JO, KIT OR KITTY?
Picture, if you will, this ultra creative and idiosyncratic gal and her fertile imagination.
I call myself Jo Ballantyne, artist and writer, Kit Mackenzie, western author, and Kitty Le Roy, wild western woman and steampunk pirate. Methinks I've overdone my pseudonym allowance and confuse myself regularly. The various pseudonyms had to be created so that I could identify myself with each facet. Confusing, eh?
Growing up I was already artistic, and was aware that I was somewhat quirky. I was brought up beside the River Thames, so automatically learned to swim and row a boat. Today hubby and I paddle our traditional Canadian canoe when we can, which works alongside my intriguing fascination for the wild west, particularly the wilder women who smoked cigars and packed guns.
I also had an evolving list of interests and hobbies, a bit like my hero Leonardo Da Vinci.
Flying was one of them.
 |
MY FIRST FLIGHT OVER A DAM IN ZELL-AM-ZE, AUSTRIA |
While still at school I took flying lessons. Some smartypants at school asked me why I didn't learn to drive like everyone else? I learnt straight and level so was rather pleased with myself. In latter years a friend of hubby and I flew us around the Isle of Wight in his company single engine aircraft and handed over the controls to me for part of it. I'll never forget it!
I'm fascinated by the paranormal, although the idea of ghost hunting scares me silly. I ghost hunted on Mother's Day with my son in a cemetery, as you do, but got chilly feet. I'll stick to watching ghost hunters being scared silly on TV ghost shows, thank you very much!
.png)
'APPARENTLY' A PHOTOGRAPHER
CAPTURED THIS WHILE ON A GHOST WALK IN FLORIDA.
BLURRY FIGURE APPEARED IN PHOTO!
I'D LOVE TO BELIEVE IT.
(GHOST ADVENTURES)
I became interested in archaeology, human biology, science, travel, snorkeling and archery, among many other things, including writing and gardening (always wanted a pond - now we've got four), and steampunk.
I'd always wanted to dress western in buckskins, pants and a holstered Colt revolver. To re-enact the part of a wild westerner. Eventually my soulmate hubby and I camped at wild west living history events. I became Kitty (my granny's name) Le Roy, a factual western woman. My own character is a prospector/saloon owner. Hubby was quack Doc Jack Coltrane. We became quite popular among the western fraternity.
I have umpteen zillion items on my proverbial bucket list. One was to travel to as many countries as I could. A travel magazine told me that you can class yourself a traveller when you've been to twenty countries - and I have. I like the two extremes of climate that we've visited - Iceland and Malaysia. Another was the States, where I witnessed a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral in the distance, to the envy of my husband. It was heading for Venus on a research flight. I read about it on the internet!
 |
SATURN V (WHICH FLEW TO THE MOON) & MY ARTWORK |
And I had a meal with the Moonies in San Francisco. As you do. Luckily I'm too strong minded for them.
Another bucket list item was to write a novel. I've had in my head for years, a western that needed writing. I finally wrote a trilogy and self-published two of them very successfully. They're on the market and doing well. Marketing Alias Jeannie Delaney Books 1 & 2 has been my predominant endeavour for the last couple of years. Alias Jeannie Delaney - The Trilogy, is my epic western trilogy with a twist. The storyline follows the life of a devastating and charismatic pants-wearing cowgirl, Jeannie Morgan, who's the fastest gun in the west and a magnificent lover to both men and women. This is her journey to seek her identity through deadly confrontations and personal tragedies. I'm currently working on Book 3.
Meanwhile I'm attempting to return to my neglected artistic creativity and become a multidisciplinary artist - an artist who will try their hand at any subject, in any medium or style. Hubby tells me that I'm capable of genius work when I'm not experimenting and producing rubbish. Agreed. I've learnt computer graphics in order to promote my trilogy and that's very satisfying. I drew loads of illustrations of my protagonist Jeannie over the years and I'm using those to help promote the novels.
In recent times steampunk enthusiasm grabbed us. It's a Victorian view of the future, as envisaged by Will Smith's Wild, Wild West. Steampunk cowpokery is a common theme, and the rules... There are no rules except to be splendid to one another.
I watch scuba divers exploring shipwrecks when I'm on my treadmill and have briefly considered doing it. Definitely doable. But I don't like depths and it's not as easy as snorkeling, so I'll let that one slide.
Despite depression and anxiety issues throughout my life, which obviously sucks, I've told it what to do with itself because I'm determined to do some of these things even if it kills me. I'm bull headed enough for that. My head is always full of all the things I and hubby want to do which makes us super cool grandparents, according to our teenage twin granddaughters. And may that remain.
On that note... thank you for reading. Ta ra!
THE AUTHOR ME) & HER VERY ABLE &
EFFICIANT HUBBY!
 |
MY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF JEANNIE |
.png)
 |
TWO CHAPTER SAMPLES BOOK 1 |
 |
BOOK 2 REVIEWS 'This is a top tier telling of an unconventional child to woman experience in the 1800's west. I'm loving everything about this story' 'This is a crack shot story, a unique blend of adventure, humor, and powerful storytelling that blazes across the wild frontier into the heart of the country at that time. It will leave you hungry for more!' 'A unique and fascinating Western theme. Kit Mackenzie has an enviable writing skill!' BOOKBUB REVIEW Great western story! ***** 'Not like any Western book I've ever read... Jeannie is best described as a difficult child. I love her grown-up character. She lives life on her own terms, not always liked but well-respected. I'm looking forward to more stories of her life.' |
No comments:
Post a Comment