Are you a full-time or part-time writer, and how does that affect your writing?

I am a part-time writer. I feel it has both positive and negative effects on my writing. Sometimes stopping writing for other responsibilities seems to impede creativity.  But I find having a life beyond writing is important for keeping me grounded in the real world and the challenges of life.

What have you written so far?

I wrote a weekly newspaper column for more than a dozen years. It began after my retirement. To date, I have written three novels. Two historical fiction and one a mystery, suspense, thriller. 

Can you share a little bit about your latest book?

I am excited to share with you. Like many others, I like a mystery that is a little different in that the murder hasn’t happened yet but there is every likelihood it will at any minute. My book, Trapped at Birth With Only One Way Out, is about being caught in life by your birth to a family that owns you.

Max Bryce, a fake name, is a qualified and good veterinarian in a rural area of Saskatchewan. He is also the youngest son of a Russian mob family in Canada, but no one in his community knows it.

Max breaks away from his family so they’re trying to kill him along with an outlaw motorcycle gang connected to his family’s dealings. The reader is on the run with Max as he must outwit and outlast those determined to murder him.

What made you decide to sit down and start writing this book?

It began with a writing exercise with my writing group. From several random words we had to write for seven minutes. The words clicked into my background in farming and my family as farmers, and the rural areas that I had lived in as an adult. The story began to tell itself when it came to the power of some families over their members.

Tell us more about your main character. What inspired you to develop this character?

Max, or his real name is Fyodor, is a complicated character the youngest of his family and resented by his father and siblings.

His mother took Fyodor as a small boy and went to a shelter for women but became ill after a year or so there and returned home with Fyodor to die. Igor, his father, resented the boy’s closeness to his mother. For his entire life Fyodor or Max has wanted to escape his family. His family uses Max for their purposes and treats him as an outcast. It is in breaking away from his family that Max learns he can be as deceiving and self-serving as his family. 

I was inspired to develop Max’s character who goes from being controlled to holding his own against his family. It’s not just about being free but being at peace with who you have become. Many people struggle to break free of family controls even when they are adults. Families are not all safe and loving. Max came from a toxic family and must learn how to avoid being toxic himself.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

I enjoyed my research into crime families in Canada, particularly the Russian crime families. I also found my research into outlaw motorcycle gangs in Canada was most expansive including the bikes with guns in the handlebars. There was also my need to research RCMP policing, particularly arresting and charges in Saskatchewan.

What is your next project?

Presently, I am in the editing stage of a book of both poetry and prose on the theme of longevity. Understanding those between 80 and 100 years of age, in particular their lifestyle, challenges, and positive contribution to society as a whole.

Want to learn more about Raymond Maher?

Official Site | Amazon