Welcome back to Duck Chat!

Karen Ranney is here to talk about her latest book, A Scotsman in Love. It’s a special book for her and she’d like to share both the story and the writing of this project of love.

Be sure to leave a comment. Karen has some great prizes for a couple of winners.  First place is a copy of A Scotsman in Love and the Grand Prize is a copy of the book with a signed bookplate to follow delivery from Amazon, plus ASiL travel coffee mug. So let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Karen, you’ve said that you were compelled to write A Scotsman in Love. Would you tell a little about the story in general and then your thoughts behind writing the book?

KAREN RANNEY: A Scotsman in Love is the story of two people unwillingly falling in love.

Three years ago, Robert lost his beloved wife and daughter in a carriage accident that severely injured him. A year ago, Margaret lost her innocence and subsequently, her talent, reputation, and livelihood. Robert came home to Scotland to take up his responsibilities while Margaret retreated to her homeland to nurse her wounds and try to cope with a life without art.

Both Robert and Margaret were determined to remain aloof, untouched, and exempt from any emotion. Of course, Fate had other ideas.

A Scotsman in Love is a character based book, the main antagonist being Death itself.

I love the conflict of people trying to understand other people – especially the conflict between men and women.

Both Robert and Margaret are such strong characters that it was fun watching them each trying to gain the upper hand, and both failing miserably.

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

KR: I don’t mind answering anything. I understand that people come from different places in their understanding of the writer’s journey. I find that the questions people ask reveal as much about them as my answers might reveal about me.

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

KR: Now here’s the funny thing. I was all prepared to answer the question this way: I’m not surprised by the actions of the characters, because I know the book extremely well before I ever begin writing it.

But something happened while I was working on my current book. Something one of the characters said stopped me in my tracks. It was an “AHA!” moment, and I realized what had been happening in the background. So, short answer: Yes, I guess I am surprised.

DC: Robert and Margaret are your hero and heroine in the book. Would you tell our readers about them? Were they clear in your mind when you started their story or did they evolve as the book did?

For three years following the deaths of his wife and child, Robert remained in France, but he’s been summoned home to take up his responsibilities. He’s coming to grips with grief in the place where he and his wife lived, and it’s extraordinarily difficult for him. A former member of Parliament, he’s seeking a purpose to life.

Margaret has lost her talent, and since her talent has always defined her, she is seeking a meaning to life as well.

Unknowingly, they help each other become different people, stronger, wiser, and more willing to love.

I always know the characters very well from the beginning. I do character studies of each person, and know as much about them from birth to their place in the story as I can. I know what each character eats for breakfast, his first love, what fabrics he likes, if he has a favorite relative, etc. Granted, I may not share all of that information with the reader, but my knowledge of each character helps me.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

KR: No. I’d always win.

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

KR: I’m a working writer, so I probably have a different take on that question. Nothing distracts me. It’s my job.

I have a goal for almost all stages of a book. For example, I impose a 5000 word count per day for the first draft. I don’t care if I can’t make that goal until 3:00 AM; I WILL make it.

DC: Where did the idea for A Scotsman in Love come from?

KR: There was a show a few years ago called Connections. It demonstrated how ideas are linked, and it always fascinated me. I think the way I get ideas works the same way. I’ll try to track the process.

1. I happened across a painting by a 19th century Scottish artist, Christina Robertson. I wondered if I could make my next heroine an artist.
2. I saw a photo of Scotland in winter, and knew I wanted winter as a setting.
3. Something I read about carriage accidents prompted a search for statistics, and I was shocked to learn how many people were actually injured or killed in carriage accidents.
4. I envisioned a man who was experiencing his own “winter of the soul” – if you’ll excuse the melodrama – paired with a woman who didn’t believe in love. The plot began to form.

