MAMM SPEAKS - JUST THE STORY ...

These are the seven books that contain the STORY part of the Mamm Books. 

We had to make more than one book because for this version we went with the LARGE PRINT at the request of some of our readers. Makes for some almighty big books, let me tell you. These are 8 1/2 X 11 inches with a font size of 18. Only a couple of them are over a hundred pages so none of them are going to be bulky despite their larger dimensions. And their covers, as you can see, are simple and color-coded following the rainbow.

I have to admit it seems kind of strange to read the STORY without it being in the context of the Dunnottar Story Line ... without knowing what's right around the corner for Danann and Sidhelagh, and their family, at the end of this STORY ...

Frankly, I've been curious about how they would read when separated, the twined story lines of the Mamm Books.

You can read the 'History' part of it, as these books show, with no problem at all - it's a good STORY standing alone.

Such is not the case with the 'Today' part of the Story Line of the Mamm Books, however.

Again and again and again that Story Line refers back to the 'History' Line. If you don't have the 'History' part, the 'Today' Story Line is not going to read at all well. You aren't going to 'get it' - without knowing the back story upon which the whole is based.

Without the 'History', you won't have any idea what drives our Characters, what motivates them, what inspires them, what makes them entirely unwilling to relinquish what they hold most dear. You won't know what it is that guides them when the times come for them to draw their lines, to take their stands and to hold them against all odds.

You see, the STORY and what it means is an integral part of life for our Characters. They know what past generations of their family had to do in order for them to be able to pick up where those generations left off.

Today I realize that their lineage breeds true and it makes me quite very sentimentally proud to have 'gotten to know' both the Characters of SONG and the current Characters who also stand true to what the 'History' part of SONG is all about.

I tell you true.

Scotland does herself proud in so many ways, every day.

The world watches now, alert and wary, as Scotland takes to herself those on whom the world would turn its back. She is not unwary, believe that. She is plenty alert. That, my friend, is a part of the strength Scotland is showing to us right about now, once again taking the lead. Being alert and wary are, I think, a part of the nature of the Scots - with just cause.

Would it not make her doubters hoot and howl if the guests of Scotland turned against her, tried to do her harm? Yes. The world would shout, 'We told you so, we told you so!' But, should such a thing come to pass it would most likely be quite very short lived.

Even in the Mamm Books such ones came among our Characters. When they proved themselves 'incompatible', they were marched right on out of there in no uncertain terms, and delivered directly to those on whose behalf they had been trying to cause harm to the very people who had given them safety and offered them friendship.

Yes I write fiction, and yes its setting is a very long time ago. The 'bad guys', those who would do harm to others for whatever reasons they want to come up with, might wear different faces and names these days. That doesn't change who and what they are.

Today's 'History' Line isn't really all that different from the 'History' Line of the ancient days, you know.

When an entity threatened the Legacy of Faith, Family, Friends, Freedom, and Future our Characters of SONG were living, protecting, and preserving, said entity made great gains right up until it ran up against the People who would not give up and would not give in. Said People joined forces, pooled their resources, and an Empire bit the dust.

I'm not real sure what 'History' books our today's 'entity', our today's 'bad guys' have been reading, but they might maybe want to reconsider their interpretation of whatever they've been thinking was the outcome of their 'History' books.

At any rate, now I know that yes a 'History' Story Line can stand alone - but a 'Today' Story Line cannot. It is much too entwined with the 'History' Line to be able to stand without it.

We need to be thinking about that some, friends - and giving it some consideration when the time comes for us to have to make a Choice of our own.

You want to know how the STORY ends?

It doesn't.

It isn't going to end.

And the doubting world can watch all it wants, make dire predictions about this, that, and the other thing. Soon it will get bored, because success is never as interesting as conflict - and ain't that just a sad commentary on life in the world in which we live in. Success based on caution, alertness, wariness - built on compassion and a willingness to offer friendship - is quiet, you see.

