Honor Before Heart by Heather McCorkle
I love art of all kinds, and in it I find inspiration. Photography, painting, music, dance, books, movies it all influences my writing in major ways. I also love to travel because nature is my happy place. On a motorcycle ride through the Oregon Outback, I was listening to the Dropkick Murphys (don’t worry, I was a passenger), and two of their songs struck not only a powerful cord, but my curiosity as well.
Long rides through beautiful country always inspires me. That coupled with the music was a double whammy. One that made me very glad I wasn’t writing. It was one of those light-bulb moments of such clarity and inspiration that you can’t focus on anything else. The band mentioned a battle in 1861 in one song, and the Fighting 69th infantry in another. Being of Irish descent myself, and quite interested in Irish/American history, I had to know more.
My research turned up an all Irish regiment formed to help get Irish immigrants to invest in the civil war, and a photo of a monument at Gettysburg in which an Irish wolfhound is lying at the base of a Celtic cross commemorating the three Irish regiments that fought in the civil war. From that, Honor Before Heart was born. As you can imagine, my playlist while writing that novel, and its subsequent sequels, included a lot of Dropkick Murphys. Music will always be one of my great influences, because to me a song is often like a mini-story in itself, one that often makes me want to know more.
Honor Before Heart by Heather McCorkle
When Corporal Sean MacBranian awakens after being injured in battle, he is sure the luck o’ the Irish has run out on him. Or that he’s died and gone to Heaven. There can be no other explanation for the blond-haired, blue-eyed angel standing before him. But his “angel” is a truehearted lass named Ashlinn, and she wears a nurse’s uniform. Her tender ministrations have brought him back from the brink of death—and have given him a new reason for living.
Ashlinn knows their parting is inevitable; her handsome hero must return to the 69th infantry of the Union army, and there are no guarantees of his safe return. With most of her family already destroyed by the war ravaging America, she is sure she cannot survive another loss. Yet she feels powerless against the draw of Sean’s strong and steady heart. Neither time nor distance nor the danger of battle seems to lessen their bond. But when their secret letters are intercepted, the devoted nurse’s love will face the ultimate test . . .
You can purchase HONOR BEFORE HEART at:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Honor-Before-Heart-Heather-McCorkle/dp/1516102894/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/honor-before-heart-heather-mccorkle/1124064085?ean=9781516102891
Apple: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781516102860?uo=8
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9781516102860
GooglePlay: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781516102860&c=books
About The Author:
Heather McCorkle is an award-winning author of paranormal, steampunk, and historical fiction. When she is not writing, editing, or designing book covers and websites, she can be found on the slopes, the hiking trails, or on horseback. As a native Oregonian, she enjoy the outdoors nearly as much as the worlds she creates on the pages. No need to travel to the Great Northwest though; connect to her instead on her blog and her many social networking sites. You can also find her the first Monday night of every month at 6:00 pm Pacific Time on the #WritersRoad chat on Twitter, which she co-created and moderates. Entertaining readers and uncovering stories and points of view that haven’t been covered are two of her greatest passions. For more info please visit heathermccorkle.com.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.heathermccorkle.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherMcCorkle
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Heather-McCorkle/211058455603533
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathermccorkle/
