Celebrating Canada's 150th Birthday

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We spent Canada's 150th birthday preparing to fly home after a fantastic holiday.  For those of you on Instagram, I posted a few pics. 

Taking advantage of the federal liberal government's generous officer of free park passes, we headed to Alberta. Each province within Canada offers something very unique and Alberta is no exception. 

We flew into Calgary, rented a car, bought bear spray, just in case, and drove through the mountains. What a sight. 

We settled in Canmore, home for the next 6 nights and went to a local pub for dinner.

Number one on our list of adventures, Banff. Who hasn't heard of Banff Springs Hotel. Beginning our day trips, snow covered mountain peaks gave us a spectacular sight around every curve. Nestled within the mountains, at an elevation of 1414 metres or 4500 feet, just outside the town, Banff Springs opened to the public in 1888 as a Canadian railway hotel in Canada's first National Park. 

Leaving the town of Banff, we headed toward the famous Lake Louise. On route, we saw a sign indicating a gondola to the right. Lake Louise to the left. We headed left only to discover it was swarming with tourists, just like us. Signs instructed us to park at overflow parking  and get shuttled in. A smart idea, if you like crowded areas. Not today, thanks. So instead we headed down the hill, turned and steered toward Lake Moraine. 

Lake Moraine is 1884 metres above sea level and the view is spectacular. Wow. Simply wow. I've never seen turquoise lake water. Glacier fed, beautiful doesn't begin to describe it. If my shoulder had been in better shape, we would have rented canoes and gone onto the lake. But I can't guarantee I can paddle, yet, so we hiked around the lake instead. Serene, a touch of heaven, we took our time and let it soak in.

Not ready to head home, you guessed it, we headed for the Gondola. After an ice-cream bar, we walked to the lift. The gondola was part of the ski lift so of course we opted for the open lift and up up up we went to the top of the world. A photographer's  paradise. We had dinner in Banff and headed back to Canmore for some sleep. 

Catherine, our travelling companion read about a wonderful walking trail so we packed a picnic lunch and headed to Johnston Canyon on Sunday. The parking lots were full, making it a long hike to go for a hike. About to give up, I insisted on one more drive around to look for a spot. As luck would have it, a family were finishing their walk. We waited for them to load their car and slid into their parking spot before heading to the canyon. 

Once again we were treated to that glorious glacier fed coloured water. The highlight of the canyon is the waterfall. The catwalk takes hikers over the gorge where the mist from the falls rewards you for your effort. A warm day, we appreciated that cool mist tickling our skin.

Driving back along the two lane road, I spotted something dark by the ditch. Focusing in, I identified a black bear on all fours, nibbling on something. I called out 'bear. there's a bear.', startling both Catherine and my husband. Of course my camera wasn't in my hand, ready to snap away. That would have been too convenient. With too many cars on the winding road, we couldn't stop, but we saw it. 

Did you know there's a water fall higher than Niagara Falls in Canada? Tune in next month to find out where it's located as this Canadian celebrated Canada's 150th birthday in style. 

Where to find me 

my website - http://heathergreenis.weebly.com/

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my blog - http://heathergreenis.blogspot.ca

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Books Can Grow .... from Little Acorns by June Gadsby

“From Little Acorns…”

…books can grow:  In my case, this is a big subject, so I can only begin to address it here. I can tell you right from the start, I have never had a problem finding inspiration or storylines – just the time to write them up. If I live to be a hundred I will never run out of ideas. The trouble is, hardly a day goes by without something pops into my head that makes me get that little ripple of excitement, seeing the potential of a good story. Sometimes, some of the better ideas get lost among the wealth of scribbled notes and typed anecdotes and – yes – even a long list of possible titles that can be used in the future. As I think I have stated in the past, I have this little writery quirk in that I can’t write a story unless I first have a title.

For The Rose Carousel, this pretty little musical carousel – a free gift from a catalogue - was the inspiration that led to a story about a girl who ran a toy shop that ‘sold’ Christmas all year round. She got involved in a kidnapping of a child and the American security man who turned out to be something far from the man she thought he was.

