Welcome to Day 10 of the #RomancingSeptember Tour
Our guest today is Lizzie Lamb with her book Scotch On The Rocks
Where is your home town?
My home town is in the middle of England, Leicester. It is very old settlement and has roots stretching back to pre-Roman times. More recently, the bones of Richard III (The King in the Carpark) were discovered, excavated and reinterred in Leicester Cathedral. A fact I am immensely proud of.
How long have you been writing romance?
It seems fanciful to say ‘since I was about 11 years old’, but its true. I have the embryonic romances I wrote (all about highwaymen and Jacobites!) in a box file to prove it. Seriously, though, I have been writing with a view to publication since about 2009, which was when I left the teaching profession to concentrate on writing. I have now written and self-published three novels.
What is your favourite sub-genre of romance?
I would have to say romantic comedy. I love the ‘screwball’ comedies of the 30’s and early 40’s. And, although I do like chick lit, I increasingly find myself drawn towards romantic suspense and something more historical (especially Scottish history).
Where is your book set?
Scotch on the Rocks is set on an imaginary island off the west coast of Scotland – Eilean na Sgairbh, where the cormorants outnumber the inhabitants 10:1. Gratifyingly, readers have told me that once they have finished the novel they really miss being on ‘my island’.
Introduce us to the main characters
The heroine is Ishabel (Issy) Stuart. The hero is Brodie, an American guest staying at her Aunt Esme’s B&B. (I can’t reveal his surname as that is part of the mystery embedded into the book. Issy has left a failed relationship behind in Edinburgh and intends spending her life on Cormorant Island establishing a craft centre for designers, much like one she’d visited on the North West coast of Scotland at Balnakeil. She’s also sworn off men and vowed to die an old maid, surrounded by cats and copies of Vogue. That all changes when her left-wing Aunt Esme goes off on a fracking demo and leaves Issy in charge of the B&B – and Brodie.
Tell us about the remote island that Ishabel escapes to.
The island is called Eilean na Sgairbh, Cormorant Island. Issy’s family have lived there since the early 19th century when they won a slice off land off a gambling laird, stopped making ‘moonshine’, went legit and stablished a whisky distillery – Twa Burns. Once, the island community was thriving and the distillery employed most of the inhabitants. However, after the distillery was bombed at the end of WWII (it was producing industrial alcohol), it has lain a ruin and all the young people have left the island to find work elsewhere. Issy loves the island and wishes she had the money to rebuild the distillery, prevent the young islanders from leaving and make Eilean na Sgairbh back a thriving community once more. The island is wild and beautiful and is cut off several times a day as the tide floods over the ancient causeway linking it to the mainland, known as The Narrows.
Why is Aunt Esme, hiding out there too?
Without giving away too much, Esme has never married and has devoted her life instead to the Peace Movement and other ‘worthy’ causes. In her youth she alienated half the island by joining the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and blockading The Narrows to prevent US servicemen based on Holy Loch from visiting the island and spending their dollars. Now in her mid-seventies, she trundles off on her converted library bus to demonstrate against fracking, using drones in Afghanistan and the practice of Female Genital Mutilation. But, wherever she goes, she always returns to Cormorant Island . . . despite the islanders holding her left-wing sentiments and bohemian lifestyle against her. WHY she returns is made clear at the end of Scotch on the Rocks.
What do you like most about writing about wild men of Scotland?
I think I like writing about them because I can weave lots of history and atmosphere into the story and it feels ‘right’. Doing that is more difficult in an urban setting. For me, the highlands of Scotland is a magical, mythical place – the ideal setting for writing the perfect romance. This sense of ‘other worldliness’ and thousands of years of history is embodied when someone tall, dark and kilted puts on plaid (natch). And of course, the thought of a kilted hero, such as Jamie Fraser in Outlander series would make the heart of any romantic novelist beat faster. In Scotch on the Rocks, Brodie the hero, wears his grandfather’s and sets off a chain reaction.
Tell us what you are working on at the moment
I have two projects on the go and I’m feeling my way into them, seeing which one grabs me the most. I rather suspect it will be the Scottish-themed one, into which I want to weave a bit of Highland mysticism and second sight. After publishing it, hopefully next summer, I may return to writing something a bit more in the romantic comedy genre, about a girl who ‘accidentally’ becomes the nanny to the children of a burned out playwright . . .
Where can readers find out more about you?
The best place is my Amazon page or my website where there is more information about me and my books.
buying links (US / UK) – universal link – viewBook.at/scotchontherocks or http://tinyurl.com/SOTR2015
- Amazon page: http://tinyurl.com/mpcv6bn
- www.facebook.com/LizzieLambwriter
- website: www.lizzielamb.co.uk
- Linked in: uk.linkedin.com/pub/lizzie-lamb/18/194/202/
- Goodreads http://tinyurl.com/cbla48d
twitter: @lizzie_lamb
Find out more about Lizzie from Stephanie in just a few hours http://stephanie-hurt.com/
Reblogged this on Lizzie Lamb and commented:
Many thanks to Rosie Amber for featuring me on her Romancing September blog for the third year running. And to Stephanie Hurt for hosting me across ‘the pond’.
