Song of the Wren cover reveal!

It’s here! The cover for my new gay paranormal novel, SONG OF THE WREN!

Song of the Wren by Glenn Quigley

This is the first time I’ve designed the cover to one of my books. Let me tell you, trying to find good stock images of big, burly men who aren’t pulling silly faces or posing with food isn’t easy!

SONG OF THE WREN will be available in eBook, print, and Kindle Unlimited on 15th October 2026 and I’ll be selling signed copies over on my Ko-fi page.

You can pre-order the eBook here!

What’s the book about?

In the summer of 1986, burly witch Dara and his boyfriend, Lorcan, return to Ireland to celebrate their clairvoyant friend’s wedding. But when Dara accidentally summons a ghost, he feels compelled to investigate and uncovers a tangled web of family secrets.
While Lorcan loves his new life on the road, reconnecting with old friends has him feeling homesick, and a generous offer to stay could prove too tempting to refuse.
And with a growing list of disasters in the run-up to the wedding, could someone — or something — be trying to ruin it?

Return to the world of HEART OF THE WREN in this paranormal tale of gays, ghosts, and gowns!

So this is a sequel?

Yep! This story takes place five months after the events of HEART OF THE WREN. You don’t have to have read that to enjoy this but you’ll get a lot more out of the story if you do. And it’s also a gay paranormal romance set in 1980s Ireland, so you might as well give it a read, too. 🙂

In Ireland, Wren Day comes right after Christmas, and should be a time for music and merriment, but for burly gay farmer Lorcan Fitzgerald, it might just be the last day of his life.
When he unearths an ancient Celtic brooch on his remote farm in 1980s Ireland, he becomes plagued by mysterious fires, breakages, and disappearances. His beefy new lodger and farmhand Dara might be able to help — after all, he is a witch.
Accustomed to a solitary life on the road, friendly Dara must navigate life in the small village while drawing closer to lonely Lorcan, who carries an old pain that threatens to keep them apart.
Encountering a young woman with ESP, a terrifying spectral horse, and a fateful game of Hurling, can the men put a stop to the increasingly sinister supernatural forces gathering at the farm before Lorcan meets his final, horrible fate on Wren Day?

Buy a signed copy in my Ko-fi shop: https://ko-fi.com/s/d07096d5e8

Ebook, print, Kindle Unlimited: https://mybook.to/heartofthewren

Are there any other books in the series?

CURSE OF THE STAG’S EYE is set in the same world, though it features different characters in a different setting, and it’s set in the 2020s. See if you can spot the connection to the Wren books!

High on a wave-dashed cliff, the ancient standing stone known as the Stag’s Eye jealously watches over a cursed lighthouse with a grisly past. Paranormal investigator Rhys has chosen this place to hold his first-ever ghost tour. Ghost-hunting veteran Dawn and her boyfriend Nikesh are eager to go exploring, while first-timer Gaz is hoping to learn more about the spirit world. He also intends to learn more about Rhys for various reasons, not all of which are entirely innocent.

The ghost of a murdered lighthouse keeper is said to climb the stairs every night, tending to the light, but other, far more sinister phantoms may lurk in the shadows. As the night wears on and the haunting becomes more and more hazardous, Rhys and Gaz grow closer. However, it soon becomes clear that not everyone on the tour is being honest about their reasons for being there. Can the supernatural activity be blamed on the curse of the Stag’s Eye or does someone know more than they’re letting on?

Buy a signed copy in my Ko-fi shop: https://ko-fi.com/s/e79be02943

Ebook, print, Kindle Unlimited: https://mybook.to/curseofthestagseye

Is this a trilogy?

Nope! It’s a series of stories all set in the same world. There may well be more coming, too. I have plans!

Irish glossary in HEART OF THE WREN

HEART OF THE WREN comes out on Friday, 3rd October, and is my first book set in my native Ireland. It includes a glossary of commonly used Irish words and phrases that crop up in the story, and I’ve added them below, for easy reference.

