Christine Echeverria Bender welcomes you. Open the pages of her historical fiction and you'll embark on an unforgettable journey. Click on cover to purchase. "The activities of Basque whalers in early northeastern North America are the biggest historical secret of New World history.  Christine Echeverria Bender brings their lives to light in a spell-binding story about a Basque man living among Native Americans.  Information from history, Native life, and archaeology all contribute to a dramatic tale that is so plausible, it makes you think it really happened."                                     Dr. William Fitzhugh, Archaeological Curator of the Smithsonian Institution "What a wonderful story! As in Sails of Fortune, Christine Bender engages the reader completely in the characters and their interactions with one another. Bender's treatment of the native people is respectful and credible throughout, especially in describing the culture shock that both they and the Basque whaler Kepa experience. There is much in it that we can learn about contemporary relationships between cultures." Dr. Robert M Leavitt, director of the Mi'kmaq-Maliseet Institute at the University of New Brunswick "The Whaler's Forge" tells the story of a lost Spanish (Basque) Whaler who washes up on the coast of North America, before the continent ever gained that name. With winter approaching and no hope of rescue in sight, Kepa De Mendieta has to fight for his very life. "The Whaler's Forge" is an intriguing novel of survival, Highly Recommended." The Midwest Book Review Click on cover to purchase. "The voyage is incredible, spun by a master storyteller." Peter D. Laxalt, Author and Editor "This is a wonderful book! It is exciting, well written, and faithfully follows the principal historical events surrounding the lives of Ferdinand Magellan and the primary protagonist of the tale, Juan Sebastian de Elcano." Dr. Errol Jones, Retired Professor of Post-Columbian History "The novel will delight old salty dogs and readers without sea legs; Bender has clearly done her research, but it is not necessary to have strong historical or technical knowledge to enjoy this tale. Bender's third-person narrative is extremely adept." Andrea Bell, Historical Novels Review Click on cover to purchase. "This fascinating and well-researched tale will make you look at history with new eyes during a journey on the Santa Maria with a young Basque sailor. The book places you on storm tossed ships and down in moldy holds. It will take you from first love to first contact. Domingo Laca dreams of going to sea and his dreams are answered, but like all heroic voyages, along with seeing new and exotic places; the hero comes back with losses, and changed forever by the journey. So is the reader." Karen Glennon, International Reading Association