Update on the Highlander & a Quick Excerpt

So my maximum word count was supposed to be 12k and I'm currently at 8399. Really, the story is just getting started but it needs to be completed this week to allow for a beta read or two and editing, in order to hit my July 15th deadline.

What to do? What to do?

The only thing I can do right now is hammer out and solidify the relationship piece in order to meet the requirements of the "Dear Author" letter. The full length novel that will finish out the plot. As it is, the relationship story will not be complete by word number 12,000 but that is okay. If it's a little over I can deal with that as long as I can wrap it up.

A couple of research results for you to consider:

Before the design of the modern day walking kilt started in the 1720s, Scots wore what is nowadays referred to as "the great kilt". I've read some pretty offensive material on Scottish clothing by reenactment groups that claimed that Scots didn't wear pants and preferred to go without shoes. Now have you ever looked at Scottish weather? Anyone who believes the Scots ran pellmell without shoes in forty degree weather is delusional. Scotts wore leggings under their kilts, not to be mistaken for hose. Pants where difficult and expensive. Leggings were linen (made from flax), wool, or leather wrapped around the legs and tied at the thighs. They then wore a tunic, called a leine, the length varied from just below the waist down to the knee. And yes, they wore a type of shoe close to a type of moccasin. The kilt was material 8 yards long and 60 inches (4 yards) wide. The tartan patterns weren't cataloged until the 1800s with some of the older families claiming their colors and patterns go back a thousand years. But having a kilt in the clann weave was expensive and not many Scots could afford the cost so they did not have tartan colors in their kilt.

Here's a fact that causes me to give a little lift of the lip in a sneer at the "Scotland" movies. Kilts were not worn in battle. The men took off their kilts and wore belted tunics and legging and any armor they could afford, usually of leather. If you think about it, it makes sense. The kilt was very expensive and would get in the way. It is the one article of clothing they couldn't do without.

How did they identify friend from foe in battle? By the color of ribbon on their caps. Tartan colors were not used to identify people in battle until after the walking kilt came about and the British government made some changes.

EXCERPT:

My eyelids fluttered closed at the sound of Ewen's voice. Of all the times I seen the man in my dreams, I never heard him speak until today. Gods above. How he affected me. What would Ewen do once he discovered I preferred men to women? Surely he had obligations, a wife and children. Even if Ewen didn't turn away what I could offer, where would I fit in this noble guardian's life? I knew I no longer belonged anywhere but I wanted to belong to him, be with him, stand by his side. And yet, I dared not speak of it, for I feared he wouldn't understand. How could he. I have known him all of my life and he knew me not at all.