The rampaging brats get plenty of attention; for every one of those there are many who are quietly going about just being nice. 

So, bottom line?

Be careful with your Choices.

Respect the 'History' of the Spiral and the need for balance.

If you're going to stand for something, let it be Peace.

Never EVER lose your Faith that good will come even out of bad.

Allow, nay encourage, the Healing that must come among us.

Know that against all odds it is Hope that will keep us all going.

Accept the fact that Love isn't always peaches and roses. Tough Love is harder to understand but understand it we must.

Above all, realize that Unity must prevail. It will strengthen us more than you think it could. A fragmented People is not a strong People. 

That little story about the sticks of kindling is Truth and Wisdom. 

You cannot break a bound bundle of kindling regardless of how easily individual sticks might be snapped in two. It doesn't matter if the sticks are of all different kinds of wood. If a stick of balsa is tucked into that bundle it is not going to get broken any more than will the sticks of oak, of pine, of elm, of cottonwood, of ash, of any of the kinds of sticks ... yet unbind them and you can break them at will. 

Yep.

And that's it for my bits of wisdom on this day I do believe.

Well well ... 'INFJ' giving way to 'INFP' ... good news for me ... from my perspective ...

The book that 'changed' me.

The personality type 'test results' you'll find below are From HERE

This is the first time this test has resulted in the 'P' being so strong, edging 'J' almost completely out of the picture. The I, N, and F have always consistently been way high in percentiles with J being less extreme, then edging into P ... and now ... what the heck!

I'm glad to see these popping up in people's social media feeds. There are a variety of free 'MBTI tests' on line - they're all pretty darned accurate and consistent - and surprisingly USEFUL.

Knowing, being able to get a handle on, your own personal style, gives you insights about yourself that you may not have thought about much, or at all for that matter. At least that's how it's been for me. We all are simply a we are, as a general rule. Yet that 'J' always bothered me a little about myself, which the tests have consistently shown over the years ... it was always sort of borderline. 

So, curious me, I'm wondering what has 'changed' in the past couple of years, with that 'J' edging closer to the 'P' end of the scale. Aren't our 'personalities' supposed to be basically cast in concrete? How come mine seems to be changing?

When I stop and analyze it, look at it from where I'm at now, the answer stares me in the face.

I've made some changes in my life, my lifestyle, and my general outlook. 

It was a couple of years ago (2013) that I dropped down to part time at my shift-work job, to begin with. Right about then is when some of my artwork also 'went public' for the first time, not an easy choice and fraught with both anxiety and the antithesis of that anxiety (let them think what they will; until they see it they can't think anything at all, right?). It was a good move as it turned out, and gave me the confidence and determination to follow through on a project that came into my mind at just exactly that time.

And so the Mamm Books happened because I had the time and the energy (from dropping to a more reasonable shift-work schedule) and because the art project morphed into the writing of books.

Last summer (2014) brought another change - a too-long-delayed trip HOME home for me, time off from shift-work, and a further drop in hours there in order to at long last achieve a predictable schedule that I could plan an actual LIFE around. 

Yes it was incredibly expensive ... but quite very necessary. The path I had been on, and at the time not having the internal resources with which to walk such a path without paying an enormous internal price, was taking a dangerous toll. I needed the time I took - to heal and to strengthen both physically and emotionally. In my condition, brought on by my own choice to stick with it no matter what, the struggle almost did me in. It was either give myself a break and a chance or spend at least the equivalent (of the income I was giving up) on therapy and pharmaceuticals I have NO desire to put into my systems.

Until I had been HOME home (the CO Rockies and down in the Arkansas River Valley) for a while and started to feel more and more like my own self, I'd had no real idea of the extent of damage I had been doing to myself.

At any rate, those are the 'changes' that have happened in the past couple of years which are now showing up in the MBTI testing process.

Not only have I given myself permission to not be so VERY strait-laced, I've also done a LOT of research.

