Some Canadian History

 

Canadian Historical Novels for Young Adults

West to the Bay

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/west-to-the-bay

https://books2read.com/West-to-the-Bay-Yarmey

https://www.amazon.ca/West-Bay-V2-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/0228630568

West to Grande Portage

 https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/west-to-grande-portage

https://books2read.com/West-to-Grande-Portage-V2

https://www.amazon.ca/West-Grande-Portage-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/0228630479

West to Fort Edmonton

 https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/west-to-fort-edmonton

https://books2read.com/b/West-to-the-Bay-Yarmey

https://www.amazon.ca/West-Fort-Edmonton-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/0228636000

I have written seven Canadian Historical Novels, three set during the Hudson's Bay Company Fur Trade in Rupert's Land, now Canada, and four set during and after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon. All are based on historical facts. But Canada has lots more in its exciting and varied history. Here is on part of that history. PS. I am also a travel writer so this might sound like a travel guide.

The Fortress of Louisbourg is situated on the east shore of the Cape Breton Island and well worth the visit.

       In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed and France ceded its claims to present day Newfoundland, the Hudson’s Bay territories in Rupert Land, and Acadia (Nova Scotia) to the English. France kept what is now Prince Edward Island, the small islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon as well as Cape Breton Island. The settlement of Louisbourg was founded on the east side of Cape Breton Island in 1713 and, between 1719 and 1745, the French built a fortified town. With its several thousand inhabitants it grew into a thriving and busy seaport in North America and was a key trading and military centre for the French in the New World. It was the base for the profitable cod fishery of the Grand Banks since salted and dried fish was an important food in Europe. The value of the settlement’s dried cod exports in 1737 was eight times higher than the value of the fur trade during the same period.

       In 1745, war was declared between France and Britain and the English launched an attack on Louisbourg. While the harbour was well defended, the low hills around the fortress provided cover for the attackers. The residents of the fortress held on for forty-six days before being captured. However, three years later the town was given back to the French by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

       A second attack occurred in 1758. There was no strong French navy to defend the town against the 16,000 troops and 150 ships and after seven weeks it was again taken by the English. They occupied it until 1768. Eventually, they decided that it should never return to being a fortified French base and they destroyed the fortress.

       Although the site was officially commemorated more than a dozen times with monuments, plaques, and cairns, it remained mainly forgotten and neglected until the 1930s when a museum was built and some of the streets and ruins excavated. In 1961, reconstruction began on one quarter of the fortress aided by the Government of Canada. First the area was excavated with the ruins of more buildings and walls being found as well as millions of artifacts. Since then, streets, buildings, and gardens have been recreated so it looks as it did in the 1740s.

       The Fortress of Louisbourg is the largest reconstruction project in North America.

       I took a tour bus from the parking lot to the fortress. I visited with the guard at the entrance and began my tour. I walked up and down the streets of the fortress and toured through the buildings seeing the household furniture and goods of the period. There was an ice house where ice was placed during the winter and used during the summer to keep food cold so it wouldn’t spoil. I watched the fife and drum band escort the cannon firers up the hill to the cannon and waited until it was fired. I listened to the soldiers talk about their daily lives. I checked out the gardens and watched women doing embroidery. Throughout the site interpreters dressed in period clothing were able to answer all my questions about the fortress and its history.

        While visiting, there is a long list of activities to do such as firing a musket or cannon, sampling some rum, learning a dance, or being a prisoner of the day.

       For those who want something to eat there are restaurants serving 1700s fare and a bakery from which you can buy a loaf of bread.

My Writing Career

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https://www.amazon.ca/Gold-Fever-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey-ebook/dp/B00PEOSJR8

I worked off and on at various jobs for many years while raising my children and when I began taking writing courses I still had teenage children at home. I wrote some historical and travel articles and had them published in Canadian magazines. My children had left home when I got my first contract for a non-fiction travel book, which morphed into seven travel books about the backroads of Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon and Alaska. Travelling, researching and writing each one of those took up my days, evenings, and nights for a year between 1990 and 2000. When I finished the last one, I decided to try fiction writing and spent days in my office on the computer.

However, I found fiction writing lonely, so I also decided it was time to get a job so I would be out and about with people. I took training to be a nursing attendant, also known as residential care aide, and began working in a long-term facility on the evening shift. I also started writing my first mystery novel. Then my husband and I moved to a small acreage Vancouver Island and I got a job in a group home looking after disabled adults.

