trueromance

Readers’ Crown Award Winner, Long Historical Romance

Stories That Keep Bringing You Back For More

Last Friday night I was channel surfing and came across a movie on the Donner Party. My husband groaned, knowing what was going to happen: I was going to insist on watching it. He knows me too well.

It’s not that he doesn’t like stories about the Donner Party, he just doesn’t like them twenty times over. But for some reason it’s one of those stories that fascinates me—like stories about the Titanic, Princess Diana, Anastasia, etc. I can watch endless programs and read numerous books on the subjects, but I’m almost always eager for more (although when Princess Diana died I wished the media would leave her in peace).

I’m sure my interest in the Donner Party stems from the fact that my family had a ski cabin a few miles away from Donner Lake, but I don’t think that’s all of it. There are just some stories that are so gripping, so horrible, so interesting or mysterious, that they continue to fascinate. I’m always looking for that little nugget, that new insight, or the next theory that might help explain a mystery or something that seems inexplicable. I guess I’m looking for an answer even though I know there isn’t one.

To a certain extent, I think this same personality quirk is why I’m so fascinated by history—and Scottish history in particular, which seems to have so many fact-is-stranger-than-fiction type stories. I gravitate toward these incredible tidbits and find a way to give them a happy ending (in my mind at least). My very first book, Highlander Untamed, spun off a clan feud between the MacLeods and MacDonalds known as “The War of the One-Eyed Woman.” With a title like that, how could I not be intrigued? My third book, Highlander Unchained, included a story about a clan chief who tried to kill his wife by tying her to a rock and waiting for the tide to come in. He was rather surprised when she showed up for dinner later. You can find “Lady’s Rock” on Ordnance Survey maps today. My next book, The Viper (OCT 2011), the fourth book in my Highland Guard Series, involves a woman who was hung in a cage by Edward I of England for her part in Robert the Bruce’s coronation. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up!

Are you like me, do you have certain stories that are sure to draw you in? If not, are there any romances you always go back to? I have a couple: the Chicago Stars series by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and any of Julie Garwood’s Scottish Medievals.

Setting: 17th Century, England/Scotland
Subgenre: Historical romance
Hero: Connor Grant, Highlander turned captain in the king’s royal army
Heroine: Mairi MacGregor, daughter and passionate patriot of Scotland

One sentence summary: When she’s reunited with the man who broke her heart as a child, Mairi MacGregor must learn how to surrender her pride to do what’s best for her countrymen, but it’s her heart she’s most afraid of losing.

Scene you like most and would never cut: Connor and Mairi’s first kiss after seven years. The scene is passionate, filled with banter and sexual tension. It demonstrates Mairi’s strength and determination to resist the longtime love of her life in a fun, sexy way.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: “I should be home doing as I’m told”

Tell us one quirky thing about your heroine: Mairi is a Highland rebel bent on clearing Scotland of Protestants.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing: Mairi is a Highland rebel bent on clearing Scotland of Protestants.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: Connor is a captain in the Royal Army, duty bound to protect the throne.

What you think readers will like best about this book: I think readers will like the history between Connor and Mairi, the comfort and chemistry they have with each other despite their mutual mistrust at the other’s motives. First love is hard to forget and when it’s rekindled the sparks fly!

What’s next: I just completed book 4 in the Children of the Mist series, CONQUERED BY A HIGHLANDER, possibly my favorite of the four. (But I always say that after each book)

In TAMED, Connor does something for Mairi that melts her heart. What is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for you?

I’ll give away a signed copy of TAMED BY A HIGHLANDER to one commenter.

About Me:

1. What’s your favorite movie of all time? Ladyhawke

2. What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in? Historical romance with honorable men

3. What’s the first book you remember reading? I’ve been reading novels since I was eleven. The most memorable though was The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

4. What’s your favorite fairy tale? Beauty and the Beast

5. What’s your favorite cartoon character? Pepe le Pew (what a romantic!)

6. What’s something you’d like to tell your readers? I’d like to thank them for their support. Without them I wouldn’t get paid for doing what I love.

7. What would your occupation be if you were no longer a writer? Teacher

8. What do you do to unwind and relax? spend time with my family

9. Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it? Coffee- cream and 2 equals

10. What does love mean to you? 1 Corinthians 13:4 sums love up to me perfectly.

11. Which era would you least like to have lived in, fashion-wise and why? Most? I don’t think I would have enjoyed the late 1600s with all the extra stiff layers in dress and seeing men in high heels and puffy ribbon bows. I would have loved the Renaissance period with the more graceful, elegant fashions.