Here’s that special treat:

CHAPTER 1

Glengarrow, Scotland
1852
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Every morning and afternoon, Margaret Dalrousie walked the grounds of Glengarrow, daring the ghosts to accost her.
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Over the last few months, it had become a game of sorts. She was determined to persevere despite her feeling the house disliked her. Or perhaps anyone disturbing Glengarrow’s eerie serenity would have felt the same.
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This morning, dead leaves in shades of persimmon and ochre clustered in bunches in front of the gates. A gust of wind suddenly tossed the leaves into the air, and as they tumbled across the brittle grass, they made a sound like slippered feet on a wooden floor.
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No one had danced at Glengarrow for years.
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Between the front parlor windows was a space where the yellow silk curtains didn’t meet, revealing furniture draped in pale linen shrouds. Janet kept the dust in abeyance and her husband, Tom, armed himself with the task of ensuring that all was well in the Earl of Linnet’s ancestral home. To that end, he did as much as he could with no funds. The roof leak was patched; the rotting windowsill in a third floor maid’s room was removed and replaced. Six months ago, a squirrel had ventured into the south wing and created a nest in the fireplace; a generation of birds had raised their young in the ornate carved cornice above the blue velvet curtains of the ballroom.
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At least – as Tom said – the birds and squirrels brought life and sound to the house, banishing the eternal silence.
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The villagers said Glengarrow was haunted, that it had been for years, ever since the Earl of Linnet left for a trip to the Continent with his family. But if ghosts lived there, they roused only to guard the sprawling old house. They showed themselves to mortals with a flick of a curtain, a glimpse of moonlight reflected in a window, or a soughing sound as the wind careened through the trees.
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If she believed in such things.
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The house was deceptively small from the front. Two long wings stretched to the back from either side, and in the rear of the house was a large courtyard, its ornamental urns now draped in burlap, the yews and rosebushes likewise protected against winter.
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Margaret slid her gloved hands into the slits of her cape and stared up at the
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front of the house through the rusted iron fence. Window frames of faded white contrasted vividly against brick the color of dried blood. Broad gray steps led to a wide front door badly in need of painting. No doubt the pitted brass fixtures had once gleamed brightly.
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Glengarrow seemed to know it wasn’t at its best and consequently, wasn’t the least welcoming. Four rows of windows reflected a pewter-colored sky and a long, straight lane framed by gray, skeletal trees. The old house was perched on the top of a rise, its back to an outcropping of Ben Mosub. Almost a stubborn house. Or Scot. Glengarrow was definitely Scot.
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The wind pushed against her, and she wrapped her cape tighter. Despite the fact the bare branches of the trees were coated with ice, and snow was hinted at in the gray sky, the weather was still temperate compared to what she’d experienced in the last three years.
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She shook her head. Now was not the time to think of Russia. Instead, she began to walk once more, taking the path to the gates of Glengarrow as she did every morning and every evening. Her walks were meant to take time away from her thoughts, not allow them to overwhelm her.
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“Commune with nature, Miss Dalrousie,” the physician had said. “Allow God in His mercy to show you what a wondrous world this truly is. Find a place rife with beauty and let it sink into your soul. You will be yourself within weeks, I venture.”
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She had not exactly chosen Scotland as a refuge. Instead, it had chosen her. As for beauty, there were plenty of places in this corner of the Highlands that brought a sigh to her soul. Each time she witnessed the birth of a dawn bathed in gold and pink or saw the mountain’s craggy peak swathed in clouds, she wanted to weep.
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What good was beauty when she couldn’t replicate it?
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No, she wasn’t going to think about that, either.
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Someone had cleared the walk, removing the dead branches and the worst of the leaves. Tom, again.
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Tom was the one who’d advised her to begin walking Glengarrow’s paths. “Oh, the earl be abroad, Miss Dalrousie,” Tom had told her months ago. “Gone near three years. He’ll not be caring.” Tom had looked sad then, but she’d not asked the cause for his sudden expression. As she’d grown more private, she’d reciprocated by respecting the privacy of others.
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She pushed open the iron gate and slid inside. Flanking the gate on either side was a red brick pillar. Atop each was a stone lion, carved in a lion rampant pose more often found on a coat of arms, the beast seated with one paw raised.
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As she did every morning, she nodded to the lions but they ignored her in favor of staring impassively down the lane. Today, instead of taking the path closest to the house, she took the lower walk, choosing the approach to the gardens along a tall brick wall.
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She began to count the steps, another habit she’d acquired. Forty steps to the wall. Fifty-three additional steps to the bench in front of the embrasure. Sometimes, she’d sit on the bench and stare at the urn carved in relief on the wall, wondering whom it honored and why at that particular spot.
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This morning, however, she passed the bench and continued on, down the gradual slope to the edge of the forest. From somewhere deep inside the woods came the sharp cry of a fox. Just as suddenly, a flock of birds flew swiftly up from the top of the trees, alarmed at her approach.
