Editor’s note: Potential spoilers lie ahead.
Michael Bourne, a professor of writing at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and a former reporter for Aspen Daily News, recently wrapped a mini tour promoting his second novel, “We Bring You an Hour of Darkness,” a riveting read that offers a peek, albeit fictional, into the world of newsrooms, environmental activism and the ways in which ski-resort communities are often susceptible to big changes at the whims of big money.
“I always wanted to write a detective novel, but I don’t know anything about being a cop,” Bourne told The Sopris Sun. “Even when I was working as a journalist I didn’t cover the courts. So when I sat down to write this book, I thought, ‘I’ll center this around newspaper reporters.’”
“One of the other big rules I made for myself when I sat down to write this story was that I wanted to have a strong plot with a woman at the center of it,” he continued. “I also wanted it to be episodic … many of the different chapters having different characters that are the focus of it, [and] which all lead back somehow to the newsroom.”
Set in a fictional ski town — Franklin, Colorado — in 1993, the story follows the news team behind The Franklin Daily Flyer, led by Editor-in-Chief Patricia “Tish” Threadgill. When Tish is introduced, she is lamenting having to tell her dedicated staff that the days of the Flyer are numbered.
Unexpected news turns the tide for the newsroom, however, after a domestic eco-terror attack prompts a federal investigation and national coverage. Tish and her crew are tasked with keeping their readers informed and navigating red tape amid the intensified pressure of competing with national headlines, all the while going about their day-to-day lives — which are just as nuanced as the leads they’re chasing.
The eco-terrorist, or activist, group, The Jack Frost Collective, commits a series of acts to deter an impending ski development and protect a population of Canada Lynx, which may, or may not, even be roaming the area.
“I was inspired with this storyline by my time covering Pitkin County’s resource management, environment and development stories,” Bourne said. “When I was researching for the story, I recalled the 1998 Vail arson attacks, in which the Earth Liberation Front firebombed a restaurant called the Two Elk Restaurant and took down some ski lifts to, allegedly, stop a development of an area that was habitat.That gave me a way in for my story, so I applied it to this group.”
The story is certainly reminiscent of life in a resort town, so much so that that familiarity was even a little jarring at times, reflecting contemporary issues that such places often experience.
Tish’s narrative in itself captivates readers just as well, as she throws herself into work following a tragedy as a means to avoid the grief that comes with it.
Tish is a “get-it-done and get-it-done-right” type of feminist, which is particularly significant considering the period. While it wasn’t unheard of to have a woman at the head of a newsroom, print media then was still very much male-dominated, according to Bourne.
“In the ‘90s it wasn’t completely out of the bounds of possibility for a woman to be the head editor and publisher of a newspaper, but it was much more of a man’s world and much more of an old boys’ network,” the author stated. “She’s blazing a trail in the story.”
“We Bring You an Hour of Darkness” is now available for purchase. To keep up with Michael Bourne’s works, visit www.michaelbournewriter.com