** This was a character named Jamie MacCrimmon, played by the actor Frazer Hines. “Yeah, why not? Scotland, eighteenth century.” So that’s where I began, knowing nothing about Scotland or the eighteenth century, with no plot, no outline, no characters-nothing but the rather vague images conjured up by a man in a kilt (which is, of course, a very powerful and compelling image). Who” rerun in a weak-minded moment, and was taken by a minor character-a young Scotsman from 1745, who appeared in his kilt.** “Well, that’s fetching,” I said.

I thought I’d write a book for practice, just to learn how, and thought perhaps a historical novel would be the easiest thing for me to write I was, after all, a research professor-I knew what to do with a library. If you mean, why did I write books set in Scotland but that otherwise defy description- it was an accident. Finally decided I should try, and luckily I turned out to be reasonably good at it. If you mean where did I get the idea to write a book, period-I always knew I was meant to write novels I just didn’t know how. So where did you get the idea to write these books? The links to the right are for easier navigation. MOST of the Frequently-Asked Questions are listed below. I will try to note which questions contain spoilers, but can’t promise that I’ll catch everything. If you don’t want to know anything about the future books, be cautious in your reading. Readers, be cautioned that some of the answers to these questions will contain SPOILERS.

Note: These FAQ pages are in the process of being updated.

Rhyme genie vs master writer