I think I became a writer the day I decided to write a (very bad, shamefully close to the real story) version of White Fang when aged nine or ten! As for the Middle Ages I fell in love with it at school during a history lesson, then Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood put its final seal on it all. A girl of twelve then, I never recovered!

Hi!

I’m Virginie, a historical romance writer specializing in 14^th and 15^th century England. Why? Because I live and breathe anything Middle Ages, have done since I fell in love with that time in history during a lesson at school. It was as if I’d been there, watching my dashing knight ride off into the distance (now I think of it, shouldn’t I have pictured him riding towards me??)

My husband and two children know all about my passion for castles in all states of ruin and even have stopped rolling their eyes when I suggest visiting yet another one. I didn’t choose my husband because he’s Welsh but what a marvellous coincidence that he happened to be born in a place where we can’t move for castles, courtesy of Edward I’s conquest of Wales in the 13^th century! The only downfall is, every time I see a new one, I come back home with a new idea for a story and then remember I already have 15 on the go… When they find out I write books everyone tells me: “Ooh, I don’t know how you can come up with all these stories!” Well, for me the writing is the fun, easy part. I could write all day every day and never run out of ideas.

I have published 8 books now, and have many more projects queuing up in a more or less orderly fashion. Fortunately my job as a part-time English teacher gives me some time to see to them.

My latest release, Dark Highlander, is my first Scottish romance and Cormac, my first Highlander hero. I enjoyed creating him so much that I can already say he won’t be my last! I’m toying with the idea of giving Cormac’s brothers their own stories, I love them all so much. In fact it’s always a sad moment when I finish a book and know I will never be with these people again. They have become part of my life, it’s like saying good bye to a friend moving to a different country when you’ve been living in close quarters for months. That’s why I like rereading my own books after a few months or years have passed; it’s like revisiting the good old times. I remember where I wrote a particular scene, or laugh when I recall how long I spent rewriting another bit.

There are common themes to my writing. Foods and smells always feature heavily. I also love books where the hero and heroine come from different countries. I suppose that, being a French woman married to a Welshman, I know first hand that it adds an extra dimension to the relationship. Different languages, different cultures… It’s a godsend for a romance writer.

This particular book just wanted to born, it kept playing in my mind, the story developed on its own and all I had to do was put the words down. It’s difficult to explain but it was a very pleasurable experience. As a consequence, it was written twice as fast as my other books, even if it is longer. I am not one for plotting in advance, I prefer to see where the story goes and see what has possibilities and the premise for Dark Highlander was full of them.

Cormac has been tricked into marriage. Pregnant Hazel has been duped into accepting his hand. Together they will flee to escape this union they do not desire – only to fall in love with each other.

I hope you have as much fun reading Dark Highlander as I had writing it!

Follow Virginie at her website: https://virginiemarconato.com/

Lady Hazel Fletcher’s father, fiercely opposed to Scottish independence, means to use her as a weapon in his scheme to instigate trouble between England and Scotland. She is pregnant by her lover, a neighboring nobleman, but her father blames a Scotsman he has deliberately framed.
Cormac MacLeod, realizing the trick when he’s accused of fathering the child of a woman he’s never met, refuses to marry her and is thrown into the dungeon.
Allied against her father’s treachery, Hazel and the fierce Scot plan to escape together, then go their separate ways. But once free, they find Hazel’s lover cannot protect her, and reality hits—they have no choice but to flee to the heart of the Highlands together…