{"id":15371,"date":"2019-03-20T00:01:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T04:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=15371"},"modified":"2019-03-15T15:02:05","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T19:02:05","slug":"fireside-chat-with-sarah-and-robert-from-a-shadow-in-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=15371","title":{"rendered":"Fireside chat with Sarah and Robert from A Shadow in the Past"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I have the pleasure of not just one guest in the \u201chot seat\u201d for a fireside chat, but two. Sarah Shand and Robert Robertson, from Melanie Robertson-King\u2019s novel, A Shadow in the Past<\/em>, are with me here today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"fireside<\/p>\n

Welcome to both of you. I have a selection of single malts, if you want something to drink, along with some chilled bubbly. If you prefer something non-alcoholic, I got in some Irn Bru. I believe that\u2019s Scotland\u2019s other national drink? The ice bucket is full. I have some lovely nibbles, too. Haggis in puff pastry, oatcakes with Isle of Mull or Strathdon Blue cheese (Sarah wrinkles her nose) and of course, shortbread.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> \u00a0Pulls the tab on a tin of Irn Bru. \u201cThanks for inviting us. It\u2019s great to be here. And yes, Irn Bru has been referred to as Scotland\u2019s other national drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo happy to host you. You\u2019re sure you don\u2019t want a glass of bubbly?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> \u201cMaybe after our interview. I like champagne but it goes straight to my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert:<\/strong> Chuckles. His golden brown eyes sparkle and a dimple forms in his cheek. \u201cShe\u2019s right. If you want to get any sense out of her, keep her on the Irn Bru. Otherwise, she\u2019ll babble on and you won\u2019t understand a single thing she says. I\u2019m going to have a wee dram of Glen Garioch, though, if you don\u2019t mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course not, do help yourself. Now have I heard this correctly, you two had a rather unusual first meeting?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah and Robert:<\/strong> Giggle. \u201cYou\u2019re right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert:<\/strong> \u201cYou tell it, Sarah. It sounds so much better when you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> Shifts in her chair. \u201cYou or your readers aren\u2019t going to believe this. I still don\u2019t.\u201d Reaches out and takes Robert\u2019s hand. \u201cI\u2019m a bit nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be. Go on, then.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> \u201cOkay. I had been at the stone circle on my parents\u2019 farm and the next thing I know, I\u2019m waking up on a sofa at Weetshill mansion. The mansion is visible from the hill where the stone circle is but it\u2019s a couple of miles away. How I got from one place to the other, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not overly unusual.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> \u201cThis is where things get weird. When I was at the stone circle, the year was 2010. When I woke up on the sofa at Weetshill, I was back in 1886.\u201d<\/p>\n

Takes a sip of bubbly and coughs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert:<\/strong> \u201cI heard a noise outside the front door so went to investigate. I found her passed out on the ground. At first I thought she was a laddie because she wore trousers. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered she was a lassie, and a rather pretty one at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> Blushes. \u201cYou say the sweetest things. I\u2019ve never really thought of myself as that. Ordinary and some days it stretches to moderately attractive but never pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a most unusual meeting. So Robert, Weetshill mansion, it sounds like you\u2019re well-to-do. What do you do for a living?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m the Laird of Weetshill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo like Hector MacDonald in the television program Monarch of the Glen<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert:<\/strong> \u201cI don\u2019t know what you mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blushes and pats him on the knee. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I forgot for a moment you\u2019re from the Victorian era.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> \u201cI know what you mean. And Robert is nothing like Hector MacDonald. If you want to compare him to one of the characters in the show, I would say he\u2019s more like Archie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smiles. \u201cI always liked Archie. Thought he was a handsome fellow. As are you, too, Robert.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert:<\/strong> Blushes. \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> \u201cHe\u2019s so modest. That\u2019s one of the things I love about him.\u201d Reaching over and squeezing his hand.<\/p>\n

Picks up the book and flips through it. \u201cI\u2019d like to ask you some more questions about your relationship.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"fireside<\/p>\n

Robert:<\/strong> Holds up his hand. \u201cI have to stop you there, I\u2019m afraid. We don\u2019t want to spoil it for Melanie\u2019s readers. We can\u2019t tell everything here because then they wouldn\u2019t buy the book and that would never do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traces her index finger over the cover. \u201cRight, right, but you can\u2019t blame me for wanting to know. I love this cover. The artist has captured your essence beautifully, Sarah.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah:<\/strong> \u201cActually, Melanie designed the cover. She did a brilliant job of portraying me. And you have to believe that because I\u2019m not one to be \u2018out there\u2019 and now look at me. Not only did Melanie write the book, create this brilliant cover, she also created a book trailer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrailer, like you see for advertising films.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah: <\/strong>\u201cYes. Let’s watch it.\u201d<\/p>\n