Highland Seer got its fabulous cover last week.  You can see it below this post.  That means we’re getting closer to finding out the release date.  Trust me, when I know, you’ll know.

In the meantime, here’s a really early peek at the first few lines of the prologue to book three, Highland Troth.  

Caitrin Fletcher wrapped her arms around her middle and stared out the open window.

“I willna go, and ye canna make me.”  There was no point in starting an argument, one she knew she would lose, but she didn’t know what else to do.

Outside, the sky brightened  The wind blew the morning fog aside long enough for her to see her father and some of the men saddling horses.

It was nearly time.  In moments, she would leave the only home she’d ever known, perhaps forever.

For more great snippets, check HERE for the Snippet Sunday group on Facebook.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

William Shakespeare 

It’s not quite summer here yet, thank goodness.  But it is a perfect early May day.  Now to the list:

Cloudless blue sky – low humidity

Light Breeze

Wildflowers in bloom – the bluebonnets are nearly done, but they’ve been replaced by a riot of other colors

Hummingbirds at the feeder – several at a time, male and female, mostly blackchins.

Songbirds chirping in the trees – all sorts of wrens, finches, plus the occasional cardinal and western blue jay, which are not melodious, but are colorful

Perfect silence of anything man-made – no car motors, lawnmowers, airplanes, leaf blowers, or anything else
Cat dozing in a sunny spot on the patio

A comfy seat to watch the cat, the birds and the breeze

A good book to read

Lemonade

Snacks

Not a care in the world – for the moment, anyway.

That’s mine.  What makes up your perfect day?  

StoryFinds Hunky Highlander cover poll.

HIGHLAND HEALER

VOTE Today through Saturday, 11 May!

Highland Seer got its fabulous cover this week.  You can see it just below this post.  That means we’re getting closer to finding out the release date.  Trust me, when I know, you’ll know.

In the meantime, here’s a bit more from  Highland Seer, edited to fit the format of today’s post.  

Then she smiled.

But there was something different about this one.  Like she’d decided something, and it had to do with him.

This smile hit Donal like a fist to the gut.  He got the distinct impression that he might be in a different sort of trouble than he’d ever been in before.  But this trouble, he might come to enjoy.

For more great snippets, check HERE for the Snippet Sunday group on Facebook.

Highland Seer

Donal MacNabb is loyal to his adopted Lathan clan, yet he resents being a pawn in their treaty negotiations with the struggling MacKyries. The MacKyrie clan needs his skills as an arms master, but its Laird is bartering for more than Donal is prepared to give.

Ellie MacKyrie knows the Lathan treaty will help protect her clan from the neighbor determined to seize her holdings any way he can—including forcing her into marriage. But she has another reason to want the Lathan alliance. She has Seen the stubborn Donal MacNabb reaching for her in her dreams.

While Donal fights to save a clan in trouble, his desire for the MacKyrie Seer wars with his obligation to his Laird. Before she is forced into a marriage that will destroy her clan, Ellie must find the heart behind Donal’s gruff exterior and convince him he is the man of her dreams.

Highland Seer will be available later this year from all the same retailers where you can now get Highland Healer: The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, and others!  Watch this space for updates on availability!

I’m in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge for the month of April.  I need your help!  To meet this challenge, I’ll be doing one post a day, working through the alphabet.

Your job is to comment and keep me motivated!  Let me know you’re out there and following along.  Can she make it?  Will she?  Of course she will!  With you as my cheering section, I won’t be stumped by J or Q or even X.

So without further ado, here is today’s post.

Z is for New Zealand.  Yes, to finish the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, we’re going just about as far from Scotland as it is possible to get on the planet.  As many Scots did, as part of the Scottish diaspora that has continued to this day.  

Actually, Captain James Cook, who first circumnavigated and mapped New Zealand, was half-Scottish, and among his crew were many Scotsmen.   After them came sealers and whalers, some of whom stayed, establishing settlements.  

1839

Organized settlements began in the 1840s.  Most Scots were Lowlanders or former Highlanders who’d been forced off their land earlier and moved to the Lowlands, and who adopted Highland activities and symbols such as clans, kilts, bagpipes and games, considered more interesting and romantic than the history and culture of the Lowlands.   

They came for religious and economic reasons.  They were farmers, artisans, miners, weavers, shipbuilders and carpenters, gold miners, and tradespeople of all kinds, looking for a better life than economic conditions in Scotland allowed.  

Gaelic (see G is for Gaelic) was spoken by some but did not withstand the onslaught of English, though some Gaelic terms continue to be used.  Robert Burns’s poetry (see R is for Robert) and Burns Night is celebrated on Jan 25.  

