A Wealth of Wisdom – Tule Author Leigh Ann Edwards Reflects on Scottish Vacations and Lessons Learned from her Grandmother

I’m excited to be here on the Tule blog today to tell you about Highland Dark Magic, book two in my Witch and Demon Hunter series. For those who don’t know me, I’m Leigh Ann Edwards. I write fantasy romance series often with historical elements and sometimes time travel. I’m thrilled to be working on my fifth series with Tule Publishing and grateful to be part of the wonderful Tule family. 

Living in Alberta, Canada, I’m so glad spring has finally arrived. Our dogs are happy that we can be outside more now that most of our snow has melted. Do I dare say that? I might jinx it and wake up to a blanket of white snow. I can’t believe it’s nearly the end of April. Time goes by incredibly fast and the older I become the faster that seems to happen. 

My paternal grandmother, Mary Edwards, who was sixty when I was born, was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. She was a lovely, gentle soul. When I was about ten I must have been complaining about how slow time went by and Grandma firmly (for her) warned me not to wish time away. Back then it felt like time crawled especially when I was looking forward to something special like Christmas, my birthday, summer holidays, or even returning to school in the fall.  

Grandma Edwards was also a much-loved teacher and she patiently explained that when a person grows older time goes by faster. She said one day, inevitably I would want it to slow down. Of course, I couldn’t understand that then. Not when it took forrrreverrr anxiously awaiting something I wanted. But even things I disliked–– like math class–– just dragged! I remember looking at the clock and thinking it really must have stopped. 

I’m now only a few years younger than Grandma would have been then and I’ve come to realize there was a wealth of wisdom in her cautionary words. I’ve definitely reached the age where I’d like time to slow down. 

I also recall our grade nine English/Language Arts teacher insisting we listen over and over to a song that reflected the same concept Grandma tried to teach me––that the passage of time is perceived differently as we age. He was evidently trying to enlighten a classroom of mostly bored, uninterested teenagers about how quickly life goes by. That song obviously made an impression because I still remember it word for word. Or maybe it’s because we listened to it a hundred times! There are a couple of especially profound lines about being held on the carousel of time, and how it won’t be long till you’ll want to drag your feet to slow it down. I’m hoping I won’t be risking any royalty issues since I’ve changed the words a little. 

I promise there’s a point to me discussing time. Like all the books in this series, time travel plays an important part in Highland Dark Magic. Can you imagine going back in time and meeting your parents or grandparents as children or teenagers when you’re their age? Or stranger still–– when you’re older than them? That happens in this book. 

I’m having so much fun writing this series and creating the story arcs for my main characters, Fiona–– a witch, and Lorcan –– a half-demon and their constantly-evolving relationship after they were forced to become work partners in book one, Dark Irish Demon. I enjoy their banter and their powerful attraction even though their personalities are remarkably different. 

As operatives for LAMB, a paranormal agency, they locate and assess magical beings. Most missions include time travel. They’re able to journey to any decade or century but can go back just a few moments as well. Talk about déjà vu!

In Highland Dark Magic, there are compelling and emotional storylines, mysteries, plot twists, interesting secondary characters, and an extremely unlikeable antagonist. 

Through unexpected circumstances, Fiona and Lorcan meet Arianna and Darius Wyndham, a couple from my Witches of Time series. They’re also Fiona’s maternal grandparents. Fiona is in her early fifties while Darius and Arianna are much younger. As newlyweds, their daughter, Fiona’s mother, hasn’t even been born yet. Combining characters from different centuries makes for some amusing scenes. 

I feel fortunate to have done some hands on research for this story. I’ve been to Scotland twice. It’s a beautiful, scenic country; the landscape reminds me of Canada. I enjoyed talking to the friendly, patriotic people with their diverse Scottish accents. I’ve always been a history buff and holidays never seem long enough with so many historic places to see. 

