Interview with Amy Quick Parrish, Author of Highlands Homecoming (Highlands Christmas Book 3)

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Highlands Homecoming (Highlands Christmas Book 3)?

Well, it’s book 3 in the series. I needed to wrap things up! But what originally inspired me was that I was in a dark place with the pandemic and everything else going on in the world. I had a friend who was writing Christmas screenplays to escape and it seemed like a great idea. I had recently visited Scotland after a long-lost relative contacted us. A lot of us dream of inheriting a place and having an adventure in a new country, so writing a book about that seemed like a great way to escape!

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Highlands Homecoming  (Highlands Christmas Book 3), what would they be?

Melissa: All I Want For Christmas Is You

Caitlin: The Ramones’ Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)

Angus: The Season’s Upon Us – Dropkick Murphys

Colin: Ding Dong Merrily on High

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I am loving Romantasy lately, but I haven’t written any yet. I think I’ve always had elements of magic in my screenplays so I’m looking forward to giving it a try.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

All the Christmas books. Looking forward to the new Tricia O’Malley Book – Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

I loved writing the scene with the Iron Brew. Anyone who knows me or knows Scottish restaurants in Boston knows that that place is based on a real place that no longer quite exists in the same way, but through the magic of writing that cozy little beloved bar lives on!

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I like to light candles that set the tone/mood for whatever I’m writing. For this series I had Thymes Fraiser Fir and Mrs. Meyers’ Iowa Pine. I also scored an amazing Isle of Skye candle that smelled of smoked peat, ocean and honey.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Right now it’s from TM: “Take it easy. Take it as it comes.” Another quote I really like is from Vicente Huidobro: “La vida es un viaje en paracaídas y no lo que tú quieres creer.”

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

I felt so fortunate this year to be able to see the total solar eclipse in Burlington, VT and then see the Aurora Borealis from my house in May and again in October… I also saw that once-in-80,000 years comet. Remember the beauty in the world and in each other.