to thank all who read these little newsletters and listen to the shows. I am very appreciative of everyone around the world who take the time to listen to the stories and poems I find every week. I couldn’t do it without the excellent writers. I like to think we are a bit of a remote team as it were.Hollywood can’t make movies without their story writers and neither can I. Please show your appreciation for these writers linked below, if you read their work. I know they appreciate all who visit with them through their stories and poetry.The Last GardenerOn a lost planet, a survival pod isn’t enough🌬️MitchBlooming HeartOn the Edge of the HorizonA single minute slowly trickled throughMariana BusarovaThat is all for this week. I hope you will return again for more stories and poetry next week. SláinteGo raibh maith agat. Thank you. I enjoy being your scéalaí and visiting your digital village every week. I hope I am offering everyone enough variety to bring you back week after week. Please let me know what you think by clapping, highlighting and responding as you please as this goes a long way towards the selections I offer every week.As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane. May you enjoy your relations and friends as much as you can for life is too short without them.” Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.T. Ó Domhanaill — Gaelic SeanchaíThanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteWelcome back to another episode of Crann na beatha Short Stories and PoetryI am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, returning again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.I have three stories and a poem for you this week. The second story is a bit lengthy but worth your patience. First up is a short romantic horror story about the effects of utter loneliness. The second is a fictional coming of age story, the third is a dystopian story of a failed world and last, a poem written in tribute to Gaza and the Palestinians.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. Click play above to listen to this week’s episode.I have come to the conclusion that not many people read these newsletters so I will keep them short from now on.I have a variety of stories for you and a poem at the end that is dedicated to all of the dead Palestinians of Gaza. I also added my own dedication at the end of the poem.My third and last story is also an activist type of story about a dying world and the anger that is misplaced due to misinformation. There is a lesson for us all in this story.The first two are more for entertainment but I guess there could be a lesson learned from the first story as well. I will let the audience decide that one.Here are the links to this week’s stories and poem.When the Wave ComesA coming-of-age story from another world.Richard DeeDestroyersThe truth will inherit the earthZivah AvrahamWhen The Ravens DropFarida HaqueThis is all I have for you this week. Go raibh maith agat. Thank you for your support. I will be back again next week with more stories from Substack and Medium.com writers. SláinteSlán go fóill - goodbye for now T. Ó Domhnaill - Gaelic SeanchaíThanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteA thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for August 9th, 2024I am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, back again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.I have just have two short stories for you this week. Only two because they are a bit longer than the ones I normally read and I am still working to keep this podcast around the half hour range.First is a wonderful young adult story about a young man’s struggle with taking care of dragons. This is a continuation of previous stories from this writer that I have read here before. Then, my second story is a scary one that I think everyone will like.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. (click play above to listen to the show)On the first story, I edited out a couple of swear words as it was easy to do so without ruining the storyline. It is lengthy and a bit of a tear jerker, happy ending, fantasy story that seems to appeal to some young girls. Even some boys, if they like dragon stories. I made sure this story is rated G for everyone.My second story, although it does not have any bad language in it, deals with some pretty scary themes and a bit of graphic violence so that one I am rating PG-13, especially with all of the additional sound effects I added. I loaded this one right up with as much as I could with my meager editing talents. I hope it gives everyone a bit of a chill.These stories were so long that I could only select two this week in order to keep the show close to the half hour margin. It comes in at about 37 minutes with my intro, advert between stories and my closing message. That isn’t too bad.I am getting this newsletter out a bit late on this Friday night as it took me all afternoon and then some to edit everything to make it presentable. I hope all who listen and read this appreciate my efforts.In other news, I updated my website, www.crann-na-beatha.com, just a wee bit once again last week. I added in a Stripe payment feature to my online book store in case anyone does not like or have access to Paypal. I also spruced up the webpage where the book store is mounted to make it a little easier for visitors to browse the store and maybe buy a book. I have some on the shelf just waiting for a new home. I even do autographs on request.Also, just to let everyone know, I have Google translate front and center on the home page so any visitors from anywhere in the world can change the website language to one they can read. I tested it by changing it to Irish and it works great. To add to that, I do believe my book, Fugitives in a New United States, can be ordered for languages other than Yankee English from book retailers in other