5 – The Scrolls of Cridhe, Vol. 2 – My Chat with Gunnar

Hello and welcome!

My next guest, also from the “Highland Flames” anthology, is a yummy Highlander with Viking blood in his veins YUM

Read on and find out what his answers are…

Welcome! Welcome!

What is your full name?
Gunnar MacLeod

Do you have a nickname?
Nae, though my lady wife calls me her ‘Lord of Winter’ now and then. I believe she only does so when she feels a need to flatter me. Gunnar leans in, lowering his voice, You didnae hear me say that, lass.

What is one word best describes you?
Loyal.

Describe what you are wearing now to our readers.
He’s glancing down, then returns his gaze to me ‘Tis a certain silver wolf cloak. I’ve a mail shirt beneath it, newly polished. My sword, a war ax, and a few silver arm rings as adornment. Likewise the Thor’s hammer amulet that aye hangs around my neck.

If you fine lasses glance again at the ‘nickname’ question, you’ll ken why I’m garbed this way.

Do you think the author portrayed you accurately?
She did. If she was a bit hard on me at the beginning, I cannae blame her. She knew I had good reason for certain things in my past. Off the page, she sympathized more than once. I understood she had to let Katla think the worst of me. For a while, anyway.

What makes you laugh out loud?
I shouldnae even breathe this, much less say it aloud – doing so might see me turned into a toad…

But there’s a certain crone who meddles her way through all my lady scribe’s tomes. A tiny old woman who ties her boots with red plaid laces. Devorgilla is her name, and what makes me laugh, is the look on Duncan MacKenzie’s face whenever she appears on the same book page he’s on.

For such a great man as the Black Stag of Kintail, you’d think he wouldn’t even blink just because a wee crone wanders into the ink. But he does. I suspect his reaction to Devorgilla amuses my lady scribe, too. It’s probably why she sends her after him at least once in every book.

What is your favourite dessert?
Can I say snowflakes that land on my lady’s cheeks? Her lips? Ladies, you should have seen the wicked gleam in his eyes when he said that!

What is your favourite drink?
Mead. I enjoy it most when drinking from a silver-rimmed mead horn that belonged to my g-g-g-g-grandfather.

What is your greatest fear?
Eniko, lass, did someone forget to tell ye I’m a MacLeod? I have Highland and Viking blood in my veins. That’s your answer. Yikes! I will not describe how he just sat there looking at me before he answered.

What is your favourite colour?
The pristine blue-white of frost and snow. Add cold wind and a clear and starry winter night, and I’m a happy man. Especially with my lady wife at my side.

What do you wear when you go to sleep?
He leans back, smiling wickedly again. I’m giving you the same answer as my friend, Gare, from The Taming of Mairi MacKenzie, Return to Kintail, Book I, in Highland Winds. I’m a Highlander. We need only cold night air and a hot-blooded woman to keep us comfortable in our beds. Aye, that means we sleep naked.

What is the perfect romantic date?
Visiting a certain very special place with my Katla. My lady scribe has made me vow under threat of an evil eye no’ to create a ‘spoiler’ by naming the place. I’d have told you myself. But she wields the pen. I’ll no’ vex her. She might go back into the story and write me out of it, ye ken? Perhaps weave in a different hero – one who doesn’t give ‘spoilers.’

Sue-Ellen pops her head in and winks at me I am not that bad, but I do hate spoilers, so he is wise to heed me.

He leans in again, lowering his voice…

See? What did I say? I’d spend the rest of my days charging through the inked pages of my own bluidy tale, trying to delete the new hero and reclaim my Katla. I have her now, and I’m keeping her. Readers wanting to ken our special place – and why we cherish it – can read our story.

How ticklish are you? Where are you ticklish?
My ribs. And if you e’er tell Katla, I’ll send Devorgilla after you.

What’s your favourite smell? What does it remind you of?
Brisk winter air, cold and clean. It reminds me of new beginnings, fresh and invigorating as it is.

When you look at a woman what catches your interest?
The light in her eyes. It reveals everything a man needs to know. The good bits, if you’d hear the way of it. See you, those ‘other bits’ are fine and I do enjoy them. But when you love a woman and mean to keep her all your days, you ken that the time comes when all that ‘fluff’ isn’t what it once was.

He leans in again, his expression intense as he continues…

But the spark in her eye, her inner flame, burns always. That’s where a woman’s true beauty is found.

Do you have somebody in your life now?
Aye, my lady wife, Katla MacKenzie.

What is one word best describes her?
Wild-of-heart. Three words, I ken, but my lady scribe strung them together for me. I’m hoping you won’t mind?

Is your book part of a series? What does the future hold for the readers of the series?
Aye, so it is, I’m proud to say. My lady scribe says Winter Fire is the second story in her ‘Return to Kintail’ series. Novellas she’s writing in one of her favorite story settings, Kintail in the Western Highlands.

I thank you for having me here today, Eniko-lass. It was good to step out of the page for a bit and stretch my legs. Now I’d best slip back into Winter Fire. Katla still frets a bit if I disappear longer than she thinks I should.

Thank you Gunnar for taking the time away from Katla and chat with me. My greeting to Katla!

He’s standing now, smiling at me before he heads for the door. Oops – he’s gone already…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoyed the chat. i sure did 😉

As he already mentioned, Gunnar hails from “Winter Fire” by wonderful Sue-Ellen Welfonder.

When Katla MacKenzie meets a dashing stranger in an enchanted place, she gladly gives her heart – and her passion – to the lover she only knows as the Lord of Winter.
Gunnar MacLeod can’t resist the bonnie lass and seduces her—or is he the one seduced? A long-standing clan feud comes between them, but a heart that loves is powerful, and Gunnar will do whatever he must to claim Katla as his own.

I had the opportunity to read his story and I was enchanted again by Ms. Welfonder’s ability to draw me into the story. It has all the elements to keep the reader glued to the page, intrigue, deception, magic, and of course love. Gunnar and Katla face many obstacles on their road to HEA and it is quite a trip. Devorgilla makes an appearance in this story too, I love her character and always look forward to her ‘antics’. Thank you Sue-Ellen!

It is one of the scrolls in the Guardians of Cridhe’s second volume, HIGHLAND FLAMES, to be released on September 21, 2015.

To preorder, follow the links:

Amazon US • Amazon UK • Amazon CA • Amazon AU • Kobo

Two more chats with the heroes coming up. I hope you will join me, learn about them while I get to chat with them.

GIVEAWAY ALERT! There will be 2 winners chosen by Sexy Mr. Random from the comments on all 7 chats to receive ebook copy of “Highland Flames”. Comment each day for more chances to win. Good luck!

Until next time read / listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!