Lyon's Bride and The Scottish Witch with Bonus Material (Promo e-Books) (45 page)

Dear Reader---

What is life without love? And even if you could accept living without this emotion the poets praise, would you choose to exist that way?

Those two questions are behind the Chattan Curse series. As a writer, I play with themes, tossing them around in my mind. People ask me where I get my ideas and the truth is they are everywhere. They flow into my life. It took me a long time to realize that not everyone’s brain is wired like mine. Something catches my imagination and—
whoosh
—a story starts spinning in my head. (We call that characteristic the “writer’s imagination” and if you have it, welcome to my world.)

But I know I’ve stumbled onto something meaningful when the inkling of a story idea becomes unshakable. It begins to build and reveal itself. I’ll overhear a snippet of conversation or an article will come my way that will add a new layer of understanding to the theme. Or in early morning hours, scenes begin playing in my still sleepy mind with such vibrancy, I wake and must work.

LYON’S BRIDE, THE SCOTTISH WITCH, and THE DEVIL’S HEART took hold in just such a way. They were borne out of a very personal story. I lost my husband when my youngest was in the beginning of her teenagedom, you know, the period of time when everything is confusing. In the intervening years, I’ve watched all three of my children go through the trials of finding meaningful love-and succeed—but there were many periods of doubt and time spent wondering if what everyone claims about this powerful emotion is true. You know what I mean. I’m talking about searching for life’s purpose and realizing that love is in some way tied up in it. And then imagine how you would feel if you had a mother who believes love is the only true measure to a well-lived life.

It is a challenge to be one of my kids!

So, here is what I tell them: I’ve come to realize love is a word of action. It is not a noun. You can say, “here is my love,” but it smacks of a material possessiveness that is a bit terrifying. After all, if you are trying to keep love, what do you feed it? How do you sustain it through all that life tosses at you? What happens if it starts to die? Does something inside you die with it?

I urge my children to go out into the world and love in the fullest sense of the word: Embrace your lives. Indulge in your passions. Build your community. Satisfy your senses with art and experiences and people and pets and things that make you laugh and even challenges that make you cry. Then you are loving and it is a grand place to be.

But all of us long to be important to one special person, no matter what age we are. I find myself back in the dating world and this was not how I’d seen my future. Life does have a way of delivering surprises. I began wondering if, having had one incredible love in my life, if I would ever love and be loved again?

I now must remind myself of the advice I’d offered my kids. I have to remember love is not easy. It can’t be found just anywhere. It takes time to find someone who is a good mate, and it also demands a great deal from the person searching for love. After all, what am I bringing to the table in a relationship? And, I want to be accepted, but how accepting am I?

My musings about finding my life so radically changed is what brought me to the Chattan Curse. It is a simple curse—when a Chattan male falls in love, he will die. There is no gray area there. I could imagine the creation of the curse because, for me, if someone had harmed one of my children, there would be no limit to my vengeance. I would be angry for centuries, I would reach from beyond the grave, and so it is with Fenella, the mother who placed the curse upon the Chattan. Furthermore, there is always one male Chattan born so the curse continues. Is that part of the curse or an action by a kinder, gentler soul searching for a way to save the Chattans from complete extinction?

In order to flesh out this story, I needed an over-arcing storyline. I couldn’t tell the tale of the curse and its impact on the lives of this family with just one couple/one book.

Let me explain—

First there is
Neal Chattan in LYON’S BRIDE
. The desire to breed is man’s strongest biological drive. But I also believe that there is more to that drive than just need. Some men are called to be fathers. They are as hungry for children as any woman. Neal Chattan, Lord Lyon has that desire. Siring a son is more than just an obligation, it is also the only way he will feel his life is complete. He hopes to break the curse’s grip by marrying a woman he could never love . . . but is that really living? Doesn’t love give life its meaning, its something extra? In truth, Neal knows all too well the effects of being raised in a loveless marriage. That is the way his father sought to break the curse and consequently bred three children, the first of his line to do so. But is Neal cut from the same cloth as his sire?

Can a man who longs to be a father avoid love?

His brother
Harry in THE SCOTTISH WITCH
has no such longings. He is a rake through and through. Avoid love? Easily done. Spread yourself amongst all the ladies and then you will never grow fond of just one. However, Harry does love someone—his brother Neal. He’d do anything for him, even traveling to the ends of the earth to confront a witch.

Can a man willing to sacrifice his life for another escape love?

Finally, there is
Margaret in THE DEVIL’S HEART
, the first Chattan female to be born since before the time of the curse. Love is a mystery to her. Her mother was a cold person, remember? A woman incapable of love and yet we learn so much from our mothers. Then again, inside every healthy female is a wistful hope that there is more to life than just what presents itself. We value relationships. We nourish and create them. Margaret has fallen into what she believed was love before. Her young love was betrayed. She dare not trust again. Considering her unique position as the only female in the family, she wonders if she may hold the secret to breaking the curse. Then again, she, too, may be a victim of it.

Can a woman who has spent her life regretting her past find the courage to battle her demons?

Well, there it is—my thought process behind the Chattan Curse series. Yes, these books are tightly woven together. I am so pleased that my publisher is offering the first two bundled together.

And, please, don’t hesitate to give me your feedback. I enjoy hearing from my readers. You can even join my Max Pack by going to my website www.cathymaxwell.com or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cathy-Maxwell/166883240063709?ref=hl and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cathy-Maxwell-Fan-Page/144546442251787?ref=hl. I send out quick updates on when books will be released plus offer fun stuff for Max Packers alone.

All my best—

Cathy