Women Explorers

Lola Montez was one of the most celebrated and notorious women of the nineteenth century. A raven-haired Andalusian who performed her scandalous “Spider Dance” in the greatest performance halls across Europe, she dazzled and beguiled all who met her with her astonishing beauty, sexuality, and shocking disregard for propriety. But Lola was an impostor, a self-invention. Born Eliza Gilbert, the beautiful Irish wild child escaped a stifling marriage and reimagined herself as Lola the Sevillian flamenco dancer and noblewoman.

This is an incredible story of adventure, human ingenuity, persistence, and resilience that shows firsthand what it is to adventure as a woman in the most dangerous of circumstance, what it is to be truly alone in the wild, and why someone would challenge themselves with an expedition others would call crazy. For Marquis, her story is about freedom, being alive and wild by nature.

Fuzzy-haired, neurotic, cello-playing Catrina is devastated when her lover, Jack, leaves her to go surfing on the other side of the world. Trapped in a dead-end job and torn by his departure, Catrina dreams of running away. But how do you run away when you're flat broke? Luckily, her friend Andrew comes up with a plan: they'll get an old van, turn it into a camper, and busk their way from Norway to Portugal, via the midnight sun. Andrew is one of her oldest friends and they share many of the same passions.

Experience Alexandra David-Neel's captivating and inspirational journey to become the first Western woman to reach the Tibetan holy city of Lhasa and be received by the Dalai Lama. Enduring backbreaking travel, threatening militaries, disease, and countless other dangers, David-Neel's journey is an epic demonstration of perseverance and courage.

As a teenager, in a fit of rage toward her father, Jan pits herself against a steep rock face near their cottage. At the top, fired up by the victory, she sets her sights on the improbable dream of climbing mountains. By age 20, she's a nomadic climber with a magnetic attraction to misadventures and the wrong men. Jan finally finds the love of her life, an affable Banff climber. When he is killed in an avalanche in Alaska, a grieving Jan finds comfort in the arms of another extreme alpinist. Before long they are married, with a baby on the way.

No Baggage is a memoir that will resonate with adventurers and homebodies alike - it's at once a romance, a travelogue, and a bright, modern take on the age-old questions: How do you find the courage to explore beyond your comfort zone? Can you love someone without the need for commitment or any expectations for the future?

Two stories about William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army; two stories about amazing women aviators; and two true-to-life adventures!

**Awards:** New Mexico-Arizona Book Award Finalist, 2024; Royal Dragonfly First Place in Letters, Diaries, and Journals, 2024; Global Book Awards Silver Medalist in Biography and Memoir, 2024. Do you want to get away from it all? Meet Kent. Overwhelmed by the indifference of his South Dakota undergraduate students and fed up with American politics of the 1980s, he yearns for a life of adventure. Then, he discovers sailboats. While retirement seems financially out of reach, living on a sailboat opens up a world of exhilarating possibilities. Imagine letting the wind guide your family ...

The latest Samantha Moon short story is here! When a little girl and her mother approach Samantha Moon with a tantalizing mystery, Sam doesn't hesitate to take the case. There's something strange happening in parks and empty fields across the city―something appearing and disappearing―and the girl has captured evidence of it. Now, all Sam has to do is catch it in the act...whatever it is. The game is afoot...and this time Sam gets help from an unlikely source... Click BUY NOW or READ FOR FREE to start reading today!

In 1958, while flying from one island to another, Audrey Sutherland sees the remote and roadless northeast side of Molokai, with its spectacular sea cliffs and waterfalls. Always an adventurer, she decides that she must find a way to explore this then inaccessible area. After much study, she determines that the best way for her to navigate these treacherous sea walls is to swim while towing an inflatable kayak. This is the story of fulfilling her dream, of planning then implementing, of launching and advancing, of retreating and reconnoitering, of challenge and success.

In The Gutsy Girl, author Caroline Paul emboldens girls to seek out lives of exhilaration. Once a young scaredy-cat herself, Caroline decided that fear got in the way of the life she wanted - of excitement, confidence, self-reliance, friendship, and fun. She has since flown planes, rafted big rivers, climbed tall mountains, and fought fires as one of the first female firefighters in San Francisco.

