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It's January. It's cold. Vacation is over. You need a little bit of spice from Book Five, Bonewytch, to get you through the afternoon... The Seduction of Alexander Scott from Bonewytch, Book Five in The Spiral Pathways Series Étaín smiled and stood up. "The thing about a spell is," she said, her voice like silk, "is you have to mean it. There must be intention. Will. Drive. A…building of something, or it won't work." "Um," he said, stepping backwards. "I…you might have to sho

Wondering how to pronounce one of the Gaelic character or place names in Wyldwood? Interested in knowing if a character or place was inspired by a real-world location or person? Wonder no more! Here is a quick rundown of some of the big ones (this is just Part One; Part Two will be a separate post.) Saorsa Stuart: Saorsa's name is pronounced "Sore-shuh" and the name means "freedom". Her mother, Maria Stuart, who was imprisoned when she gave birth, named her daughter for what

In Wyldwood, Alex tells Saorsa that he hails from a place called Buccleuch. But where did this place get its name, and how in the world are you supposed to say it out loud? (My editor for the book laughingly called it "Electric Book-a-clue", as in "Electric Boogaloo.) The name Buccleuch originates from the 10th century and means "Cleft (or ravine) of the Buck". A deep ravine is known as a cleugh, so Buck + Cleugh = Buccleuch. It is pronounce buh-clue. Legend has it King Kenne

In the Spiral Pathways series, there are numerous times when a character uses the Battle Cry of their clan. Clans used these cries to rattle their fighting foes and to help distinguish different sides during a battle. Traditional Battle Cries often invoke a location where Clan members would meet before marching into battle together, or will refer to an important site in the Clan's history, such as the location of the Clan's seat. In Wyldwood, both Alex and Saorsa use their cl

Who, exactly, was Bonnie Prince Charlie? In brief, the Stuarts were the first kings of the United Kingdom. King James VI of Scotland became also King James I of England, which combined the two thrones for the first time. The Stuart dynasty reigned in Scotland and England from 1603 to 1714, but they attempted to lay claim to the crown for another century afterward. The name also appears spelled Stewart, as it is believed the line began when Robert the Bruce's daughter Marjorie

The starting point for Wyldwood came with the pandemic. Everyone suddenly had time at home they normally wouldn't have, and I decided to use mine to load several family trees that had been passed on to me into Ancestry.com. I had grown up thinking that the majority of my ancestors were German. And while there were a lot of Germans in my tree, I was also delighted to find that I had a lot of Irish ancestors as well. Having always felt very connected to Celtic art, music, and m

While Hermitage Abbey and Church were created for the book, Hermitage Castle is a very real place. Considered by many to be "The Most Haunted Castle in Scotland", the Castle is a semi-ruin today. Currently under the care of Historic Scotland, Hermitage has an incredibly creepy history. Also known as the "Strength of Liddesdale" and the guardhouse of the "bloodiest valley in Britain," Hermitage was supposedly build by a man named Nicholas de Soulis around 1240. It stayed in t