My childhood playground was a cattle farm in northern Alberta, Canada — so my love for Western stories came early and easily.

Since then, I’ve lived in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, and as far away as Germany and England. I’ve contemplated careers in paleontology, computer programming and animation — two of which I pursued to employment. My life in the country became a distant — but much loved — memory.

One thing didn’t change. A love for books was a constant in my life. And when I decided to write my own stories about the Old West…well, it was like coming home. And I brought my adventures home with me! What was once old became new. That’s how I came up with my tag line: Fall in love with a new Old West… where adventurous women meet steadfast men.

Who are my adventurous heroines? They’re scouts, spies, cardsharps, trick-riding superstars, wilderness guides…and more.

And who are their steadfast heroes? They’re wagon bosses, cattle drovers, deep woods fugitive trackers, shotgun messengers…and more as well.

The stories keep coming and the inspiration is everywhere.

A little bit of my inspiration…

For more of my inspiration, read My Story Inspiration posts on my blog.

ADELLA’S ENEMY (the first book I published)

If you like happy endings but also enjoyed the Hell on Wheels TV series, then you’ll love Adella’s Enemy where a former Rebel spy pursuing an old enemy must choose to live for revenge or die for love. Adella and Cormac’s adventure is set in Kansas during the building of the Katy Railroad, another real-life — and really cutthroat — railroad construction race for riches.

BETWEEN HEAVEN & HELL (Lonesome Hearts series, book 1)

If you rooted for Stands With a Fist from the movie Dances with Wolves and thought she held her own in the middle of all those men, check out my first foray into writing Between Heaven & Hell, the novel that won the 2010 Golden Heart© for Historical Romance and the 2014 Laramie© for Western Romance Drama. Hannah and Paden really earned their happily-ever-after at the end of the Oregon Trail.

BETWEEN LOVE & LIES (Gambling Hearts series, book 1)

If you were mesmerized by the Deadwood TV series and its vivid and gritty characters, have a look at book #1 in my Gambling Hearts series, Between Love & Lies. I was equally intrigued and shocked by Deadwood. I wanted Trixie to escape her life in that town. Then I read about Dodge City, the Queen of Cattle Towns (or the Sin City of the 1870s) and Sadie Sullivan came to life — and she was gettin’ the heck out of Dodge, even if a ruthless madam and her minions weren’t keen to let her leave.

Quite a few years ago (feels so long ago we might as well say it was back in the good ol’ days), someone asked me some questions…

Can’t remember the when or the who, but since I kept the questions and my answers, I thought I might as well keep sharing them.

NOTE: if you want to see how my failing memory inspired a character called Grandpa Gus, head to my Team I-Love-Grandpa-Gus page.

NOTE 2: For fun, I changed the question-asker to be Grandpa Gus. That seemed a lot more interesting than how it was originally written.

GUS: How did you get interested in writing Wild West stories?

ME (didn’t I just explain that? I guess it’s time for embellishing or…dishing out the details): I grew up in the middle of nowhere in Canada (north of Edmonton, Alberta) on a cattle farm. We had only two TV channels (in the days before cable TV and even before, gasp, VCRs). The old Clint Eastwood movies came on TV and instantly I was hooked on Westerns. For a Few Dollars More and The Outlaw Josey Wales are still in my top ten movie list.

GUS: I bet you’ve been writing for ages. How long has it been?

ME (feels like forever but also like I just started yesterday — and thank goodness I wrote down some dates! And sheesh, the job of an author has me working the longest hours in my entire life!!): I started writing in November 2007 when I changed careers. After seven years of working as an animator in the TV and video game industry, I wanted work that had fewer hours and would allow me to spend more time with my family. During the job change, I lost my creative outlet and needed another.

Back in 1992, I dabbled in writing. I bought and read a dozen writing books. I jotted down several ideas for stories in notebooks. Then I got sidetracked by my job (first computer programming and then later animation). I put everything in a box and forgot about writing.

After moving in 2007, I was looking through my boxes and found the writing books and notebooks full of scribbles. I decided it was time to try writing again.