countries, if that helps. This website meets all U.S. and EU GDPR privacy requirements so it is safe.On a personal note, my wife hit me up tonight during our nightly walk to help her find a dark, clear sky tomorrow night to watch a meteor shower. That might be interesting. I am all about taking time off from the world to watch some meteors in the summer night sky. I just hope we get to see them.That is all I have for you this week. Here are the story selections I picked out to read to the world.It All Comes DownA storm and a copper flower.Violet LivelyThe Prophet’s InquisitionA light against heresy most foulLukas UngerGo raibh maith agat. Thank you for your continued support. I wish I could find a way to reach out to more people around the world with this as I think stories and poetry bring much joy and peace to all peoples everywhere. The best way is for everyone who reads these newsletters and listens to the shows, to share this with everyone they know. Maybe I can bring a little peace to someone, somewhere that needs a little quiet time in between the bombs and bullets.As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane to the pub. May your friends and relations bring you a pint after you retell these stories and poems I give you here.” Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic SeanchaíThanks for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life! This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteA thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for August 2nd, 2024I am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, back again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.I have three stories and two poems for you this week. I am starting a new fantasy series, along with the science fiction series I started a couple of weeks ago. Both are from Substack writers. I will be bringing more stories from Substack writers going forward as I find them. I also have a short story from a Medium writer and two poems from Medium poets.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the Crann na beatha, the tree of life.Click the play button above on the podcast to listen to this week’s podcast.I am not going to make a lengthy newsletter today as it is very hot outside, with thunderstorms brewing and I don’t have a lot to write about concerning the literary world today. Although I did clean off my book shelf this week of books I had read.I had a few that I though the authors were going to write another novel for but alas, they are not. So, off they will go to the local library soon.I am reading more and more Substack stories now as I said I would. I have two serialized fictions starting up in the podcast. I started one a couple of weeks ago and I have a new one this week.If you are a fan of futuristic fantasy or Marvel heroes, you will like this one. I personally have read up to chapter four, although I started all of you on chapter one today. I am also reading a couple of others as well. Unfortunately, they are not within the standards I have set for this show due to language or sexuality, so I can’t read them for my audience.There is one though that I am reading that I may include at a later date. Another adventure tale with heroes, monsters and romance. There is a heroine and her hero, who go around fighting off bad guys, while dodging her parents who want her to marry someone of their choosing. Typical medieval stuff but it is a good story.I am feeling a little better about continuing this audio podcast now that I have found more writers that allow me to read their work. Not to dismiss Medium writers but I needed more stories and poems to keep things going.As always, the call is still out for good short stories and poetry for me to read on this show. You can reply to his newsletter anytime as I publish every week or, you may reach out to me through the contact page on my website. It is perfectly safe as my website meets all of the U.S. and E.U. privacy and consent regulations.Here are this week’s selections. Bear in mind that the first two are from Substack writers.Whatever’s Coming Is Always NextA short storyMaisie ArcherThe Love of the MermaidIt is deep and forgivingMariana BusarovaClean Your Mind, Body, Life, Home, Mother EarthCleanse, Purify, SanctifyThat’s all I have for everyone this week. I thank you for joining me here and I hope everyone will come back again next week for more. I have two lengthy stories for you next week from Medium writers and a poem or two, once I find something. SláinteGo raibh maith agat. I hope you enjoyed the variety of stories and poems again this week. If you like the show, please like, subscribe and reply on whatever podcast app you listen to as this goes a long way towards reaching more listeners around the world.As a Seanchaí, I hope you will allow me to continue delighting you with a story or a poem here under the Crann na beatha. Maybe they will bring you a smile and take you away from your troubles for a time.As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane to the pub. May your friends and relations bring you a pint after you retell these stories and poems I give you here.” Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic SeanchaíThank you for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life. This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit todomhnaill.substack.com/subscribe

