4Q Interview with Drake Alexander - Vigilante - Fictional Hero!

Drake Alexander is the coolest guy on the planet! Okay, I’m biased. He’s my hero!  Ex- Canadian Soldier, heir to a family fortune. I’ve tracked him down in Mexico to have him answer a few questions for the 4Q Interview on the Scribbler. 

 

 

 

 

4Q: Thank you for taking some time from your adventures Mr. Alexander to answer some questions for your fans. Would you describe yourself as a vigilante?

 

DA: Hey Allan, you can call me Drake, none of that Mr. Alexander business.

Well, to answer your question, which I’ve been asked or accused of many times, if we accept the true definition of a vigilante in that I sometimes take the law into my own hands then I guess I’d have to say yes! My team and I try to be ever conscious of lawful procedure as we dig around the world to either capture or detain or if all else fails, to eliminate, some of the Earth’s scum that have total disregard for anything lawful. I’m not talking about a petty criminal but the truly evil, the killers, pedophiles, arms dealers, master thieves and other low life. We’re more like private investigators working to help law enforcement agencies but sometimes we have to step over the line to make sure that whomever we may be pursuing does not get to spend any more time as a free person. If I’m forced to kill them, I will. And no, I don’t lose any sleep over it. 

 

4Q: Okay then, Drake it is! Since we first met you in Dark Side of a Promise, we know that you married your long time sweetheart Beth Stone and now have a family. How do they feel about you placing yourself in danger so often?

DA: That’s always been a tough one.  As you know, when I was a boy and saw the Army Reserve manage war games on my grandfather’s property in Cocagne many years ago, I was enthralled by the uniforms, heavy battle vehicles, the guns and other weapons and the brawny men that served to keep our country free and Canada’s long role as peacekeepers and I decided then to become a soldier, to do my part. Of course my father was disappointed that I didn’t follow him or my mother’s family into the jewellery business that they had built over the years but I’m as stubborn as he was. When he came to realize that being a warrior was my destiny, he supported me all the way.

As far as my immediate family, my wife Beth has been a reluctant backer and has occasionally been part of my team when her expertise with disguises and shooting skills has been required. Since we first met as adolescents she has always known why I chose to be a soldier, hated it of course, due to our continuous separation when I was or still am in the field or worrying about me getting hurt or killed. She knows how I feel about lawlessness.  I admit, I’ve asked a great deal from her and it is our deep commitment to each other that makes us strong.

With my children at a young age, I’m thinking that perhaps the day may soon arrive when I will give up my gallivanting. I want to spend more time with them. They are still under the impression I travel for the jewellery business. I don’t want any of them to think my life or what I do might be glamourous.  Even though we all have the same goals and lifestyles that permit us the freedom we need, I owe it to my comrades, Williston Payne, Elijah and Plum Glass and Dakin Rush who have stuck beside me over the years to value our good luck and pursue safer avenues in our lives. We’re all getting older and travelling the world to place ourselves in peril is wearing thin. In fact as we speak, I’ve decided that this is my last caper. I’m not sure if it will end here in Mexico or if I’ll be alive next month but if I have the good luck to find the serial killer that has ravaged Central America for the last eighteen months, I think I’ll trade in my guns for a pen and write about it, maybe create a good book or two. 

 

4Q: I can’t wait to read those. Good luck! Please share a childhood anecdote or memory with us.

DA: I’ll have to think about that for a moment because I have so many.

Probably the first time I actually met my wife Beth. My parents and I lived in Massachusetts when I was younger and we spent our summers in Cocagne, New Brunswick in the house that had been in my grandmother’s family for decades. My father owned land across from the older house that bordered the waters of the Northumberland Strait. When he decided to build a house there, we spent three weeks in New Brunswick one winter when he finalized the details of the work to be done with the contractor doing the work starting that spring. I had the opportunity to go to the nearest ski hill with several of my summertime friends. I had never skied before so in the morning I took lessons and by mid morning I was feeling confident enough to try a larger hill. When I got off the lift, I made it safely to what looked like an easy run. It was not. At the top of the first rise was a gaggle of young ladies and Beth was part of the group. I figured I was doing well enough that if I was careful, I might impress the ladies. Not so.

I had to pass in front of the group to make my way downward and as I did, the girls all fell silent and then I slipped. I slide seventy feet to the bottom but one ski stayed halfway up. To say I was embarrassed would be an understatement. I couldn’t imagine any thing being worse until Beth, with the grace of a true athlete, swished down the hill, grabbed my errant ski without even stopping and brought it to me. By then she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. When the other girls gracefully slid by me, she smiled and I melted. Her parting words soothed me a bit when she told me the same thing happened to her. I can’t remember ever having my ego deflated as much since but I’ll never forget how beautiful she looked at that moment. 

 

4Q: Many readers of the Dark Side of a Promise always wondered why someone whose childhood and growing-up-dreams of being a soldier did not make it a career. You chose being a grunt instead of officer school. You were part of the Canadian Special Forces with Joint Task Team 2.  What happened?

DA: I don’t talk about that much because it is still a major disappointment that I could no longer serve my country in the capacity of the Armed Services. Very briefly, I was with a small contingent of Canadian soldiers in Desert Storm. During our deployment, one of the American soldiers we had formed a bond with and one of our men were captured during a clandestine operation. Delta Company pulled our asses out of a bad situation returning us to base.  For reasons we were never told, the military would not mount a rescue operation even though our allies knew where they would be. I couldn’t live with that. I vowed to never leave any man behind. I disobeyed orders. With two fellow soldiers and a crafty stick pilot, we hijacked a heavy lift Chinook and did it ourselves, and in the nick of time I might add. We saved their lives but the Forces thought differently. When the dust settled we were given the opportunity to accept an honorable discharge or be court martialed. That’s it. 

 

Thank you Drake for this candid interview.

 

 

You can meet him in the international thriller Dark Side of a Promise which highlights events that took place in 2004. Alexander has made a promise to his best friend to find the man that killed his sister!  

 

 
In the newest adventure an amateur rock climber makes an amazing discovery in 1953 only to lose the secret for another fifty years until a close friend of Drake’s rediscovers it and has to run for his life from the clutches of Spanish raiders as they chase forgotten gold in Peru. The story is called Wall of War and will be available in fall 2016.

 

 Watch here for more details!

 

 

 

 

Next week the Scribbler is pleased to have Regina Puckett of Tennessee as our guest author.