Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Kate Robbins, author of Highland romances, my guest today

Welcome with me today, author of Highland romances, Kate Robbins. Kate lives in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada where she writes historical romance novels out of pure escapism and a love for all things Scottish, not to mention a life-long enjoyment of reading romance. She enjoys the research process and delving into secondary sources in order to blend authentic historical fact into her stories. She has traveled to Scotland twice and visited the sites described in her Highland Chiefs series set in the early fifteenth century during the reign of James Stewart.

Kate will be giving away the ebook of Promised to the Highlander and a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky commenter.


On Stepping Away from Fact: When the History Doesn’t Fit the Story by Kate Robbins

Thank you so much, Regan, for having me here today.

Any writer will tell you that no matter how much they know a subject, there will always be a need for a certain amount of research. For me, this is one of my favorite parts of being a writer. I have always been fascinated with Scottish culture and history, and now I get to take some of that history and shape it into a story.

I’ve set my series in the fifteenth century, during the reign of James Stewart, first of his name. This king’s story has always captivated me. Imprisoned in England for some 18 years, he returned to Scotland with an English wife and new laws on authoritative reform. He wasted no time in imposing them, either.
James I of Scotland

Can you imagine how that went over with the nobles? The resulting power struggle eventually ended in his assassination just 13 years after his return to his homeland. But his legacy lived on, and the Stewarts continued to reign in Scotland for many generations.

The other fascinating part of researching this time period was learning about the clans who supported him and those who vehemently opposed him. Each of the five books in my series focuses on a different clan chief and shows his challenges and, of course, his love story.

The series is set just about as far north as one can travel, Tongue Village is nestled along the side of the Kyle of Tongue and is lush and as green as I’ve ever witnessed. Atop a lonely hill sits the ruins of an old watchtower, which gives an incredible vantage point for the surrounding area. No wonder the ancient MacKay clan built Varrich Castle where they did, as they would be able to see anyone coming from any direction for miles out.

The first story begins with a Stewart supporter—James MacIntosh. Ambitious and driven to ensure his clan continues to thrive long after his time, he has a close connection with the king. This was a tough one for me because I didn’t really like the king’s politics so much and so I had to explore all the reasons anyone in James’ position would want to side with him.

My favorite hero in the series so far is Fergus MacKay from Promised to the Highlander. From the first moment his name spewed from my fingers in Bound to the Highlander, I was enamored with him. I needed to know everything I could find on the MacKays and, in doing so, learned of their long-standing feud with the Sutherlands who are the focus of book three.

Both, incidentally, were not supporters of King James I. They could not see how anyone could rule and care for their clans from so far away. And so for a time, they did not recognize him as their king. Having said that, the Sutherland/MacKay feud was legendary and lasted generations.
While traveling to Scotland to explore MacKay country in the far north, I discovered the Strathnaver museum at Bettyhill. It has an entire room on the second floor dedicated to clan MacKay—I had struck research gold! 


Strathnaver museum

My primary research up to this point was from online searches and a wee clan history book I’d bought at the Loch Ness gift shop. In it, I’d read a legend of a young warrior who had to prove his mettle by slaying a wild boar guarding the door to the warrior’s celebratory feast.

This didn’t sit well with me and after visiting the museum and learning more about the warrior MacKay clan, I decided to switch it up a little. In the prologue of Promised to the Highlander, I tell the story of a very young Fergus MacKay and of his initiation into manhood. He has been left hungry, but so has the boarhound guarding the feast. Instead of slaying it outright, Fergus assesses the situation to determine how to best handle the situation and then he acts in a manner he feels is most appropriate for the situation.

As fiction writers, we have the benefit of taking pieces of history like that and changing them slightly so that we tell what we feel is a better story and, in my case, one that paints a more accurate picture of the hero I wanted to portray.

I’ve been fortunate in that I have been able to visit all the sites I have written about (or made up) in my series. Driving up through the Highlands and seeing Linlithgow Palace, Dunrobin Castle, and the Varrich Castle ruins up close and personal, have enable me to understand my character’s world so much better.

 Varrich Castle ruins to the Kyle
This truly is the best job in the world. 

Have you ever wondered if a certain scene or character in a historical novel is based on fact or fiction? I would love to hear about it. Leave a comment and I will pick one winner randomly later to win an e-copy of Promised to the Highlander and a $10 Amazon gift card.


