Full episode transcript: Heather McCollum Samples Highland Conquest
[00:00:00] Katherine Grant: Welcome to the Historical Romance Sampler Podcast. The place for you to find new historical romance books and authors to fan over. I'm award winning historical romance author Katherine Grant, and each week I'm inviting fellow authors to come on and share a little bit of their work and themselves.
[00:00:21] They'll read a sample of one of their books, and then I'm going to ask them a bunch of questions. By the end of the episode, you'll have a sense of what they write and who they are. Hopefully, you and I both will have something new to read. So what are we waiting for? Let's get into this week's episode.
[00:00:36] All right, today I'm joined by award winning author Heather McCollum. Heather is a historical romance author of Scottish persuasion historical romance, and she has over 20 books published, so she's also an Amazon bestseller and a Reader's Choice winner. When she's not dreaming up adventures and conflict for brawny Highlanders and feisty heroines, she spends her time educating women on the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
[00:01:03] She is a survivor. And she also resides with her very own Highland Hero and three spirited children in the wilds of suburbia on the mid Atlantic coast. Welcome, Heather. Hi, everybody.
[00:01:15] Heather McCollum: I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me, Katherine.
[00:01:19] Katherine Grant: I'm excited to have you. Thanks for joining. So today you're reading from Highland Conquest, book one of the Sons of Sinclair series.
[00:01:27] And just to whet our appetites, I'm going to give the blurb. Cain Sinclair has a plan. In order to finally bring peace to his clan, he will wed the young female chief of their greatest enemy. Only problem, capturing her and forcing her back to Sinclair Castle doesn't exactly make her want to say yes.
[00:01:48] Ella Sutherland may be clever, passionate, and shockingly beautiful, but what she isn't is willing. Every attempt Cain makes to woo her seems to backfire on him. A gift? The kitten practically claws his eyes out. A competitive game of chess? Even when he loses, even when he wins, he loses. It seems the only time the two ever see eye to eye is when they're heating up Cain's bed.
[00:02:13] Still, the only thing Ella truly wants is the one thing he cannot offer her, freedom. But when Cain discovers, she's been harboring a secret. One that could threaten both clans very existence. He'll have to decide between peace for the Sinclairs or the woman who has captured his heart. So that's exciting.
[00:02:33] Heather, can you set up the scene you're about to read?
[00:02:36] Heather McCollum: Well, first I just, I want to tell you about the series in general. It's, it's a five book series. So it's a complete series. And it's about. 4 brothers and a sister, but 4 brothers who are raised to be the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. They're not, but their father felt when his wife died, giving birth to the 4th son, that the world was coming to an end.
[00:03:00] These, this was the end of days. And so he raised his four sons to be conquest war justice and death. So Cain is conquest, which is Highland conquest. Okay. So conquest is all about taking love is all about giving. So when he wants. To finally, like, win the greatest prize of all, which is love. It totally turns his life upside down.
[00:03:31] Okay. Yeah. So so, so I had a different scene picked out and then I changed it like, 15 minutes ago. So I'm a cancer by the way. I write by the seat of my pants. So I guess I kind of read by I choose these things. Alright, so. In this scene, there's going to be right before the scene and then after, and it has to do with a gift, which is mentioned in the blurb.
[00:04:00] His brother is Gideon. He's the 3rd brother. He's the horseman of justice, which the 3rd book is about. So he's more of a, he's like the lawyer of the family. You know, he's all about judging justice. Everything's black and white, you know, but he has sort of a dry kind of humor, but okay. So, in this, they're talking.
[00:04:24] Okay, over a chess game, which Cain always wins chess, because he's been raised to learn all the conquest strategies and and so forth, but okay. So Cain says, and I'm not going to try to sound Scottish. Okay. I will woo her, Cain said, and picked up his ale next to his chair to take a drink. Gideon laughed.
[00:04:47] Woo her? What do you know about wooing a lass, big brother? All the lasses you have known fall into your bed with a mere glance. It was true that he hadn't had to work at swaying a woman into a tryst before, but that didn't mean he was a wet behind the ears lad. I could say the same about you, Cain said.
