A Restless Knight - Deborah MacGillivray

Dreams and obsessions…my starting point for writing A Restless Knight. I worked for my grandfather, a retired historian, doing research and restoration to our family’s history. He translated old papers and I rewrote them in narrative. We were preserving our history and lore, but also making it more readable, accessible.

I became obsessed with a story told for centuries in the family about an English knight who came to claim a Scots lass—my great-great (oodles of greats) grandmother. The story intrigued me, so I spent some time trying to verify the facts. I kept running into the same brick wall. Parts were real, parts I couldn’t prove.

I started to dream about the woman in the tale, my ancestor. Several times a week, I dreamt vividly, saw parts of her life. One day, I knew I wanted to write her story as a Historical Romance.

As I started out, I saw the hero through her eyes. I reached about halfway into the book and knew something was off. It troubled me for a few weeks.

Then Julian Challon came to me one night and demanded I hear his side. Suddenly, I knew what was missing—balance. I had her version of him, not the flesh and blood man. Once I shifted focus away from her, the story was there before my eyes. Julian’ side brought a strength, a power, a poignancy to the tale that I had to portray.

Julian is a powerful man, nearly a king’s equal, but is worn down by the horrors of war. He needs peace. He’s not a brash young knight-errant, but a battle-hardened warrior who can no longer stomach the ugliness, the brutalities warfare brings to men. He hopes by claiming the daughter of a Scottish lord he will discover some measure of healing in the Highlands of Scotland. Little did Challon know he would find more than he ever hoped for in the small glen in the mist-shrouded hills with a lass named Tamlyn.

Deborah


Books:A Restless Knight - July 2006 - Kensington Zebra Historical
The Invasion of Falgannon Isle - December 2006 - Dorchester Love SpellRavenhawke - August 2007 - Kensington Zebra HistoricalRiding the Thunder - December 2006 - Dorchester Love Spell - Cat O' Nine Tales - October 2006 - Highland Press