Sunday, May 5, 2013

Canadian Romance Author Melanie Robertson-King

Love Can Encompass Time and Place 

By Melanie Robertson-King
Melanie Robertson-King
First off, I have to say how thrilled I am to be invited back, especially for your 2nd Blog-O-Versary celebrations. Congratulations, Genre-istas on this auspicious occasion.
While we’re talking about romance and anniversaries; my husband and I will be celebrating our 38th next month. He’s been a great supporter of my dream to become a published author and now supports me as I promote my debut novel and work on my second.

True love knows no boundaries. Great obstacles can/are and have been overcome when you love someone enough.
One truly romantic story (well, I think it is) that’s been passed down through the generations in my husband’s family is about his great-grandparents. His great-grandmother told her husband that she would follow him anywhere but across the ocean. Yet, the couple with eight of their nine children (the eldest was older than the others and employed as a domestic) boarded a ship bound from England to Canada. Family lore said it was because of the sinking of the Titanic that she wouldn’t get on a ship but they sailed before that and their two youngest children were born in Canada – and both before 1912. Still, it’s a lovely story.

I wish I had something romantic like that hidden away in the archives of my family. I never knew my grandparents on my father’s side, let alone my great-grandparents so I don’t know if there were any romantic stories about them or not. The only one I’ve heard is that my grandfather was a great cricket player and was a member of the Huntly Cricket Club (note to self, must investigate this the next time I get over). I can’t see anything romantic coming out of playing cricket – a few sniggers and belly laughs over some of the terminology used in the game – definitely.
My main purpose when I visited Scotland for the first time in 1993 was to discover my roots and meet family members living there. Little did I know how much more important that trip would become. Yes, I visited the cemeteries where my ancestors were buried and I met living relatives but somewhere along the way, I fell in love with the musical lilt of the Scottish voices, the rugged beauty of the country and the hulking ruins of a derelict mansion – all in close proximity to my father’s birthplace.

One of the things I love most about Scotland, England, and Wales (yes, been there, too) is the age of things. Castles, abbeys, stone circles, standing stones – things we don’t see here in what we affectionately refer to as “the great white north” (this past winter that moniker was most deserved) except in books, movies or on television. History is embraced and these ancient monuments remain for people to enjoy, thanks to organizations that work to preserve the past.
Love doesn’t have to be for another person. It can be for a place, an object, an era.
A Shadow in the Past
When a contemporary teen is transported back through time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…
Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages, powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.
Publisher: 4RV Publishing LLC
Author Website:
http://www.melanierobertson-king.com/
Author Blog: Celtic Connexions http://www.melanierobertson-king.com/wp02/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Melanie-Robertson-King/221018701298979
Twitter Account: @RobertsoKing https://twitter.com/#!/RobertsoKing

11 comments:

Melanie said...

Thanks so much for inviting me back. I hope your visitors enjoy my guest post.

Sheryl Browne said...

Oh, I agree, Melanie. We Brits have a wonderful heritage. Sadly, we don't always stop to smell the roses long enough to appreciate it. Lovely post! :) xx

Madelle Morgan said...

Hi Melanie,

Scotland is so romantic - maybe more so to those of us North Americans with ancestors from there than to the current inhabitants!

Castles, hunky guys in kilts, windswept isolated islands where a couple can get into all sorts of trouble ;), the list goes on. I love to read about it all too!

Judith Ashley said...

Welcome back, Melanie! I remember the first time I traveled to the east coast of the US and saw buildings built in the 1700's - I was awed! because the oldest buildings where I live on the west coast were built in the 1840's or so.

Over the last 20 years I've been to Ireland, England, Scotland, Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy. I love history and being able to stand on the site of something I've read about has been special.

However being a modern girl, while I loved the castles, I wouldn't have wanted to live in one a hundred plus years ago. I like my running water and flush toilets too much.

Diana McCollum said...

Melanie, Shadow In The Past sounds like a fascinating story. I have learned interesting facts about my various ancestors from my mom. Today I just learned my Great-Aunt Nellie had fourteen children. No twins, and two died as babies. Good luck on sales!

Paty Jager said...

What a great family history you have on both sides. It is amazing how much families back in the day would give up to find a new better dream but crossing the ocean or even the continent. Good luck with your book!

Melanie said...

Sorry to be a bit behind here replying to comments but life and the day job... need I say more?

Sheryl, here in my part of the world there's a lot we take for granted, too, and barely - if ever, visit - still we know it's there. Hope you get north of the border sometime soon.

Melanie said...

Don't forget those stone circles and desolate moors, Madelle. So many places where couples can get up to all sorts... or not. And you're right, when it's on your doorstep, it isn't always appreciated - at least not in the same way as it is by folks from other parts of the world.

Melanie said...

I hear ya, Judith! As romantic and spooky as those old castles are, I prefer my mod-cons, too. I could probably get by without a flush loo but no leckie to charge my phone and computer and iPad? ACK!


Melanie said...

Diana, I love finding out those snippets of family history, too. And since discovering genealogy I've got a greater appreciation for the lives of my ancestors... and the tools(?) to be able to write a better period piece. Well at least Victorian era...

Thanks for your good wishes.

Melanie said...

Thanks for dropping by, Paty. Yes, great information there but we wish we knew more. Isn't that always the way, though?

There was a lot of hardship back then and most families undertook the difficult decision to relocate to improve their situation. Wouldn't it be something to be able to sit down with them and ask if looking back, did they make the right decision?

Thanks for your good wishes for my book.