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About Historical Fiction...
Canada has a rich and colourful history that for
the most part is waiting to be discovered.
The type of history I refer to
is seldom found in textbooks, and yet it is very much part of the
Canadian experience. I call it "pioneer social history"
because it deals with the lives and
times of ordinary citizens. However, since these stories usually went
to the grave with them it is necessary to reconstruct their
lives from journals and fist-hand accounts.
This, then, is the function of
historical fiction: ‘historical,’ because it is a reasonably accurate reconstruction
from existing records; and ‘fiction,’ because it is a composite of the
lives and attitudes of the times--both the good and the bad. It also serves to
mark a
lifestyle that might otherwise be forgotten.
All these elements are certainly true of
gay
pioneers because, quite understandably, there are few published diaries or
first-hand accounts of them. Not only was it an extremely dangerous
thing to do, but most GLBT men and women were not ‘out’ to their
families or friends. Moreover, they were even loathe to reveal a lifetime of secrets
after death--often directing that their personal papers be destroyed by a
trusted friend.
Without historical fiction,
therefore, this very real and important
aspect of pioneer life might be overlooked and
forgotten, and along with it many of the contributions these individuals
made--including the recognition of homosexuality as a fact of
life.
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*To purchase click on image |
Nor All Thy
Tears: Journey to Big Sky
Now available
in Kindle & Nooks formats
Love, Obsession,
treachery, murder, and finally solace under the northern
lights of Big Prairie Sky Country, Saskatchewan
Sheldon Cartwright is a young, exceptionally handsome and
gifted politician with a beautiful wife and two charming children. His
career is also in ascendance, and given all that the sky seems the only
limit to this talented, blue-eyed lad.
However, Cartwright also has a hidden past that one day
bursts onto the front page of a tabloid newspaper with the publication of
his nude photograph. Moreover, the inside story alleges that he was once a
high-end male prostitute with a romantic connection to an ex-con whose
body has been found mutilated beyond recognition in a burned-out
apartment—the suspected victim of a blackmail attempt gone wrong.
Enter a homophobic cop who is willing to go to any lengths
to tie Cartwright into the crime, simply because he is young, handsome and
well-educated. With his career in a crisis, and his personal life as well,
Cartwright is unexpectedly joined by an ally in Colin Scrubbs, a ruggedly
handsome rancher from Saskatchewan. But can they salvage Cartwright’s
career from the brink?
Read an excerpt click here
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Click on image to purchase |
Two Irish Lads*
*Now available in Kindle &
Nook formats
Sean and Patrick McConaghy are two young cousins who set sail from their
native Ireland, in 1820, and after a long and eventful passage across the
Atlantic Ocean they tackle the mighty St. Lawrence River with a band of
rugged Voyageurs.
Eventually settling in the wilderness of
Upper Canada, they begin to carve a homestead when love blossoms between
them. This, too, is a voyage of discovery at a time when same-sex
relationships were subject to humiliation and death.
More...
Read an excerpt click here
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Coming
soon |
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Coming of Age on the Trail
Young Cory Twilingate experiences a coming of age like few other when he is
pressed into a 1,500-mile cattle drive through the
rugged wilderness of British Columbia to save his father's indebted ranch.
Accompanying him on this formidable drive is
ranch-foreman "Reb" Coltrane, a ruggedly handsome cowpuncher recently
hired from down Texas way. At first the sparks fly between them on account their
differences, but faced with the challenges of the trail they discover more in common than they imagined.
Pressed by the weather, and pursued by villains, adventure abounds.
More...
Read an excerpt
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Voyageurs
Pioneers
Adventurers |