[00:05:06] Aha, but I am not attempting to woo a lass who would rather stab me than kiss me. Gideon moved his rook. Cain took another drink, moving another pawn. I will create and employ a strategy like any other conquest. Oh, Gideon said, his brow rising, how so? Cain set the tankard. back down by his chair leg. I will challenge all her reasons for finding me wanting.
[00:05:31] She will see my charm and strength. I will gentle her like an unruly mare and take her to my bed. Cain crossed his arms over his chest. I will win her love like I win everything else. The side of Gideon's mouth turned upward into a lopsided grin. I don't know much about women, Gideon said, at least the marrying type, but it seems women do not respond well to gentling.
[00:05:56] They are not horses. True, Cain said, moving his knight. Then I will treat our interactions like battles, for we are at war. He nodded, his mind calming with the familiar set of strategies he used in combat. I will determine what resources I have to woo her, anticipate her defenses, circumvent them, and press forward.
[00:06:17] Gideon stared at him, his mouth open, his smile skewed with humor. This will be fun to watch. I will start by giving her a reason to live. Because she had been saying, I'd rather die than marry you, Cain was feeling better with each word. He spoke. This was a battle of a different kind than he'd fought in the past, but it was a battle.
[00:06:37] Nonetheless, have the wedding bands posted on the chapel door near Dunrobin and read each Sunday for 3 weeks in our own. The young pastor John can read them at each chapel. He visits. I will convince her to wed me before he finishes reading them the 3rd time. Gideon smiled so confident. He raised his tankard saluting Cain as usual.
[00:06:58] I am in awe. Cain grinned too. Wooing Ella Sutherland is just another game. And I win every game. So then we go over here to him trying to take hifirstst step. Okay. So Ella was in the bath. And he wraps on the door and she loses her balance and falls forward, sort of back into the bathtub she had just gotten out.
[00:07:28] Cain frowned as he tried once again to coax the black and white feline off his head while balancing a tray of food. The large splash on the other side of the door made him lay his ear against it. Ella's voice held fury and she coughed, cursing further. Oh, great, she murmured as the kitten pierced his scalp.
[00:07:47] Oh, he murmured as the kitten pierced his scalp with her needle like claws. Perhaps the kitten and her new mistress had things in common, namely a hatred of him. I brought you some food. Are you well? Cain called. Leave it outside the door, she yelled. I also have a gift for you, Ella. His frown relaxed. Are you in need of assistance?
[00:08:07] No, she said, and he could imagine her snapping gray eyes trying to skewer him through the oak door. What I need is to be released from Guernigo and for you to leave Clan Sutherland alone. She may as well have asked to have wings to fly. I won't bother you, Cain said. I want only to deliver my gift and your food.
[00:08:29] And for you to surrender long enough to marry me, he thought. He had boasted to Gideon that he would convince her within the three weeks, and he would see the challenge won. He had changed into a fresh white tunic, a clean kilt after bathing, and the key to the door sat tucked into a sash. As if reading his mind, she yelled again, Do not pretend that you don't have a key to the door.
[00:08:52] What did that mean? Of course he had a key. Do you want me to come in with my key? Do what you want, Sinclair. Leave the food and gift or use your key. I will not be letting you into my cage. Needles pierced his head, startling him, so that he bumped his forehead into the frame of the door. Blast, ye wee beastie!
[00:09:10] Enough of this. Leaving the cat to cling to his head, Caden fished the iron key out of his sash and jammed it into the lock. The kitten flexed her other paw, jabbing him with more needles. The key turned and he pushed the door inward. Ella stood wrapped in the blanket from her bed, warped from the fire, filling the small room.
[00:09:27] She watched him warily. My gift is misbehaving, he said, his teeth clamped together as he tried to force a smile. It felt like a grimace. Cain bent his knees to lower enough so that he could walk through the small doorway with the kitten hissing on his head. The tray wobbled slightly as he entered and he kept his gaze on Ella's face.
[00:09:46] Her glare melted into a look of surprise. For a long moment, she stared at the two of them. Cain waited and the kitten pricked his scalp again, making his eye twitch as he tried to hold his smile. Walking forward, he set the tray on a small table near the hearth. A gift for you, Ella. The kitten is the smallest of her litter and has weaned from her mother.
