Ogham, Ancient Celtic Language, and Roben Hode

Ah, research. 

Writing is about reading, investigation, and fact finding expeditions. The internet has given writers a one stop shop to look up history, science, and even science fiction. When writing a historical character, a write needs as much in depth knowledge of that era as possible. 

In the case of Hode, Roben is a modern version of the mythical persona. So the legend is more of a set of guidelines than rules. However, supporting characters like Marian can have ties to the past as much or more than a modern retelling's protagonist. Marian in the first novel states she has family ties to the old Celtic ways of magick as a priestess. These characters usually have tattoos or brands, one of which Roben notices on Marian. 

So what does a writer do for the second novel? Well she researches the Ogham. Ogham is a series of lines that equate to the phonetic alphabet. We write in English which is denoted in Latin characters to convey our message. Lines like Runes and the Ogham did the same thing when reading and writing was less necessary or available to the public. 

But I like taking the concept to the next level. I not only translated my character's information to Ogham, I looked up the Ancient Celtic word for the item I wanted translated.

So in modern vernacular, Blood is fuil in Gaelic. Fuil is this set of marks in the Ogham: 

Will this be of use in the next novel, I hope so. Research takes hours and sometimes days/weeks to complete on something as simple as an ancient word and its non-Latin transliteration. 

Luckily research into the past can be done online instead of in a room full of musty, dusty tomes. 

 What research have you conducted to create depth in your character's backstory or plot point?

Sources: 

Ogham translator

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Name Calling

It was one of those days. You know those days. Days that the most rudimentary application flees your mind as if drinking and writing were habitual. 

Needless to say, I don't drink. 

Future Banner for Nocturnal Redemption

So what was the authorian infraction? Names. Names to my characters to be exact. I spent so much time working out plot lines, characterization, and dialogue that I forgot to give more than half my characters surnames. 

The travesty! 

Not really, but the situation did give me another prescription in my bid to edit and polish Nocturnal Redemption: In the Eye of the Beholder. 

So I went out on a discovery expedition. My antagonist, Chloe, needed a dark name. One that showed where she was in the story. I wanted to do: deWinter, but thought the name too closely resembled the Dumas character in The Three Musketeers. 

Since one of the scenes is and others will be in France, I decided to investigate the French word for winter, which happens to be le hiver. In my rounds on the internet I discovered place names like de l'hiver, and l'hiv. That gave me the idea to name her: Chloe de L'Hiv (of the Winter). 

Neat, right?

To name a character in one's story takes a little time and effort. Many new writers are overwhelmed by the task. There are an innumerable amount of baby name websites to choose from. The way to go about naming your characters is to know who your characters are and where they come from. 

Doing the brainstorming first before researching the name for a character cuts out the middle man so to speak. 

I went from panic mode to a quick afternoon's jaunt into France. The internet is a wonderful place. A writer can now venture any where in the world. 

So do not get stuck naming your characters, get proactive with fleshing out your characters and researching those ends online. 

Have a great and wonderful day!

Marketing: The Language of Symbols

I have been assisting others lately develop their marketing strategies from blogs, websites to book covers. In reality, what I am doing is helping develop an author's language of symbols. The letters and words I am typing now are in fact symbols.

Did you know the letter "a" is the symbol for an ox? 

Humans are hardwired to understand and translate the abstract language of symbols to convey information in a short amount of time. It is an efficient system, but also one that can be used for negative purposes. Go to any corporations website and translate their symbols, or marketing logos. What does that corporation tell you without saying a word? Then you will understand the language of silent hypocrisy.

As artists and writers, we use symbols to tell stories. When it comes to brand creation, most artists and writers cannot translate themselves into a marketing strategy. That is where I usually find myself: in between the creator and true genesis. 

So how do artists and writers step out of the shadows to show their readership/audience in symbols what they and their products are all about? 

Writing about Marketing today! 

The Undawnted logo is a great example. It has a Saturn motif. Saturn is the old bearded man that likes structure. Yet, if one takes a closer look, I have shadows in the eye of the storm. I like the paranormal so I threw that symbolism in there, but I also like science and science fiction. So the swirl is indicative of a galaxy spinning around a galactic center of beings and perhaps an Einstein Rosenbridge. The rings could be of a Saturn like planet, but in this case, the rings symbolize the expansion of creativity and consciousness across the universe. 

So look how much I said in that logo for Undawnted: Imagination is Fearless, after all. 

There are some unwritten rules about blogs and websites that many artists and authors shove to the side, so I will help translate those items:

• keep it simple
• only have 2 to 3 clicks to anywhere on your site
• declutter, you don't have to put everything in the menus when a link will do
• white space is golden
• be conservative

When I explain these items, I get blown off. If I go to sites of artists and authors with their Twitter and social media feeds on the side, that is too much input for me. As your audience, I am looking for YOU... not your feeds. I could care less. 

I want access to your writings or your art pieces. And, I want them as soon as I click onto your site. So take down all the noise and replace the noise with a link. 