*laughing*

I've also 'met' some Characters who don't always follow the straight and narrow path I plan for them in plot lines. 

Writing Mamm of Dunnottar, I realized that Mamm needed a husband if the rest of the books (already written and published!) were going to 'happen'. He had to be from her time, he had to be strong enough to handle Mamm, and he had to have the same values as the rest of the Characters. 

Alaric dropped into my lap from out of the clear blue sky when I skeptically took a 'Which Conqueror Are You?' quiz on line. I'm not exactly 'Conqueror' material and wondered what the heck they were going to be able to come up with for me, the most peaceful and non-competitive person I know. What on earth could I have in common with the Conquerors of our world? I didn't WANT to have anything in common with any of them, to be honest.

Then I met Alaric. And said to myself, 'This is Mamm's mate.'

Little did I know what I was getting myself into. It was akin to finally finding Dunnottar, a fleeting vision from years ago that I kind of assumed wasn't really REAL but turned out to be quite very REAL. Same thing with Alaric. He fit EXACTLY into Mamm's lifespan. Research confirmed that he would indeed be a good match for Mamm, who wasn't about to marry just anybody. 

At first I was tickled pink. Then I realized that this was an actual historic figure here, not totally fictional like the rest of them. I would have to follow the real events of his recorded life. 

Oh my. 

Alaric sacked Rome in 410 CE.

How to reconcile that with the peacefulness of our Characters?

Well, they'd already had to fight more than one battle, were formidable Warriors ... it would be okay ...

And so it was.

Alaric did sack Rome, but all things considered he wasn't mean about it. They opened the gates to him for cryin' out loud - how mean does that sound?

Anyway, the combination of having to stick to an actual course of events while at the same time putting said course into an already existing fictional framework had the effect (in retrospect) of making me figure out how to do it.

Yep.

Then, after I had that whole half of the book's dual story line written, I happened across references to Ataulf that I hadn't paid enough attention to before. 

OOPS.

Had to go back and write him into the story line.

Okay, Ataulf's in there, Mamm's brother who picked up where Alaric left off. We're good to go NOW!

No.

No?

No.

Mamm had to have ANOTHER brother, Waleis.

WHAT!?! 

Are you KIDDING me?

She's already got two much older brothers (besides Ataulf) - one in Albann (Scotland) up in Chattan territory and one in Tarnos of Gaul. Her parents have bloody well LEFT FOR THE FAR WESTERN LANDS and aren't going to come back. Where is this younger brother going to come from, the one who has to take over in Aquitaine after Ataulf gets murdered? The one who later spawns legends as Walther in the Germanic lands? What the heck.

So I had to write in Wally of the West and get him from what would come to be recognized as North America back to the UK and Europe. 

Good Lord.

So yeah, it MADE me HAVE to take myself out of what had become my comfort zone and use the more 'organized' part of my brain because I HAD to get the sequences right - I couldn't just use vague references or flat out make stuff up (although as it turns out what I thought I was 'making up' was not exactly as 'made up' as I thought, but I wrote a whole other book about THAT and am NOT going to elaborate here). Alaric, Ataulf, 'Wally', Stilicho, the Emperors East and West, the battles, the 'situation' of the times ... all are real documented history. Being INFJ (at the time) with that INFP starting to come to the fore, I could not, would not, ignore reality completely just because I happened to be writing fiction.

And this whole long spiel is simply to illustrate how in the world one's 'cast in concrete' personality type can 'change'. It's not so hard to 'get' how the J & P blend - they have to. I had to 'go with the flow' to write in unexpected Characters after the fact, not to mention coping with the stuff the different Characters pulled on me when I thought I had their roles all cut and dried. I also, at the same time, had to follow a darned strict timeline - and get the book done and out when it was supposed to be done and out.

Then the Younglings took the bit in their collective mouth.

Then DANANN, in response to the Hogmanay celebration at Stonehaven and the Fireballs, blew *my* book timeline out of the water and dragged the lot of us ahead with him three thousand years.

