MEN IN KILTS
Ideas about kilted warriors came to me in several ways,
and the easiest was because of the man in my bed. My husband is a giant of a
man with Nordic coloring and an ancestry reaching back to the Scottish
Highlands. I fell in love with a six-foot four, blond-headed, blue-eyed God
while in college in Plymouth, New Hampshire. I enjoyed watching him play
lacrosse and he enjoyed driving me around in his ’65 Mustang. The rest is
history.
Before we had our two sons, hubby had a wool kilt
made-to-order in St. Ann’s, Nova Scotia, while we continued to learn more about
the Scottish side of our family. When hubby’s kilt was 30 years old, the time
had come to give it a little refurbishing. I like to be ‘green’ and there was
no sense throwing out something so beautiful. At a Scottish festival, we met a
woman who lovingly restored kilts (all those pleats!). She carefully washed the
wool, replaced the satin lining and the leather buckles, and re-stitched the
pleats. Better than new!
We are long-time volunteers with the annual New Hampshire
Highland Games, and we always want to look well-dressed. He started
volunteering back in the 1980’s and, once our boys got older, we all joined in
the fun. Time spent at the games—along with people I have met, research books
and maps I purchased, photos I snapped, and notes I jotted—morphed into several
story lines. While at home, I used YouTube videos to get a feel for the area of
Skye where I set Spark, the first book in my Clan
of Dragons series. My hubby looks great in his kilt. I call a kilt a plaide in my story, which comes from blanket or mantle, due to the time period.
My experiences, surrounding myself with kilted hunks,
bagpipes, and marching bands each fall, has helped me fill my book with a happy
ever after ending, and pages filled with spicy romance. Smoke, the second book,
is available for pre-order.
Spark
Clan
of Dragons
Book
One
Nancy
Lee Badger
Genre: Scottish Paranormal
Romance
Publisher: Nancy Lee Badger
Date of Publication: August 4,
2016
ASIN: B01HV8Y5IG
Number of pages: 207
Word Count: 64,500
Cover Artist: Nancy Lee Badger
Book Description:
Nancy Lee Badger brings you
another story filled with Scottish dragons and shape-shifters. Set on the
Scottish Island of Skye, she again fills her paranormal fantasy with romance
and danger, and with characters you will remember. Some will tug at your heart.
Others will make you wish for their demise. SPARK is the first book in a brand
new series, Clan of Dragons.
What can a young dragon do to
prove to his older brothers that he is their clan’s best chance to save their
species? In the Black Cuillin Hills, Evan heads to the village of Morhban to
find a way to interact with humans. To learn their language and customs, and to
get close enough to a red-haired beauty to mate with her, the brown-winged
purple dragon shifts into a copper-colored horse. When his new hooves protect
her from Lord Toal MacMorgan’s inappropriate demands with a well-placed kick,
she thanks Evan by brushing his silky coat. Things are looking up.
When an unfamiliar horse kicks
Toal into the creek, releasing Vika from his roaming hands, her appreciation
turns to horror. A sputtering Toal demands that the animal die. Anger makes
Vika agree to a wager. A three day hunt will determine the fate of the horse
she names Spark. Failure will mean his death, and the loss of her freedom.
Pirates, wolves, a wild boar, and a handsome stranger lead her on a wild ride.
She discovers her heart is in as much danger as her life.
PG excerpt from
Spark, Clan of Dragons, Book #1
“Me brother Orin
dealt with a wolf, today. Our horse, Spark, killed it by stomping on it.”
Evan grinned at
Vika, and tightened the cloth around his waist. The air had grown chilly, and
blew his hair across his face. Brushing it back, he watched her eyes widen.
“Your hair. ‘Tis
the same shade as me horse.”
His laugh echoed
through the trees, and he turned away in order to catch his breath.
“I know you!”
Vika cried, “I recognize your back. You climbed our fence, several nights ago.
Be you following me?”
How could he
explain his motives? The truth might be an expedient way to explain his current
actions. “Aye, ‘twas me. I was out for a walk. I love moonlight, and when I
came to your farm, the fenced paddock was in the way.”
“You did not
think to go around it?”
He chuckled, as
he thought up a better lie. “I thought I spied an owl, and followed it from
fence post to fence post. I thought to capture it, but it eluded me at every
turn.”
“You hunted
naked?”
“Me plaide slipped off in the dark. I beg
your forgiveness for trespassing. I shall avoid your property from this day
hence.”
“Not so fast.
What be your name?” The wind was picking up, and she had to brush her long tail
of hair back over her shoulder. As she waited for his answer, she wiped the
dampness from her cheeks.
Her gaze wandered to the woods, probably searching
for the horse.
“Your beastie be
fine. I can hear him chomping grass just past those trees.” He pointed
downstream, and hated to lie.
“I must be
getting back to Orin. Your name?”
“I go by Evan.”
“What be your
other name? I be Vika MacKinnon, and hail from the village of Morbhan.”
Two names? Must
be a human tradition. The color of his wings came to mind. “Evan Brown, lass.”
“Good day to
you.” She began to walk away, then turned back. “Would you like to share supper
with us?”
He opened his
mouth. Aye was on the tip of his
tongue, but he could not be Evan and Spark at the same time. “I thank you, but
I have somewhere to be this night. Perhaps another time?”
About
the Author:
Nancy Lee Badger loves
chocolate-chip shortbread, wool plaids wrapped around the trim waist of a
Scottish Highlander, the clang of broadswords, and the sound of bagpipes in the
air. After growing up in Huntington, New York, and raising two handsome sons in
New Hampshire, Nancy moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time.
Nancy is a member of Romance
Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic &
Paranormal Romance Writers, Triangle Association of Freelancers, and the Celtic
Heart Romance Writers. Nancy and her family volunteer each fall at the New
Hampshire Highland Games surrounded by…kilts!
Website http://www.nancyleebadger.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/NLBadger
7 comments:
Thank you for hosting me!
Nancy Lee Badger
Beautiful excerpt. Just finished reading Spark. Never ceases to amaze me the way you develope and write about your characters and their lives. I need to get my preorder in for your next book in this series, Smoke.
Thank you! Kind words. The second book will be released on October 7th. I hope my readers will enjoy SMOKE just as much!
Thank you, again, for all the kind words, and congratulations to Renee G, the winner of my Scottish prize package!
Thanks again for your ideas i appreciate you for your this effort. I am also wear a my new kilts for men i buy this from kilt master i fell so good to wear it.
Thank you, again, for all the kind words, and congratulations. when you will post next such type of great content by the way you are welcome to visit and read more about link text and link text
Thank you again for all the kind words, and congratulations! We look forward to sharing more great content with you soon. In the meantime, you are welcome to visit and read more about our offerings at kiltclothes.com.
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