The book is set in Co. Kerry, in 1985, and references some people and events that will be familiar to Irish people of a certain vintage. In case you’re not, here’s a quick rundown of some of the highlights:

Source: GammaGoblin

One of the main characters, Dara, is likened in part to broadcaster Derek Davis. Derek was a mainstay of Irish television and radio for many years. A big man from Northern Ireland, he exuded warmth and charm, and in hindsight must have made quite an impact on me when I was a child in the 80s. Especially considering I grew up and married a big man from Northern Ireland who is warm and charming. The clues were all there from early age, honestly.

Source: Hot Press

Lorcan Fitzgerald (the lonely farmer at the centre of the strange happenings in HEART OF THE WREN) confesses to having a soft spot for a radio DJ, Ronan Collins, and it’s not hard to see why. A good-looking man, famous for his ronnie (check the glossary!), Ronan has been a mainstay of Irish radio for decades. He once graced the cover of Hot Press, semi-naked, which I can only assume made Lorcan very happy indeed. You can read more about that over on the Hot Press website.

David Norris on Last House 1975. Source: RTÉ

In a quiet moment, Lorcan mentions the first time he remembers seeing a gay man. It was David Norris (now Senator Norris) being interviewed on Last House in 1975. This was very probably the first time an openly gay man had been interviewed on Irish television. You can watch the interview over on RTÉ’s website. David Norris was the chairman of the Gay Rights Movement and was instrumental in overthrowing the anti-homosexuality law in Ireland. He remains a pivotal figure in Irish politics.

Wrenboys

Wren Day (the 26th December) and the Wrenboys are an ancient tradition still seen in some parts of Ireland. I covered them in a previous blog post, which you can read here.

Photo by Bobga on Unsplash

Ireland’s police force is An Garda Síochána (“Guardians of the Peace”), also known as the gardaí, the garda, or simply “the guards.” They are hardly ever referred to by terms like “cops” or even “police” though people have been known to use some other colourful terms.

By Seaninryan – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Hurling is a national sport in Ireland, and it’s something that, I’ll be honest, I knew very little about before writing this book. Okay, I’d picked up a bit of it here and there. It’s impossible not to if you grow up in Ireland. I’ve even held a hurley once or twice, but I didn’t know anything about the actual rules of the game. I’m not a sporty person (shocking, I know) but Lorcan is and so it’s included in the book, in a scene that turned out to be very fun to write. I’ll never play it, though. Look at those hurleys. They look like they’d hurt. (That’s called foreshadowing.)

Irish Glossary

Here are some common words and phrases used in Ireland that appear in the HEART OF THE WREN

