Priscilla Brown meets a Scottish horse (kind of)

I love to travel in Australia and overseas, and recently was lucky enough to visit Europe (at least 21 hours flying from Sydney, folks!) As I travel, I am noting locations, characters and situations which eventually may weave their way into my contemporary romantic fiction. But I cannot work into this genre of novels a story I found in Falkirk, Scotland. Before this visit, I knew kelpies only as Australian sheepdogs. Then I discovered "kelpie horse" structures located by the Forth and Clyde canal.

Unlike kelpies, horses appearing in "Hot Ticket", a recently published Books We Love contemporary romance, are warm-blooded handsome characters in their own right, with parts to  play in the blossoming love between their owners. Love or her career? Will ambitious lawyer Olivia listen to her heart or to her head before it's too late? Her career, and she can ride her beloved horse Silk Georgette every weekend. Love, the length of the continent away, what can she do with Georgette?

For more information and to purchase, visit Amazon on B01N7F0SQX
http://bookswelove.net/authors/brown-priscilla
https://priscillabrownauthor.com


  These Falkirk structures replicate the head and neck of kelpies of Scottish folklore.

 Their complex engineering, at 30 metres tall (about 100 feet) the world's largest equine sculptures, took approximately 18 000 pieces of steel for each one. While impressed with the design and construction, I became interested in the kelpie mythology.
According to the lore, kelpies are water spirits, and also known as spirits of the dead. They inhabit lochs and rivers, appearing in the shape of a horse, usually white, and identified by its wet mane; they can also shape-shift between horse and water, and on land into a human. This shape-shifting ability may be located in its bridle (how a wild thing like a kelpie came to have a bridle seems unexplained, but then this is myth, no logic necessary), and if a human could grab it and keep it, that person could control the creature. Apparently this would be useful, since it purported to be as strong as ten 10 real horses.
These beings are malevolent, and like to lure humans, especially children, into the water. A common tale I heard from more than one Scot involves nine children, attracted by a ride on the kelpie's back; the kelpie's skin then became sticky so they couldn't fall off and escape.A tenth child, managing to avoid the trap, was chased by the kelpie, but still got away, presumably to relate the story. The nine were dragged down, killed and eaten.

I peered into a river close to where I was staying; an angler asked me what I was looking for. I told him, and he shook his head. He didn't laugh.

Best wishes, Priscilla

The story behind my latest book: Pathway to Tomorrow

My latest book, Pathway to Tomorrow has just been published. There's a story behind it too.

I live close to the beach, near pinewoods and wonderful, wild vistas. The area is criss-crossed with bridleways because a lot of people ride horses through the woodlands and down to the beach. It is also idyllic dog walking country. Consequently, when a wealthy business man purchased a derelict farmhouse and closed off the adjacent bridleway that led to the open fields and then on down to the beach, it caused a great deal of local angst. Horse riders and dog lovers alike all protested. In the end, common sense prevailed. The new land owner opened up the bridleway again and dealt with his own privacy by planting hundreds of trees and bushes and installing a lot of fencing. Who can blame him? Nobody does locally now that access to the beach is available again. After all, who would want every passerby to be able to see into their house? As well, the building of the house and its adjoining estate has been a source of great local interest for several years.

That is as far as any resemblance to Pathway to Tomorrow is concerned of course. I don't know the local businessman. His house is no longer visible from the path because the bushes have grown, and a huge double gate blocks off his driveway. The demolition of the old farmhouse and the building of a huge property with stables, a gym, a swimming pool and myriad outbuildings prompted the beginning of my story though. After walking past it for months it suddenly occurred to me that it was just the setting I was looking for, for Marcus, my hero.

There is another equally important part to the story too. How did I find Marcus? Well a lot of months ago I was invited to listen to the Red Stripe Band http://www.red-stripe.info, a fantastic and fun jazz band that has played all over the world and been feted by many big names but, when I happened on it, was performing at a small venue in the Yorkshire Dales. Go to my blog post http://bit.ly/14GxVNL to see it.

On that evening I 'discovered' Marcus. He wasn't any of the performers but more an amalgam of the whole ethos of the band; someone who lived and breathed music and loved to share it with others. He changed during the writing of course. It always happens when a writer lets the hero take over! And when he 'told' me he could't perform any more but had to concentrate on composition...well I had to let him. Who am I to argue with someone as single-minded as Marcus? I still owe many thanks to the Red Strip Band, however. It was there at the right time, when I needed some inspiration, and I have dedicated my book to it. Thanks for the music Red Stripe.

And what about Marcus' story? Well, when he bought the derelict farmhouse next to Jodie’ Eriksson's riding school he didn't know whether to be amused or irritated by her angry reaction to his plans. Then her sister Izzie visited him and made things a whole lot worse…or was it better…because now he had an excuse to see Jodie again.

Although, when he sees her, it’s not exactly a meeting of minds, they do discover they have one thing in common; they both believe they know what’s best for Izzie, and for Marcus' son Luke. It turns out they’re wrong. The children they thought they were protecting need to be set free. It’s Jodie and Marcus who have the problem; but can two broken hearts make one whole one? The battle lines that were set when they first met have long since been breached but the war won’t be over until Jodie learns how to trust again, and until Marcus allows himself to believe in his son.