Never Second Guess a Lord is out tomorrow! Sky was kind enough to answer some questions for us.
You can get your copy of this delightful historical romance HERE!
Did you always know you wanted to be an author? What is the first story you remember writing? How did you get from there to where you are today?
Thanks so much for having me! Yes, I’ve always wanted to be an author. I won a Young Author’s Award when I was seven, then published the first edition of book one in my MacLomain series in 2007 (time travel romance). I started dabbling in historical romance in 2017 with my Pirates of Britannia books, including The Seafaring Rogue and The Sea Hellion. All and all, since I began writing romance sixteen years ago, it’s been a wild ride of ups and downs and learning curves, but I wouldn’t trade one minute of it.
What is the most inspiring place you’ve visited, and has it shown up in one of your books?
I’m sure my longtime readers would smile at this question. Hands down, Scotland! I went about things a bit backward, however. I first fell in love with all things Scottish when I went to the New Hampshire Highland Games over twenty years ago. What an amazing, memorable experience. There was nothing like hearing the bagpipes echoing off the mountains and watching the various clans come together.
That day has since inspired at least fifty Scottish romances before I finally made it to Scotland in 2019, and, you guessed it, I felt like I had come home. To this day, Scotland continues to inspire my writing. In fact, MacLauchlin Castle in Scotland is one of the main settings in both my Medieval Highlander Romance series, Highlander’s Pact, and my Regency Romance series, Second-time Brides.
Which comes first for you: the plot or the characters?
Great question! I tend to write character-driven stories, so not surprisingly, my characters come before my plots. I generally write books in series, so I like to sit down and ‘meet’ my heroes and heroines before going any further. That means outlining and fleshing them out. Once I do that, their stories become more and more clear. I know it’s an odd process, but it’s tried and true so far.
Do you write better in the morning or evening? How do you handle the distractions of working from home, especially if you’re sharing the space with others?
I’m a night owl, so I function better after 4 PM. I can handle marketing and social networking during the day, but I’m far more creative at night. As a rule, I prefer being alone when I write. Better still, listening to music when I lose myself in my latest story. My choice of tunes depends on what I’m penning. With my historical highlanders or pirates, I like listening to epic fantasy or bagpipes/Celtic mixes. I typically prefer classical or AN (Aurora Night) when writing my Regencies.
From all your books, who is your favorite hero and why?
Talking Historical Romances, I’d say, Charles, the Lord of Shrewsbury from The Secondhand Earl, book two in my Second-time Brides series. (Coming in September) I’m a sucker for a tortured hero, so he stole my heart. After losing his late wife and unborn child, he suffered a scar on his cheek and lost his eye during wartime as a captain in the Royal Navy, so he’s been down a rough road and more than a little bitter before meeting his heroine, Grace. Then, as love is found, their tale becomes one of self-healing for them both, as she has somewhat of a difficult backstory too. I just adored this novel.