GUS: Birdie — my new daughter-in-law who speaks French and calls me Grand-père — taught me a new word I’ve been itchin’ to use. When was your début book release?

ME: In August 2013, I released my novella Adella’s Enemy which is a standalone read but can also be read with two stories (interlinked by setting and characters) written by fellow Western historical romance authors (and 2010 Golden Heart® finalists) E.E. Burke and Jennifer Jakes. Adella and Cormac’s story was the fourth book I wrote, but the first that I published.

GUS: Tell me about the story that won you a Golden Heart.

ME (I’m thinking I’ve mentioned this before as well, so…it’s time for more embellishing): One of the “scribbles” in my notebooks was about a blue-eyed and blonde-haired woman who is raised by Native Americans. She runs away when white traders murder her adoptive mother and sister. The Osage brave, she once called brother, holds her responsible and seek vengeance. To escape and build a new life, she hires on as an interpreter and scout for a wagon train bound for Oregon.

Two years after starting this story, I had a manuscript titled Between Heaven & Hell. I entered it in the 2010 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart contest. And the rest is history. First book written, first time entering in the Golden Heart…which just goes to show that with a lot of luck anything can happen. Between Heaven & Hell was published in the summer of 2014.

GUS: And what about those other tall tales that earned you two more Golden Heart award nominations in one year?

ME: As they say, it never rains but it pours. After I entered and won the 2010 Golden Heart contest, I entered a different story (my Dodge City story) in that contest in 2011 and 2012 — and didn’t even final. But I’m tenacious (or stubborn) so I entered the same story again in 2013 and it was nominated in the historical category. But I also entered a brand new story I’d written called The Shadow Hour (set in Victorian London) and it became a finalist in the Golden Heart award’s romantic suspense category. I published my Dodge City story, Between Love & Lies, in 2015. The Shadow Hour is still a work-in-progress.

GUS: How did you come up with the idea for yer Dodge City story?

ME: After completing my first novel, Between Heaven & Hell, I searched for another Western story to write. I had no more “scribbles” for Western stories, so I opened my series of Time-Life Old West books and started reading.

I found an interesting historical fact stating how the small farms between Texas and Dodge City were often decimated by the cattle drives when a longhorn tick caused the local cattle to develop a fever and die. I asked myself what would happen to a woman if she lost her farm during this time period (the 1870s)? Who would help her? Where could she find work? I decided my heroine would end up working in a saloon in Dodge City and that the cowboy (whose herd destroyed her farm) would be consumed by guilt and come back a year later to see what happened to her.

GUS: What are some of yer favorite stories? Bet they have animals in them. Yer always including a horse or a mule or some reference to birds in yer stories.

ME (you savvy old-timer, you’re always right):  A few of my favorite stories are…

• The Happy Prince and The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. Made me fall in love with storytelling and heroes of all sorts (like swallows, statues, and giants).
• The Earth’s Children series (with lots of horses, wolves, and big cats) by Jean M. Auel. Made me want to be a paleontologist and explore the world.
• The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Makes me cry every time I read it and in doing so reminds me of the power of engaging a reader’s emotions.

GUS: What’s the easiest part of a book for you to write?

ME (any scene with Grandpa Gus in it! Oh, and also…): The opening scenes.

GUS: I heard talk about writers being plotters or pantsers? Which one are you?

ME: A plotter — big time. I write an outline with all of my scenes (like building a storyboard for a film) before I start writing the story. That doesn’t mean that the story can’t — and doesn’t — take a detour as I write. But the thought of being a pantser (and flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants) feels like a giant detour I’m keen to avoid.

GUS: If yer books were turned into movies, obviously I’d play myself — but who do you see playing the roles of yer heroes ‘n heroines?

ME: I’m not certain, but I’m certain who I’d want to be my movie director. Definitely Clint Eastwood. The Outlaw Josey Wales is a favorite for many reasons.

If you haven’t read The Calling Birds (the book where Gus made his début) or checked out my Team I-Love-Grandpa-Gus page, then…

Grandpa Gus says, “Quit yer lollygagging ‘n get on over there.”