Hello world!

I’m Ailie Holland, I live in the Rocky Mountains with my best friend and our son, in an earth sheltered house my life partner designed and built himself.

We live on 40 acres at 6800 feet in altitude. Our closest neighbors are elk, deer, rabbits, raptors, and rattlesnakes.

When I write I often sit looking out of our huge southward facing windows, into the wilderness before me.

The mountains rise to the west of us and offer gorgeous sunsets.

To the east lie the city lights of Loveland and Fort Collins Colorado below. To the south are wild pasture lands and rolling hills. Eagles, hawks, and ravens are often flying above or in front of me.

Sometimes we will even see a bobcat or mountain lion, but those sightings are rare. We can hear the coyotes howling and yipping at night. Sometimes an owl or bat grace us with their presence.

Our deer friends

Traveling and inspiration

I admit that living in Scotland for a year, traveling to England and Scotland, and some of the most magical places in those regions has influenced my writing.

My name, Ailie, pronounced AY-lee, like Bailey without the B, is an old Scottish name.

After years of research I found an ancient ancestor of mine, I am completely intrigued by, I have to tell her story. She was a real Scottish Princess named Edith, daughter of King Malcolm III, related to ancient Scottish kings and Scots who dwelled on the land there from the time people stood upright and had language. Her mother was Princess Margaret, (later Saint Margaret) an Anglo Saxon related to ancient English Kings, the ancient Britons and Picts.

My story will reveal all of this.

Ancient Scotland, Wales, England, and Ireland flow through my veins, my ancient ancestors started calling me back to Britain and particularly Scotland, for as long as I can remember. I was born to tell her story, to help us all understand and see what a wonderful person Edith of Dunfermline was.

Considering Princess Edith disappears from the history books for seven years, I decided that she spends those seven years in the Faery realm, welcomed through a magical portal. Her coming of age years are spent with the Fair Folk of this magical realm. And her innocent romance with Henry I (King William II’s brother) begins in this magical realm, when the Fair Folk allow him entrance and monitor their relationship. In my book the Fae even cause something important to happen to allow Henry I to become King of England and to choose as his wife, Princess Edith of Scotland who changes her name to Queen Matilda. In real life she was a very fair and kind Queen consort. One historian called her “The Queen Ester of her time”. A fair comparison, from what I read.

My ancient ancestor, Princess Edith of Scotland, changed her name to Queen Matilda when she married Norman King Henry I, who was William the Conqueror’s son. Queen Matilda, William the Conqueror’s wife and therefore Queen of England and Normandy was Princess Edith’s godmother. Because I am related to Empress Matilda, Princess Edith of Scotland and King Henry First’s daughter, I am also related to William the Conqueror. And Geoffrey Plantagenet Count of Anjou. No wonder the land of France also calls to me, I travel there whenever I can, it isn’t the cities that call to me, it’s the land itself, the hills, forests, lakes and rivers. The medieval castles of France also speak to me, as they do in Great Britain. When we visited the Avebury Circle, I spent quite a bit of time with the mystical Avebury trees that have ribbons tied to them as wishes and spells. These are some of my photos of them.

So many of us are called to this land, even if we aren’t related to those who ruled over it and lived there during ancient times, pre -civilization. There is an ancient magic that breathes in the land there. It calls to all of us, it is not gone, merely covered up by technology and modern buildings. Many people have forgotten their past. Not just in ancestry, but rooted in magic, spirituality, and the land itself.

Although I admit, every time I journey into the Cotswolds I am completely charmed by the old architecture there as well.

It’s more than a passionate love affair with Scotland, England, and France that draws me over and over again to these lands. The land there is coursing through my veins, my ancient ancestors call my ancient Scottish name. And I know a part of my heart belongs in the Scottish Highlands, but also in Normandy, Aquitaine, and the Dordogne region in France.

My ancestors insist upon me knowing the land, breathing it in, roaming the medieval castles, and seeing the ancient ruins where they once lived. I have to believe they loved their children just as much as we do, but were forced to send them away at such early ages. Most of them tried to do their best to create a world in which everyone felt safe.

