Welcome to my home on the web. You may have noted the mountains in the banner are the misty Blue Ridge of North Carolina. Did you know time traveling Highlanders live there? Read about them in the Highland Gardens series. Curious about the big cat? Florida panther~from the Crimson Storm paranormal novel, Sea Panther.

Friday, July 5, 2013

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop Stop - Men in Kilts, Time Travel, and Faeries




This is a fabulous way to find new authors and books. My thanks to Sandra Owens for inviting me to join in the fun. My next big thing, my next book:

1: What is the working title of your book?
Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?
I'm enamored with all things Scottish. Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon is the second book in the Highland Gardens series and is the story of Finn and Elspeth, characters introduced in the fist book, Just Beyond the Garden Gate.

3: What genre does your book come under?
Scottish Time Travel Romance

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Oh, this is an impossible question since I'm not up on the latest movie stars. I'll have to pass. :)

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?What happens when a twenty-first century business executive is expected to fulfill a prophecy given at the birth of a sixteenth century seer: raise his sword in her defense, of course.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?
Self-published. Planned for release September 2013.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Hard to say. About half was written when the story was put aside to work on another project. When the other project—Sea Panther, a 2013 Golden Heart Finalist—was completed, I finished Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Perhaps a wee bit like the Scottish time travels of Lynn Kurland, but spicier.

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
A whisky billboard in Brussels featuring a hunk-worthy Highlander inspired the first book. The rest of the series just followed.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Perhaps an excerpt will pique interest. During the Highland Games in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Finn attends a party at his cousin's home.

***

Finn adjusted the sword on his back as he and Douglas joined Patrick’s parents, Mairi and Iain, and the guests standing around their host.

“Quiet. Please.” Patrick smiled at the crowd and held up his glass. “A toast to my sweet wife—”

He stared at Laurie. She gaped toward the back of the garden, to the gate and beyond, her face ashen.

A stranger stood on the knoll beyond the gate, brandishing a claymore in the air, until the man’s watery image faded, vanishing into swirling mist.

“Maclay!” Patrick darted toward the gate.

Before he ran through, his father grabbed his arm, holding him back with a don’t-even-think-it grip. “You cannot go. You have bairns and a wife now. We dinnae ken whether you could ever return here.”

Finn’s temper flared. He slipped past Patrick and bolted for the gate.

“No, Finn. You mustn’t,” Laurie cried.

The entreaty came too late. He sprinted through the gate and into a dense fog.

“He will not be alone.” As if from a great distance, he heard Patrick’s words.

Then the world spun, or so it seemed. The pressure was unbearable and the pain almost more than he could endure. He pressed his hands against the sides of his head, afraid his brain would explode.

A bright light burst behind his eyelids.

He fell. The sensation of weightlessness overcame him. Changing colors swirled around in slow motion, flashing and dulling erratically. His mind separated from his physical body. He watched, as if from another realm, and continued to fall.

Falling downward, down…down…down, into a black expanse of nothingness. All color faded from existence. His mind merged with the dark. Blackness surrounded him, enveloping him, frightening him. He thought to scream, but the sound choked on the lump in his throat.

The speed of his descent increased.

Colors erupted. Lights flashed.

“What the—”

He sped toward a narrow opening, and once there was sucked through into a dull gray sky. Still, he fell.

Water flowed below him—a rushing river.

His body took on weight, becoming heavier as he dropped. He slammed hard against the water and plunged into the cold, murky depths.

* * *

I'm tagging the following authors for the Next Big Thing Blog Hop:


 
~Dawn Marie

2 comments:

  1. I have Just Beyond the Garden Gate but have not yet read it, Dawn. But I'm so enthused about your next book, Just Once In a Verra Blue Moon. I love time travel stories AND Scots stories, so your books are the best of both worlds! :-)

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  2. Thanks, Janice! I'm real excited about both stories. I'm working on first round edits for 'Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon' right now. :) Thanks for stopping by. I hope your weekend is super!

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