Hugh C. Rae
Hugh Crauford Rae was a Scottish author of romantic historical fiction novels and thrillers. He wrote fiction using several pseudonyms, including Jessica Stirling, Robert Crawford, James Albany, Stuart Stern and R. B. Houston.
Life
Rae was born in Knightswood, outside of Glasgow, in 1935. He is the son of a riveter. He lectured in creative writing at Glasgow University adult education classes.Writing
Rae was known for writing fiction, such as the thriller The Marksman later televised by the BBC. He was better known for his romantic historical novels written under the name Jessica Stirling.Jessica Stirling novels
After Rae had written a few crime thrillers, a publisher suggested he collaborate with a romantic short story writer, Peggy Coghlan, to produce a historic romantic novel set in the Victorian period. The publisher required this to be published under a female name, and the writers picked the name Jessica Stirling at a meeting in a Stirling coffee shop.Rae and Coghlan wrote seven Jessica Stirling novels together. Then, Rae went on to write another 30 such saga novels on his own, at a rate of two a year, published by Hodder & Stoughton.
Rae's real identity first became widely known in 1999, after 25 years of writing Jessica Stirling novels, when The Wind from the Hills was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year prize.
Works
Skinner, 1966Night Pillow, 1967A Few Small Bones, 1968The Interview, 1969The Marksman, 1971The Shooting Gallery, 1972The Rock Harvest, 1973The Rookery, 1974Harkfast, 1976Sullivan, 1978The Travelling Soul, 1978The Haunting of Waverley Falls, 1980Privileged Strangers, 1982;as James Albany:Warrior Caste, 1982Mailed Fist, 1982Deacon's Dagger, 1982
;as Robert Crawford:The Shroud Society, 1969Cockleburr, 1969Kiss the Boss Goodbye, 1970The Badger's Daughter, 1971Whiphand, 1972
; as R. B. Houston:Two for the Grave, 1972
; as Stuart Stern:The Minotaur Factor, 1977The Poison Tree, 1978
;as Jessica Stirling with Peggie Coghlan:The Spoiled Earth, 1974The Dresden Finch, 1976The Hiring Fair, 1976The Dark Pasture, 1977The Deep Well at Noon, 1979The Blue Evening Gone, 1981