  • After (e.g. after finding out) or Have just (e.g. I have just found out)
  • Aul – Old
  • Bejaysus – (Bejesus) Used for surprise or emphasis
  • Bold – Naughty, misbehaved
  • Bollocks – Literally testicles, used in conversation to mean “nonsense”. (e.g. He’s talking bollocks.)
  • Céile – (pronounced kay-lee) Traditional social gathering with music
  • Craic – (pronounced crack) A good time, fun, entertainment, enjoyable conversation,  gossip. (Used in various contexts, e.g. “What’s the craic?” – “How are you doing?”)
  • Delf (also delph) – Earthenware, crockery, dishes
  • Diviliment – Devilment, reckless mischief, wild spirits
  • Eejit – A stupid person
  • Feck – Used to express annoyance, frustration, impatience, or surprise. Can be used in place of fuck in many cases but never in a sexual connotation. E.g. one can be told to feck off but one cannot feck one’s boyfriend in the stairwell of a poorly lit Dublin nightclub.
  • Fierce – Very
  • GAA – Gaelic Athletic Association. Used in conversation to refer to a number of Irish sports including hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, Gaelic handball, and GAA rounders.
  • Gas – fun, funny, entertaining. (Someone fun to be around is “gas craic.”)
  • Gobshite – see eejit
  • Grand – Fine
  • Gardaí (also Guards or Garda) – (pronounced Guard-ee), Irish police force. An individual officer is known as a guard or garda.
  • Go on outta that – (Go on out of that), an expression of disbelief
  • He did in his bollocks – No, he didn’t
  • Hoosh/hooshed – boost/ed, hoist/ed, lift/ed
  • Hurley – a stick used in a game of hurling. Similar to a field hockey stick but shorter and with a wide, flat, oval blade.
  • Hurling – a game resembling hockey played with hurleys. One of Ireland’s national sports.
  • I’m after/I was after – I have (done something)
  • In the nip – Nude
  • Jacks, the – toilet, usually public toilets
  • Jaysus – Jesus (Christ)
  • Langer – Penis (pronounced lang-er)
  • Mickey – Penis
  • National School – a primary school funded by the state
  • Poitín – (pronounced pocheen) Literally means “little pot”, a traditional Irish distilled alcoholic beverage. Very strong and very illegal in 1985.
  • Press – Cupboard
  • Ride – (n) attractive person (v) to have sex
  • Ronnie – Moustache
  • RTE – Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland’s national broadcaster
  • Santy – Santa Claus
  • Slagging – Making fun of, insulting
  • Sliotar – a hard, leather-covered ball used in the game of hurling
  • Sure – a discourse marker commonly used at the beginning of sentences to express various nuances like agreement, emphasis, or to introduce new information
  • Yer man – That man, the man being discussed
  • Yer one – That woman, the woman being discussed
  • Yis/Yis’re – You all / You all are
  • Yis/Youse – Plural of You
  • Yoke – Thing
  • Youse – You (plural)

I hope you found this helpful and I really hope you enjoy reading about Lorcan and Dara in HEART OF THE WREN available in eBook, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited.

HEART OF THE WREN

Wren Day, Wrenboys, and HEART OF THE WREN

I’m going to be honest with you — before writing HEART OF THE WREN, I hadn’t heard of Wren Day. Despite growing up in a rural part of County Dublin (at least it was in the late 70s and 80s,) Wren Day wasn’t something I’d ever encountered. It had somehow flown entirely beneath my radar. Still, when I started gathering ideas for this book, Wrenboys were suddenly everywhere. They popped up on TV, they were mentioned in books, there were photos of them on social media… And, never one to ignore synchronicity, I leaned into it and started to do some research.

What’s HEART OF THE WREN about?

Heart of the Wren by Glenn Quigley

HEART OF THE WREN is a gay paranormal romance novel about a lonely gay farmer named Lorcan who digs up an ancient Celtic brooch and accidentally unleashes a sinister supernatural force. Help arrives in the form of a burly male witch named Dara. Set in 1980s Ireland, the two men must figure out a way to stop the strange and unsettling phenomena before Lorcan meets his final, horrible fate on Wren Day.

What is Wren Day?

Better known as St. Stephen’s Day, Wren Day is the 26th of December, the day after Christmas. In certain parts of Ireland (mainly the west, I believe, Kerry, Limerick, Galway, but also in Dingle), it’s a time when young people (not just boys, these days) dress up in straw costumes and go door to door, singing songs, playing instruments, and “demanding” money to “bury the wren.”

WB Yeats Wrenboys

“Hunting the wren” is an old midwinter tradition whose origins are lost to the mists of time. Men and boys would scour the hedgerows for a wren, the “king of all birds”, which they would kill. Whoever took the poor bird’s life would have good luck for the next year. The wren was placed inside a “wren bush” (a ball of holly, ivy, and ribbons) and tied to the top of a pole. The pole was decorated with ivy and ribbons and then carried from door to door. The Wrenboys, as they’re called, dressed in elaborate costumes made of straw (or sometimes just painted their faces), played music, sang, and demanded money to “bury the wren” (pronounced wran). This, like so many midwinter traditions, ensured prosperity for the coming year. The day’s celebrations ended with the wren being buried, sometimes in a little coffin, and sometimes even keened (keening is the vocal lament for the dead in Irish tradition).

In modern times, the wren hunt no longer takes place, but the Wren Day tradition lives on (or has been revived) with a fake wren in place of a dead one. Any money collected goes towards charitable causes or to a celebration for the town.

