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Above The Fold - June 28, 2010
JACKSON HARRIS
Decorated Fire Captain
And Promising New Literary Talent
JACKSON HARRIS is a decorated Fire Captain, and twenty eight years of dedication to the fire service has prepared him to give an authentic account of what firefighters go through on a daily basis. He has run numerous calls out of busy firehouses and has worked diligently to achieve the rank of Captain - making many key observations along the way. This enables him to bring realistic points of view - from the inside out - to his debut novel, Fully Involved.
To learn more about Jackson, visit his website at:
BOOK VIDEO TRAILER:
Fully Involved
(Jackson Harris)
Fully Involved
(Jackson Harris)
Official Apex Reviews Interview: Jackson Harris (Fully Involved)
Apex Reviews: Thanks for joining us for this interview, Jackson. We're looking forward to sharing more about your book and other efforts with our readers.
What inspired you to pen this quite engrossing tale of deception and intrigue?
Jackson Harris: When I was promoted to Fire Captain in 2007, I was sent to an extremely busy firehouse which had just experienced the loss of a firefighter in line of duty only a month or so earlier. I was approached by one of the veteran captains at that station and was asked to organize and host an “engine dedication” in the firefighter’s honor. He explained that everyone assigned to that station was still grieving, and with me being new there, was less affected. I had never done anything like this before and was ‘inclined’ to ‘decline,’ but I respected the captain, and being new, wanted to put my best foot forward. One scene from my book was inspired by this ceremony. I told a similar story to the one in the book of going into the future to emphasize the magnitude of this tradition.
The audience loved it and many people approached me afterwards and said that I should write a book. Lucky for me, I was naïve enough to believe them, but more importantly, I believed in myself. I didn’t begin writing right away, but the comments had stuck in the back of my mind, and I eventually sat down and got started. I had written a few poems and skits for church, but nothing of this magnitude.
Part of my nature is to take real life experiences and make them more exciting or humorous in my mind. You know, like, a purse snatcher stealing an unassuming woman’s purse. Only to find out it was empty, outside of a few cosmetics and a SUICIDE NOTE. The would-be thief now has a dilemma, if he still has a conscience.’ You know stuff like that. That’s just the way I think. (Hmm, might have to use that one.)
So the whole book just grew like kudzu. I knew from the beginning where I was going; I just didn’t know how I would get there. My characters helped decide that. I did do one thing on purpose. I tried to write with a constant slant toward the element of surprise without sounding contrived.
AR: What's the significance of the book's title?
JH: The book’s theme is “The love of a family and the love of a family tradition—and what happens when things go horribly wrong!” The title, “Fully Involved” describes this love. Of course it’s a commonly used term used by firefighters describing a structure totally engulfed in flames. But more importantly it describes Nick’s journey from being uninformed and angry over his father’s death, to becoming compassionate and proud of the individual he discovered his father to be. I would also like to think my readers become fully involved in the story.
AR: Are any of the characters based on people you know or have known in real life?
JH: I know very few people as intimately as I know my characters and can’t really draw from them the way I need to. All of my characters are somewhere hidden deep inside me, even Chief Adams and Cutler on some level. This allows me to feel what they feel. It makes them more three dimensional. The women are trickier, but at the end of the day they experience joy and pain just like I do. Of course, appearance, voice and mannerisms are a different thing. I am indeed a people watcher. I also draw from the circumstances other people find themselves in.
AR: What spurs Nick to investigate the circumstances surrounding his father's death in more detail?
JH: After growing up angry about the absence of his mother and father, Nick learned how to suppress his thoughts about them. When we initially met Nick, he had found information on his father’s death, which rekindled the need to know what he thought his grandfather wasn’t telling him. Once he got assigned to the fire station where his father worked, he began to have dreams about his father. Of course, we saw how things started to unfold, (i.e. finding the photograph/conversation with James,) causing even more urgency to find out what happened to his father.
AR: Why does Nick's mother tend to have such a hard time getting people to believe her?
