Author's Note

The below was originally an Author’s Note in The World Between the Rain, but it was not included in the final version that went to print. Enjoy! ​

This novel is inspired by many things: my long-standing desire to find a doorway into another world, the near-constant rain in Ireland, growing up by the sea in West Cork, summers in West Waterford, and the Irish language itself.

Irish (Gaeilge) is an ancient language, one of the Celtic languages along with Scottish and Manx Gaelic and Welsh, Cornish and Breton. It’s a language closely intertwined with the landscape, a language full of poetry and myth and humour. For those of you who know Irish, you’ll recognise some of the placenames and character names which were derived from certain words or phrases in Irish.  For those of you who don’t, here’s some help.​

Placenames in the novel:

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Ishka: this name comes from uisce (sounds like ish-ka), the Irish word for water.

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Kailta: this name comes from caillte (sounds like kyle-cha), Irish word for lost.

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Ballinaday: the name I gave this town is made up, but it could come from the Irish, Baile na déithe (sounds like Bal-ya na day-ha), which means town of the gods.

Character Names: 

Tala: from the Irish word talamh (sounds like tol-ov), meaning earth, ground, or land

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Fiadh (sounds like Fee-ya): An Irish first name, meaning wild

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Cablo: this name comes from caibleadh (sounds like kab-loo), the Irish word for the spirit voices heard in the distance at sea on calm nights (see Manchan Magán’s Sea Tamagotchi series, where he travelled the western coast of Ireland collecting sea words, maritime terms & coastal customs: https://www.manchan.com/sea-tamagotchi)

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Tuaim: this name come from the Irish word, tuaim (sounds like two-im), meaning the sound of the sea banging against land (see Manchan Magán’s Sea Tamagotchi series, where he travelled the western coast of Ireland collecting sea words, maritime terms & coastal customs:

 https://www.manchan.com/sea-tamagotchi)