Nancy Lee Badger: Veteran's Day to Me

Guest author Nancy Lee Badger stopped by to talk about her latest release, UNWRAPPING CHRIS,  a contemporary Military short story with a Scottish Christmas theme.

My family and my husband's family have a proud history of military service. When researching our
family history many years ago, my hubby and I discovered that at least one member of our family served in every war fought on American soil since before the French & Indian War (1754-1763) through to the recent conflict in Iraq. (except for Desert Storm. There may be a cousin or two we missed, but our research did not find anyone fighting then.)

We found a memorial obelisk in front of Concord Hospital in Concord, NH with the name of ancestor John Bean who was killed by Indians on August 11, 1746.

Our son has just completed 10 years of service in the United states army which included a tour in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

My late father-in-law retired from the air force as a Lt. Colonel, and my dad served in the navy during WW2. What does this all mean to me on November 11th...America's National Veteran's Day? It means that I am very proud of all who served.

So proud that I wrote a short story I titled Unwrapping Chris. It was published in 2010 by Whispers Publishing when they published a dozen short stories whose main theme had to include a Christmas wedding. When I recently got my rights back from the publisher, I created a new cover and released the book on October 10th everywhere. Yes, there is a military theme, and my son, Sgt. Eric Badger, assisted me by helping me make sure the military terminology was correct.

Here is the BOOK BLURB:

Army widow Jayne Rockwell searches for a secure future for her and her two daughters. Staff Sergeant Christopher Hawkins regrets leaving young Jayne eight years ago to go off to war. A crash encounter a week before Christmas thrusts these two lonely people back into each other's lives once more. Jayne must learn to trust a man who disappeared with her heart. Chris must overcome the guilt of taking her innocence, and then leaving her heartbroken and alone. A Christmas wedding brings them closer when Jayne spies him as a groomsman in Highland dress, complete with kilt. He cannot keep his eyes off the woman in green velvet wearing a wedding ring. Accusations, explanations, and remorse leads to a love that erupts among candlelight, Christmas carols, and a dark room. Who needs mistletoe?

UNWRAPPING CHRIS buy links

AMAZON    NOOK    

 

SMASHWORDS    iTunes

 

 

Connect with Nancy Lee Badger:

Blog                                      http://www.nancyleebadger.blogspot.com
Website                                 http://www.nancyleebadger.com
Twitter                                  https://twitter.com/NLBadger
Facebook                              https://www.facebook.com/#!/nancy.l.badger
Goodreads                            http://bit.ly/Vd1Usg
Amazon Author Page           http://amzn.to/13ICHLq

 

Please visit my Blog

Where Happy Ever After Takes the Road Less Traveled

for a more on all my books!

MY RELUCTANT HIGHLANDER is out!

It has been a long time coming, but I am proud to announce the release of my third book in the Highland Games Through Time series. 

MY RELUCTANT HIGHLANDER returns five years later to the fictional New England Highland Games and follows Skye Gunn, sister to the Gunn laird, and Jake Jamison, a present day blacksmith. Though this is the final book in the series, I plan to write several novellas using secondary characters, like a TV show spin-off. This is also my first attempt to use my Art Degree to make my own book cover. I hope you like it. The book is a full-length novel, which will be available in print in the near future. 

Book Blurb

Skye has spent the last five years trying to forget the blacksmith who followed her back to 16^th century Scotland, to help fight evil. Sending Jake Jamison home against his will was a disastrous mistake. She risked everything attempting to defeat Andreas Borthwick. Jake might have defeated the evil sorcerer, preventing her husband’s death. When she prevents the sorcerer from grabbing her nephew, he takes her instead. To escape, she defies time to find Jake. 

The last person Jake wants to see is the young woman from ancient Scotland; the same woman who has haunted his dreams since she blackmailed him into traveling back in time. Before he could save Skye Gunn’s people, she had sent him home. Until he met Skye, his life had been normal. Quiet, and uncomplicated. No one knows he is a firebreather, except her. His ancestry is a mystery. When Skye falls into his bed—beaten, bloody and beautiful—Jake must choose to trust her, or turn his back on the only woman he’s loved across time.

Skye encourages Jake to use his ability to help her kill the sorcerer. Stealing his heart was not part of the plan. Jake must share his secret, Skye must give her heart fully, and both must dare to love in the time they have.

AMAZON     KOBO   SMASHWORDS

 

NOOK     AllRomancEBooks

 

 

ITunes (coming soon)

 

Don't forget to check the other books in the series:

My Honorable Highlander & My Banished Highlander

Goodreads Giveaway: MY BANISHED HIGHLANDER in Print!