The Wrenboys sing a song at each house, and the lyrics vary from county to county, and sometimes from town to town. However, the first line is always the same:

The wren the wren the king of all birds
St Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze*
Her clothes were all torn- her shoes were all worn
Up with the kettle and down with the pan
Give us a penny to bury the “wran”
If you haven’t a penny, a halfpenny will do
If you haven’t a halfpenny, God bless you!

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0797, Page 44

*Furze is a bush also known as gorse and is very common in Ireland.

Now, for my story, HEART OF THE WREN, I combined several different versions of the song to come up with my own unique take on it. I also had to change the rhyming a little because the way we pronounce “wren” as “wran” made things a little complicated. Hopefully I can be forgiven for this!

The Wren Day song is similar to the one sung at Hallowe’en, though I’m uncertain how, exactly, they’re connected. Something to research at another time, perhaps.

Why is the wren called “the king of all birds?”

There’s a lovely bit of folklore about this, which I get into in the book.

The inspiration for HEART OF THE WREN

Last year, a group of gay authors decided to all release a series of standalone, own-voice, gay paranormal romance novels under the umbrella of HAUNTED HEARTS. My contribution was called Curse of the Stag’s Eye. The project was such a success that we decided to do it again this year, with even more authors involved. Last year, the theme was ghosts; this year it’s witches. And thus HAUNTED HEARTS: SEASON OF THE WITCH was born.

When I sat down to work on this year’s book, I didn’t know what the story was going to be. At all. I toyed with some ideas that had been rattling around in the back of my head for a while. I wrote them all down (I keep copious notes), but none of them really grabbed me until I started to notice a pattern. The one thing that kept popping up was the notion of setting this story in Ireland. Despite being Irish (born and raised in County Dublin), I hadn’t ever set a story here. So, with that as a starting point, I fumbled around for more details. The idea of setting it in the era of my childhood, the 1980s, appealed to me, so that became another element. Knowing the theme for this year’s Haunted Hearts was “witches”, it made sense to look into Irish mythology and folklore, something I’m interested in and have many books about.

At the time, I’d just re-read The Snow Spider, one of my favourite stories and the setting of a remote farm sounded right to me. So, a farmer on a remote farm encounters the supernatural and needs help from a witch. All of a sudden, I had the seed of a story. I worked out some ideas and came up with enough of a plot to get me started. Despite the amount of notes I take, I can’t remember exactly when the idea of tying this story to the Wren Day tradition came about. There’s something wonderfully pagan and mysterious about the appearance of the Wrenboys. After some more research, it became clear that my story needed to incorporate elements of Wren Day. Once I’d decided that, I was off to the races. I started properly writing this story in February 2024, and it was done by June 2024.

I was able to tie in other elements of Irish folklore in a way that makes sense for the story and shows the beauty of Irish mythology. I truly hope you enjoy reading about Lorcan and Dara, and though this is a standalone story, I wonder if you can spot the connections to last year’s Haunted Hearts book, Curse of the Stag’s Eye?

HEART OF THE WREN is available in ebook, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited from 3rd October 2025.

Haunted Hearts Season of the Witch

You can find the entire HAUNTED HEARTS: SEASON OF THE WITCH collection of standalone gay paranormal romance novels here:

Haunted Hearts: Season of the witch

Heart of the Wren cover reveal!

Heart of the Wren by Glenn Quigley
Heart of the Wren

Here is the cover for my next novel! HEART OF THE WREN is coming on 3rd October 2025. Available in ebook, print, and Kindle Unlimited, it’s part of HAUNTED HEARTS: SEASON OF THE WITCH series of 11 standalone novels by Own Voices authors.

You can pre-order it here: https://mybook.to/heartofthewren

What is HEART OF THE WREN about?

Wren Day comes right after Christmas and it should be a time for music and merriment, but for burly gay farmer Lorcan Fitzgerald it might just be the last day of his life.

