Eskbank author raising the dragon on Scotland's wars of independence

An Eskbank woman has released her first novel, interestingly set during the Scottish wars of independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

Lynda Kristiansen from Eskbank, with a copy of her debut novel 'Raise Dragon'.

Lynda Kristiansen has this week released Raise Dragon, through Glasgow based publisher Ringwood Publishing, which she hopes will be the first in a series following her tales set in Scotland more than 600 years ago.

She said: “I have eight novels in mind. I have written most of the second one and have plans for the others, I have a vision for them all.

"It’s probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do. It’s the equivalent of writing a 100,000 word dissertation. It’s a considerable amount of work and it has opened my eyes to what authors do.

"It was satisfying though. I started writing about a part of our history that I’m interested in, and Ringwood specialises in Scottish themes and Scottish authors so my book fitted their requirements, and they took a considerable risk in taking someone like me on.

"I just hope it does well and people enjoy reading it.”

Lynda started writing about characters from the Scottish wars of independence after discovering that she is a descendant of Robert the Bruce. She said: "They are interesting characters to write about. They all gave up a lot for what they believed in.

“Bruce lost three brothers to be the king. While Bishop Wishart was starved in prison and lost his eyesight. So they gave up a lot.

"They are easier to write about as they have real strong characters, with nothing superficial about them.”

Currently an IT worker in the energy industry, Lynda hopes to one day be a full-time author. She said: “I’m delighted and I feel very lucky. I hope the book does well. I wanted to write something different, and this is it.

"I have been working on it for the last 10/15 years, it’s been a real labour of love.

"Long-term I would love to do this full-time, but I quite like my job. The people I work for have been very supportive and very enthusiastic about my writing.

"I finished the first book about two years ago and it’s been round the publishers, and it’s taken time to get here. Ringwood have been great, very supportive. I have to fit in the writing with my day job, but I got there."

To buy a copy of Raise Dragon, go to www.ringwoodpublishing.com.