I am about halfway done writing the second book of the Sirens of the Scottish Borderlands trilogy, First Time with a Highlander. I'm going to be honest; it seems weird to be writing the second book when the first book of the trilogy, Just in Time for a Highlander--hasn't even come out yet, and, in fact, won't come out until FEBRUARY. At which time, of course, I'll be nearly done with book 3 (Every Time with a Highlander--many good times with Highlanders in this trilogy) and drafting the first chapters of whatever comes next. Typically, an author gives a lot of talks and appearances when a book comes out, and sometimes someone will ask me about a plot twist or a favorite line in the book that's just been published. Often, I'm as stunned as everyone else. "I wrote that? Seriously? That's funny.” At that point, I'm writing a book and a half ahead and planning two and a half books ahead, so the details have sort of faded.
I remember when I was writing Seducing Mr. Darcy. I was still 150 pages from the end and still not quite sure how the many plot threads were going to work themselves out. I went online as authors do (especially authors who have a bad case of attention deficit disorder) to look at the beautiful cover of Tumbling Through Time, which was just about to come out, sitting on the virtual shelf of some online bookseller or another, enticing readers to pre-order it. I nearly passed out when I spotted the cover of Seducing Mr. Darcy there, too, tucked away along the bottom of the page! I clicked and there was the book and all its sell copy. I thought to myself, "Oh, if only I could buy the darned thing to see how it ends!” Needless to say, it's a very unsettling feeling to see a book for sale that you haven't finished writing.
So, while I don't have a book you can read yet as far as Just in Time for a Highlander, the first book in the trilogy, is concerned, I can assure you at least it has been written, and today, at least, I know how it ends. More important, we have a cover! Drum roll, please…
I am quite pleased. As you can see, Duncan, the hero, is, well, "Here's the story:
Young clan chief Abby Kerr finds herself in desperate need of a strong-arm. But her plans go awry when a conjurer's spell delivers Duncan MacHarg, a handsome, un-battled-tested Scot from Wall Street, instead and the only way to send him back is turn him into a warrior, fulfilling the spell's intent.
Needless to say, Abby's got a big job on her hands.
The trilogy follows three women in the bloody borderlands of eighteenth century England and Scotland who are in need of a man, not for love, but for business. The women share one thing in common: They have unusual positions of power—Abby is a clan chief, Serafina has inherited a shipping concern, and Undine is a fortune teller. Undine uses her magic to conjure the help they need, but the men who appear—all successful businessmen of the twenty-first century—have almost no skills when it comes to the battle-torn borderlands. The definition of what it means to wield power shifts, and, happily for all, so does what it means to serve : )
Book 1, Just in Time for a Highlander, is out in February. You can pre-order it here. If you email me your pre-order receipt, I'll email you the first two chapters.
Vote!
Choose your favorite half-naked Scotsman. Click here.Contest!
Re-introduce yourself to Duncan (or introduce yourself for the first time, if you haven't already had that pleasure.) I'm giving away an autographed copy of A Novel Seduction. Click here to enter. Contest ends at midnight EDT, August 1.
Outlander Arrives!
I'm sure many of you are aware Outlander premieres on Starz on Saturday, August 9 at 9 pm EST. Needless to say, I will be pasted to the TV screen. I'll also be live tweeting the show at #outlander. If you're a Tweet-er, join in! If you're not on Twitter, consider joining even if it's just for the run of Outlander. It's pretty easy. Just XXX
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. It goes by soooo fast! (Especially when you have a book due—eek!)
Warmly,
Gwyn
gwyn@cready.com
Gwyn Cready , Romance Novelist on Facebook
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Copyright©2014 Gwyn Cready. All rights reserved.
Author photos copyright ©2014 Garen DiBartolomeo.
Illustrations of author courtesy of Design-Her-Gals.