I have been busy working on the third book in my Highland Games Through Time series, but life keeps getting in the way. The kitchen is 90% finished (just need to choose and install a backsplash) and I keep busy with family matters (don't we all?)

So, I thought I would take a moment to
GIVE AWAY paperback copies of

MY BANISHED HIGHLANDER.

This is the 2nd book in the series and was released last September. The contest is over at Goodreads and you have until May 31st to enter!

ENTER HERE

*no purchase necessary/Goodreads.com chooses the winners

Nancy Lee Badger Twitter me @nlbadger

DRAGON IN THE MIST, a Loch Ness Contemporary Romance, AVAILABLE HERE

MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER, Book #1, AVAILABLE HERE

MY BANISHED HIGHLANDER, Book #2 AVAILABLE HERE

MY RELUCTANT HIGHLANDER, Book #3, is COMING SOON!

Win Print Copies of MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER at Goodreads

I have been busy working on the third book in my Highland Games Through Time series, but life keeps getting in the way.

So, I thought I would take a moment to

GIVE AWAY paperback copies of

MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER.

This is the 1^stbook in the series and was released last May. The contest is over at Goodreads and you have until April 30^th to enter!

*SORRY:CONTEST HAS ENDED*

*no purchase necessary/Goodreads.com chooses the winners

Nancy Lee Badger Twitter me @nlbadger

DRAGON IN THE MIST, a Loch Ness Contemporary Romance, AVAILABLE HERE

MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER, Book #1, AVAILABLE HERE

MY BANISHED HIGHLANDER, Book #2 AVAILABLE HERE

MY RELUCTANT HIGHLANDER, Book #3, is COMING SOON!

HOGMANAY by Nancy Lee Badger

Hogamanay celebration in Edinburgh, Scotland

While researching my Highland Games Through Time series, I filled binders with oodles of neat facts. I thought I would share a few things I learned about Hogmanay.  

My books take place in both modern day New England as well as sixteenth century Scotland. Hogmanay (also spelled Hogamany or Hogamanay) is the Scots term for the last day of the year, the day we all now celebrate as New Year’ Eve.  Like many of us lucky enough to have the following day ‘off’, Hogmanay also includes celebrating all the way through the next day and, sometimes, through January 2^nd.

 

When I looked deeper into the origin of Hogmanay, I found that many scholars believe that the holiday has its roots in ancient times when the Nordic tribes acknowledged the Winter Solstice, the Vikings enjoyed the Yule, and Scots celebrated Samhain.   

One of the first things I ever read was a folk tale that mentioned the first guest who walked across your home’s threshold after midnight on the last day of the year. Some call this first-footing. Since hubby and I usually head to bed once the ball drops in New York City (watched from our North Carolina home, where the split screen also shows the NC Acorn drop) we rarely think about whom the first person is that enters our home in the New Year. This year I will take note!  

I am still confused about what this first-footing person does for us. Further research says that the Scots exchange certain gifts, and what I read made me laugh. These gifts include salt, coal, shortbread (yum), and fruit cake (yuck). 

Then I came across an interesting tidbit that mentioned another gift the Scots share with their neighbors on Hogmanay…whisky! Now, that is a Scottish tradition worth continuing! 

Happy Hogmanay!

Nancy Lee Badger

More About the Author

Nancy Lee Badger loves chocolate-chip shortbread, wool plaids wrapped around the trim waist of a Scottish Highlander, the clang of dirks and broadswords, and the sound of bagpipes in the air. After growing up in Huntington, New York, and raising two handsome sons in New Hampshire, Nancy moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time. Nancy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Celtic Heart Romance Writers. Nancy and her family volunteer each fall at the New Hampshire Highland Games and she is a proud Army Mom.

Find out more at: 

Website     Blog    Facebook

Twitter        Goodreads  

 

Latest Release:  My Banished Highlander

Series: Book #2 of the Highland Games Through Time

Genre: Scottish Time Travel Romance

Length: 82,000 word Novel

 

Buy Links:

Amazon   NOOK

KOBO    AllRomanceEBooks     

Smashwords       

Also available in PRINT! 

Volunteer at Scottish Highland Games

The 1st Book of the Highland Games Through Time series is out!

My years as a volunteer at the New Hampshire Highland Games, held each fall in Lincoln, NH, has given me plenty of ideas for a book. Hashing out a plot, fleshing out my characters, and delving into many forms of research all came together in MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER.

