LATEST NEWS!

JULY 2007 - In case you skipped straight here, I have some news about the US release. My U.S publisher Overlook is publishing the third book The Boar Stone in January 2008. It is being given a new title for the US release: "The Song of the North", and a new cover. This is all to do with publisher marketing and totally beyond my control; sorry you will have three different covers. However, it is exactly the same book!

JUNE 2007 - The Netherlands: The first book in the trilogy, The White Mare, has just come out in Holland / The Netherlands as De Witte Merrie.

JUNE 2007 - The second volume The Dawn Stag has been bought by my French publisher Michel Lafon and my Spanish publisher Santillana, so all the readers of those languages who write to me will be able to see the continuation of the story.

MAY 2007 - The third part of the Dalriada trilogy, The Boar Stone was published on May 17th, 2007 in the UK. To all the people eagerly emailing me and pleading to read it, sorry it's taken so long. Writers have normal lives too, and this one took a while due to a number of factors, both internal and external. But it's done now!

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read The Dawn Stag yet, don't read this...  Many of you who have finished The Dawn Stag are wondering about the ending, and what The Boar Stone could possibly be about. To save me answering the same question over and over, here is part of the answer (for the rest of the answer you'll have to read the book!) Basically, I was constrained by history. I wanted to tell a story about people in Alba fighting the Roman occupation. But the Romans were in the UK for four hundred years, so to see the story through to the end of their occupation I knew at the outset of the trilogy I obviously wouldn't be able to stay with the same set of characters for all three books, as the Roman "story" spans from 80 AD to 400 AD. The last book would therefore have to "jump forward" three hundred years in time, and so that is what I have done. The new characters are connected to the old in some surprising and unusual ways, and Rhiann and Eremon even make some unforeseen appearances! However, one of my pet hates with books is when the story ends and the characters are still young and you are left hanging, wondering what happened to them. So at the end of The Dawn Stag I wanted to give people closure about Rhiann and Eremon, and that is why I chose that ending. From the number of readers writing to say how much they sobbed, it looks like it went down well. For those wanting to know more about Rhiann and Eremon's children: I didn't originally conceive of any books featuring them, but when I wrote the end of The Dawn Stag they jumped out at me as real people, and I immediately "felt" a book or two there on them and Gabran, Caitlin's son. So at some point, never fear, you will see more of Rhiann and Eremon when they are older, and their children are adults. Remember the magic of books: authors can jump about in time as much as they like, so the fact I concluded their story at the end of The Dawn Stag doesn't mean I can't dip back into that time again. I'll keep going as long as you want me to!

JUNE 2006 - SECOND BIG NEWS is that my NEXT BOOK deal has been signed with Bantam in the US. This is for two standalone books that will be gritty retellings of two very famous Irish myths - the first about Deirdre of the Sorrows, the "Irish Helen of Troy" as she is known - and the other about the wild warrior queen Maeve, during the famous Irish battle known as the Tain, or the Cattle Raid of Cooley. No one has written a whole novel about Deirdre for many years, and though the Tain has been novelised, most notably by Morgan Llewellyn and more recently George Green, both stories were from the point of view of the Irish hero Cuchulainn. In my new books, I wanted to tell the stories of strong, independent female characters instead, struggling in a man's world. I've always loved the Deirdre myth. It is about an old king lusting after a young woman, trapping her into an unwanted betrothal. However, she takes her life into her own hands, throwing off the king's shackles to run away with the young hero Naisi, her true soulmate. Their passionate love frees her, but brings disaster to Ireland. There are shades of Romeo and Juliet, and of course Helen and Paris of Troy. See, isn't it a juicy story? It has hefty doses of action, adventure, sword-fighting and romance, plus my own twist on spirituality and religious matters, so I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into it. Hope you like it!

My THIRD BIG NEWS is related to the above. My husband Alistair and I have moved to Scotland, in a wee house by the side of the most beautiful loch. Alistair is a Scot who was brought up in Australia; I am Australian-born but my parents are from the UK. We have been in Oz the past few years but always longed to try living in the Highlands of Scotland - and now we have finally managed it. I'm in the perfect spot to research my new novels, and also easily get over to Ireland when I need to. I absolutely love it.

LASTLY, I've gained myself a new agent (Russell Galen of Scovil Chichak Galen in New York). Russell is also Diana Gabaldon's agent, and was the agent for Marion Zimmer Bradley of Mists of Avalon fame before she passed away - these wonderful writers happen to be my two favourite authors of all time. He is also my compatriot Juliet Marillier's agent, so I'm in great company all round.

Last year I participated in an "author to author" chat with Juliet Marillier, a well-known historical fantasy writer, on the extremely well respected literary website www.beatrice.com This US site has been recommended by the New York Times, and is visited by 100,000 people per month to get all the latest literary news. Juliet and I really enjoyed our chat, as we got to ramble on (I rambled) about Picts and Gaels and all things Celtic. If we are not on the main page, look for us in the archive.

I was also picked as an "Insider Discovery" by the Literary Guild, one of the biggest US book clubs. I am featured on the cover of the June 2005 catalogue. I have also been picked by Ottakar's book stores in the UK for their "Rising Star" promotion.

Late 2004 I undertook a research trip to Northern England, and a general scouting trip to Rome. I organised the trip to do my research for the third book in the Dalriada Trilogy, The Boar Stone. It is partly set in the northern UK counties of Yorkshire and Northumberland, so if you come to read it later, you'll recognise Cian and Minna's travels from the pics below. I started in York, headquarters of a Roman legion and important trading centre throughout the Roman occupation of Britain. I then zoomed up to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland/Cumbria. The Wall, built around AD 122, marked the northwestern edge of the Roman frontier. In all my previous Scottish travels I'd never managed to get there, so this was pretty exciting for me. It may look like a pile of rubble to you, but trust me - standing there, it's easy to imagine being a Roman soldier on the frontier, squinting north into the driving rain being blown in from barbarian lands (otherwise known as Scotland), stamping your feet with the cold. Hmmm...yes, I do get carried away sometimes, but then I am a writer! After that, we wound back down to Northern Yorkshire, to the site of a Roman villa near Helmsley. Though we left that until last, my book actually opens there. Anyway, here are a couple of happy snaps that will give you the flavour.