A group of young men from Cranbrook, British Columbia, members of the Rovers branch of the Boy Scouts, built this cabin deep in the forest to use as their private clubhouse in the happy days before the Second World War. Four of them died while serving their country. Now all that remains is the stone fireplace, a crumbling memorial to those brave young men who never returned to the mountains they loved so much.

When I discovered this photograph online, I was struck with the lovely elegance of Dorothy Chapman Garen in her Royal Canadian Air Force uniform. I was even more thrilled to find that Dorothy, now aged 95, is living not far from me in Canmore, Alberta, where I was able to thank her in person for her service to our country.

YOU ARE INVITED to read the first few pages of my new novel Wildwood, about a single mother from the big city who follows the footsteps of the original homesteaders when she inherits an abandoned farmhouse in northern Alberta. Follow the links at the end to order the entire book. Enjoy!

After a bullet from a Japanese machine gun tore through her body, Australian nurse Vivian Bullwinkel floated face down in the sea and feigned death. She was the sole survivor of the 1942 Bangka Island Massacre, in which 22 nurses were forced to wade into the ocean at gunpoint and then shot in the back.

My Dear Friends -- This year has been one of mingled joys and sorrows. We never know what the future holds, but from my house to yours, and with all my heart, I wish you the very best surprises in the mysterious new year that awaits us.