BROCK MARTIN

Brock Martin, a retired captain, served ten years as a Canadian Forces Search & Rescue pilot before his current role. The Canadian Forces gave him the opportunity to travel many areas of Canada and gain an immense appreciation of his country. He has been involved in operations across Canada, including the high arctic. He attributes his love of the outdoors and the desire to seek out adventure to his free-spirited upbringing in the wilds of Northern Ontario.
Brock is fascinated with historical fiction, the ability to learn of past thrilling epic adventure through the eyes of fictional characters. He was captivated when he learned the very ships that fought the dreaded U-boats were built in small communities like Collingwood.
He wrote Side Launch to bring Canadian heroism to light in a fast-paced, action-packed story.
The Battle of the Atlantic was a massive achievement of Canadian perseverance, dedication and sacrifice of its men and women.

It started with a beer at the Side Launch Brewery in Collingwood.
My Nephew Blake was visiting from Calgary and myself and Antje were showing him the sights of Collingwood ending at Side Launch Brewery. I was intrigued with the breweries logo and name "Side Launch" knowing it came from the historic Collingwood Shipyards.
I followed up with a trip to the library to learn more and was amazed with the history of the Shipyards and how they produced mid-sized warships known as Corvettes during the Second World War. It was a Collingwood Corvette that sunk the first U-boat for Canada in the Battle of the Atlantic and there were numerous other heroic engagements.
This story needed to be told, I wanted to bring it to life. Historical fiction is a genre I always appreciated, captivating fictional characters and learning real history at the same time. I thought this would be the perfect way to highlight our amazing history.
Thus started my learning, a whole year reading and taking courses on how to write a book. I finally started, putting pen to paper - then covid hit. My interesting hobby soon became a covid project as shutdowns made us all into recluse home bodies.
I hope my historically accurate novel will bring pride to Canadians and an awareness of what we accomplished.