I've just recieved another review of "Homesteader" by Rick Follet that I'm very happy, nae, excited about and here it is: “Homesteader; Finding Sharon” by D. M. McGowan chronicles the experience of Henry ‘Hank’ James, a homesteader in British Columbia , Canada , in the late 1880’s. “Homesteader” offers a fascinating window into a brave and formative era in Canadian history. McGowan writes with a cinematographer’s eye and a playwright’s sense of dialect; the result is an easy-to-read, entertaining saga that is as determined and winning as the settlers it describes - plain spoken, honest and impossible to put down. In Henry James, McGowan has created a character readers want to cheer for. As ‘Hank’ weathers the schemes and manipulations of the portly (and aptly named) Portis Martin and struggles to keep his cattle alive against impossible odds through one of the worst winters in Canadian history, readers become personally acquainted with a colorful cast of supportin...

I recently had a request for information on my available novels from Spirit River and thus found an interesting site. They have the names of several Peace River area authors, information and in some cases reviews of their works and its availability. I spent several minutes, many more than I can actually afford, reading about immigrants, pioneers, the Alberta Provincial Police, Grande Prairie … the site is chock full of items to pique the interest of anyone regardless of location or age. I spent several moments reading about the mass murder which occurred in June of 1918 North West of Grande Prairie. The late Wallace Lloyd Tansem spent several years compiling the facts of the multiple murders and they appear in his book, “Foulest of Murder” is coverage of that information. Check out the blog at http://townspirit.wordpress.com There is a link to Tansem’s work and to many others. Town Spirit River also asked for information on Homesteader which I repe...

Well, the publisher has been busy and there have been a few hold-ups here and there, but my new historical fiction novel is available. It could have been a lot worse; ‘Homesteader’ only took about 3 weeks longer than it took for ‘Partners’. Considering that Strategic is now up to 700 titles and has some new people, that timing is actually pretty good. As with everything I’ve done (including news paper articles) I always manage to find mistakes that I and the editor have missed despite numerous attempts to avoid them. In the case of ‘Homesteader’ I found six mistakes but nothing that should require production to come to a halt. As the title suggests it’s about trying to start your own agricultural enterprise on the cheap with the help of the government. In this case it’s the Canadian Federal Government, the time is 1866 and the area is Fort Calgary, (already being called Calgary in 1866) North West Territories (now Alberta). Along with the choosing and registration of a homestead it als...