Release Day: 'Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon'

 

Woohoo! Today is Release Day!

 

Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon
A Highland Gardens Novel
Bk #2

 

Available for Kindle

What happens when a twenty-first century business executive is expected to fulfill a prophecy given at the birth of a sixteenth-century seer? Of course, he must raise his sword in her defense.
Believing women only want him for his wealth, Finn MacIntyre doesn't trust any woman to love him. When, during Scottish Highland games, faerie magic sends him back in time to avenge the brutal abduction of his time-traveling cousin, he learns he's the subject of a fae prophecy.

Elspeth MacLachlan, the beloved clan seer, is betrothed to a man she dislikes and dreams of the man prophesized at her birth, only to find him in the most unexpected place—facedown in the mud.

With the help of fae allies, they must overcome the treachery set to destroy them to claim a love that transcends time.


Journey from the lush gardens of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to the Scottish Highlands of 1511 with Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon.


~Dawn Marie

Write What You Know

By Dawn Marie Hamilton

Write what you know. How many times have you heard that bit of advice?

I write Scottish inspired fantasy and paranormal romance. Knowledge of Scottish history is easily acquired by reading. Time travel, magic, fae creatures and shapeshifting vampires—not exactly subjects learned during a lengthy corporate career. Research helps, but imagination plays a larger role in creating fantasy and paranormal elements.

How do you persuade readers to suspend long-held beliefs and accept the fantastical?

It's all in the worldbuilding…and the details. The details are where real life is inserted.

Having been a County Cooperative Extension master gardener, I know a wee bit about gardening. Gardens are where magic happens in our busy world of today. So I incorporate gardens into my stories. Sometimes in a large way, where the characters are gardeners. Other times in a small way by incorporating gardens into the setting.

At the cottage, Laurie offered them a nightcap, pouring each a glass of port. They wandered into the garden to enjoy the beautiful evening.

"Do you feel the magic in the air?" Caitrina asked.

Douglas peered at the moonlit sky and chuckled. "Aye, lass. Strong magic."

An uneasy sensation crept through Laurie as she glanced around.

Caitrina grasped her hand. "Come. I want to show you the foxglove we planted. They flowered."

Walking with Caitrina to the back gate, Laurie sensed something strange. She frowned when she smelled a familiar exotic fragrance on Caitrina. "What the hell?"

A tinkling sound confirmed her fear.

The gate swung open.

He [her dream lover] stood just beyond the garden gate.

Her pulse raced. Yanking her hand away from Caitrina, she stepped back in panic.

Caitrina pushed her forward through the gate. Terror forced the air from Laurie's lungs.

Nothing held her back, no barrier. She fell forward over a precipice into a swirling fog, down...down...down through a tunnel. The walls spun and she plunged downward, faster and faster, toward a blinding, bright light that continued to move out of reach.

Sucked through an opening into the white brilliance, she choked on the scream in her throat, cringing against the intense noise assaulting her ears.

She spun, or everything around her was spinning, she wasn't sure which. Her sensitized skin tingled as if touched by an electric charge. Then, the bright, white light exploded into a million fragments of brilliant color, a dazzling kaleidoscope, and she was falling again.

Down...down...down, the speed of her descent increased. Water flowed below her, a stream. She plummeted toward it. Bracing herself, she thought she'd crash into the rushing water, only to propel across it. She hit the ground hard and saw nothing more. 

…excerpt from Just Beyond the Garden Gate, an unedited Garden Gate manuscript.

What Type of Vehicles Do Your Favorite Characters Drive?

The chauffeur, Parker, is my favorite character in the movie Thunderbirds. I love the fancy pink Ford-designed car he drives. Owned by Lady Penelope, the car gives us insight into her character. The same can be true about vehicles in books.

What does the vehicle used by a character in a book tell us about the character's personality or situation, or mood of the story?

In this post, I'm using the terms vehicle and drive loosely, meaning personal mode of transportation.

In a fantasy novel, the heroine might fly high above the village on a horse with wings such as Pegasus or on a dragon's scaly back to reach a distant land. As the reader is seduced into the story, they develop a fondness for the woman because she overcomes her fear of flying to save her people and she develops a magical bond with the animal.