To top it off, I suspect J and P in collusion with I, N, and F as being behind my total conviction that Science and God are totally compatible and are in fact one and the same. Linear Logic and Mystic Magic are NOT mutually exclusive, folks. The more we learn the more mystified we become about the stuff we don't know yet, and the more determined we become to keep on searching, only to be baffled by what we find - so we search even harder for both the biggest and the smallest ... and 'round and 'round we go - following PHI because the Spiral is what we have to go by.

And BadaBingBadaBoom as Brooklyn Bill would say.

No wonder my head is spinning and it's a relief to be back full time at that shift-work job.

I kid you not. It's kind of like being on vacation, even though it's really hard work and directly related to having specific goals. Again, the J and the P are 'taking turns' - or something ... At least the INF is absolutely stable and unchanging, thank God. Those three aren't going anywhere. They're still riding at or near the 100% markers. And I'm perfectly fine with that.

INFP

Philosopher - Living in your own ideal world.

You are an idealist. You are loyal to your values and the people who are important to you. You hope you can live in a world which could exactly match your own values. You are very curious about the world. You can always find more possibilities and drive yourself and other people to make these ideas come true. You try to understand other people and help them to maximize their potential. When there is nothing threatening your own values, you are quite flexible and good at accepting other people.

Introversion I or Extroversion E - You can get your energy from where you focus your attention.

You are Introverted Tendency, that is concerned about how the changes of the outer environment influence yourself: concentrate your psychological forces and attention on your inner world, and focus on your inner experience, thinking, idea and emotion. You prefer to think independently and read.

 People different from you are Extroverted Tendency, that concerned about how you influence the outer environment: concentrating your psychological forces and attention on the outer world and communication with other people and like meeting, discussion and chatting.

Sensation S or Intuition N - What will you notice more when you receive and perceive the information from the surrounding world.

You are iNtuition Tendency, that likes abstract theories and principles. You are concerned with the entirety of things and the tendency of change and development. You are concerned about inspiration, imagination and creativity. You like implication, analogy, connections, possibility, inference and prediction.

 People different from you are Sensing Tendency, that are concerned about the detailed information gained through sense perception: things that you see, hear, smell, taste and touch. You notice details and descriptions more. You like to use and develop the skills you already have.

Thinking T Or Feeling F - How do you make decisions.

You are Feeling Tendency, that attaches the most importance to the feelings of yourself and other people. The value and harmony will be your standard for evaluation.You are very sympathetic, kind, friendly and considerate. You always think about how your behavior will effect the feelings of other people.

 People different from you are Thinking Tendency, that pay attention on the logic relationships among things. You like to evaluate and make decisions through objective analysis. You are very rational, objective and fair. You think principles are more important than being flexible.

Judging J or Perceiving P - How do you organize and design life.

You are Perceiving Tendency, that needs to collect more information before you make a decision. So you try to understand and adapt. You focus on process and change your goals based on the information changes. You always allow for unforeseen circumstances in your daily life. You like a loose and free life style, which may be bit disordered.

 People different from you are Judging Tendency, that like to make judgements and decision. You like to make plans and would like to manage, control and drive for the results. You focus on accomplishing the task. In your daily life, you hope your life is organized, step by step and respect the timeline.


 Yep.

That's my analysis for the time being.

VOICES ARE CALLING - USE YOURS

Scroll down to the Celtic Thunder Song link and listen to them Sing while you read this.


THIS shreds my soul. The link takes you to an article about a young person committing an atrocity while his elders stand by in approval.

And you know what?

I'm not really caring a whole lot about 'political correctness' at the moment. What is portrayed in the photo (couldn't watch the video itself, I just could not) is beyond any word I have at my command.

And yes of course I realize I'm just a little old gramma lady who lives in a tumble down cottage on Main Street of Small Town USA in the middle of nowhere. I realize that what I think or say or do doesn't matter a whit to anyone except me and possibly a handful of others.

