Hi everyone! Please join me in welcoming Charlotte Featherstone/Sophie Renwick to the blog!I’m so happy to be here, guest blogging at Lovin Me Some Romance! VampFanGirl has turned me on to some really wonderful authors, and some truly hussy approved reading material! As a devout reader her recommendations are such gems to me! So, I consider this invitation to guest blog with her an honor. So thanks for having me VFG!!! :)
So, I’m not really much of a blogger, mostly because I really don’t care to talk about myself. I’m rather boring. So, I decided to talk about what I know (that’s what newbie writers are always told, ‘write what you know’), so today, I’m gonna talk about what I know best, the spark that fuelled my two latest series.
Winter’s Desire, the first anthology in the Celtic Spice series, is a collaboration between myself and my very good friends, and fellow writers, Amanda McIntyre, and Kristi Astor. Together we were searching for an ‘out of the box’ Christmas idea to pitch to Harlequin Spice. After tossing around a few ideas, we decided upon the Winter Solstice as a starting point. I can’t for the life of remember who suggested the Solstice, but I do remember the barrage of inspiring emails that were fired between us that night. We went from the Solstice, to having it include a Druid Priestess, a lovely poem (that was written by the talented Amanda McIntyre) as well as an idea of eras. After brainstorming Winter’s Desire, the desire and fascination with the early Celts snowballed, and we soon had ideas to put forward for the Celtic seasons of Beltane and Samhain (which we know as Halloween). I really fell in love with the whole Celtic idea as it’s my ancestral background. Being Scottish, my gran, (and her father before her) loved to weave a good tale. My fondest memories, and probably my first taste of storytelling stem from the time I spent with my gran. It’s her tales and the lore of Scotland that gave me so many great ideas for the premises of my novellas for the Celtic anthologies, as well as some of the prologue for the anthology for Samhain. They also fed the next ideas I had for two more series.
The Immortals of Annwyn came about because I was still so jazzed about researching the Winter Solstice. I was skimming through old photos of my gran, and the my family’s home in Scotland, plus recent vacation photos, and I was feeling nostalgic for the days when my gran would sit beside me on the couch and tell me stories of Faeries, and enchanted Night Woods. It was those stories that caused the Immortals of Annwyn to be born. All those wonderful creatures my gran would talk about started to take root in my mind. The Dark Faeires that would come and steal me out of my bed if I didn’t stay in it after my parents put me there. The Nightwoods, where the Fey would hold dances, and fires and all kinds of magic prevailed. The stories of the Bocan, or the Shadow Wraiths, as well, as the great goddesses of the Otherworld. They took hold and have never left. They’ve always inspired me, and I’ve always been anxious to write something about them.
Having two names, has allowed me to explore varying aspects of my heritage. Under my Charlotte name, I’m having fun with the Celtic Seasons, and in 2011, I’ll be releasing the first book in my Sins and Virtues series, which is about seven Dark Fey princes who embodied the seven deadly sins. Again, it’s those Dark Fey, in their Dark Court (the one’s my Gran warned me about, but who didn’t realize that the warning only made me want to meet them, after all, how could she know I’d turn out to be an erotic romance author! :) Sophie on the other hand, is exploring the fantasy elements of those magical stories, complete with alternate worlds, powerful magic, druidism and goddesses.
For the Celtic Spice anthologies, you can expect at least two more novellas from Charlotte. The first is Beltane Fires, and it celebrates the lusty time of spring. My novella is a Beauty and the Beast theme. I like to think of it as ‘secret garden for adults’ kind of story. Lots of misbehaving in the garden, and lots of spring fever. After that will be the anthology for Samhain. In that, we have an enchanted forest, called the Nightwoods, where some magical, Dark Lords live, and are awakened by a sing-song chant by some unwary maidens. That idea, for the Night woods and the Dark Lords was based on a story that my gran told me. It was one of my favourites, and I always asked her to tell me it every single time I saw her. It was dark, forbidden, and utterly romantic. Of course, we modified it somewhat to suit all of our needs!
