Who’s next on my North of the Border guest blog series? Today we have Nancy M Bell, author of The Cornwall Adventures, The Alberta Adventures, and the A Longview Romance series!
Where does Nancy get her inspiration? How is Canada part of her inspiration? Read on and see...
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Hey everyone! This is the perfect blog for me. I live in Alberta and most of my novels are set in Alberta which is in western Canada. There are always dogs and horses in my books, sometimes they even take over and steal the scene. For example, Alim in A Step Beyond, is a great grey war stallion and is paired with one of King Arthur’s knights. His tongue in cheek witticisms make him larger than life. Although that book isn’t set in Canada, it is one of the books in my series that revolves around a girl from Pincher Creek, Alberta. The Cornwall Adventures take her from a ranch near Pincher Creek to the Penwith Peninsula in Cornwall England. My new series, The Alberta Adventures starts with Wild Horse Rescue. Laurel is back home on the ranch and her friend Coll from Cornwall is visiting for the summer. There is a bit of romance, some family drama but the main focus is the wild horses which are in danger of being rounded up and sent for auction where most will end up with the meat buyers.
The A Longview Romance series is set in and around Longview, Alberta. Storm’s Refuge is the first book where a stray injured dog, Storm, is the catalyst to bring Michelle and Cale together. The Travelling Mabels, a marvelous country/folk trio are gracious enough to make a cameo appearance for a concert at East Longview Hall.
In book two of the series, Come Hell or High Water, Michelle and Cale are at odds and Michelle needs to earn some extra money to pay for a costly surgery for her barrel horse. She manages to secure a spot as an outrider for one of her chuckwagon racing friends. Her adventures finds her riding at the Calgary Stampede and later dealing with the devastating floods that inundated southern Alberta in 2013.
Book three A Longview Wedding, reconciles Michelle and Cale’s differences. But the course of love never runs smooth. Michelle’s alcoholic ex-fiancé runs amuck with disastrous results.
The next book in the series is still in my computer, tentatively called Kayla’s Cowboy, it will tell the story of the girl who falls in love with Michelle’s fiancé (all unknowing he is engaged) at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Arriving back in Longview with her new husband Kayla is shocked to learn her new husband has neglected to mention he had a fiancé waiting at home. Mary Cassidy’s annual Christmas Eve soiree proves very interesting to say the least. Not sure where else this is going yet, so no more spoilers.
Western Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan in particular, are the heartland of Canada. Alberta is a place where cowboy hats are commonplace and people hold doors for each other and strangers nod and say hi to each other on the streets. Small town Alberta is alive and well in spite of the challenges we’ve faced in recent years. The downturn in the oil patch, environmental groups blocking Canadian ships leaving west coats ports while oil bearing ships from the middle east arrive unimpeded into eastern ports. All the oil in eastern Canada from Manitoba east is not Canadian, but imported from the middle east. It’s no wonder Alberta feels snubbed by the eastern provinces.
But enough of the political. Alberta is the land of big skies and rolling prairies. As one song lyric puts it, we’re east side flat-west side vertical. The land transitions from prairie, to the faint beginnings of rolling foothills to the sharper landscape cut with steep-sided coulees and rivers which are the lifeblood of our land. Hovering on the horizon are the Rocky Mountains, white and blue in winters, purple and rose in summer. Alberta is home to Banff, a popular tourist destination where the castle like Banff Springs Hotel sits majestically overlooking the world class golf course.
Further up the TransCanada Highway as it winds through the Bow Valley, is Lake Louise. The small jewel like lake cradled on each side by mountains. Nearby is Moraine Lake with its ten peaks which used to grace the Canadian twenty-dollar bill. Still further north is the Icefields Highway, often closed in winter due to snow and avalanche danger. This idyllic piece of highway takes the driver up into the rarefied upper air where glaciers march alongside the road, seeming close enough to reach out and touch. A must stop on this journey is Tangle Falls and the Athabasca Glacier. There’s nothing more Canadian than snow in August and this often happens on the Icefields Highway. The route is at such a high altitude there is snow year-round at the higher elevations.
