Ray Anderson turns a passion for hiking into thrillers

HALLIE EPHRON:  Retired Coca-Cola salesman Ray Anderson  and was living a quiet life in Hingham, Massachusetts in 2003 when he hiked the Appalachian Trail. That walk in the woods turned into a hunt for a serial killer and... I'll let him tell it. 

RAY ANDERSON: As I walked alone one day I began to wonder “what if…?” and conjured up a serial killer loose on the trail, stalking other hikers. This fugitive grows a beard, loses weight, and becomes unrecognizable. Worse, no one knows where he’s escaped to. But he runs into another hiker, a Gulf War vet with PTSD, who becomes suspicious of him when hikers disappear.

That scenario became The Trail, my debut novel published last year by Turner Publishing. It’s doing well and has made Boston’s South Shore top-ten fiction listings several times.

Sierra,the second novel in the series is out now. The book pits “Awol” against a drug cartel on the Pacific Crest Trail, which I’ve also hiked. I’m now working on the third novel in the series, set on the Continental Divide Trail.

And I’m still hiking.

HALLIE: Fascinating. Wondering what advice you have for aspiring writers.RAY: Follow your passion. The point is, we all have individual interests and passions. I submit to each of you that your particular passion makes a good story. I developed an abiding interest in hiking over 30 years ago when I began climbing the 4000+ foot mountains of New Hampshire; after those, I climbed the rest of the 4000 footers in New England. This year, I tackle the Adirondacks in upstate NY.

HALLIE: How did you decide to write a thriller... as opposed to a memoir or travel book about hiking?

RAY: I’ve written, on and off, most of my life, but I’d only gotten a couple of short stories and a few articles published. It took me several years to break through with my novels. At first, I thought I would write a trail memoir about my retirement odyssey thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. But there are many absorbing accounts out there already, and I had nothing to add.

                            

So I turned to fiction and wrote a thriller. I was concerned that some hiker-readers might be offended with the subject matter.  A few were surprised, but all except one reader have supported me. That one reader was abused when she was young, and I felt bad about that. I have a saying that I keep on my writing desk: I can’t give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure--try to please everybody.

HALLIE: Where have you hiked since then?

RAY: Although the Appalachian Trail was my first extended hike (six months, eight days) and will always hold a special place in my memory, the Pacific Crest Trail was/is the hike of a lifetime. It’s longer than the A.T. (2600 miles) and there are less people, but the beauty is incredible. The PCT runs right through Yosemite and is contiguous with parts of the John Muir Trail.

In my second thriller, Sierra, there is the violence of drug cartels. I hope not to diminish the beauty and majesty of the Pacific Crest Trail for my readers. With this concern in mind, a professional writer advised me: “When you have a plot like this, you can’t go half way. Don’t try to mute it. Go all the way.” So I have.    

If you want to recharge your batteries and see what a great country America is, put these hikes on your bucket list. Remember, you don’t have to hike an entire trail at once. You can do it in sections. When you get the itch and have some time—just go!
 
HALLIE: Ray, I'm afraid the closest I'll get to taking one of those long  hikes is reading SIERRA and THE TRAIL.

Do we have hikers out there? What are your favorite trails and have you encountered any serial killers along the way?