Cathie Dunn writes...

This week, I welcome erotic romance author Scarlett Valentine to My Place. Let's hear it from her... Scarlett Valentine was born and raised in Northern California in an area known as America's Salad Bowl. It was home to many authors, including John Steinbeck, and for a while Jack London and Robert Louis Stevenson. In 1997, Scarlett had the opportunity to travel to Ireland on an extended holiday. She met a man and stayed. Celebrating more than fourteen years in Ireland, she has traveled the country extensively and has lived in Dublin, Cork, Wicklow and Kildare, loving every minute of it. Scarlett has always enjoyed writing. Her professional writing life began as a book reviewer in 1995, and she has published travel articles since 1998. She's an avid castle hunter and photographer so it's no wonder castles show up in most of her stories. She loves travel and research, both of which give Scarlett ideas for her stories. Scarlett’s favorite places to travel include Scotl...

When Cathie asked me to kick off her “My Place” of guest blog posts, I was thrilled! I love sharing information about the setting for my Victorian historical, ‘The Arrival of Lily Curtis’ and where it all began. I write contemporary and historical but my historicals will always be set in the famous Georgian City of Bath because it is literally at my doorstep. I can go there as often as I want, when I want with little expense and a wealth of history at my fingertips. Let me tell you about ‘Lily’… My Place - Bath / Lucknam Park: The idea for the story all started when I was treated to afternoon tea at the beautiful stately home of Lucknam Park  in Colerne, one of the many surrounding villages outside Bath. As soon as my mum and I walked into this amazing house, I knew I had found the home of my next hero, who eventually became Viscount Andrew Westrop. We had a gorgeous tea of dainty sandwiches, cream cakes and tartlets while sitting in an immaculate late 17 th century drawing r...

On 20th July 2011, my romantic Scottish historical novel, Highland Arms , hit the ebook shelves! So, to mark the occasion, I thought I'd start a new type of promotion - authors describing the settings of their novels. This adds a more personal touch as location plays an important role in many settings. Here goes... My Place - Ballachulish: I love exploring stunning landscapes, so for me there was no question about where Highland Arms, should be based:   Ballachulish ! Baile a' Chaolais, the village's Gaelic name, means 'village of the narrows'. It lies at the junction where Loch Leven flows into the much larger Loch Linnhe . The original village lay in what is now North Ballachulish (Highland Arms is based just a couple of miles north along the shore of Loch Linnhe), with a settlement in South Ballachulish, now linked by a bridge, established later. Ballachulish is less than a mile from Glencoe , at the entrance to the Glencoe hill range. The small vill...

It's nearly 20th October - that means Highland Arms has been on the market for three months! I know, time flies! ;-) So, in order to celebrate properly, I thought I'll give other published authors of romantic, crime and historical fiction a chance to showcase their releases, under one condition ... they have to tell us about one aspect we don't read about often enough: the location of their novels. Prepare for ' My Place' ! Location, for me, is an integral part of writing. It is the first thing I choose, and the storylines develop from there. I've been fortunate in travelling across some incredibly beautiful and haunting places. Glencoe, Loch Ness, Argentan, Mont St Michel, Welsh Borders... all areas that inspire me to set my novels there. But now I want to know about your places... So, as of Sunday 23rd October 2011 , I'll give one published author the chance to showcase your novel by telling us why you chose a particular setting. That place can be a ...

Scottish Highlands , a set on Flickr. I thought I'd share some photos with you. :-) Following last weekend's trip to the Highlands to celebrate my father-in-law's 90th birthday, we did our usual driving around our favourite area - Glencoe and Ballachulish. We also enjoyed a brief forest walk at Monadh Mor on the Black Isle, just north of Inverness. Beautiful and calm, perfect relaxation before a busy family celebration! Glencoe was just as always - heavy rain following our delicious late lunch at the Clachaig Inn (wild boar burger/venison) so we couldn't walk off our calorific meal. Glencoe in the rain makes for an incredibly moving atmosphere. Again, the weekend was gone too quickly. Wish I could stay up there... Via Flickr: Various visits to the stunning Scottish Highlands.