“This book is just sheer fun and escapism, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. …I can highly recommend it.”
Grant Leishman, Readers’ Favorite   5 Stars

“…a novel filled with adventure, thrilling mystery, and witty, charming characters! … The twists and turns in this story made for an engrossing read and I could hardly put the book down!”
—Cloie Belle Daffon, Readers’ Favorite     4 Stars 

“The setting, the incidents, the plot twists, and even the little epiphanies Alexandra experienced were incredible. …I highly recommend it.” —Rabia Tanveer, Readers’ Favorite    5 Stars

Missteps Perfecting
the
Shutterbug Strut

A most offbeat historical adventure

Unveiling the wonders of the world, one misadventure at a time

It is 1927.  An “Era of Wonderful Nonsense.” Vague maps tout grand mysteries, each snapshot means something, and jazzy hijinks abound. Insouciant vagabond ALEXANDRA ILLYRIA BATHENBROOK sets off from Montana to capture images never photographed, hoping to earn an interview with National Geographic. Operating from her London office, she will flirt with becoming a royal mistress, reunite lustful ghosts at notorious Borley Rectory, and stir up mischief at the Winter Olympics in ritzy St. Moritz, Switzerland. Those are the easy ones.
More perilous assignments send Alexandra in pursuit of a thrill killer through the dusty alleyways of Marrakech and into the feral bushlands of Uganda to join a hunt for man-eating lions. While seeking a famed explorer in Amazonia, she must face down her inner demons in a desperate bid for survival. Along her brazen journey, she will outwit, outcharm, and outbrave detractors and rapscallions… even romance a few.
Yet most telling, Alexandra will find her best self in rekindling hope within her war-scarred brother and uncovering the scandalous reason she’s forever lost among the fallen.

Shutterbug Strut page

Publisher: Swanky Owl Press-2022

Genres: Adventure, Historical, Humor

Paperback length: 306 pages

Lush Amaonian river

Origins of a Novel

An adventurous trip to Ecuador rekindles a dormant writer’s pilot light.

Making plans on the Fly...

Find your way to Papua Territory, circa 1926. Majestic ocean liners, extreme birding, and a real chance someone might find you delicious. A beguilingly appetizing journey into realms unknown.

Papua tribesmen

1920s adventure gear

Snapshots & Fresh Starts

An insouciant shutterbug leaves Montana in 1927 to discover world wonders yet to be photographed.

London is Calling…

Revisiting the best Coppers of Masterpiece Mystery and hidden heroes healing the wounds of the Great War fallen.

Hercule Poirot, mon ami
Painting of the Four Horsemen

Road trip to Armageddon

Romance, job offers, and a memorable hot air balloon mishap greet Alexandra on her road to photograph the excavation of Megiddo.

Kikuyu youth in Kenya

Crazy for Africa

Alexandra travels to British East Africa in 1927. A train trip on the Lunatic Line, schmoozing at the highbrow Muthaiga Club, and joining a hunt for man-eating lions in Uganda soon follow.

Canadian Olympic Hockey team 1928

Winter Follies: 1928 style

Swanky St. Moritz, Switzerland, hosts the first true Winter Olympics and Alexandra is having the “Best week of her life.”

Adventuras en la Jungla

Off to 1928 South America to search for Kaieteur Falls, a missing famed explorer, and a bird with an unusual name.

Orange cock of the rock