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She veered to the right, still following the path, returning to counting again. The numbers kept her from thinking. Thinking led to remembering, and memories were not good company of late.
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Yesterday afternoon she’d surprised a deer in this very spot. The two of them had stared at each other, both nervous creatures. Had the deer felt Margaret’s sudden fear, or had it simply been alarmed for its own safety? It had turned and bolted into the forest, leaving her to stare after it, wondering what type of haven the deer sought.
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Was there a haven anywhere?
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Resolutely, she continued on the path, her gloved hands clasped together beneath the folds of her cape. Made of brilliant red wool, it was the warmest garment she owned, and still it was not warm enough. Once, she would have passed over the cape in favor of something lined in fur, an ankle-length cloak with a hood, perhaps. She’d sold that garment before leaving Russia, to a minor noble who wanted it as a gift for his mistress.
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Not again. She halted once more, staring into the forest, the trunks of the trees now only a mass of sticks with a few die-hard leaves affixed to them. The winter forest bounding Glengarrow was ugly, without color, a stark representation of her mood.
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Why today? Why was she determined to revisit the past today?
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She began walking again, keeping her mind empty, her feet on the path and her gaze on the monochromatic landscape. A bird, braver than his compatriots, flew down and perched on the wall bordering Glengarrow as if to take a look at her. He, too, was winter-colored with a brownish gray plumage. He tilted his head as he regarded her, then flew away, leaving her feeling as if she hadn’t passed his inspection.
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The air was colder now, but she was walking into the wind, heading back uphill. To her left, the base of the mountain was separated from the house by only a thin strip of forested land. She welcomed the cold, her thoughts finally diverted from the past and fixed on the effect of the wind on her exposed skin.
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A fox cried again, but that was the only sound other than the sough of the wind. Margaret wrapped her arms around her waist beneath the cape. Perhaps she was not as immune to Scottish winters as she’d thought. This was a damp cold seeping into her bones and making them ache.
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She’d have a cup of tea, perhaps, when she reached her snug little cottage. Later, she’d have one of Janet’s jam tarts. That, and a book she’d not yet read, part of a shipment from Edinburgh. There, the afternoon was planned, as her mornings always were.
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The sudden sound was oddly discordant. A deep thumping echoed from the forest and back again, as if Glengarrow had suddenly developed a heart, and it was now beating furiously. Startled, Margaret remained in place, her eyes darting from the trees to the wall between her and the house, then to the lane ahead of her. The sound was louder, but she still didn’t recognize it.
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A rider abruptly appeared at the end of the lane, as if he’d magically sprouted there. Then, suddenly, where there had only been one rider, now there were four of them. No, six. A carriage rumbled down the road, followed by a slower wagon piled high with trunks and cases and followed by still more outriders. The strange drumbeat now sounded like thunder.
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She marked the exact moment the leader saw her. His gaze was straight ahead, directed at Glengarrow. A moment later, he glanced to the right, in her direction. In less time than it took for Margaret to realize she was in danger, he spurred his horse and began riding straight for her.
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She turned and started to run, leaving the path and heading into the forest. The peace of the early morning had been shredded and in its place this terrifying cacophony. Her heart was beating so hard it was difficult to breathe. She raced through the trees, up a gentle slope, all the while seeking sanctuary. But winter had stripped the forest of any covering, and the trees were too young to provide any hiding place behind their trunks.
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As she ran, she glimpsed shadows on either side of her, horses with caped riders, dark specters flying over the frozen ground. Her breath escaped her lungs in panting gusts, little clouds of terror.
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Glancing over her shoulder proved that her fears were real. She was being pursued by five more horsemen.
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This was Hell, revisited.
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She emerged from the line of forest to face a small clearing. On the other side of it were granite boulders the size of a man, marking the base of the mountain.
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One by one, the men emerged from the trees, each horse and rider ringing her until she was surrounded.
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A scream caught in her throat and emerged from between her lips like a kitten’s tiny cry. Last time, she’d begged for mercy. This time, she wouldn’t beg. But they would have to kill her before it happened again.
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One man garbed in a black greatcoat urged his horse closer. He held up his hand as if to silence the others. But none of them had spoken. Nor were there any smiles in evidence.
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Her assault was to be no matter for amusement, then.
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The leader still didn’t speak, merely walked his horse closer. He had a handsome face, but she’d learned attractiveness was no guarantee of character. Sometimes evil was exquisitely beautiful.
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His hair, thickly black, was too long, curling over his collar and falling down on his forehead. His nose was narrow, and his lips thinned by anger. He would tower over her if standing next to her. Even on a horse, he was commanding.
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His face was ruddy with cold, but he wore no hat. That absence alone marked him as arrogant. Did he think himself impervious to the weather?