JH: Peggy didn’t think she had a life without David. His death revealed Peggy’s dependency on him, which she substituted with alcohol. In a perfect world her son Nick would have been enough, but the world is hardly perfect. She represents those of us who loses in life and never fully recovers. She becomes a shell of the woman she once was. With alcoholism, dementia and an unverifiable story going against her, she is rarely taken seriously. Peggy was the most difficult character to write. My heart ached for her.
AR: As proud as he is of his family, why does James appear to block the closure they so desperately seek - and need?
JH: James knows the real world, and in the real world sometimes you have to set priorities. He thought he was protecting his family by giving in to the diabolical George Cutler. With Cutlers’ mob connections and the fact that James had been given a second chance to be a father, he couldn’t take a chance on losing Nick too. Over time, self-pride replaced the death threat, and once Marie was diagnosed with cancer there was no way he was coming forward. She had suffered enough.
AR: What kinds of reactions have readers had to the book thus far?
JH: One of my good firefighter friends called me one day and said, “I’m mad at you.” When I asked why he said, “You got me in trouble with my wife. I had a honey-do list today and didn’t do damn thing. I bought your book online and started reading it last night. I couldn’t put the damn thing down.”
Then there’s the jokes that is indicative of firefighters - “You wrote a book, I didn’t think you could even read!”
One of my favorite comments came from a female friend: “This isn’t a firefighter story. It’s a great story that just happens to take place at the fire department.”
The reactions have been extremely positive.
AR: Is there a central message that you'd like readers to take away from the story?
JH: As my beloved character Peggy says: “Karma is a fact of life.”
AR: Is there a sequel in the works?
JH: Sort of. I have a great premise for a sequel. Not sure there will be enough of a story to sustain a novel though. “Fully Involved” covered fifty years. I’m torn between this and something entirely new. I do want to do at least one more firefighter novel before possibly branching out. But if it catches on I’ll stay with that genre.
AR: How has your publishing experience been thus far with CreateSpace?
JH: CreateSpace has been phenomenal! I tried sending out manuscripts to traditional publishers, only to be rejected. I know the rejection letters have nothing to do with the quality of my work and have found the industry as a whole to have a look down their nose attitude when it comes to first time novelist. Fortunately there are entities like CreateSpace and Apex Reviews that offer an affordable alternative and allow deserving first-time writers to publish and profile their work. The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, of which CreateSpace is a sponsor, will hopefully help me get noticed.
AR: What are your future writing/publishing aspirations?
JH: A publishing contract would be awesome. Long term, I’d like to do for the firefighter novel what John Gresham has done for the courtroom drama. Ultimately, I want to continue to enjoy my newfound passion and hopefully make a difference in someone’s life.
AR: In addition to being an author, you're also a decorated fire captain. Please share more with our readers about your endeavors in that field.
JH: I worked in the capacity of firefighter for twenty eight years before retiring a little over a year ago. I’ve had far too many highlights (and lowlights,) to mention them all, but there is a few that stand out. In 1983 I was injured in a mercantile fire, but received a medal of valor for what they called a daring rescue. I merely saw it as doing my job.
A few years back, my company responded to a house fire in which a twelve year old boy died. The house had an add-on room at the rear of the house behind the kitchen. The fire erupted in the kitchen, separating the boy from rest of the family. The family had just moved into town and was renting the house. The father had just lost his job. My entire crew got choked up. We invited the family to a special dinner at the firehouse and took up donations throughout the department. Last I heard someone was working on getting the young father a job with the fire department.
On a lighter note, my station was recognized for putting on an annual charity Christmas dinner in an underprivileged community. Somebody from HGTV read an article about it and decided to thank us by doing a firehouse makeover. I was one of the main participants in Deserving Design’s Christmas edition, hosted by Vern Yip. That was fun.
Although retired, I continue to work in seasonal capacity as the coordinator of the fire cadet program in the city of Atlanta.
AR: How can our readers learn more about you and your ongoing efforts?
