So what's this book gonna be about, anyway?

With wonderful help from Beth on the Compuserve Forum (who basically conked me over the head with the fact that my "query summary"- as written - was generic and likely to get looked over) I have rewritten the mini-synopsis of the book:

"Ye canna change the past. Ye can only do what ye have already done."

So speaks an old woman to physicist Elspeth Clarke as she boards the ferry to visit historic Kilchurn Castle. Elspeth is in Scotland for a summer trip, seeking to forget her troubles after a betrayal by her fiancé and best friend just weeks before her wedding. While exploring the picturesque ruins, she makes an incredible discovery: Kilchurn Castle was built around a wrinkle in the fabric of space-time. Unfortunately, the discovery is made by Elspeth's accidental journey through the wormhole, and she comes to disoriented, sick...and 300 years in the past. She immediately tries to return to her own time, but she is hampered by "Grey" John Campbell, Earl of Breadalbane and Holland and owner of Kilchurn. The politically avaricious Earl has found Elspeth's historical notes and intends to exploit her knowledge of the future for his own gain. Elspeth flees the castle and soon finds herself under the protection of handsome Alasdair MacAlpin. As she learns new skills and struggles to fit in with "Alec's" people, Elspeth realizes she is falling for the gallant Scot. Alec, however, cannot return her feelings—at least openly—because he must make a marriage that brings alliance or wealth to his beleaguered clan.

By now it is the winter of 1691-92, and Elspeth recalls with horror the slaughter of the Glencoe MacDonalds that will take place at the hands of the Campbells. She and Alec journey north in an attempt to prevent it, but they arrive in the midst of the massacre and are separated. Alec's true clan—the outlawed MacGregors—is revealed during the struggle, and he is taken captive back to Kilchurn, where he is sentenced to death. Bribing her way into the castle on the eve of his execution, Elspeth spends one night with Alec and leaves him with a promise to forget him and flee. Instead she goes to the Earl and secretly bargains for his release with the only thing she has—her life—gambling that she will find a way to return to her own time. When Alec returns from captivity and hears that Elspeth has been killed at Kilchurn, but no body was buried, he risks everything by seeking to travel to her time and search her out, not knowing if she is truly alive, but not willing to admit that the woman he loves is dead.

In other news, I have broken 8,000 words. Woohoo! My current goal is to be at 24,000-25,000 by Surrey (late October).

Gaidhlig Phrase of the Day: mo bhean. "My wife."

Edited to update: I added another 2,000 words tonight. I am now 1/10th of the way done. Woohoo! It's funny, thinking of what I have as 1/10th makes it seem like quite a bit and like it shouldn't take too much to get the rest of the way done. But then I think about how much of the story I have down, and it doesn't seem like that much. I have so much more stuff to put in there; I hope I don't have a problem keeping my word count down...