Courtenay Kasper

West & Windy

Fox siblings West and Windy are on the run from Bruin King Rancid who will stop at nothing to capture them and strong-arm them out of their kingdom. With the help of their rabbit aunt Dandelion and her heliox-balloon airship, they must learn to work together to rescue the true king and queen. With an unforgettable crew of insane critters, monkey pirates, and ninja bats! This steampunk adventure is perfect for fans of Narnia and Redwall! Hold your breath! You are in for a wild ride!

West & Windy live in Redwood which is a continent in the world of Forestia. Redwood has many different climates and landforms: the obsidian cliffs of Castle Rock, the frigid mountain town of Wildmont with its impassable weather patterns, and the underground city of Blue Lake.

The first thing I would do is climb aboard the Emerald Falcon airship, fire up the heliox jets and float my way to Blue Lake. Under the lake there is a massive glass dome which lets the most mesmerizing dancing blue light into the city. Then I would head for the southern islands, kick back in a hammock, and eat mangos all day in the sun with the monkey pirates.

I wouldn’t recommend spending your coppers on a trip to Bruin City, unless you are a bear. Those bears hate everyone! I would also suggest avoiding the storm fields near Wildmont. The air currents drop and raise again almost instantly, which is not a great combination if you get airsick at all!

The cuisine varies depending on the location and species. The Northern Patrol favors hunks of fish and ginger water, while the Bruins are fond of sour honey or anything with gravy. The lower woodland is home to more herbivores, so they prefer things like roasted turnip with a garlic scape salad.

The gearbow is standard issue in the Bruin Army. It’s similar to a cross bow, but it launches gearblades from a chain track. Each gearblade is between 6 and 10 inches and the “teeth” of the blades are sharper than a razors edge. Bounty hunting mutts prefer to carry brass knuckles that resemble smaller half-gearblades, but they often carry a gearbow too.

Wally the beaver invented his own oversized gearbow that shoots bear traps and he calls it the “kaboom!”

Although air travel is forbidden, Dandelion pilots a hexprop hot air balloon ship. The triple pods in each haversack are filled with a blend of hot air and heliox to give them lift. The swan wing base of the ship is styled after a seaworthy galleon, but with a whale-shaped tail.

The Wildmont critters get around on snow machines called snowmeichs which are steam powered and have a series of rapidly spinning duck-like feet which kick up snow and propel the machine through the deepest of snow.

A great example of unusual technology is the architecture under Blue Lake. The critters there discovered new ways to build under the lake and use glass to hold the water up above the city. The lake is shallow, so they are able to use the diffused glow of sunlight through the waves to light the entire city.

The children of Redwood attend Gear School which used to have fun activities in between classes. Before the Bruins came to power, Gear School included classes on flying, aerodynamics, mechanical construction, and hydraulic propulsion, but now they are only able to take classes on tinkering or heliox mining. 

The favorite yearly celebration is the Harvest Feast at Castle Rock – a week-long celebration - complete with dancing, aerial flight competitions, mechanical invention awards and, of course, feasting like a boar (They don’t love that stereotype…). There hasn’t been a harvest feast since the Bruins came to power.

The majority of the Redwood worships the Creator and his son Yeshu – a religion of mercy, hope, love and second chances. The ninja bats of Devlin Island practice ancient martial arts and worship the fickle moon and stars. They believe that they die and go to their ‘fathers in the sky’.

The current government in Redwood is the totalitarian dictatorship of King Rancid. He is a cunning, power-hungry dictator and the edge of madness. Previous to the Bruin rule, the elder King Rhodes ruled a monarchy.

I live in northern B.C. where the winters are long and cold. The town of Wildmont reminds me of being at our little cabin in the woods, trying to keep the stove roaring enough to fight off the winter chill.

West & Windy are being raised by their mother’s best friend after their parents kidnapping. She has to choose to trust her ex-husband again and she struggles with that. McFurrgle the bobcat is a recovering brawler who struggles with anger issues and shame.

Courtenay Kasper is a New York Time Bestselling book reader. She lives in “the middle of nowhere” British Columbia with her husband and four fantastic kiddos. She has always been a teller of tall-tales and won her first writing contest at age eight. She loves to write stories that reflect the character of God and inspire the wonder and imagination inherent in all of us.

My books are available on Amazon

The Rigs (2016)

The Thunder Creek Gang (2018)

West & Windy is available for preorder (Launching November 8^th, 2018)

The best place to connect with me is on my author page on Facebook. You can also find me on my blog and Goodreads. Or if you are headed for Alaska, stop in for coffee!