For the Immortals of Annwyn, the series begins with A Highlander Christmas, a prequel of sorts, explaining how the Dark Times come to Annwyn. I so enjoyed writing it, because it encompasses fantasy, as well as my true love of writing historical. While the Immortals of Annwyn series is contemporary, it still very much has that fantasy element that I loved as a kid. There’s Celtic creatures in there—all Scottish—as well as some good steamy romance.When I think back, it’s amazing that I was able to conjure up material for not one, but three different series, based on one favourite childhood tale! It’s my hope that my two pseudonyms will give something for a variety of romance readers to enjoy. And I hope, once all the books are written, my Granny MacAlpine will be proud of the way I worked her tale involving the darkest hero ever, and made it into my own.
One day, I promise, I’ll take her story, and write it, just as she told it to me. Of course, I’ll turn its G rated status into something Hussy Approved! Of course, you’ll have to stay tuned to see who writes it...Charlotte or Sophie! ;)
So what about you? Is heritage important to you? Have you taken a recipe, a family tradition, a story from your culture, or family and passed it on down the line? I’d love to hear it if you have.
And for a chance to win a copy of Winter’s Desire as well as A Higlander Christmas, please leave a comment.(There will be two winners, one for each book!)
And thanks for letting me share the inspiration behind A Highlander Christmas and Winter’s Desire!
51 comments:
Heritage is very important. I will always remember the story my mother told me about her grandmother and how she got pregnant with her mother, my grandmother.
Apparently a gypsy man came on his horse in to town and flirted with her, that summer one thing led to another and in a heated romance my grandmother was made. For some reason my romantic heart sees this dark haired, dark eyes, bronze skin, wild gypsy gallop in to town and sweep my great grandmother of my feet.
Thanks to their summer romance my grandmother is grandmother half gypsy, my mother one quarter and I one fifth...it is still evident in some things though.
ooh, these books sound wonderful!!!! I am also of mostly Scottish ancestry, of which I'm verra proud! ;) I try to be in NYC at the beginning of April for the Tartan Day Parade (wear my clan badge, of course), and as a dark haired female, try to be a "first-foot" to my friends' houses on New Year's Day.
Hope your books sell well!
Hertiage is very important to me.. I love everything that i learn about where i came from and who i was related to in the text books. I am a heiress to the Cherokee TRibe and my mothers family came from Czech Replubic and we are very famous i would say over there. Everyone is a Moucha OR my husband family a Gambrell
Great guest post, Charlotte and VFG!
Well, to be honest, I'm half Scottish and the rest of me in mutt. My father's family came from Scotland but my mom is part Italian, American Indian, Irish and who knows what else, lol.
As for recipes...well, I have the recipe for my great-great-grandma's apple pie.
Oh, and my great aunt Margie's Frankfurter casserolle. Um, yeah, not exactly gourmet, lol, but the smell reminds me of when I was a kid.
Leontine, I LOVE that story of your great-grandmother and the gypsy. SO passionate and romantic. Would make for a very intriguing romance, don't you think? Thanks for sharing!
Emilie! Hi! Both my parents are both Scottish. One from the midlands, one from the Highlands. My clan pin is treasured--it was my gran's! Thanks for stopping by! (Oh, and first footing, my husband, being only the only dark haired member of my family --we're blonde or red) has to be the first footer through my mum and dad's door each New years!
hotmommatrish, how interesting your background is. I love Eastern European culture, as well as some of the food. But then, food is another whole topic for me!
Ooh, excellent, Barbara. What makes her apple pie different? Any secret ingrediant?
Heritage is so important but my family has no idea about where they come from.
I have spent the past year working on my family tree. I have found out so much about my family. This year for christmas I am going to have family trees made for all my grandparents and aunts and uncles.
Thank goodness for Ancestry.com.
My husband and I gave our children Scottish and Irish names as a nod to our heritage. My mom has some recipe for cookies brought over from her grandmother but I don't like the cookies so I don't have the recipe. I guess I should get it anyway and pass it to my kids.
Gosh, I'm really jealous of everyone's known heritage.
As far as my parents are concerned, heritage isn't that important. My mom can trase her roots back to her grandmother and same with my father. Oh, and they're both, well we're all total mutts! ;)
Now my husband has a much more interesting heritage. He's 100% Polish and both his parents are straight off the ship. His grandparents on his father's side were forced to work for the Nazi's. His grandfather sewed uniforms while his grandmother dug ditches... My husban's own mother grew up near Auschwitz. When his parents were thirteen and fouteen respectively, they made the big move. They still have distant relatives in Poland but don't keep in touch. Of course they still to this day cook a lot of polish recipes but my own pallet isn't much of fan to their complete chagrin. They've since given up on me long ago! LOL!
