Coastal Magic Convention 2025 Featured Author Spotlight: Heather McCollum
Please give a warm welcome to Heather McCollum to the Blog today, one of the Featured Authors for the Coastal Magic Convention that will be at Daytona Beach, Florida (February 20-23, 2025). Check out the Interview below with Heather McCollum, where you get to read about five fun facts about her, what drew her to writing Scottish Romance novels, and so much more.
Tell us five fun facts about yourself that some readers may not know.
- I lived in a pre-American-Civil-War haunted house when I was in high school.
- My writing muse only shows up if I’m drinking hot chai tea lattes.
- I’m a thirteen-year ovarian cancer survivor who kicked cancer’s arse.
- My spirit “animal” is the dragonfly. They’ve been around since the days of the dinosaurs despite being so delicate. Just like me – fragile in form but resilient in spirit.
- I do yoga almost every day.
What drew you to writing Scottish Historical Romance novels?
I grew up reading historical romance (Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss was my first) and was drawn to the brawny Highland heroes with their codes of honor and alpha tendencies. Once I journeyed to Scotland in 1994, I fell in love with the rugged land and passionate people. Plus, I married a man of Scottish descent, my own Highland hero.
How do you research historical periods and settings for your novels? Do you get to travel for research?
I’ve traveled to Scotland several times for research. Touching the stones of a 16th century castle ruin sends shivers through me. I look out the windows and imagine warriors running toward the gates, swords raised. I inhale the fresh breezes and gaze upon the land that so many people died for. The history practically seeps from the stones. It fills me with ideas.
I also use reference books (like my 13th century midwifery book) and various internet searches.
Can you walk us through your typical writing process? Do you outline or let the story flow as you write?
I try to outline, but I’m a pantser by nature (write by the seat of my pants). Every time I try to tell my characters what they are supposed to be doing, they charge off in the other direction. If I can plot a basic outline for the next scene I need to write, I’m happy.
I usually start with a conflict of some sort, like…the heroine tries to move into a castle to make it into a girl’s school, but the hero is still there and refuses to leave because he never sold it (the English just tried to take it). This is my book, The Scottish Rogue.
Then I create a collage of pictures to help me figure out the atmosphere and characters. From there a plot starts to form based on themes and the characters.
For new readers that are wanting to start reading your books, where would you encourage them to start?
Highland Conquest is the first book in my fun, adventure-packed, steamy Sons of Sinclair series about four brothers, raised by their mad, warlord father to be the four horsemen of the apocalypse. There are five complete books in the series, which is published wide and in all formats, including audio.
Where do you draw inspiration for your characters, hero and heroine, and how do you keep up with them all?
I create collages to help me understand my characters. I’m a very visual writer, so I look through pictures on Pinterest until I find people that fit who I’m initially envisioning as my hero and heroine. Then I look for scenery and potential secondary characters. I save them on my computer, but I also print them out and cut and paste them inside manilla folders to create real collages. I refer to them while I write. To keep up on the dates and names, I write them in on the collage as well as on my computer collage in One Note.
Tell us a little bit about your upcoming release, The Highlander’s Wild Flame. What wouldRory MacLeod or Lady Sara Macdonald say to convince readers to read their book?
The Highlander’s Wild Flame is the first book in a new four-book Scottish historical romance series, Brotherhood of Solway Moss. The series is about four enemies from the Scottish Isle of Skye, who are imprisoned together in England. They work together to escape and form a brotherhood, swearing to be allies instead of enemies in order to strengthen their isle and Scotland against the true enemy, England.
In the first book, one of the Highlander’s sisters is wedding the brother of another, but then the bride’s father locks the groom and the hero inside the church, setting it ablaze. But the heroine won’t let them all burn, and helps them escape, thus becoming a traitor to her father and a prisoner to her groom’s clan at the same time. If you love the enemies to lovers trope and the forbidden love trope, you’ll enjoy settling in with this new adventure.
Rory and Sara would probably not try to get readers to read about their love story, because they both seek redemption and have scars, both physical and emotional. But I, as the author, believe that their story is beautiful and needs to be told. The human condition is messy, and we are all burdened by scars. Romances give us hope that we are still worthy of love and happily-ever-afters.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors interested in writing historical romance?
Advice for any aspiring author – Have patience and never give up. It’s how I’ve gotten thirty books published. Nothing comes easy for me, not having children, not going through menopause (I had ovarian cancer, and everything removed immediately), and certainly not getting published. Hard work and patiently climbing is how I’ve reached every worthwhile accomplishment.
Advice for an aspiring author of historical romance – Make sure to have your historical tidbits in the book accurate, from the clothes to the words to the dates. However, you are writing fantasy, not non-fiction, so your heroes and heroines should definitely bathe often.
What are you looking forward to most at Coastal Magic Convention 2025?
I attended CMC for the first time last year and had such a wonderful time meeting readers and other authors. The informal meetings are the best, getting to chat and find out how much we all have in common. From the Thursday night Great and Meet to Planner Time in PJs to the Murder Mystery, every time we all get together becomes a party!
Fun Question: Which historical figure would you most like to have dinner with, and what would you ask them?
I’ve always been enthralled by Queen Elizabeth I. She likely wouldn’t eat in my presence (she always ate alone), but we could have a lovely conversation. She was a bit paranoid and scattered from her tumultuous upbringing, but as long as she couldn’t order me locked up in the Tower of London, I would love to talk with her. She was a ruling woman in a man’s world (16th century), and she managed to keep control even though that meant the loss of her own happiness. She felt her country was more important.
I had a full Queen Elizabeth I costume made for me. During Covid, I reenacted the Armada Portrait (as one does).
It’s been lovely chatting with you today! Thank you for having me on. May you all have a perfect, ride-the-moors-with-a-hot-Highlander kind of week! <3 Heather
Make sure to check out her next book release, The Highlander’s Wild Flame, which releases July 23, 2024.
The only thing more dangerous than his sword is the flame-haired enemy who’s stolen his heart…in this gripping Highland romance from USA Today bestselling author Heather McCollum.
Fearsome Highland warrior Rory MacLeod has sacrificed for his clan. But taken as prisoner—in place of his older brother, who’s meant to be laird—is more than any man should bear. So when the chance for escape presents itself, Rory risks everything for freedom. But instead of returning to the welcoming warmth of home, Rory steps into a blazing trap…
Despite her betrothal to their laird, Lady Sara Macdonald has no love for the MacLeod clan. But when her treacherous father locks the entire MacLeod wedding party into the church and sets fire to it, she cannot stand by and watch the slaughter. Saving them means turning traitor to her clan and becoming an enemy to her own blood…left to the mercy of her greatest enemy.
Now her intended husband lies somewhere between life and death, and Sara’s only ally is his younger brother: the fierce MacLeod warrior she’s forbidden to want. And as hunger blazes to life between Rory and Sara—unbidden, untamed, and hotter than the fires of Beltane—they quickly find themselves caught between honor and a love that will turn blood against blood.
Heather McCollum is a USA Today and Publishers’ Weekly Bestselling author of over twenty-five 16th & 17th century Scottish romances full of adventure and intrigue, sprinkled with humor, history, and spice. She writes brawny, alpha-heroes with golden hearts and fiery, clever heroines.
Check out Heather McCollum’s Website and follow her at the following sites: Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Pinterest | Bookbub | Sign up for her Newsletter
For a full list of Featured Authors, Information about the weekend, and link to register to attend, visit http://www.CoastalMagicConvention.com. And be sure to watch for more Featured Author spotlights coming up here each month!
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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