The Hunt on the Tundra
by Lorri Rudland

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Newly graduated from university, Dana Fraser is looking for adventure. A city girl with a fear of horses, Dana faces challenges both within her heart and courtesy of mother nature. The Hunt on the Tundra follows Dana in the late summer of 1974 as she strives to prove to herself that she can push the limits of what she knows and forge through the unknown that the BC tundra brings: a night alone in the wilderness, quicksand-like muskeg, bears and wolves, alcohol abuse, lies and even murder. In camp, she encounters relationships unlike any she’s seen in the city – from her unpredictable but attractive boss, Jimmy, to the calm indigenous couple who share their journey of healing. On top of battling the unknown in nature that surrounds her, she battles her father’s voice in her head that tells her she’s just not good enough. Will the voice of her alcoholic father fade, or will she leave the tundra with more scars than she had when she arrived?

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Lorri Rudland was born in Haida Gwaii, off the coast of BC, of white ancestry – her mother was Scottish and her father was Canadian-born of German parents, who settled in Saskatchewan around 1904. Her parents moved from Haida Gwaii when she was two years old, and she grew up mainly in Surrey, BC. Around the mid-1960’s, she attended the University of BC in Vancouver. At the age of 29, she came out as a lesbian and has been a lifelong feminist, supporter of LGBTQ2S+ rights, human rights and organized labour. She trained and worked as a medical lab technologist, and then moved into other occupations such as advocacy, clerical worker, and administrator. During her early working life, she became a cook in a hunting camp, where she learned to dislike instant mashed potatoes and had many exciting experiences. At the camp, she also learned to ride a horse, with her only previous experience being two senior dude ranch horses who kept taking her back to the hitching post. She has been a member of Quirk-e, a queer senior’s writing and imaging group, since 2021 and loves the supportive writing experience. Her interests are writing, reading, movies, pitch and putt golfing (slowly improving), and cooking. The Hunt on the Tundra is her first novel, but she has been writing for many years and some of her shorter pieces can be found on Quirk-e.ca.

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Contributors

Author

Lorri Rudland