avatarShea Hulse

Summary

Shea Hulse, an Irish author, discovered a lack of representation of Celtic Gods in literature and decided to fill this gap by writing romance novels featuring Celtic mythology, drawing from her own heritage and interest in the subject.

Abstract

Shea Hulse, an author with Irish and Italian heritage, noticed a scarcity of literature focused on Celtic Gods despite a cultural fascination with Irish themes, particularly around St. Patrick's Day. Frustrated by the absence of Celtic mythology in modern storytelling, including in popular franchises like Marvel, Hulse saw an opportunity to serve an underserved market. Inspired by her ancestry from Munster, a region known for its literary figures, she set out to write novels that would bring Celtic Gods and Goddesses into the spotlight. Her research led her to create a romance novel that not only addressed this gap but also provided a fun and engaging way for readers to learn about Celtic mythology. Hulse's business approach aligns with the principle of finding success by filling a market need in a unique way, a concept she relates to a statement she recalls from Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary.

Opinions

  • The author believes that the success of a business lies in its ability to fill a market need, serve a market with high demand, and offer a unique take on existing solutions.
  • Hulse expresses a personal desire to see more representation of Celtic mythology in mainstream media and literature.
  • She sees a missed opportunity in the lack of Celtic mythological references in modern stories, despite the popularity of related themes like Fae, fairies, and leprechauns.
  • The author is critical of the limited availability of Celtic mythology content, stating it is "unheard of" unless one is specifically looking into tedious books on the subject.
  • Hulse is proud of her Irish heritage and feels a connection to the literary tradition of her ancestral region, aspiring to contribute to it through her own work.
  • She is motivated by the absence of Celtic Gods in literature to create a new niche in the romance novel genre, thereby providing content that she and potentially others are seeking.
  • The author suggests that her approach to writing, which involves addressing a personal desire for more Celtic mythology content, could be applied to other business ventures to achieve success.

Celtic Gods And What Do They Have To Do With Your Business?

Where are all the Celtic Gods? That was what I asked myself when I started researching for my books. There are lots of Scottish books, and plenty about Norse mythology, but nothing about Celtic Gods. Which is perfect.

Photo by Greg Willson on Unsplash

I’m Irish, like a lot Irish, nearly half. Also nearly half Italian. I’m one of the few that genuinely is Irish when I claim to be so, on St. Patrick’s Day. According to my O’Connell heritage, I’m mostly from Munster. And Ancestry DNA tells me that Munster is known for its ‘literary prowess’ toting names like Swift, Joyce, Yeats, O’Brien, and Rooney. And now,I guess ,me haha.

There’s not a lot of literature specifically about the Irish though, even though everyone wants to be Irish around one certain holiday. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, by the way. But as I researched Celtic Gods I found it was unheard of unless you’re specifically reading tedious books about it. You can find paranormal romance books referencing some similar themes but none directly.

So while there were tons of Fae, fairies, leprechauns, and so on in modern stories, I couldn’t find any specifically referencing the mythology itself. While my husband and I are Marvel junkies, even in the famous universe borne out of Stan Lee’s head, I only found two characters directly related to the Celts.

And well, that kind of bummed me out. I love Thor, I mean who doesn’t? But I wanted to see my people represented somewhere!

That’s why I decided to write about Celtic Gods myself!

I found an under-served market, I filled a need, and I did it in a unique way. Romance novels about Celtic Gods were nowhere to be found. You might be thinking great, good for you. But it’s good for you too and I’ll tell you why.

Although I’m pouring through the internet, I can’t find the specific clip, so if you can please comment with it! But on Shark Tank I recall I believe Kevin O’Leary stating that the success of any business is filling a need in the market, serving a market that has more demand than people doing that, and doing something that others have done in a unique way.

The first two sound the same but they can be different. Filling a need in a market can be by creating something that no one has ever seen before to serve a market. Or serving a market that has a solution to their problem but not enough of it. Make sense?

So for myself, I wanted to see Celtic Gods and Goddesses somewhere. Anywhere really. I could tell you all about Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology because I’m a history/psychology/spirituality nerd. So I could tell you that the Celtic Gods were lost to Christianity. But I couldn’t tell you a ton about Celtic myth.

Celtic Gods just weren’t anywhere to be found.

At least nowhere I was looking. Granted, there are plenty of people with Celtic knots, Claddagh rings, leprechauns, and shamrocks all over the place. But the mythology of it all was lost in the shuffle.

When I had my idea to write a novel I kind of stumbled into it. I was thinking about the Salem, Massachusetts Witch Trials when I decided to research who was the first to be tried and hanged. That woman was Bridget Bishop.

And so I researched the name and found that there was a Celtic Goddes, Brigid. I won’t give it all away but those two things brought forth my romance novel. But I knew I wanted to bring in a lot more Celtic Gods into the story so I could and my audience could learn more about them in a fun way. The way I like to learn.

Apply this principle to your business and you’ll do great!

The thing about it is, you can apply this to nearly anything you do. If what you want to do has so many people doing it already, how can you throw in your own unique twist to make it feel new and exciting?

Or what about what is something you have always wanted but can’t find anywhere? Solving a problem that lots of people have is a key component to success.

That’s what I tried to do by writing about Celtic Gods. Now, I don’t know how many people have the same problem as me. Maybe I could do a poll about it. But I do know that it was something that I was looking for.

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Dragonflies launches 3/13/22

Also published on sheahulse13.com

Ireland
Business
Business Strategy
Money
St Patricks Day
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