Valley of Dreams [to be published shortly] was inspired by seeing a young, Basque shepherd here in our French Pyreneen mountains. By the time I had eaten my picnic lunch I had the storyline in my head. A young divorcee and her son moving on from a disastrous marriage and reluctantly losing her heart to the Frenchman who becomes like a second father to the boy. But he’s a man with a dark and mysterious past and there are people in the tiny, isolated village who would rather not have the English woman in their midst.

To The Ends of the Earth. How could I not be inspired by the breath-taking scenery and the Patagonian history of the early pioneers. I spent time in this amazing part of the world – Argentina and Chile – with its glaciers and icebergs, Welsh tearooms that hadn’t changed in a hundred or more years and the air full of passion and music that you couldn’t help dancing to. And the town of Ushuaia, very last town at the edge of the world.

How I loved writing this book, thinking all the time how my grandfather, had he still been alive, would have enjoyed a story that was as close to his beloved Westerns as I could get.

The Glory Girls. Quite by chance, I discovered that the centenary of the FANYs [First Aid Nursing Yeomanry] was coming up. A light-bulb went off in my head as I wondered if I could write a hundred-year saga with the FANYs in the background. I put the idea to my agent and he loved it. He told me to put aside the book I was part-way writing, but said that I had only three months to produce the saga. My heart sank. I knew that there had to be a tremendous amount of research before I could even start writing the story. However, it was my idea and I was all fired up by it, and I didn’t want to let my agent down because he was so enthusiastic. We argued over it a bit. I wanted an epilogue. He wanted a prologue. In the end, I did both, working every hour God sent me for exactly three months, and we were both happy with the result – and so was the publisher. “My goodness,” my agent, Bob Tanner, said. “I asked you for a saga and you’ve given me a wartime thriller!” Those words made me jump for joy. All my life I had yearned to write thrillers and I’d done it at last. [And my favourite character in the book is a secondary one – feisty little Effie – whose personality I stole from one of my lovely maiden aunts. I hope she has forgiven me for the liberties I took.]

When Tomorrow Comes. Listening to the radio one Sunday morning while I did the ironing, Vera Lynn, the English singer best known for entertaining the troups during the second world war, gave me the title for my second full-length saga, the story of a family fighting their own battles, led by the lovable Hildie who could make you laugh through your tears as she did her best to assure everybody that all will be well when tomorrow comes. The song that inspired me was: “There’ll be bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover…tomorrow just you wait and see.”

And, of course, my latest book, a traditional saga – Rosa – trauma, tragedy, laughter and romance, two wars and a heroine who refuses to give up and achieves a lot more than she has ever dreamed about. It took the simple, fading memory of a mansion house from my childhood that became part of my own dream of building a life from nothing to what I’ve got now.

So, as you see, I don’t have to search for inspiration – it’s all there in my own life – what you see above and much, much more. One day I might give in to the requests from those who know me well to put everything into an autobiography – but as they also say: “Nobody would believe it!”

Yvonne, Lady of Cassio by Rosemary Morris

   

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ABOUT ROSEMARY MORRIS

Rosemary Morris was born in Sidcup Kent. As a child, her head was ‘always in a book.’ While working in a travel agency, Rosemary met her Hindu husband. He encouraged her to continue her education at Westminster College. In 1961 Rosemary and her husband, now a barrister, moved to his birthplace, Kenya, where she lived from 1961 until 1982. After an attempted coup d’état, she and four of her five children lived in an ashram in France.

Back in England, Rosemary wrote historical fiction and joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Historical Novel Society, Watford Writers and many online groups. To research, Rosemary reads non-fiction, visits museums and other places of historical interest. Her bookshelves are so crammed with historical non-fiction, that if she buys a new book she has to consider getting rid of one. Apart from writing, Rosemary enjoys time with her family, classical Indian literature, reading, vegetarian cooking, growing organic fruit, herbs and vegetables and creative crafts.  

 YVONNE, LADY OF CASSIO

The Lovages of Cassio Book 1

When Yvonne and Elizabeth, daughters of ruthless Simon Lovage, Earl of Cassio, are born under the same star to different mothers, no one could have foretold their lives would be irrevocably entangled.

Against the background of Edward II’s turbulent reign in the thirteenth century, Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, contains imaginary and historical characters.

