Please welcome Tamara Morgan to Novel Reflections, here to talk about her new release, LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD, published via Samhain Publishing.

Can you tell readers who are not familiar with the series what the premise of the stories are about?

Although you can definitely read Love is a Battlefield as a standalone, this book is part of a series that follows a set of Highland Games athletes. You know those guys who have huge necks and arms and throw tree trunks across the wilds of Scotland? Yeah. They’re kind of like that. Except instead of being Scottish, they’re a bunch of guys who compete in Highland Games around the United States. Kind of like overgrown frat boys but better.

In this book, they go up against a Jane Austen re-enactment group who wants the same land as them for an annual event. In the next book, they fight against a Shakespearean acting troupe. Book three tackles a Renaissance Fair. The series is oozing with geekery and swaggering men–the perfect combination!

Blurb:It takes a real man to wear a kilt. And a real woman to charm him out of it.

Games of Love, Book 1

It might be modern times, but Kate Simmons isn’t willing to live a life without at least the illusion of the perfect English romance. A proud member of the Jane Austen Regency Re-Enactment Society, Kate fulfills her passion for courtliness and high-waisted gowns in the company of a few women who share her love of all things heaving.

Then she encounters Julian Wallace, a professional Highland Games athlete who could have stepped right off the covers of her favorite novels. He’s everything brooding, masculine, and, well, heaving. The perfect example of a man who knows just how to wear his high sense of honor—and his kilt.

Confronted with a beautiful woman with a tongue as sharp as his sgian dubh, Julian and his band of merry men aren’t about to simply step aside and let Kate and her gaggle of tea-sippers use his land for their annual convention. Never mind that “his land” is a state park—Julian was here first, and he never backs down from a challenge.

Unless that challenge is a woman unafraid to fight for what she wants…and whose wants are suddenly the only thing he can think about.

Product Warnings

The historical re-enactments in this story contain very little actual history. Battle chess and ninja stars may apply.

Were any of the characters a challenge to write?

Julian, the hero, was a definite challenge for me. He has a really interesting cultural setup going on…he’s one-quarter Japanese, one-quarter Chamorro (native of Guam), and half Caucasian. And while he definitely honors his personal heritage, he also identifies with the Scottish culture because he was raised by a stepfather who lived and breathed the Highland Games.

It was a tricky balance for me, creating this hero with so many cultural ties. But I love him, of course, and want everyone else to love him, too. You can get a feeling for who he is with an interactive virtual paper doll on my website. (http://tamaramorganwrites.blogspot.com/p/julian-wallace-virtual-paper-doll.html)

Without giving away spoilers, can you share your favorite scene from the book?

Far and away, my favorite scene to write was the live action battle chess scene. Take 16 strapping Highland athletes and place them on a life-sized chess board to face off against a mismatch of women in Regency gowns and Renaissance Fair folk. Add battle axes, ninja stars, and a flintlock pistol or two. Then start the clock.

Seriously. I would pay good money to see this happen in real life.

Is there anything from your daily “real life” that has played a fundamental role in the inspiration or creation of the story line or characters?

I am an admitted re-enactment geek. I will go to any Scottish Highland Games, Civil War re-enactments, Renaissance Fairs, or other events that incorporate historical costumes and role playing. And I always drag my family along, whether they want to go or not.

When I first mentioned that I was writing a book about Highland athletes and Jane Austen re-enactors, my husband thought I was crazy. He wanted to know who would read something so patently full of social misfits. I just laughed…he has no idea what romance readers are really like. Men in kilts and women in Regency gowns? Renaissance Fair costumes and a total disregard for historical timelines? What isn’t there to love?

What can readers expect next from you?

I have a superhero novella coming out with Entangled Publishing in spring. It’s part of an anthology, and I’ll get to appear alongside some pretty incredible authors. After that, readers can expect the sequel to Love is a Battlefield. The World is a Stage (release date June 26) finds love for Michael O’Leary and Eric Peterson, two of the Highland athletes who appear in book one.

Where can readers find you on the web?

Website: www.tamaramorgan.com
Twitter: @Tamara_Morgan
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorTamaraMorgan



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