12. What name have you been dying to use as a lead character, but haven’t found the right fit yet? It was Tristan and I found the right fit in SEDUCED BY A HIGHLANDER

13. Dog person or cat person? Dog. I have 4

Setting: The Highlands of Scotland, contemporary
Subgenre: Werewolf, urban fantasy, paranormal romance
Hero: Ian MacNeill, Laird of Argent Castle, alpha pack leader of a gray pack
Heroine: Julia Wildthorn, red werewolf romance writer

One sentence summary: Modern day werewolf laird Ian MacNeill reluctantly allows a film production company to use his castle, but he knows his secretive clan has a big problem when a beautiful red werewolf female who insists she’s working on the film keeps showing up in the wrong places… and a matter of pleasure…

Scene you like most and would never cut: Where the hero catches up to the heroine in a tavern and gets a good look at her, dripping wet, although she gets just as much of an eyeful as she peruses him as his wet clothes cling to every muscle group.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying: My heroine would never ask a Highlander what he wears under his kilt, although she might wish for a nice strong breeze.

Tell us one quirky thing about your hero? He raises Irish wolfhounds, which were used in the old days to kill wolves, but also to unseat English knights from their horses in Ireland where the MacNeills were from originally.

Heroine: She has never ridden a horse, except for nags used in trail rides and is terrified to ride on a horse with Ian, although she soon learns holding him tight isn’t such a bad way to ride after all.

What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing: Julia Wildthorn is an American werewolf romance writer, as in she is a red werewolf who writes werewolf romances.

What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing: Ian MacNeill is the clan chief for the MacNeill clan and the pack leader for the gray wolf pack at Argent Castle in Scotland but soon to lose their ancestral home if he doesn’t act quickly.

What you think readers will like best about this book: The Highland theme with wolfish hunks.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet: The MacNeill brothers, Duncan, who has a story coming up later, and Cearnach and Guthrie, although I’ve already had fan requests for their cousin Heather also.

What’s next: Dreaming of the Wolf is the next release coming up, followed by The SEAL in Wolf Clothing, but I’m currently working on a brand new jaguar shifter series for Sourcebooks also.

Question – Sourcebooks is happy to provide a copy of HEART OF THE HIGHLAND WOLF to either US or Canada addresses, if you leave your email address along with the answer to this question:

If you had the chance to move into a castle in Scotland with a hunky Highland wolf clan, what would you like most about it?

A winner will be selected by the morning of June 12. Thanks to everyone who participates and to Ellen for so graciously having me visit today! For more information on my books, please visit www.terryspear.com.

About Me:

What’s my favorite movie of all time? Prince of Persia because of the romance and humor and historical aspect and fantasy and adventure and danger—it’s just perfect.

What’s my favorite kind of story to get lost in? Time travel romance.

What’s the first book I remember reading? I was way ahead in English class and remembered reading and loving Last of the Mohicans.

What’s my favorite fairy tale? East of the Sun and West of the Moon, a Norwegian tale where the hero prince is cursed to be a polar bear by day and a human by night, my first shapeshifter story.

What’s my favorite cartoon character? Mickey Mouse, especially in Fantasia.

What’s something I’d like to tell your readers? Believe in yourself and dreams can come true.

What would my occupation be if I were no longer a writer? Being a writer is in the blood, although I’m a librarian by day and a retired Army reserve officer, but the storytelling will always be with me.

What do I do to unwind and relax? Garden, read a book or watch a movie.

Tea or Coffee? And how do I take it? Mandarin-flavored green tea, straight up.

What does love mean to me? It means never having to say goodbye. I think that’s a quote from somewhere, but I think it’s so appropriate because wolves mate for life.

Which era would I least like to have lived in, fashion-wise and why? The Roaring Twenties—awful hat styles and clothes, Prohibition, Depression Era. Terrible time to live. Most? I love writing about the medieval times, although if you were a serf, it wouldn’t have been fun! But if you were royalty, beautiful gowns, lots of folks to wait on your every whim—then again, sanitation problems, someone was always trying to overthrow someone, most women couldn’t choose a husband for love…maybe today is really best.

What name have I been dying to use as a lead character, but haven’t found the right fit yet? None, yet. I often use the Character Naming Guide to help select just the right name for a character, although sometimes I just think of something fun and wing it.

Dog person or cat person? Both, since I write about wolves that I love so much, and jaguars, that are just as sexy—shifters that is, and I’ve raised both dogs and cats for years.

More sexy werewolves from Terry Spear:

Setting: The Western Isles of the Scottish Highlands in 1513
Subgenre: Scottish Historical
Hero: Ian MacDonald
Heroine: Sìleas (pronounced SHEE-las) MacDonald

One sentence summary:
When Ian returns home to save his imperiled clan, he finds that the awkward bride he’s avoided for five years has blossomed—but now that Ian is finally ready to claim her, Sìleas won’t have him…at least, not without his heart.

Scene you like most and would never cut:
I can’t pick just one, but I would hate to cut the first scene in chapter 1, in which Ian’s young friend, Sìleas, corners him into helping her out of yet another round of trouble. Doom settles over him when he learns that he’ll be rewarded for his good dead by being forced to marry her. The rest of the book takes place five years later.

I’m also quite fond of the scene in which Sìleas whacks our returning hero over the head with a pan. The first love scene is a favorite as well.