Cead FáilteA thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for July 26th, 2024I am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, back again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.I have three short stories and three poems for you. To start, I have found some short stories about dragons that I will be reading in the next couple of weeks, starting today. I have a different kind of ghost story and I am starting a new serialized space story from a writer on Substack that I started last week. Then I have a selection of poems for you to cap it all off.So gather round once more and let me read to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. Click play above to listen to the show.My program is a little short of thirty minutes this week, despite my having six selections for everyone. I am starting to run short of good, readable stories these days.I am able to find a few but it is taking more time out of my week to scrounge around to find them. I have started selecting more stories from Substack writers now but even they are requiring a lot of read time to vet them for readability and language. Some writers seem to think that foul language needs to be written in to emphasize parts of the stories. I respect that but I can’t read them to any audiences that may have minor children listening.I also have to look at length. It takes a lot of work to read a fifteen minute or more story or chapter, then add in all of the appropriate sound effects.I am having doubts about the long term sustainability of this podcast because of this shortage. It is cutting into time I need for other things. If I had a helper to find and review the stories and poems for me every week, I might consider continuing. As it is, since this is not a paywalled podcast, I don’t know of anyone in their right minds who would work with me for free.I do it because I love to tell stories and I am okay with just working for the odd donation now and again. But I can’t ask anyone else to be that generous with their time. Especially with the economy as it is. Everyone is working every side hustle they can to make a couple extra dollars these day.My plan is to take it until Samhain, which is the end of my calendar year. Then close it so I can get back to writing my books this winter. I am very far behind on my current book. It is about halfway finished so I need to complete the draft and find an editor.This particular book is a military anthology full of soldier and sailor adventure stories dating back to the 1970’s and into the 21st century. They are all fictional stories, some based on my own personal exploits through the years. I am not divulging which ones. I hope to have it on the shelves by next spring.Then, it will be book two of my Fugitives in a New United States series after that. As you can see, I am ambitious about writing books so I need to find the time to sit down and start writing again. I can’t do it if I am spending the majority of my week producing podcasts.I will still produce The Village Oak Tree as it gives me an outlet for my activism and right to peaceful protest, while we still have it. I just won’t be as active with it as I have been. Once a week will be enough. No more strange guests that give me the shivers.Here are this week’s selections:Conversations with a DragonThe princess doesn’t need saving…Cathryn MooreThe Real Ghosts of the TowerWhat will Lotta discover after the death of her best friend?Sara FellersInnocentThis world lies in piecesMariana BusarovaThe Window— poemWaqas AhmadThat is all I have to offer this week for this newsletter. We live in strange times and things don’t look to be getting any better. I do have some stories and poems picked out for next week and I am working on finding more, as always. I wish everyone luck in the coming week ahead as we navigate through these dark times. I will be back again next week. SláinteGo raibh maith agat. Thank you for your support. I hope you enjoyed the variety of stories and poems again this week. If you like the video, please like, subscribe and reply as this goes a long way towards reaching more listeners around the world.As a Seanchaí, I hope you will allow me to continue delighting you with a story or a poem here under the Crann na beatha. Maybe they will bring you a smile and take you away from your troubles for a time.As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane to the pub. May your friends and relations bring you a pint after you retell these stories and poems I give you here.” Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic SeanchaíThank you for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life. This post is public so feel free to share it.Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free

Cead FáilteA thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for July 19th, 2024I am your village scéalaí back again this week with more stories and poems from authors around the world.I have four short stories and one poem for you this week. There is the last chapter of From Beyond the Water Wall, a short scary story, two science fiction shorts and a poem about a star who wants to go home.So gather round once more under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life and let me read them to you, with a little added flare. Select the play button above to listen to this week’s selections.The only other news I have to share with everyone this week is that I have found more science fiction writers on Substack now. Which I will start reading some of their stories starting in August.I have read one or two so far this year but I will be be bringing more as the word has gotten out that I am looking for stories. I have read a handful of the stories they have submitted and these folks are very talented. I will let the audience make the final judgement but, from someone who has been reading science fiction for decades, these young folks rival some of the old masters of old.I will still read stories and poetry from Medium writers to offer the variety that everyone craves. Medium writers are just as talented as any one else. It just seems that the money is in blog articles these days so fictional stories have become a little harder to find. I know I never made a dime off of my fictional stories on Medium. Not that these weekly newsletters generate any bonuses either. If I wrote for money, I would have given up a long time ago.I am also finding out that marketing a