Alicia, I hope you find out about your ancestry. That'd be sooo cool.
Patti, we all have Scottish names, too (I use writing names) and my brothers both spell their names the Gaelic way. It's nice and different. And what's the cookie recipe???
I don't know a whole lot about my heritage. My Mom was raised in a children's home and my Dad didn't talk much about his family.
VFG, a sad but interesting story about your husband's family. Those kinds of roots has to keep people together, don't they?
Estella, welcome!
I don't know much about my heritage either. My dad is French and my mom is Dutch. She came over to Canada in 1953.
My dad's family is interesting but I don't know if their "stories" were ever true,they've been told so many times who knows where truth lies.
Both Winter’s Desire and A Higlander Christmas sound great.I look forward to reading them.
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net
I believe that heritage is really important. That being said I don't know much about mine. My mother was never really close to her family and my biological father was never a part of my life. I feel like there is a lot that could have been learned, and probably still can be. My biological father passed away when I was 23, so there is not a whole lot that I can learn there. I am hoping that I might be able to get a little more information about him and his side of the family from a half brother that I have never met but have recently been in contact with through facebook. He just turned 19.
As for my mom she has never been too open about her family. I only know that there is a long line of Cherokee Indians in there. One of these days I think I might do an ancestor research.
I envy those that have a family tree that they can trace. Grandparents to share stories, and big families that get along well enough to pass on traditions. I am hoping that I am able to create something that my children will be able to pass on and share with their kids and grandkids.
elaing, where are you located in Canada? I live in Southwestern Ontario!
Heather, you'll definitely give your kids something to hold on to. There's nothing like a grandmother's unconditional love. I was so fortunate to have two grandmothers who were very loving and nurturing. My mum is that sort of grandmother as I had, and my daughter loves it.
Even though my family is a bunch of mutts lol we still very much value all those little bits and pieces of our heritage, mostly because of both my grandmothers one was Irish and the other Italian, they both loved to cook and tell us stories about the old days.
I would love to have family heritage traditions to pass down to future generations. Sadly my family immigrated from England and Ireland so long ago, and assimilated to the American Dream that none of those traditions have been passed down.
However, we do have family traditions...usually something for each holiday. Like the one we have for Halloween. We always make homemade doughnuts using a recipe from I don't know how many generations past, along with apple cider. As children we looked forward to coming back from trick or treating and decorating, then eating these warm donuts, that to this day mean "fall" to me.
So while I don't have any traditions based on heritage, I have traditions based on family love and memories that I will definitely pass on.
Can't wait to read both of these...especially A Highlander for Christmas!
@ Charlotte Featherstone
I live outsie of Ottawa
A Highlander Christmas is a book I've really been looking foward to! Thanks for sharing :)
I am part Irish on my fathers side (from my great grandfather) and part French on my mothers side (goes back to immigrants in the 1700s, but although I am aware of these heritages they do not really influence my daily life.
Please enter me in the giveaway.
Thank you.
Carol
buddytho {at} gmail DOT com
Fun post today. Charlotte, I'm really looking foward to reading your "two" voices. I think it would be neat to have two, if I were a writer. You could write what everyone is used to you writing and then branch out if you'd like.
Congratulations on the new release :)
rachie2004 @ yahoo (d0t) com
My grandparents are from England and Wales but besides being taught to use my left hand to hold my silverware my heritage really has had no effect on me.
Heritage is important. I spent 2 years researching our family tree. It was a lot of work but fun and exciting.
I think heritage is important and my family's was fairly easy to follow until they arrived here in the "new world" in 1759. Many of my Irish ancestors moved south to mix with the Cherokee. Later the Scots came. My family is now a blended mix of those traditions, stories, and curses.
I think heritage is very important. Both of our families background comes from Kentucky. We visit our great grandparents homes and visit with family at least once a year. We tell our children about how our great grandparents lived compared to how we live
thank you
tatertot374@sbcglobal.net
My grandmother was German and we have passed down one of her recipies that everybody loves. It's called relarden and basically is rolled up meat with onion and bacon in the middle. It is really delicious. Thanks.
magic5905@embarqmail.com
I'm a horrible cook LOL! So my holiday traditions deal with music. I love pagan and Celtic Christmas and Solstice music!
heritage is very important alway no where you come
Yes, we pray regularly and it is important that we get together for a meal...once a week. And just spend time together.
dorcontest at gmail dot com
Heritage is very important in our family.
