Posts Tagged: dana michelle burnett

Author Guest Post on Irish Travellers by Dana Michelle Burnett

18 Apr, 2013 by in Author Guest Post, Once 2 comments

First off, thanks for having me on the blog!  It’s always such a treat to meet new readers and introduce them to my characters.


Once is the first book in my Gypsy Fairy Tale series and it centers around a secretive group of Irish Travellers and a family of the Tuatha De Danann that hides among them.  I always wanted to write something about fairies and while I was researching fairy lore, I discovered that the first rulers of Ireland were a magical tribe that gave birth to the fairy legends of today.  


Wow!  Now how was I supposed to put THAT in a book and have it make any sort of sense?  I kept at my research, adding to my notes over the next year, but I never could really figure it out.
Finally, thanks to my daughter’s love of magic shows, an idea began to percolate.  What if members of the Tuatha De Danann were working in a circus or carnival?  Their magical powers would go unnoticed because they wouldn’t be hidden.  Hmm…..Now how am I supposed to make THAT work?  Oh, the problems of a writer!
The final breakthrough came one night as I was watching television.  There I was, not writing, not even thinking about writing, when My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding came on.  I was thrust right into the secretive world of Irish Travellers.  

Here was a group of people with old world ideas regarding behavior and honor, a people that lived on the outskirts of society, and a people that could be seen as logically traveling with or as a circus. Hmm…Irish Travellers….What if they were hiding a really big secret….What if they were hiding the Tuatha De Danann?
Okay, so I had my premise.  The rest was easy.  Girl meets Irish Traveller boy, boy turns out to be part of the magical Tuatha De Danann tribe, girl falls for boy, and then the bad guys show up.  At least that’s the very shortened version.
So, how about some Traveller Trivia?
  • Irish Travellers often speak a mingled language known as “The Cant”, making it difficult for outsiders to understand them when they speak amongst themselves.
  • Irish Travellers have very strict rules involving encounters between unmarried couples. Often a chaperone will accompany a young couple on all of their dates.
  • Irish Traveller women rarely drink alcohol, if ever.
  • Irish Travellers are in a constant battle for their rights. In the past few years, they have lost land battles in the UK, the most famous being Dale Farm.
  • Gypsy is actually a derogatory term for both Irish Travellers and Romani.
It was difficult to research such a closed group, but I have come to admire the quiet determination that seems to exist in them and has made it possible for them to survive despite discrimination.  I could easily see them as being the good guys like in my story.


About the Author: 

Dana Michelle Burnett spent most of her life writing short stories and sharing them with family and friends. Over the years, her work was published in numerous commercial and literary magazines  including Just Labs, Mindprints: A Literary Journal, Foliate Oak, and many more.  Her short story John Lennon and the Chicken Holocaust was include in The Best of Foliate Oak 2006.  

Dana Michelle’s Spiritus Series introduced the idea of a ghostly romance and became a Kindle bestselling series.  She’s an avid reader of anything dark and romantic.  Dana Michelle lives in Southern Indiana with her dancing diva daughter and an assortment of pets.
Dana Michelle loves connecting with her readers find her on facebook/ twitter/ Goodreads/ Pinterest


Book Summary for Once: Gypsy Fairy Tale #1

Beautiful. Secretive. Magical. You envy their freedom, but you are distrustful of their ways. A strange carnival has come to Corydon, Indiana and the Irish Travellers have captured the small town’s attention–but it’s Harmony who’s attracted theirs. 
Harmony sees the Travellers everywhere and just like everyone else in town she’s curious. But once she meets the mysterious and captivating Kieran, Harmony’s life takes an exciting and chilling turn. 


Up until now, Harmony never believed that fairy tales or myths were real, but Kieran and his family belong to an ancient tribe called the Tuatha de Dannan and someone else has discovered their secret. 


An ancient battle is about to begin again, and now no one is safe, especially Harmony. Can Kieran resist the urge to be with her or will his feelings put her in the crossfire?

Book Review- Spiritus

20 Dec, 2011 by in spiritus 2 comments

Spiritus
by Dana Michelle Burnett
Young Adult Paranormal
Format: Kindle Edition
Print Length: 179 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
ASIN: B005V02FD4
Source: author

4 Stars

When Becca moves into her ancestral home in Corydon, Indiana, her life takes a puzzling and thrilling turn when she meets the ghost haunting the halls. As the seductive spirit lures her closer and closer, she learns about her own past and starts to understand that some mistakes are meant to last.

Becca McAllister has always been different from other girls her age. Never part of the “in crowd”, Becca never really fit in anywhere. When her mother dies and her father moves them to the small town of Corydon, Indiana, Becca didn’t expect things to change.But things do change when Becca accidentally makes contact with a one hundred and sixty year old ghost, Alastor Sinclair, that haunts the halls of her new home.To Becca, Alastor is a seductive spirit that seems to see straight into her soul. To Alastor, Becca is what he was waited a century for–A second chance.

Becca McAllister is new in Corydon, anxious to fit in to her father’s hometown. As if trying to figure out a new school isn’t hard enough, Becca discovers her ancestral home is haunted. Alastor Sinclair, a seductive blast from a past she doesn’t remember, is determined to woo her even though strange memories hint she may be responsible for his death in another life.

I enjoyed this short novel. It was easy to feel sympathy for Becca as she moves into a new town and deals with school jitters. Her relationship with her father feels true to life, and the paranormal activity around her home is spooky and believable.

While the locals and the neighborhood setting of Corydon are charming, Becca’s haunting admirer, Alastor, is a bit edgy. One never knows his intentions, and some of his manic behavior leaves swirling questions. At times I hoped Becca would walk away for good, and I questioned some of her decisions, but this made the story feel more realistic as the young and true love are often blind.

SPIRITUS is fast-paced. It kept me reading, though at times the plot developed too quickly in regards to Becca’s and Alastor’s volatile romance. There are bits and pieces very mature for the Young Adult genre, but I did not think any lines were crossed. However, I would only recommend the book to older teens and adults.

Ms. Burnett’s voice is likeable, strong, and talented — a potential for great storytelling. Her settings come alive and the inner dialogue is witty.

The only snag for me with this book was the lack of editorial attention, but as to whether or not my copy was an advanced copy, I could not find that information. Regardless, SPIRITUS is an entertaining tale in a series that I would continue to read.

Reviewed by one of our new part time reviewers-Danielle Thorne

About Author Dana Michelle Burnett
Dana Michelle Burnett spent most of her life writing short stories and sharing them with family and friends. Over the years, her work was published in numerous commercial and literary magazines including Just Labs, Mindprints: A Literary Journal, Foliate Oak, and many more. Her short story John Lennon and the Chicken Holocaust was included in The Best of Foliate Oak in 2006. Her literary novel, Ghost Country, was published in 2010. The romance novel, Two Out of Three, followed in 2011. Spiritus is the first book in her new paranormal romance series by the same name.

Visit Dana’s Website/ Facebook/ Twitter