Grist for the Mill

by Ken MacQueen

Before I turned to thriller writing—Hero Haters, my debut, is/was published Oct. 5, 2022 by Wild Rose Press—I served a long apprenticeship in journalism. I wrote for newspapers, for two wire services and a final 15 years for Maclean’s, Canada’s newsmagazine.

Apprenticeship makes it sounds like toil, but I worked for some wonderful, and generous, employers. It was as exciting as a barrel-full of company credit cards. If there was a breaking story we’d cover it, whether it was down the street or across the globe. It might be an earthquake in San Francisco, a riot in Los Angles, an oil spill in Valdez, Alaska, a murder on the Mexican border, or any one of nine Olympic Games I covered.

It was exciting, exhausting, unpredictable and a total adrenaline rush. I didn’t realize, swirling in that vortex, these were the glory days before the wheels fell of the news business. I’d file my stories and move on to the next event. It’s only now, writing fiction ironically, that I have the opportunity to process some of what I’d witnessed. Which brings me to Sept. 8, 2022, and what may well be my last news byline: the obituary of Queen Elizabeth II. [https://www.macleans. ca/royalty/queen-elizabeth-ii-obituary-1926-2022/ ] apprenticeship. I tracked Elizabeth, Philip, Charles and Diana, William and Kate on various Canadian tours. I flew to London to report on the sad aftermath and funeral of Diana’s death, and years later, for the pageantry and joy of William and Kate’s wedding.

This is a roundabout way of saying that nothing goes to waste. The calmer, quieter world of novel writing is a chance to reflect on past experiences, and to give them a fictional twist.

It’s why Jake Ockham, my protagonist in Hero Haters, edits a weekly newspaper, while being cooler, smarter and braver than I could ever hope to be.

It’s also why Jake was an aspiring Olympic rower until he pulled a boy from a raging house fire, badly burning his hands. As noted, I covered nine Olympic Games, and interviewed hundreds of athletes in training, and on and off podiums. I admired their resilience, their obsessive determination and especially their ability to handle setbacks, injuries and disappointments.

Some of the most compelling stories are from those who fell short of the podium. A case in point, the Canadian men’s eight rowers who were favorites to win gold in Athens, only to choke in the final race.Or at least one of the athletes did, all it takes to disrupt the rhythm of the high-performance machine that is an eight-boat. But for all those men’s tears, rage and grief that day, no one individual was scapegoated. They took responsibility for a collective loss.

And four years later in Beijing, I watched many of the same crew row to Olympic gold, a victory all the sweeter for the loss in Athens.

So, yes, I gave Jake that Olympic hunger, only to rob him of his dream. How he handled that loss and moved on to face other challenges owes much to that eight-boat and to any number of Olympians who sacrificed years of their lives for coach and country—and for the hope of a medal on a ribbon.

It’s why there’s a medal on a ribbon on the cover of Hero Haters. It’s why I created the Sedgewick Sacrifice Medallion, the highest civilian award for extraordinary acts of heroism. It’s why Jake worked for Sedgewick for a time, thrilled to use his journalist chops to research and vet potential recipients of the award.

And then I tried to take that from him, too.

Fiction writers can be mean.

Meaner, I’d like to think than I ever treated the subjects of my news stories. Well except for the serial killer who abused and killed young teens, and another who killed indigent women and ground up their bodies for pig food. Or the still-unpunished mass murderers who blew two passenger jets out of the sky, 35 years apart, killing hundreds of victims, many of them Canadians. Those guys deserved every mean thing I wrote.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that there’s a serial killer in Hero Haters; two of them actually.

One is contemporary, and the other a real-life historical figure. I came across Billy Gohl, the so-called Ghoul of Grays Harbor, while researching Jake Ockham’s home in the Pa-

cific port of Aberdeen, Washington. Before turning to fiction, Ken MacQueen spent 15 years as Vancouver bureau chief for Maclean’s, Canada’s newsmagazine, winning multiple National Magazine Awards and nominations. He travelled the world writing features and breaking news for the magazine, and previously for two national news agencies.

1910, and his death in an insane asylum in 1927. Even so, he manages to complicate Jake’s life in an unexpected way.

There were days as a reporter I’d file some bizarre story and think, man you can’t make this stuff up.

But it turns out you can. And it’s as much fun as a barrel-full of company credit cards.

©Copyright 2022 Ken MacQueen for Uncaged Book Reviews www.uncagedbooks.com Published with Permission

Hero Haters, set in the Pacific Northwest and rural Pennsylvania, is his debut thriller.

