Sandy Blair is in the Lair!

interview with Suz



Banditas and Bandit Buddies we have one of my all time favorite authors, and my very good friend, Sandy Blair in the Lair today to talk about her novella Her MacKinnon, featured in the Mommoth Book of Scottish Romances. Please pull up a chair and help me welcome Sandy!

Sandy: Hi Suzanne. Thanks for inviting me to blog with your wonderful Bandits again. I really enjoy the site and usually only lurk when a favorite author is on.

Suz: Her MacKinnon in the Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance is your second novella for the Mammoth book series. What makes this such an appealing market for your stories?


Sandy: The Mammoth books provide readers a broad spectrum of plots and author voices under one cover. They also provide authors with an opportunity to stretch while reaching a broad audience. (I.e. Time-travels are a hard sell in today's market. Mammoth provides me with an outlet to write and sell yet another subgenre I love.)


Suz: In Her MacKinnon, you have a ghost, a modern day heir and a modern day heroine. How did you bring these three characters together?



Sandy: Through a little magic. ?

Suz: Your first novel A Man In A Kilt had a ghost as the hero, too. Are you intrigued with ghosts? Or do you just think Scottish tales are a good vehicle for them?



Sandy: Thanks to its turbulent history I suspect Scotland is littered with many a ghost and I'll admit to being fascinated by them but my incorporating a ghost into a Man In A Kilt came about as a flight of pure fancy. I was staring at my hubby's ancestral Highland home Castle Stalker, wondering what our lives might be like if he'd inherited the island bound fortress instead of some distant cousin , one thought lead to another and then I wondered, "What if it came with a ghost?" Her MacKinnon came about over dinner when my son pondered the possibilities of inanimate objects being possessed by spirits. Grinning, I ran with the premise.

Suz: You do quite a bit of research for your books. What special research did you do for Her MacKinnon?


Sandy: After becoming reacquainted with the clan's history, I had to become familiar with the isle's current look, (i.e. roadways and buildings.) As I pumped a Scottish born friend for brand names (i.e. an inexpensive car, brand of shampoo) for this contemporary ghost story I was surprised to learn many items mentioned would be American brands. (The world is indeed getting smaller which takes some of the "romance" out of travelling.)



Suz: I know you have a lovely new tale, titled "The King's Mistress". Where did you get the idea for that story and what is it about?

Sandy: Thanks. I'd been researching another tale when I came across several odd details related to King Alexander III's life and death. I found myself wondering if things really happened as reported or if the facts supplied to historians were simply a means of covering up jealousy and murder?.and so this new story took shape. I hope to see this tale released shortly.

Suz: So do I! I adore the hero and heroine in that story! Any other news you'd like to share with our Banditas and our Bandit Buddies?

Sandy: Oh yeah. Scott and I have recently left our comfort zones and best friends to be near more family. We're currently living in New Hampshire with my daughter and her family as we wait for our new home to be finished. Which will hopefully be soon. I seriously miss my desk-top computer and bed. (I've discovered I'm definitely not a lap-top kinda gal. Become all thumbs and random cursers.)

Suz: I have to confess I "stole" these pictures from Sandy's website. www.sandyblair.net That's Skibo Castle just above and that's Sandy on the staircase inside Skibo! The other castle is Castle Stalker, the Castle for the insipiration of A Man In A Kilt. 


So, readers, have YOU ever been to a castle? Which one and where? Ever met a ghost? Tell us about it!
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Leanna Renee Hieber in the Lair

sponsored by Donna MacMeans



It's my great pleasure to welcome Leanna Renee Hieber in the lair. As you see she's already impressed the GR. Read on, as I'm sure she'll impress you too.



Leanna is here to talk about her debut, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. Here's the back cover blurb:



What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death….

The Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog Tour Day 12!

Tower of London – Tower Hill, EC3 - England’s Most Haunted Building – The ghost of poor Margaret Pole!

Hello Banditas! I’m so excited to be here! Thanks Donna for arranging this and thanks Banditas for having me. For you, I’ve something special, a particular historical treat and one of my personal favourite ghosts I use in the book.

For those of you just joining us, the purpose of this Haunted tour is to celebrate the release of my Gothic Victorian fantasy debut, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, this Tour will introduce you to some of the real, documented London haunts who “ghost-star” in my book. When Professor Alexi Rychman and his Guard of spectral police make their rounds, it is to any number of London phantasms. Since these characters are familiar to The Guard, I don’t get to tell their full story in the book. But here I can give them their due. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of the novel, first in the Strangely Beautiful series!

Today brings us to what is widely regarded as England’s most haunted premises: The Tower of London!

This definite tourist attraction has been infamous since its construction in 1078 by William the Conqueror.

The building hosts many haunts, from King Henry VI (Killed, tradition says, by infamous Richard III) to the poor Edward V and Richard, Duke of York (also dispatched by Richard III) King Henry VIII’s famous victims Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey, to our Ghost-Star of the day, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury.

Henry VIII vengeance is famous, and it extended to the 72 year old Countess, punishing her in the place of her son, Cardinal Pole. The Cardinal was away in France, having rejected the King’s claim as head of the Church of England. Henry VIII brought the Countess to the block instead. On May 27th, 1541 she was scheduled for execution. When the time came and she was commanded to drop to her knees by the executioner, she boldly replied: “So should traitors do and I am none.” The executioner proceeded to then chase the poor woman around the scaffold until she was very literally chopped to death. This grim chase scene has been repeated countless times on the anniversary of the horrid spectacle.

Here’s how she comes up in The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker:

"My God. Not you again …”
Jane was not a weak woman. She trekked down the Minories to the Tower of London on a regular basis to face the local specters. While none of her illustrious group could ever completely confine or expel the tower’s many spirits, with a gentle Celtic admonition she policed its boundaries, keeping the antics of centuries of ghosts inside the ancient, worn stone walls, bade poor Margaret Pole and her brutal, ax-wielding executioner remain within their usual bounds of the Tower Green lest they disrupt the whole of Tower Hill with the gruesome repetition of her death was a daily routine. But this black cloud floating before her was more terrifying than any of the tower’s offerings, were there a hundred Margaret Poles and a thousand chasing executioners and were the flowing silver blood of ghosts to turn red. This blackness was terror itself. It hovered at the threshold, taking up her entire doorway. When last Jane had seen it, she’d had the aid of her companions. Even then, it had almost taken Elijah’s life.
The cloud congealed into the form of a single-headed canine. That head then multiplied, and the beast stalked forward and began to circle her chair. From its feet, which hovered a good six inches from the ground, blood appeared to drip. Blood culled from Whitechapel. Blood drawn from single, unaccompanied women …

I’m indebted to Richard Jones, founder of the fabulous Discovery Walks of London and author of the fantastic compendium “Haunted London” and “Walking Haunted London” published by Barnes & Noble Books, a main resource for my research. Visit him at http://www.haunted-london.com/. Come visit me at http://www.leannareneehieber.com/ to find out more about The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and follow me to History Hoydens for the final stop on the Haunted London Blog tour! I hope you’ll also pick up the book and love it as much as I loved writing it! If you have the book already, then enter my CONTEST! (Details on website)
Hey readers, like poor Margaret Pole, do you have a favourite tragic tale? Or perhaps a ghost story? Be sure to comment here to be entered to win a signed copy of the book!
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