JH: You can communicate with me on my Facebook Fully Involved: A Firefighter Story fan page. There will be updated posts on the progress of “Fully Involved” and my other endeavors. Also check out my e-store at https://www.createspace.com/3393724
AR: Any final thoughts you'd like to share?
JH: I definitely want to say thank you Apex Reviews for providing this forum, and thanks to the many readers who took out time to check me out.
AR: Thanks again, Jackson, and best of continued success to you in all your endeavors!
Apex Reviews: Thanks for joining us for this interview, Jackson. We're looking forward to sharing more about your book and other efforts with our readers.
What inspired you to pen this quite engrossing tale of deception and intrigue?
Jackson Harris: When I was promoted to Fire Captain in 2007, I was sent to an extremely busy firehouse which had just experienced the loss of a firefighter in line of duty only a month or so earlier. I was approached by one of the veteran captains at that station and was asked to organize and host an “engine dedication” in the firefighter’s honor. He explained that everyone assigned to that station was still grieving, and with me being new there, was less affected. I had never done anything like this before and was ‘inclined’ to ‘decline,’ but I respected the captain, and being new, wanted to put my best foot forward. One scene from my book was inspired by this ceremony. I told a similar story to the one in the book of going into the future to emphasize the magnitude of this tradition.
The audience loved it and many people approached me afterwards and said that I should write a book. Lucky for me, I was naïve enough to believe them, but more importantly, I believed in myself. I didn’t begin writing right away, but the comments had stuck in the back of my mind, and I eventually sat down and got started. I had written a few poems and skits for church, but nothing of this magnitude.
Part of my nature is to take real life experiences and make them more exciting or humorous in my mind. You know, like, a purse snatcher stealing an unassuming woman’s purse. Only to find out it was empty, outside of a few cosmetics and a SUICIDE NOTE. The would-be thief now has a dilemma, if he still has a conscience.’ You know stuff like that. That’s just the way I think. (Hmm, might have to use that one.)
So the whole book just grew like kudzu. I knew from the beginning where I was going; I just didn’t know how I would get there. My characters helped decide that. I did do one thing on purpose. I tried to write with a constant slant toward the element of surprise without sounding contrived.
AR: What's the significance of the book's title?
JH: The book’s theme is “The love of a family and the love of a family tradition—and what happens when things go horribly wrong!” The title, “Fully Involved” describes this love. Of course it’s a commonly used term used by firefighters describing a structure totally engulfed in flames. But more importantly it describes Nick’s journey from being uninformed and angry over his father’s death, to becoming compassionate and proud of the individual he discovered his father to be. I would also like to think my readers become fully involved in the story.
AR: Are any of the characters based on people you know or have known in real life?
JH: I know very few people as intimately as I know my characters and can’t really draw from them the way I need to. All of my characters are somewhere hidden deep inside me, even Chief Adams and Cutler on some level. This allows me to feel what they feel. It makes them more three dimensional. The women are trickier, but at the end of the day they experience joy and pain just like I do. Of course, appearance, voice and mannerisms are a different thing. I am indeed a people watcher. I also draw from the circumstances other people find themselves in.
AR: What spurs Nick to investigate the circumstances surrounding his father's death in more detail?
JH: After growing up angry about the absence of his mother and father, Nick learned how to suppress his thoughts about them. When we initially met Nick, he had found information on his father’s death, which rekindled the need to know what he thought his grandfather wasn’t telling him. Once he got assigned to the fire station where his father worked, he began to have dreams about his father. Of course, we saw how things started to unfold, (i.e. finding the photograph/conversation with James,) causing even more urgency to find out what happened to his father.
AR: Why does Nick's mother tend to have such a hard time getting people to believe her?
JH: Peggy didn’t think she had a life without David. His death revealed Peggy’s dependency on him, which she substituted with alcohol. In a perfect world her son Nick would have been enough, but the world is hardly perfect. She represents those of us who loses in life and never fully recovers. She becomes a shell of the woman she once was. With alcoholism, dementia and an unverifiable story going against her, she is rarely taken seriously. Peggy was the most difficult character to write. My heart ached for her.