I do not like getting up to an alarm clock so I took a position in the afternoons from 4-9 pm. This gave me time during the day to work in my yard, hike, dragon boat, pick and can or freeze fruit from my trees, and of course, write. I did this for twelve years and in that time, I also wrote and had published six novels. I finally retired which gave me more time to write, but I also travelled more, sat and enjoyed the sunsets more, and visited family more. I have also published eight more books since then.

I try to write something every day, even if it is just some ideas for a scene or about someone the main character of my WIP might meet. Usually, these ideas occur in the middle of the night, so I always keep paper and pen by my bed to write this down.

     And I must be doing something right because, since I began my writing career I have had twenty-two print and e-books published and I have five more coming out in the next two years.

My Fourth Klondike Novel

 

BWL Publishing Inc has published three different genre collections. The first is The Canadian Historical Brides. They wanted a book set in each province and territory and we Canadian authors, who wanted to participate, were invited to pick one of the provinces or territories to write a book about. I chose the Yukon and wrote my first Klondike book, titled 'Romancing the Klondike'. Then I wrote a sequel to it titled 'Rushing the Klondike'.

BWL decided to publish a second set, The Canadian Historical Mysteries, I again chose the Yukon and wrote 'Sleuthing the Klondike'. Now, BWL is presenting The Paranormal Canadiana Collection. I don't read paranormal novels or nor do I know much about paranormal phenomena but I like a challenge. I read a lot of books, watched paranormal shows, and researched on the Internet to learn about hauntings and ghosts and Haunting the Klondike is the result. It is set in the 1930s and is the fourth and final of my Klondike novels.

The main characters of Romancing the Klondike were cousins, Pearl Owens and Sam Owens so it seemed fitting that they should be the main characters in this last one.

Here is the first chapter for your enjoyment.

Struggles with the Setting in My Novels

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https://books2read.com/Romancing-the-Klondike

https://www.amazon.ca/Romancing-Klondike-Yukon-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/1772992682

https://books2read.com/Rushing-the-Klondike

https://www.amazon.ca/Rushing-Klondike-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/0228622328

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/sleuthing-the-klondike

https://books2read.com/Sleuthing-the-Klondike

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0228624762?tag=books2read02-20

I have written in many different genres, non-fiction, mystery, romance, and historical. According to the professionals, I have to make sure my characters are multi-dimensional, my story plot is fast paced, and my setting is exciting. Readers want to identify with the main characters so they have to be believable and likeable. Readers want action in the story so the plot has to move along at a good clip. And readers want to learn about the place where the story is set, so it is important that I know the setting itself.

For my Travelling Detective Series, I had been to each of the places in the story and knew my setting. My descriptions of a town or a building or a street were true because I had seen them. I’ve heard of some authors who write about a place they’ve never been to by using Google Maps to check out the buildings or streets.  

However, this is much harder in historical novels because that setting is no longer readily available in the way it was in the time period. Research is important and this is where non-fiction books, museums, archives, and paintings or photos of that time come in handy. And, of course, the Internet. It is the easiest and quickest way to learn about a historical event or a place or what clothing was worn, and even people’s names at the time.

I have written seven Canadian historical novels in two different sets. My Young Adult Canadian Historical books are: West to the Bay, West to Grande Portage, and West to Fort Edmonton. For each one I spent as much time researching the areas, the history, and the people at the time as I did writing the story since I hadn’t been to the Hudson’s Bay or Montreal or Edmonton in the mid-1700s to early 1800s, I hadn't paddled a canoe or York boat, nor had I taken part in trading furs.

Luckily, for my Yukon books set during the Klondike Gold Rush, I’ve been to Dawson City three times and even hiked the Chilkoot trail on the hundredth anniversary of the gold rush. Many of the buildings in Dawson today are still from that era. However, I still had to research the clothing, the founding of Dawson City, the people who headed north, and what life was like for the newcomers from 1896 to 1898.

I enjoy research so much, that sometimes I go down the rabbit hole and my actual writing suffers.

Romancing the Klondike is one of the twelve books of BWL Publishing, Inc. Canadian Historical Brides Collection.

Rushing the Klondike is my sequel to that book.

Sleuthing the Klondike is one of the twelve books of BWL Publishing Inc, Canadian Historical Mystery Collection.

Haunting the Klondike is one of BWL Publishing Inc. Paranormal Canadiana Paranormal Collection and will be out in June, 2026

Are my Psycho Kitties From Another Planet?

