Author sends character to hide out on Metolius

Like so many Oregonians, author Kris Lockard has fond memories of her father taking the family to hike, fish, and camp in the Metolius Basin. She loves the place - and she's got an interesting way of expressing it:

"If I were to run away someplace, that's where I'd go."

Since she's not a fugitive on the run from a killer, she is staying at her home in the Willamette Valley - but she sent the protagonist of her newly released novel "Green Ridge" here.

"My heroine lives in Portland and is trying to think of some place she could go to hide from this really homicidal daughter," she explained.

The Metolius Basin in the shadow of Green Ridge was the place.

Lockark has a point to make in her story - beyond her primary mission to tell an exciting story and entertain readers.

Her protagonist is an older woman whose adult daughter is angling to get her hands on her assets, and is willing to go to murderous lengths to do it. The plot reflects a situation Lockard says is all too real, though "Green Ridge" amps up the stakes for the sake of the tale. People she knows have experienced that kind of pressure to liquidate to the benefit of children.

"I've seen this happen," she said. "Not to the extreme that's in my book. I just think that's so wrong. That's one of the messages of my book."

Another is that there's still plenty of life left in the last years.

"Once you think your life is over, don't give up on it - because you never know what's going to happen," she says.

Lockard is a photographer, and her own photograph of Three Fingered Jack taken from Green Ridge graces the cover of her book. She says she got a lot of help in the writing process, particularly from friends in law enforcement. In Sisters Country, Roger White, owner of the Camp Sherman Store, and Maret Pajutee, Sisters Ranger District ecologist, provided vital information. They are listed inside the front cover of the book.

"I could not have done that book without the help of those people in the front of the book," Lockard says.

Writing the novel was an all-in experience that took a full year, with the vital support of an understanding husband. Lockard says she's all through writing novels ... except for that idea for a sequel...

"Green Ridge" is available in Sisters at Paulina Springs Books, 252 W. Hood Ave.; 541-549-0866.