Dear Readers,

This is the first blog on my website devoted to the informing you of the progress in my journey to write and publish this saga of historical fiction novels associated with the Irish revolution in the period 1915 to 1923.

First of all why would a retired aerospace engineering manager set out to write four novels about the history of Ireland rather than some science fiction novel involving spacecraft, launch vehicles and a mission to say Venus. By the way I did work on a payload, Magellan, that went there.  That’s a very good question that my dear wife asked me five years ago. She doesn’t ask that anymore. Now, having read the first two novels in their current state, she is an ardent supporter of my cause and my story.

Well, the answer that I gave her then is this. I’m of Irish descent and very proud of it. I want to learn more about our fight for freedom. And I always enjoyed history and a good story. It seems that so much of our past has been lost to antiquity with only a few shreds of it still lying on the surface to be harvested and understood. This is certainly true of Ireland where the early history was passed down by word-of-mouth  wandering shanachie (seanachaidhe in Gaelic) meaning ‘bearer of old lore’, and where the eventual oppressors in the olden days systematically destroyed our physical Gaelic heritage. The other reason for embarking on this journey was to keep my brain cells firing on all cylinders. I hope that you will see in due course that my mind has still been fertile.

I have written the first two novels which are in the editing process. I had hoped to have them both completed and published before the centennial of the Easter Rising next April 24, 2016 but the process is taking longer than I expected. As it stands the first novel entitled Searchers will be published by next February. It starts the saga and its adventures around the time when the Fenian hero O’Donovan Rossa was being buried in Glasnevin Cemetery on August 1, 1915, with the famous eulogy by Patrick Pearse. Of course we have just had the centennial of that pivotal event.

The second novel, entitled Rising, which is involved with the Easter Rising of April 1916 and the activities leading up to this momentous catalytic event, should be published and available by mid 2016.

In the meantime I am preparing a Saga excerpt of approximately fifty pages which will be separately published at the same time as Searchers in February. This should provide you with the context for the complete four novel Saga.

The third and fourth novels, which are already researched and outlined in detail, will follow later next year and into early 2017.

I think that you, dear readers, are going to find these novels exciting and eye opening, connecting the shreds of historical Ireland and Scotland in a trail that will lead to some startling conclusions.

The Myths, Mysteries and Mayhem section of my blog will be devoted to providing interesting historical and mythological information that will help you connect those fascinating shreds that are so important in the tale I am weaving. The first issue has already been posted and can be found on my blog, entitled McCarthy Gold…how appropriate.

In the tab Local Links I will be providing references to upcoming events relative to the Irish revolution centennials as well as to writers activities local to the west coast of the United States.

In my next Stevenson’s Saga blog I hope to be able to start defining book launching/signing events for Searchers as they relate to the centennial commemorations next year.

Meanwhile please sign up as subscribers to this website and blog as well as providing us with your contact information.

I look forward to keeping you abreast of my progress in this journey of patriotism, intrigue and discovery.

And along the way we will learn a lot about the dedicated Republicans who were willing to give their lives for the just cause of freedom for the Irish people.

Erin go Bragh (Eirinn go Brach)

Stephen Finlay Archer, just a humble modern day shanachie wandering through history, telling his story.