It is said the past is a foreign country in which things were done differently. Nevertheless, although that is true of attitudes, such as those towards women and children, our ancestors were also prompted by ambition, anger, greed, jealousy, humanity, duty, loyalty, unselfishness and love.

From early childhood, despite those who love her and want to protect her, Yvonne is forced to face difficult economic, personal and political circumstances, during a long, often bitter struggle.

Reviewer comments

5.0 out of 5 starsRosemary Morris has done it again!

ByRobbi Perna, Ph.D. - Author and Lectureron May 15, 2017

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Ms. Morris's first book in a new series, Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, sweeps the reader back to the 13th century following the advent of William the Conqueror in 1066 with his army on the shores of Britain. Morris's meticulous provides a rich background for an engaging story. Readers like myself who know nothing about this period of English history can enjoy the novel and learn something new at the same time.

Following a tragedy involving one of the main characters, one of the noble overlords remarks the villeins of Saxon descent didn't experience grief in the same way as the his own people. Considering the Norman forbears were Vikings not too sympathetic by anyone's analysis, it provided an intriguing insight into how perceptions could change over the course of centuries. I highly recommend the book for those who enjoy historical fiction as well as readers who want to read a different story set against a new background in the genre of historical fiction.

 

Rosemary's personal web Page
http://rosemarymorris.co.uk/

My Character by Katherine Pym

Now Available

When I began researching a good heroine for our Newfoundland story, I didn't think I'd find someone like Sara Andrews, later Lady Sara Kirke.

From the few historical texts that mention her, they confess she was one hell of a lady. Historians say after the arrest and subsequent death of her husband, Sara took the bull by the horns and for a good thirty years ran a very successful plantation (farm) in Ferryland, Newfoundland Labrador.

I haven't found any portraits of Sara Kirke. If there are any, they are locked away somewhere and off the internet grid. A pencil drawing of her husband exists but it's considered a modern rendering of what he may have looked like.

In 1638 David Kirke moved his family to an abandoned plantation named Province of Avalon, Ferryland, NL. (The term plantation was originally known as a colony, a settlement in a new land.) Ferryland is located on the coast southeast of St. John's. It has a natural harbor that kept ships afloat during storms.

The Kirkes settled in a nice stone house previously built for George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore. He moved to Ferryland thinking he could establish a Roman Catholic utopia, but after one hard winter and trouble with pirates, the myriad of fishermen who showed up on his shore, Baltimore threw up his hands and ran for the exit.

It took a lot of work to sustain a plantation household, that of their servants and fishermen who worked the sea, but Lady Sara Kirke was up to the task. She partnered with her husband and turned their plantation into a fishery. They owned several boats, salted fish and produced cod oil. They traded their products for wine and other sustainable goods with England and the Europe. Once the colonies of New England gained their footing, the Kirkes obtained goods from warmer climes down the Atlantic Coast.

After Sir David Kirke was arrested and returned to England, Lady Sara continued to work the plantation. Based on historical facts, Sara is considered North America's first and foremost entrepreneur, so no mewling babe here. When I built her character, I did not want to start with a shy, weak woman who over trials of life became strong and independent. I made her a force to be reckoned with from the get-go.

She came from a wealthy merchant’s family and married into another. I made her a partner in the Kirke’s wine business, had her outfit ships for sail to the New World, had her stand up to her husband’s gruff and stubborn ways. This made her capable for anything when she single-handed ran the Ferryland plantation, a single mother with three sons (there’s no record of her remarrying), where she had to contend with fishermen from so many nations who felt they could do what they wanted, when they wanted.

I came to like and respect Lady Sara Kirke, and am happy to have been a part of her story. 

New Releases from Books We Love

New releases from Books We Love

Some interesting facts about Canada

Don't forget as you are reading through this Insider Blog that we also have a second blog (The Canadian Historical Brides Authors blog)  filled with stories from authors, interesting tidbits, and fun.  For example, this gem was just posted:

Did You Know ...

* Approximately 30% of Canada's land mass is forest

* It is the garter snake ...

Read the rest of the post on the Canadian Historical Brides blog.  And you should - if only for the polar bears, garter snakes, and dinosaurs.

Oh!  And the link to the garter snake video.  Enjoy!