Time Travel, Highlander Style -- Donna Grant is in the Lair!

posted by Christine Wells

It's my very great pleasure to welcome to the lair a gorgeous, talented friend of mine, Donna Grant, who writes fabulous sexy paranormals.

In Donna's Dark Sword series, Highland warriors with gods from hell bound inside them must fight Deidre, an evil Druid who is bent on freeing those gods and bending them to her will.

Now, I don't think I have to spell out the more obvious attractions of this series--the covers do a fine job of that! But I also love the internal struggle each warrior faces in his need to control the god inside him. It is a dark force, and a powerful one--unleashing the god makes the warrior god-like in his strength and abilities--but fail to control the god once he is unleashed and all hell will break loose. Literally!

It's a brave woman who would love such a man, but the rewards... Ah, well, you'll have to read this compelling series and see for yourself!

The third in Donna's Dark Sword series, WICKED HIGHLANDER (out now!!) is about Quinn, the most fierce and reckless of the MacLeod brothers featured in the series so far. Quinn is the brother who lives closest to the edge with the god inside him, so I'm looking forward to watching him walk that line in WICKED HIGHLANDER.

And now, I'll hand the blog over to the creator of these amazing warriors! Welcome, Donna!

Maybe it’s because I write historical novels, but one of the most asked questions I get is “would you travel back in time and to where?”

It’s an easy answer for me. Yes, I would travel back in time, and I’d go to Medieval Scotland. It would take some getting used to, especially the lack of plumbing, toothbrushes, caffeine, and pasta.

I have no doubt life would be more than difficult. After all, we’re used to remote control TV, information easily – and quickly – accessible through computers, not to mention cell phones and iPods. We’re the information age with instant gratification.

Our world is so drastically different than Medieval Scotland. In a few short hundred years, lives went from basic living off the land and seeing people daily to hectic days, buying food from grocery stores, and going months, if not years, without seeing or speaking to your neighbor, much less speaking to people you pass on the street or the mall.

Could we survive in medieval times? Putting aside the leap in physical hygiene over the ages, life was much simpler back then. If you had a problem with someone, you faced them instead of texting or emailing them. If you wanted to call off an affair, there was no hiding behind technology. You stood before them and said your piece.

There’s a debate in whether medieval life was more violent. At least in medieval times, you saw your opponent attack and you had time to retaliate or hide. Now, with bombs that can cross oceans, that silent, almost constant worry hangs over our head.

Still, knowing all of this, I would love to see Medieval Scotland. I’ve always been drawn to Scotland. Maybe that’s why I centered my historical paranormal Dark Sword series there. The third book in the series, WICKED HIGHLANDER, released on the November 2nd, and I hope you pick up the book to be transported back to another time and place.

So, I want to know - Would you time travel if given the option?

I’ll be giving away a signed copy FORBIDDEN HIGHLANDER to a commenter. Happy Reading!

To find out more about me please visit my website . To read more about the Dark Sword series, see pics of the Warriors, take the quiz, download wallpaper, or search characters, please visit my Dark Sword page.

What I Did On My Easter Vacation by Terri Brisbin

with Anna Sugden

Way back in January, the fabulous Terri Brisbin visited us in the Lair. A number of you asked if she would return and tell us all about her then upcoming trip to England and Scotland ... and she agreed!

I'm delighted to be able to welcome Terri back, so that she can share the details of her wonderful trip with you all. So, without further ado, here's Terri!

Hello, Banditas and visitors!

This was my fourth trip to the UK and it was a very different one from my previous ones – I began by accompanying my son and daughter-in-law’s high school group to London, stayed on with a friend for more time in London and other areas and finished with five days in Edinburgh on my own. It was, in a word, fabulous!

The week with the high school group (from Charter Tech High School in Somers Point, NJ!) was so much fun and a real challenge for me as I tried to keep up with these energetic and enthusiastic kids. Their tour guide was relentless and gives new meaning to the phrase “a leisurely 10 minute walk”. Apparently tour guides have their own universe when it comes to walking distances just as some publishing professionals have their own universe when it comes to getting back to writers on submissions.

