"Some peoples call you misisahk. It means horsefly. You fly with the horses . . . you're small, with a big bite."

Raised on a ranch in Saskatchewan's rugged Thickwood Hills, where the prairie transitions to forest, Willomena Swift, home from playing for the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, finds a precious foal killed by a rogue stallion.

The stallion's owner, once Willo's baseball coach, now chairs the committee heading up the new cooperative pasture-a pasture that is set to swallow her family lease, where she grew up, learned to love and understand horses, and dreamed of returning to raise them.

Facing numerous challenges with both the stallion and his owner, Willo remembers her past years playing professional baseball as she struggles to realize her dreams in the present.

Amid romance and tragedy, Willo must find a way to stand on her own and assert her rightful place in her beloved Thickwood.

GAYLE M. SMITH grew up in Alberta. She distinctly remembers her family life on a mixed subsistence farm in central Alberta where, as a young child, she developed a love for animals, especially horses, and a love for reading and writing illustrated stories.

.In 1989, Gayle married a Saskatchewan farmer and settled into rural life to raise three children, numerous crops, purebred and commercial cattle, and horses. Gayle and her husband used the local PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration) Federal pasture program for their commercial cattle. They also used their horses to gather and trail their cattle to various home pastures.

Gayle was accepted into the 2011 Saskatchewan Writers' Guild Mentorship program, where she first draftedl Thickwood. Gayle has also been a member of a writer's group for more than ten years. In 2015, Gayle graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Master of Fine Arts in Writing.

Yearly wilderness pack trips in Northern Saskatchewan with her horses inspire her writing. She also rides in the mountains, competes in numerous equestrian events, and owns and operates a horse boarding facility. Gayle's love of the environment, history, and adventure shines in her writing. She daily interacts with her beloved partner, her family, her horses, and her rural home, while contemplating and exploring through her writing the struggle and dilemma of being human.

Gayle M. Smith's profile page

• Short-listed, Best First Book, Saskatchewan Book Awards

"If Yellowstone and A League of Their Own had a lovechild, it would be Thickwood. I immediately fell in love with the characters, and felt a deep connection to the struggles of Willo. If you have ever been a girl in a man's world, if you have ever dreamed of being a cowboy, if you have ever truly loved a horse, this book is for you and about you. So impeccably written you will smell the forest and horse sweat as Willow rides the tough countryside of the Thickwood hills. I just hope this is only the beginning for these characters as I long for more from them!" - Dana Parker