Beginnings
Florian
Music
The
and and
in
thing
about us Gryphon
cemeteries
about wolves
These webpages are devoted to our book, Dà Fhaol Mharbh: A Vampyre's Faerytale. An obsession and labour of love, it contains so much of what we know, believe and have experienced in our years on this Earth that it is indeed very personal, we won't pretend otherwise. But like all good stories (I hope), its characters and situations are familiar and yet new, like a half-remembered dream. . . or psychotic episode! So let us introduce you to our boys. . .
The two main characters
of Dà Fhaol Mharbh, our Gaelic "two dead wolves", are Gryphon
and Florian. Although this tale is
Gryphon’s for the most part as he does most of the telling, it’s the
friendship between the two that is at the core of our story.
Three thousand years ago, Gryphon became a vampyre, but not a demon-vampyre or a soul-less thing. In faery folklore, there is the faery mistress Leanan Sidhe, known for inspiring artists to great feats of creation, but at a price: those she so touches are doomed to live only a short while afterwards. Needless to say, this faery is considered something of a vampyre. What if she could choose others and take them as her children, sharing her talents and power with these select few to inspire mortals and then feed from them? This is the first thread of our tale, the legend on which the rest is interwoven.
Gryphon, the master
stone-carver by trade, artist by instinct, was spared from feeding the worms by
Leanan Sidhe and freed to enjoy all of eternity, creating, inspiring 
and
feasting on the world around him. But
he was rather a disorganized fellow, self-confident in his skills but vexed by a
restlessness and uncertainty he found impossible to cope with or understand.
Time no longer pushed him, but this freedom only served to squelch his
drive and dilute his passion. He
became directionless and without purpose.
And then by chance everything changed: he came across Florian, who in turn recognized him. The Fates can be kind, or cruel. . .
Florian, too, was
chosen by Leanan Sidhe when his life as a shepherd, husband and father came to
an abrupt end on a battlefield. Unlike
Gryphon, who always loved the human world and being part of it, he chose to spend most
of his time literally as a wolf. He
didn't care to keep track of humanity, he neglected his human nature and, as
Gryphon put it, before they met he probably spent too much time in "Never-Never
Land".
When they met, a balance was struck. Equal and opposite in nature and character, the two boys found each other’s company a pleasure, a challenge and, in time, a necessity. They shared their knowledge, skills and passions, inspired and wrestled with each other and built a relationship so intricate and detailed that three millennia passed by and still they discovered new things and life was worth living.
Yet
even though the boys did their best to keep up, the human world changed too much too fast in the twentieth
century and everything unravelled. Forgotten faery tales, dead goddesses and gods, world wars
and the meticulous abuse of Mother Earth: all
these things nipped at them and like Peter Pan, Gryphon felt he had to
give up Florian, his archaic nature spirit, if he was going to save himself.
But more than this, the tension that always existed between the two
became a source of frustration and
anger and Gryphon viciously plucked away at
the strings of their union. When
Florian drowned, Gryphon ignored his friend's pleas for help and, having been
abandoned, Florian retreated to the forests.
But although Gryphon thought he’d regain his freedom by giving up this friendship, it turned out he instead gifted himself emptiness and no
longer had
any sense of time. He lost himself
in the daily grind of a meaningless existence and this is when our story really
starts. . . The howl of a wolf receives only an echo in answer.
Well, if you've read this far, we've managed to hold your interest! We invite you to read chapter I, "Waxing Moon" which is available as a zipped Word document, just click on the link below (or e-mail me for an un-zipped version). We'd be delighted if you'd accept our offer to taste the blood on your lips, although we do ask for one thing in return: whether you like or dislike it, please tell us so and, as best as you can, tell us why. If you'd like to know when Dà Fhaol Mharbh is published, we can hold on to your address and send (sooner or later!) an ecstatic e-mail with the incredibly happy news!
Chapter I--Waxing Moon zipped file
To quote e. e. cummings from his introduction to Collected Poems, the words to come "are for you and for me and are not for mostpeople". I'm of the opinion that you'll either think it's one of the better things you've ever read or one of the worst! It is not an ordinary straight-forward vampyre narrative, it's subtly and style and hidden meanings. It's not a horror or an adventure story but a collection of psychological paintings, bite-sized morsels that tell a tale of the human condition. It's about our own magic.
Please wander through the rest of the material we've spun together here and find out more about Florian and Gryphon, appease your curiosity concerning The thing about wolves, discover a little about the book's two authors Debra Yee and myself, Karen Waschinski, and what influenced our writing in Beginnings and about us and admire some beautiful examples of cemetery art with Music in cemeteries.
And in Gaelic may we wish Sonas ort!
Happiness on you!
Silhouette images on this page are from Dà Fhaol Mharbh: A Vampyre's Faerytale's cover illustration, © Karen Waschinski. Please do not use without permission.
The elegant green graphics on these pages are shareware, courtesy of :
These pages created by Karen Waschinski.
Questions? Comments? Please e-mail me at woosel[at]total.net
~~Dà Fhaol Mharbh: A Vampyre's Faerytale by Karen Waschinski (with Debra Yee)~~