The MacLeod’s Destiny takes you to the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
The three major clans on the Isle of Skye consisted of MacLeods, MacDonalds and MacKinnons.
Dunvegan Castle is the ancestral home of the chiefs of clan MacLeod.
The ruins on Loch Caroy where the beggar Alistair stayed is real. It is on private property, so I could not go out to it. Scotland is full of ruins left by ancient civilizations.
The Fairy Pools are real, too. It is a 3-mile round trip hike to see them all.
The mountain above the Fairy Pools is on the cover of my book.
Every few yards there was another pool.
The pools were so magical that I could almost believe the tales of fairies and silkies bathing in them during full moons. You can see heather growing at the bottom of the picture.
Though I made up the legend of the Sight being passed down the MacKinnon line, I did mention a legend of a MacLeod Laird who fell in love with a fairy princess. Though displeased, her father allowed her to wed him for a year and day, in which she bore a child. The fairy bridge is said to be where she said her last goodbye to her husband and baby, whom she wrapped in a magical cloth.
Parts of the Isle of Skye that I did not mention in the book is The Fairy Glen, where a fairy ring is.
The Old Man of Storr is on the MacDonald side of the island. This is on the cover of The Highlander’s Distraction, but that book did not take place there. It is a 2-mile hike up the mountain.
The back of Dunvegan Castle.
