It's RELEASE WEEK! The Story Behind Mist O'er the Voyageur (And the First of THREE winners in the Rafflecopter Drawing!)

Often when a writer releases a new story into the world, they're asked, "What inspired you to write this story? Where did you get this idea?" Someone recently asked me that very thing about Mist O'er the Voyageur my new novel releasing today. Perhaps before I give the answer, I should post the story blurb so you know what it's about if you haven't already heard.

After her aunt's death, Métis woman Brigitte Marchal finds herself alone in Montreal. Uninterested in the convent and desperate to flee a loathsome suitor, she disguises herself as a young man to travel west by voyageurs' brigade in search of her long-absent, fur-trader father. But her inexperience and disguise don't hide her for long.

René Dufour yields to the unwelcome position of shielding Brigitte, but he cannot hide her identity forever. Keeping her safe while meeting his North West Company obligations and honoring his family promises may prove to be more disquieting to his heart than he imagined.

As Brigitte adjusts to the voyageur life on Lake Superior, she struggles to justify the faith she grew up in with the mysticism around her, but greater still is the conflict her heart must settle over who to trust in this rugged, unfamiliar country. 

Many years ago, I wrote a novel called The Casket Girl (no longer in print), a novel or romance and adventure set during the French and Indian war. It was the story of a young woman who arrived in New Orleans in the mid-1700s in the manner of the fille du roi or King's Daughters. She wasn't a true king's girl, as they immigrated a big earlier, but her situation was much the same. Her journey took her from France, to Louisianna, up the Mississippi to Fort Kaskaskia, and eventually on to Detroit an then east into fringes of the Appalachian wilderness. (I sigh with sentimentality to remember that story. I'd like to rewrite it someday.)

Who remembers Catrine Lafonte?

As I wrote that book, the seeds of a tale sprouted involving a woman in the wilderness of Canada and the northern United States. At first I thought she might be another immigrant from France, but as I delved further into history, I realized that to write such a story, she must not be European or American. However, she could easily be Métis, as the Métis people were so integral to the fur trade and the settling of the upper Great Lakes region.

About that fur trade... The story idea also tied into a two decades old vacation experience when our family and some friends visited the Fort William Historical Park near Thunder Bay, Ontario. This was a totally unplanned event. Our trailer of camping gear broke down, and we were stuck in Thunder Bay for a weekend. However, stuck proved to be the wrong attitude, because it turned out to be one of the most fortuitous experiences of our vacation. We spent an entire day at the fort. It was a living history experience where we engaged in hands on learning about the past, including the hearty voyageurs, the local Native American culture, and the other fur traders and people of the upper Great Lakes. Story ideas began swirling in my brain.

Slowly the ideas found root in a character -- a woman of both Objibwe and French Canadian descent who I named Brigitte Marchal. I remember a November deer hunting season, sitting patiently in my stand on a snow-covered log in the woods, trying to ignore the biting cold seeping into my spine by creating Brigitte's story in my head. I started carrying a tiny 3x5 notebook to my stand with me along with the nub of a pencil (because ink would freeze) to jot down story and scene ideas.

All those notes and ideas were tucked away for a spell, but eventually Brigitte's tale unfolded and I began to write. The first draft was rough, and I spent several years honing it, while at the same time other stories took precedence. As I published an array of other books, I kept chiseling away at the sculpture that would eventually become Mist O'er the Voyageur.

I also wanted a special home for the book. A different home than my other stories. I don't know why. I guess it was because it was a unique kind of historical adventure, and I thought maybe it had a special future. It wasn't until a year ago that I signed a contract that would birth Brigitte's romantic adventure through Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas' Smitten imprint. Then the real work began. But that's a tale for another day.

During the month of October, I'll be drawing 3 names as winners of a Mist O'er the Voyageur e-book. (Check here again on 17th and 24th). 

A GRAND  PRIZE drawing will be held on October 31st for the prizes pictured at the end of the post. Enter using the Rafflecopter! (My apologies, but due to postage constraints, I can only mail physical prizes within the continental U.S.)

But first...today's winner of a MistK O'er the Voyageur e-book is:

Kay M.
Congratulations, Kay!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PRIZES
(Continental U.S. Only)

Signed Paperback

Philippians 4:13 Blue Soul Scrips Flex-Cover Journal, Small Floral Notepad and Journal

8x10 Watercolor Print “Estuary” by Northland Artist Viola Labounty
This is the St. Louis River estuary at the head of Lake Superior, the location of a primary setting in Mist O'er the Voyageur.

(Postcards, Refrigerator Magnet, Magnetic Bookmark)

If you can't wait, you can
BUY IT TODAY.