Ken Cable, The Friday Flyer columnist who delights readers with his “Notes from the Road” and "Wild Side of Canyon Lake," has published his first novel, "Lost!" – an adventure novel written for readers of all ages.
Fittingly, the story takes place in an area Ken has described a few times in his columns: the High Sierras. The main characters are three young boys who bear a striking resemblance to his own sons. In fact, they are his sons, Mark and Jeff, and their cousin, Stephen.
"My story takes place in a time before cell phones, the GPS system, iPods, e-mail, hand-held computers and game players. To call home from anywhere on the road required a phone booth on a corner," says Ken. "It was a time that young readers of my novel would not recognize, although their parents and grandparents will. And it was only 40 years ago. It was not a good time to be lost."
Three boys, one nearly 14, his 7-year-old brother and 10-year-old cousin, set off in 1970 to visit their aunt in the High Sierras. Before they can get there, the bus breaks down near a mountain pass. Ignoring the driver’s warning to stay by the bus while he went for help, the boys run into the forest to track a deer.
They are soon lost in a sudden spring snowstorm without food, shelter or warm clothing. In their struggle to survive, they are threatened by a rogue bear. Each boy faces challenges that deny them their childhood and force the oldest to prematurely grow up as he struggles to keep them alive.
Ken says this particular story has been 40 years in the making – that is, it originally came to mind as a story he told his sons and nephew to keep them from becoming bored while returning from a lengthy road trip to the Northwest and Canada.
After returning to work with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Ken again recited the story and recorded it while driving back and forth to work. He had it transcribed; then filed it away for a later time.
That “later time” happened about a year ago when he ran across the manuscript. He decided to expand on the details of the story and turn it into a book. Ken says he got a lot of advice from his wife, Dorothy, who reads everything he writes, along with good friend Carolyn Knight and former colleagues.
While Dorothy did the inside sketches, his publisher, Reader Publishing Group, helped Ken find an illustrator, Char Houweling, who did the cover art. Ken says he corresponded with Char by e-mail until they got the artwork just right – the depiction of a cliff-hanging scene in which the oldest boy and an angry bear face off.
Writers come from all different backgrounds, usually gaining inspiration from their life experiences. In Ken's biography, he writes that he was born in Los Angeles and grew up in a dark, blue-collar suburb east of the city. "My town was famous for having more bars and parolees per capita than probably any other small town in California," he says. As many children do, Ken was able to explore the broader world by reading – in particular adventure novels.
He says, "I rode the range with Zane Grey, pretended I was Ken McLaughlin in Mary O'Hara's “My Friend Flicka” and "Thunderhead;" dog sledded in Alaska with Jack London and fought pirates with Jim Hawkins in Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island."
Ken left home, school and town at 17 by joining the army. He didn't return to his education until well into his career and having started a family. Over time, he acquired a degree in Journalism from Cal State L.A. and an MPA in Public Administration from USC.
He and Dorothy and their boys enjoyed many trips to the High Sierras and even owned an apple ranch in the western High Sierras just south of Sequoia National Park, as described in his most recent column, "A white Christmas for the Cable family," in the December 23 issue.
"Lost!" is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.