Scotland gave New Zealand golf, curling, and Highland games such as tossing the sheaf.  Food and drink include, of course, whisky. But New Zealanders still enjoy porridge, shortbread and scones.

For more on the subject of Scots in New Zealand, click here. 

Participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge this month has been a lot of fun.  I’ve enjoyed it and learned a lot in the process of researching these short posts.  I hope you have, too! 

Interested in finding the other nearly 2000 blogs participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge?  Click on the title, then scroll down to find the sign-up list.

I’m in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge for the month of April.  I need your help!  To meet this challenge, I’ll be doing one post a day, working through the alphabet.

Your job is to comment and keep me motivated!  Let me know you’re out there and following along.  Can she make it?  Will she?  Of course she will!  With you as my cheering section, I won’t be stumped by J or Q or even X.

So without further ado, here is today’s post.

Y is for Year of Homecoming in Scotland.  In 2014, there will be a year-long  series of events celebrating all things Scotland.  

There will be plenty of games and cultural events, arts and crafts and ancestral heritage activities.  The year starts with Hogmanay (see H is for Hogmanay) and continues with a Whisky month in May (see B is for Bunnahabhain, I is for Islay, O is for Old Pulteney, U is for Uisge beatha), the Commonwealth Games in July and the Ryder Cup in September.

I want to go!  Maybe I’ll even put on a Blair (T is for) Tartan plaid (K is for) Kilt and walk along the shores of (L is for ) Loch (N is for ) Ness.      

I might even see Nessie!  Or learn some (G is for) Gaelic.  How about you?

Interested in finding the other nearly 2000 blogs participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge?  Click on the title, then scroll down to find the sign-up list.

I’ve been away at a conference again, and catching up with my A to Z Challenge posts, but I have something new to share this week!

Here’s a bit more from book 2 of my Highland Talents series, Highland Seer.

Bram swung as the lads had been doing.  Donal danced out of his way.

“When yer opponent is unskilled, all ye have to do is wait yer chance,” he said, watching Bram’s movements while he talked.  The moment Bram dropped his guard, Donal struck, but stopped his blade just before it connected with Bram’s chest.

Bram dropped his sword and grinned.   “A bit close, do ye think?”

Check back on 1 May for posts and pictures from my book signing with Nora Roberts and the WRW retreat!  I’ll put them up after the Blogging from A to Z Challenge ends on April 30.

For more great snippets, check HERE for the Snippet Sunday group on Facebook.

I’m in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge for the month of April.  I need your help!  To meet this challenge, I’ll be doing one post a day, working through the alphabet.

Your job is to comment and keep me motivated!  Let me know you’re out there and following along.  Can she make it?  Will she?  Of course she will!  With you as my cheering section, I won’t be stumped by J or Q or even X.

So without further ado, here is today’s post.

X is for John Knox.  Yes, I know – it’s not the first letter of his name, but give me a little wiggle room here.  After all, he started the Protestant Reformation in Scotland.    

Knox was ordained a Catholic priest at St. Andrews in 1536, but after a mentor, George Wishart, was arrested and burned for heresy in March 1546 by Cardinal Beaton, Knox joined the Reformers, some of whom murdered Cardinal Beaton the following May.

He spent years in exile in England, Europe, even as a slave on a French galley.  Even after he returned to Scotland, the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, declared him outlaw after he published a misogynistic pamphlet against the rule of women – herself, her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Queen Mary of England.    

With Scotland embroiled in a religious civil war, mobs were sacking cathedrals and priories.  Mary of Guise was finally deposed as regent and a protestant was put in her place, making Scotland safe for Knox.   In 1559, John Knox was ordained as a minister at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. His fiery sermons there inspired many to violence and were instrumental in driving Catholicism out of Scotland. In 1560, the Scottish Parliament passed three acts removing Scotland from the Pope’s jurisdiction, condemning any doctrine and practice not included the reformed faith, and forbidding Catholic Mass.  Knox and others were given the job of organizing the new Kirk.  

All was going well until Mary, Queen of Scots, returned from exile to take her throne and continued celebrating Mass.  He survived  interviews with Mary where he was called upon to explain his statements in several of his sermons.  He continued to risk being accused of treason by speaking out against Mary and by promoting the Kirk until Mary abdicated and was later captured and killed by Elizabeth of England.  

He lived out his final years in St. Andrews and Edinburgh, speaking and writing until the end.

Interested in finding the other nearly 2000 blogs participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge?  Click on the title, then scroll down to find the sign-up list.