The Friday Five - St. Patrick's Day Blog Hop

A very happy St. Patty's Day to you all! Today I'm partaking in Carrie Ann Ryan's blog hop. Green is my favorite color, four-leaf clovers are one of my favorite leafy plants (as evidenced by my tattoo) and I'm grateful that my parents decided to get married (at all, really--this year would have been their 40th if Dad hadn't passed away) on the day St. Patrick decided to run all the snakes out of Ireland. Or did he . . . .

I now present to you five facts about St. Patrick's Day. And as a bonus for being educated (or bored) by my facts, one lucky (oh, what a pun) commenter will win: A brand-spanking new, never-been-read e-copy of my steampunk romance, The Treasure Hunter's Lady. It doesn't have any Irish people in it, but it does have one big damn snake. And I'm not being dirty when I say that. For once.

The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in New York City on March 17, 1762. It was made up of Irish soldiers serving in the English army.

In 1962, the city of Chicago started using vegetable dye to color the Chicago River green. They use an environmentally safe dye to do it these days, but they may discontinue the tradition because of any minor effects on the environment.

The shamrock is considered a sacred plant by the Celts because it signaled the arrival of spring. Me too, Celts. Me too.

The legend that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland is myth. What they're really getting at is his conversion of pagans to Christianity. Two hundred years after his arrival in Ireland, the country had been Christianized.

The leprechaun has nothing to do with St. Patrick. It's a faery-like creature the Celts believed in that was cranky and resorted to trickery in order to protect its treasure. They're believed to be descended from the Tuatha de Danann. They also make shoes. Because dwarfs have the corner on mining, apparently. You can learn more about leprechauns at the National Leprechaun Museum.

Bonus fun fact: According to Wikipedia, only 1 in 10,000 clovers has four leaves. Then what are all of these doing pressed in my Bible? I assure you, I have many, many more as well. I've been told to stop taking pictures of, finding and picking them because every time I do, it seems like I have bad luck.

So, all you have to do now is leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of The Treasure Hunter's Lady (Book #1, Legends and Lovers Series). And no pinching, children!

For years, Romy Farrington traveled at her world-famous archeologist father's side, exploring new lands and uncovering ancient secrets. It was everything she ever wanted, until a near-fatal encounter with hostile natives forced her and her father into a life of retirement in Boston and an undesired advance into proper society.

Everything changes again when she's saved from an accident by a brash Texan in a back alley. Abel Courte may act like a care-free cowboy, but he's harboring a secret—he's searching for the Diamond of Uktena, a legendary jewel that can cure any disease known to man. He needs information Romy's father has in order to get to the jewel. When he traces the origin of the Diamond to Dakota Territory, he sets off to claim the treasure, only to find the archeologist's fiery redheaded daughter stuck to him like a bug in sap.

In a race against time, Romy and Abel must learn to trust each other as they undertake a cross-country journey that will expose them to lands uncharted by white men, a deadly battle against the fearsome creature in possession of the Diamond and a fight to return to civilization where they might make the greatest discovery of all—love.
Be sure and visit the other blogs for more chances to win great prizes too!