Looking Back at The Lost Daughter of Rathmore: My First Supernatural Novel

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I've always loved Irish mythology.

Perhaps some of that comes from my own Irish heritage and my interest in genealogy. There's something irresistible about the old stories, the ancient places, and the idea that the people who came before us might have left behind more than names on a family tree.

Lately, I've been thinking about some of my earlier writing projects, and I thought it would be fun to revisit The Lost Daughter of Rathmore, my first supernatural novel, and share a little about where the story began.

Ireland has such a rich tradition of folklore, filled with stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the fae, enchanted places, and a world that exists alongside our own, usually just beyond human sight.

Those stories helped inspire The Lost Daughter of Rathmore.

I actually began writing this story about ten years ago. The idea of an ordinary woman discovering that her family history was connected to ancient Irish mythology fascinated me, and Nora's story began taking shape. Over the years, I worked on other writing projects, but Rathmore remained a story I wanted to tell. Looking back, I can see how many of the themes that continue to interest me as a writer were already finding their way into this book.

At its heart, the novel is about a woman searching for her identity.

Nora Callahan has always believed she knows who she is. But following the death of the woman who raised her, Nora discovers a secret that changes everything.

She was adopted.

Among the things her mother leaves behind are a letter, a mysterious pendant, and a name: Rathmore.

That single word eventually leads Nora to Ireland, where she begins searching for answers about her birth family.

What she discovers is far beyond anything she could have imagined.

I particularly loved developing the setting for this story. Rathmore is a mysterious estate near Kells, Ireland, with an old castle, a portrait gallery, and ancient connections to the land surrounding it.

I wanted the setting to feel steeped in history, somewhere the old beliefs might still carry weight and the boundary between mythology and reality might be thinner than we realize.

Of course, Nora doesn't arrive in Ireland expecting to discover anything supernatural. She's looking for information about her parents.

That very human desire to know where we come from became the foundation of the novel.

I've spent many hours exploring genealogical records, and I know how exciting it can be to discover an unexpected connection or a previously unknown branch of a family. Even an ordinary document can lead to surprising revelations.

For Nora, however, the mystery goes much further.

Her search introduces her to people who seem to know more about her past than they're willing to share, including the enigmatic Cian, whose connection to Rathmore is far from simple.

And then there are the ancient stories, some of which turn out to be considerably more than stories.

What I enjoyed most about writing The Lost Daughter of Rathmore was combining my interest in family history with my love of traditional mythology.

I also wanted to explore what it means to belong to a family. Is family determined by blood, by the people who raise us, or by the relationships we choose?

Nora's journey forced me to think about those questions in ways I hadn't expected.

Looking back on this novel is especially meaningful because it marked my first venture into supernatural fiction, a genre I've since come to love and have continued exploring in many of my other books.

For those of you who haven't yet read The Lost Daughter of Rathmore, it's a story of Irish mythology, family mysteries, ancient secrets, and a touch of romance.

And for those who have already traveled to Rathmore with Nora, I hope you've enjoyed this little look back at where her story began.