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[Today’s Spotlight is on Chicago Writers Association member J.D. Gordon]

It is every time that I look at something of mine that some misguided nut out there decided to print that I’m amazed. I never intended to get into writing as a career or even a hobby really. It was just something that I fell into, literally.

I fell off of a train several years goes and busted up my knee pretty bad. I was a professional firefighter/paramedic back in those days and considering the nature of the job, I was to be off of work for quite sometime. Outside of the most excellent pain medicines, the nightly pizza and gallon of ice cream to stave off depression, I really didn’t have much going on. I had always been an avid reader but never dreamed of writing. Until I was visiting my shift mates at the fire department and I was asked what I was going to do with all of my time away, besides being depressed and ingesting copious amounts of medicine, both the pharmaceutical kind and the culinary kind.

“Maybe I’ll write a book.” I did make the comment with a humorous edge. I wasn’t serious, until challenged.

“You don’t even use lower case letters for your run reports” (why waste time hitting the shift key?)

“You don’t even use punctuation in your run reports!” ( I often wondered what those extra keys along side the letters were.)

“You don’t even write your run reports!” (That’s true to, once I made it past rookie I handed that job off ASAP)

Well, the gauntlet was there, I picked it up and 4 months later some quack from 1stBooks Library was lining me up in his sites. He was right on target. I had no knowledge of the lit biz. I hooked up with that vanity publisher and in a couple more months I had a hot little copy of ISLAND BOUND in my hands.

I learned quite a bit in that venture and actually met the folks that would eventually publish CARIBBEAN CALLING. My second book in what I plan to be a three book series around the Caribbean adventures of a Midwestern firefighter named Eddie Gilbert.

I recalled someone, somewhere saying that one should write what one knows. I had always been a big fan of the Caribbean, warm weather and Jimmy Buffett so I went with the tropical flavor. I was firefighter, well, so is Eddie. I tended to read action adventure so I figured Eddie a pretty wild ride ahead of him.

I am always asked, and I wonder myself, what the difference is between action adventure and mystery. Prior to CARIBBEAN CALLING hitting the shelves it was reviewed, mostly, by organizations that considered themselves dedicated to the mystery writers. Perhaps it is simply the amount lead and explosives tossed around in my writing compared to true blue mystery writing people?

As of right now I am still writing but I will never set foot into another burning building. Yeah I know, I make that sound like a bad thing right? Well firefighting was my first love.

About two or three years ago I was injured in the line of duty. I went through a brutal year of surgery and rehabilitation. In the end, I had to retire. They kicked me out with the rest of the broken down and old firefighters. I now write news, community news and I am still writing books. The third Eddie book is to be released at the end of the year. That one is titled PIRATE’S FALL and I will not be holding my breath on a prompt release. It hasn’t happened yet. My publisher by the way, get this, is Red Engine Press. Which originally suited me just fine. Nowadays I’m getting a little tired of everyone asking me if I own the company. The red engine folks? Its a train, not a fire engine. Go figure… .

As for the future, time will tell.

I’m off to go write again, prolly chase the kids around. They won’t be little forever, the writing could wait.

Jimmy