Thank you for joining us again at Duck Chat!

For you historical readers and paranormal readers, and for those who are just looking for some good books to read, be sure to check our chat with Sandy Blair today!

Besides rich Scottish history, flawed and sensitive characters dealing with a bit of the paranormal, Sandy also adds humor in her writing. She’s one of the very few authors out there who does humor well. Her Castle Blackstone series began in 2004 with Man in a Kilt, A Rogue in a Kilt that same year, and A Thief in a Kilt in 2006.  Sandy took a break from the series and wrote a holiday novel, A Highlander for Christmas in 2007. She now has a new novella, MacDuff”s Secret, in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance which is due to release in a few months.

Sandy is married, and she and her husband Scott live in Texas. They travel from coast to coast visiting their children and grandchildren whenever they can. When she’s not writing, Sandy is involved with Habitat for Humanity, throws dinner parties when time allows, and chases after Coco, the family dog.

Today Sandy is graciously offering a hardcover of her third Castle Blackstone book, A Thief in a Kilt, for one lucky commenter. So leave that meaningful comment or question and cross your fingers!  Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Sandy, for those folks who have yet to discover your books, would you give them a hint of your writing, the genre, what they’re likely to see in your stories, and whatever else you’d like them to know?

SANDY BLAIR: Sure, Sandy, and thank you for this opportunity. My lighthearted Highlander novels are more often than not set in Scotland. The periods range from early medieval to modern. Many have a paranormal element (i.e. time-travel, a ghost) simply because the possibility tends to stretch the imagination and gives me more latitude for humor. To date I’ve published three time-travels, one straight historical romance, and two with bewitched/fey heroines.

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

SB: LOL. The question: “Does your husband find you funny?”

The answer: “No, if you mean funny in the Ha-Ha kind of way and not the seriously strange kind of way.”

My Scot husband, however, has a wonderfully dry wit and more often than not serves as a model for my heroes.

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?

SB: I’m taken by surprise on a daily basis after the first 100 pages. By that point the characters have become real entities in my head, with minds and motives of their own…as if I were channeling people who once liveD through the events and times I’m describing.

The exception to this rule was Ian, the hero of A Thief In A Kilt. He came to life in my previous novel, A Rogue In A Kilt, so when I started Thief, he was already a full blown entity in my mind. I felt comfortable letting loose the reins earlier than usual and allowed him to write/dictate most of the book.

DC: You have a new novella in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance, which is due to release in December. MacDuff’s Secret sounds like a lot of fun. Can you give us a sneak peek?

SB: Sure! Here’s the blurb for MacDuff’s Secret, a time-travel set in 1060 Scotland.

“How bad could it be?” That’s all Sarah Colbert had 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.

No excerpt for MacDuff’s Secret yet, so how about the trailer:

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

SB: I never argue. I think it far more important that the story ring true than for me to adhere to a synopsis I wrote months earlier/before I came to know my characters.

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

SB: American Idol, Top Chef, or Project Runway.

DC: Your fans are very familiar with your Castle Blackstone series. Would you tell us about the series overall and then we’ll talk about the books.

SB: Castle Blackstone came to mind as I was sitting on a hill overlooking my husband’s paternal line’s ancestral home, Stalker Castle. I was staring at the Stewart of Appin isle-bound fortification and wondered, “What might life be like if Scott inherited it?” (Of course hundreds would have to die including his elder brother before anything like that would come to pass, but that aside…) Anyway, I was wondering if the “romance” of living on an isle would be short-lived if I had to get in boat every time I needed a loaf of bread, and deciding no, I then wondered, “What if it came with a ghost?” And with that thought came the characters Beth and Duncan and A Man In A Kilt was born.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

SB: A Man In A Kilt. That neon yellow all but jumped off the shelves.

DC: How about your least favorite cover? Why?

SB: A Highlander For Christmas. The cover model is slouched and not nearly as brawny as my hero. Thankfully, few took notice and sales were good.

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?

SB: I don’t know that they evolve so much as I explore different aspects of the female psyche. What makes a particular woman tick. Is she working out issues from the past, is she fearful of the unknown, or has she simply not yet come into her own?

DC: So far there’s three books in the series, A Man in a Kilt, A Rogue in a Kilt, and A Thief in a Kilt. First, how are the books related? Then would you tell our readers a little about each book?