Keep up with Kate at her Website and on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads!

17 comments:

  1. Thank you for having me here today, Regan!

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  2. Hi Regan! Hi Kate!
    No I never thought about that, but when I visited some castles in Scotland, I wondered what really happened within their walls, by touching the stones walls, one wonders!! I'm sure that behind fiction, lies some bits of actual history! Love your book Kate!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Nicole! I had the same feelings when I visited the castles in Scotland, especially Eilean Donan, the one pictured on my blog.

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    2. Hi Nicole! So thrilled you could stop by.

      Oh yes, lots of authors include a lot of historical fact. It's an interesting exercise to learn how and when to step away from the history and let the fiction take over. And visiting changes how I perceived that history as well.

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  3. Long ago when I first started reading historical romances, especially those with a Scottish background and history, I did wonder how much was fiction and how much was historical fact. But that was when I was just a newbie reader. :-) But now that I'm a voracious and particular reader of historical romance, now that I read author biographies and how they write their stories, now that I visit blogs and read reviews on the authors who write historical romance, now I know how much research goes into such story writing. I always figured there was a blend of history and literary license, otherwise the stories would be history books, not historical romances...but I believe there is more history in the romances than ever before in my favorite historical romance authors' stories (and you are one of those favorites, Kate!). I thank you for your writing and for this blog post. jdh2690@gmail.com

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    1. As you know, Janice, it was the research that attracted me to writing historical romance. I loved learning while bringing love to the page. Often it's the history that creates the conflict, like in The Red Wolf's Prize.

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  4. Thanks for stopping by, Janice! And thank you for your comments. :) I think you're right in that there is more actual history going into historical romance these days, but there's a wonderful reason too. And I think it's exactly what we are doing here right now; authors and readers engaging in specifics. I've been asked why I didn't include something or why I changed a fact and I love that. It's a great day when a reader takes the time to ask because they are interested in your story. Cheers!

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  5. Hello Regan and Kate. What a great interview. As to your question, Kate, my answer is a resounding YES.

    I'm a big fan of history and whenever I read a historical novel - and if the period pikes my interest - I will make some research into that particular period. I'm crazy like that - I have to know what is historical fact and what is fiction. Historical novels are my very favorite genre.

    Kate, I already have Promised to the Highlander. I bought it a while ago along with the other two books in the series (on my TBR list). But, I wanted to answer your question... :)

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    1. Liette, I do the same thing when I'm reading a novel. Hence my picture of Tongue, Scotland in my review of Kate's book, Promised to a Highlander. I value your being one of my readers and I'm so glad you came by today!

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    2. Thank you so much for stopping by, Liette. I certainly hope you like my novels and if you have any questions at any point feel free to pop me an email at katerobbins@bellaliant.net. I think it's great that you like to get into the history. It means we authors are doing our jobs in holding your interest. Cheers!

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  6. I love your books and you have a reserved space as one of my treasures. I hope to , within the next year or so to visit Scotland. I like the fact that you can take the history and put your own spin on it for the sake of the story.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Rhonda! I know you'll love Scotland. I didn't want to come home.

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    2. Hey lady!!! So thrilled you could stop by. :) You are going to lose your mind in Scotland. I would love to send you some details on places I visited I think you will love. :)

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  7. Kate I often wonder if a place in a book is fact or fiction but it's not important enough for me to Google the name to see if it exists. A couple of months ago I accidentally found, and bought, a beautifully illustrated booklet called Castles of Scotland which show pictures of and describes some of the Scottish castles. I'll be looking up these you've mentioned to read about them if they're in it. I'd be thrilled to win your ebook and Amazon gift card so I could buy another ebook with it.

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    1. Hi Molly, so glad you stopped by. Yes it's fun to discover which places are real and which are fictional. In my series, thus far, there is only one residence which is fictional and that's Chattan Castle. Eileen Donan castle has inspired much of my fictional castle and I did get to walk through it a couple of times with a guided tour so though it isn't real, the inspiration is.

      All the other places and residences are real and I've visited them all in the hopes that I could paint a clearer picture for readers. So Linlithgow Palace, Edinburgh Castle, Dunrobin Castle, Varrich Castle, are all real.

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  8. Just put all your names in a hat and pulled out Molly's! Congratulations Molly, please email me at katerobbins@bellaliant.net so I can get your prize sorted. Cheers!!

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