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.

The Timeless Sandy Blair

Suz: MAC DUFF'S SECRET is the third time travel romance you've written. What is it about time travel romances that you like?

Sandy: The possibility-the fantasy--of time travel fascinates me and I often find myself wondering how I'd react if thrown back or forward in time.

Would I-or a particular character--be intimidated by the lack of modern conveniences or become inventive in an effort to reestablish creature comforts? (I.e. try to make toilet paper.) Would I be brave enough to confront injustice or those displaying prejudices we now find appalling? If my hero knew from a modern perspective that something terrible was about to happen would he dare try to change history, knowing there'd be a domino effect, that everything-good and bad--from that point forward would also change? If throw forward in time how would I cope with learning everyone I held dear had died in some horrible fashion? These are the things I find myself thinking about when staring at the ceiling at 3:00AM.

Suz: Are there any unique challenges to time travel romances?

Sandy: Yes. The first challenge is crafting a fresh situation in which the possibility of time-travel is in some way believable. (Standing stones and fairy rings have been done repeatedly.)

The second challenge depends on where the protagonist (s) is heading-whether back in time, forward to the present, or into the future. The author may have to "world build" or do in-depth research into a particular time period (s) and in some cases, do both.

The last hurdle is making a protagonist's reactions to a "new reality" ring true for the reader, which often requires some soul searching on the author's part.


Suz: MAC DUFF'S SECRET is also your second novella. I think you do these very well. What do you like about writing for anthologies? And what do you see as the unique challenges to writing them?

Sandy: Thank you for the compliment. To be truthful I must admit to having an ambivalent relationship with anthologies. I love getting "the call." There's no rejection. The editor has come to me. Yahoo! Better yet, I don't have to come up with a High Concept. The editor has given it to me. Yahoo x 2! Riding high on these thoughts, I always say, "Yes! I'd love to do a novella for this anthology."

The minute I hang up the phone that's when the hate part-the panic--kicks in. My mind starts screeching, "They only want how many pages?!? How can anyone write a story worth reading using so few words? You can't even say hello in under 50, you idiot! And you promised to deliver in 90 days?! What were you thinking? What?!"

A few glasses of wine later I've usually settled down, have a Universal theme and "What if?" scenario in mind, am ready to bounce these off my trusty Cp (Bless you!) and get down to the hard work of making these characters empathetic/believable. And somehow it all comes together on time.

Suz: So, give us a quick peek at MAC DUFF'S SECRET without giving away too much, since it is a novella.

Sandy: Would love to.

"How bad could it be?" That's all Sarah Colbert thought when she agreed to chaperone her private school's sixth grade field trip through Edinburgh. She's about to find out when she and her students find themselves trapped in a Highland glen that time forgot with a battle-scarred warrior they'll never forget.

Suz: Are you working on anything new that we can look forward to reading?

Sandy: I currently working on three novels; two light-hearted Scotland-set historical Romances and my first historical (biographical) fiction, which is generating loads of personal angst and anticipation. After that, who knows? I may start working on the Gothic Romance I've had simmering on the back burner for two years. (He's delicious...in a dark and brooding sort of way. )

Okay...so weigh in readers...Do you like time travels? What is your favorite part of them? And do you like big anthology books like the Mamoth books?

Sandy will be giving away a copy of her anthology MAC DUFF'S SECERET in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF TIME TRAVEL ROMANCES to one lucky commentor.