I am so fortunate to be surrounded by such inspiring landscapes, from the Chinook Arch sweeping across the wide western sky while the prairie rolls golden and rose below, to the pine scented mountain air and the music of tumbling mountain streams. All of these elements find their way into my stories. You can be assured there will always be horses, dogs and vibrant landscapes in my stories, as well as cowboys with tight jeans and a hint of danger along with head strong cowgirls. My long association with horses, cattle and other critters, including cowboys in tight jeans when I was young, lend the ring of authenticity to the events that underly the story I am sharing. From my heart to yours, I hope you enjoy my stories and come to love Alberta as much as I do.
“Bloody hell, Laurel. If he wanted to, he could eat us alive.” Coll’s eyes followed the black horse who alternated between snaking his head at his mares and trotting stiff legged between his band and the riders.
“Isn’t he gorgeous?” Laurel admired the strong curve of his crested neck, the long mane and forelock tossing in the breeze of his own making.
“Almost there,” Joey called. “I can see the end of the coulee.”
“Any word from your dad? Do we know where the ranchers are?” Laurel concentrated on keeping the mares moving quicker without spooking them.
“Nothing. I’m getting worried.” Joey called back. He moved his position up the flank of the herd a bit to turn them south as they left the coulee. He was only a few yards behind and to the side of the lead mare when riders appeared blocking the exit.
A shot rang out, spooking the horses. Reacting on instinct, Laurel yelled and urged the wildies into a gallop. It didn’t take much persuasion. The already spooked horses stampeded toward the open prairie. The line of men held as they rushed toward them.
“Turn them, Joey,” she hollered over the thunder of hooves. “South, turn them south.” She urged Sam forward to guide the middle of the herd when Joey turned the front.
She ducked when another shot echoed through the coulee. The line of ranchers held for a moment and then chaos ensued as the lead wildies bolted past them. Laurel hung low over Sam’s neck and dashed through a gap in the line. A glimpse of Cory Cullen leveling a shot gun at her flashed across her vision. Her dad’s voice screaming at her to duck and cursing at Cullen registered as she thundered by. Then they were out of the coulee, streaming across the prairie. Joey was in front of her, straining to keep the wildies headed where they needed them to go. She glanced back over her shoulder looking for Coll and Carly. She thought Coll was at the back of the herd, but the dust made it hard to see. There was no sign of Carly, Laurel hoped she was back there somewhere keeping safe.
The horses were galloping still but not as wildly as before. Laurel brought Sam up beside Joey’s horse. “Where to? Can we get them unto the rez from here?”
“Another couple of kilometers. Are they chasing us?”
“I don’t know. Can’t see through the dust. Let me know when you’re ready to turn them so I can push from back there.”
Joey nodded, and Laurel let Sam fall back to flank the herd. She kept an eye on the foals running at their mother’s side. The last thing she wanted was for one of the babies to get hurt. For a moment she worried they were doing as much harm to the herd as the ranchers. Running babies like this wasn’t a good thing. Ruthlessly, she pushed the thought away. Another few kilometers and they’d be safe. At least, she hoped they would be.
“Laurel!”
She stood in her stirrups and swiveled around at Coll’s summons.
“We got company,” he yelled over the hooves and the wind in her ears.
Behind him she could make out at least four riders. Please don’t let one of them be Mr. Cullen with his gun. I hope Dad didn’t get hurt.
“Now!” Joey’s command shook her from her thoughts.
The lead mare slowly veered away from Joey’s pressure near her shoulder and dropped down unto an old dirt packed road. The rest of the herd followed. Laurel kept her position, waiting to redirect any horse that strayed. Coal bugled behind her, the sound sending goose bumps over her just before he swept by, so close she could have touched him. He snaked around keeping his mares together and snapping his teeth at Sam who faltered in his gallop. Laurel pressed him on.
“We’re trying to help you, stupid horse. Get on with you,” she growled at the stallion. The adrenaline rushing through her negating any common sense that would have made it plain she should be afraid of the muscular creature. As if he understood, Coal tossed his head and snorted before circling toward the back of the herd. Something cracked above the cacophony of sound. Laurel ducked, hoping it wasn’t another bullet, or worse a broken leg on one of the horses. She looked up as the herd slowed its headlong flight. Joey was in front of the wildies now, leading the way and they seemed content to follow him. She blinked. The road was blocked ahead by a row of mounted men.