Even so, although it is small, I do still have my Voice.

Excuse me folks, but our world is being bullied in the most horrifying way possible - and what are we going to do about it?

Where now all those Voices who have been so strident about 'taking a stand against bullying in our schools'? Where now those Voices that rant and rave about being offended? Where the Voices of those who speak out against Domestic Violence? Where the Voices that rail against injustice in our judicial and incarceration system?

WHERE ARE OUR VOICES?

A child commits murder and we condone it with our silence?

NO.

I tell you:  NO.  

The perpetrators are using religion as a weapon. No it is not the first time but this is happening in OUR time. OURS. Not way back in history somewhere but NOW and HERE.

We are being baited by a bully with a mean streak a mile wide.

Islam denies culpability, guilt by association. Christianity likewise; Judaism likewise; Buddhism the same; and Hinduism. 'We are victims!' Well, and so we are, all of us. And we are letting our own divisions get in our way. Islam cannot control this bullying 'child'; Christianity cannot; Judaism cannot; Buddhism and Hinduism cannot. Together, we could.

I write fiction, yet the times of which I write are not fictional.

Times and weaponry are different now but people are not. Peace too often comes at a price ... a dear price ... 

From Mamm of Dunnottar:

"  ...  Stilicho breaks the silence.

‘We know you, young warriors.’

His words make Ataulf smile.

‘We are healers more than warriors, Stilicho. We would have peace in this land and in all lands.’

‘Ah yes. So would we all. Going to battle for the sake of peace, does this not sit ill with you, Man of Peace?’

‘No. It is too often necessary.’  ... "

And ...

"  ...  Her Voice sounds hollow and the two men turn to look first at one another and then at Joan.

Davidson speaks quietly.

‘Joan, what see you? Can you tell us?’

‘Death. I see death, Davidson. Death and mourning. I see great wrath unleashed, and the Mercy of the Mother. Victory yes but at what price; Davidson my husband, what price are we willing to pay for a Peace that will be long in coming?’

The hollow Voice goes silent and again the three stand looking out over the fires of their people.

Come the dawning all is still and silent in the camps of Alaric.

Even the birds have silenced their Voices.

The Dogs of War, from Chattan and Perth and Tarnos, sit themselves near their masters and do not stir.

No whicker or neigh is heard from the horses.

It seems not a creature moves – neither bird of the air nor beast of the forest, nor even the ever-active insects.

On a high place stand Mamm and Alaric.

Hands clasped together before them, their eyes, one pair so green and the other such a deep blue, have locked once more.

Catan, the Silver Sword, and Glisten stand motionless alongside of them.

Here they have stood in prayer through the night.

Here will they stand in prayer through this day.

The sun rises past the dawning and from a distance at once too near and too far comes the Voice of the Carnyx of Chattan, clear in the morning.

Davidson flinches but a grim smile touches his mouth.

‘The Voice of Chattan is first to Speak,’ he murmurs.

Too near, too near.

Too far, too far.

Hear now the Horns of Iona.

Hear now the Horns of Tara.

There Sounds the Voice of Perth; and again; and again.

Now come the Voices of the Horns of Tarnos, carrying shrill and high in the dawning of this day.

And here the bellow of the Voice of Dunnottar; the Horns of the Fienne have chosen it on this day and send it before them into Battle.

The Bells of Andorra give Voice.

Too far, too far.

Too near, too near.

Ataulf, Davidson, and Joan carrying Sma'David and Mari at her side, come to stand near to Mamm and Alaric.

Silent they are; silent they remain.

And Alaric and Mamm break not their trance.

The Black Wolf approaches to stand silent at the shoulder of Ataulf; here comes also Plusa to side Davidson, and the pretty red mares of Joan and Mari whose names are Gala and Ghia.

Here too come the blood-red War Dogs of Chattan, of Perth, of Tarnos.

Through the air come the Voices of the Horns again and again.

Chattan.

Iona.

Tara.