A blog/website comes down to what you want me to know... in the first five seconds I am there. Are you trying sell me your Twitter feed or your book/art? 

Symbolism takes a hen peck approach. If your main focus is to sell me your works, then don't sell me the secondaries of Twitter and social media. Prioritize. 

If you write and sell writing services... get two different blogs or sites. You can interweave and link to create a support mechanism for both your inventions. I began with art and writing on this site. When I focused on what Undawnted was all about, I moved the art off and created: Sonoran Dawn Studios. Bingo! 

Now if someone needs design and publishing services, that person goes to www.SonoranDawn.com. 

If someone wants to read something unique from every topic under the sun, that person comes to Undawnted. 

Perfecto! 

Always keep it simple. You don't want your blog, website, or logo to look like a Jackson Pollock painting. You want to look like Da Vinci: with style, grace, and purpose. 

I hope I have explained this topic well. 

When you endeavor on a path of marketing, be sure to visit other artists and authors' websites. See what they have done to market themselves to a wider audience. Have a list of what you like and what you don't like. 

Then sketch out what you want then find someone like me to help you translate your world to the universe of readers and connoisseurs of your unique art form. 

If you can do it yourself, even better. I encourage artists and writers to learn other modalities so they are less inclined to pay for services they don't need or want. Services should be there to enhance what you already have, not leave you penniless. 

So do some basic research. Learn what a great marketing strategy is. Ask for help. Get only the services you require. 

Sounds easy, but takes a lot of work!

Have a great and wonderful day!!!  

A Return to Authorsden

With my illness and subsequent disability from it, I had to let go my association with Authorsden many years ago. My page remained up but I could go now further. 

I deleted the old and put up some new ones! I uploaded my three books: a novel, essay, and chapbook. 

I also published two new poems with more still to come.

Dawn L. Mullan on Authorsden.


I hope you stop by and leave a review!

Have a great and wonderful day~ 

Summertime Blues

With the heat outside during the day and the mosquitoes at night, I have cabin fever. 

I still go out and do my chores, but once the heat or bites take over, it's time to hide away in the comfort of the air conditioning. That is why I have been in nonstop research mode. I hope all this reading and note taking pays off with great new articles and essays for me to publish. 

Right now, 2017 looks better than our inaugural year! 

So that is how I am beating the summertime blues: keeping myself occupied by laying the foundations for a better future. 

Have a great and wonderful day! 

Genealogy: the World of Ancestry

I have had the pleasure of researching family genealogy the past week. 

The journey has been an interesting one. I have found connections that I had never dreamed of as well as found new connections. Resolution has been the theme.  

Now I am on a crusade to find evidentury support for my findings. I ran into a lot of them on my quest, now I am hoping I can find other sources to codify my hypothesis. 

Tax, census, property, and other records to verify someone was where we believe they were is really going to help. 

I have created a Family Genealogy page so I can publish findings, research, hypotheses, and record support so family members do not have to redo our genealogy every next generation. 

Wouldn't that save time? 

Then we can focus our resources onto finding more connections instead of rehashing the old. 

If you would like to help, here is my message on RootsWeb: Chisholmes - VA to TX... Need Records Verification.

 I am sure if we begin a records depot, we can save everyone in the future a lot of time! 

Thank you so much Chisholmes for your participation.

Have a great and wonderful day!

Our Publications to Date

If you haven't already, please stop by our releases on the Author Spotlight by Sonoran Dawn Studios. 

We have already released since May 31st: 

Booklets 
Recipes for nutritious dinners or to spruce up the house, our booklets contain everything you need to get back to the basics.

• Home Freshening Spray Recipe 
• Spanish Rice Recipe
• Homemade Mopping Solution Recipe 
• Eggless, Breadless Meatloaf Recipe 
• Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe 

Essays

From research to articles, our nonfiction essays are sure to entertain while they inform and educate.

• Poetic Dialogue: Grammar and the Arts 
• Manufactured Consent 
• Uncommon Knowledge: The US Flag
• The Great American Novel REVISITED
• Gaslighting and the Environmental Illness Patien

From the Books & More page. 

Have a great and wonderful day!

Centrist : The Middle Child of Politics

Well, since I am writing historical and political research essays, I should probably explain my philosophy...

Centrist

The Middle Child of Politics

Before we get into the ins and out of history, politics, and society, we will take a look at the political views of the writer and lecturer.

What is a Centrist? What does that mean for people's rights?


What is your political leanings?

(This essay straddles two worlds; Hstorical Context and Social Constructs.) 

War on Women is Now a Topic for Discussion

I have been at it again! 

With current attitudes and recent commentary about women's rights, health, and safety, I am now working on a research essay called: War on Women. I take a look at the different arguments and angles about women's rights in our society. 

The war on women has been a religious and societal attack for over 100 years. Probably closer to 4 to 5 thousand years have women had to submit to patriarchal misinformation and disinformation about what is and is not "feminine." 

When feminism brought women's issues to the forefront of cultural discussion, politics hijacked the message. Wouldn't you like to get back to what being a woman is really about? 

