Interview: “They Stole My Love Last Night” by Alexandra J. Brandt
On the Isle of Skye, a granddaughter revisits her family’s inn—and the love story that never ended, even after death.
Set against the rugged beauty of the Isle of Skye, “They Stole My Love Last Night” follows a granddaughter returning to the White Skye Inn alongside her Granmarie. What unfolds is a gentle but emotionally rich tale of love lost, grief carried, and the quiet defiance of reclaiming what fae magic once took. With folkloric echoes and an aching undercurrent, Alexandra J. Brandt offers a story that blends myth with the deeply human.
Interview Questions
What does “haunted” mean to you—and how does that idea show up in your story?
I associate haunting with memory and grief. I don’t believe in ghosts, but memories of people we’ve lost do haunt us for the rest of our lives. Maybe that’s why when I tell a ghost story, it’s personal for the protagonists—not just a haunting with a mysterious, unknown ghost, but someone my characters have known and loved.
Did this story start with a particular place, moment, or image that stuck with you?
There is a beautiful place on the Isle of Skye called Hotel Eilean Iarmain; I had the privilege of briefly staying there while on an archaeology tour, and I still dream of going back. Almost all of the descriptions of White Skye Inn are created from my memories of that springtime stay, and I hope it comes across as magical as it felt to me then.
Music plays a central role—why? Is the haunting song based on a real song?
Yes, it is a real song! I was first introduced to it from a recording by Alasdair Fraser, titled simply “Traditional Gaelic Melody,” just like in my story—you can find it on Spotify and other streaming music services, if you’re curious. I ended up choosing it for my wedding march because I thought it was so beautiful (and I’ve loved Celtic music my whole life). But it took me a while to find out the real name of it, and the unexpected (and somewhat unnerving) folkloric connotations…which, of course, wound up a core part of this story.
Jessamyn and her mother carry a lot of silence between them. What lives in that space—and what drew you to explore it?
While I didn’t set out to write that silence into the story, it just kind of happened when I decided I wanted the main relationship to be between Jess and her grandmother, and then had to ask why her mom wasn’t involved. I think part of my answer to that question was unconsciously drawn from my own personal experience: I spent most of my childhood and young adulthood in a state of tension with my very driven, very talented mom—largely due to my then-undiagnosed ADHD and her (our) inability to understand why I couldn’t seem to “live up to the potential” she saw in me.
I’m happy to report that our relationship has bloomed into something very real and wonderful now, following my diagnosis, many honest conversations, and also the two of us learning to relate to each other as adults—it’s like once we came to terms with how very different from each other we are, that gave us space to find our commonalities. But when I first wrote this story, I was still feeling my way through that and trying to rebuild the relationship. (Oddly, I actually wrote this story for my mom as part of a Christmas present because she loves Scotland and Celtic music as much as I do. I don’t know if she recognized the tension in it or not.) I also knew that silence was a bit of a loose thread, and I have written a sequel story now, which will be out this October. [Alex’s sequel story will appear in Fiction River: Spirited Spirits, edited by Mark Leslie Lefebvre.]
The fairies are beautiful, powerful, maybe even dangerous. What do you enjoy about writing that kind of magic—where it can be healing, unsettling, or both?
When I was a child and obsessed with fairies—especially flower fairies—they were wholly “good” to me. Then as a teenager I started getting into Celtic lore and reading about the delicious evil of the Unseelie. But my current self seems to want to question any and all common interpretations of how fairies “are.” If they’re dangerous and tricky and uncanny—and they should be—I want to show their good side, the part that makes them a part of the natural world, that shows the joy and the healing you can find there. But if they’re sweet, magical, enchanting spirits of nature I want to show a bit of an edge. I guess it comes from my general feeling that nothing in this world is purely good or purely evil. It just simply is.
What are you working on now—and what’s fun or exciting about it?
I’m flopping around between three projects—1.) a “prequel” novella to the big fantasy epic my spouse (Erik Kort) and I are supposed to be writing together, 2.) a book or possible series about how complicated a classic fairytale quest can be (lots of interpersonal drama, apparently!), and 3.) turning my last three Pictish fairy novellas into the novel they really should have been all along. The first two are long-term projects I want to actually finish by next year, which is terrifying but also exciting (and they both feature very complex/conflicted female protagonists, which is my sweet spot right now!).
About the Author
Alexandra Brandt spent most of her childhood dressing up in fairy wings and parading in front of the mirror telling stories to herself. Not much has changed: she still loves a good costume, and tells herself stories every day.
When not spinning tales, reading, or debating worldbuilding details with her writer husband, Alex dabbles in book cover design and graphic design for select clients. She occasionally sings in a choir, and always welcomes any excuse to sit down and play tabletop games—from D&D to board games to cards. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Find Alexandra at: alexandrajbrandt.com
Read the Story
“They Stole My Love Last Night” appears in Haunted Places, available now from Blackbird Publishing.
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