Queen Matilda (my main character in my fantasy novel) goes above and beyond that for her people in England. In real life she filled the castle with literature and encouraged learning, she read Latin, French, and Greek, and spoke old English, Gaelic, and French. She built some of the first bridges in London, while Henry I was away fighting in the Crusades. She even built the first public bath house and toilets in London, for her people. She also opened two hospitals for lepers, and when she visited them she entered barefoot, washed their feet and even kissed their hands. How many queens in British history have done that ? Did you know that Princess Edith of Scotland, who became Queen Matilda II of England did that ? I’m surprised she has been almost forgotten in history. No queen is perfect of course, but considering the time period, I am impressed with how highly educated she was, and the lengths she went to to try to help the poor and sick.

She had the castle full of music and books. She loved her children, but had to send her young Matilda away to Germany at only 8 years old, to study, so that she could marry the Holy Roman Emperor when she was only ten years old. Princess Edith herself was seen as a political prize, because of all of the ancient kings and warriors of England and Scotland she is related to. She turned down at least four marriage proposals by the time she was 13.

And yet, instead of being egotistical and shallow, Princess Edith of Scotland, after changing her name to Queen Matilda of England, dressed in old out of fashioned clothes, cared not about her appearance nor of having any extra marital affairs (like her husband the King did) and instead focused on music, books, education, public cleanliness, the Christian Abbeys, the poor, sick and down trodden in England in 1100 AD and beyond. She truly wanted to be pious and holy. She actually cared about the people she and her husband ruled over.

Now you know, why I am writing a book about her. Her story has been told by a few others. But I hope to add the beauty of magic of the faery realm, to discover her personality even further. I don’t merely want to sing her praises as a queen, in this work of fiction of mine, but get to know her as a person, as a girl growing into a woman and queen.

The magic of Ancient Scotland, Wales, and England runs deep. It is always there, and the unseen realms are all around for those who seek them. I hope you enjoy the stories I tell about these fascinating historical figures.

Modern Murder Mysteries

Please be on the lookout for my modern cozy murder mystery series as well.

My main character, Dani Slade, is 29 and independently wealthy. She finds herself widowed at the young age of 25, and now, four years later is finally ready to date again. She has someone in mind, a hunk she has become friends with in her local dog park.

This book mentions all of the dogs in her life, but also the highs and lows of romance, and getting to know new people. She lives in a small American town, that could be anywhere in the middle of the US somewhere. In my writing, the “where” isn’t important.

My books are character-driven, and I get to know my characters before I write about them, but also as I am writing about them, they surprise me sometimes and seem to take on a life of their own. Perhaps it is my lifelong passion for theatre and acting that influences me to round out my characters and make sure I know them inside and out. My empathy for people and relationships drives my writing.

Thank you for your support

I hope you continue to follow my journey as a writer.

And support me as an author by buying and reading my books.

More about me

I have produced audiobooks in the past, I plan to produce my books as audiobooks by 2024. I hope to narrate them myself. But I will also be on the lookout to hire a Scottish actor to perform all of the male lines in the YA fantasy fiction I am writing. So if you enjoy audiobooks, they will hopefully be produced this year as well.

I studied acting and theatre for a year at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now called the Royal Scottish Conservatoire. And I graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood (when it was located in Pasadena), I was also a member of their Academy Company. I was in a Rep theatre company, and I’ve acted in at least 50 different plays in my life in various theatres in the world. I was also hired as a voice over actor since I was 24, for commercials and radio plays, for many years and various projects.

I teach acting and Improv classes for teenagers and young adults, and I have 16 years of teaching experience as an acting teacher, coach, and director.

Now that I suffer with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Chron’s disease, which keeps me from acting on stage anymore, I am so glad to be able to write all of the stories that have been accumulating in my mind over the years. Hopefully I will be able to continue to type, if my fingers hold out. And then when they don’t, hopefully talk to text can help me continue to write for rest of my life.

I already have the cozy murder mystery series plotted out in my mind, all four books. I’m so glad the first one is finished.

And the rest of the YA fantasy fiction I am writing is all planned out. I just need to finish writing it !

Thank you for being on this journey with me, and for being my fans.

I really appreciate you.

– Ailie