The pace of Dave Ames's life is a little slower than it used to be. If you believe his books, "True Love and the Woolly Bugger" and "A Good Life Wasted," are an accurate representation of his former life as a fishing guide, you'd figure that by noon he'd have sweated out a gin hangover, landed a few bonefish on a fly rod, engaged in some verbal sparring with the Duke and eyed some cutie lying on a beach in the Bahamas.

But these days, Ames's mornings are dedicated to finishing his third book, "Dances with Sharks." He's given himself a summer deadline -- an ambitious assignment given the seven-year period between "True Love" (1996) and "Good Life" (2003). But he estimates he's only about 15,000 words short of his 55,000-word goal. Ames rewards his morning productivity with an early afternoon walk around his home near the Little Blackfoot River. Then he climbs in his Jeep for the daily 40-mile round trip drive to St. Peter's Hospital in Helena.

"I get radiated everyday at 3:30," he says.

Ames's fight against prostate cancer is the latest adventure in his 50-year life. But except for occasional hot flashes from hormone therapy -- part of the three-step treatment he's chosen -- Ames says he feels pretty good, nothing he can't alleviate with a little laughter. In fact, it's what's keeping his nose to the grindstone to write those final 15,000 words.

"Cancer is the ultimate deadline," he says, not ironically or bitterly, but more in a deep, slow, reflective tone that suggests wise old Eeyore -- if Eeyore had the colorful past of a fishing guide.

A day in the life

If you've read Ames's books and articles, you can glean some of the true facts of his life -- he grew up on the shores of Lake Eerie, graduated with a degree in geology from Allegheny College, was married a little while and has two sons who are now teenagers. Inquiries into his prepublished life reveal the unsurprising facts that he was one of those kids who read Mark Twain and the Hardy Boys by flashlight late into the night hidden under a blanket and that fishing always came naturally.

"From the word go, I could always catch fish," he said.

But what about those unbelievable scenarios in his books -- did he really spend a night with a bunch of ghost musicians? Was he so afflicted by a desk job that he actually punched a clock through a wall? Did the Rainbow girl really exist? Is his life that much more interesting than the rest of ours?

"It's all true as best as I can remember," Ames said. "But I had to tone it down a little for the books, or no one would believe it."

Coming from the mouth of anyone else, a statement like that could sound a little dubious. But Ames deadpan delivery leaves little question that he's experienced things that may not be fit for print. Even the people who've known him for a while hesitate before talking about him as if they're filtering out what can be told without incriminating him in some impossible plot.

"I don't know what I can tell you without betraying our trust," said Tom Antos, who's known the author for at least as long as the 20 years chronicled in "A Good Life Wasted."

"A lot of us have lived vicariously through his adventures," he said.

But after a little consideration, Antos talks about a time he and Ames spent a day together on the Missouri -- not a particularly adventurous trip, just a perfect day fly fishing.

"He was going to Mexico the next day to teach some locals how to be fishing guides or something like that," Antos recalled. "I was going back to the real world. And when I was driving back that evening, I got teary-eyed. I thought, 'Gee, we may not be able to do this again.' And yet, a couple months later, he's back and we took up right where we left off. To really be a friend of his, you have to accept that. He's not always there, but when you need him, he's there."

The Rainbow girl

Some of the friends who became characters in Ames books may not exist as they're portrayed. Take for example "True Love's" Julie. Who can forget Julie the Rainbow girl? Women loved her because she could outfish her male companions and pulled-off the ultimate role reversal in any relationship -- teaching a man to fly fish. Men loved her because she was naked. Artist Biff Carlin's interpretation of her on the book's cover may have inspired more than a few impulse purchases.

But while she may not have existed as written -- Ames said she is the conglomeration of three people -- we can thank her for helping to get Ames first book published.

"She was one of the most striking characters in the book," said Stan Bradshaw who edited the book for Greycliff Publishing.

Bradshaw said he was a little hesitant at first about reading yet another manuscript written by a fishing guide, and actually turned the manuscript over to his wife and Greycliff colleague, Glenda.

"Glenda hates reading fishing stuff," Bradshaw said. "She let it fester for a while, but then said, 'You know, this is awfully good ... he's a good storyteller.'"

"True Love and the Woolly Bugger" ended up being one of the top sellers for Greycliff, and according to Ames, has now sold more than 15,000 copies.

Optimism required

At 50 and with "Dances with Sharks" scheduled for an October release date, Ames is content with his "good life wasted." His slower pace gives him time to watch the birds gather at the bird feeder outside his window, time to finish the tree house he's building with his younger son and time to unblock his writer's mind with a short tune on the fiddle.

"I feel lucky," he says. "I came from the '60s and wanted to live a life that's pure and true. I've stayed true to my principles and that's part of my serenity now."

Even though that serenity was threatened on election day -- the day he went in for a physical and found out he had cancer -- Ames is still optimistic about the streams he has yet to fish. And he has a collection of friends who are anticipating more adventures with him.

Recently, John Wilson and many others organized a benefit to help Ames pay medical bills. More than 200 people showed up.

"There was an outpouring by people who love him so much," Wilson said.

Wilson is another one of Ames' buddies who becomes a little tight-lipped when pressed about past adventures.

"I can tell you this," he said, "you're looking at a guy in the middle an amazing journey. He's one of the most intelligent and strongest people I've ever met. And I can't think of anybody I've had more fun with.

"Life has thrown him a number of curve balls, but I've seen him hit a lot of them over the fence," Wilson said.

Ames has been told his cancer is bad, but it is treatable. In addition to hormone therapy and external radiation, Ames will undergo a treatment called brachytherapy, which entails the implantation of radioactive seeds that will attack the cancer from the inside. It could be fortuitous that one of his doctors in Seattle is a fly fisherman and a fan of Ames' books.

But Ames says he doesn't waste a lot of time worrying about it.

"How can you think you'll not be cured? For a fisherman, you have to be optimistic," Ames says.