|
Biography
Kathleen Givens was born in
New York City, but spent her early years living in the Northeast and
Georgia before landing in Southern California at the age of ten. As
a result, she is fluent in Valley Girl, Steel Magnolia, and
Manhattanite.
From an early age, Kathleen was entranced by the history, legends
and sagas of the people who mixed together to form Scotland,
Ireland, England and later the United States. She likes to weave
elements of their myths and legends into her work, to mix fictional
and factual characters, and set them against turbulent backdrops of
war and social and political upheavals. And then add a love story,
of course.
Kathleen made her writing debut at the age of ten with a rewrite of
Little Women, in which Jo marries Laurie and no one dies. It is not
in print. In high school she and a friend wrote a dreadful 250-page
play about an English rock group. Surprisingly, it is not in print
either.
Her official writing career began in 1999 with the acclaimed
Scottish historicals, Kilgannon and The Wild Rose of Kilgannon, the
epic love story of an English woman who falls in love with a rugged
Highlander. The series left her readers thirsting for more stories
of the glittering streets of London and the misty Scottish
Highlands.
In 2002, Givens launched her Torridon series. The Legend introduced
the MacCurrie brothers, identical twins, whose birth and lives have
been predicted by the Brahan Seer. The Legend tells the story of
James MacCurrie and Ellen Graham, cousin to Bonnie Dundee, and is
set in the late 17th century, when William of Orange has usurped
King James, and rebellion is in the air.
The Destiny continued the adventures of the brothers who are fated
to help determine the future of the thrones of England and Scotland,
and tells the story of Eileen Ronley, granddaughter of Charles II.
The Destiny won the coveted Romance Writers of America's RITA Award
for Best Long Historical of 2003.
Her latest book, On a Highland Shore, which was published in July,
2006, launched a new series that will follow three siblings and
their descendants for 500 years. Set in turbulent 13th century
Scotland, it tells the story of Margaret MacDonald, the oldest of
the siblings the series will follow, and Gannon MacMagnus, the
founder of the MacGannon clan we met in the Kilgannon saga. It has
Vikings, invasions, and a war. What better backdrop for a love
story?
Kathleen loves to travel, read, and study history, which makes
writing historical fiction a perfect career. While she has traveled
extensively, she's yet to find anywhere she could love more than
California, where she and her husband live in a tragically flawed
house with the neurotic and dictatorial cat formerly known as Miss
Lily.
|