“Are you kidding me?” Laurel muttered. “They can’t be serious.” She stood in her stirrups and urged Sam forward. “Run over them,” she shouted at Joey.
She caught up with Joey two hundred yards before the line blocking the road and looked at him. “We run them over. You with me?”
Joey nodded grimly. “We’ve come too far to stop now.”
They were close enough to make out faces now. Harry Good Smoke sat his horse in the middle of the line blocking their path. “I thought you said we could trust him,” she hurled the comment at Joey, outrage blurring her vision.
“I thought we could.” Joey looked grim and hunched over his horse’s neck. “Let’s go!”
Side by side Laurel and Joey drove for the middle of the blockade. Behind her Coll whooped and urged the horses on. Other voices mingled with the thunder of hooves. That’s Dad! He’s probably trying to get us to stop. As if. Where the hell is Carly? The men blocking their path were only yards away now. Joey looked over and smiled. She deepened her seat in the saddle and pushed Sam onward. Joey surprised her by standing up with his arms wide and letting loose with war cries she couldn’t hope to match. Emboldened by his courage, she stood up over Sam’s straining back and whooped like she did at hockey games. For a minute she thought Harry Good Smoke was smiling then she closed her eyes preparing to crash into the line of horsemen.
Comment below for a chance to win (giveaway will be open for three days)...
Nancy M Bell is a proud Albertan and Canadian. She lives near Balzac, Alberta with her husband and various critters. She works with and fosters rescue animals. Nancy is a member of the Writers Guild of Alberta. She has presented at Surrey International Writers Conference, When Words Collide and Word on the Lake. She has publishing credits in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.
Website: www.nancymbell.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NancyMBell
The A Longview Romance series is set in and around Longview, Alberta. Storm’s Refuge is the first book where a stray injured dog, Storm, is the catalyst to bring Michelle and Cale together. The Travelling Mabels, a marvelous country/folk trio are gracious enough to make a cameo appearance for a concert at East Longview Hall.
In book two of the series, Come Hell or High Water, Michelle and Cale are at odds and Michelle needs to earn some extra money to pay for a costly surgery for her barrel horse. She manages to secure a spot as an outrider for one of her chuckwagon racing friends. Her adventures finds her riding at the Calgary Stampede and later dealing with the devastating floods that inundated southern Alberta in 2013.
Book three A Longview Wedding, reconciles Michelle and Cale’s differences. But the course of love never runs smooth. Michelle’s alcoholic ex-fiancé runs amuck with disastrous results.
The next book in the series is still in my computer, tentatively called Kayla’s Cowboy, it will tell the story of the girl who falls in love with Michelle’s fiancé (all unknowing he is engaged) at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Arriving back in Longview with her new husband Kayla is shocked to learn her new husband has neglected to mention he had a fiancé waiting at home. Mary Cassidy’s annual Christmas Eve soiree proves very interesting to say the least. Not sure where else this is going yet, so no more spoilers.
Western Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan in particular, are the heartland of Canada. Alberta is a place where cowboy hats are commonplace and people hold doors for each other and strangers nod and say hi to each other on the streets. Small town Alberta is alive and well in spite of the challenges we’ve faced in recent years. The downturn in the oil patch, environmental groups blocking Canadian ships leaving west coats ports while oil bearing ships from the middle east arrive unimpeded into eastern ports. All the oil in eastern Canada from Manitoba east is not Canadian, but imported from the middle east. It’s no wonder Alberta feels snubbed by the eastern provinces.
But enough of the political. Alberta is the land of big skies and rolling prairies. As one song lyric puts it, we’re east side flat-west side vertical. The land transitions from prairie, to the faint beginnings of rolling foothills to the sharper landscape cut with steep-sided coulees and rivers which are the lifeblood of our land. Hovering on the horizon are the Rocky Mountains, white and blue in winters, purple and rose in summer. Alberta is home to Banff, a popular tourist destination where the castle like Banff Springs Hotel sits majestically overlooking the world class golf course.
