HOLIDAYS ANTHOLOGIES

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Well with a few days until Christmas I know you are busy, some may be to the point of exhaustion. Boy am I glad those crazy days are gone for the moment. When my kids were little, Christmas took on mythic proportions. I was just happy to make it to the first day of their break after weeks of Christmas parties for all the activities they were in as well as the school concerts and church concerts. Having two children eight years apart meant one year I was at a Kindergarten music concert in the morning and a seventh grade music concert all in the afternoon. One of the things as a reader of romance I did to keep my sanity was to read when I could, but there was never enough time to sit down and read a whole book, so thank God for Christmas Anthologies. Just enough story to read while hiding in my bathroom in a soak before the hungry hoards came home from school or from hours of sledding or snowman building. The following are some of my favorites: Though keep in mind the covers may have changed with subsequent publishing years. I can’t say I have liked all of the stories in the books but even if you got one or two great feel good reads it was worth the price. Though some are now out in ebook formats, most can be found in a good used bookstore.

The first book is A STOCKINGFUL OF JOY, which included stories from some of romance’s leading ladies: Jill Barnett, Mary Jo Putney Justine Dare and Susan King. This is the book I pickup every year because of the King story (“Snow Rose”) not because it is set in Scotland but because it is just one of those “curl-your-toes-feel-good-this-time-of-year “kind of stories. That it continues from one of her earlier books THE RAVEN’S WISH, makes it all the more enjoyable. Here is what is says on Amazon:

“Susan King's Snow Rose, set in 1573 in the rugged highlands of Scotland, tells the passionate story of Catriona MacDonald and Kenneth Fraser, prominent members of opposing clans. Catriona is in desperate need of help, and the snow rose--a cherished brooch given to seal a sacred pact made long ago by a Fraser family member--guarantees help from the Fraser family, or so Catriona believes. When the Frasers must regretfully deny Catriona her one wish, Kenneth Fraser swears to protect her, but he never dreamed he would lose his heart in the process." A total YUM read!!!

The next anthology is A GIFT OF LOVE includes such heavy hitters as Jude Deveraux and Judith MacNaught, but also Kimberly Cates, Andrea Kane and Judith O’Brien. It was the Kimberly Cates story “Gabriel’s Angel” that tore at my heart and I read this one each year. It is the tale of a kindness from a wealthy child to one the city's countless London waifs that kept the dream of kindness alive for 16 years for our heroine until the young girl had to grow up and put those dreams away or can she? I love this story. Other stories in the anthology include: DOUBLE EXPOSURE (McNaught), JUST CURIOUS (Deveraux), YULETIDE TREASURE (Kane) and FIVE GOLD RINGS (O’brien).

The next anthology has all of the books set in Scotland in different periods of time, again from some of the leading ladies of romance in that period in A SEASON IN THE HIGHLANDS. The stories include : UNFINISHED BUSINESS (Jude Deveraux), FALL FROM GRACE (Jill Barnett- a revised version of a previous published story of same name) COLD FEET (Geralyn Dawson), THE MATCHMAKER (Pam Binder) and THE CHRISTMAS CAPTIVE (Patricia Cabot, and for those who don’t know this Meg Cabot/Jenny Carrol who writes all the Princess Diaries and YA books- yes she got her start in writing Romance). I had two favorites in this book, first the one by Jill Barnett, which was a revised with more filling of story from the Highland Fling anthology. The story had me laughing at the ineptitude of the Grace and her band of misfits and comments from them like “Look I have nabbed a Mcnab.” Just plain fun the kind you want to relief the stress of the holiday. The second one liked was Pam Binder’s THE MATCHMAKER because it has contemporary opposites thrown back in time to Queen Mary of Scotland’s court.

The final anthology I would mention, and believe there are so many more I could metion, are from two of Romance’s senior leading ladies Judith McNaught and Jude Deveraux in SIMPLE GIFTS. Each author has two books: one an historical and one a contemporary. The titles of the stories (that may have appeared in other published anthologies) include: JUST CURIOUS (historical) and CHANGE OF HEART (contemporary) both by Jude Deveraux and MIRACLES (historical) and DOUBLE EXPOSURE (contemporary) both by Judith McNaught.

Of these four stories I especially enjoyed CHANGE OF HEART because this stars a member of Deveraux’s signature family, the Montgomerys of Colorado. A 12-year-old geek of a boy match-makes his mother with a stern powerful member of the fabled family, much to the delight of the rest of the Montgomery family. My other favorite is MIRACLES by McNaught because it is the story of two of her favorite secondary characters, Nicki and Julianne Skeffington from her Westmorland books. Though I wish she had given this couple a longer story to enjoy.

And finally a little holiday cheer, I gave the socks the week off, enjoy….

NonFiction Friday

Unfortunately this week I have no new titles of romance books set in Scotland. Though this week Susan Fraser King’s QUEEN HEREAFTER was released. I first mentioned this book back in September. This is the story of Margaret, queen to King Malcolm III as she helps Scotland move from the Celtic church to one that will embrace the Roman church. She must navigate the intrigues of Malcolm’s court where there may be those who would be a happy for a return to the old Celtic ways. Though personally, Margaret is not one my favorite women in Scottish history there is no denying the influence she had on the country and the church. She was the wife of a king and the mother of three Scottish kings. QUEEN HEREAFTER is a book worth checking out, if only because the professional treatment that Ms King’s writing will provide.

Now with Christmas just around the corner and with so many of you writing books set in Scotland I wanted to continue my Scottish Books recommendations. This posting will be for books on the language of the Scots. According to the Scottish Parliament website there are three official languages in Scotland: Scottish Gaelic (Gâidhlig), Scots and English.

