Jul 18, 20222 min read

Medieval Monday | A Shift in Realms on a Journey to the Orkney Islands

Welcome to Medieval Monday and the stirrings of a story...

On my trip five years ago to the Orkney Islands, I discovered a vast landscape steeped in ancient legends, ruins, standing stones, and my fictional world of the Wolves of Clan Sutherland. They emerged quietly before I took my journey across the northern seas and entered with force once I arrived in Kirkwall.

As a man, Magnar MacAlpin was not prone to patience. As a wolf, he was far worse in his demands to see this story written.

Here is a rough draft of what I wrote in my travel journal after a long day on Orkney…

Though this warrior moves with stealth-like mastery, the veil of darkness cloaks him. The light of the full moon shimmers not from the steel of his weapon, but the silver within his eyes. He walks between the shadows of man and wolf.

These words resonated inside me and managed to become a central part of my prologue for Magnar. I yearned to start writing his story. Nevertheless, I’m a linear writer—one story at a time.

Ancient ruins near the Tomb of Eagles, South Ronaldsay, Orkney

When I returned from our trip, my creative world centered within the Fae realm and the Fenian Warriors. The first book, Quest of a Warrior (Conn MacRoich’s story) released in June with the others (Rory, Liam, and Aidan) to follow. I adored them all!

Therefore, the Fae realm called me back home, and the wolves slipped into the mists.

However, Magnar announced his presence (and literally shocked me) in the opening chapter of Destiny of a Warrior (the last Fenian Warrior’s story), and again when he slipped into the ending of To Weave a Highland Tapestry. Magnar was a character who constantly demanded his story be told now. I finally surrendered (on my terms), giving him a woman who would challenge him the way he did with me.