It is my pleasure to welcome Sheila McClure to Off the Beaten Track as part of the book blog tour to celebrate her next book (the hilarious, heartwarming and brilliantly fun) SCOTLANDER, out June 21st!

Welcome, Sheila! Tell us what inspired you to write SCOTLANDER?

Hello hello and thanks for having me here. For a while now I have had various people suggesting to me that I look to my own life for inspiration. They were curious…how does a former Hollywood reporter/TV producer end up married to a Scotsman and raising cows? I wanted the story to come with things I had learnt along the way and, of course, hurdles I had to manoeuvre. But I also didn’t want it to be an autobiography. I am not someone who needs the world to know all of my warts (some of them, but not all!). I had also been toying with the idea of superfans and whether their passion for a show/book/film overrode their relationship to reality or whether it was what helped them navigate the pits and falls of reality. And then I came up with Willa – a young woman at a career crossroads who has just endured a painful bereavement. She has lost sight of who she is and where it was she wanted to go in love. What better place to go than an immersive Jacobean experience in the Highlands?

When did you start writing seriously?

I used to write lots of comedy sketches and then I wrote news for about ten years (for TV)…and then, after a couple of years of figuring out if I was a good fit in the world of documentaries, I realised I didn’t want to be observing anymore – I wanted to be participating! (Cue: Handsome Scottish husband who wants to buy a small farm). After a few years learning how to raise pigs and cows and bees and swan diving into the local AmDram club, I decided I needed to finally address a decades old question: Could I actually sit down and finish a book? So…it was about ten or so years ago that I finally typed my first The End. What a day!!! It’s been nine years since I’ve published my first book. And now I have about thirty Mills & Boon and six published novels to my name (don’t ask about the drawer full of the unpublished ones! LOL).

What do you love most about being an author?

Meeting the characters. Going on a journey with them. Getting to know them so well I know exactly what they will say. Editing. (I know, right? I’m a weirdo). Playing ‘what if…’ with my friends on dog walks. Smelling the books when they arrive. 

What are you working on now?

Right now I’m working on the second of two cosy crime novels with Shirley Ballas, head judge of the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing show. They are set in the gloriously glittery, passionate and backstabbing world of professional ballroom dance. So fun. I’ve been able to enter a world that my two left feet would have never seen me joining before, so it’s been a hoot!

What do you hope readers will take away from Scotlander?

Oooo. Good question. I guess I’d like people who have experienced bereavement to find it relatable. Grief can pull the rug out from under you and make you look at life afresh. I have realised life plans change. All the time! And that’s okay. But sometimes you need to square up with your past in order to face the future. And also – cows are great. And potatoes. Baked in a fire. In Scotland.

What a fabulous read! I absolutely adored Willa – a loveable and complex heroine who is suffering from unimaginable heartbreak. And what a surprising love interest – a perfect match for Willa even if it takes both of them (lots of) time to discover that. I laughed a lot reading this book, but there is also SO MUCH HEART. I am also a huge Outlander fan, but I don’t think you need to be to enjoy this ‘fish out of water’, ‘fake date’ romance. It’s fresh and fun and heartwarming. An easy 5 stars from me.

From the glitz of LA to the mists of Scotland. Is it true love for Willa or just a Highland fling?

When the Big C takes her best friend too soon, Willa Jenkins struggles to recapture the joy in her life, and all she wants is to get away from LA’s glitzy party circuit. But superfan Valentina had other plans. For her final, wickedly funny act, she’s packing her bestie off on a two-week Outlander-themed experience at Balcraigie Castle, Scotland.

Expecting a couple of weeks with Valentina’s hot brother Gabe, Willa gets more than she bargained for when she’s put to work doing actual, real-life farm work. Not only that, but to get the ‘full’ experience, she’s paired up with the irritating―and irritatingly sexy―Finn, with whom she will pose as fake husband and wife for the next two weeks.

Willa despairs of Valentina’s terrible trick. But then she makes a discovery. Finn’s family might just lose the castle if they can’t make the experience worthwhile for the other attendees. The stakes are high, but as the days pass and the fake 

Out June 21 – Preorder now!

Amazon AU | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble

Sheila McClure lives in the English countryside with her Scottish husband, their dogs, Harris and Skye, and a small herd of delightfully striped Belted Galloway cattle. Prior to rural life in the UK, she was a camerawoman and news producer for Associated Press Television. As she’s originally from Seattle, she began her working life as a barista. She has also written books as Annie O’Neil and Daisy Tate. She will never refuse a quality dill pickle.

Follow Sheila

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Enter the GIVEAWAY (UK only) to win a paperback copy of SCOTLANDER plus a packet of Tunnocks Teacakes.

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for organising the tour. Make sure you catch the rest of it.