In Rising, Wood reflects on the 70 days she spent on Everest and on the pivotal experiences and influences that brought her to that staggeringly beautiful and austere corner of the world. Beyond the physical hardships, she faced personal challenges as an outlier in the male bastion of Himalayan climbing. These were compounded by the vexing presence of her past mentor and lover with his new girlfriend on the American team climbing on the same side of the mountain.

Mujeres intrépidas y aventureras han existido desde los tiempos más remotos, aunque la inmensa mayoría han sido silenciadas y olvidadas por una historia escrita por los hombres. Cuando miramos hacia atrás resulta difícil encontrar testimonios de mujeres viajeras anteriores a los siglos XVII y XIX, época de las grandes expediciones. Pero ¿cuándo empezaron a viajar las mujeres? ¿Cómo y por qué viajaban?

"As the depths of truth of one's life can only be penned upon the pages of a diary, Jane Digby leads us through her passionate life . . . A wonderful piece of historical fiction that will delight your senses as well as your heart." - Peggy Lee Sprague, Author of The Truth Hunters series Jane Digby's Diary continues with Volume Two: A Rebel Heart. Based on a true story . . . Bright, beautiful, and bold, Jane Digby led a remarkable life. Born to privilege in 1807 at Dorset, England, she soon scandalized Europe with her reckless pursuit of freedom. She sacrificed home, family, and ...

From licking a Monet in Paris, to pushing an abusive macho honeymooner off his sailboat in the shark-infested Galapagos, to saving her toddler son from a charging bull elephant in Africa, these 14 delightful, award-winning true tales will inspire listeners to follow the call of a wild life and leave home with their doors unlocked.

In 2008, Lynn Barber's passion for birding led her to drive, fly, sail, walk, stalk, and sit in search of birds in 25 states and three provinces. Traveling more than 175,000 miles, she set a 21st century record at the time, second to only one other person in history. Over 272 days, Barber observed 723 species of birds in North America north of Mexico.

*The Hidden Tomb*, the first in the *Dr. Isabella Cruz Mysteries*, takes readers on a quirky, cozy adventure filled with ancient secrets, ghostly whispers, and plenty of humor. When Dr. Isabella Cruz stumbles upon her grandfather Arturo Ramirez’s old journal, detailing his obsession with a mysterious artifact said to hold special powers, she can’t resist the allure of Egypt’s hidden treasures. Enlisting the help of her clumsy but loveable friend, blogger Cecilia Alvarez, and sharp-witted writer Josefina Morales, the trio heads off on an adventure of a lifetime. Their expedition takes ...

After months of following one-size-fits-all advice for a 57-year-old widow, Linda Crill is still miserable, until she makes a rebellious spur-of-the-moment decision: she trades her corporate suits for motorcycle leathers and commits herself to a 2,500-mile road trip down America’s Pacific Northwest coast on a Harley. The problem: she doesn’t know how to ride and has only 30 days to learn. Four short weeks later, Linda joins two men and a woman for a white-knuckled, exhilarating road trip along the west coast from Vancouver, Canada, to the wine country of Mendocino, California....

In Toad-ally Toxic: A Ribbiting Religion, we follow the adventurous Fatima Fletcher, a herpetology enthusiast with a fiery mane of hair and a penchant for exploring the Amazon jungle. Imagine Indiana Jones if he had a serious obsession with reptiles! Equipped with her trusty nets and a backpack full of snacks, Fatima braves the wild to find the legendary giant Amazon Incilius alvarius toad, known for its mind-bending psychedelic powers, sapphic sexual ecstasy and spiritual revelations. As she paddles through the dense jungle, battling humidity that feels like a warm hug from a sweaty giant,...

In this powerful and personal memoir, Annelise Duval shares her journey of survival, courage, and healing after escaping the devastating grip of domestic violence. Through raw, honest storytelling, Annelise provides insight into the emotional, physical, and psychological toll of abuse, while offering a message of hope for those still trapped in the cycle.