self-published fictional novel is very hard. The retail book industry apparently has a code against putting these books on their shelves for people to pick up and thumb through. And then, there are the marketing scammersI ran into one such company this week. They hit me up on my Linked In page and said they were a book marketing company. They advertised that they could help me use social media to sell my book.During the meeting, this shaggy looking man with a dark, blurred background on Zoom tried to convince me that his company had contracts with small, independent book store owners across the country who would, for a large monthly fee, set up delivery of my books to these sellers and I would make money.My instincts sent off an alarm bell when he started screen sharing with me these ugly looking spreadsheets with all of these book sellers listed. It looked so unprofessional that I said I would think about and left the meeting without offering any commitment.When I Googled this company afterwards, it was obvious that they were just another fly-by-night company out to fleece unsuspecting people. Meanwhile, I am still trying to figure out the best way to market my book to book stores.I have a meeting with someone a lot more professional next week to see what he has to offer. I am already advertising on my website, my social media accounts (although I am not a frequent poster so that may be a problem), and my online writing accounts here on Medium and Substack.I am open for ideas if anyone cares to offer any.Here are this week’s stories and the poem I selected to read for everyone.From Beyond the Water WallChapter 25/25 — Beyond the Water WallDon WoodbyCape Cod 1942Horror fictionV. PlutStar-4488 (Sol)No landing on TerraUlf WolfHer Orbs, AvertedMemories of Teddy BearDavid PahorA Dead Star With a Fragile HeartStitched by unseen handsH.R. ParkerThat’s all I have for everyone again this week. It’s been a quiet week in the literary world. It seems that the events of the outside world have taken over everything, everywhere nowadays. It’s times like this that I want to hide away with a good book and let the world slide on by for a while. I thank all of you once again for joining me here and I will be back next week with more. SláinteGo raibh maith agat. If you like the show, please like, subscribe and reply as this goes a long way towards reaching more listeners around the world.As a Seanchaí, I hope you will allow me to continue delighting you with a story or a poem here under the Crann na beatha. Maybe they will bring you a smile and take you away from your troubles for a time.As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane to the pub. May your friends and relations bring you a pint after you retell these stories and poems I give you here.” Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic SeanchaíThank you for reading Crann na beatha-The Tree of Life. 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Cead FáilteA thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for July 12th, 2024I am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, back again this week with more stories and poems from online authors.I just have four short stories and five poems this week. We have chapter twenty four of the ongoing story From Beyond the Water Wall, a short story about bureaucracy in the animal kingdom, another short addition to the elementals, a very short story about two human predators, and Zen poems to help ease the stress of everyone’s life a little.So gather round once more and let me read them to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. (Click play above to listen to the stories and poems)I more than made up for the lack of poetry last week with this week’s selections. I found some new writers this week, one of them from Substack. I saved hers for last as her poem is deep and dark.As with every story or poem I strive to strike the right balance with the appropriate sound effects. I will let the listeners be the judge on whether I am doing a good job. Let me know what you think.I didn’t have any technical glitches this week and I am so grateful that everything worked smoothly for once regarding my sound editing program. I took a little victory dance around my studio when it all worked as it is was supposed to today.I did run into a different kind of IT problem yesterday that is still unresolved. The Italian company that is hosting my website and custom domain name decided to roll out a major update with a minor changelog that I missed a couple of weeks ago.In my current application version, I had (had being the key word) an online store set up for my book sales and the blog, along with other pages. With their new update, my old application version no longer allows me to have more than one hundred posts in my blog and no more online store.I went to add a copy of my The Village Oak Tree newsletter for this week and it wouldn’t let me. I wrote a note to their customer support and they kindly informed me about the changelog and the new changes.After another inquiry regarding a prorate for the now mandatory upgrade (I had just renewed my annual license a couple of months ago), they were kind enough to grant me a license gratis for the Pro version, good until my old license expires next spring.Now this is an example of European customer service that you rarely see in the United States.Meanwhile, they are in Italy which is in a vastly different time zone. So, my custom domain name is still attached to my old version, hopefully only until Monday when they come back to work. I left a couple of messages so I hope someone sees them on Monday, their time.What this means for the uninitiated is that I will have to update the old blog and the new one until they finally get things moved around next week. More work for me in the short term. I checked this morning and my website at www.crann-na-beatha.com is still up and