Highland Raven

Author’s Note

Did you know that Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is usually referred to as The Scottish Play because many believe the play is cursed? There are numerous superstitions surrounding Shakespeare’s tragedy. Some say the witches’ lines are a real spell, others say the Goddess Hecate cursed the play because of how she was depicted (which leads many productions to exclude her character and lines), and others believe, very simply, that the play is unlucky due to all the deaths, theater closings, and unfortunate events that have surrounded its production. If you are an actor in the play, you must never say Macbeth inside the theater. It curses you. But not to worry, if you make a mistake it can be mended. You can spin around three times (note the number) or leave the playhouse then reenter to get rid of the curse. Regardless, Macbeth is a tale with power lying just under the words. Many times, I felt like my version of Macbeth was jinxed. And even in the hours before this book reaches launch, things are still going wrong. Hecate, take it easy, sister.

Bringing Highland Raven (formerly titled Lady Macbeth: Daughter of Ravens) to light has been a labor of love. In 1997, when I was a student at Penn State, I took a Celtic history class with renowned scholar Dr. Benjamin Hudson. When he lectured about the real Macbeth, it poured water on the seed of an idea. This wasn't the first time I’d thought about writing a novel on Lady Macbeth. My high school English teacher and I once discussed my idea. Was the real Lady Macbeth misunderstood? Could she be presented more sympathetically? How might Lady Macbeth’s changing times relate to Shakespeare's vision?

I started writing and researching this novel in 2000. I won't claim this novel is an exact historical retelling. The amount of historical information on Gruoch is limited, and scholars disagree about some aspects of her lineage. I've done my best researching and piecing information together, but also I didn’t want to drown the story in unnecessary historical detail. This saga contains the important elements of Gruoch’s real life in addition to my creative embellishments.

I finished writing the novel in the early 2000s and started querying agents. I got a lot of encouraging responses. One agent, however, told me they had a client who was working on a similar book and couldn’t consider me. A few years later, the talented Susan Fraser King published Lady Macbeth: A Novel. At the time, I was totally crushed. King (as a diligent researcher should) even consulted my former professor for her research. I was done. The jinx got me. I stuck my novel in a drawer and forgot about it.

In 2005, I shared an excerpt from this novel in a writing workshop. It got a positive response. I started working on the novel again. I knew King’s Lady Macbeth novel was different from mine. My novel was about love and magic. My novel was fantasy. I got back to work and worked, off and on, (even during a long stretch of writer’s block…jinxed again!), over the years.

In 2012, I published my first novel, The Harvesting, a dark fantasy/zombie mashup. Publishing was a great experience, and Gruoch still held a special place in my heart. I decided it was time for her to come onstage. I spent a year revising The Celtic Blood Series (formerly The Saga of Lady Macbeth.) In earlier versions of this novel, I called Gruoch by the nickname Gru. Thanks to Despicable Me (which came out in the interim), Gru was never going to work. Jinxed. Gru became Corbie (though I still call her Gru in my head).

This novel is a bit different from my other works. Highland Raven is the first flame in a slow burn leading to an inferno. I thought it was important for readers to see Gruoch from the beginning. Her early life, growing up rough and devoid of love save for Madelaine’s, profoundly impacts the decisions she makes in this book (where she is a rash 16 year old) and later in the saga. Gruoch is someone who desperately wants to be loved. That need, sometimes unconscious, blinds her to many things. In some ways, she is an unreliable narrator. She doesn’t really know herself very well. Highland Raven also shows Gruoch just beginning to access her power. In later books, readers will see her wrestle with the dark forces inside her. And, of course, we will see Macbeth very soon. I look forward to sharing the next two books in this series with you.

In the playhouse, there is another way to remove the Macbeth jinx. If you cite some lines from another Shakespeare play, the curse can be lifted. So, without further ado (or, perhaps, this is much ado about nothing), let me just say:

If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumber'd here

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream

~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 5.1.423-428

Addendum to the Author’s Note

Summer 2015

The jinx won’t go away! As the first edition of this novel went to publication, several major things went wrong. There were issues with the ebook, the paperback, an early review, and someone close to me telling me I shouldn’t publish the book. I’ll have to go back and look, but I think I must have tried to launch during a Mercury retrograde. Many, many tears were shed. Regardless, I pressed on. My fans, may the Goddess Cerridwen bless them, embraced the book. Great! But the problem was, the book just stalled. In a market where Outlander (I am forever a fan girl of Diana Gabaldon!) is big, why would a Scottish novel sink out of sight? I spent the next several months watching sales, considering branding, and wondering why Gruoch couldn’t get off the ground (despite the wings).

After some research, we discovered that the branding of the novel was all wrong. High school English forever ruins many people on Shakespeare, even people who like to read. So why was I trying to sell people more of what they didn’t like? I ADORE the first cover for this book. The gifted artist who made the cover designed the image right down to the detail of Gruoch’s eye color, just as I asked them to do. The problem? I’m an author, not a cover designer. The book didn’t say Scotland. Of course no one would look at it.

So here were are with a new name, a new cover, and a new plan. Will it work? Hecate only knows. Thank you for reading!

Second Addendum to the Author’s Note

Summer 2016

Just a quick addendum to track the endless fun this book provides! My beloved novel has been through three editors in an effort to weed out all the typos. They are all fabulous people, and I use their services regularly. That said, I was surprised to receive a note from a reader telling me there were a lot of typos in the book. I was confused. When I went back to check the document, I discovered that one set of corrections I made to the book never saved. The edits simply had not saved. How does something like that even happen? I blame the ravens. Alas, the saga continues.