Perth.

Tarnos.

Dunnottar.

Andorra.

They are now joined by the Voices of more Carnyx, more Horns of many places and peoples.

And the Voices of the Horns flow through the air in a medley, distant but clear, bitter but proud at the dawning of this day.

Too far, too far.

Too near, too near.

The army of Alaric stands silent and still, in prayer, on this day.  ... "

A battle, ostensibly in the name of 'religion', and not even the 'religion' of the army whose Story we are reading - but fight they do, because more is at stake than who believes what. The Freedom to believe, and to live, as they choose - in peace - is what brings this particular army to a war that 'is not really theirs'. It is for this ultimate Freedom they lose fully half of their warriors in the two days of this battle. 

More than fifteen hundred years ago - before there was any such thing as Islam in our world - people were taking their stand and losing their lives on behalf of a principle which maintains that individual Freedom is worth fighting for.  

YouTube Book Trailer

I'm not a natural at much of anything, nor skilled ... 

I did not set out to write a bunch of books, just so you know. They just kind of happened.

And now this stuff going on in our own time, our own world ... it makes me feel the way our Characters had to have felt when the same sorts of things were going on in their time, their world.

They took their stand, they held it against all odds, they protected and preserved what was theirs to protect and preserve.

And they did it for US. For us ... 

Excuse me, but have we not inherited any of their strength along with the Legacy? Have we not got any of their gumption? That army was comprised of many and many an ethnic group, many and many a different belief system - from across Europe they came, not just the one family whose history we happen to be following through the Mamm Books.

And I don't give a darn whether or not you ever in your life read any of those books - what I WANT is for you YOU YOU to give a darn and to pay attention to what's going on in YOUR world.

You know that symbol thing at the end of the book trailer? This one:

It's a warning. If we keep going the way we're going we'll wind up at a dead end and our civilization will have to work its way back to where we got off track. Not in our lifetime probably, maybe not in our children's ... but unless we do something pretty darned soon as human beings (not as Muslims, or Christians, or Jews, or Buddhists, or Hindus, or Atheists, or Futurists, or anything else but as Human Beings) that dead end might well BE a dead end, literally, for us.

Yeah, I'm more than a little upset by the actions of one 'child'. It's triggered the 'preacher' in me.

All this time I've thought that Voices, in person and in print, could turn the tide.

Our silence, mine included, and yours, hasn't been a very effective deterrent.

If I could, I would bring back that army of so very long ago, all those warriors ... men and women alike ... Pagan, Druid, Culdee, Christian  and whoever else ... and sic them on this bully among us. 

Me, a Woman of Peace ... 

Why?

What is it about this child's actions that has me up in arms?

It's because it is a child. A child who is not innocent. A child whose innocence has been sacrificed in the name of 'religion', in the name of WHAT?!?!

I do not give a darn what your personal belief system might happen to be, any more than that army clear back fifteen hundred years ago refused any who were Called to join them.

Here's another bit that I hope will make you think. It's a Song. Celtic Thunder's 'Voices' ... 

Here's the YouTube LINK

The powerful Voices of these men ... 'There's a Voice that is starting to Call us; it's Voice that we just can't ignore. There's a Bell that is Ringing to tell us - we're in a time and a place like never before ... There's a time when we're Called to be ready ... a time when we're Called to be steady ... '

Ach. Just click on the link - their Voices are much more Powerful than my words.

Even so I do give you my Voice - and I do use it to Call you. Listen to what you hear around you. Use your own Voice to answer. 

My words, my Voice, such as they are ... they're all I've got.

And whether or not anyone else Hears, my Voice and my words, and YOURS, need to be saying 'NO.' 

NO it is not okay. NO it cannot continue. NO NO NO

Because, you see, enough Voices saying 'NO' might make a difference. 

China, say 'NO.'

Russia, say 'NO.'

Europe, say 'NO.'

North America, say 'NO.'

South America, say 'NO.'

