Into the Scottish Mist and book giveaway!

Happy Valentine's Day! As many readers know, my own roots are in the auld sod of Ireland, which is why I'm giving away all three books in my Irish trilogy (A Women's Heart, Fair Haven, and Legends Lake) to one lucky person who comments.

However, having married my high school sweetheart -- whose Ross family immigrated from the Highlands of Scotland -- and loving all things Celtic, I'm also a sucker for those sexy Scots in kilts. Like Ian MacKenzie, from Beth Anne Miller's Into the Scottish Mist. And what better topic to chat about on a day dedicated to lovers, than a hero and heroine whose very special love for one another is strong enough to transcend time?

Abby Sanders returns to her beloved Scotland after a long absence, seeking peace after a terrible tragedy. A chance detour reunites her with Ian Mackenzie, the love she left behind four years ago. Their attempt to rekindle their romance along the shore of Loch Ness is cut short when Abby vanishes. After a desperate search for the woman he’s spent four years trying to forget, Ian is forced to believe the unbelievable: he must travel through the mists of time to find Abby. But finding her is just the beginning. Trapped four hundred years in the past, Abby and Ian must find a way to end a bitter clan feud or sacrifice their return to the present and their future together.




Here's what Sizzling Hot Book Reviews had to say about Ian and Abby's story: “Into the Scottish Mist is an epic adventure… Beth Anne Miller captures Scotland and takes us there in vivid detail with the people as well as the scenery!”

And from From Happily Ever After Reviews (5 teacups!):

"Beth Anne Miller has written an enthralling tale that throws you deep
into the mists of time. Where men wore kilts, feuds were commonplace,
trust had to be earned and sword fighting was oh so real. A gripping
page turner with engaging characters that pulls the reader in right to
the end."

Beth Anne Miller is not only a wonderful debut author, she's also my fantabulous agent's equally fab assistant. A born-and-bred New Yorker, she's lived on Long Island (not far from where my mother grew up!) her whole life. She’s been an avid reader since a ridiculously young age (rumor has it she was reading street signs at around 2, but this could be an urban legend), and is often in the middle of several books at once.

She has a long-standing fascination with the sea, and went to college with the intention of studying marine biology (read: hugging whales). She ultimately graduated with a biology degree and went to work in a prestigious research lab. That position lasted for 7 years, during which time she went back to school, earning a Master’s degree in Literature. She now works in the publishing industry, where she gets paid to fulfill her first love: reading.


Beth still loves the sea, and goes scuba diving whenever she can. She loves traveling, especially road trips, the best of which were road trips through Scotland in 2005 and Ireland in 2008. She longs to ride a galloping horse across a purple moor (and if she has a handsome kilted man to accompany her, so much the better).


Welcome Beth!

Thanks for having me, JoAnn!

I can’t quite remember when my fascination with Scotland began, but I know that reading romance novels set in the Scottish Highlands was definitely the catalyst. Lynn Kurland, Karen Marie Moning, Diana Gabaldon—I couldn’t get enough! From there, it spread to a love for bagpipes—oh, and I also quickly developed an admiration for a man in a kilt. ;)


That admiration led to my discovery of the actor Gerard Butler, who hails from the Glasgow area of Scotland. In 2005, he was not particularly well known, except for a small group of extremely devoted ladies who saw him in The Phantom of the Opera movie and were smitten. I got to meet Gerard at a charity event in New York City in April of 2005. It was a fundraiser for Friends of Scotland, and it was at this event that I was also introduced to the awesome sounds of the Scottish band Albannach.


In the summer of 2005, I went on a road trip in Scotland with 2 friends. We stayed in hostels and put 1400 miles on our rental car, driving all over the place—Stirling, Loch Lomond, Glenfinnan, the Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, Orkney, Edinburgh, the borders… we saw as much as we could in the 8 days we were there.






A few months later, I had a lot of downtime at my job, and I started thinking about writing a romance novel about a Scottish actor who falls in love with an average woman from New York who is on a road trip in Scotland (if only!). I found a photo of Gerard from the movie Attila, in which he has this long, wild, dark hair, a scruffy face, and these intense blue-green eyes, and I knew this is what my hero would have to look like! I printed out the photo, and taped it next to my computer for inspiration, and with the brainstorming help of a friend from work, I started writing.


As I refined the story, with the continued brainstorming help of a few dear friends, I never strayed far from my fascination with Scotland. In the summer of 2007, I made my first visit to the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, in the “highlands” of western North Carolina. There, I camped out with fellow Scots-o-phile (the majority of whom actually having Scottish heritage—I am 99.9% sure I was the only Jewish girl on the mountain ), and enjoyed listening to Scottish music and admiring the kilts.

I began Into The Scottish Mist in January, 2006. I foolishly thought it was done in September, 2006, but really, I was just getting started. It went through many rewrites, hack-jobs, and fine-tuning, and I learned so much from writer friends and people in the publishing industry. It went from 172,600 words (yikes!) to just over 100,000, and in December, 2009 (3 Grandfather Mountain Games, many Albannach gigs, and a brief visit to Scotland later), The Wild Rose Press offered me a contract. Then it went through another 2 rounds of edits, and in February, 2011, it’s finally out there!




Now I’m thinking about Book 2 and wondering how soon I can get back across the sea for another road trip through Scotland!

Has anyone else been to Scotland? What was your favorite part? I absolutely loved the Road to the Isles, which we took to get to Skye, and have included some of my photos from that scenic drive! Is there somewhere else you've always dreamed of visiting?




I want to thank Beth for visiting and taking us all on a virtual trip to Scotland with her wonderful photos! Into the Scottish Mist is on sale now, from The Wild Rose Press, in both paperback and e-book. Just click on the link to read an excerpt and buy. (See how easy we make that?)

To give everyone time to comment, I'll be announcing the winner here on the blog Wednesday morning.