Over the last couple of years, I have been doubly blessed. My husband and I—long-time volunteers—were able to meet up with our sons, who gave up their brisk fall weekend to help the thousands of visitors find their way.

You see, we work under the Information Tent handing out programs, helping people find their way, and selling raffle tickets to fund scholarships for those wishing to follow their hearts in becoming proficient in the dance, bagpipes, harps, and more.

Our week starts with a 1400 mile road trip from North Carolina to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We dump our belongings in our condo then head to the Loon Mountain Ski Area to make sure our tent, tables, and chairs are set up. We post our signs, say hello to people we haven’t seen all year, and welcome our family members.

Last year was a year for the unusual. Hurricane Irene blew through only a few weeks before the games. This meant we had to drive through New York City, as the roads in upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire had sustained major damage. Even the bridge at the entrance to Loon Mountain partially collapsed!

The governor installed a Bailey bridge in record time for pedestrian traffic. Vendors and volunteers (us) had to drive over a back road in order to get our supplies to the site. During the busiest part of the busy Saturday morning, thick black smoke from a nearby condo fire caused rescue vehicles to traverse the festivities.

Nancy at the collapsed Loon MTN bridge

I am sure other things occurred, but these stood out. All in all, the weekend was wonderful, our trip home was uneventful, and our hours volunteering means that the 2012 New Hampshire Highland Games will welcome many more visitors eager to relive the lives of their Scottish ancestors.  


More about MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER
Bumbling present day herbalist, Haven MacKay, gets more than she bargains for when her love spell goes awry, is cast back in time, and meets her true love -- Laird Kirkwall Gunn.

Kirk's plans go slightly off course when he falls in love with a woman wandering through the Scottish Highlands. After all, he has pledged to marry another, from an enemy clan, in order to end a century-old feud.

Title: MY HONORABLE HIGHLANDER
Author: Nancy Lee Badger
Genre: Scottish Time Travel Romance
Length: 92,000 Novel

Amazon

NOOK

AllRomance EBooks

ISBN 9781476417400

For more information at the New Hamshire Highland Games click HERE.

AUTHOR BIO...Nancy Lee Badger

After growing up in Huntington, New York, and raising two handsome sons in New Hampshire, Nancy moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time. Due to a Scottish heritage, she and her family continue to volunteer at the New Hampshire Highland Games each fall. Nancy is a member of RWA, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, FF&P Romance Writers, and the Celtic Heart Romance Writers. Nancy also writes romantic suspense as Nancy Lennea and is a proud Army Mom.

Website
Blogsite
Twitter  @NLBadger

MYTHOLOGY of Scotland & Ireland

Myths are often considered an aspect of folklore. Even so, mythology might include the belief in the supernatural, where as folklore and folk tales derived when people had the need to explain mysterious events. Pre-Christianity might have had a hand in old world myths and folklore. A people’s yearning to believe in the hereafter, or in some type of entity, lived on through stories passed generation to generation. Once Christianity became widespread, faeries, brownies, and even the belief in the Loch Ness monster faded away.

With a rich Celtic History going back over 2,000 years, it is not surprising that Scotland has an extensive heritage of myths and folklore. Many objects have accumulated their share of myths and legends; circles of stones, cairns, and even castles.

Some believe that religion was an adaption from stories and memoires or evolutionary biology. In other words, religion evolved as byproduct of psychological mechanisms that evolved for other reasons. These mechanisms might have told early people how to watch for things that could cause them harm (omens). This morphed into an ability to come up with causal narratives for natural events (folk tales) while other people had minds of their own with their own beliefs, desires and intentions (mythology and the precursors of organized religion).


Some scholars concluded that unexplained observations like thunder or lightning were the basis of stories. These word-of-mouth explanations changed with the frequency of their telling which is why one myth could have many different descriptions or endings. Even the distinctive features of Scotland’s varied scenery fuels these beliefs. Deep mountain lochs, creeks, mountain peaks, and the moor, reflect in their folk tales and myths.

Scotland and Ireland share some basic land similarities. In Scotland, mythical Selkies are shy marine creatures in the shape of a seal, usually found near the islands of Orkney and Shetland. A female can shed her skin and come ashore as a beautiful woman. If found, a man could force her to be his wife. Of course, as the legend goes, if she recovered the skin, off she’d go. Male Selkies are said to be responsible for storms. What better explanation for the sinking of a ship?
Selkies of Irish lore are said to come from Co. Donegal in Ireland, which happens to be where many people made their living from the sea. Living by the sea might cause people to craft stories as a way to explain its mysteries. The Irish considered the Selkies to have the same characteristics as those of Scotland, even though they considered other sea creatures more malevolent. Most scholars believe the seals and sea lions from which these myths evolved had sweet, non-threatening dispositions. This might have allowed them to easily be transformed by myth into non-threatening Selkies. At least, the females!