[00:10:05] The other barn cats are not letting her have as much food and she needs a protector. Someone to make sure she eats. I, I suppose I can watch her while I'm here. You said it is a her, a girl? Ella moved closer and the smell of the floral soap that Merida had given her floated from her wet hair that was twisted up in the bathing sheet.
[00:10:26] Aye, and as you see, she is spirit. And she is scared to death way up there on top of a giant, Ella said, chastising him with a frown. Tucking the blanket tighter around her, she walked to him, dragging the length behind her like a cumbersome train. Bend, she demanded, and reached high to disentangle the kitten from Cain's head, her arms shaped with slender muscles.
[00:10:49] Here, sweet thing, she whispered, let me take you away from the big bad Sinclair. Cain bent his knees so she could pull the cat from him, its paws and claws extended wide. You know the kitten is also a Sinclair, he said, watching her bring the ball of black and white fluff to her face, touching her nose to the cat's little white one.
[00:11:07] The heavy blanket around Ella loosened and she gasped as it fell to the floor. Stepping back, Ella tripped over the wool mass tangled around her feet. Cain's hand shot out, grabbing her arms to help her from falling backward. The kitten yowled and jumped from her onto the bed. The feel of him steadying her yanked back a long ago memory.
[00:11:26] She had been young and smiling at the festival when he bumped into her, making her drop her bouquet of Scottish thistle. Thank you, she said, and frowned as if she wished she could step, could pull back, yanking out of his grasp. You're all wet. Water drops sat along her collarbone, making him very thirsty.
[00:11:43] Osh, what would the lass taste like? She clutched her arms over her breasts and squatted to grab up the blanket to hold before her. You startled me when you knocked. And he looked from her to the tub and back. Water was pooled across the floor. And you fell in the tub? No! Well, yes, somewhat. Not all the way.
[00:12:02] He took a quick mental inventory of the room. It was small. Too small for his bulk, but it suited Ella. You need a robe and another bathing sheet, a rug for the floor and some rags for the water. She picked the kitten from the bed to hold before her, but the wee beast wiggled until Ella let her jump down to prowl about.
[00:12:21] Do not forget! To bring me a skian dube or machkles, Ella said. Those are sharp knives, Ella said, and clutched the blanket up to the base of her throat. Even half drowned, she was bonny and brave. Although she had little defense in being alone and half dressed with him in a small room, she was not cowering or weeping in a corner.
[00:12:41] Nay, the lass was asking for weapons. The side of his mouth tipped upward. I will keep your request in mind. So that was his first attempt to try to woo her a bit, and she's not really having much of it.
[00:12:58] Katherine Grant: It's a fantastic scene, like, such a classically, like, there's the kitten. There's the bath. There's him.
[00:13:05] There's tension. It's a lot of fun.
[00:13:08] Heather McCollum: Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, it's it's the first book of the series and it really. I wanted to start with strong women to counter the strong men and all of my heroines tend to be very strong. And when we get to the 5th book, which just came out, which is Highland surrender is their sister who was ignored her whole life because she wasn't part of the legend of the 4 horsemen.
[00:13:31] But now she's come out of her shell and we involve a. a hero that's descended from Vikings. So we have another strong hero and she is suddenly, I mean, not suddenly, but she has grown into a highland wildcat herself. Well,
[00:13:47] Katherine Grant: I have a bunch of questions that we're going to dive into, but first, let's take a break for our sponsors.
[00:13:51] Hey samplers! It's Katherine Grant. I am interrupting this episode to tell you how to get a free book, the Viscount Without Virtue. First, go to bit.ly/hrs fan, go through the checkout process. This is where you add the promo code, HR SFAN as your last step. Just download your free ebook to your ereader.
[00:14:19] Alright, well let's get back to this week's episode.
[00:14:21] So we're back with Heather McCollum, who just read an awesome excerpt from Highland Conquest. And I'm very intrigued by how you set this series up and it being the four horsemen of the apocalypse and their sister. So I'm curious, like, did the theme come first and how much did the theme inform the plot or characterization of each book?
[00:14:44] Heather McCollum: So, you know, I like alpha males. I like writing alpha males. I like conflict. And so I thought who would be the most alpha males ever would be the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. But I don't write these were not paranormal books. So they were raised that way mistakenly. And so each. It really helped me to come up with the characterization because if they were raised a certain way, that's how that's part of who they are.
