Frances Peck is an instructor for the Writing & Publishing Program at Simon Fraser University. She wrote Peck's English Pointers (Translation Bureau [federal government agency], 2010).

Peck's debut novel, The Broken Places (NeWest, 2022) follows two affluent families in Vancouver when a big earthquake disrupts the city and chaos and fear take over. Kyle is a cosmetic surgeon out on a vigorous mountain hike and Charlotte is the wife of a high tech tycoon shopping for locally-made, artisanal cheese in the Fraser Valley. When the devastation breaks out, the two survive (although Kyle gets injured) and they must reconnect with their families and loved ones, who unbeknownst to them, have been thrown together in an oceanfront mansion along with a couple of other strangers, including workers. Surprisingly, some social media messages get through. But not for long when cell phones die and regular services like electricity and running water can't be relied upon because the city's infrastructure has crumbled. And there are aftershocks to contend with and new dangers. Several themes emerge: class and wealth, love and lust, fear and power, and identity. When basic infrastructure and communications collapse, the skills and assets that keep the wealthy aloft suddenly mean less. It's the blue-collar characters who know what to do.

Frances Peck’s second novel, Uncontrolled Flight (NeWest, 2023), takes place during a BC wildfire when an experienced firefighting pilot crashes his airplane. The aftermath deals with the dead pilot’s grieving wife, a younger pilot he was mentoring and an accident investigator with a dangerous secret. This page-turner delves into the emotional lives of people and “the ways we try to conceal and redeem our lives,” says publicity.

BOOKS

Peck's English Pointers (Translation Bureau, 2010)

The Broken Places (NeWest, 2022) $24.95 9781774390450

Uncontrolled Flight (NeWest, 2023) $24.95 9781774390757

[BCBW 2023]