 

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https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/betrayed

On the evening of June 24^th, 2025, I arrived home in Edmonton, Alberta, from a dragon boat festival in Vancouver, B.C, just in time to celebrate my husband’s and my anniversary on August 25^th. I found a message from my son about two ten-year-old cats whose owner had died unexpectedly. No one in the family wanted them and they were going to be euthanized if no one else took them. My husband and I had put our eighteen-year-old cat to sleep a month before and had decided we wouldn’t be getting any more pets because it is so hard to say goodbye to them. However, it didn’t seem right that these sisters should die through no fault of their own. So hubby and I decided our anniversary gift would be to adopt them and I called the number. It was arranged that we would pick them up on August 26^th.

For our anniversary we decided to go out for dinner but he had to go help our daughter and didn’t make it back in time so we went to pick up KFC. While we waited for our order I tried to fill up our drinks but the Pepsi syrup ran out and I only got carbonated water. I waited while the tanks were changed. Carbonated water came out for the first bit and I kept dumping it out while waiting for the syrup. Then the power went out. Luckily, we did get our chicken order but our drinks were kind of anaemic.

When we got home, we found our power was out also, so we had a romantic meal by twilight. The power came on about an hour later and we had to reset our clocks. My husband couldn’t get the one on our gas stove to work and somehow he locked the oven door while trying.

We picked up our cats on the 26th. One, renamed Lovey, snooped around and settled in. The other, renamed Trixie, went and hid under the bed. Over the next few weeks, Lovely adopted me and Trixie adopted hubby. After spending their lives in an apartment, it took them a while to venture out into our back yard. But once they were comfortable, they wanted to go out every morning and we had to leave the door open all day so they could come and go as they pleased. They weren't impressed when the cold and snow came.

Lovely likes to sit with me on my chair and she purrs loudly and sleeps soundly. She follows me around the house and waits at the top of the stairs when I go down to the basement. Sometimes she goes down with me. At night she sleeps against my legs or face to face and she licks my arms and purrs. Trixie likes to purr on hubby's lap in the evening and rubs his face with hers. She goes out to the garage with him and sleeps on the chair. At night she sleeps with her head against his.

We naturally thought, that being sisters, they would get along. But no. They growl and hiss at each other when they walk by, they swipe at each other if one gets too close, they tease by blocking the door so the other one can’t leave or come back in the house. They hiss at each other from across the room.

And we are not safe. As I said, Lovely likes to sit on my knee when I am in my chair. However, if I want to move her so I can stand up, she hisses and growls at me then walks across the living room hissing and growling at anything she sees. Trixie will let hubby pet her for a while and then swats his hand or claws him when she has had enough. If we walk too fast past them, they growl, grab at our legs, and even chase us while yowling.

So, the questions are: have they been taken over by aliens from another planet? has some evil entity taken possession of them? or are they just psycho? After all, we only have the word of a person we met for half an hour, while picking them up, that their owner had died, that they were ten-year-old sisters, and that they'd lived in an apartment all their lives. We really know nothing about their previous life. And they aren't telling us anything. Lol 

A Travel Writer Again

 

Amazon US: https://us.amazon.com/Road-Tripping.../dp/B0GNJFDZMF

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Road-Tripping.../dp/0228639352

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../road.../1149544339...

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/1968339

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/.../road-tripping-southern-alberta...

I took a few writing courses and began my published, writing career (as opposed to my unpublished writing career) with a short story titled A Hawk's Reluctant Flight, in a small magazine called Western People. With that on my short resume, I had travel and historical articles accepted by other magazines, one of which didn't pay anything to the author. Then I took another writing course and one of the speakers was a publisher, Grant.

At the time Alberta was divided into tourist zones and I had been thinking about doing a book on what there was to see and do in each zone. I sent a query letter to Grant's publishing company and the senior editor responded with a phone call. We set up a time for me to go to the city and meet with both of them. I outlined my idea and Grant said yes it was a good one but he thought the books should be more on the people and culture of each zone. He liked his idea and I liked mine so we decided we couldn't work together. As I stood to leave I said. "Well, at least as I research the zones I will see all the backroads of Alberta." He replied. "I've always want to do a book on the backroads of Alberta." I sat back down and that was how I began my backroads series. Over the next ten years I travelled through and wrote two travel books on Alberta, four travel books on British Columbia, and one travel book on the Yukon and Alaska.

My favourite books to read have always been mystery novels and after much thought I decided to write one. Since one of the mantras of writing is to write what you know I made my main character a travel writer. Since then, I have written seven mystery, six historical, two sci/fi, two holiday romance/comedies, and one non-fiction. And now, thirty-three years after my first Alberta travel book was published, I am a travel writer once again.

