Thankful Author 2017- Mary Gillgannon

Sometimes I wait up unenthused, discouraged or downright depressed. But then I go into my upstairs office and look outside my window and much of my worries fall away. In the summer I see the green foliage of the trees surrounding our house and the bright flowers in the flowerbeds. I hear the birds, the call of robin and jay and dove. In fall I enjoy the gold of the aspen tree outside my window and the muted green and bronze of the other foliage. I hear the finchs in the trees calling to each other, before they swoop down to my garden to eat the sunflower seeds. The soft, mellow light of fall gilds everything golden. In winter, there are usually still a few birds flitting from branch to branch. The bare trees sway, delicate branches in a lacy dance. Frost sparkles in the sunshine and turns the dead vegetation and brown grass into a glistening fairyland.

There isn’t a season when there isn’t something beautiful to admire in my backyard. Swirls of hazy gray mist when a fog moves in, the dazzle of brilliant sunlight, the stark beauty of tree branches against the vivid blue sky. The graceful flit of birds. Even sparrows and chickadees have their charms.

And I enjoy all this even before I venture outside. There I can smell the air, fragrant with crabapple and chokecherry blossoms in the spring, fresh with new-mown grass in the summer, crisp and bracing with the scent of leaves and frost in the fall and winter. Our weather in Wyoming has some downsides. The wind can be fierce, rattling the windows and making even a trip to the car and back an unpleasant struggle. Spring flowers and plants can be crushed and frozen in late storms, and frost often comes early, killing most of my flowers before fall weather has truly arrived and leaving a mostly brown landscape for months to come. But there are also joyous surprises, Snowstorms that wrap the world in billowy cushions and puffs of fluffy white. Sunny days when the sky is an almost unreal blue. The brilliant orange, rose and violet of a winter sunset.

Although I’m not what most people would think of as an outdoor person, nature has shaped my life ever since I can remember. I grew up in the country and spent hours and hours alone outside exploring the natural world. I’m not just thankful for nature, I’m dependent on it. It feeds my soul in a way that books and ideas and even people, simply can’t.

One of the greatest agonies of my life is my sense that nature is now under threat. My Mother, the Earth is struggling. And my fellow animal creatures, even more so. In this world of technology and virtual reality, where lighted screens and concrete and steel have replaced our vision of plants and earth and sky, we must remember who we are and what gives us life. We must be thankful for our planet and all our fellow travelers on this vast and fragile magical orb we call home.

My latest book, Lady of Steel, due out in early 2018, is seeped in aspects of the natural world. It’s set in medieval times when people were closer to nature and more attuned to the rhythms of the seasons. It features a harvest festival, a dramatic thunderstorm and numerous animals, including three cats. But the focus is, of course, on the hero and heroine and their journey.

Women in medieval times had very little power. I wanted to show how a medieval woman, without stepping outside of traditional female roles, could take charge of her life. And of course, my heroine needed a hero who would appreciate her for who she was, and admire her strength and resolve. Lady of Steel is the first book in my Medieval Ladies series. I hope readers enjoy Nicola’s and Fawkes’s story.

LADY OF STEEL, Coming in early 2018

Blurb: 

One rapturous hour together sparks unforgettable passion between Lady Nicola and Fawkes de Cressy. But when Fawkes returns from the horrors of the Crusades, he discovers Nicola is surrounded by disturbing rumors that make him wonder if he knows her at all. Nicola is uncertain about this battle-hardened knight she has wed, a man much different than the boyish lover she recalls. Despite sly innuendos, murderous schemes and dangerous secrets, Fawkes and Nicola must learn to trust each other. For only if they dare to allow the soul-stirring magic their bodies share grow into love can they escape the ruinous plot that threatens to destroy all their dreams.

Bio:

Mary Gillgannon is the author of seventeen novels, mostly romances set in the dark age, medieval and Regency time periods. She’s married and has two children. Now that they’re grown, she indulges her nurturing tendencies on four very spoiled cats and a moderately spoiled dog. When not writing or working—she’s been employed at the local public library for twenty-seven years—she enjoys gardening, reading and travel.

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