When she awoke this morning, she had no idea her life would end today. She had no inkling that today, of all her days, she would die trying to protect not her virtue, but her very soul.
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This would not happen to her again.
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She pulled her hands back beneath her cape, clenching them together out of sight. With more daring than she believed possible, she straightened her shoulders and tilted her chin up so she might face him with her own show of arrogance.
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“Why have you waylaid me?” she demanded.
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“Why are you trespassing on Glengarrow land?”
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She stared at him a moment. “You’re the Earl of Linnet, then?”
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He nodded. “I am. Who are you?”
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Being an earl did not render him less dangerous than he appeared. Being an earl was merely a title, and she’d already been the victim of men with titles.
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“Will you let me pass? Or have you other plans, you and your men?”
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He didn’t answer. Instead, he lifted his left hand again. Just that, and the five men on the opposite side of the clearing disappeared, fading into the winter forest as if they, too, had become black and white and gray.
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Still, four men were behind him, each of them intently focused on the confrontation.
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“Who are you?” he asked again, and she understood. The price of her safety was information.
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“Margaret Dalrousie,” she said. Would there be a reaction? Evidently the Earl of Linnet paid no attention to society.
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“Why were you trespassing?” he asked.
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Did he think she was a threat to Glengarrow? That she was a vagabond?
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“I take my walks here,” she answered. “Because the area is peaceful and private, and there was no one to bother me. Until today.”
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He didn’t speak, only raised his left hand. This time, however, the men flanking him slowly walked their mounts to the side so he could turn.
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“Find another place to walk, Miss Dalrousie,” he said over his shoulder. “I have come home.”
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Margaret was too busy drawing a deep breath to respond. As her heart slowed its frantic beat, she stared after the Earl of Linnet.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

KR: I haven’t a clue, honestly. In my early books, however, I never used to spend so much time on character profiles, so perhaps I’ve changed.

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

KR: I adore mysteries, and I currently have a mystery with a heavy romantic theme with my agent. We’ll see what happens with it.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

KR: You are going to fail spectacularly and magnificently, but every single misstep will be a correction, and every single failure will be a lesson. No matter what happens, don’t stop. Never quit. As difficult as it will be sometimes, you’ll look back and see all those failures and hardships as a blessing.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Karen Ranney?

