25th Trillium Award

The Dirty Dozen, with Perry Prete

 
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Perry Prete

As a paramedic, Perry Prete has seen it all — so the age-old advice to "write what you know" is rich territory. Perry drew on his experiences in the field to write his page-turning first novel, All Good Things (General Store Publishing House), which follows a paramedic embroiled in a series of Ottawa murders.

Perry can't afford to be squeamish, so he was happy to take on the Open Book Dirty Dozen, which asks authors to share 12 little-known facts about themselves. Read on to find out why Perry has good reason to fear golf clubs, stationary bikes and snowstorms.

Perry Prete's Dirty Dozen

1. I love, seriously, L-O-V-E the X-Files. It is the screen saver on my phone. I have two cars with ?TRSTNO1? and ?ITRSTNO1? licence plates. I have a crew jacket from season 3, the script from the first episode and other collectibles (junk) from the TV show. I would rather watch a re-run of the X-Files than a new episode of some of the current shows.

2. Animals are great. I would rather spend time with animals than most people. Cats, dogs, squirrels, yup, pretty much any of them over most people I know. I am not sure if that says something about me or the people I hang around with.

3. I don?t drink. Alcohol, I mean. I?m not a drunk, a recovering alcoholic or religious, I just haven?t found a drink yet that makes me want to order one. I?ve never been drunk, don?t care too.

4. I?m a Paramedic: not a Fire Fighter, not an Ambulance Driver, and yes I have seen? (insert whatever grotesque, disgusting thing you can think of here). All the call scenarios in my novels are taken from real life experiences and blended to create something new with added touches of the yuck to make it uniquely mine. Many more of my calls will make it into each subsequent novel.

5. I love the sun, hate the winter. I do my best writing on vacation.

6. I hate crowds, hate louds girls who yell ?WHOO HOO?, hate traffic and hate ignorant people. There should be a law making it legal to slap ignorant people. Actually, my hate list could make up the entire Dirty Dozen.

7. I think people buy iPhones not because they truly like them but simply because it is the IN thing. And no, I don?t own an iPhone.

8. I wish I could cook but honestly, I suck at it. But I know what I like.

9. I haven?t done half the things I said I was going to do when I was younger.

10. Kathy Reichs inspired me to write when I broke my elbow falling off a stationary bike and was off work. I hid away for several weeks and my wife thought I was doing something nefarious, but she was very supportive.

11. When I was 5, my older brother hit me across the head with a golf club leaving me with a nice scar on my forehead. I blame this for my faltering hair line.

12. I am a contrast in time. I love old rotary dial phones, old cars and old TV shows, but I go ga-ga for new tech. Nothing better than watching an old TV show on a 70 inch LED TV in 5.1 surround sound.

Perry Prete is a native of Sudbury but grew up in London and now resides in Brockville, Ontario. After graduating as a paramedic in 1983 from the Ambulance and Emergency Care Program (now Primary Care Paramedic Program) at Fanshawe College, Perry worked part time for various EMS agencies before settling in his current hometown in 1984. He
continues to work as a full-time paramedic and, with almost 30 years of experience in dealing with the sick and injured, he uses his past experiences to weave together his novels.

Perry is the owner of Sands Canada, a medical equipment company dedicated to the pre-hospital care community. As well as retailing equipment used by paramedics and other medical responders, he and his staff design
high-end medical deployment cases based on his decades of field experience.

All Good Things is Perry?s first novel. He has finished the next novel in the Ethan Tennant series, The More Things Change.

For more information about All Good Things please visit the General Store Publishing House website.

Buy this book at your local independent bookstore or online at Chapters/Indigo or Amazon.

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