NancyBadger

Celebrate BEVERAGE DAY with Scottish Ale

As a writer, I create more than characters who meet. I need an interesting plot. What about the setting, the time-line, their clothing, food? Even their beverage of choice can give my readers a ‘taste’ of the adventure. In Dragon’s Curse, my Whispers Publishing release, I used Scottish ale as an ingredient to help describe my heroine Brianna’s thoughts about the strange man who just saved her from drowning in this excerpt:

“What treasures are in those caves? I assume ye have explored each dark tunnel since ye seem to know your way around.” He sat quiet for a moment, and then gulped his ale.
No cider for such a man, she thought as he licked foam from his lips.

I wanted to explain my use of a historically accurate beverage to give my readers a sense of 1592 Scotland. The ancients Scots have been home-brewing beer and ale for over 2,000 years. How do I know? Research. I interviewed a local brewer, toured a micro brewery, and thumbed through several books. The internet has a vast array of information and I discovered that carting barrels of ale along on a hunting trip via a boat was not out of the ordinary. That my hero, Draco, lived in a cave filled with barrels of cider and ale was believable. The use of the sense of taste can heighten attraction between characters, like in this excerpt:

He tasted her. Sweet apple cider and honey. Her flavor nourished him unlike his forgotten dinner or his half-drunk ale. He sucked her tongue into his mouth. She whimpered with the feminine angst of a long-denied innocent.

Having my heroine serve the men who spend the day hunting on a small island gave me the need to decide what she would serve them. Ale was the natural choice. What is ale? Ale is a type of beer that can be broken down into two broad categories called ales and lagers. Ale is created by using top-fermenting yeasts and lagers use bottom-fermenting yeasts. The Scots made use of what they could find growing wild in a harsh climate. They used bittering herbs, bushes, and flowers. The heather plant is a common Scottish plant so its tips were widely used to add an aromatic flavor to home brew. A deciduous shrub called sweet gale can be found growing amid Scottish moors and bogs and was used to flavor beer before the use of hops. As sweet as these flavors sound, some people are repulsed by the scent of ale, as was my heroine when one of the hunters got too close in this excerpt:

Ranald’s low, gravelly voice filled her mouth with a bitter taste. The stench of strong ale flooded his breath and assaulted her nose while his dirty fingernails dug into her uncovered flesh.

Ale and beer has long been advertised as a manly beverage. Right or wrong, the creation of light beers, low-calorie ales, and non-alcoholic beer has risen to fill the needs of younger generations of both men and women. May 6th is National Beverage Day. So grab up a glass of whatever makes your taste buds dance, and drink up! Don’t forget to enter my contest (below)

DRAGON’S CURSE
BOOK BLURB

Sometimes a special gift and an unwanted curse cannot keep destined lovers apart.
Brianna Macleod has accompanied a shipload of her guardian’s friends to a remote island off the coast of Scotland. She eludes these Highland hunters to keep her innocence…and her gift of sight. Her attitude against falling for womanly desires changes when she nearly drowns. Saved by the talons of a terrifying winged beast, she awakens—naked—in a cave, beside an unusual man.

Cursed by a vengeful witch to transform into a dragon at inopportune times, Draco MacDonald hides on this deserted island to live alone: until he plucks a servant girl from certain death. Fueled by jealousy, and tempered by fear for her safety, he succumbs to an unfamiliar desire to mate. Her kisses propel him to dare to make her his own.

Set in 1592 Scotland on the Scottish island of Staffa, the cursed hero battles a ghostly witch, a hunter set on rape, and his own growing desire for a young woman with premonitions of his death.

Dragon’s Curse Buy Link: http://whispershome.com/romance/dragons-curse/

WIN a pdf copy of Dragon’s Curse by answering this question in the comment box: What is your favorite beverage? One comment will be chosen as the winner, so please include your e-mail.

Nancy Lee Badger, author
Twitter me @NLBadger
website: www.nancyleebadger.com
Blog: www.RescuingRomance.nancyleebadger.com

SCOTTISH ISLANDS

I am here today to tell you all about my Scottish historical paranormal romance, DRAGON’S CURSE. Since writing a historical novel of any kind must start with a location to stir the readers’ imagination, I researched books, clan maps, and the internet to find the perfect setting for my novel. The only requirement? It had to be a real place in Scotland. I discovered many islands, which I mention in the book, but the main location I chose was Staffa.

Using poetic license in my story set in sixteenth century Scotland, I made my hero, Draco Macdonald, wrongly accused of being the villager that a roaming band of Macleods spot, thereby causing the deaths of his clansmen. The village witch comes back as a ghost to haunt him and curses him for the deaths. For the next 15 years, her curse causes him to shape shift into a dragon at inopportune times.

In need of a new home, he flies over the ocean to nearby Staffa. In pre-historic times, ice sheets covered the island. Around 20,000 years ago, sea levels were about 125 meters (410 ft) lower than at present and researchers believe Staffa was a larger island. It sits just off the coast of mainland Scotland—near the Isle of Mull, and Iona. Steadily rising sea levels have further isolated this little island of volcanic origin. The slow cooling of a layer of basalt resulted in an unusual pattern of hexagonal columns. They form the walls of the principal caves.

Staffa’s most famous feature is Fingal’s Cave (known pre-eighteenth century as An Uamh Bhin, also known as “the melodious cave”. I use this information during my story when my heroine, Brianna Macleod, notices the ghostly music. DRAGON’S CURSE also sports a wonderful book cover where the cover artist, Traci Markou, used an actual photo of the big cave on Staffa.

Its severe weather, rocky coasts, giant caves, and closeness to the mainland of Scotland made Staffa a perfect setting for DRAGON’S CURSE. I hope you will pick up a copy and think of the dark and ominous islands of Scotland as you read.