Mia Marlowe

Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Mia Marlowe back to the blog to talk about her latest novel, Sins of the Highlander, a collaboration with the fabulous Connie Mason.  Since Mia's visited us before (and what a fun interview it was! If you missed it, you really should click HERE and see what talent Mia has that I'm totally jealous of), she's treating us today with a guest post and give-away!

Take it away, Mia!

The Gift of Sight

Nothing is ever wasted on a writer. We store up experiences, emotions and impressions and bequeath them later to our literary children. In SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER, Elspeth Stewart possesses the gift of Sight—the ability to pull back the mist of the future and see what may come. It’s not a gift she’s comfortable with. For one thing, it marks her as different. And people mistrust those who are different.

For another, she can’t conjure it up when she wills. The trances and visions come on her unannounced and unsought. The images are frequently out of context or about people she doesn’t recognize. It’s an uncomfortable talent. But when she feels strongly enough about what she’s Seen, she’ll act on the information.

I can’t claim to have the Sight, but I have had what I call “pinpricks of prescience.” The most dramatic happened years ago when our family gathered to help my grandparents deal with a health crisis. I’d flown in to be there and my mother and younger sisters had driven from several states away. The night before we all had to return home, I started feeling “twitchy” about it. I asked my mom to delay their trip or at least not start out so early in the morning. They had a long drive ahead of them, but she assured me they’d be careful.

I still couldn’t shake my sense of dread. While I waited in the airport, I kept expecting to hear my name called over the intercom and not for anything good. When I arrived home, the message light was blinking on my phone. My mom and sisters had been in a rollover accident after hitting some black ice. The car was totaled, but they had all escaped with only bumps and bruises.  

I wished I’d been more forceful in my warning. I wished I’d had a more definite reason why I felt I had to give it, but it had been nothing more than a feeling. That frustration of not having enough information to act is what I gave to the SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER heroine, Elspeth Stewart. But of course, there comes a time in the story when her visions are clear enough for her to act. Here’s a snippet from Elspeth’s vision:

Brightness burned the backs of her eyes. Then the light dimmed and she could see.

Oh, God! The battle scene. Not again.

Hundreds of bodies littered the field, bleeding into winter-brown grass. Corbeys cried and circled overhead, waiting. Women culled the field for items of value or searched weeping for dead loved ones. A large carrion bird swooped down, impatient for the upright humans to clear the heath so the corbeys could feast on the bodies that remained.

Elspeth wandered through the glen of death, looking for something. She knew not what. The only thing that made it possible for her to put one foot before another was her certainty that she had Seen this battle before. This was all but a vision, as insubstantial as a dream and over as quickly.

Someone groaned, a dying man among the dead. Another bleated piteously for his mother. Whose son was he?

It started to rain, heaven weeping for the fallen.

Oh, Merciful God! This vision was different. She saw something she recognized—a scrap of Stewart plaid. She ran toward it. Her father stared unblinking into the dripping sky. A crossbow bolt protruded from his chest. She sank down beside him, rocking in agony. A soft keening escaped her throat. 

Then a shout drew her gaze. A rabble had surrounded a single man. He fought like a demon, slashing and turning, but there were too many. A blade cut him and he roared in agony. They closed in like wolves around a wounded buck. As he went down, he turned toward her and she saw his face for a blink before they hacked him to pieces.

Rob!

The blades fell like scythes on wheat.

Someone started wailing, a wordless cry with no end.

Hope you enjoyed that taste of SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER. It’s available now at your local booksellers or all the major etailers.  Today you’ll also have a couple chances to win a copy. Leave a comment or question to be entered in the random drawing. Thanks for having me here today, Heather!

Have you ever had a flash of insight about the future or known someone who did?

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Mia Marlowe writes adventurous, sensual historical romance for Sourcebooks and Kensington. She loves to connect with readers and invites you to visit her cyberhome: http://www.miamarlowe.com . While you’re there be sure to enter her website contest. The Grand Prize is a NEW KINDLE!

She can also be found at http://twitter.com/Mia_Marlowe and http://facebook.com/MiaMarloweFanPage .

Thanks for visiting us today, Mia!  And readers, if you can’t wait to read Elspeth and Rob’s story you can buy it right NOW at Amazon.

Come back tomorrow, when our "If I Wrote Romance" post is continued.  Do your part to continue the story and you'll have your chance to win an early signed copy of my debut Regency, SWEET ENEMY, and a lovely book safe.