Portobello Book Blog

I’m pleased to welcome Rosemary Gemmell today as she shares #TenThings she’d like her readers to know about her. You can find out about one of her novels, Highland Lass, at the end of the post. It’s a dual-time novel set around the west coast of Scotland, in which the alternate historical chapters tell the story of Robert Burns and Highland Mary.

• I love to write with music playing in the background, appropriate to the genre and period: Celtic for Scottish fiction; Vivaldi, Bach or any baroque music for historical; easy listening modern or pop for contemporary and so on.

• We recently made a huge move from the west coast of Scotland to West Lothian, to be nearer our wee granddaughter and have not regretted it for a single day. It’s also giving us a chance to explore new areas.

• I’ve been lucky enough to travel to some lovely locations through the years as my husband has always worked in travel – but I don’t think I’m really a traveller by nature!

• Since I love to dance, I’ve tried belly dancing, tap and salsa and would now like to learn how to Tango with an expert.

• I try my hand at most types of writing and have been published with novels (adults and tweens), short stories, articles and poetry, all of which I continue to write. When I get tired of the log-haul that is novels, it’s good to shift to a shorter form in between.

• Although I type everything onto a desktop computer in my own study space, I love writing with pen and paper when on trains and while enjoying coffee and cake in a café. For some reason, the words flow more easily that way!

• I was lucky enough to study as a mature student many years ago, indulging my love of literature and history, with a little philosophy, art history and music up to MA level while my own children were doing their exams and starting university. Some of it’s proving very useful in my writing at times.

• My favourite authors used to be those from the past such as Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Mary Stewart, Georgette Heyer, Victoria Holt, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and so on, now I’ve added CJ Sansom as my must-read, as well as too many modern authors to mention. 

• One of the latest ideas I tried was to set up a Vision Board that I can see from my desk, which gets filled with quotes, photos and images of anything that ‘speaks’ to me or could serve as inspiration for ideas. And I just love looking at it.

• I really enjoy social media, if used wisely, for the way it connects us with people we might never meet in real life. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram all have their unique uses and I try to engage on each regularly – though they also serve as great tools for procrastination which I’m trying to beat!

Links – you can connect with Rosemary in the following places

Website: www.rosemarygemmell.com

Blog: https://ros-readingandwriting,blogspot.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/RGemmell/

Twitter: @rosemarygemmell

 

Buying links

Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B7CVTDW/ 

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B7CVTDW/

Eilidh Campbell returns to her Scottish roots from America with one main aim: to discover the identity of her real father. But her mother’s past in Inverclyde is a mystery with family secrets, a book of Robert Burns’ poems with a hidden letter and a photograph link to the Holy Loch at Dunoon when the American Navy were in residence.

While searching for answers, Eilidh begins to fall in love with handsome Scot Lewis Grant, but just how free is he? Together they trace the story of Highland Mary and Robert Burns, with its echoes to her mother’s story. In short alternate chapters, Highland Mary tells her own story from 1785-6. From Dunoon, to Ayrshire and culminating in Greenock, Eilidh finds the past is closer than she realises.