Guest Post: Nancy Lee Badger and The Darker Side of Scottish Islands

For all the Scottish lovers out there...

I want to thank KB for having me here today. I am excited about the recent release of my debut Scottish historical paranormal romance, DRAGON’S CURSE. Since writing a historical novel of any kind must start with a period of time, I researched several books, clan maps, and navigated around the internet to find a setting for my novel. I am still amazed at the amount of information that is at your fingertips these days! I delved deeply and came across two islands, both off the west coast of Scotland. Each suited my story.

The island of Eigg is found in the Atlantic Ocean near the Isle of Mull and is easily reachable from the mainland of Scotland. Its dark history shouted at me while I skimmed through several books. Back around 1577 there was a lengthy feud between the Macleod and Macdonald clans. Seems a boatload of Macleods, staying on the island, grew a bit too amorous and caused trouble with the local girls. Subsequently rounded up, bound, and then cast adrift, they were rescued by other clansmen.

Eigg Island

In response, a party of Macleods from Skye landed on Eigg with revenge in mind. Deep snow covered the ground but the islanders had already spotted them. The approximately 400 villagers hid in a secret cave called the Cave of Frances, known back then as Uamh Fhraing. Moss, undergrowth, and a waterfall hid its tiny entrance. The Macleods set sail when they found the entire island deserted. The story goes that a Macdonald carelessly climbed onto a promontory to watch their departure. They spotted him!

The Macleods returned and followed his footprints back to the cave. They then rerouted the water, piled wood at the cave entrance, and then set fire to it. The cave filled with smoke and asphyxiated everyone inside. Only one family managed to escape. Using this tidbit, I used poetic license to make my hero, Draco Macdonald, wrongly accused of being the villager who the Macleods spotted, thereby causing the deaths of his clansmen. The village witch comes back as a ghost to haunt him and curses him for the deaths. For the next 15 years, he is cursed to shape shift into a dragon at inopportune times.

I needed my hero to hide himself away from humans, and searched for an island near Eigg that was uninhabited at the time of my story. I discovered Staffa. In pre-historic times, ice sheets covered Staffa. Around 20,000 years ago, sea levels were about 125 meters (410 ft) lower than at present and researchers believe Staffa was a larger island. It sits just off the coast of mainland Scotland, also near the Isle of Mull, and Iona.

Staffa

Steadily rising sea levels have further isolated this little island of volcanic origin. The slow cooling of a layer of basalt resulted in an unusual pattern of hexagonal columns. They form the walls of the principal caves. These columns are also divided horizontally by cross joints. Staffa's most famous feature is Fingal’s Cave (known pre-eighteenth century as An Uamh Bhin, also known as "the melodious cave". I use this information during my story when my heroine, Brianna Macleod, notices the ghostly music. DRAGON’S CURSE also sports a wonderful book cover where the cover artist, Traci Markou, used an actual photo of the big cave on Staffa.

In 1772, a single family lived on Staffa and subsisted on a diet of barley oats, flax and potatoes, and whatever their grazing animals could provide. Photos, and a video of someone’s recent vacation, showed that low bushes and grassy meadows cover the island. No trees! This fact was important and gave me a reason for Brianna to walk along the shore collecting driftwood for their campfires. By the end of the eighteenth century, humans no longer lived on Staffa.

Its severe weather, rocky coasts, giant caves, and closeness to the mainland of Scotland made Staffa a perfect setting for DRAGON’S CURSE. I hope you will pick up a copy and think of the dark and ominous islands of Scotland as you read.

Synopsis: Sometimes a special gift and an unwanted curse cannot keep destined lovers apart.

Brianna Macleod has accompanied a shipload of her guardian’s friends to a remote island off the coast of Scotland. She eludes these Highland hunters to keep her innocence…and her gift of sight. Her attitude against falling for womanly desires changes when she nearly drowns. Saved by the talons of a terrifying winged beast, she awakens—naked—in a cave, beside an unusual man.

Cursed by a vengeful witch to transform into a dragon at inopportune times, Draco MacDonald hides on this deserted island to live alone: until he plucks a servant girl from certain death. Fueled by jealousy, and tempered by fear for her safety, he succumbs to an unfamiliar desire to mate. Her kisses propel him to dare to make her his own.

Set in 1592 Scotland on the Scottish island of Staffa, the cursed hero battles a ghostly witch, a hunter set on rape, and his own growing desire for a young woman with premonitions of his death. Her kisses propel him to dare to make her his own.

AUTHOR BIO: Nancy Lee Badger writes fulltime and lives with her husband in Raleigh, NC. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, Celtic Heart Romance Writers, and Sisters in Crime. She also writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense as Nancy Lennea: www.nancylennea.com.

Nancy’s blog www.RescuingRomance.nancyleebadger.com

DRAGON’S CURSE is available from Whispers Publishing. You can buy Dragon's Curse at: http://bit.ly/93hRiM

It is also available at www.Amazon.com for Kindle