It is with the greatest of pleasures that I
welcome Historical Romance author, Lily Baldwin, onto the blog today. Lilly
writes the most amazing historical romance set in Scotland and today, Lily is
going to share with us her inspirations behind her fabulous Scottish Outlaws
series.
Jack: A Scottish Outlaw
Jack MacVie is a Scottish rebel, robbing English nobles on
the road north into Scotland alongside his four brothers. But the MacVie
brothers are not hell bent on riches. They became highwaymen to fight against
the tyranny of King Edward of England.
In the aftermath of the Berwick massacre, Lady Isabella Redesdale is risking it all, journeying north into war-torn Scotland to be with her sister. But when her carriage is attacked by a band of villains, another gang descends to steal her away.
Although they come from different worlds, Jack and Isabella are more alike than they first realize. They both crave freedom from war and despair, but in a world where kings reign and birth dictates one’s station, freedom is not won, it is stolen.
In the aftermath of the Berwick massacre, Lady Isabella Redesdale is risking it all, journeying north into war-torn Scotland to be with her sister. But when her carriage is attacked by a band of villains, another gang descends to steal her away.
Although they come from different worlds, Jack and Isabella are more alike than they first realize. They both crave freedom from war and despair, but in a world where kings reign and birth dictates one’s station, freedom is not won, it is stolen.
Author’s
Inspiration
Hi
everyone 😊. Thank
you, Mary, for inviting me to guest post on Myths, Legends, Books, and Coffee
Pots. My name is Lily Baldwin, and I write Scottish historical romance.
My latest series is the Scottish Outlaws. The
first book in the series is a novella that I wrote as part of an anthology of
original stories with other authors. The rest of the books are all full-length
novels. The first glimmer of an idea was inspired by the poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, which
has long been one of my favorites. I loved the idea of writing a medieval
series with a braw Scottish highwayman leading a gang of outlaws who rob
English nobles on the road north into Scotland.
So I envisioned Jack MacVie—the Scottish Outlaw.
But I realized I needed a reason for him being a
highwayman—why was he a robber? He couldn’t just be a robber because he wanted
to be rich—that doesn’t make a very romantic story.
I returned to a compelling and horrific event in
Scottish/English history, which is featured in the second book of a different
series of mine—the Isle of Mull Series. This event was the Berwick Massacre. In
the late 13th century, Berwick was the center of trade and commerce
in Scotland. In 1296, Edward of England sacked Berwick, slaughtering thousands
of men, women, and children. In the end, Edward claimed the city for England.
When building my highwayman’s back story, I envisioned Jack being from Berwick.
I pictured him as a commoner and the eldest brother of a big family torn apart
by the massacre. Quickly it became a story about Scottish Independence. Then
all of the sudden Jack’s brothers became his fellow outlaws, and together they
robbed English nobles and gave their stolen gains back to the Scottish people.
As the stories progress each brother has a different role to play for the
cause—whether protecting an Englishwoman wrongfully accused of murder, pulling
off a seemingly impossible heist of the king’s palace in London, or posing as a
wealthy English merchant to infiltrate the king’s court.
Like true brothers, the MacVie men are all very
different from one another; subsequently, so, too, are their stories. The common
threads connecting all the brothers is that they are outlaws to the crown but
heroes to the Scottish people and to the women who capture their hearts.
So far, I have chatted quite a bit about the
MacVie brothers, but the Scottish Outlaws are not just men—Jack, Quinn, Rory,
Alec and Ian (whose story will be Book 6 in the series) have a sister named,
Rose. She is the next Scottish Outlaw and my current WIP. Rose’s life has been
marked by great tragedy. During the massacre, her three daughters and husband
were murdered. She is strong and perseveres, and despite her suffering, she
always tries to remain positive. But inside she hides a sadness so heavy and
consuming she could sink beneath the waves of the ocean she loves to gaze upon.
I do not want to give anything away, but after
all Rose has been through my mission as author of her story is to give her the
absolute time of her life and a love that will heal her heart and raise her so
high she will be able to touch the stars.
I want to thank my readers so very much for
coming along on the passionate, adventurous and often treacherous journeys of
the MacVie family.
Before I sign off, I wanted to share something
fabulous with everyone. The Scottish Outlaws are published by Duncurra LLC. You
can listen to the audiobook of Jack on the Duncurra Youtube channel for free.
This version of Jack has dual narrators (James McCreadie and his lovely wife,
Debbie May). Plus, it totally has sound effects—how much fun is that?! What’s
more, Duncurra Youtube also has complete audiobooks by Scottish historical
romance authors Ceci Giltenan and L.L. Muir—also free to enjoy. Here is the
link for Duncurra Youtube. Happy Listening!
Links
for Purchase
Jack: A Scottish Outlaw
For the Scottish Outlaws series
About the author
Award-winning
Historical Romance author Lily Baldwin loves writing, Scotland, her wonderful
husband and beautiful young daughter—though not necessarily in that order. She
has a BA in anthropology from the University of New Hampshire, and an MA in
International Studies from Birmingham University in the UK. She daydreams
constantly, and gets her best story ideas while running; she is even training
for a half-marathon. She also finds inspiration in Nature, a quality revealed
through the powerful description and drama in her books. She lives in New England with her
cherished husband and daughter.
Useful Links
Thank you for sharing your inspiration with us!
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