Further up the TransCanada Highway as it winds through the Bow Valley, is Lake Louise. The small jewel like lake cradled on each side by mountains. Nearby is Moraine Lake with its ten peaks which used to grace the Canadian twenty-dollar bill. Still further north is the Icefields Highway, often closed in winter due to snow and avalanche danger. This idyllic piece of highway takes the driver up into the rarefied upper air where glaciers march alongside the road, seeming close enough to reach out and touch. A must stop on this journey is Tangle Falls and the Athabasca Glacier. There’s nothing more Canadian than snow in August and this often happens on the Icefields Highway. The route is at such a high altitude there is snow year-round at the higher elevations.
I am so fortunate to be surrounded by such inspiring landscapes, from the Chinook Arch sweeping across the wide western sky while the prairie rolls golden and rose below, to the pine scented mountain air and the music of tumbling mountain streams. All of these elements find their way into my stories. You can be assured there will always be horses, dogs and vibrant landscapes in my stories, as well as cowboys with tight jeans and a hint of danger along with head strong cowgirls. My long association with horses, cattle and other critters, including cowboys in tight jeans when I was young, lend the ring of authenticity to the events that underly the story I am sharing. From my heart to yours, I hope you enjoy my stories and come to love Alberta as much as I do.
Below is an excerpt from Wild Horse Rescue.
“Bloody hell, Laurel. If he wanted to, he could eat us alive.” Coll’s eyes followed the black horse who alternated between snaking his head at his mares and trotting stiff legged between his band and the riders.
“Isn’t he gorgeous?” Laurel admired the strong curve of his crested neck, the long mane and forelock tossing in the breeze of his own making.
“Almost there,” Joey called. “I can see the end of the coulee.”
“Any word from your dad? Do we know where the ranchers are?” Laurel concentrated on keeping the mares moving quicker without spooking them.
“Nothing. I’m getting worried.” Joey called back. He moved his position up the flank of the herd a bit to turn them south as they left the coulee. He was only a few yards behind and to the side of the lead mare when riders appeared blocking the exit.
A shot rang out, spooking the horses. Reacting on instinct, Laurel yelled and urged the wildies into a gallop. It didn’t take much persuasion. The already spooked horses stampeded toward the open prairie. The line of men held as they rushed toward them.
“Turn them, Joey,” she hollered over the thunder of hooves. “South, turn them south.” She urged Sam forward to guide the middle of the herd when Joey turned the front.
She ducked when another shot echoed through the coulee. The line of ranchers held for a moment and then chaos ensued as the lead wildies bolted past them. Laurel hung low over Sam’s neck and dashed through a gap in the line. A glimpse of Cory Cullen leveling a shot gun at her flashed across her vision. Her dad’s voice screaming at her to duck and cursing at Cullen registered as she thundered by. Then they were out of the coulee, streaming across the prairie. Joey was in front of her, straining to keep the wildies headed where they needed them to go. She glanced back over her shoulder looking for Coll and Carly. She thought Coll was at the back of the herd, but the dust made it hard to see. There was no sign of Carly, Laurel hoped she was back there somewhere keeping safe.
The horses were galloping still but not as wildly as before. Laurel brought Sam up beside Joey’s horse. “Where to? Can we get them unto the rez from here?”
“Another couple of kilometers. Are they chasing us?”
“I don’t know. Can’t see through the dust. Let me know when you’re ready to turn them so I can push from back there.”
Joey nodded, and Laurel let Sam fall back to flank the herd. She kept an eye on the foals running at their mother’s side. The last thing she wanted was for one of the babies to get hurt. For a moment she worried they were doing as much harm to the herd as the ranchers. Running babies like this wasn’t a good thing. Ruthlessly, she pushed the thought away. Another few kilometers and they’d be safe. At least, she hoped they would be.
“Laurel!”
She stood in her stirrups and swiveled around at Coll’s summons.
“We got company,” he yelled over the hooves and the wind in her ears.
Behind him she could make out at least four riders. Please don’t let one of them be Mr. Cullen with his gun. I hope Dad didn’t get hurt.