Another character might get from point-A to point-B in an historically based story on a velocipede—an early bicycle where the rider uses his feet to propel himself. The reader is drawn to him because of his simplistic life. Maybe as a counterpoint, the villain rides in a fancy carriage with a ducal crest, flaunting his noble lineage. The sexy hero drives a fast and dangerous phaeton pulled by a matched pair of horses from the finest breeding stable, displaying his skill and daring in front of the heroine.

In a gothic paranormal, a vampire travels on the wings of a large hawk over a castle, setting a dark mood.

With a steampunk novel, a character might be the pirate captain of a steam-powered airship whose honor is evident in the way he respects the laws of the sky. Or a wealthy merchant traveling in a private luxury boxcar on a steam train who first appears frivolous until he removes his cape and the reader learns the reason he desires to travel alone—his mechanical prosthesis arm would cause him to be shunned.

The character of a contemporary might drive a pimped-out hearse to hint at his contrarian's traits or a top of the line black sedan with tinted windows to declare his wealth. Whereas the tattooed hero from an urban fantasy cruises the city on an awesome crotch rocket to fuel his bad boy image.

What about futuristic vehicles? I'm sure you can think of some cool space vehicles that say something about the character(s) that flies them.


In my uncontracted Garden Gate series, Finn appears as a minor character in the first book. He is the CEO of a business consulting company who loves history and genealogy and on weekends participates in Scottish reenactments. As a sign of his wealth and status, he drives a super truck. That is, until a NYC magazine names him the Best Catch in Manhattan and marriage seeking woman stalk him.

His cousin calls him out on his choice of vehicle as a means of flaunting his wealth. As the hero of the second book, he drives an old beater pickup truck to keep a low profile. But when the Fae have their way, Finn is tossed into the past with nothing but his kilt and the tunic on his back. Oh yeah, and a very special sword. He's more than happy to have a borrowed horse as his mode of transportation.

Read excerpts from the Garden Gate series at DawnMarieHamilton.com

I modified this article from one I posted at Castles & Guns in July. At the time, Author Theresa Meyers commented: "My latest Vampire hero drives a Bugatti Veyron, sang noir edition. One of the fastest supercars around (courtesy of watching BBC's Top Gear). When I found out the sang noir edition (black blood - which is what my vampires have) could be ordered with a crimson red interior, I knew it was the car for him." Doesn't that sound sexy?

Leave a comment and share with us the vehicles your favorite characters drive.

Thanks for stopping by. I expect to be off-grid for a few days and will respond to comments when I have access to the internet again. Have a great weekend!

-----

Reminder: Join the fun! The Night Owl Reviews Full Moon Halloween Web Hunt continues through October 31. Details here. Win great prizes!

-----

Dawn Marie Hamilton writes Scottish inspired time travel romance with fantasy and paranormal elements. http://www.dawnmariehamilton.com/ You can also visit Dawn Marie at Castles & Guns on Tuesday October 11 & 25. Twitter: @DawnM_Hamilton

Research: Scottish American Style

I didn't have an opportunity to go to Scotland before writing my Scottish inspired fantasy time-travel series—Garden Gate. I read dozens of books and ran internet searches on the clan, time period and setting. I also traveled to North Carolina and attended the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games and Gathering O' Scottish Clans where the stories begin.

To immerse myself in the culture of my characters, I continue to attend Scottish gatherings in the US. If you're on the East Coast and so inclined here are a couple of upcoming events you might consider attending:

New Hampshire Highland Games on September 16, 17 & 18 at Loon Mountain, Lincoln, NH.
Maryland Renaissance Festival with guest Albannach from Scotland on September 24 & 25 near Annapolis, MD.
Virginia Celtic Gathering & Highland Games on September 30 & October 1 at Rockahock near Williamsburg, VA.
Stone Mountain Highland Games on October 14, 15 &16 at Stone Mountain Park, GA

---

Reminder: Night Owl Reviews Full Moon Web Hunt is in full swing. Win Cool Prizes! September 1 - October 31 Details here.

---

Dawn Marie Hamilton writes Scottish inspired fantasy and paranormal romance. You can also visit Dawn Marie at Castles and Guns on Tuesday September 13 & 27. Twitter: @DawnM_Hamilton