EAT THIS BOOK: Trail of the Lost by Andrea Lankford

EAT THIS BOOK!

Last fall, we made a sentimental journey to Stowe, Vermont, which included a visit to one of my favorite bookshops, Bear Pond Books, the second largest indie bookstore in the state. Bear Pond showcases local authors, intelligent kids books and works about adventuring and nature. That’s where I grabbed my holiday read: Trail of the Lost by Andrea Lankford. 

I’m fascinated by stories of mysterious disappearances, especially people who vanish in the wilderness. (See my previous blogs, The Riddle of Julian Sands and The Cold Vanish.) Andrea Lankford, author of Trail of the Lost, worked for 12 years as a park ranger with the USA’s National Park Service, leading search and rescue missions in some of the most beautiful – and dangerous – places. Her bestselling book shines light on the unsung heroes of search-and rescue: the many volunteers who end up devoting their lives, often over many years, to locate people who walked into nature and were never seen or heard from again.

Lankford investigates the cases of three young men who went missing while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches 2650 miles from California to the Canadian border. It’s the west coast twin of the Appalachian Trail, celebrated by Bill Bryson in his hilarious book, A Walk in the Woods, which captures perfectly the utter misery of hiking. The Pacific Crest Trail is perhaps the more remote and more dangerous of the two.

Chris Sylvia. 28, was an unemployed artist living in California. After suffering a few emotional setbacks, he decided to do a 2-week hike  on the PCT to find himself. Since it was February,  he headed south toward the Mexican border. Only four days in, he phoned his best friend, Min, to pick him up, but he never showed. Worried, Min reported him missing. Sometime later, his hiking gear showed up at a gear exchange facility along the trail. The hikers who turned it in found the gear lying on the trail… 

On the other hand, Kris Fowler, 34, was an experienced woodsman. He’d already completed 2000 miles of the PCT and was making for White Pass and the end of the trail at the Canadian border when he vanished without a trace. The October weather was cold and dreary and at higher altitudes there was always the threat of snow…

David O’Sullivan, 25, was an Irish citizen out for adventure and determined to complete the full PCT. He started his trek from Campo, near the Mexican border. Though it was April, hikers reported icy spots in the higher, steeper regions that could lead to serious accidents. David vanished near Mile 179 …

Trail of the Lost: Highly recommended. Five stars! A poignant portrayal of hiking, its euphoric highs, the sacrifice and heroism of participants and volunteers and the dark dangers inherent in nature and the occasional human.

SURREAL TRAPDOOR: THE DAY THE SUN WENT OUT

When my husband, Ed and I learned that a total eclipse would pass near Toronto on April 8th, we got excited. After all, we’re Trekkies and space nerds. The next total eclipse near Toronto won’t take place until 2106, so if we didn’t see this one, it was now or never.

Toronto would only view a partial eclipse. I’d witnessed one once before in the 1990s. A business friend and I broke away from our lunch near Yonge and Bloor and rushed out for a look, allowing ourselves only 1 or 2 second glimpses so we wouldn’t burn out our retinas. At the max of the shadow, all went still. Traffic stopped. The only sound was birdsong: very cool.

Back then Ed made a pinhole camera for our daughter for them to watch the moon cross the sun. Now, 30 years later, he made another and ordered safe viewing glasses from Amazon that resembled retro cardboard 3-D movie glasses. Fingers crossed they worked!

Dorky but it works!

To see the full eclipse meant a drive to Hamilton or Niagara Falls. News reports said The Falls were expecting 100,000+ people so we opted for Hamilton. Somewhere on Hamilton Mountain surely we’d find a spot.

Getting there proved to be a challenge. Sadly the news reports weren’t wrong. Highway 407, the toll road, looked as clogged as Highway 401 at rush hour. Time was running out and we were beginning to lose hope when Ed remembered that the path of the total eclipse passed through Burlington.

We turned off the 407 and raced down to Burlington and Lake Ontario. Not too much traffic, thank God. We parked on a residential street and made the long walk down to the lakeshore, armed with our safety glasses and trusty pinhole camera. Bolstered with refreshments from Tim Hortons, we found a spot in Spencer Smith Park right next to the lake near a large hotel called appropriately enough, The Waterfront Hotel.

How Canadian!

Spectators were in a festive mood.  Hotel staff were giving their outdoor cafe patrons eclipse glasses. They continued to hand out glasses to the nearby crowd  – even to drivers who’d slowed down and parked to view the spectacle.

The beginning

Then we waited – and waited.  It started slowly with a tiny edge of dark crescent. Overall daylight stayed bright.  Yet incrementally over the next 20 minutes, the light dimmed to the level of a cloudy day.

“Maybe this is as good as it gets,” my husband mused. Indeed during the partial eclipse many years ago the noon day light dimmed to early twilight.

Then it happened: the moon moved over the sun and we saw the corona. A few seconds later, the light went out. Exactly that: midnight! All the night lights of the city came on: the streetlights, the restaurant and store signs. The sun was gone – snuffed out.

The corona
The Brant St. Pier in Burlington, Canada at night (Stock photo, my camera didn’t work.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it got cold. All I could think of were those retro science documentaries we’d seen as children: all life comes from the sun….No kidding. How long would it take for the earth to cool down to the Absolute Zero of outer space?

The light comes back.

Then the moon moved away and the light came back. Spectators cheered and applauded. For a short time, a warm camaraderie shared by tiny denizens on Earth.

The Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem’s New Anthology: The 13th Letter

I’m delighted to announce the Mesdames and Messieurs 6th anthology, The 13th Letter, edited by Donna Carrick and published by Carrick Publishing. The title and theme of our book is one of Donna’s many brilliant ideas.

You see, “M” is the 13th letter of the alphabet. What could line up better with our brand of “13”? The leading crime writers in this collection have used “M” to stand for mayhem, mischief, mystery and of course, murder.  Very happy that my story, “The Boy in the Picture”, is one of the 22 tales in this book.

“The Boy in the Picture” was inspired by my visit to Calgary to attend the multi-genre conference, When Words Collide. I took the opportunity to visit one of the three houses I lived in during my unsettled childhood. My house was long torn down, but the street, including the one heritage home on it, was exactly as I remembered it.

Once again, amazing artist, Sara Carrick has created the cover that’s not only visually arresting but reveals how “M” is the 13th letter.

The 13th Letter will be available for pre-order later this month or in early October. Look for it on Amazon in hard cover, soft cover and ebook!

And if you are in the Toronto area at 2 pm on Saturday, November 2nd, drop in to our real world launch at the fabulous bookstore, Sleuth of Baker Street, 920 Millwood Road.

CWC Finalist! And an Interview!

I was delighted and surprised that my short story, “Wisteria Cottage” , published in Malice Domestic’s anthology, Mystery Most Traditional, was nominated for CWC’s Best Short Story Award. It’s up against some stiff competition from award-winning author, Marcelle Dube, but I’ll take it!

Another wonderful thing: I was just interviewed by CWC’s Erik de Souza. It’s always a pleasure to chat with Erik and here are my 15 minutes of fame:

And the links:

Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2232876/15110559

Facebook: https://fb.watch/scK7zRJjvZ/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/BEy7KsqnnVw

LEFT COAST CRIME 2024: Seattle Shakedown

So excited to be attending another Left Coast Crime from April 10 to 14th. I’m on a super panel, Mix it Up: Authors who Bend Genres moderated by one of my fav authors, Rob Osler. (Friday April 12th at 4 pm) Rob is the author of two wonderful comedy mysteries: The Devil’s Chew Toy and Cirque du Slay.

I’m excited to meet the other members of the panel, Stephanie Clemens who writes steam punk adventure; Kat Richardson whose work encompasses fantasy and romance; and Rob Hart, who writes both crime and speculative fiction. I think I may be the horror rep with my dark snake-based novella, Snake Oil, though I do stray into SF and sometimes even try my hand at comedy.

I can’t wait to connect with my American and Canadian crime writers friends! On Thursday, April 11th, friends A.J. Devlin and Winona Kent are hosting a Canuck get-together, featuring that most Canadian invention: the Caesar. And on Saturday at 7:15 am, if I can haul my butt out of bed that early, there’s the Short Mystery Fiction Society breakfast.

Last year, my friend, author and magician, Stephen Buehler and I attended the Author Speed Dating event as readers rather than writers: a terrific learning experience and a most enjoyable way to discover new favorite authors. I aim for a repeat this year.

Will tell all my adventures in Seattle in my next post!

THE MESDAMES AND MESSIEURS OF MAYHEM’S 6th ANTHOLOGY!

Great news: the Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem are bringing out The 13th Letter, their 6th anthology. The 13th letter for the alphabet is the letter “M” where M stands for Mesdames, Messieurs, mischief, malfeasance, mystery and of course, murder!

Edited by Donna Carrick, The 13th Letter, is slated to be released by Carrick Publishing in September / October, 2024 with a launch in late October / early November at our favorite bookstore, Sleuth of Baker Street.

Cover will be by our amazing artist, Sara Carrick.  Reveal to come, stay posted!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dear Readers,

black and white abstract painting

Thank you so much for your support during 2023, a challenging year with many peaks and valleys, but we got through it!

Authors would not be here without you. Wishing you all good things in 2024 and hope to meet you in the Real World.

Big Holiday Hugs,

Madeleine

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! Launch of Snake Oil and Other Tales, Nov 4th, 2 pm, Sleuth of Baker Street

Greetings Readers!

The launch of Snake Oil and Other Tales, my second collection of crime stories is this coming Saturday, November 4th at Sleuth of Baker Street Bookstore, 907 Millwood Road, Toronto.

The paperback edition of Snake Oil will be available for sale. Sleuth’s will always be happy to take your order, too.

I’d love to meet and chat with you in person. And do take the opportunity to browse Sleuth’s unrivaled collection of vintage mysteries and buy that book you’ve always been looking for.

With huge bears hug and thank you’s to my publisher and editor, Donna Carrick at Carrick Publishing; to Sara Carrick for her fabulous cover and to Marian Misters and J. D. Singh of Sleuth’s for hosting!

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! Interview Friday!

Greetings Readers!

Today I’m both delighted and honored to be interviewed by two great supporters of their fellow authors.

Joanne Guidoccio

I’m visiting Joanne Guidoccio’s Friday page to share 10 tips on short crime fiction writing: the hills, valleys and rewards of pursuing this literary form. Here’s the link.

Do subscribe to Joanne’s blog. It’s a great way to discover new authors. And her interesting blogs range from humour to confidence-building to life observations.

 

Rosemary McCracken

And I’m also a guest on my dear friend and leading crime writer, Rosemary McCracken’s  blog, Moving Target,  talking about writing on the dark side. Here’s the link.

Subscribing to Moving Target is another excellent way to discover new crime fiction authors. Rosemary is the author of the popular Pat Tierney financial mystery series and a widely published short story writer.