Anyway, the highlights of that week were our five-mile walk around London on Easter Sunday in the SNOW on our first day by Westminster, along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, then over to Piccadilly Circus, through Chinatown to Covent Garden and on and on until I think I collapsed at our hotel near Regent’s Park. My favorite places were Hampton Court, (photo 1) where they were preparing a real medieval feast and where I met King Henry VIII, my day alone at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London! Many wow moments there…as we watched a ceremony that has happened every night for the last 700 years.

Once the group left, I stayed on with a writing friend who took me to the most picturesque historical manor house in Kent outside London – Ightam Mote was wonderful, all different layers of history in its rooms and buildings. (photo 2)

Then I took a train out to Bath! Roman baths, medieval cathedrals, Regency streets and stores! (photo 3) Jane Austen country!! Lovely day, lovely town, lovely tea at the Jane Austen Center and visits to the Museum of Fashion in the former Assembly Rooms which was THE place to be in Regency England. (photo 4)


My next train experience was The Flying Scotsman – from London to Edinburgh, along the east coast and the North Sea! It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day and I actually caught sight of Lindisfarne, AKA The Holy Island, off the coast as we flew by. Edinburgh was stunning – I spent the better part of a day meandering from the Castle, high on an extinct volcano, down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace, stopping to look in shops, visit some historical buildings, search fruitlessly for men in kilts and have tea at a wonderful tearoom called Clarinda’s. (photo 5)

BUT, two things I did stick out in my mind as truly remarkable experiences in Scotland – one was my visit to the Signet Library and one was walking the scaffolding around Rosslyn Chapel! The Signet Library is from the early 1800’s and is stunning inside as some of the most beautiful architecture of its time (ours, too!). I can see Regency era balls being held there. . . and expect to see it in one of my stories, too. (photo 6)

At Rosslyn Chapel, they are still working on renovations and preservation and after taking a tour inside the chapter (yes! There really are American maize and aloe cactus carved into the walls, and strange pagan symbols and Templar artifacts….wooooooo!) The best part was climbing the scaffolding up three stories to the roof – ohmigosh – I was within reach of exquisitely-carved medieval flying buttresses! Okay – that’s probably not very exciting for most people but for history lovers or writers, but the views and the stonework took my breath away. . . or maybe it was the height? Part of the view was the ruins of Roslyn Castle, to the south of the chapel, and made with the same rose-colored stone that gleams pink in the sun. (photo 7)

So, did I exhaust you with that? Whew! It was a busy almost-three week adventure that could only be topped by. . . a 23-hour long trip home from Glasgow to London to Chicago to Philly. But, it was such a wonderful trip that I’ve already begun a list of things I want to see on the next trip….

Like men in kilts!


Terri has been writing romance fiction since 1995 and has had 16 historical and time-travel romances published by Berkley-Jove and Harlequin Historicals. When not living the glamorous life of a romance author in the southern NJ suburbs, Terri spends her time being a wife to one, mom to three boys as well as a dental hygienist to hundreds. Active in several RWA local chapters, Terri currently serves on the Board of Directors of Romance Writers of America.

To find out more about Terri and her books, please visit her newly redesigned website: http://www.terribrisbin.com/

You certainly exhausted me, Terri! Other than the flight back, it sounded wonderful. I bet there are loads of people here who would love to have gone with you.

So, for a bit of fun ... and some fab prizes ... we're asking you to give us your pitch for why Terri should pack you in her suitcase and take you along for her next trip. The best ones will win a goody from Terri's trip or an autographed book or an ARC of her forthcoming book POSSESSED BY THE HIGHLANDER.

Gerri Russell on Building a Career

interview by Nancy Northcott


Your first book, The Warrior Trainer, was a January release. Now you have your second, Warrior's Bride, on the shelves. Yet your success was a long time in coming, as you told our own Anna Campbell in the September issue of The Romance Writer's Report. How did you persevere to reach this point?

