Blythe Gifford
introduces The Brunson Clan in RETURN OF THE BORDER WARRIOR!
This week, we’re talking to one of our own, Blythe Gifford, who has been blogging with Unusual Historicals since 2009. Her new
trilogy, The Brunson Clan, launches this month with RETURN OF THE BORDER
WARRIOR. Set on the Scottish Borders during the early Tudor era, it centers on
the Brunsons, a family of Border Reivers. Blythe is here to talk about the
trilogy and offer a copy of the launch title to a lucky winner. Here's the blurb:
WORD IN THE ROYAL COURT HAS SPREAD THAT THE WILD
SCOTTISH BORDERS ARE TOO UNRULY. UPON THE KING'S COMMAND, JOHN BRUNSON MUST
RETURN HOME...
Once part of a powerful border clan, John has not set sight on the Brunson stone tower in years. With failure never an option, he must persuade his family to honour the King’s call for peace.
To succeed, John knows winning over the daughter of an allied family, Cate Gilnock, holds the key. But this intriguing beauty is beyond the powers of flattery and seduction. Instead, the painful vulnerability hidden behind her spirited eyes calls out to John as he is inexorably drawn back into the warrior Brunson clan…
**Q
& A with Blythe Gifford**
What’s so unusual about the setting of this
series?
First, let me say how glad I am to be here at
“home,” talking about this series. What’s unusual? Well, when it comes to
historical romance, which is what I write, Scottish Highlanders get all the
glory. I find the Borders much more interesting. Whether there was a formal war
or an uneasy peace, the Borders were, in effect, a war zone for 300 years. They
operated almost like a “third country,” with their own “Border Laws.” Wardens,
think of them as sheriffs or governors, were appointed for each governmental
district, or March. The wardens of the Western Scottish March and the Western
English March, for example, were supposed to work together to keep the peace
and punish those who broke it. Their success was marginal at best.
So do the Borders have anything in common with
the more popular Highlands?
We’re familiar with the importance of family in the
Scottish Highlands, but it was equally important, if not more so, on the
Borders. Family was more important than king of either Scotland or England and
family feuds and alliances were stronger than national loyalty. One family
might be allied with another across the border, or enemies with a family on its
own side. The Border laws forbade marriage across the border, in a futile
attempt to keep family loyalty aligned with national interest.
So how does that family loyalty influence RETURN
OF THE BORDER WARRIOR?
Loyalty to family and the family’s loyalty to
another member of the clan really drives the first book. John, the youngest
son, returns home after years of serving as a “big brother” to the young
Scottish king. John is a man with something to prove, both to himself and to
his family. As the only blue-eyed Brunson, he’s always felt as if he didn’t
belong. Now, he no longer wants to. As soon as he enforces the king’s command
for peace, he plans to return to his life at court and leave the valley of his
birth for the last time.
But first, he must persuade Cate Gilnock to release
his family from their promise to avenge her father’s death. Such a promise is
like a sacred oath. Cate is a woman fierce as a warrior, but behind her eyes,
John senses vulnerability and secrets she refuses to share. Bit by bit, he
falls in love with her, and with each step, he is drawn back into the life he
thought he had left behind forever. Because of Cate, he discovers he is more
like the rest of his family than he thought until, finally, he must
decide: Is he truly a Brunson? Or is he
the King’s man after all? Which promise will he keep?
You’ve worked real history into the story as
well, right?
I seem to be unable to write a story that’s not
somehow tied to actual history. In this case, James V of Scotland is a
character and his own ascension to power plays an important role in the story. James
himself is one of the more “unusual” Scottish kings. He’s typically been
overlooked while most of the attention goes to his daughter, Mary, Queen of
Scots.
It’s been awhile between books for you, hasn’t
it? And this represents a change in several ways.
My last release, HIS BORDER BRIDE, was out more
than two years ago. It, too, was set on the Scottish side of the border, but
almost two hundred years earlier. There were raids then, yes, but the heyday of
the reiving era was the sixteenth century, when RETURN OF THE BORDER WARRIOR is
set.
My previous books were set in the fourteenth
century and featured a main character born on the wrong side of the (usually)
royal blanket. So I changed time periods, as well as emphasis. Everyone in this
series knows who their parents are. Of course, that is part of the problem! I
enjoyed writing about the relationships between the two Brunson brothers and
their sister, too.
You’ve already given regular readers of this
blog a preview of the world of the Brunsons, haven’t you?
I’ve blogged about a typical
night of raiding, about one of the deadliest
Border feuds, and in
October, wrote about the historic incident that was the inspiration for the
entire series. In addition, I told readers about King
James V’s illegitimate children. So if readers want more background, they
can revisit those posts.
One lucky
reader who comments on today’s blog will be randomly selected to win a signed
copy of RETURN OF THE BORDER WARRIOR.
Blythe Gifford has been known for medieval romances featuring characters born on the wrong side of the royal blanket. Now, she’s launching a trilogy set on the turbulent Scottish Borders of the early Tudor era, starting with RETURN OF THE BORDER WARRIOR, November 2012, Harlequin Historical. CAPTIVE OF THE BORDER LORD will follow in January 2013, and TAKEN BY THE BORDER REBEL in March 2013. The Chicago Tribune has called her work “the perfect balance between history and romance.”
Visit her at www.blythegifford.com, www.facebook.com/BlytheGifford, or on Twitter @BlytheGifford.
Photo
credits. Cover used with permission. Author photo by Jennifer Girard