My latest book is titled 'Roadtripping Southern Alberta' and here is the Introduction, and the section of the book that explains the front cover. Enjoy reading and hopefully you will visit the area soon.

Introduction

 Unfortunately, many people have lost the art of the drive. It’s been replaced by the art of the destination. Everyone wants to get to their journey’s end instead of enjoying the drive, the travel. This book is about travelling through southern Alberta. Each chapter in this book is a loop, so you start and end in the same place. Some of the loops are close enough to each other that you can hop off one and onto another, tour it, and then hop back onto your first loop. You are free to take as long as you wish on each chapter to enjoy the whole experience.

Most hamlets, villages, and towns have museums that are preserving and chronicling the unique history in each area. After visiting those, and other places cited in this book, drive or walk around the communities. You might see children selling lemonade or iced tea on a street corner or you might meet the residents who are friendly and helpful. You can check out the shops, galleries, and stores. There is always something unique and interesting to see. Plus, you might be fortunate enough to find a Farmer’s Market where you can pick up fresh vegetables, baking, eggs, and meat products.

Regrettably, not all sites, adventures, or experiences are mentioned here- it would take a book much larger than this and I extend my apologies to those places. This book is designed to give you an idea of the natural and man-made attractions, the stories and history of the areas, and the famous and infamous people who lived here. In the process, it is my aim to get you out exploring this part of the province. So, if you see a sign for something not mentioned in here, or if you wonder what is down a road, feel free to go check them out. It is your holiday and hopefully this book will make you love the journey again.

Alberta is a large province with wide, open spaces. In places you have an unobstructed view in all directions. Sometimes there is a long distance between towns or locations so you can check to see how the crops are doing, count the number of cattle in a field, watch for wildlife, and wonder about the dreams of the people who built the houses, barns, and granaries that are now in various stages of decline. Or you can play a new game: I spy with my little eye in the far, far distance something that is….

It doesn’t matter how you are travelling, there are campgrounds (some with hook-ups, some primitive), resorts, national and provincial parks, recreation sites, hotels, B&B’s, and motels for you to stay at. Most towns have parks for picnics and golf courses, and some have RV sanitation dump stations.

If you decide to reverse the route in which you explore any of these roads, remember to also reverse the direction in which you turn off that road. Once off the road, all other turns will remain the same.

Relax and enjoy the trip and remember, many of the sites you will see can only be found in this province. As one man I met said: "This is the true Alberta."

Medicine Hat and Red Rock Coulee

‘The city with all hell for a basement’ was the way Rudyard Kipling described Medicine Hat because of the gas fields discovered beneath it in the 1880s. By the early 1900s most homes, offices, schools, and churches were heated by the gas.

The city was named after the Saamis, or Medicine Man's, hat which was lost by the Cree's medicine man during a battle with the Blackfoot. This was considered a bad sign and when the Cree were all killed the site was given the name Saamis.

The Saamis Tepee, which can be seen from the Highway as you drive through the city, was originally constructed for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. After the Olympics, it was bought, dismantled, and moved to Medicine Hat where it overlooks the Seven Persons Creek Coulee. The teepee is 20 storeys or 65.5 metres high and its poles are made of steel with a concrete foundation.

To see the teepee, exit off the highway onto Southridge Drive/College Avenue SE and the teepee plus the Medicine Hat visitor information centre are to your right along Southridge Drive. At the centre you will find information on sights not mentioned here such as the city's historic walking tour, the viewpoints, and the many parks.

The poles of the teepee are not covered so it is open to the sky. Walk inside the teepee to see the round storyboards, which are paintings depicting stories about the history of the first people, such as the Plains Cree, the Blackfoot Confederacy, the arrival of the non‑First Nations, and the Metis. There are interpretive signs below explaining each board.

From the teepee you can walk to the edge of the cliff and look down on the Saamis Archaeological site in the Seven Persons’ Coulee below. It is believed that the area was occupied as far back as A.D. 1525 and as recently as A.D. 1740.

With the abundance of clay along the banks of the South Saskatchewan River in the Medicine Hat area, it was natural that a pottery industry began and grew in the early 1900s. There was natural gas to fire the kilns and a railway to transport the finished products to market. Three potteries, Medalta, Medicine Hat, and Alberta, were all operating at the same time. Medicine Hat Potteries later became the Hycroft China, Ltd.

