Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Everyone!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

March 17, 2013

I recently completed a blog tour to promote my book Love To The Rescue. Thank you to everyone who purchased a copy and congratulations to the ten winners of a digital copy of When Dreams Collide. Happy Reading to all!

 As you know by now I live in Calgary with my husband and my Bichon Shih Tzu cross named Kelly. I have two grown sons and three wonderful grandchildren. I write happily-ever-after contemporary and western historical romances.

And I love animals! So it’s not surprising that I wrote a book featuring a rescue dog. Rover is an Irish setter and he plays an important role in the book. While the heroine is providing him with a furever home, Rover helps an unhappy and troubled little girl overcome a devastating loss in her life. (By the way, there are no spelling mistakes in that last sentence.)  

I greatly admire the services provided and the innumerable animal rescues accomplished by animal groups including the various Humane Societies across Canada and the United States. Thus, I’m sharing 50% of my author royalties from Love To The Rescue with Humane Society shelters.

Actually, Rover and I have something in common. He is an IRISH setter, and I’m a proud descendant of IRISH immigrants who made a better life for themselves in Canada.

The Irish setter originated in Ireland in the 18th century, the breed being a mixture of various spaniels, terriers and pointers. The dog with its typical red color was imported to America in the 19th century and soon became as popular here as it had in Ireland and the British Isles. The Irish setter was originally bred and trained as a birding dog, but today Irish setters like Rover are now beloved pets in homes.

As for my descendants… my great grandparents traveled by boat arriving in Canada in 1882, bringing their personal possessions packed in trunks and large boxes, and landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  They continued across Canada by train and eventually arrived in Brandon, Manitoba.  Land was obtained for a registration fee of $10 and the commitment to live on the land for six months of the year for three consecutive years and break at least 10 acres a year.  Thus began their dream of a homestead in southern Manitoba.

My grandfather married the daughter of another Irish immigrant family and raised nine children, all of them born at home. My grandmother was never admitted to a hospital until age eighty-two and lived until age ninety.  My parents raised me and my brother on the land originally homesteaded by our grandfather in 1885.

Every March 17th, I proudly celebrate my heritage and honor my ancestors’ sacrifices and dogged determination to forge a better future for generations to follow, including the lives of my grandchildren – sixth generation Canadians.

I’d love to hear from other descendants of Irish immigrants. Or if you rescued a dog or cat, please email me your pet’s story with permission to post it on my website to brendasinclairauthor@gmail.com

Please check out the story about our family dog, Beau, and other pet tales under Rescue Stories.

You can find me on Twitter @bsinclairauthor and on Facebook brendasinclairauthor 

 Here is the link to Love To The Rescue in Ebook and Large Print version http://amzn.to/Si97FR