A little help from my friends

Opioid addiction. Wilderness leadership. Living with disabilities. These are all subjects about which I knew little or nothing when I started writing On Chocorua, the first book in my Trailblazer series.

That didn’t stop me. I’ve never followed the stale advice, “Write what you know.” I’ve written about dog behavior, “ex-gay” camps, synesthesia, autism, Neo-Paganism, Straight Edge, and many other things I had to research. But when it came to those three subjects in Trailblazer, I knew I’d be in trouble if I didn’t have some help.

Opioid Addiction

“When you’re in it, what you’re addicted to feels like your friend.”

“It seems better than suicide.”

“It's a substitute for hope in a hopeless situation. So, giving it up…. Fuck. That feels like letting go of the only thing that's keeping you alive.”

This is how the character Alden Armstrong describes his experience of addiction to fentanyl. Nathan Bartlett is the main character in Trailblazer, and Alden was his boyfriend in On Chocorua. Whenever fentanyl, drug use, or addiction found its way into the manuscript, I made sure it passed muster with my subject matter expert: Patrick Frame, MSW LCSW.  

Patrick had contacted me just as I’d started working on Chocorua. He wanted me to know how much my writing had helped him validate his identity as a gay man. When he told me that he counseled LGBTQ+ individuals, I asked whether he could—and would be willing to—guide me in terms of writing about addiction. 

Patrick gave his time and offered his expertise generously as I worked on my story. I can’t thank him enough.

On the Edge of a Cliff

“Keep your backpack and tent fully zipped. You don’t want to invite centipedes, or spiders, or scorpions.” [Conroy to the Kalalau hikers as they prepared to retire on their first night on the trail ]

“You can do it. You’re intrepid.” [Conroy, encouraging and calming a hiker in an extremely precarious position]

“That man knows what he’s doing. He’s prepared, competent, and very good in a crisis.” [a hiker’s assessment of Conroy Finnegan’s leadership during a traumatic event]

I’ve done quite a bit of hiking. I’ve even led day hikes for nature photographers. But trekking along cliff edges, camping on the trail for nearly a week, bringing everything with you (and out with you again), and being responsible for the lives of several strangers was not something I’d done. 

Fortunately for me, I knew of an expert in these aspects of leadership: Nelson Earl. Nelson, trained in CPR and first aid, leads individuals or groups of people into a variety of landscapes. As he puts it: “I know what I’m doing.” And he helped me make sure that Conroy knew what he was doing as I wrote On The Kalalau Trail.

Life and Love In a Wheelchair

“This chair isn’t me. It’s just the way I get around. Am I disabled? Yeah, I am. Am I helpless? No fucking way.”

[Nathan asks] “So how would you make love to me?” Drew drained his wine glass and sat back in his chair a little. He didn’t smile. “Let me count the ways.” 

[Drew, from his GRIT Freedom Chair (wheelchair), on finding out Nathan did not own a mountain bike] “Well then, Nathan, you’re never gonna be able to keep up with me.”

While I’d known that sensitivity and perspective would be crucial as I wrote about opioid addiction, those requirements were—if anything—even more important as I created the character of Drew Madden in On The Precipice. Fortunately, I had a wonderful partner in Stevie M. Jonak, a wheelchair user herself. Stevie not only read lots of my draft material and gave honest, helpful answers to many potentially awkward questions, but she also wrote a heart-felt, informative, and even inspiring foreword for the book.

People living with disabilities—not just those who use wheelchairs—experience many challenges most of us never consider. Far too many of the disabled have to spend much more time and much more money than the abled to accomplish the daily activities of life others take completely for granted. Drew Madden has money and can make his life much easier than the vast majority of the disabled. Stevie hopes we keep this in mind as we read the story.

“Thank You” barely scratches the surface

Without my generous subject matter experts, I could not have written the Trailblazer stories with nearly the accuracy or sensitivity I hope I achieved.

Nathan Bartlett thanks these open-hearted individuals, who gave freely of their time, their expertise, and their honesty. And so do I.