Australia, say 'NO.'

Africa, say 'NO.'

Asia, say 'NO.'

And mean it.

Introducing the Original Mamm

It is my distinct honor to introduce to you the woman who became Mamm.

I am pleased and proud to give you:

Wauna aka Mamm

The young woman in the photo above was to become my mother. The young man, my father. 

While Bob is no Alaric, Wauna is very much Mamm. 

Not only is it her face on the young warrior whose photo is the cover of the book, it is her spirit that imbues the Character of Mamm of Dunnottar.

From the outset, Mom was Mamm. She is all of the Mamms of the Mamm Books, when it comes to that. Each and all, they are her own self.

There's not much that is biographical about the books, so if you're looking to find secrets about my mom's life in them, you're not going to.

The secrets you might find out about her are no secret to those who have known this woman.

She is feisty. 

She seeks peace, at the point of a sword if necessary (figuratively speaking).

She's not afraid of much of anything.

She's deeply spiritual.

She can and will Call on a Power greater than her own when need be.

She wins and she loses.

She laughs and she weeps.

She is attitudinal at times, strong-willed.

She loves with every breath of her life.

She sacrifices and grieves.

She gives, always and always, the best she has in her to and for those she loves.

She has within her something that can't really be defined - at least not by me - something which drives her every moment of every day.

She has fought many and many a battle, of all sorts.

She honors the past and cherishes the future.

She is everything, and so much more, that all of the Mamms represent.

Hers is the Song of Choice.

Hers is the knowledge of the ways of the Spiral of all life.

Hers is the Peace of patience.

Hers is the Faith of the ages.

Hers is the Healing of time.

Hers is the Hope for Tomorrow.

Hers is the Love that endures always.

Hers is the Unity sought by all.

In this woman, mine own Mamm, we find the Keeper of the Legacy.

She has Kept it well.

She has passed it on intact.

Faith

Family

Friends

Freedom

Future

These are the intertwined Circles of Dunnottar and they are the direct result of what this woman, Wauna, mine own Mamm, has lived her life protecting and preserving for me, for my sisters, for her grandchildren, for her great-grandchildren, and for all who are yet to come. She has given us all the gift of her own self, the strength of her, the joy of her, the pride of her, the indomitable will of her, the beauty she finds in all things, the hope she bears ... so very much ... so very much ... she is all of the Voices of the Song of the Holy Trinity ... she is in one person each of the Circles of Dunnottar.

And so ... The Mamms ... because I want all to know the remarkable woman who is my mother.

No, the events are not the same - but the Character of Mamm is the mother I know and love.

I give you the Voice of Mamm of Dunnottar as she introduces herself in They Are My Song:

Mamm Speaks

I am Mamm

I am winter born

Daughter of the Mother

To me has been given

Long life

Much wisdom

To me have come many

Choices to make

Chances to take

Tears to weep

Memories to keep

To me have been born

Daughters of the Mother

To me have been taught

Many paths

Many ways

Which have been given me

To share

With those who would learn of them

I am Mamm

I am the Song of Choice

Even with all of the words of all of the Mamm Books, none are in any way sufficient to portray accurately the woman who is Mamm, who is all of the Mamms, past, present, and future.

From Danann:

Please Help

I need to know which of these three is the best, or if I ought to scrap them and try something else, or combine them somehow ... 

Comment here, email shiela.branson@yahoo.com or Facebook message Shiela Branson ... or @Sidhelagh on Twitter ... or, or, or ... take your pick ... 

# 02

She’s a wild child; she’s a vixen at the side of a hero; she’s a sister trying the patience of her brothers; she’s a mother in mourning; she’s got an attitude, and the Power to back it up, that can send Attila the Hun packing; she’s a gentle Elder who shows her steel only rarely.

She doesn’t make a big deal of it, but she plays her part in the conquering of nations, the downing of an Empire, and the founding of a family whose generations are to rule the mightiest of the mighty.