[00:15:14] When you get to the 4th book, who's death, which is he's my most tortured hero. Boss is, I think a lot of my readers favorite because when he was born. His mother died and the father went insane and when he was 5 years old, the father tells him you're an executioner. Your mother was your first execution at 5 years old, this so you can see how what they are, what they were raised to be totally influences how they see the world and how they see themselves and sort of an overall theme of the book, the series is you should be who you really are and not what you've been told to be.
[00:15:55] Now, what you were raised to be you need to develop who you really are. And these, these 4, these 4 brothers have golden hearts. So I love to write brawny. Brawny Highlanders who have golden hearts. So they but they've been taught to be villains really in, you know, the heroines minds anyway. Yeah, that does shape each one of them.
[00:16:22] Katherine Grant: Yeah, that's really interesting. And so from there, you said you're a panster. So you've had the theme, you have the characters. What comes next for you? Is it the plot? Is it, like, romantic beats? Or
[00:16:38] Heather McCollum: So, what comes next for me is my collages. Ooh. Wow. So, I am a very visual writer, so I tend to so, like, I've got different, different, each book had its own its own pages.
[00:17:03] And then I put them together.
[00:17:05] Katherine Grant: Yeah. So just for the audio only listeners, you're holding up like folders that have like, it's an old school Pinterest board for those of us who are
[00:17:16] Heather McCollum: and paste real pictures. So I do find them on Pinterest and I do find them on the Internet. When I wrote the 5th book, all the whole family takes part.
[00:17:26] So I had to go back and put all the heroes and heroines. But then I write things next to them, like their dates of birth and how many children they've had and when they had their children and their children's names and who was important in their lives. Like what animals there's a lot of animals in my books.
[00:17:44] So that's how I keep track of that's actually I'm doing it right now for a new book that I'm working on. I have cut out and that's where I start is trying to look at pictures because I am terrible at plotting. I try really hard. I've written now actually I've, I had like 30 books now. And so I've tried really hard to plot.
[00:18:12] And I will I do have a plotting board which I'm going to hold up. So I use these white index cards, index cards that are
[00:18:22] Katherine Grant: do you tape them together? Hmm. Are those together?
[00:18:26] Heather McCollum: Yeah. With a contact paper. I bought them that way. So they fold up and you can erase them and reuse it and you can, and you can carry them just like this.
[00:18:38] If you need to go somewhere.
[00:18:40] Katherine Grant: Yeah, they fold up so you can put them in your purse or
[00:18:43] Heather McCollum: something. So, then I go after I start my collages and I'll cut out pictures that I have no idea where it's going to fit. Into my book, but I'm drawn to the picture and so then I start to sort of write or come up with ideas around the pictures.
[00:19:00] Right? Yeah. And and start a framework conflict is always an important part. So, like, the book that I'm just now thinking about that. I started cutting out pictures. I'm like, what would be the first fight? What would be the big blow up, you know, to start things or what could be the dark moment? What's the, what's the, the knife that twists in?
[00:19:23] And I try to come up with those conflicts first that then I try to plot backwards from there about backstory and. Whenever I'm writing and I slow down, it's because I don't know enough of the backstory. I don't know enough about their motivations and goals, all those wonderful things. Back to my pictures and I'll add pictures that will help me figure out what those are.
[00:19:49] Katherine Grant: That's very interesting. It's I've never been able to do that, but it's very fascinating to me. It's creativity just comes to everybody differently.
[00:19:59] Heather McCollum: It is. Everybody's different. And also I get about two thirds of the way through and I think it's all crap. That's why I tell my husband and he always reminds me.
[00:20:06] You're at two. Always
[00:20:07] Katherine Grant: feel that way. That is
[00:20:08] Heather McCollum: part of your process. Yeah.
[00:20:10] Katherine Grant: And I think that comes to everybody, no matter how we're getting to the story. I think there's always about two thirds of the way through. You're like, no. This sucks.
[00:20:22] Heather McCollum: Yes. Yeah.
[00:20:24] Katherine Grant: So I'm curious. It was in this passage as well where he was like that cat is a Sinclair too, but this is also a theme.
