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Dear Reader,
Another year has come, and the first book in my new Scottish
Knights trilogy, HIGHLAND MASTER, is a February release and should be on the
shelves at bookstores everywhere. The heroes of the three books in the trilogy
are all friends who met at St. Andrews while studying under Bishop Traill,
Primate (that is, chief bishop) of Scotland. Traill accepted a few scions of
Scottish royalty and nobility to educate, including the young James Stewart who
later became James I of Scotland. In 1416, under Traill’s successor, Bishop
Wardlaw, the “school” evolved into St. Andrews University.
To avoid clan battles erupting at St. Andrews, Traill
insisted that his students use nicknames and avoid all discussion of family,
clans, home territories, etc. Fin’s nickname was Lion. He knew his two best
friends only as Hawk (Scotland’s finest archer) and Sea Wolf (a splendid
warrior, who can sail anything that floats, and whom some of you may remember as
a child in King of Storms).
All three men are knights and highly skilled, experienced
warriors.
HIGHLAND MASTER takes place in 1401. Its hero, Sir Finlagh
“Fin of the Battles” Cameron, is Scotland’s finest swordsman and the sole member
of his clan to survive a great clan battle against Clan Chattan, led by the
chief of Clan Mackintosh.
Near the end of that battle, Fin created a huge dilemma for
himself, and he is still perched on its horns when he meets Lady Catriona
Mackintosh of Rothiemurchus. Her father is Clan Chattan’s war leader and led the
opposing side in the great battle. The Camerons and Mackintoshes have feuded for
decades.
Highlanders call Catriona the Mackintosh “wildcat,” because
she is beautiful and elusive, can be temperamental, and takes her own road
whenever it suits her. Unlike the typical Highland wildcat, which protects
itself with teeth and claws, Catriona’s protector is her huge wolf hound, Boreas,
who goes wherever she goes.
I have long had a fondness for Scottish deerhounds, and the
wolf dog was likely the ancestor of both the Irish wolfhound and the deerhound.
Both were bred primarily to protect men and livestock from the wolves that
roamed early forests in Ireland and Scotland. Because Scots had to import wolf
dogs from Ireland, they were expensive and generally owned only by high-ranking
families. Boreas is one of my favorite characters in this book.
Now to other news: As usual, I'll be attending the Sacramento
Scottish games at the Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland on May 7, in Costa
Mesa on Memorial Day weekend, the Seattle games at the King County Fairgrounds
in Enumclaw at the end of July, possibly the Denver games in August, definitely
the San Francisco Caledonian Club games in Pleasanton on Labor Day weekend, and
perhaps one or two others in the fall.
If you get to any of those games, do stop by and say hello
even if you already have the books. And, as usual, if you have books that you’ve
bought elsewhere and would like me to sign, just bring them along. I'm always
happy to do that.
I love hearing from you, so don't hesitate to use the email
link at the bottom of the page to write to me anytime. I answer every message
(eventually), and if you're searching for older books of mine, I can often help
with that, as well.
If you write to me and don’t receive a reply within a week,
don't hesitate to write again and let me know. I can get 500 messages in a day
if I've been away, and I must confess that I've inadvertently deleted fan
messages online more than once while filtering out requests for assistance from
heads of state needing my help to transfer funds from foreign countries, and
notices of vast inheritances or lottery winnings that I can collect if only I
will send them some money first.
If you would like to be on my mailing list to receive
cover-art postcard announcements of my new books, just send me a mailing address
via the email link here. The list is my own and I print the labels, so being on
it won’t land you in a sea of junk mail.
As always, I thank you for your comments, suggestions, and
encouragement, and for your continued support at book-signings, Scottish games,
and festivals. Most of all, I thank you for so generously continuing to buy my
books.
Suas Alba!
Amanda
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