AR: As proud as he is of his family, why does James appear to block the closure they so desperately seek - and need?
JH: James knows the real world, and in the real world sometimes you have to set priorities. He thought he was protecting his family by giving in to the diabolical George Cutler. With Cutlers’ mob connections and the fact that James had been given a second chance to be a father, he couldn’t take a chance on losing Nick too. Over time, self-pride replaced the death threat, and once Marie was diagnosed with cancer there was no way he was coming forward. She had suffered enough.
AR: What kinds of reactions have readers had to the book thus far?
JH: One of my good firefighter friends called me one day and said, “I’m mad at you.” When I asked why he said, “You got me in trouble with my wife. I had a honey-do list today and didn’t do damn thing. I bought your book online and started reading it last night. I couldn’t put the damn thing down.”
Then there’s the jokes that is indicative of firefighters - “You wrote a book, I didn’t think you could even read!”
One of my favorite comments came from a female friend: “This isn’t a firefighter story. It’s a great story that just happens to take place at the fire department.”
The reactions have been extremely positive.
AR: Is there a central message that you'd like readers to take away from the story?
JH: As my beloved character Peggy says: “Karma is a fact of life.”
AR: Is there a sequel in the works?
JH: Sort of. I have a great premise for a sequel. Not sure there will be enough of a story to sustain a novel though. “Fully Involved” covered fifty years. I’m torn between this and something entirely new. I do want to do at least one more firefighter novel before possibly branching out. But if it catches on I’ll stay with that genre.
AR: How has your publishing experience been thus far with CreateSpace?
JH: CreateSpace has been phenomenal! I tried sending out manuscripts to traditional publishers, only to be rejected. I know the rejection letters have nothing to do with the quality of my work and have found the industry as a whole to have a look down their nose attitude when it comes to first time novelist. Fortunately there are entities like CreateSpace and Apex Reviews that offer an affordable alternative and allow deserving first-time writers to publish and profile their work. The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, of which CreateSpace is a sponsor, will hopefully help me get noticed.
AR: What are your future writing/publishing aspirations?
JH: A publishing contract would be awesome. Long term, I’d like to do for the firefighter novel what John Gresham has done for the courtroom drama. Ultimately, I want to continue to enjoy my newfound passion and hopefully make a difference in someone’s life.
AR: In addition to being an author, you're also a decorated fire captain. Please share more with our readers about your endeavors in that field.
JH: I worked in the capacity of firefighter for twenty eight years before retiring a little over a year ago. I’ve had far too many highlights (and lowlights,) to mention them all, but there is a few that stand out. In 1983 I was injured in a mercantile fire, but received a medal of valor for what they called a daring rescue. I merely saw it as doing my job.
A few years back, my company responded to a house fire in which a twelve year old boy died. The house had an add-on room at the rear of the house behind the kitchen. The fire erupted in the kitchen, separating the boy from rest of the family. The family had just moved into town and was renting the house. The father had just lost his job. My entire crew got choked up. We invited the family to a special dinner at the firehouse and took up donations throughout the department. Last I heard someone was working on getting the young father a job with the fire department.
On a lighter note, my station was recognized for putting on an annual charity Christmas dinner in an underprivileged community. Somebody from HGTV read an article about it and decided to thank us by doing a firehouse makeover. I was one of the main participants in Deserving Design’s Christmas edition, hosted by Vern Yip. That was fun.
Although retired, I continue to work in seasonal capacity as the coordinator of the fire cadet program in the city of Atlanta.
AR: How can our readers learn more about you and your ongoing efforts?
JH: You can communicate with me on my Facebook Fully Involved: A Firefighter Story fan page. There will be updated posts on the progress of “Fully Involved” and my other endeavors. Also check out my e-store at https://www.createspace.com/3393724
AR: Any final thoughts you'd like to share?
JH: I definitely want to say thank you Apex Reviews for providing this forum, and thanks to the many readers who took out time to check me out.
AR: Thanks again, Jackson, and best of continued success to you in all your endeavors!