Featured Interview With Ray Fauteux
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba Canada, but for the most part was raised on the West coast in Naniamo on Vancouver Island and in Vancouver. I currently live in Calgary, Alberta and have resided here for about 35 years. Also live in Toronto for five years before that.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I used to get in trouble because I read library books in class before I was even a teen. I was mesmerized by books early on in my life. I read Moby Dick and Tom Sawyer when I was in grade five.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ve always been a fan of Steven King and enjoy his stories because of their originality. Growing up I was especially drawn to autobiographies of sports heroes. It didn’t matter what country they were from or what their sport was. I think it was because I had an unhappy childhood and thought I would never amount to anything. They lived the life I thought I never could and I would imagine myself being them. I imagined hitting the big home run, winning the race, or scoring the big goal. That all changed years later when I became an accomplished athlete in my own right. I have read books like The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway and Catcher In the Rye by Salinger over and over again. They were brilliant books in their honest simplicity. Both these authors are true inspirations to me, and I try and write with their honestly. I try and write like I’m sitting with the reader talking and having a coffee.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
I suppose you could call my latest book “It’s Kona Calling” a fiction book based on fact. Of the seven books I’ve written, this is the first book that’s not a non-fiction. The story takes place in the early 1980’s. Sam, the main character in the book is leading a life of mediocrity. He’s middle-aged, out of shape, over-weight, divorced, and drinks and smokes way too much. Sam lives his live vicariously through the sports stars he watches on T.V. His favorite show is ABC’s Wide World of Sports. One day in 1982 while watching the show, he’s captivated as they televise a race called The Ironman Triathlon taking place in Kona, Hawaii. He’s never even heard of a triathlon. Sam is mesmerized as he watches seemingly ordinary people cross the finish line after swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running a 26.2 mile marathon all in one day. For days after he can’t get the race off his mind. Something or someone is calling to him…challenging him. Even though he can’t swim a stroke, hasn’t run or biked since he was a kid, Sam makes up his mind that he’s going to Kona. He just has to find a way to cross that finish line. Against overwhelming odds, Sam spends two years learning how to swim, starts running, and buys himself a road bike, determined to change his life, get in shape and make it to the start line. Two years later in 1984 Sam finds himself arriving at Kona Airport on the Big Island. It’s at the airport where he crosses paths with Morgan. He hears her call out and ask if anyone will share a taxi into town. Sam looks her way. She’s not much older than his own 16-year-old daughter. She has nothing but her bike, a beat up helmet, and a backpack. Yet here she was, getting ready to take on this impossibly difficult race. Sam is in awe of her. ” She is so courageous”, he thinks to himself. She held herself with such confidence and she had the dark, piercing eyes of an assassin. Sam knew right away that he wanted to help her and gives her a ride into Kona. “It’s Kona Calling” is the story of their unlikely alliance. Sam is there just to try and survive, and Morgan wants to beat as many people as she can across the finish line. This is the story of the day they take on what was at the time, the most challenging endurance race in the world. It’s a story of hope and courage, and the indomitable spirit that resides within all of us just waiting to be awakened.
Like all my books, the words were in my head and I just had to let them out. I was in that race in Kona in 1984. I did see it on T.V. in 1982, and indeed, could not swim a stroke and had never heard of a triathlon. Indeed, I too heard the challenge of the Iron Gods. The characters in the book are fictitious, but the conditions the day of the race, and the description of the actual race course itself are 100% factual. So, as I said. It’s a fiction book based on fact.
You don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy this book. After all, Sam wasn’t always an athlete. You don’t even have to know what a triathlon is. Sam didn’t either.
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