MacQueen covered nine Olympic Games and drew the athletic prowess of Jake Ockham, his protagonist, from tracking elite rowers in training and on podiums in Athens, Beijing and London.

He and his wife divide their time between North Vancouver and British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. kenmacqueen.com

Favian segovia

Favian Segovia was born in Bravo, Mexico. He began writing in 2017, and he lives in Texas. Even though The Last Man? is his first novel, he found the path in writing to show his love for sci-fi. He is committed to be recognized as the best sci-fi adventure author one day. He wants to share his passion with the readers.

authorfsegovia.com

A new sci-fi book series awaits readers as author Favian Segovia releases the first installment in The Last Man? He invites readers to embark on this journey to the New Eden with the last man on Earth. What will happen to the world, as people know it? Can one man still bring hope despite the challenging circumstances that lie ahead? Readers will find out in the pages of Book One of “Journey to New Eden”.

A world war of greed and power pushes the governments into their own extinction. A virus outbreak targets men into a near extinction. A military driven by women search for surviving men in an attempt to control a world in ruins. All faith has been lost with no future and no hope. Only one secret place holds the answer to restore peace. One man is the key of hope.

A man out of the ashes rises forward in search for the last city called New Eden, in the hopes and desperation to re-establish humanity. But he has to find out the hard way the perils of being the last man.

Book Excerpts

SEPTIC

“Hey, John, did you put out the flames like I told you to?”

“Yes, I did remember I told you a while ago, I know how to take car my responsibilities I am not child.”

“Bravo! Did you secure the perimeter, John?”

“Actually, there is something I want to tell you. I think we should lay low for a couple of days and figure out what we are going to do! We have a river one mile east of the plane crash! We can use the river to supply our water intake. We need to hunt. We can probably set a few traps to catch small animals. I was thinking if you maybe you do the traps, I am really not in a mood to build anything.”

“No problem, John. I will take care of the small traps. You take care of hunting for tonight. We must stay frosty John. We don’t want Ariana’s soldiers to catching us off guard?”

“Well, Carlos, I assume they will. I don’t think they will give up that easy. They sure want something from us. And honestly, I don’t think it’s only sex! We got to find out what it is.”

“We will figure something out, you’ll see. Let me check on Perez. I will be right back.”

“Hey, we have two-way radios on the backpack, don’t we?”

“Yes! I will be on channel 7.”

While I head on the hunt, I got a call from Carlos minutes later.

“John! John! Can you hear me?”

“Yes! What’s going on, Carlos?”

“It’s Perez. She is burning in a fever!”

“Shit! How is that possible?”

“The cut is infected. We need antibiotics John not saliva. John go to the field fast, or she will die!”

“How the hell are we supposed to get medicine here?”

“There is an herb you are going to have to look for. It’s called echinacea!”

“What the hell is that, Carlos? How am I supposed to find it?”

“Listen carefully, the flower’s color is purple to yellowish and maroon! The center is very pronounced! Get as many as you can!”

“How can I find them?”

“Try and look for an open grassy area. They grow in open environment!”

“Understood! I will be back.”

WOLF’S DEN

The task ahead of me seem to put all my best parts to use. I never knew what running meant till this day as I struggled downhill to find an open space. That was not only what I was worried about. I dropped the radio and lost my only way to communicate with Carlos. As I kept going, I saw a small village just on the outskirts of the mountain. I stood behind a tree to watch the movement at the village. I knew if I could find something fast, it would be here in the village. I was not going to let my friends down, so I had to take a risk. For the first time, I began to feel for the well-being of others, and this time it was time to pay them for the favors they did for me! I hid behind some trees and waited for the perfect time to go into the village.

A few hours later, everybody seemed to be going inside to rest. It was perfect timing. The villagers were having dinner, so I knew it would be an easy task to do. I go into this hut, and there where children sleeping. I tried my best to not make any noise, but like the movies, there is always something that falls, and wham! I knocked a bottle from table, and two of the children woke up. They did not seem to be scared, but they sure were screaming like crazy. I guess they have never seen a human male in a long, long time! So, it was inevitable that they started screaming in their native language, and I knew in that moment I was in serious shit! So, I thought I could pull it off just like the first time at the military base! But in all honesty, what was I supposed to do? Kill the kids so they can shut the f**k up!

So, the villagers woke up and saw me running. I headed back to the plane as fast as I could! Never in my life have I run this fast. I could swear that I was doing fifty-five.

The villagers sent their warriors after me along with their search dogs! So, it was not long after they caught up to me climbing that steep mountain. I really had nowhere to go. I was surrounded! After they caught me, they brought me back to the village!

What awaited me was anyone’s guess.