“Now!” Joey’s command shook her from her thoughts.
The lead mare slowly veered away from Joey’s pressure near her shoulder and dropped down unto an old dirt packed road. The rest of the herd followed. Laurel kept her position, waiting to redirect any horse that strayed. Coal bugled behind her, the sound sending goose bumps over her just before he swept by, so close she could have touched him. He snaked around keeping his mares together and snapping his teeth at Sam who faltered in his gallop. Laurel pressed him on.
“We’re trying to help you, stupid horse. Get on with you,” she growled at the stallion. The adrenaline rushing through her negating any common sense that would have made it plain she should be afraid of the muscular creature. As if he understood, Coal tossed his head and snorted before circling toward the back of the herd. Something cracked above the cacophony of sound. Laurel ducked, hoping it wasn’t another bullet, or worse a broken leg on one of the horses. She looked up as the herd slowed its headlong flight. Joey was in front of the wildies now, leading the way and they seemed content to follow him. She blinked. The road was blocked ahead by a row of mounted men.
“Are you kidding me?” Laurel muttered. “They can’t be serious.” She stood in her stirrups and urged Sam forward. “Run over them,” she shouted at Joey.
She caught up with Joey two hundred yards before the line blocking the road and looked at him. “We run them over. You with me?”
Joey nodded grimly. “We’ve come too far to stop now.”
They were close enough to make out faces now. Harry Good Smoke sat his horse in the middle of the line blocking their path. “I thought you said we could trust him,” she hurled the comment at Joey, outrage blurring her vision.
“I thought we could.” Joey looked grim and hunched over his horse’s neck. “Let’s go!”
Side by side Laurel and Joey drove for the middle of the blockade. Behind her Coll whooped and urged the horses on. Other voices mingled with the thunder of hooves. That’s Dad! He’s probably trying to get us to stop. As if. Where the hell is Carly? The men blocking their path were only yards away now. Joey looked over and smiled. She deepened her seat in the saddle and pushed Sam onward. Joey surprised her by standing up with his arms wide and letting loose with war cries she couldn’t hope to match. Emboldened by his courage, she stood up over Sam’s straining back and whooped like she did at hockey games. For a minute she thought Harry Good Smoke was smiling then she closed her eyes preparing to crash into the line of horsemen.
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GIVEAWAY
Comment below for a chance to win (giveaway will be open for three days)...
- 1 ebook copy of Wild Horse Rescue.
- 1 ebook copy of A Longview Christmas.
- 1 prize of a print copy of Storm's Refuge, Come Hell or High Water and A Longview Wedding (3 books in total).
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Nancy M Bell is a proud Albertan and Canadian. She lives near Balzac, Alberta with her husband and various critters. She works with and fosters rescue animals. Nancy is a member of the Writers Guild of Alberta. She has presented at Surrey International Writers Conference, When Words Collide and Word on the Lake. She has publishing credits in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.Website: www.nancymbell.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NancyMBell
BookBub: www.bookbub.com/authors/nancy-m-bell
~ All pictures (except for the 1st) are supplied by today’s guest with their assurance of usage rights.
nice excerpt
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
Thanks bn100!
DeleteWow I love westerns and loved this blog today and a new author for me too bad that being disabled I can't do ebooks but I can read and review print. I have written these down thank you for today. peggy clayton ptclayton2@aol.com
ReplyDeleteHello Peggy, sorry I'm late in responding, I've been working a book conference all weekend in Salmon Arm in British Columbia. If you would like a print book please email me at emilypikkasso@gmail.com Nancy
DeleteI love your enthusiasm for the Prairies. The books look like compelling reading.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy, I do love the prairies. I do hope you will enjoy the story.
DeleteHi Nancy,
ReplyDeleteThe stories look exciting. I love it that you use Alberta as the background for your stories. Beautiful province, Best, Sylvie
Thanks Sylvie, I love Alberta. Can't think of a better place to set my stories.
DeleteThanks for being my guest on the Get Lost in a Story blog, Nancy! Loved hearing about your Alberta inspiration ❤️
ReplyDelete