Partly it was having faith in what I wanted, partly it was being too stubborn to give up. I had to ask myself every day if I wanted to be published. If I wanted to publish, then I had to do what it took to get there—and that was to write every day regardless of the rejections, regardless of the self-doubt that crept in every so often!

What advice would you give the new writer just starting his or her first manuscript?

This will probably sound strange coming from someone who took twelve years to sell, but don’t be in a hurry. Learn your craft, write the best book you can, and take a deep breath. Nothing happens fast in this business, so it is important to send out the very best product you can to the right publisher or the right agent. Don’t waste your opportunities by sending out a product that isn’t ready.

Both of your published novels are set in medieval Scotland. What draws you to that time and place?

The mystery, simplicity, and opulence of the Medieval and Renaissance times have always fascinated me, as have knights and heroes of old who fought for and defended what they believed in.

My family and I are all so captivated by the time period that we have worked as living history re-enactors at the Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire in King’s Valley, Oregon, for the past eight years. It’s a wonderful learning as well as bonding experience for us all.

Why Scotland? I love that the woman are not as restrained as their English counterparts. And who doesn’t love a man in a kilt, armed to defend, with a soft burr in his speech?

Both books also have mystical overtones related to stones. How did you settle upon that as a connecting thread?

That’s the funny thing about research. Once you start down a certain path, interesting things happen. I started The Warrior Trainer with no idea it would have any companion books. And as I started to research more about Scottish stones, the more stones I read about. That’s when I decided to do the Stones of Destiny Series. I chose three wonderful stones that each had remarkable histories associated with them. You’ll be reading about the Stone of Scone, the Seer’s Stone, and the Charm Stone in each of the three books.

Tell us a little about the hero of Warrior's Bride.

Douglas Stewart is the bastard son of Robert II, Scotland’s king. His father has forced him from childhood to do his bidding, and he’s earned the name the Black Wolf of Scotland as a result. His latest demand—marriage to a woman of little consequence. Wolf would refuse his father this last demand, except that he’s holding Wolf’s brother hostage, threatening to hang him for treason is Wolf doesn’t obey.

The heroine of Warrior's Bride is Isobel. How do she and the hero clash?

Warrior’s Bride is a traditional marriage of convenience story. Wolf and Isobel clash over their forced union. Isobel wants nothing to do with marriage, watched how marriage drove her own mother to insanity. Fearing the same end, she fights Wolf at every turn. But sometimes the heart leads even the resistant places they don’t want to go. . . .

Your route to publication was a little unusual, with your first book winning the American Title II contest. What advice would you give authors who're thinking of entering a national internet contest?

Advice . . . or more warning . . . Be ready for the contest to totally consume your life—writing and otherwise. In order to succeed in this online venue, you need to be a master at promotion. You’ll need to be creative, willing to work harder than you’ve ever worked before, push past your comfort zone in ways you never knew you could, all while being an ultimate professional.

You're also a two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart competition for unpublished writers, a contest that's now open to entries. What do you think authors who are entering should know or consider?

The Golden Heart is a wonderful opportunity that gives you lots of exposure if you final. But it is critical to remember that the Golden Heart is just that, an opportunity, one that does not guarantee you will sell. Selling a manuscript is part talent, part perseverance, and part luck!

Your launch party for Warrior's Bride benefited the Early Childhood Programs for the Bellevue School District. How did you decide to do that?

I received so much support from my community while in the American Title contest and I wanted to give something back. Literacy, at all levels, has always been a cause near and dear to my heart, so together with Barnes and Noble we arranged it so that proceeds from sales would benefit Early Childhood Programs in the local school district—programs that supported literacy.

Not only did we raise over $500 in donations from sales, but attendees also purchased books donated straight to the district exceeding the donated amount. It was an incredible evening—a memory I will treasure forever.


Thanks for being here, Gerri! Gerri is giving away one copy of each of her books. To enter the drawing, simply leave a comment on the blog. To learn more about Gerri, visit her website, www.gerrirussell.net.

What times and places do you love, and why? Has your reading ever led you down an unexpected road?