Cathie Dunn writes...

Today, I’m reviving my popular My Place series of posts, where I invite fellow authors of historical fiction / romance / mystery to share a little about the setting of their novels. This can be a place, a town, a fictional village, or a castle. I’m kicking off with a beautiful place in Scotland. Imagine a tiny outcrop off the Scottish isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. Facing westward, the small island of Eorsa is the location of my current work in progress, a Scottish medieval romance, as yet untitled. Set in the aftermath of the battle at Falkirk in 1298, it tells the tale of Isobel de Moray, whose father was killed when he helped fellow knight Cailean MacDubhgaill escape.  Eorsa – (c) Yvonne Marjot Following her father’s death, Isobel is abducted from her manor on the shores of Loch Ness by Scottish henchmen to marry her off to an English lord, her being a cousin of the late guardian, Andrew de Moray. During their journey along the great glen, she is freed by Cailean,...

I'm delighted to welcome another Scotland-based author, J. Lilley , author of young adult series, The Shalean Moon. Over to Jo... Hi there, my name is J. (call me Jo, I like the sound of that) Lilley. I write Young Adult stories. I live in Scotland, on the edge of a forest, with my husband and two cats.   Our children have long gone to make their way in the world, which at times has made for great holidays when we've visited them. I admit I'm a travel-oholic. Other people cringe at the thought of packing, flying etc.to me, half the fun is in the planning. I make lists, pour over guidebooks and maps, and load my ereader. (Have ereader will travel, I now have space for clothes in my suitcase.) Our kids all did gap years. We are doing gap-weeks.   My Place: My stories are set in the Trossachs, the most beautiful, underestimated and little known area of Scotland. It has wildlife, lochs, glens, mountains, trees, and stunning views, but in a relatively comp...

May is almost upon us, and with it hopefully more sunshine and warmer temperatures. I hope you'll enjoy spring where you are. Today, I welcome another fabulous author, fellow  Rose Isabella Macotte . Let's hear it from Isabella. I’m Isabella Macotte , author of The Heart Gem , published by The Wild Rose Press. I love books. My love of reading goes all the way back to my childhood. I still remember my first elementary school field trip. The whole third-grade class marched over to the public library in Chicago, and we received our first library cards. Since then, you can always find me with a new book in my hand or on my e-reader. After working in accounting for a number of years, I’ve made my way back to the library. One of the best things about my job in a library? Spending my lunch break up in the book stacks looking for a new story to read.  My Place: The Heart Gem is my current release. A historical romance novel set in England , the s...

It's time to welcome another fantastic author to My Place. Please say 'hi' to the lovely Jacquie Rogers. Handing over to Jacquie: I'm a former software designer, campaign manager, deli clerk, and cow milker, but always a bookworm. Reading is my passion--westerns, fantasies, historicals of any era, and all with a dash of romance. If an author can make me laugh, I'll buy every book he/she ever wrote. While I'm a country girl by birth, I currently live in suburbia with my very patient husband (important point: we are the staff of one cat) I don't think you can ever take the country out of a girl's heart. That's probably why my stories often take place in Idaho where I grew up. (Hearts of Owyhee series and some of my short stories, too.) My Place: I’d love to introduce you to God’s Country today.  I’ve since found out that many places on this planet are truly marvelous, but as a chilld, I was told and firmly believed that th...

On this sunny but chilly Sunday morning, I'm delighted to welcome another fantastic author to My Place - Mary Campisi, published with - amongst others - Carina Press and The Wild Rose Press. Mary writes romance and women's fiction. It's fabulous to have her on board. Over to Mary... I grew up in a very small town in northwest Pennsylvania with two older brothers and a younger sister. Small town people are very interesting and looking back, I’m fascinated by the speech, the nuances, the fact that when the owner of a small shoe store died, the sign on the door said ‘Closed due to Joe’s funeral.’ No one in town needed to ask who Joe was, just like I can still call the post office there and mention our family name and that starts a domino who’s who. My mother, at eighty-three still lives in the same house where we grew up and has the same phone number; quite telling, isn’t it? When I was a child, there were no malls, no McDonalds, and one movie theater that closed in the s...

As proper winter seems to elude us, mild rainy or chilly sunny days without any hint of snow (boo!), we are happily continuing with our successful My Place series. Today I'm delighted to welcome award-winning author Eleanor Sullivan to My Place. She tells us about a fascinating historic settlement in Ohio, founded by one of her ancestors. I'm intrigued! Without further ado, let's hear it from Eleanor: I never knew my distant grandfather. He died in 1853. But I grew up hearing family tales about  how he led a beleaguered band of religious dissenters safely out of Germany to establish a village in the Ohio wilderness. So, after writing several award-winning books for nurses and a series of three contemporary mysteries featuring a nurse, I turned my attention to uncovering the beliefs and practices of this unusual group of believers.  Cover Her Body, A Singular Village Mystery is the first book in a series of fictitious mysteries that I’ve set amidst the lives of thes...

While many are out, jostling with the crowds doing their last minute Christmas shopping, we're still here at My Place with a warming cup of tea and a crackling fire. And talking cold seasons, our place today is spot on - somewhere I'd love to visit one day. So without further ado let me hand over to talented romance author, Jenna McClure. :-) Jenna McClure grew up in the urban south, but moved to Colorado to satisfy her desire for fresh air, mountains, lots of snow and wide open spaces. She became a vegetarian in 2003 after seeing a graphic film about animal cruelty. A long-time romantic, she has been reading romance novels since her sister introduced them to her as a teenager. She finally decided to merge her love of animals and studly men into a romance novel. She has been writing for over seven years. Jenna's favorite hobbies include digital photography, biking, hiking and an ongoing quest for her own novel-worthy hero. She daylights as a ...

After a break last weekend, it's time for another visit at My Place. Today, I welcome historical romance author Katherine Grey. She explores the fashionable hub of Regency England, London. Over to you, Katherine... As a young girl, I loved all the fairy tales with Prince Charming in them – Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty to name just a few.  I think my fascination with the whole idea of Prince Charming led to my interest in England.  The royal family and all those dukes, earls, and such were the real life equivalents in my mind.  As a teenager, I spent many an hour devouring books on English history.  I read everything from biographies, to the “day in the life” type books, to books on military campaigns.  And then a friend’s mother introduced me to the novels of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.  My love and fascination with the Regency period was born and continues to this day. I primarily write historical romances set in Regency London,...

Please help me welcome award-winning author Christina Courtenay to My Place. Christina writes historical romance and her novel, Highland Storms, sounds just like my kind of read. Let's hear it from Christina! I’m Christina Courtenay and I write historical romance, often with a hint of the Far East.  Although born in England, I have a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden.  I’m a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and currently their vice chairman.  Highland Storms is my third novel with the publisher Choc Lit. My debut, Trade Winds (prequel to Highland Storms ), was short listed for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Pure Passion Award of Best Historical Fiction 2011. My second novel, The Scarlet Kimono , has just won the Best Historical Fiction award at the Big Red Read awards and is shortlisted for the Festival of Romance Readers Award for Best Historical Read 2011. As well as novels, I’ve had four Regency novellas published by DC Thomson’s ‘...