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The Perils of Isolation is a collection of short stories that are connected by your love of fishing. Did you write these stories for this collection or did you write them over time and decided later to publish them?
The Perils of Isolation is my first book. I wrote it while I was in the process of retiring after a 35 year career in upstream oil and gas. I took some advice from a friend, and wrote about things I knew something about. The three stories include some real life experiences, with a stretch or two!
The stories are connected by your love of fishing. Where is your favorite place to fish?
It’s a toss up between two places described in the book. Mik Muk Mac is set at the headwater of the French River, or Lake Nipissing in Ontario, Canada. It is still a remarkably wild and scenic place, but fishing has waned over the years as rod pressure has increased. The Tesla Terrorist is set in Labrador, Canada. My favorite rivers in Labrador for Atlantic salmon are the Eagle and the White Bear, both of which flow into Sandwich Bay. The only fishing allowed there is fly fishing, with a single, barbless hook. So, a large fish usually wins the battle, and escapes untouched… but that’s okay!
I really like The Tesla Terrorist story. Do you have a story that stands out to you from this collection?
The Tesla Terrorist is both an adventure story, and my first venture into science fiction, my favorite genre. It also is a bit of a political statement. Weldon Purdy, the mad scientist villain and the Tesla fanatic, destroys the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric installation. Muskrat Falls will be late and vastly overspent when it finally produces power. It will put Newfoundland and Labrador in dire financial trouble, and it will not meet the full power needs of the province as originally pitched.
Do you have plans to publish more short stories?
I just wrote a short story for inclusion in the first Science Fiction Novelists Anthology. It is called Lunar Salvation. I really enjoy the short stories of the true masters of the field, like Ray Bradbury. I have just started another sci-fi adventure novel called Robo Lord, which may evolve into a another series.
And Pegasus will be publishing Martian Hermitage soon, which will complete the Master Defiance series.
Author Links: Website | GoodReads | Facebook | Twitter
‘Mic Muk Mac’ is set in the wilds of Ontario, Canada, when a group of school friends go on an annual fishing holiday.
‘The Naïve Neftyanik’ is a story of Canadian oilman, Blake McTavish, whose contract is to set up his company’s operations in western Siberia. It’s a very different working environment but he goes fishing with some of his new-found, Russian friends.
Finally, find out what happens to a group of fishing friends on their trip to a remote area of Labrador, Canada, in ‘The Tesla Terrorist’ and how they survive the biggest electrical storm ever known.
The Perils Of Isolation
![The Perils Of Isolation by [Blair Wylie]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41uw1gAQ9eL.jpg)
The Perils of Isolation by Blair Wylie is a collection of three stories connected by similar themes: of using your wiles to make it through unlikely situations and of course, fishing. They are a creative and generous description of humanity. The first story, ‘Mik Muk Mac’ is an immersive and humorous story about a fishing trip gone awry. The second story, the ‘Naive Neftyanik’, is about an oilman known as Blake McTavish who has to set up shop in a new country and navigate the new terrain while making new friends. ‘The Tesla Terrorist’ is about a group of friends who further the work of Nikolas Tesla and make some fascinating discoveries along the way.
The characters and their relationships were interesting and heart-warming, especially in ‘Mik Muk Mac’. I could easily imagine being a part of the tribe of lads going on adventures together- they were complex and fun characters that worked together very believably as a team. Goolee, Mac, James, and the rest of the bunch managed to keep me on the edge of my seat with all their misadventures, even if I kept losing track of who was who.
The ‘Naive Neftyanik’ was my favorite- I love stories about people starting afresh in strange, new places. Blake McTavish was an incredibly likable and real character- an average Canadian who agreed to be the ‘front man’ for a company: he had to set and run an office in Western Siberia. He faces all the problems that a new place poses with a sturdy resolution to find solutions: whether it be business, food, or accomodation. He soon finds himself in the company of some helpful and kind fishing buddies.
I was most intrigued by the title of the third story: ‘The Tesla Terrorist’. The main character, Weldon, is obsessed with the great electromechanical engineer, Nikolas Tesla and his life.
I had a lot of fun reading each of these stories, not only for their plot, but also from the abundance of knowledge on various topics that the author clearly has. They were informative and detailed without being any less entertaining- the slapstick endings on one of the stories made me laugh out loud. This collection is a great respite for anyone sick of dense and intense fiction, and looking for quick and fun stories.
Pages: 281 | ASIN: B07KQ6TC2H
