CHARACTER BLOWOUT. Day Two. Scotsman, Neil MacKenzie has been interviewed! Chance to WIN!!!

Welcome! You’ve arrived at A Writer’s Mind just in time to enjoy DAY TWO of Beth Trissel’s, CHARACTER BLOWOUT. For those of you joining us for the first time today, this blog event is sort of like The Newlywed Game blog style. Thursdays, I interview the heroine from some of your favorite stories. Friday, the hero. Yesterday I interviewed SOMEWHERE MY LASS’s, Mora. Today, I’m welcoming over her hero, Neil MacKenzie.

What makes this so much fun? Comparing the answers and seeing how well the hero and heroine really know one another. Because this event's fairly new I’ve added snippets from MORA’S INTERVIEW. You should definitely take a peek at it when you have a chance.

Beth is also hosting a contest. One lucky commenter on any of her posts between now and Saturday are entered for a chance to win an Ecopy of SOMEWHERE MY LASS!

Alright, before we start the interview let’s learn a bit more about SOMEWHERE MY LASS…

Neil MacKenzie’s well ordered life turns to chaos when Mora Campbell shows up claiming he’s her fiancé from 1602 Scotland. Her avowal that she was chased to the future by clan chieftain, Red MacDonald, is utter nonsense, and Neil must convince her that she is just addled from a blow to her head–or so he believes until the MacDonald himself shows up wanting blood. Mora knows the Neil of the future is truly her beloved Niall who disappeared from the past. Although her kinsmen believe he’s dead, and she is now destined to marry Niall’s brother, she’s convinced that if she and Neil return to the past, all will be right.

The only problem is how to get back to 1602 before it’s too late. The balance of the present and future are in peril if she marries another, and the Neil of the present will cease to exist. An ancient relic and a few good friends in the future help pave the way back to the past, but will Mora and Neil be too late to save a love that began centuries before?

Time to interview Neil…

SKY: Neil, tell us a little bit about you.

NEIL: I could’ve sworn I was Neil MacKenzie, a frustrated graphic artist from Staunton, Virginia living in the Victorian home I inherited. But the strangest event occurred with the arrival of a striking young Scotswoman claiming I’m actually Niall MacKenize from 1602 Scotland. Oh, and I’m her fiancé.

(…Mora’s response… daughter of the Highlands, its windswept heights, hills colored with heath and heather…’tis here I belong, not in this foreign land where I’ve found myself)

SKY: Remembering the moment you first laid eyes on Mora, what thoughts come to mind?

NEIL: Where on earth did she come from? Then it struck me that she’s beautiful but bonkers. Likely from the blow to her head she says she received at the hands of a madman she calls The MacDonald. Mora must be my murdered housekeeper’s neice we were expecting from Scotland. Has to be, right?

(Mora’s response… he looked mightily familiar and I thought for certain he was my lost love, Niall MacKenize….)

SKY: Mora has one trait you adored from the start. What is it? Hands down, she appreciates one of your traits…what do you think that is?

NEIL: Mora exploded into my life and swept me into a new world pulsing with sensations, but then insanity can sometimes be entertaining. My friend Fergus thinks she’s possessed. As to what she finds appealing about me, I suppose it’s the man she thinks I am or should be. But sometimes when she looks into my eyes, I wonder if it’s me as well.

(Mora’s response… Niall (or Neil as he insists on being addressed) declares he delights in everything about me, save my fiery temper, he just cannot remember who I am. And he thinks I’m the one whose addled in the head…)

SKY: Mora has one trait you’d change if you could. What is it? You figure there’s probably a trait she might want to change about you… care to share?

NEIL: Mora needs a good neurologist, or a therapist. Fergus says an exorcist. She seems to want to beat me over the head until I recall some past life. Like I said, she’s bonkers.

(Mora’s response… His memory needs some prodding…)

SKY: Ha! Too funny! Love is in the air. What is the single most romantic thing you’ve done for her? .

NEIL: When I learned she’d never been to a prom, didn’t even know what one was, we danced in my living room. I tried to make it nice for her, what with the murder and that crazy man after us and all.

(Mora’s response… Held me close and led me in a strange, wonderful dance…)

SKY: Mora has a feature that draws your eye every time. Care to share? She can’t stare at you enough… but where is she staring? Now’s the time to gloat about your thick head of hair. *Sky sniggers* Truth! Do you think it’s your eyes? Chest? Etc.

NEIL: Mora looks me in the eyes as no one ever has, but I’ve noticed her focus traveling to other parts of me. I like to think she finds me even a fraction as amazing as I find her.

(Mora’s response… His forceful gray gaze, like the stone of the Highlands, captures my attention...and the tufts of hair curling at his strong neck like tendrils of ivy on a wall. He has the manner of a great chieftan, and sae handsome. His eyes may wander further afield than my face, but being a noble gentleman he swiftly returns his gaze to mine…)

SKY: How do you think Mora would answer the following… Our favorite thing to do together is…?

NEIL: Stay alive. We haven’t had much opportunity for anything else. There was that kiss…I shouldn’t have taken advantage of Mora in her vulnerable state, but couldn’t resist. I loved every second of her lips pressed to mine and she seemed to too, until I stupidly walked away. But she called me Niall, and I can’t make love to an insane woman. It wouldn’t be right.

(Mora’s response… Breathe the free air of the Highlands unharassed by the treacherous MacDonald, that is, if Neil remembers either one of us…)

SKY: You and Mora don’t see eye to eye on what issue?

NEIL: My memory, and I might add, her mental health.

(Mora’s response… Who he truly is…)

SKY: Mora said one thing to you that you’ll never forget. What was it?

NEIL: That I’d proposed to her. What the heck?

(Mora’s response… Asked me to be his wedded wife…once.)

SKY: Neil, it was FANTASTIC having you over. I have such a soft spot for Scotsmen! *winks* I must say, you and Mora sound fabulous! Really looking forward to reading SOMEWHERE MY LASS!



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Don’t forget that there’s a contest running! One lucky commenter wins an Ecopy of SOMEWHERE MY LASS.

Be sure to swing back in tomorrow as we sit back, relax during A Writer’s Mind’s BOOK TRAILER BREATHER. This week we get to check out Beth’s trailers for SOMEWHERE MY LOVE, ENEMY OF THE KING, THROUGH THE FIRE and DAUGHTER OF THE WIND.

Best Regards,
~Sky