See more about my published and upcoming critical essays in the Nonfiction section. For more about topics like War on Women, please see our Social Constructs page. 

Sonoran Dawn has its own Domain

Sonoran Dawn Studios, the publishing house for DL Mullan, now has an official domain: www.sonorandawn.com!

Now all the facets of DL Mullan's creativity have been brought together: 

Sonoran Dawn Studios
Undawnted
Visual Studio Productions

For updated information and creative inspiration, visit these sites often. 

Be sire to change your bookmarks.

Have a great and wonderful day.

Red, White, and Blue Cover Art for Flag Day

How appropriate for Flag Day! 

My new book will be out on Monday, June 20th. History, politics, and civic duty all rolled into one researched essay....

Check out the Schedule page for upcoming publications and Nonfiction for more Historical Context books.

Added a New Book to Social Constructs

Society is a complex human creation. 

Sometimes society is positive. Sometimes it is negative. Most of the time society exists between these two dichotomies. 

In our new booklet: Marijuana Legalization, Rights of Others, and Solving Health Issues with Nutrition, we discuss the issues of rights, health, and nutrition.  

When it comes down to it, is marijuana a cure-all, or a symptom helper?  Does getting high mask nutritional deficiencies that could be corrected if the user would take responsibility instead of wasting time being intoxicated?

Mind, Body, and Soul

My old art and poetry blog/website is now going under rapid changes.

Mind, Body, and Soul is a place where someone who is sick with Environmental Illness will find books, research, and much, much more.

Here is the link for Dawn Leslie Mullan's Mind, Body, and Soul.

Have a great and wonderful day!

Miscommunication or Misdirection

I had an informative conversation of late.

Someone believed that bullying me and acting as a martyr would somehow convince me of something that was not reality. I had the empirical data. I had done the research. What was I missing?

In the course of that evening, I learned a valuable lesson in what people will do to get their way.

I ended the conversation with we'll agree to disagree. The other person decided to act like I threw unfounded accusations at him. Yeah, good luck with that. I can deduce quite nicely by myself, thank you.

When these types of situations arise, I like to walk away the best that I can and give myself time. Heated discussions never end well. So I just end them.

Even in adversity, a writer can learn from human interactions. Just like the article: Immersion Reading is Good for the Soul, delving into the human psyche as one or more characters can also help you understand real humans. Plus you can create three dimensional characters in your stories.

So this conversation went south, but there are ways to glean positives from the negative.

Have a great and wonderful day.

 

Brain Entrainment and Reprogramming

I am not religious.

As a spiritual person, l look at all sides but I never conform to dogma. Organized religion is man made. I don't follow the path of men, but of spirit. If you want to call that spirit god or not, I call it the source of all creation.

We can all tap into this powerful, healing, and loving connection to the universe.

I have spent much time learning the different perspectives. I am going to being publishing the research materials I find interesting. From David Icke to David Wilcock, I am sure there will be something for everyone.

I don't say believe in everything you hear, but to hear other author's for their take on the universe. I will post meditations and other information. I am writing a spiritual book along with my fiction.

I'm a busy writer!

So take everything in stride and take a listen. The way to open yourself and your writing is to hear ideas foreign to your own belief system. Don't shy way.

You never know what will trigger a new character or plot line.

And, have fun. I'll keep posting about writing, cats, cooking, and environmental illness too. What would be the fun without them?

Have a great and wonderful day!

More Creativity On The Way

I am going to take some time and research the likes of lulu, amazon, create a space, and cafepress.

It has been a while since I have ventured out onto the internet looking at what can and cannot be done. What can be bought and sold. Hell, I might even look into ebay.

Keep your fingers crossed. 

I might be adding to my Store links very soon! 

Have a great and wonderful day.

In Search Of: The Great American... Vitamin?

My Emergen-C Multivitamin was discontinued. I have been researching and trying to find a replacement this last month. Boy, has my body been a tyrant!

I cannot focus to meditate as well as I was a few weeks ago, my body has been fighting me about eating, and just the general malaise. Well, I was taking the packets three times a day with my other regular Emergen-C packets so I can function a few hours a day.

I went to the Vitamin Shoppe online where I buy some of my supplements. I discovered a powder multivitamin, mineral, and amino acid complex. At first, my body was: wtf? but now it seems to really like the vitamin, pharmacy tasting powder.

Finally. I mix the powder with some pineapple juice and we're good.

My only wish is that I could find one without Iron in it so I can take it as many times a day as I need it. I'm still researching to find something to compliment my entire regimen of vitamins and supplements.

I want to begin feeling better. I hate being tried and ill. It really is no fun. 

I did get the dishes done today, which is great. I get to eat dinner tonight on a plate! That is always helpful. I haven't decided what is for dinner so I guess I better go look in the freezer and pantry isles of my house. 

Then it's time for bed. The vitamins have made me spunk up and then crash right afterward. I hope the spunk takes on a life of its own so I can be more active during the day. 

I can't write that Great American Novel if I'm asleep in bed.