Carmen Peone

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Girl Warrior

Charnaye Toulou has her sights pinned on winning the World Famous Suicide Horse Race during the Omak Stampede. Her desire is to win the purse in order to help her paraplegic father improve living conditions while proving Native women can be warriors. One bully and several anonymous threatening letters try and stop her. So when she hooks up with relatives and a horse that can take her the distance in this rite-of-passage horse race, she begins the rigorous training it takes to become “King of the Hill,” or in her case “Queen.”

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Hannah’s Journey

In the mountains of northeast Washington, sixteen-year-old Hannah Gardner fights for her childhood dream––to race horses with her adopted Indian Aunt Spupaleena. Her mother fears Hannah will get hurt. Frustrated with her daughter’s rebellious spirit, she threatens to send her away to Montana to live with an aunt Hannah’s never met.

To escape this perceived punishment, Hannah runs away to the Sinyekst village along the Columbia River to train with Spupaleena. After Hannah’s first race, an Indian boy pulls her off her horse and spews threats. When Running Elk comes to her rescue, Hannah plans their life together and possible marriage. Will this be the pathway to her freedom?

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Delbert’s Weir

In a time when the west was still untamed, sixteen-year-old Delbert Gardner leads two friends into the backcountry for a three day adventure. Little did they know three days of hunting and fishing would turn into eight days of near starvation, injury and illness. When hope of returning home seems out of reach, Delbert recalls watching his Native American friends construct a fishing weir and sets out to build one himself. To him, it is the only way out.

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Heart of Passion

Spupaleena nodded walking briskly to her stallion. The fringe on her dress swung back and forth as if being shook by a badger. She said a quick prayer for everyone as she went. She looked up to see Hahoolawho standing in her path. God help me, she prayed.

Spupaleena will do nearly anything to make her dream of breeding the finest race horses in Indian Country come true. She and her relay teammates have been racing and winning, but one boy is resolved to see her fail. Spupaleena is passionate about her dreams and goals. Not any human nor circumstance will deter her–not poison, not injuries, and certainly not a pride-filled, vengeful boy. She leans into God for direction and wisdom, but will the hunger to triumph steal the reins? Will Spupaleena find her place in a man’s world and prove everyone wrong? Follow Spupaleena and her friends as they find out in this tale of drive, faith, perseverance, and ultimately, a Heart of Passion.
Heart of Courage

Spupaleena was not about to back down. Knowing she encompassed the skills to race against young men, Spupaleena would begin her intense training. However, Rainbow, her trusted middle-aged mare, would only carry her so far. She would need to find a new horse, but where? She was tired of her fellow racer’s cruel insults, one boy’s in particular. She was determined to not only race him, but to win. She drew her strength from God and exhibited a Heart of Courage. But at times, wondered if that was enough. Spupaleena’s father was against her. Would she have the spirit to compete and win? If so, would her father ever learn to accept her dreams of training and racing horses?
Change of Heart

After fighting with her sister, thirteen-year-old Spupaleena bolted from their Arrow Lakes pit home into the dead of winter. Spupaleena didn’t know where she was going but knew she could no longer live at home. Haunted by the deaths of her mother and baby brother, Spupaleena ran until she’d run too far. Upon discovering Spupaleena’s body, Phillip Gardner, a trapper, brings her home to his cabin. His wife, Elizabeth, does her best to help heal Spupaleena, although with a broken heart and a mangled body, she is not likely to survive. But when Phillip doesn’t return from a trip into town, a pregnant Elizabeth and a weak Spupaleena are forced to find strength not only in each other but in God as well. In this story of hardship, grief, and eventual hope, Spupaleena learns all she needed was a Change of Heart.

“For I know the plans I have fore you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Meet Carmen

I am an award-winning author of the LAURA Short-fiction Contest. Read Queen of the Hill.

I live in Northeast Washington on the Colville Indian Reservation.

Tribal Elder Marguerite Ensminger taught me the love of learning the Arrow Lakes Language and various cultural traditions of the Sinyekst or Arrow Lakes band of the Colville Confederated Tribes of Indians.

I have come to honor and respect the people and the Colville Tribal heritage and wanted to create a legacy for my sons and grandchildren including their culture and our family’s Christian faith.

I believe in adventure and its benefits.