Religion changed everything. Popular Christian beliefs were the norm. Myths and folklore slipped to the back burner, but never disappeared. Many tales are quite popular today. Think of the legend surrounding the Blarney Stone in Ireland or the Loch Ness Monster. Even Girl Scout troops around the world call their youngest recruits ‘Brownies’ after helpful creatures that do good deeds.


Myths and folk tales live on because people need to believe in them. There are hundreds of wonderful stories out there about kelpies, fairies, banshees, and the like. I recommend the following websites if you would like a taste. You might even recognize one or two stories!

www.compassrose.org/folklore/scottish/Scottish-Folktales.html

http://www.sacred-texts.com/

Interested in reading my take on dead witches, a heroine with the secret gift of premonitions and a hero cursed to turn into a dragon at inopportune times?
Check out my book DRAGON'S CURSE by Whispers Publishing & Amazon for Kindle. Learn more by visiting my website: www.nancyleebadger.com and my blog: www.RescuingRomance.nancyleebadger.com

SCOTLAND HAS...DRAGONS?

I scratched my head the first time someone told me Scotland was famous for its dragons. "You're kidding," I replied, then listened intently. I liked dragons, didn't I? I wanted a plot for a book that incorporated ancient Scottish life with the paranormal. Why not use dragons?

This kind of thinking led me to research. Dragons, legendary creatures, are typically pictured as having serpent-like or reptilian traits. Dragons are featured in the myths of cultures spanning the globe, not just medieval England. Since Scotland is where I base my newest novella, DRAGON’S CURSE, I'll talk about these mysterious creatures that settled there

Rumor has it that dragons are a mix of the serpent, the feline, and the predatory bird, the great predators of prehistoric times. Once man started to walk upright, he combined them into one terrifying beast, and the dragon was born. Sounds feasible, doesn't it?

From Cirein Croin, a sea serpent believed to be the largest creature ever, to the long, thick tailed wingless Beithar who haunted the quarries and mountains around Glen Coe, to the infamous Loch Ness Monster, dragons have been a part of Scottish folklore.

The Loch Ness Monster, also known as ‘Nessie’, is classified as a dragon even though many assume it is a leftover dinosaur. Some think its a lake fish that has grown to gigantic proportions. Tales of Nessie date from the sixth century and one story goes like this: When Saint Columba traveled through the country of the Picts, he had to cross the River Ness. He came across Picts burying a man said to have been bitten by the water-monster. Not a stupid man, Columba ordered one of his men to swim across and return with a boat. The chosen man, Lugneus Mocumin swam off, but the monster saw him and charged. All on shore stood in horror except Columba, who raised his holy hand and inscribed the Cross in the air. He called upon the name of God and commanded the beast, saying, “Go no further! Do not touch the man! Go back at once!” The monster drew back, retreating to the depths of the Loch. Unharmed, Lugneus brought the boat back. Everyone was astonished. The heathen savages who witnessed the miracle were overcome and came to know the magnificence of the God of the Christians. A good story, passed down through the ages.


Nessie and Loch Ness are the most famous tourist attraction in Scotland and the locals will tell you about the mythical sea creature that some have actually seen in modern times and is probably a stranded dragon. The dragon can be seen as a symbol of the Celts, Picts and other early heathens of the area.

Dragons have found their way into many modern books and movies. Shape shifters are a modern day paranormal storyline and several authors have used dragon lore to create stories to entertain us all. My story is slightly different. My hero has been cursed by a dead witch for a crime he did not commit. Cursed to transform into a dragon at inopportune times, Draco Macdonald decides to live out his years on the uninhabited island of Staffa. These plans go awry when Brianna Macleod arrives with a hunting party. Staffa is a real uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland and its huge caves would make a wonderful home for any dragon!


For more information concerning dragons and dragon lore, check your local library, book store, or these websites:

http://www.theserenedragon.net

http://www.monstropedia.org

DRAGON’S CURSE is available from Whispers Publishing.
Visit my website:http://www.nancyleebadger.com and
blog http://www.RescuingRomance.nancyleebadger.com for info, buy links, and excerpts.