Pen Dames: Pen Dames Shamrock Shenanigans!

Have you ever seen a Leprechaun? If you wanted to catch one, what would you use as bait? How would you build your trap? Do you like reading about crafty characters?

This month we want to tell you about some of our trickster characters, and we’re offering a fantastic giveaway for a bag of swag and gifts.

GIVEAWAY RULES

1. To enter, comment on this St. Patrick’s Day blog post.

2. You may comment once a day during the Giveaway period, March 13 - 17, 2023.

3. Comments on social media are appreciated but will not count for the Giveaway.

4. The entrant with the most blog comments wins.

5. In the event of a tie, the winner will be selected at random from among those tied.

6. Winner must supply name and mailing address before April 1^st for Swag to be mailed.

7. No obscene or offensive comments please.

8. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

9. Prizes consist of promotional author Swag and gifts from Pen Dames.

10 Giveaway is administered, endorsed, and sponsored solely by Pen Dames. No other entity is associated or responsible.

St. Patrick’s Day is one of our favorite holidays! Dressing in green to avoid getting pinched, marching in and watching parades, decorating with shamrocks, even drinking emerald tinted beer make the day festive.

Parents can involve children in the celebration by telling them stories about Leprechauns and helping them make a trap for one.

Legend says that if you can snare one, these supernatural entities will give you three wishes to win their freedom. That sounds like a dream come true, but you have to be careful. If you’re greedy and ask for too much, or if you aren’t vigilant, the imp will outsmart you and get away without granting your wish or twist it so what you get is not what you thought.

Instructions for how to do this say to construct a deadfall using a box baited with something the creature would love which will collapse when the little guy goes after the prize and prevent him from escaping. A child could make a cute snare using a graham cracker with a straight pretzel stuck in a marshmallow to hold up the cracker and Lucky Charms cereal as an enticement.

After the children create the snare and go to bed, parents scatter paper clover, tiny moss-colored footprints, and other “evidence” an elf came to visit. The next morning, the trap will be sprung; the treat gone. In return, the escapee leaves something for the child such as coins made of chocolate and covered with gold paper or a small toy. After all, fairy folk love children.

When it comes to adults, Leprechauns are tricksters. Reputed to be descended from fairies and demons, they have both light and dark sides. They are devious.

In fiction, such untrustworthy characters can be the most interesting and memorable whether they are supernatural or humans who mislead or deceive others.

Though all Leprechauns are male (probably the reason they look cranky), scheming and deceitful types in novels may be either gender.

We love incorporating them in our books!

In Loretta C. Rogers’ book, Cloud Woman’s Spirit, after Tessa Cloud Woman Sawyer is murdered, she refuses to cross over to the happy place in the sky until she leads her husband to the men that killed her. Tessa is a jealous spirit. When a young woman flirts with Jim, Tessa causes a wind to kick up, and embers from the campfire catch the hem of the young woman’s dress on fire. Those watching swear that the wisp of smoke looks just like a Comanche woman.

Katherine Eddinger Smits’ Water Dreams features Deme. She lies, pulls practical jokes on her brother Bas, and teases him. When she first meets the heroine, Nik, Deme claims she is a long-distance swimmer whose goal is swimming from Florida to Cuba. Deme has her flaws, but she isn’t a bad person. She just doesn’t quite understand the importance of the truth, and she wants to have fun even at someone else’s expense. Since she is a mermaid, open-water swimming is like strolling in the back yard to her. She doesn’t understand the idea horrifies Nik who has a phobia about water!

Mind Your Goddess by Flossie Benton Rogers is the story of how the dark guardian Eshigel searches for traces of his missing lover, the goddess Epona. He meets Mad Magda, an elderly elfin gypsy who jumps square on his back, knocking him down, when he intrudes upon the ancient oak that is her home. Once she knows that he cares for Epona, however, she gives him helpful information. She is a Janus, a magical creature who can appear as a cunning, crotchety old woman or a youthful, powerful Time Fae.

We hope you enjoyed reading about our magical and crafty characters!

Here’s what we will gift one winner (Don’t worry, we won’t prank you. We just write about tricksters who might.)

Small Notebooks including a gorgeous peacock-themed decorated notebook

Mirror

Book Bag

Bookmarks

Large Clip

Magnet

Pens, including a sparkly crystal pen

Can Cozy

Zippered Mermaid-themed Bag

Fancy Peacock-themed Egyptian Cotton Scented Soap