To see the products of Medalta Potteries and to take a tour of the building, museum, and huge kilns at 713 Medalta Avenue SE, turn left onto Southridge Drive when you come out of tourist information. Southridge Drive becomes College Avenue when you cross Highway 1. You reach a four‑way stop at Kipling where you go right. Head straight through the lights at Dunsmore and when you come to Allowance Avenue turn left. You cross the railway tracks on an overpass and just after the tracks is Prince Avenue where you again go left. Head one block to North Railway Street and bear left once more. You have the railway tracks to your right as you drive and then turn right on Highway 41A east. At Wood Street you turn right and in one block is the Medalta Potteries. There are signs to follow to make these directions easier.

The building now houses an industrial museum and art gallery. Tours and workshops are offered and once you have finished your tour, visit the large gift shop which sells all their pottery.

As you leave Medicine Hat going west, get onto Highway 3. At the west end of the city you will pass Holsom Road which leads to Echo Dale Park. In 20 km from Holsom Road turn left on SH 887S to go to the Red Rock Natural Area also called Red Rock Coulee. The road is paved and at km 24.7 from the highway it curves to your left. However, you continue 1.8 km ahead on the gravel road to the small parking area on the right. After walking through the gate, stand and look at the large masses of stone in the coulee. You will be intrigued by the huge, red or reddish-brown rocks that are shaped like gigantic balls with flat tops. These are called concretions and are scattered over a wide field. Many of them have been split in two or more pieces by the elements. While they seem to have been randomly thrown in the coulee, they are actually finely layered, red sandstone boulders emerging, through erosion, from the softer ground around them.

They were formed over 74 million years ago in a shallow sea which covered the area. The reddish color is from hydrous iron oxide or rust.

Just remember as you wander through the rocks that you are in rattlesnake country. And because the soil content is comprised of bentonite (volcanic ash) and clay, which, when mixed with water, forms gumbo (smectite), if it starts to rain get out of the field as quickly as possible. You could sink in the soil up to 8 cm or even slip and fall on the gel‑like surface.

Back on Highway 3 and heading west, you will reach Bow Island in 35 kms. 

My Agenda for Writing Mystery Novels

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https://www.amazon.ca/Illegally-Dead-Joan-Yarmey/dp/1773626655

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/the-only-shadow-in-the-house

https://www.amazon.ca/Only-Shadow-House-Travelling-Detective-ebook/dp/B075TFC2B1

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/whistlers-murder

https://www.amazon.ca/Whistlers-Murder-Joan-Yarmey/dp/1773627554

Authors have different ways of writing their novels. Some outline each chapter. Others wing it just going where their characters take them. Some start with a plot and add characters and some have characters around whom they build a story. A few take an event or an idea and build on it putting in characters and settings that go with it.

     I have never worked with a solid outline, or arc as it is sometimes called, for my novels, whether they are mystery, historical, or young adult. And this is mainly because I find that my characters seldom end up the way I first pictured them and the plot never takes the route I thought it would. I do start the story with a character in his/her everyday life so the reader can get to know them then I put in the trigger or problem that is out of the control of my main character or that starts the mystery. This puts the main character on his/her quest for a solution.

     I do have scenes pictured where characters are going to have a certain conversation or be at a certain place but unexpected conversations or character twists surface as I am writing the story. Some of these are surprises or mishaps or glitches that get in the way of my character’s quest. I strive not to make these predictable, nor so far out that they don’t make sense to the story. They should leave the reader with the thought that they should have figured that would have happen. Personally, I find that it is no fun to read a book in which you can foresee where the story line is headed and what is going to happen.

     If I get writer’s block or get to the end of an event and not really know what to write next, then I pick up one of the encounters that I know a character is going to have and I write that. Sometimes I will have two or three of them waiting to be put into the manuscript where they are needed.

     For the climax my character goes through the action of resolving the problem or solving the mystery. This has to be fast paced and sometimes at risk to my character. By this time the reader should be rooting for the main character and wanting him/her to succeed without injury. Hopefully, too, this is where the surprise comes in, where the reader goes. “Wow, I didn’t see that coming." or "I never thought it would be that person.”

     I have even been surprised or saddened or happy by the ending of my books. When I was nearing the end of writing one of 'The Only Shadow in the House', I still hadn’t figured out which of two characters had done the killing. Suddenly, a different character put up their hand and said, “I did it and this is why.” I was surprised but realized that it made total sense.

     I believe that if my emotions are rocked by the ending so, too, should those of the readers. When the book was published I had readers tell me that they had also fluctuated between the same two characters as I had and they, too, had been surprised by who was actually guilty. Something a mystery writer is always happy to hear.