Thing your heroine would never be caught dead saying:
I want to go live with my evil stepfather and marry his hideous son so that they can keep the castle they stole from me forever.

Tell us one quirky thing about your hero.
The clan seer predicted Ian would wed twice, once in anger and once in love. He was a lad of ten at the time and was hoping for a prediction about his great feats in battle.

What is your heroine’s occupation?
She is holding Ian’s family together through hard times while he is having a grand time fighting and who-knows-what-else in France.

What is your hero’s occupation?
He is a Highland warrior. It’s a full-time job.

What you think readers will like best about this book?
My Highland hero, for sure. I think readers will admire Ian’s determination to save his clan and right the wrongs of the past. I hope they will be touched by his journey with Sileas, as he moves from desire, to passion, and finally to respect and a deep, abiding love for her.

The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
Martin, the naïve but brave young squire in Knight of Passion.

What’s next:
THE SINNER, the second book in THE RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDERS series, comes out in November.

About Me:

What’s your favorite movie of all time?
I’m a huge movie fan, so I can’t say just one. The Gladiator, Clueless, the 6-hour BBC production of Pride & Prejudice, Gigi (yes, I’m serious), Strictly Ballroom, Horseman on the Roof (French), Lord of the Rings, When Harry Met Sally, Bend it Like Beckam, Last of the Mohicans, There’s Something About Mary…. OK, I’ll stop!

What’s the first book you remember reading?
Hmm. Pippi Longstocking?

What’s your favorite fairy tale?
I’ll say the tales of King Arthur and Camelot, although they are legends rather than fairy tales.

What’s something you’d like to tell your readers?
Thank you for the kind messages many of you have sent me. They mean the world to me.

What do you do to unwind and relax?
Read and watch movies.

Tea or Coffee?
I am not a morning person, so I MUST have coffee to get going. I drink herbal tea the rest of the day.

What does love mean to you?
Anybody can be there when it’s fun. Someone who loves you comes through in the worst times. My heroes make a lot of mistakes along the way, but they shine at the darkest hour.

Which era would you least like to have lived in, fashion-wise and why? Most?
Wearing wigs and corsets would be insufferable. I’d like to wear the clothes from the Roaring Twenties.

Dog person or cat person?
I have both for office mates. You can see their photos on my website.

Now, a question for you…

THE GUARDIAN is both an ugly duckling story and a story of second chances. In answer to the movie question, above, I mentioned two ugly duckling stories—Gigi and Strictly Ballroom—and at least two movies in which the hero and heroine get a second chance at love—When Harry Met Sally and There’s Something about Mary.

Do have a favorite ugly-duckling or second-chances movie or book?

I’d love to hear! I’ll give a signed copy of THE GUARDIAN to one commenter.

I adore old musicals. Whether it’s “My Fair Lady,” “The Sound of Music,” “West Side Story,” or my all-time favorite “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” there’s something about a feel-good musical that holds up to the test of time. Not to mention, the songs get stuck in your head and it seems perfectly normal to randomly burst into song. I’ve been known to sing “Bless Your Beautiful Hide” to my kids, especially when they drive me crazy.

One of the reasons I love “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” so much is because it’s based on love at first sight and recognizing the good heart that lies beneath a rugged exterior. The heroine Millie is faced with seven brothers who haven’t a clue how to win the heart of a girl, but each is eager to prove himself. While she teaches them good manners and how to be a gentleman, her own husband learns a thing or two about what women really want.

When my editor suggested that I switch time periods from medieval Ireland to medieval Scotland, I envisioned a family of warrior brothers. In many ways, it reminded me of the Pontipee Brothers from “Seven Brides”—a group of strapping men, each yearning for the love of his life.

Like the musical, my heroine Nairna returns to a Scottish clan sorely in need of a woman’s touch. And although they married seven years earlier, Nairna and Bram only spent one night together before he was taken as a prisoner of war. They hardly know each other at all, and yet they’re drawn to rediscover the love they once shared.

Claimed by the Highland Warrior is my homage to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, although I created only four men. Like the Pontipee Brothers, I named them after the alphabet, but not necessarily in order of eldest to youngest (Alex, Bram, Callum, and Dougal). Something also happened to the women of the clan, which leaves Nairna surrounded by male Scots sorely in need of taming. And with all of that testosterone, she’s quite eager to bring the women back!

In order for her to rekindle the lost love with her husband, she’ll have to help Bram face the scars of his imprisonment and discover the man beneath the damaged hero.

To celebrate the new MacKinloch Clan series, I’m offering up a $25 Borders gift card and two signed copies of Claimed by the Highland Warrior to three random commenters. Just tell me your favorite Broadway musical and you’re entered to win!

Next for the MacKinloch Clan, SEDUCED BY HER HIGHLAND WARRIOR! Available on July 19, 2011.

Michelle Willingham’s website: www.michellewillingham.com
Michelle Willingham’s Facebook : www.facebook.com/michellewillinghamfans.