Loretta A. Murphy

 

When she was eight years old, Loretta Murphy wrote her first book, a lengthy tale of the adventures of a black horse named Lightening.  Her Aunt Liz confiscated the handwritten story, insisting she would find someone to publish it.  The book was never seen again. 

 

Although young Loretta wrote a few other fictional efforts over the next twenty years, most of her writing became professionally geared as a result of her studies to become a registered nurse.  Many research papers and two children later, she earned a Master’s Degree in Nursing and time to resume writing fiction.  Murphy has been a professional nurse since 1976.

 

A lover of poetry and fantasy, Murphy blends the two in much of her writing.  She also adds a touch of song, for singing, music and the theatre are her other artistic passions.  Writing under the pen name, Maggieofthegypsies, she authors poetry, much of it themed around Ireland and the Irish culture but also about her beloved "coal region" - the name given to the anthracite coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania where she "grew up coal cracker Irish".  

 

Her fiction illustrates her love of her Irish heritage as well.  The Pipes Are Calling blends her Irish American background with history and fantasy.  A consummate researcher, Murphy has a nose for detective work and unearthing historical facts.  She especially loves the underdog and righting wrongs, making the writing of The Pipes Are Calling, particularly endearing to her. 

 

The novel uses fiction based on truth to clear the name of the Irish American coal miners known as the Mollie Maguires.  These men, who were branded as murderous thugs in the mid 1800’s, were actually America’s pioneers of the Labor Movement.  Their efforts braved the way for worker’s rights in this country as well as inspiring workers in other countries in their fight.  Based on her research, Murphy believes all of the accused men should be exonerated of any crime.

 

Murphy, a full time certified school nurse, spends most of her summers researching material for her stories.  In 2005, at the age of 49, she fulfilled a lifetime dream of traveling to Ireland. staying a week in Dublin during March, '05, and returning in June.  During her 21 day solo journey that June and July, she wrote poem after poem as she explored the beautiful island's towns, cities, byways, and ancient ruins.  These poems have become her second book, Irish Roads. As she often tells folks, you cannot visit Ireland without leaving behind a piece of your heart.  One day, Murphy hopes to write full time someday in a small cottage somewhere in Donegal, overlooking the ocean. 

 

In the meatime, she lives in the small northeastern Pennsylvania coal region town of Ashland, in the heart of Mollie Maguire country along with her two daughters Brigid and Terra, six German Schnauzers with Irish names, and her husband, Patrick.  She continues to write poetry and is working on her second novel, wwwdotIRISHHEARTSdotcom  (still a story in the works not a website, so don't bother clicking) , a contemporary romantic fantasy about the Irish mythology of Finn McCool’s son, Osian, and his band of men, the Fianna .  Her volume of poetry, IRISH ROADS, based on her writings while touring Ireland solo for 21 days in 2005, was published in November, 2008, and is available from PublishAmerica, on this website store, and at all major online booksellers.

 

 

Visit Murphy's other websites and tour The Coal Region Webring

 

http://www.freewebs.com/irishvalley

http://www.freewebs.com/wigganspatch

http://www.freewebs.com/girardville

http://www.freewebs.com/coalregion

http://www.freewebs.com/clancarroll

http://www.freewebs.com/irishvalley

http://www.thetroubles55.webs.com