running like normal, in case anyone wishes to visit.I think the bookstore is still there in case someone wishes to buy a physical book directly from me. At least I could order one still when I checked, I think. I just couldn’t update the bookstore behind the scenes anymore. This feature will be available again once I have my custom domain name transferred over.Now that I have bored you all to death with my IT issues, I can add a little bit of good personal news. I finally had a visit from my prodigal youngest son this week whom I haven’t seen or talked to in ten years. He will be turning twenty five later this month so this is a big deal for both of us.He and his girlfriend came to visit for a couple of days and we talked for hours trying to catch up on those missing ten years. One thing I observed first hand rather than reading about it in the news and blog articles though, is just how badly America’s young people are having it in today’s U.S. economy.My wayward son told me how hard it is to find a decent job anymore, no matter your education level. There are some places in the country that are still livable within his means but they are becoming harder and harder to find.He just happens to live in an another boom region where the climate migrants from California invaded with their cash offers for every available piece of real estate, driving the prices beyond what the young local people can afford. This phenomenon is happening all over the United States. I saw these California climate migrants flooding into Texas when we left back in 2020. I imagine this is going on in a lot of other places as well.Myself and other writers have been saying this for a while now and it looks pretty bad for the U.S. on a whole. Sometimes things like this are right under your nose and you still don’t pay attention. How many readers are living somewhere where there has been a very noticeable uptick in California license plates on the local streets and roads in the last couple of years?How many readers are n

Cead FáilteA thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for July 5th, 2024I am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, back again this week with more stories and poems from online authors.I just have three short stories this week. I have chapter twenty three of the ongoing story From Beyond the Water Wall, a short story of medieval revenge from a Substack writer, and a story about desperation and the fulfillment of a dream, sort of.So gather round once more and let me read them to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life.Click play above to listen to this week’s episode.I am having trouble with uploading this week’s show to YouTube. It took a couple of hours for a 5 Gb file. It seems that global warming is having an effect on the world-wide internet system more and more these days. I can tell when things are hot outside as my network seems to take forever to upload files outside of my own personal domain share folders. On these extraordinary warm days, uploading files to YouTube takes a long while, as in hours. Kind of reminds me of the old days with phone lines and 5600 Kbd routers.I suppose we should learn to accept these new parameters now. They are a sign of the times. U.S. infrastructure is breaking down more and more all the time. The private corporations don’t want to spend their own money to fix or upgrade anything anymore so they sit on it waiting for the Feds to ‘subsidize’ the needed upgrades while they rake in millions from subscribers.I don’t want to get off on another rant on why I don’t like the American government or corporations who are bleeding everyone dry like vampires. This newsletter is supposed to help us transcend above all of our daily struggles for a bit.It is hard sometimes to put all of that aside sometimes, even for just a half hour to listen to some great stories. There is too much going on out there that is fast becoming existential.I didn’t have any good poems this week so I read three great stories for everyone and added in as many sound effects as I could. I hope people continue to like this show. I am still looking for writers so if you have something you think would be a good to read aloud for a family audience, let me know. I have enough saved up for the next two weeks but I need more.In other news, I read another blog article today by my friend Bruce Coulter about his struggles and travels. Time Flies is a bit satirical and full of his typical New England style humor. He gets around and takes really great pictures. I am so jealous.I read quite a few other Medium and Substack writers works as much as I can every day. Some days when I am very busy, I have to put them off but I try not to. Seeing as how they put forth all of that effort to write good blog articles, stories and poems, it is the least I can do is set aside a little time in my schedule to pay them the attention they are due.I also continue to support Jessica Wildfire with her writings in OKDoomer. She is worth every penny I can provide for her cause. She still continues to receive hate mail from people taking issue with her research and wry style of writing. I think it means that she is successful if she is getting that much attention, good or bad. She got chased off of Medium, then chased off of Substack and now is getting negative feedback on her own platform. It’s such a shame that people have forgotten their manners in this day and age.Another writer who was chased off of Substack is my favorite Canadian, Sam W. Her latest article about preparing for the future is good advice. Preparing for the Worst: Mutual Aid and Sustainable Skills is a positive piece about community. Something I think a lot of Americans have forgotten somewhere along the way in the 21st century.It is with that sense of world-wide community spirit that I bring you this week’s selections. One story is from a Canadian (I think), another is