KR: A Scotsman in Love on May 1, 2009, and Sold to a Laird on December 1, 2009.

Sold to a Laird begins a trilogy centering around a strange mirror. I’m currently writing the second of the trilogy, and the publication date for this book is probably going to be May or June of 2010.

Blurb for Sold to a Laird:

Lady Sarah was the daughter of the Duke of Herridge, but had come to expect almost anything of her father. When he insists that she marry a perfect stranger, a man who, by all accounts, is nothing but an adventurer, he’s gone too far.
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She might marry to save her mother, but she isn’t going to like Mr. Eston. Nor was she about to share her life, her thoughts, or her bed with him!
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He was the most maddening – and exciting – man. And why did he insist on being naked most of the time?
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Douglas Eston hadn’t expected to find himself married to a woman so much more elevated in rank than he. In fact, he hadn’t any rank at all, growing up an orphan on Perth’s streets and alleys. But he’d made something of himself, and made himself wealthy as well.
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The woman he’d met in London stunned him, elicited his admiration, and summoned feelings he’d never thought to have.
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Now, if he could only convince Lady Sarah to give their marriage a chance.

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

DC: I’ve been a VP of Sales, a Director of Marketing, and held numerous positions in national banks. You name it, I’ve done it. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine what I’d be doing if I weren’t writing. I just know I wouldn’t be very happy doing it.

DC: Who’s your favorite author?

I read voraciously. I love different authors for different things, but I don’t have a favorite. The minute I do, it changes the next day.

DC: Favorite book?

KR: Same as above.

Lightning Round:

– dark or milk chocolate?
Definitely dark.
– smooth or chunky peanut butter?
Almond butter – smooth
– heels or flats?
Flats, after years of wearing heels
– coffee or tea?
Coffee in the morning, decaf in the afternoon, and herbal tea at night
– summer or winter?
Autumn (sorry to be a contrarian).
– mountains or beach?
Something flat without water or heights. (Don’t like either the mountains or the beach.)
– mustard or mayonnaise?
Mustard.
– flowers or candy?
Flowers
– pockets or purse?
Pockets
– Pepsi or Coke?
Neither
ebook or print?
Ebook (Kindle) for fiction, but print for research and non-fiction books

And just for some more fun:

1. What is your favorite word?

I don’t have one – I love the music of words, though.

2. What is your least favorite word?

Nubbin, as well as some other words used in erotica.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Life itself. I was fortunate to learn a lesson when I was young about the brevity of life. I know that each day is a gift, and that’s a lesson I never, ever forget. Knowing that, it pretty much puts everything else in perspective.

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Negativity. I try to surround myself with people who are upbeat. I firmly believe in the adage: the only difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone is the way you use it.

5. What sound or noise do you love?

So many. Jets overhead, the doves in my neighborhood, the sound of rain in all its permutations, the wind chime outside my office, and on and on and on.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?

The backup beep from construction equipment and the garbage truck. Drives me slightly nuts. (We have an odd garbage truck driver. He speeds down the street, and then backs up the entire street to empty each bin, beeping the whole way.)

7. What is your favorite curse word?

Actually, I use the word snickelfritz. It demonstrates my irritation while maintaining some couth.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

None

9. What profession would you not like to do?

When I was working my way through graduate school, I had some ghastly jobs. For example, I worked as a cocktail waitress in this tux and tails outfit that left me half naked. But the tips were great. I also once worked at a sex line for one whole night – I actually wanted the experience for a book I was writing. Now THAT was funny.

Bottom line, if I had to work to keep a roof over my head and food in my stomach, I’d do just about anything as long as it was moral and ethical.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

“Welcome, honey, your mom’s right over there, waiting for you.”

DC: Karen, thank you so much for chatting with us today!