Apart
from the following published books, Make
Haste Slowly,
Serial
Number 6218,
Jennifer's Boots, MIKITA A Legacy Earned, The Black Wolf and
Running Fawn's Legacy, I have a number of other book manuscripts
written. All are presently unpublished but some are in the works to
be published soon.
Montana
Here We Come, Where's Montana?
is a sequel to Serial Number 6218 It awaits illustrations
before it can be published. This sequel is over 7,000 words in
length, which is long for a children's book, but as the title
suggests, it is a story about a trip that 6218 and the Lady in the
Hot Pink Jacket took to Montana. During the journey, 6218 meets all
sorts of wild creatures such as a bear, an elk who licks his fairing,
some mountain goats, and some rather unfriendly and noisy
motorcycles. In this story, 6218 falls in love with, of all things, a
Harley Davidson, Sportster.
(The Black Wolf was published in September 2010.)
The
second novel in the wolf series, a sequel to Jennifer's Boots,
titled, The
Black Wolf,
is just over 90,000 words. It has the same three heroes, Jennifer,
Sharon and Ashley, but these characters are eight years older, and in
University. The main protagonist in the story is the Black Wolf, who
Jennifer has named Big Black. The black wolf gets his paw caught in
an old leg hold trap, and he chews through his leg to escape certain
death. Jennifer finds him, half buried in the snow, and nearly
frozen. Her studies of veterinary medicine help save the black wolf's
life, and begins an adventure fighting the Ministry of Natural
Resources, the local authorities, and the Guelph Veterinary College.
Jennifer finds the severed paw, and re-attaches the paw to the black
wolf, three months after he chewed it off, using some special brew
concocted by a local chicken farmer, and some special Ojibwa herbal
tea. Near the end of the book tragedy strikes the black wolf and
Jennifer sinks into a coma that appears to be permanent. A little
black wolf puppy is born, an unusual birth in that he is the sole
litter mate. His birth is late in the season - August, an almost
unheard of date for the birth of a new puppy. The book does have a
happy ending though, and a promise for greater things. I am pleased
with the way this story unfolded and I have left a few questions
unanswered to make way for the third wolf novel.
(Running
Fawn's Legacy is now available as of July 14, 2011.)
In
the third wolf novel, Running Fawn's Legacy, there is a lot
more magic with time travel back to an old Indian village that
existed long before the white man came to North America. It has an
interesting twist between Ebony and the earlier time frame. A portal
to this earlier time is accidentally opened by Jennifer's nine year
old step-son, Daniel. I've stolen an idea from an old musical movie
titled Brigadoon where the village of Brigadoon only exists one day
in 100 years of our time, but to the residence of Brigadoon life is
normal. In my mystical village, one day there is about 10 years in
modern time caused by a curse put upon the village by The Great
Kitchi-Manitou. Running Fawn's Legacy will answer many
questions that remained unanswered after reading Jennifer's Boots
and The Black Wolf. The one big question that is answered, is:
"the true identity of the Black Wolf". Running Fawn's Legacy
will be published in early fall 2011.
The
fourth book in the wolf series is titled The Legendary Fortress. As
of today's date (July 14, 2011) I have about half of it written. I
am hoping to have it published in the Fall of 2012, but we'll see how
I get along with creating the second half. At the moment I seem to be
at a block with it, although I know where I want it to end. The story
takes place about 10,000 years ago after Daniel has taken leadership
of the West Collossus village (see Running Fawn's Legacy) set
a few years after his victory over the Wakemsui and Wendawa Nations
attacks. Five Indian nations centered around the junction of the
Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers have just joined forces as one large
confederacy. The main war leader of this confederacy is bent on
revenge against the white skinned leader of the West Collossus
village for two disasterous defeats while fighting Daniel and his
village. In the meantime Daniel has been successful in switching The
Good People of his village to be more farmers rather than hunterer
gatherers and has convinced them to surround the main village with a
huge stone wall. The story ends with another great battle where the
confederacy ------------. Hey I can't give it all away. Guess you'll
have to wait and see.
The
Secret Meadow
is a 15,000 word story for young adults partly based on a true
incident. The Secret Meadow is the way I wish the real story
had ended. It's about a young boy, Jimmy, who shoots a fox with his
bow and arrow. He is so upset by what he has done he vows to make
amends for his cruelty. With the help of his uncle's dog, he finds
the fox's den, and the Vixen's body. But he also finds two of her
newborn kits still alive. Young Jimmy is determined to raise the two
babies and release them back into the wild to help make amends for
his ruthless act of killing their mother. The story goes along great
until the babies are kidnapped from the cage in the back yard of his
mother's house. Then the law gets involved and the parks commission.
There is a happy ending though, when Jimmy succeeds in his quest to
keep the foxes wild. You'll need a box of tissues to read this one.
I
am a great fan of Winnie-the-Pooh, not the Disney Pooh, but the
original Classic Pooh. In a collection of short stories for children
I've created, I have tried to emulate the essence of the good clean
fun of the Classic Pooh stories by characterising my cats, my dog and
my motorcycle. The working title of this collection of short stories
is: FIVE CATS, ONE DOG, A MOTORCYCLE,
AND A LADY IN A HOT PINK JACKET.
I have about 20 little "tails" done and am working on a
couple more to complete the collection.
I've
also recently started a new novel, working title CONTINENTAL
CIRCUS.
It could be considered a sequel to Make Haste, Slowly but is
a fictional account. It's about a couple in Canada who decide to
travel to Europe to try their hand at the Grand Prix Continental
Circus in the mid-sixties. Needless to say it is based greatly on
personal accounts, but will be a novel, based on some truth, and a
lot of imagination, but will be a lifestyle book using motorcycle
racing as the conduit for the story. In this format I will be able to
talk more freely about the hardships of the racing scene, some of the
nasty people involved, the lousy politics of the organization back
then, and the personal rewards, not to mention all the heartaches.
I
have also started a murder mystery novel. It is presently untitled
and I've only done rough drafts of two chapters. It's my first
attempt at a murder-mystery and I am having fun with it, but we'll
have to wait and see where it goes. It involves the authorities
accusing a Mountain Lion of stalking people and attacking and killing
a man. A young woman strives to prove the lion innocent of charges,
she battles hunters wanting to eliminate the lion and her family and
deals with animal rights activists out to save not only the lion
family but any predatory animals in the area. As I get farther into
this novel it could take a totally different direction. Time will tell.
And
that is where I am going with my writing. I have now retired from
having to trudge off to a daily job so that I can pay the bills. I am
now living on government pensions, and can now spend all the time I
wish to continue my writing projects. During the warmer months I sit
outside on my new deck (built spring 05) under my canopy. Great way
to spend a few hours each day, laptop in front, a mug of tea at hand
or something a bit stronger, my two dogs and a cat or two close by
and lots of wild birds, squirrels and chipmunks that come to my
feeders to keep me company.