When he unearths an ancient Celtic brooch on his remote farm in 1980s Ireland, he becomes plagued by fires, breakages, and disappearances.
His beefy new lodger and farmhand Dara might be able to help – after all, he is a witch.
Accustomed to a solitary life on the road, friendly Dara must navigate life in the small village while drawing closer to lonely Lorcan, who carries an old pain that threatens to keep them apart.

Encountering a young woman with ESP, a terrifying spectral horse, and a fateful game of Hurling, can the men put a stop to the sinister supernatural forces gathering at the farm before Lorcan meets his final, horrible fate on Wren Day?

HEART OF THE WREN is part of the Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch series of 11 standalone novels by Own Voices authors.

This book is a standalone story set in the same world as Curse of the Stag’s Eye but featuring new characters in a new setting.

Pre-order it here: https://mybook.to/heartofthewren

What is Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch?

Haunted Hearts Season of the Witch

Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch is an Own-Voices Paranormal Romance Series. Join us on our romantic journeys from some of your favourite authors! Be sure to read the entire 11 book series so you don’t miss a moment of falling in love, or sometimes falling into a happily ever after-life! Each book is a standalone but why not read them all? Everyone deserves their HEA!

Pre-order haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch here: https://mybook.to/HauntedHeartsTwo

Curse of the Stag’s Eye is out now!

It’s new release day! CURSE OF THE STAG’S EYE is out now in eBook and print.

There was a technical glitch (that’s the polite term) which meant Amazon cancelled all my pre-orders and I had to list the book again. This caused me no ends of stress this week and means that for now the eBook and Print editions are listed separately. They will be joined very soon but in the meantime, you can order one right now!

eBook: https://mybook.to/curseofthestagseye

Print: https://mybook.to/curseofthestagseyepb 

It’s also free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

If you did pre-order the book, thank you so much, and I’m so sorry for this hassle!

I’m selling a limited edition pack of a signed copy of the book with a lino print by the brilliant artist Ian J. Brown. These packs are limited to just 25 and some have already sold, so if you’re interested, get in touch! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, or at my email which is my full name at gmail dot com.

REVIEWS

A bearded man standing in front of a lighthouse. Curse of the Stag's Eye, Glenn Quigley, a Haunted Hearts book.

The reviews are coming in! Here what’s some early readers had to say:

“…there was so much to love here, from the story to the characters to the sheer mass of potential for more.” – Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“What an amazing book! … The characters were lovely and storytelling was so fun.” – Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Damn, this was an amazing read” – Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“The spooky ghost story here was well thought out, not only was it the right level of spooky for a book of this length, but it wasn’t convoluted and didn’t drag out to the final chapter.” – Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT?

High on a wave-dashed cliff, the ancient standing stone known as the Stag’s Eye jealously watches over a cursed lighthouse with a grisly past.
Paranormal investigator Rhys has chosen this place to hold his first-ever ghost tour. Ghost-hunting veteran Dawn and her boyfriend Nikesh are eager to go exploring, while first-timer Gaz is hoping to learn more about the spirit world. He also intends to learn more about Rhys for various reasons, not all of which are entirely innocent.

The ghost of a murdered lighthouse keeper is said to climb the stairs every night, tending to the light, but other, far more sinister phantoms may lurk in the shadows. As the night wears on and the haunting becomes more and more hazardous, Rhys and Gaz grow closer. However, it soon becomes clear that not everyone on the tour is being honest about their reasons for being there. Can the supernatural activity be blamed on the curse of the Stag’s Eye or does someone know more than they’re letting on?

Haunted Hearts – Everyone deserves a happy ever afterlife! Haunted Hearts is an Own-Voices Paranormal Romance Series about love and the things that go boo in the night. Join us on our romantic journeys over 10 books from some of your favourite authors! Be sure to read the entire series so you don’t miss a moment of falling in love or sometimes falling into a happily ever afterlife! Each book is a standalone but why not read them all? Everyone deserves their HEA!