a Substack writer from the U.S. and the last one is from someone living in Italy (I think) who is originally from eastern Europe (again, I think).From Beyond the Water WallChapter 23/25 — Burn them AllDon WoodbyNothing Else MattersNevena PascalevaThat is all I have for everyone this week. I hope I have helped ease your burden a little bit for a short time. Until next week, SláinteGo raibh maith agat. Thank you for your attention. I hope you enjoyed the variety of stories again this week. If you like the show, please share, like, subscribe and reply as this goes a long way towards reaching more listeners around the world.As a Seanchaí, I hope you will allow me to continue delighting you with a story or a poem here under the Crann na beatha. Maybe they will bring you a smile and take you away from your troubles for a time.As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane to the pub. May your friends and relations bring you a

Cead FáilteA thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for June 28th, 2024I am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, back again this week with more stories and poems from online authors.I just have two short stories and two poems this week. We have chapter twenty two of the ongoing story From Beyond the Water Wall, and part three of the young adult story about Renae and the pixie. Then I have two wonderful poems that might make you think a little about life.So gather round once more and let me read them to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. Click play above to listen to this week’s selections.There is so much going on in the world right now that this show becomes a little more important in some regards as a way to escape all of the chaos we find ourselves in.I continue to search out good fictional stories and poems that may offer us a quiet moment but I need more help. I am starting to get to the bottom of the story well. I am still able to find good poetry for the most part but fictional stories that I can read to young children are becoming somewhat scarce these days.I am having to search deep into Medium archives to find stories I can use in this podcast and I am coming up short. Are clean, short fictional stories becoming passé these days?I am searching for writers over on Substack for diversity but more and more, I am finding more stories there than I am on Medium now. Medium fiction writers where are you? I have found a few stories that I have saved for future podcasts but the list is getting smaller.The biggest issue I am having is the lack of diversity. I seem to be selecting from a very small pool of writers and that pool is getting smaller all the time. I hope my well doesn’t run dry at some point.This show is becoming very popular around the world since I started less than a year ago. I started this podcast last year in late summer and now, it has thousands of listeners everywhere. Most of them are in the United States but there are still a lot of listeners outside of the United States that I want continue reading for as well.If I run to low on writers at some point, I may have to resort to reading library books to keep the show going. There are certain writers that I read frequently that I wish to mention as a thank you for writing consistently such as Sara Fellers, H.R. Parker, and Don Woodby. I regularly read their stories these days as I search out more.There are quite a few poets whom I have been honored to read their poems over the last year and I will continue to do so. As in all things, I try to read from a large selection of poets. I want to offer the chance for many different writers to have an opportunity to have their works listened to all across the planet.I am still adding in dramatic sound effects where appropriate, to give the stories and poems more of a flair. Some poems I leave as they are because they so well written that they have no need for any additional backgrounds. Additional sound effects would actually cheapen them, if you know what I mean.I am old enough to remember the old radio shows from the early 1960’s before television replaced them. This was before my parents bought their first black and white TV about 1964, as I recall. They all had sound effects to make the listeners imagine they were watching a show.I remember listening to The Green Lantern, The Shadow and a couple of others back then. I just hope that my little show comes close to what those old radio shows were like back then. There are so many people around the world who don’t have access to a TV these days. Most of them do have access to a mobile device and the internet occasionally. Almost like a radio from bygone days.This is another reason why I insist on reading only ‘clean’ stories because I want children to be able to listen to all of your stories and poems, along with their parents. Think of the children in the refugee camps around the world who only have access to a shared mobile device for any chance at this type of entertainment.Believe it or not, there are a lot of people around the world who are fluent in English who would translate, if they knew about this show. I try to keep it at roughly thirty minutes or less so as not to push the boundaries of the children’s restless natures.If you are an aspiring fictional writer and are interested in submitting story suggestions to me for reading in future podcasts, let me know. My main criteria is for them to be children friendly and long enough to keep their attention. These little one or two minute ‘drabbles’ usually don’t qualify. I do make exceptions for extremely good stories though, such as H.R. Parker’s Elemental series and others I find. But I keep the really short ones to a minimum.Now for this week’s selections:From Beyond the Water WallChapter 22/25 — Through the CaveDon WoodbyThe Blooming of the Violet Dusk OakPart Three: Will Renae’s and Vitty’s words reach Bobbie?Sara FellersA Prophecy