Reading and Writing: Girl in the Castle

I’m delighted to welcome popular author, Lizzie Lamb, to the Reading and Writing blog today. Lizzie originally hails from Scotland which is very evident in her entertaining Scottish-themed novels, and I love the humour she brings to each story no matter the stakes for her appealing heroes and heroines. Lizzie tells us a bit more about her settings and inspiration below as she introduces her new novel, Girl in the Castle - available now to pre-order from Amazon worldwide.

Why I write Scottish-themed novels

Thank you for having me on your blog, Rosemary, I hope your followers will enjoy reading my post about why I write Scottish-themed contemporary novels. (It’s a pleasure, Lizzie!)

My interest in kilted heroes began as a child, reared (courtesy of Saturday morning cinema) on the exploits of highlanders in such movies as Rob Roy, Bonnie Prince Charlie, The Ghost Goes West and, sob, Grey Friar’s Bobby. After the movie (or fil-um, as we pronounced it) we’d re-enact Rob Roy’s leap and subsequent escape through the waterfall, or the scene from Kidnapped, where Davie Balfour is almost murdered by his evil uncle. Our dogs were dragooned into being "Bobby", loyally guarding his master's grave in Grey Friar's kirk, Edinburgh. And I longed to be Flora Macdonald, helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape over the sea to Skye and away from the Redcoats. Tales of brave Covenanters and Jacobites stayed with me as I grew older and read Scottish-themed novels: The Jacobite Trilogy by D.K. Broster (falling in love with Ewen Cameron), The Lymond Chronicles (who could resist Francis Crawford?)

More recently, the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon featuring uber-hero Jamie Fraser has fired my imagination. For me, he is the ultimate kilted hero and has it in spades – looks, sense of honour, loyalty, is sex-on-legs and can speak Gaelic. I’ll even admit to subscribing to Amazon Prime so I could watch the TV Series: OUTLANDER.

Readers, I have discovered, are drawn to the mystical, dreamy highlands of Scotland as the backdrop to contemporary romance. As a writer, born and bred in Scotland, I heartily agree with that sentiment. Tall, Dark and Kilted, features a sexy laird Ruairi (Roo-ary) Urquhart who has to fight to safeguard his land and inheritance. In Scotch on the Rocks, kilt-wearing American, Brodie arrives on Eilean na Sgairbh on the back of a storm wind and turns my heroine's life upside down.

In my latest novel Girl in the Castle the heroine - a disgraced academic - hides away in a castle in the highlands while she sorts out her life. There’s a phantom piper, a lost Jacobite treasure and a love affair to keep my readers interested. Here’s the blurb in the form of a book trailer.

Romance readers simply love a novel which features a man in a kilt. The element of ‘costume’ (ie the kilt), especially in a contemporary setting, removes the hero and the reader from the everyday and transports them into the realm of fantasy and romance. And, in the case of a kilted hero, there is also the tease of whether he’s followed tradition and gone ‘commando’, or not! My novels seem to hold a particular resonance for ex-pat Scots in USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and sell well in those countries. Born in Scotland, I try to write with complete authenticity about Scotland - the land and its people.

The kilted hero in my novels is, generally, aristocratic – a laird, at the very least. And, while he does not have to work to earn his daily crust, he carries the weight of his inheritance and the welfare of his tenants and family on his shoulders. He often has emotional scars which only the heroine can heal. My novels have a happy ending and readers can close the book with a satisfied sigh knowing that all the obstacles which have prevented the hero and heroine from leading a happy life have been resolved.

I hope you have enjoyed learning a little about what drives me to write Scottish-themed romances. You can learn more about them and me on my website and via my other links. Do get in touch as I love hearing from my readers.

Thanks for a great post, Lizzie!

After teaching her 1000th pupil and working as a deputy head teacher in a large primary school, Lizzie decided it was time to leave the chalk face and pursue her first love: writing. In 2006 she joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme, honed her craft and wrote Tall, Dark and Kilted (2012), quickly followed a year later by Boot Camp Bride (2013) and Scotch on the Rocks (2015). Girl in the Castle is released this month.

Scotch on the Rocks was a finalist in the prestigious Exeter novel prize. Lizzie is a founder member of the New Romantics Press along with three other members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

If you have a dream - go for it. Life is not a rehearsal.

Find out more about Lizzie and her novels on her Amazon Page, Goodreads and twitter: @lizzie_lamb