An outbreak of writing fever

This doc's seen the future and it's not pretty. Cautionary tale flu the coop

By Jacqui Clydesdale

The streets of downtown Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are eerily quiet. All airports are closed � indefinitely. The War Measures Act is in full effect. Hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of Canadians are dead or dying.

Is this a frightening prophecy of the next terror attack on North America? No, it's the all-too-real scenario of the next influenza pandemic � coming soon to a bookshelf near you.

Dr Kendrick Lacey's seen it all, but luckily so far it's played out only in his imagination. And his bleak vision inspired him to write Flu Shot, his dystopian novel set in the backwoods of New Brunswick.

That's right, a futuristic medical thriller set in New Brunswick. "It's a story I always wanted to read, and nobody had written it," explains Dr Lacey. So the family physician with a practice in the small rural community of Stanley, NB, (about 45 minutes from the capital, Fredericton) took time out of his extremely busy schedule to write the book of his very scary dreams.

That was no small task. This doctor has more unofficial job titles than a blonde in southern California, granted with a much more original resum�: doctor/novelist/cabinetmaker/ex-army officer. He also speaks "pretty good French and pretty good German," and is currently learning Spanish.

"Yeah, I've done a few things in my time," he says with a chuckle. And been a few places, too. Though he has deep roots in New Brunswick (he was born in Saint John into a military family), this 'army brat' considers himself more a citizen of Canada since his family moved around so much. He's been practising medicine for 19 years, making cabinets for 10 and spent 17 years as a military man. Novel writing is only his most recent venture, and even so, putting Flu Shot together, he says, allowed him to combine his doctorly concerns with his military training in survival skills to great effect.

A TIMELY TALE
"This catastrophic event is not fantasy," Dr Lacey insists. "It could happen tomorrow, and I think the population is blissfully unaware that it could occur." After the recent spate of public-health scares, people are more aware than ever of the likelihood of a pandemic like this � word has spread, well, like a flu bug.

Flu Shot was released in March by New Brunswick's DreamCatcher Publishing. "The response has been almost astounding," says Dr Lacey, "to me anyway. This has really struck a chord with people. I don't know if it's because the novel is set in Canada, as opposed to the States. People have a real unease about an influenza pandemic in Canada, especially since SARS and the avian flu."

Dr Lacey's main objective in his first novel is to offer an "interesting, exciting story � not a lecture." The main character, the heroically monikered York Lancaster, is a disillusioned ex-army officer living outside the fictional town of Spencer, NB. His creator warns his readers not to be fooled by any similarities between York and Kendrick: "York is smarter, faster, stronger and more handsome than I am!" As for the residents of Stanley, the author reminds them in his acknowledgements that the people of Spencer aren't biographical, either: "Their good traits are based on what I see around me. Their bad traits are purely fiction," he adds diplomatically.

So how does a busy physician with 3,000 patients find the time to develop the skills necessary to take these observations and hammer them into a novel? Dr Lacey says it was simple � he just "approached it like any scientist would." The first step is to find inspiration, which this voracious reader of bestsellers gets in spades from his favourite authors: Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, Tess Gerritsen and Louis L'Amour. It's been suggested, too, that there might be a hint of Stephen King in Flu Shot's cautionary tale.

"I am flattered, of course," says Dr Lacey, laughing, "but I certainly don't go around comparing myself to Stephen King. I'd like to think that I somewhat emulate his efforts in terms of imagination, but that's as far as it goes." That said, both authors do live on the Eastern seaboard and sport a similar spectacle/beard combo. Coincidence?

Ok, that's probably a stretch. But Stephen King did help Dr Lacey in a very direct way: his book on the art of writing is one of about 50 such books in the doctor's personal library. Dr Lacey admits he relied heavily on guides like How to Write Damn Good Fiction by James N Frey when he was penning Flu Shot. He followed a pretty basic recipe: "I'd read a book, then write a chapter," he says. "Some of these books were extremely insightful in helping me to develop the core elements of the novel."

REVISIONIST'S HISTORY
There's at least one dissimilarity with Stephen King: while the master of horror is able to sit down and write 363 days of the year (he stops only for his birthday and Christmas Day) this doc with a busy family practice could only write his 'damn good fiction' whenever he could snatch a few moments of downtime. "I couldn't let anything take me away from clinical time," stresses Dr Lacey. "I wrote for one day each weekend, and sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night and write."

For a man who admits he "never really paid attention to when to use a comma," the creative process definitely had its ups and downs. "I love getting my imagination to work," he muses, "but the revising part is really hard work." That said, the writing bug has clearly taken hold. All of his spare time and energy are now being channelled into his latest writing projects. "I have one that's two-thirds complete and one that's just started. It's hard work, but fun."

This kind of dedication to his muse means that other pursuits, such as reading for pleasure, have been eighty-sixed for the time being. As for woodworking, Dr Lacey has only been in his workshop long enough to "gaze longingly" at his tools and choice morsels of lumber. Right now, there's simply no time to craft any of the plaques, cedar chests and cabinets the doctor used to give as gifts to friends and family.

Not that any of them are complaining. Dr Lacey's wife of 24 years, Dominique, is thrilled with his latest creative outlet. Dominique, herself a painter and sculptor, totally gets her husband's need for artistic expression. "It used to be that science and the outdoors were my thing, and the creative hers," says Dr Lacey. "Now she's happy that I'm showing a more creative side to my life."

But despite these protestations, this is far from the first time Dr Lacey has dabbled in the arts. He reluctantly revealed that back in high school in Oromocto, NB, he displayed fledgling thespian talent. So is there a chance that we might see Kendrick Lacey starring as York Lancaster in a film adaptation of Flu Shot?

"No, no," laughs the doctor. "That was a long time ago. That would probably exceed the limits of my already tested artistic ability."