Meet and Greet Monday: Linda Windsor

With an estimated million books in print, Linda Windsor is an award-winning author of sixteen secular historical and contemporary romances and thirteen romantic comedies and historical fiction for the inspirational market. Her switch to inspirational fiction in 1999 was more like Jonah going to Ninevah than a flash of enlightenment. Linda claims God pushed her, kicking and screaming all the way. In retrospect, the author can see how God prepared her for His writing in her early publishing years and then claimed not just her music but also her writing when she was ready. At that point, He brushed away all her reservations regarding inspirational fiction, and she took the leap of faith. Windsor has never looked back.

Linda’s research for the early Celtic Gleannmara series resulted in a personal mission dear to her heart: to provide Christians with an effective witness to reach their New Age and unbelieving family and friends. Her goal continues with Healer of the Scottish Brides of Alba series, which reveals early church history, much of which has been lost or neglected due to intentional and/or inadvertent error by its chroniclers. This knowledge of early church history enabled Linda to reach her daughter, who became involved in Wicca after being stalked and assaulted in college and blaming the God of her childhood faith—a witness that continues to others at medieval fair signings or wherever these books take Windsor.

Windsor is convinced that, had her daughter known the struggle and witness of the early Christians beyond the apostles’ time and before Christianity earned a black name in the Crusades and Inquisition, she could not have been swayed from her early faith. Nor would Linda herself have been lured away from her faith in Christ in college by a liberal agenda.

Linda’s testimony that Christ is her Druid (Master/Teacher) opens wary hearts wounded by harsh Christian condemnation. Through her witness, admitted Wiccans and pagans have become intrigued by the tidbits of history and tradition pointing to the how and why druids accepted Him. She not only sells these nonbelievers copies of her books, but she also outsells the occult titles surrounding her inspirational ones.

Dear Reader,

First, I’d like to thank Janalyn Voigt for inviting me to “chat” with you. It’s always a blessing to reach out to readers and a special one with regard to HEALER. It’s book one in the Brides of Alba, a series set in Arthurian Scotland that deals with the three O’Byrne brothers and how their respective loves turn their world upside down and their spirit right-side up.

In HEALER, a mother’s dying prophecy sentences her daughter Brenna to twenty years of hiding, for it says that the Gowys seed will divide the enemy O’Byrne’s house and bring about a peace beyond the wicked ken of its chief and the mother’s murderer. So one clan would kill Brenna, while her own hopes she’ll lead them in revenge against the stronger clan—certain death. But Brenna is a healer, trained by the Sisters of Avalon, not a warrior. So she lives alone, save for the company of her pet wolf Faol.

When Brenna sees a handsome stranger ambushed and left for dead, she must risk exposure to save him. As a healer and a Christian, she has no choice. And perhaps, just maybe, he is the answer to her loneliness and prayers. Loving him comes as easy as healing him. After Ronan comes to his senses, he realizes he’s in the hold of his worst enemy. Yet, Brenna’s childlike faith and gentleness speak to his wary and bitter spirit. But is love and faith enough to overcome twenty years of hatred and bring about the foretold peace? Or will the unknown enemy who left him for dead once, kill them both?

So there you have romance, adventure, a faith journey and intrigue. But there’s so much more to HEALER. In it you’ll see the story of Arthur, Merlin and Camelot like it’s never been seen before—through Celtic church traditions revealed in ancient records from Egypt and the Holy Land to Gaul and Iberia and lastly to the British Isles.

You’ll see that there was more than one Arthur. More than one Merlin as well. Arthur was a title meaning Bear of Britain and given to a war leader or king of kings. In Ireland and Alba/Scotland it equaled high king; in Wales Pendragon; and in Latin dux bellorum or duke of war. Merlin was also a title meaning advisor to the king. That there were more than one explains how Arthur and Merlin would have had to have lived over a hundred years to account for all the deeds (and conflicting personalities) ascribed to them. Further affirming this is a late sixth century taboo making it punishable by death to call an arthur or merlin—any official of any importance, including leaders in the church—by their given names.

That said, the arthur and merlin in HEALER are actually historically documented figures, Arthur being the first arthur with the given name and title. He is the son of Aedan, High King of Scotland and known by some as uther (meaning the terrible) and Ygerna/Ygraine, a descendant of Joseph of Arimathea’s daughter Anna.

You may also note in HEALER the remnants of Judaism still prevalent in their observation of faith and in the Grail Church. This highest order of the Celtic Church tries to protect ancient holy bloodlines—that of King David, preserved through the marriage of Zedediah’s daughter to the High King of Ireland in the 6th century B.C. and that of Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus’ family and close friends, who, according to tradition, established the first church in Britain. It has accomplished this for five centuries by matchmaking and grooming the offspring to become kings, warriors and queens dedicated to spreading and preserving Christianity through war and marriage. According to scholar Norma Lorre Goodrich, Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere and most of the Arthurian romance characters are the result of such efforts. For those interested, you’ll find an extensive bibliography and notes in the back of HEALER for the traditions and history in the background/setting.

As interesting as the above is, that and five bucks might get you a cup of fancy coffee. But what I do hope you’ll take away from HEALER besides a page-turning romantic adventure and intrigue, are two things. First, the wonderful witness of our early Christian forefathers. I’m talking about the church history after the Bible ends and before the church earned the black marks of the Crusades and the Inquisition. I’m talking about how the early Christians tamed barbarian Europe when Rome’s sword could not.

This witness is as effective today with New Age believers as it was then. I know, because it helped me to win my daughter back to Christ after she was stalked and assaulted in college, blamed God, and became involved in Wicca or white witchcraft.

The other thing I hope readers will take away is a better understanding of dark age magic. Magic was mostly knowledge, not wand-waving. There was nature magic, which was proto-science. Herbology for instance was the forerunner of medicine. Understanding the properties of God’s creation and how to use them was magic. Someone who was charismatic and persuasive or could paint pictures with words were considered to possess magic. How this knowledge/gift was used—its fruit—and to whom the glory was given (God or taking credit oneself) separated good from the bad.

Then there was dark magic, which was, simply put, bad. It often involved necromancy, or summoning spirits.

I know I’ve taken more time than I should on things woven in and around the story, but my hope with HEALER is to inspire and educate, as well as entertain. As Christians facing New Age concepts and the risk of our loved ones and children being seduced by them, it’s imperative that we understand them, both what we have in common with them and what separates us. It’s the only way we can effectively witness as our forefathers did in the first centuries of Christianity.

This is my passion. To help anyone who has nonbelievers, especially those involved in New Age philosophies or practices, to reach out to them in love, not judgment, and with history and science that underscores the veracity of the Scriptures that these loved ones have dismissed as nothing more than fable.

If I knew back in college, what I know now of the things above, I would never had been lured away from my faith by academics that taught me Jesus was nothing more than a small town prophet and the Bible nothing more than a book of morality tales.

So please, check these things out for yourselves. My resources are listed in the back of the book. And stop by my website at www.LindaWindsor.com to see HEALER’s book trailer. It’s just incredible! Plus, I have a first chapter posted and am running contests for signed copies. I’d love to hear from you.


God bless and thank you for letting me ramble so.

Linda Windsor