To Steal a Highlander's Heart - by Samantha Holt

Alana sets eyes on Morgann for the first time in several years and what does he do? He captures her! But Alana refuses to go meekly with the sexy Highland warrior. Her kidnapping will reignite the rift that’s existed between the two clans since her father accused Morgann of theft and she doesn’t want to see her father harmed in the inevitable war that will ensue.

Unfortunately for Alana, the faeries seek to interfere with her plans to escape. The sidhe have a debt to repay and Tèile, the green faery, is determined to mend the rift between the clans for good. And that means ensuring Alana and Morgann marry.

Morgann has his own reasons for taking Alana and they are nothing to do with marriage or war. He wants to use her to reveal a secret from the past, the one that had him accused of theft. If only he didn’t find his childhood friend so attractive. When circumstances force them together, Alana’s life is threatened and war is imminent. Can Morgann reveal the truth without losing Alana? And will the faeries meddling help or hinder his cause?

I had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha Holt, and discovered that we actually have bunches in common, as far as our strengths, motivations, and inspiration go.  I really wish I'd gotten a copy of this one to review, but I'll kick myself for that one for awhile...

Describe your writing process. 

I’d say I’m normally a pantser. I think things over a bit in my head and then force myself to write at least 2000 words a day, often completely out of order. It’s not usually any more exciting than that.

What motivates you to sit down and write?

Money! Well, this is my job and my royalties help support my family so if I didn’t write, we’d be out on the streets LOL. But also the words burning in my head would drive me insane. I love it and it’s a bit like an addiction. You can’t get enough of it once you get started.

Where does your inspiration come from?

Who knows? I visit a lot of historical sites and it helps but I’m pretty someone comes and sprinkles me with magical inspiration dust at 2am as that’s usually when they come about. To Steal a Highlander’s Heart was something I’d wanted to for a while and I’d picked up a book about faeries not long ago. So that kind of pushed the direction of the story.

Do you have any writers that you consider mentors?

I don’t know that I have any ‘mentors’ as such but I have some close writer friends who always give me a boot up the backside when I’m having a moan or help me work things out when I’m in a muddle. They are amazing and I had to acknowledge them in To Steal a Highlander’s Heart. I don’t do acknowledgments often. I never know what to say but it had to be done.

What do you think your greatest strength is in your writing?

I’m stubborn. It means I won’t give up. It can be easy to be ready to chuck it all in when things get tough but my stubborn mentality won’t let me.

Do you ever experience writer's block? How do you get through it?

I get burned out a lot but rarely actually blocked. If I write a huge amount in a day it tends to drain me and I get into a mood where I feel a bit like a whining teenager. ‘I don’t wanna do this anymore!’ Having a realistic word count target and recognizing when I’m genuinely drained helps. I sometime run two projects at one so switching keeps things fresh too.

Tell us about your favorite character from the book. 

I love Morgann from To Steal a Highlander’s Heart but actually Teile, the green faery, is probably my favourite. She likes a good drink and a party but she has a good heart, even if she is a little vain. Hey, she’s a faery so I think she’s allowed to be! She’ll be returning to me one day to give a secondary character, Finn, a HEA.

Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other writers who are looking to publish?

Find someone you trust who can read over your stuff or even just encourage you. There’s plenty of groups where you can meet people like that. Writers are terribly emotional by nature and get discouraged easily so having a strong network can help you get through the successes and the, unfortunately, inevitable failures.

How do you market your work?

With a lot of work. I blog, Facebook, Twitter etc. I probably devote a good few hours every day to marketing. It’s got to be done and I do enjoy the business side of writing most of the time.

Do you have a current work in progress? Can you tell a little bit about it?

I have two. I’m about halfway through Borderland Betrayal, which is the third (and final *sob* in the Borderland Legacy series. It’s set in a Northumbria, on the English borders and one of the characters, Captain James, who cropped up in the other two is finally getting his HEA. He meets a vibrant lady, Ellise, who tests his rigid ideas on life and drives him pretty crazy!

I am also working on a contemporary romance. It’s vague at the moment but the hero is a soldier and the heroine an ex-army wife. I’ve been wanting to use my experience as a military wife for a while.

Thanks so much for hosting me today, Anne!

You can purchase To Steal a Highlander's Heart HERE

To Contact Samantha:

Amazon Author Page – http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008FKHIXY

Website/Blog – www.samanthaholt.org.uk

Blog: www.samanthaholtauthor.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/romanticfiction

Twitter – https://twitter.com/SamanthaHAuthor

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