SB: The Castle Blackstone books are all stand alone tales. You don’t have to have read the first to make sense of the next but they are related. A Man in A Kilt features Duncan MacDougal, whom you initially meet as a ghost. Duncan’s best friend, Angus, is the hero of the next book, A Rogue in A Kilt, and Angus’s friend Ian is the hero of A Thief In A Kilt. All are well-researched, light-hearted paranormal tales that hopefully carry the reader back to a time and place that interests them.

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

SB: Funny you should ask. I’m currently working on my first historical biographical fiction, much of which is set in Scotland.

DC: You have a team, Kilted Lassies, made up of your fan club members for the Unleash Your Story write/book-a-thon to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. How’s that going?

SB: We’re having a great time reading as many books as possible in an effort to raise funds to help researchers find better treatments and a cure for Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes life-threatening dietary and repository problems in children. If anyone would like to join our read-a-thon, there’s still time to become either a Kilted Lassie or to do so on their own. Just visit the website and sign up!

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

SB: That’s easy. Start writing now! Don’t wait until the children are grown.

DC: Will there be more books in the Castle Blackstone series?

SB: I sincerely hope so. A Warrior In A Kilt, currently alive and well in my computer, needs a good home. As does Birdi and Angus’s disarming and occasionally quite alarming daughter, wee Charlotte.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

SB: A lass who has lived life beyond her wildest fantasies, having slept in castles, dined with peerage, and knelt in cathedrals where king’s and queens have been crowned and who is now following her grandest dream; writing Romances about people who also live out their dreams.

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

SB: Make ‘em laugh and make ‘em cry.

DC: You’ve been to Scotland a number of times for research for your books. What’s your favorite memory from your travels there? Your favorite place?

SB: The memories are too numerous to list. Seeing Edinburgh for the first time took my breath away, as did wandering the many castle ruins, windswept machair and mountains. Scotland is, in a word, ethereal. My favorite hide-away while in Scotland has to be Skibo Castle, where every visitor is made to feel like family. (You can find pictures on my web site photo gallery. Just click on “Extras.”) On our next trip, Scott and I would very much like to spend more time in the outer isles.

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

SB: If I hadn’t had the burning need to write, I’d likely still be nursing.

DC: I know you’re also an artist who loves to work with watercolors. Ever get the itch to throw up a canvas and create like mad? Or is it like most hobbies, the time just isn’t there like it used to be and it’s been ages since you’ve picked up a brush?

SB: The urge to paint still hits now and then, but time is limited so I rarely follow through.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Sandy Blair?

SB: Hopefully, the New York Times list. My hubby wants to retire in the custom he has yet to grow accustomed to.

Lightning Round:

– dark or milk chocolate?     – Dark, always!
– smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – Smooth.
– heels or flats?     – Heels! They make my butt look better.
– coffee or tea?    – Coffee and lots of it, particularly if I’m on deadline!
– summer or winter?     – Summer. I don’t do cold.
– mountains or beach?     – Beach, preferably in the Caribbean
– mustard or mayonnaise?     – Mayonnaise
– flowers or candy?     – I’ll take both, thank you.
– pockets or purse?     – Purse. If I tried to shove all I carry into pockets I’d look wider than an eighteen wheeler.
– Pepsi or Coke?    – What? You ran out of wine??
– ebook or print?    – PRINT!

And because we’re not tired of them yet:

1. What is your favorite word?    – Yes.
2. What is your least favorite word?     – The F word. I have yet to understand how anyone can throw it around in casual conversation.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Anything from unique architecture to a falling star.
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Scott being upset totally distracts me…even when I’m not the cause.
5. What sound or noise do you love?     – The sound of the surf.
6. What sound or noise do you hate?     – Anything cutting on/into Styrofoam. Ewwwwww.
7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Sh*t is usually the first word that comes to mind.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – That’s easy. I’d buy a castle ruin and restore it to its former glory using local artisans OR I’d dive for sunken treasure in the Caribbean OR become a diamond cutter.
9. What profession would you not like to do?     – Be a garbage collector in New York.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?     –  “You made a lot of people happy.”

DC: Sandy, thank you so much for being with us today!