[00:20:31] I think throughout your books and also in Scottish books in general, a theme of like familial love versus romantic love because the families are so strongly defined and violently protected. So I guess my question is, how do you approach that? And how do you think about. Ultimately marriage is changing family lines.
[00:20:54] So, so how do you think about that?
[00:20:56] Heather McCollum: Well, I'm thinking about it a lot because I've just started a new series separate from the one I'm contemplating a new series called the Brotherhood of Solway Moss. And it's all about fam, the clans on the Isle of Skye and how they feuded constantly, you know, and it really weakens Scotland and open them up to a lot of English aggression because they couldn't unify.
[00:21:19] And so this next series that I'm working on is all about family dysfunction and how these 4, these 4 sons are in prison together down in England and they have to rely upon each other to get out together. So the 4 sons from 4 feuding clans trust each other more than they trust their families. And that that is, you know, there's this line like, yeah, you're taught family is everything your clan clan pride and your clan is everything.
[00:21:54] And yet there can be some really bad dysfunction. In there and so where does your loyalty lie? Does your loyalty lie with how you were raised? And or is it going to lie with what you feel is the right way to go? You know, what is what is right? And I think we see that in in modern life. We see that in every family, right?
[00:22:16] You know, you're raised a certain way, but then you get out there in the world and you meet other people and suddenly you realize maybe the people that you thought. We're not good people are good people and they're just like you. They have good and bad and, you know, those sorts of things. So, so I'm playing with that in this new series as well.
[00:22:35] Katherine Grant: That's interesting. And what's the name of that
[00:22:37] Heather McCollum: series? The Brotherhood of Solway Moss .
[00:22:40] Katherine Grant: Awesome. So when you are writing alpha heroes and feisty, strong women, and maybe in particular in this passage that you read for us, which character is Do you normally, like, connect to the most or it's easiest for you to write?
[00:22:57] Do you find yourself naturally drawn to either the hero or the heroine? Or does it depend?
[00:23:02] Heather McCollum: I always think about whose book is it means who is going to change more? Whose arc, I mean, they both need to have their character arcs, but whose character arc is the biggest? And that is like, it's their book. So in the Brother the Sons of Sinclair, Cain, he's going to change the most.
[00:23:20] His whole, everything he was raised to believe gets crumbled. I mean, literally, it physically crumbles towards the end of the book. Okay. So the female does change as well, but I, I tend to, because I am female, I, I connect more with the women. Okay. And but the books are more, they're the guys, the, the, the hero's books.
[00:23:48] And because they, they have the most change. And so the female is the one usually that's teaching them how they need to change the most, but she changes too. That's what happens when two souls collide, right? They, they have to, it's not just one way it has to be a joining. And so they both have to change.
[00:24:10] Katherine Grant: And that's actually a great segue into our next segment, which is, are you a romantic? Because we're going to talk about souls colliding.
[00:24:18] Are you a romantic?
[00:24:23] So which do you trust more? Your heart, your gut, or your brain?
[00:24:27] Heather McCollum: My gut.
[00:24:30] Katherine Grant: Do you believe in love at first sight?
[00:24:35] Heather McCollum: I believe in attraction at first sight. I don't believe in love at first sight.
[00:24:40] Katherine Grant: Okay. So then do you believe there's a difference between lust and love? Yes. Okay. How about soulmates? Do you believe in soulmates?
[00:24:51] Heather McCollum: That there's one soulmate? No.
[00:24:54] Katherine Grant: Do you believe in true love? Yes. And so is that different than soulmates?
[00:25:02] Heather McCollum: I think that that we do have. We are attracted to and that we can learn to love like our souls can mingle. And so, yes, there can be a soulmate, but that there's just one out there. No. So, so true love and soulmate are the same, but that there's one.
[00:25:26] I don't believe that there's just one out there for a person.
[00:25:30] Katherine Grant: Okay. What makes an apology meaningful?
[00:25:34] Heather McCollum: It, it has to be that the person has taken the time to understand the hurt that they've caused. Hmm. So, being in that other person's shoes and, and really understanding the pain that somebody has gone through before.
[00:25:54] They can not just apologize, but explain that they understand the pain and they're trying to do things to rectify that. That makes it meaningful. Hmm.
[00:26:08] Katherine Grant: I like that answer. All right. And this is the last one. Why is romantic love important?