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Many thanks to Rosie and Stephanie for inviting me to take part in this fabulous blog for the third year running. Through Rosie’s blog I have met many fabulous writers and enjoyed their books. I’d better get cracking with number four or I will miss the chance to appear next year – if I’m asked, of course. I have really enjoyed all the posts so far and hope that, in sharing them, I have been helpful to other authors. Have a great day, LIzzie x
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I’m never quite sure if I’m glad I never kept all my childhood writing or not!!! I do have folders full of manuscripts of novels written in my 30s though. Nice one, ladies! 🙂
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Terry, I know what you mean . . . I just hope that I can see an improvement between what I wrote when I was eleven and when I was . . . much older (!) LOL.
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This is my favourite Lizzie Lamb book so far – magical setting, spot-on characters and very funny. (I remember all those CND protests at Holy Loch!)
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June, I can remember seeing anti-nuclear graffiti on the pavements and walls when I was growing up in Scotland in the early 60’s. We weren’t very far from Holy Loch as the crow (or missile) flies. I thought armageddon was just round the corner – and maybe it was!
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Pingback: #RomancingSeptember Day 10 Scotch On The Rocks by @lizzie_lamb #books | New Romantics Press
Reblogged this on June Kearns.
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Thanks for reblogging, June.
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I must admit, I do still have an old notebook from when I was about seven years old and started writing stories and poems etc. It’s a bit battered now!
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Helen, isn’t it amazing how the compulsion to write gets hold of you (so young) and never lets go? I think its lovely, actually, that we all wanted to be writers first, last and foremost.
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I have this one waiting for me and I love the sound of wild and romantic islands – fabulous 🙂
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Thanks Georgia, I’m waaay behind with my reading (and reviewing) ATM. I hope that as autumn settles in I’ll be able to rectify that.
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I love this feature! Another great post. I so enjoyed Lizzie’s Scotch on the Rocks. She creates such memorable characters and her writing always delivers that lovely blend of warmth and wit. So nice to find out more about the story behind the story, so to speak. 🙂
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Thanks Jan. You know how I slaved over some of those characters and the words to describe them. They still have imaginary conversations in my head. Okay, nurse, I’ll come quietly . . .
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Pingback: #RomancingSeptember Day 10 Scotch On The Rocks by @lizzie_lamb #books | oshriradhekrishnabole
Reblogged this on Barrow Blogs: and commented:
Day 10 of the #RomancingSeptember Tour and a lovely offering fro Lizzie Lamb #readers
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Thanks for reblogging, Judith.
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I still have school reports with bits of my stories attached from when I was eleven. Unfortunately the reports are also on my maths progress (progress being a misnomer,)
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My husband teases me about my lack of mathematical ability (or lack of). But if I had to choose between being able to understand simultaneous equations or being a writer, I know which one I’d plump for every time. Go us !!
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This looks great Lizzie. Can’t wait to read it!
Thanks Rosie!
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Thanks for dropping by, Kimberly. I hope you’re not disappointed. One of these days I want to read it again myself . . .
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Lizzie’s evocative blog is the perfect entre to her brilliant storytelling, a superb author who just keeps getting better. Scotch on the Rocks is already a bestseller, and deservedly so. More of the same please Mrs Lamb!
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Thanks Adrienne, I keep thinking every morning that ‘this is the day when I start number 4’. But there’s always another blog to write, a tweet to compose or a newsletter to compile. Hopefully, after the workshop I’ve got planned for early october, I’ll be free to make a start. Can’t wait.
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Love scotch, love Highland locations! Love Scotsmen? I’m a trifle ambivalent, but that’s just me and another story. On everyone’s recommendation so far, I’m looking forward to reading Scotch on the Rocks.
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Yes, Mags – but don’t forget it was your ‘tangle’ with a Scot which gave me the idea of ‘Touch Not the Cat’!! So, thank you.
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Lovely post and I’m looking forward to reading Scotch on the Rocks.
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Thank you Mary – so kind of you to take the time to comment. I loved writing Scotch on the Rocks and I hope you enjoy reading it. Do let me know.
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I loved Boot Camp Bride so I’m really looking forward to reading this one 😀
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Thank you EL. So kind of you to comment. I hope you enjoy SOTRocks 😊
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Wow, I must say…this novel sounds fascinating and I’m intrigued. Adding to my Wish List on AZ. It’s wonderful to become acquainted with you through the Romance Tour, Lizzie. Will share the post and follow you on social media. Best wishes, Linda
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Hi Linda. I will follow you back on social media . Thanks for adding SOTRocks to your wish list. I hope you get round to reading it some day.
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Lovely blog site and great post by Lizzie Lamb. So interesting and really makes me want to fly up to Scotland 🙂
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Thanks for stopping by Liz.
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Thank you Liz. Should be paid by the Scottish tourist board because lots of my readers have said that !!
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Sounds like a fascinating novel. I am adding it to my Amazon wish list.
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