Scottish English: the language of formal communication and administration

Scots: a closely related language used or understood by the majority of the population

Scottish Gaelic: the Celtic language traditionally associated with the Highlands and Islands. Scottish Gaelic is closely related to Irish. Over the centuries it has been pushed further and further to the northwest and the Western Isles, but is now enjoying a revival with more support from the public, government, and education.

Writers are always looking for good dictionaries of these languages to help enhance their dialogue. The following books are some I have in my own library and others are ones that have been recommended to me by my college instructors and fellow writers. Most can be found used or new from either Amazon/Amazon.uk or the Book Depository (free worldwide shipping) or found in your local large community or college library.

I am going to begin with the Scottish Gaelic because though it has the fewest speakers today in Scotland (about 60,000) it is the fastest growing language of learners. Gaelic is the longest surviving language in Scotland and was once the language of most of Scotland but from the time of King Malcolm and the influence of Queen Margaret, the Saxons and Normans. Scottish Gaelic was quickly overtaken by Scots which is a Germanic language akin to English. With so many Scottish romances set in the Highlands, especially in the medieval period, the most burning language question on many of the writer’s loops is how to say something in Gaelic. Using online dictionaries are not always the safest because many site use the Irish and Scottish Gaelic interchangeably. Having a good reliable dictionary at your fingertips is a must for those who place their stories in the Highlands and Islands. I would recommend the following books, though some can be a bit pricey.

THE GAELIC-ENGLISH DICTIONARY by Colin Mark

A Scottish history professor recommended this dictionary as a comprehensive modern Gaelic dictionary, easy to use with good appendixes, modern phrases, and an uncluttered layout. The only draw back is the ticket price $65.82 (new) and $55.95 (used)

GAELIC-ENGLISH, ENGLISH-GAELIC DICTIONARY by Dougal Buchanan

This dictionary in a paperback format is good for the student and traveler and would be ideal for the romance writer. It provides about 15,000 entries including common phrases. Though not as in depth as the previous one, which shows the origin and location for the word usage, it is not as expensive as the other book. This is one by the Hippocrene Practical Library who does a wonderful children’s picture book of English and Gaelic terms for common objects. Price: $11.01 (new) and $8.28 (used) Amazon

GAELIC-ENGLISH DICTIONARY- Angus Watson

This dictionary also was recommended as a good Gaelic dictionary but it isn’t clear if one needs to know Gaelic to use it or if it has an English to Gaelic but apparently it has modern word usage as well. The good thing is that it is more practically priced at $30.40 (new) and $19.76 (used) Amazon

Now the most common language, and yes it is a language, is Scots. Scots is the historic language of the Lowlands, Borders and now most of Scotland. The language has its origins in the Germanic languages of the Saxons but was influenced by the Brythonic language of the Britons of Strathclyde, the Cumbrian language, Norse, Gaelic and Norman French. Today it is the language of all of Scotland though it hasn’t been embraced as a written language, which is still English. Many people believe that Scots is just a dialect of English but the European Union has recognized it as a language. Many authors confuse Scots (kinnas and dinnas ) as being the language of the Highlands but historically this would not be correct. If you are writing a book set in Edinburgh or Glasgow or southern Scotland, as well as the north East (Aberdeen, Dundee, St. Andrews) they you want to use Scots. Rather than the easy and over done “kinnnas and dinnas” the following books will help you find the just the right words.

SCOTS THESAURUS by Scottish National Dictionary Association

I really like this book and use it often when I am looking for just the right word of all the books offered today I would put this at the top of my list of purchases. The book is set up in themes with English words as the lead with Scottish words for those entries. This is an easy book to use and should be in everyone’s library. $30.00 (new) and $5.85 (used) Amazon

THE CONCISE SCOTS DICTIONARY by Scottish National Dictionary Association

The role of the Scottish National Dictionary Association’s goal is to promote the use and understanding of the Scots language and has been doing so with dictionaries such as this one since the 70’s. The most current edition of this dictionary was published in 2000 but it is as useful now to the write despite it being 10 years old. The Concise Scots Dictionary contains meanings, spelling variants, pronunciation, information on when and where words are used, grammatical information, idioms and phrases, etymologies and details of Scottish life then and now. I have used this book in a number of my college classes through the University of Dundee, especially the class on paleography when trying to decipher documents from the 1500’s forward. $30 (Amazon new) and $1.00 (used ABE Books)

CONCISE ENGLISH-SCOTS AND DICTIONARY by Scottish National Dictionary Association

Like the book above this is an English to Scots dictionary but is much less detailed with about 15,000 entries. I have this book but if you can’t find the two above then this is a good third choice. Its layout is easy to use in alphabetic format but not as detailed as the other ones. $24.00 (new Amazon-overpriced for what you get) and $5.50 (used Amazon).

And finally, for those of you writing stories set in the Northeast of Scotland the dialect of Scots unique to this area is called Doric. This book would be especially useful A DORIC DICTIONARY: Doric-English, English-Doric by Douglas Kynock. This book has a copyright of 2006 ( a reprint with an original of1996) but is difficult to find. I found on copy at ABE books used for $9.26. The book is easy to use and looks as if it may have been a result of someone’s Master’s degree from Aberdeen.

There is also the Scots/Irish language of Northern Ireland (Ulster) a result of the Scots/English transportations/plantations of the 17^th century. Unfortunately I have yet to find a definitive book on Ullans or Lallans as it is called. Any suggestions?

And now a bit of Christmas silliness, you know I couldn’t resist…