In History class I did a few reports on some of my family members like I had an archbishop from scottland in my family and My great great great great uncle started the coast guard (joshua James)
Great giveaway!
ktfereva22@aol.com
Hi :)
Thank you for the great guest post.
I don't have any real heritage to pass down, but I have passed down my love of books & reading to my children.
:)
Thank you for sharing,
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
PS - Is Charlotte Featherstone/Sophie Renwick on Twitter? I found a Sophie Renwick but she only had one post a long time ago.
:)
Of course i think that heritage is important but i feel like i missed something because when my great-grand-parents were still alive i wanted to know more about their origins, but they thought me too young to share and when i finally got to be older their memory was failing them. My great grand-mother was from Czechoslovakia (i don't know how to spell that in English!) and had to flee her country during the war and my great grandfather was deported during WWII. I got glimpses of their lives but i feel like i'm missing the most important part. I know that when i have children no matter how boring i sound i'll tell them the story of their family and what i remember from my great-grandparents. ;)
I think it's really important, but I don't know anything about my heritage at all. One day I plan on researching my family tree.
mizztuts AT bellsouth DOT net
My grandfather was born in Wales, and we have family still in Ireland. He lied about his age and worked on a merchant ship which eventually took him to America. He died when I was 3. I wish I could have gotten to know him and hear some of his stories! I'm very interested in Celtic history and lore.
Oplatek ( Christmas wafer ) is shared with everyone at our Christmas Eve meals; it is our Polish tradition!
theyyyguy@yahoo.com
Wow I could write a book about my heritage... From my mothers side I am Irish/German and when my greatgrandparents came over they changed their name to make it more difficult to find them... Apparently G-grandpa & ma weren't allowed to get married... Oh the drama of stories related to that story.... From my Father I am Native American and Polish(or irish can never remember)...
Now I'm married to a Czech... In fact grandma speaks Czech to us all the time.. love it..
My husband is adopted and my family has never really cared. I think how I live now is important.
These books both sound amazing and the covers are just BEAUTIFUL!
Heritage is very important to me I'm very proud of my Scottish ancestory and that several of my great greats fought in the civil war. I've been trying to put together a good family tree to pass down to my son when he's older to keep. :)
We've tried to pass to our children a sense of family and unity, rather than a specific heritage of our forefathers. rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
Heritage is very important to me. When my grandmother died, and then again when my mother died, I made sure I kept their recipe boxes. I keep meaning to type up the recipes and distribute them in a book to all the grandchildren. Need to stop procrastinating. This just reminded me. Thanks so much! pamelashockley(AT)netscape(DOT)net
I do think heritage is important and I'm very interested in my family history. I treasure the photos and stories I've collected. But I'm kind of disappointed that we don't have any family traditions or recipes that have been handed down.
I think Heritage is important to a family. It helps define what you will become.
john ferris
guapo1317@live.com
We always fix my moms drunken ham recipe for the holidays:)
heritage isn't really all that important to me. i do some family traditions that have been passed down to me, but other than that, i'm really not that interested. my husband and i make our own family traditions.
Heritage is only mildly important in our family. I don't really know to much about ours! Thanks for the contest!
airalynn(@)gmaildotcom
I have always been very interested in my family's heritage. I would love to know where my family originated, but I don't have a clue as to where to begin looking.
The books sounds wonderful. Curled up on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa reading one would be great.
I am a mutt so I have tried to learned about our family. I know that my Great grandfather was from Russia. My grandfather was french and I am teaching my daughter who is half spanish to speak spanish. I think that is important for her to know about her spanish side.
My favorite family tradition started when I was a little girl. On christmas my mom and I would watch How the grinch stole christmas. It is something that I now get to do with my own children and my mom.
souldolphindream@aol.com
Heritage is important to me. Our daughter has started asking about her heritage. I haven't been too successful. My last name is Garrett. I have found out the first time the name appeared was in a county in Ireland. Ut appeared as Ogarrett. garrettsambo@aol.com
I am a Mutt!
German/French/Scottish 75%
25% English, Dutch & Indian!
zestywonderland@gmail.com
Heritage isn't that important to me. I haven't passed down any traditions or stories.
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