I loved the capital city of Edinburgh. The medieval architecture is very unique. Their Christmas market was fantastic and their warm mulled wine was so tasty. Edinburgh Castle is home to the Stone of Destiny and the Scottish Crown Jewels. Unfortunately, we’d walked so much on our holiday that by the time we went to the iconic castle, I had several blisters and didn’t enjoy the tour as much as I might have. I was mostly looking for a place to sit down. Good shoes are a must especially when walking on cobblestone streets. 

I loved touring the stunning Highlands and seeing Loch Ness, even though I didn’t spot Nessie. Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument were really interesting. As was Culloden Battlefield but it was also soberingly eerie. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series has increased Scottish tourism exponentially. Her books are available at the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre and other tourist sites. 

Highland romance novels are always very popular. Tule’s own, Gerri Russell has some great stories set in historical Highland Scotland. If you haven’t read her books, I’d highly recommend checking them out.

Several significant scenes in this book take place in Scotland. I wouldn’t consider Highland Dark Magic to be a Scottish romance, per se but there’s certainly a lot of sexual tension. I’d describe the story as a thrilling paranormal adventure. There are highlander ghosts, mythical creatures, actual historical figures, accusations of witchcraft, imprisonment, an unusual method of escape, a dark magical spell, and some nearly heart-stopping moments when it seems this time our characters are well and truly doomed.  

I had my own personal romantic Scottish experience when I married my husband, Mark, who’s originally from England, in Gretna Green Scotland. Our wedding took place on a brilliant sunny afternoon in June 2013. We were told we were very lucky for it tends to rain a lot. It rained that evening and we were assured that was a good sign. 

We rented a grand horse-drawn carriage. The horse’s name was Roger yet I can’t recall the name of the driver. (What can I say? I’m an animal lover.) We had an intimate ceremony––just Mark and me, the magistrate, a harpist, a piper, the photographer, and Mark’s father and step-mum there as witnesses. 

Our wedding was held in a beautiful, old, brick building, once a church, now exclusively used for the many weddings held there daily. It was richly decorated with candle sconces and several bouquets of flowers. The harpist played a Celtic love-song as I walked down the aisle and the Scottish piper in full dress, piped us out afterward. It was truly like a wedding from a romance novel. 

Gretna Green is located just over the Scottish/English border. Steeped in history, it’s known as the elopement capital of Europe. Unlike most countries where those wanting to be wed are required to be eighteen or have their parents’ permission to be married, in Scotland you still only have to be sixteen. There are no strict regulations about being there for a required amount of time previous to the wedding either––which was the case in Ireland and England. 

In past centuries, with so many couples running off to Scotland to be married, at one time any Scottish person could legally marry them. Because he could almost always be found in his shop, often a blacksmith performed the weddings. Marriage ceremonies still take place in one blacksmith shop in Gretna Green and the name Anvil Hall–– our venue–– is a throw-back to the important role blacksmiths played in weddings. 

There was even a massive anvil used during our ceremony. The female magistrate,  smashed the hammer on the anvil to declare us wed. Our wrists were also tied together like the old custom of handfasting. Including those historical traditions on our special day meant so much. After returning to Canada we held a celebratory dinner with family and friends. Our wedding cake was decorated with a Scottish thistle, the floral emblem of Scotland. We still have the cake topper.

When I started this post I wasn’t sure I’d find enough to talk about without giving away too much of the story. I should have known better––when I begin writing I get carried away. I’ll be back in June when book three, Dark Knight’s Kiss will be released. Until then have a lovely spring. Remember to take time to enjoy every moment.

Magical wishes,
Leigh Ann 

About the Author.

Leigh Ann Edwards’ fascination with history, romance, magic, fantasy, time-travel and Ireland sparked her interest in creating the Irish Witch Series and her growing collection of published novels. Growing up in a very small Manitoban village on the Canadian prairies left a lot of time to create stories and let her imagination soar.

An author for nearly thirty years, Leigh Ann has almost completed writing her fourth series with Tule Publishing and will soon begin a fifth. Besides writing, Leigh Ann loves spending time with her four grandchildren, reading, traveling, doing intuitive readings and reiki. Leigh Ann and her husband, their two cats, one large dog and their Boston Terrier puppy, live near Edmonton Alberta, Canada.