Wolf Creek Characters #6 Dr. Logan Munro

Wolf Creek is probably the most unique Western series ever produced. It is published by Western Fictioneers and written by Ford Fargo- who is actually about twenty different Western authors. Each one has created a unique character, and in each installment six authors collaborate to tell a story from the points of view of their particular creations.

amazon     B & N

It may sound complicated. but the result is anything but: each volume holds together remarkably well, and the series has been creating quite a bit of buzz.

I am the series editor, and one of my two characters appears in each book to help tie things together. Other than me we have a wonderful mix of genre veterans and best selling authors and up-and-coming newer writers who are making their mark.

This blog is the fifth in a five-part series highlighting the six main characters / writers of Wolf Creek Book I: Bloody Trail. The sixth installment will appear on Tuesday, Oct. 23, and the previous ones can be found here:

Part 1- Spike Sweeney, by L.J. Martin
Part 2- Sheriff G.W. Satterlee, by James Reasoner
Part 3- Charley Blackfeather, by Troy D. Smith
Part 4- Bill Torrance, by James J. Griffin
Part 5- Derrick McCain, by Cheryl Pierson

GIVEAWAY: One of our authors, Chery Pierson, has upped the ante- she has offered to give away a trade paperback copy of Bloody Trail to one of our visitors. Anyone who leaves a comment on this or any of the other five blogs and leaves a contact email address will be eligible to win (you can also send said addy to me, at troy_d_smith@hotmail.com, if you prefer it not be public- but you still have to leave a comment!)

A winner will be chosen at random at 9am Central Time Friday morning, October 26, and will be emailed with the good news- it will also be announced in a comment here. You can multiply your chances to win- by commenting on more than one of the six blogs. For every installment of the blog series you comment on, you will get one additional entry in the contest (alas, only one more per blog, so a possibility of six in all.)

So, that said, let's look at the character/writer who rounds out Book One of our series!

LOGAN MUNRO
(Doctor)
Clay More

 Logan Munro is a Scottish doctor. Shortly after graduating from Edinburgh University he served with the British Army Hospital in Scutari in Constantinople during the Crimean War. In 1856, at the end of the war he had the opportunity to go to India. While there he married Helen, a young governess. A year later The Indian Mutiny took place and he was involved in the siege. Sadly, Helen died from malaria. Disillusioned with life, and bereft at losing Helen, Logan sailed for America. Along came the Civil War, during which he served as a surgeon in the Union Army. When the guns ceased and the smoke cleared he settled down in Wolf Creek. He has seen a lot of action in the three wars he served in and he has honed his surgical skills on the battlefields. He is tired of all the killing and he just wants to settle down as a family doctor in a sleepy town.

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CLAY MORE is also a Scottish physician -Dr. Keith Souter. In addition to being a medical writer, Keith publishes fiction in four different genres.

"I am a member of the Crime Writers’ Association, International Thriller Writers, the Society of Authors, Western Fictioneers and the Western Writers of America. With my medical hat on, I am a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and of various other professional bodies.

                                              

I live with my wife Rachel in Wakefield in West Yorkshire within arrowshot of historic Sandal Castle."

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I have been accompanying my introductions to our authors' point of view characters with a description of a member of the supporting cast. This time around it is Tsu Chiao -or, as most citizens in Wolf Creek pronounce it, "Soo Chow."

Tsu is in his early 60s. He speaks very good English, having grown up in Hong Kong- as a young man, he had fought against the British in the opium wars. Now he sells opium in his own den. The establishment has a large common room, decorated in red, for lounging –and several small private rooms. There is another interior room, called the Jade Chamber, where clientele can choose the services of one of the several young Chinese women and girls who borrowed money for passage to America and are now trapped in a life of prostitution. He has several young Chinese men on hand as security- he calls them his nephews, but it is doubtful they literally are. 

Tsu is a very well-educated man, and one of the Five Chinese Classics is a novel called The Dream of the Red Chamber- perfect for an opium den. He calls the inner room where one can choose among his prostitutes the Jade Chamber because that is a Taoist euphemism for the vagina.  

Tsu has an adversarial relationship with Li Wong. Li Wong and his wife Li Jian are in their early 40s. They have five children- the oldest is a lovely 16 year old daughter named Jing Jing. There are not very many Chinese in Wolf Creek, so one might assume Li would interact with Tsu Chiao –but he does not. Li Wong despises the opium dealer and pimp, and is very protective of his own daughter -Tsu would like nothing better than to corrupt her. Jing Jing, meanwhile, is having a secret romance with one of Tsu's "nephews," Tsu Dong.

 Now, a brief excerpt from WOLF CREEK: BLOODY TRAIL featuring Dr. Logan Munro:

Almost immediately, like human buzzards, Wil Marsh - with some help from Elijah Gravely the undertaker - started arranging the bodies of the gang into suitable poses. Then, with his tripod and camera, he methodically set about taking the photographs that he imagined he would be able to sell to the Eastern magazines. 

Sheriff Satterlee took control and started to form a posse from the available able-bodied men and whoever had horses. He called an impromptu meeting in his office and prepared to swear in whoever could go.

            "Doc Munro, you had best stay in town and look after the wounded," he said, as he looked over the volunteers gathered in the office.

            "The hell with that, Sheriff. I have done what needs to be done. Doctor Cantrell knows enough medicine, as a dentist, to look after the wounded here. And Martha Pomeroy is a capable nurse." He started filling his meerschaum pipe. "I took the Hippocratic Oath and it is my duty to tend to the sick. I think I need to go, just in case any more of my friends here get hurt. And if we shoot any of that gang, it will be my solemn duty to treat and keep them alive."

He lit his pipe and his eyes narrowed as he blew out a stream of smoke. "Until we can hang the bastards, that is!"