Here's an offering to you and the friendly writing gods. This story was nominated for a 2006 Pushcart Prize.

Click here to read "Eileen and the Rock."

Behold the Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary, a Medieval ruin that inspired this story about a social climber obsessed with her future burial spot. The Cashel family never existed, but the Birth Registry of 1930 is a most quirky and fascinating fact.

I began writing this piece while on writer's retreat in Ireland. The voice I used to tell the story reflects the many storytelling gift-of-the-gabbers I met while there (usually in the pubs). Anyone who writes fiction knows that defining, and then maintaining, the voices within our stories can be difficult. I had fun with this bawdy tale.