Authors include: Christian Baines , Sebastian Carter, Glenn​ Quigley, Ryan Lawrence, Finn Dixon, Tal Frost, Shane K Morton, J.P. Jackson, Adam J. Ridley, and Colin Dereham

Curse of the Stag’s Eye inspiration

A bearded man standing in front of a lighthouse. Curse of the Stag's Eye, Glenn Quigley, a Haunted Hearts book.

My new book, CURSE OF THE STAG’S EYE comes out on 4th October 2024. It’s a gay paranormal romance story set in a haunted lighthouse. I based the setting on South Stack Lighthouse in Wales and I thought I’d do a little blog post about my inspiration.

CURSE OF THE STAG’S EYE sees gay bear and paranormal enthusiast Rhys conducting his first-ever ghost tour. On the tour are ghost-hunting veteran Dawn, her boyfriend Nikesh, and first-timer Gaz, who intends to learn more about the paranormal, and about Rhys, for various reasons, not all of which are entirely innocent.

I am, as you can probably guess, a big fan of lighthouses and they crop up occasionally in my work (most notably in The Moth and Moon). When I was asked to be a part of the Haunted Hearts series, my mind naturally turned to a lighthouse as the perfect setting for a spooky romance.

Credit: https://www.visitanglesey.co.uk/en-gb/explore/south-stack-lighthouse

South Stack Lighthouse was built in 1809 on a small island off the northwest coast of Holy Island, Wales.

In my story, Stag’s Head Lighthouse was also built on a small island in Wales, although one shaped roughly like, wait for it, a stag’s head. Though one of the antlers has long since fallen into the sea.

Credit: https://thesheepsheadway.com/trails/western-trails/spurs_caherurlagh_holed_stone/

In my story, in order to build the lighthouse the engineers wanted to move an ancient standing stone, one with a hole running through it. Locals referred to the stone as the Stag’s Eye and warned of terrible consequences should it ever be moved. But moved it was, to he carpark overlooking the island and the new lighthouse. And eve since then, the lighthouse and its keepers have had more than their fair share of bad luck and tragedy.

Credit: https://walesguidebook.com/things-to-do/anglesey/visit-south-stack-lighthouse/

There are 400 steps down to the island. One of my characters, Gaz, loudly complains about the amount of steps, having counted them all on the way down.


Credit: https://walesguidebook.com/things-to-do/anglesey/visit-south-stack-lighthouse/

A bridge connects to the island, just as in my story. This is the only lifeline, the only connection back to the mainland. Sure would be a shame if it were to suddenly disappear…

Credit: https://walesguidebook.com/things-to-do/anglesey/visit-south-stack-lighthouse/

Once on the island, visitors can view the engine room and exhibition.

In my story, the keepers’ cottages have been converted into a museum. It’s here that the characters first encounter some spooky events, such as disembodied voices, and mysterious footsteps on the gravel paths outside.

Credit: Wild Camper, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO80Kky9VLU

Stag’s Head Lighthouse is larger than South Stack, but both have a shaft running through the tower. This once held the weights and chains needed to turn the light.

South Stack Lighthouse is said to have its own ghost. During a storm Keeper John “Jack” Jones was killed when a was rock knocked loose from the cliff face and struck him on the head. His ghost is said to haunt the lighthouse to this day. A similar fate befell a keeper in my story, as the ghost tour will uncover.

You can read more about South Stack’s ghost over at Mysterious Britain.

Credit: Anglesey Isle, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y29T45InjD8

It’s hard to find a good image of the lamp room due to it being quite cramped. This is where a bit of creative licence comes into play, as in my story the lamp room has plenty of space and can easily accommodate the four adults on the ghost tour. And maybe even some unexpected visitors…

Over the course of a single night secrets are revealed, lies are uncovered, and bonds are forged as Rhys, Gaz, Dawn, and Nikesh race to discover the truth behind the CURSE OF THE STAG’S EYE.

CURSE OF THE STAG’S EYE is part of the Haunted Hearts MM paranormal romance series. All ten books are written by own voice authors and are stand-alone stories, but why not read them all?

Haunted Hearts

Pin It on Pinterest