B.C. author’s debut novel brings outlaw Belle Jane, head of a cattle thieving ring, to life [Video]

Natalie Appleton is used to writing about her own life — in 2018, the B.C. writer released her memoir, I Have Something To Tell You, detailing her travels through Thailand on a journey to figure out who she is, and where she belongs. 

But now, she’s writing about someone else, with a fictional twist.

Her debut novel, I Want to Die in My Boots, focuses on Belle Jane — also known as Belle Willard, Mrs. B.J. Dale and Mrs. William Kinnick — who Appleton says was a notorious cattle thief in the 1920s. 

Appleton’s interest in Belle Jane came about when she read an obituary that pointed her in the direction of a history book about southwest Saskatchewan. 

“I just became really enchanted with the place,” said Appleton, who grew up in Medicine Hat, Alta., about 53 kilometres west of the Saskatchewan border. 

She stumbled upon an account about …