Mamm of Dunnottar, as the Empire of Rome wanes and the Western half falls, doesn’t always win. She loses her best friend; a daughter; her beloved husband. Mamm knows grief and she knows loss.

It is as the respected and revered Elder of her family that we meet Mamm. She takes her loved ones, and us along with them, back in time as she tells the Story of her own life.

A dual story line weaves together the past and the present, finally bringing them together.

By day the life of this family continues; they do their own parts to protect and preserve the freedoms those before them have fought and died to pass on.

But of an evening, at the hearth circle of their home on Dunnottar, they go back – back into the times before their own.

They, and we, meet the wild child, the vixen, the mother – the woman who can and does Call on Powers beyond the ken of humankind when need demands.

It is Mamm’s own little self, Keeper of an Ancient Legacy, upon whom falls a Destiny whose impact carries on to this very day.

The freedoms we enjoy today are the Legacy of yesterday – of Mamm of Dunnottar.

# 03

Who Are Alaric and Mamm Without One Another?

And who are Mamm and Danann of Perth?

Who Alianora and Forr?

Who MammTwo and Ethan?

Who the Warrior Twins?

Who LittleMamm and David?

Who Mamm and Alaric?

Who Joan and Davidson?

Who the Cousin Twins?

Who Julia and LittleEthan?

Who Galla Placidia and Ataulf?

Who Honoria and Gowan?

Who Sidhelagh and Danann?

Who Alianora and Drustann?

Who Sass and Thann?

Who Caileen and Talorc?

Who Aine and Kalann?

Who Tinne and Nion?

Who Saille and Coll?

Who Ullin and the Queen Harp?

These are the Warriors of Mamm of Dunnottar.

Having spent a great deal of time with them just lately, I know them pretty well.

They are individual Characters, make no mistake about that.

Yet you will never find one without their partner nearby, in spirit if not in life.

Now I may be slow, but I do catch on.

These couples are inseparable.

Each and all of them are living love stories.

You can't take any of them away from their partner; each would be incomplete without the other. 

They need each other.

And their love for each other changes history, creating a new future.

At the hearth of Dunnottar Mamm tells her own Story, hers and Alaric’s. It twines in and out, over and under, the Stories of them all.

The family is busy by day, but of an evening it is the Story they want. It connects them with their heritage, reminds them of the Legacy that is theirs to Protect and Preserve, and teaches them that they do indeed have within themselves all that they need - to do what they have to do when they have to do it.

The Legacy?

Faith

Family

Friends

Freedom

Future

I have no fear of using the ‘F’ words.

#01

Born to Power, Mamm of Dunnottar is a little fire-brand from the get-go.

Mamm has bred true to a long line of powerful individuals. The mysticism of the ancient Sidhe folk is a force to be reckoned with, and it’s in Mamm’s blood.

She makes her Choices and sticks to them through loss and grief, pain and triumph. She accomplishes what she sets out to do – no matter what it is or what it takes to succeed. Whether it’s conquering a nation, downing an Empire, or leading a family, Mamm just does what she does – and it works.

When she meets up with her true love, sparks fly; they keep on flying through fire and sword as Mamm and Alaric battle it out.

In the chaos of the closing days of the Western Roman Empire, relationships can be … complicated. The Getae General Stilicho is both rival and ally to Mamm’s husband Alaric. One of them will pave the way for the success of the other. So it has been foretold and so it plays out.

As the second story line weaves in and out of Mamm’s life Story, her descendants prove themselves worthy of their lineage.

It is in Mamm’s later years that she tells the Story of her own life, taking the next generations along with her as she travels back to the days of her younger self – Warrior, Wife, Mother.

The evenings around the hearth-fire of their home on Dunnottar help this growing family to keep their own lives in perspective. They come to learn that they can and they will prevail – by believing in themselves, in their Faith, their Family, their Friends, their Freedom, and the Future which they will protect and preserve at all cost.

In one lifetime, Mamm changes the future of her world