[00:26:15] Heather McCollum: Because it brings out our humanity, I think. It, it's it's more than just physical attraction.
[00:26:21] Yeah. And It is more of a soul thing, a connection with people get, you're on a different level when two people come to respect each other and draw together romantically.
[00:26:37] Katherine Grant: Yeah, yeah, I like that. I think I'm going to declare you. A practical romantic.
[00:26:46] Heather McCollum: That sounds about right. I'm a Capricorn. So, you know, I'm pretty darn practical.
[00:26:54] Katherine Grant: Well, before we wrap up, I know you. have taken. You make a point of sharing your experience with ovarian cancer. Is there anything you want to share about what women should know? About it?
[00:27:07] Heather McCollum: Oh, yeah, I'm an open book when it comes to ovarian cancer and women's health. Because I didn't know any of the symptoms really when I had it.
[00:27:15] Because they're all very benign symptoms. They're quiet. They're whispers. I started a group called shout against the whisper. Like, the 4, the major symptoms are continual bloating. That doesn't go away. It's not like from food. There's eating, like, you feel hungry, then you eat some and then suddenly you don't want to eat anymore trouble with your bladder and
[00:27:39] abdominal pain, you know, I had a pinchy pain on 1 side. I had pressure on my bladder. I had a bloating, but all of it could have been, you know, it could have been a issue. And that's what a lot of people think it is, or even will think that's what it is. And they send you to a doctor and then. That's not it.
[00:27:59] You know so it's really important. I mean, there's other symptoms like back pain and fatigue and pain during intercourse and indigestion spotting. I mean, there's a lot of different ones, but what women need to know is that pap smear does not detect ovarian cancer that cervical cancer. So. Your annual appointments are very important because your doctor is feeling around to try to see if you're ovaries feel the right size that nothing feels abnormal.
[00:28:30] They may send you for a trans vaginal ultrasound to take a closer look. you know, for me, I was lucky in that my cancer was very aggressive as far as growing big fast. So they were able to detect it for one thing, as soon as they felt my abdomen and number two, my chemo worked really well on it. Cause it was so fast.
[00:28:55] It grew from nothing to that big and spreading in five months. So there was, you know, that's scary, but the chemo worked really well on it because of the fast growing.
[00:29:07] Katherine Grant: Yeah. All right.
[00:29:09] Heather McCollum: Anyway. So not to scare people, but it is it is the deadliest GYN cancer because it goes undetected until it's way progressed.
[00:29:20] So you need to just really, I tell women to mark in their calendar if they're bloated, if they're having any symptoms and then just track it. 2 weeks or more, they should contact their GYN.
[00:29:32] Katherine Grant: Yeah, and advocate for themselves. It sounds like.
[00:29:35] Heather McCollum: Yes. Don't let them just tell you it's perimenopausal symptoms, which is what I got at first.
[00:29:40] Yeah. Mm-Hmm. .
[00:29:42] Katherine Grant: Well, Heather, thank you so much for that, but also for coming on the podcast and sharing your book and talking to me about writing craft and everything. If readers want to go find your books or connect with you online, how can they find you?
[00:29:58] Heather McCollum: I'm kind of everywhere online. . Facebook is where I do a lot.
[00:30:02] Heather McCullum author I have a website. Heather McCollum dot com, which is set up to look like a castle. So you can go to the different rooms in my castle.
[00:30:12] Katherine Grant: It's a very cool website and there's a secret staircase.
[00:30:15] Heather McCollum: Yes. If you become a newsletter subscriber, you get the password to go to the secret staircase where I put monthly giveaways in there and any extra tidbits or.
[00:30:27] Let you know, like more details about my writing about if I'm having trouble or if they're changing the titles on me or what's going on. That's all in the secret staircase. So it's a lot of fun. But yeah, I'm mostly on Facebook and on my website and I have a great newsletter. We're called the kilt chasers.
[00:30:48] Katherine Grant: I love that. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you, Heather. Everyone go chase some kilts with Heather McCullough.
[00:30:55] Heather McCollum: Thanks for having me. That's it for this
[00:30:56] Katherine Grant: week. Check out the show notes where I put links for my guests, myself, and the podcast. Until next week, happy reading.