Sarah MacTavish's Blog

Listen to Firebrand for free!

In March of 2020, I’m going to release Firebrand as a serialized novel on my brand new podcast! Think Charles Dickens in the 21st Century. Each week I’ll upload a new chapter/”episode” that you can follow and listen to with your preferred podcasting site, all for free! The first episode will be available on the fourth anniversary of Firebrand’s release, March 22, 2020.

While there’s nothing online right now, you can find the podcast website here: http://firebrand.buzzsprout.com/

To get...

My Secret to NaNoWriMo Success

Happy National Novel Writing Month! Good luck to all of you writers out there. I wish I could be joining you this year, but I’m in the middle of moving, and still have a lot of reading to do for Book Three, so I’m just here to cheer you on from the sidelines.

If you haven’t participated in “NaNoWriMo” before, or even heard of it, it’s a month-long writing challenge with the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days. The point is to “write with abandon,” as the website says, which is a beautiful concept. Throw asi...

Flash Fiction: The Wake

Wild red curls float on the breeze. She brushes them from her eyes with a shaking hand and stares up at the great ship. It pitches in the agitated grey waves. A sudden gust of wind urges her forward, but she fights to keep her feet on Ireland’s soil for just a bit longer. Her threadbare shawl does nothing to thaw the marrow-deep chill inside. She clutches it tighter. Her fingers are long, thin, and white, like bone. 

People bustle about behind her. Gaunt, grim faces shield themselves from th...

Where I’m From

I wrote this months ago, and never published it. At first I was just probably too busy at the time with Paladin’s release, couldn’t find the right time to add it. Then I guess I got too self-conscious, and my anxiety loves that. I haven’t written much of anything in a while, actually, because it just all snow-balled from there. Got busier, anxiety got worse, and so here I sit months later, a complete mess, but wanting to write and share again. Figure the best way to do that is do something th...

Paladin Launch

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Wow! What an amazing, crazy weekend! I’m now hiding in my house on a nice, quiet, Sunday morning, like my introverted self, just relaxing and reflecting on all the fantastic things that happened on Friday.

I can’t say enough thank-yous for everyone that came out to the launch party at Vault Coffee in Roanoke, or my hosts at the coffee shop, everyone who sent me encouraging messages or brought me flowers, or the faculty at Tidwell Middle School who honestly treated me like a celebrity. It wa...

Historical Photo Shoot

Last week I completed a project I’ve been putting together over the last several months, and I wanted to share the process and results with you, because it was just too cool! With my cousin (an amazing photographer) and one of my friends, we brought my protagonist, Saoirse, to life in a series of mock tintypes! I was inspired by reenactress J.R. Hardman’s recreation of a Frances Clayton photograph, which you can see on her Facebook page here.

I already had my old uniform from my short-lived...

Get excited, the trailer for Paladin is here!

The countdown to Book Two has begun! Today, in honor of President Lincoln’s birthday, I present the trailer for Firebrand’s sequel. I hope you enjoy it! Stay tuned for other things, like short stories, behind-the-scenes posts, character videos, and giveaways! And if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter yet, join today and you can download the first 5 chapters of Paladin for free!

That’s it for now. Remember to mark April 12, 2019 in your calendars, and enjoy the trailer below!

New Short Story

Merry Christmas Eve!

I realize I haven’t posted practically all year. I set out to, but that didn’t happen for lots of different reasons, mostly to do with writing the sequel to Firebrand. I’m hopeful that this next year the blog will be more active.

But good news: the first draft of Book Two is complete! If you want to keep up with my progress, check on Paladin’s page here. I will keep it updated on the different stages. Right now I’m in revisions. But I took a short break from those to fina...

From the bottom of my heart

Here follow my acknowledgements and thank yous–I intended on putting a page in the book devoted to these, but once written, it felt so stuffy, so not-me. That, and I can put links on here where they’re appropriate, and it’s easier to share with everyone.

First of all, to myfamily and friends–thank you for always being there, for always believing in me, especially when I couldn’t.And especially my mom, for giving me the idea for Firebrand in the first place! And thank you to my siblings–my ve...

Texas Panic of 1860 part 3

For the past two weeks I’ve been posting a little about the historical background for my novel, Firebrand, concerningtheTexas Panic of 1860, where mysterious fires spread across counties in northern Texas months before the civil war and create a panic that leads to dozens of murders and whippings and more. See previous posts to catch up:

Part One Part Two August 11, 1860

Today’s post concerns the vigilantismthat sprung out of the panic. Soon after the fires were blamed on abolitionists (aga...