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Bestselling Author Earl Emerson Rob Holden: Earl Emerson, welcome to ReadersRoom.com. It is a pleasure to have you with us here today! Earl Emerson: My pleasure, too. Rob Holden: I would like to start this chat off talking about your latest Book, Pyro. Can you tell our readers a bit about it? Earl Emerson: Pyro was inspired by two items in my recent and distant past. One was the experience of fighting fires for the Seattle Fire Department that were set by a serial arsonist named Paul Keller. He was a sad sack kind of guy who kept us jumping for nine months back in '93. A couple of years later I ran into John Orr, also a serial arsonist. John hadn't been arrested yet. He attended one of my signings and went outside and set a fire. He bought a book from me so I can only speculate what he used to start the fire. I thought these two were weird enough to base a book around. Rob Holden: And so the arsonist in Pyro is based on two people that you actually dealt with? Earl Emerson: Absolutely. I met one and fought fires set by the other. Orr was interesting. He was very keen on being taken seriously. Rob Holden: Did you interview Orr after you met him at the book signing? Earl Emerson: I did not. I was interviewed by ATF. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They questioned me because I was in his journal. He said I gave him a book and took him out to dinner. Why kind of guy lies in his own journal? Rob Holden: Somebody I do NOT want to meet! I would like to ask about the main character in the novel, Paul Wollf. He is not your "typical" kind of hero. Could you tell us a bit about his evolution?

Earl Emerson: Wollf is my second anti-hero. A guy who might not be that pleasant to be around. He has some serious problems with his past, in that he saw his mother murdered and participated in the slaying of her killer when he was 10 years old. I've long been fascinated by the way so many children in our society are exposed to violence and what it might do to them. Wolff's mother's death is taken from a murder that happened about a mile from my house.

Rob Holden: Any possibility that he will show up in another novel? He really is a fascinating character.

Earl Emerson: Probably not. I'm all over the map with main characters these days. I like it that way. The man I'm writing about now, however, has some similarities with Paul. Also in the fire department. Also with a harrowing past that haunts him. I like that theme. It fits so many of us in today's society.

Rob Holden: Pyro is currently out in hardcover from Ballantine, I believe. I would like to jump back a book to Into the Inferno -- currently out in paperback. Could you tell us a bit about that novel?

Earl Emerson: It is a firefighter's worst nightmare. You go to what looks like an ordinary truck accident but there's a chemical spill involved. You get contaminated but nobody will tell you what you've been contaminated with. This has happened in the SFD several times and I was there for one of them. In the book, Jim Swope has seven days to figure out what he's got and how to get rid of it. After that, he goes brain dead. It's a horrible thought, but then, his father is in a nursing home in essentially that condition. Funny, that a lot of us get old and go there. I paint it as hell on earth in the book, but it's all around us.

Rob Holden: Unlike most of the authors we interview here, you also have a fulltime job as a firefighter with the Seattle Fire Department. How do you manage to mix what are, essentially, two full time careers?

Earl Emerson: It isn't easy. In recent years, it's gotten harder and harder. The SFD wears you out. Lots of alarms. Lots of classes. Two nights ago I was up until 1:30 a.m. fighting a fire in a parking garage. And my books are harder and harder to write. Probably because I'm posing larger and larger problems for myself with each one. I think the payoffs are in the stories, though. Mostly what gets me through this is focus and my wife. I think I'm sliding off the treadmill, too. This next book may be two years in the making instead of one. We'll see.

Natalie R. Collins: Do you think the time will come when you cannot handle both careers? Both of which, by the way, are extremely demanding.

Earl Emerson: The time is rapidly approaching. I'm going to stave it off as long as possible, though. I really like the SFD. The men and women I work with are so terrific. It's a special club and there's no way to get back inside once you leave. I've seen others try. It never works.

Natalie R. Collins: So leaving would be the final decision, and you must make sure it's right.

Earl Emerson: Right. It's almost impossible to go back. Once you're retired, you're out. And, harsh as it may seem, it's as if you've died to those still working. Sure, they know you and chat but that special bond is broken and everybody knows it.

Rob Holden: I'm just wondering -- with the two careers -- are you able to do any touring in support of your books?

Earl Emerson: I usually tour on my vacation time. This year, for the first time, it came pretty close to breaking me. What it means is that when I go back to the firehouse from vacation, instead of being refreshed, I'm exhausted. It really hurt this time. I'm not sure how much longer I can do it. In fact, I'm thinking of cutting short next year's tour. Next year's book is called The Smoke Room and I don't think it really lends itself to touring as much as these first three stand-alones did.

Rob Holden: Earl, since we announced this chat we have had a number of questions from our readers. Would you answer a few of them for us now?

Earl Emerson: Sure.

ReadersRoom: Randy M., Orlando, FL.: Is the character John Finney in Vertical Burn inspired by anyone you know? Do your fellow firefighters look for themselves as characters in your novels?

Earl Emerson: Finney is a composite. I wanted him to be an anti-hero much like Swope, Wollf and the guy in The Smoke Room but my agents talked me into making him a sterling hero. I regret it to this day. My fellow firefighters are always begging me to put them in a book. They don't care what I do with them, but they want to be famous. The ones who've made it in, always fictitiously, aren't always pleased with the portrait, though.

ReadersRoom: Emily C., E. Lansing, MI: Is it true that Leonard Orr is a parttime fan of yours? Besides Orr's attention, what is the most exciting thing that has happened at a book signing?

Earl Emerson: Do you mean John Orr? I don't know if he's a fan or not. I know years ago somebody told me my books were quite popular in the King County Jail. The most interesting thing that happened at a book signing? Hard to say. Running into friends I haven't seen in 30 years is always great. Once the father and three grown children my wife and I used to babysit showed up. I hadn't seen them since they were in grade school and they were all in college.

ReadersRoom: Paul, Milwaulkee, WI: Mr. Emerson, I loved the Thomas Black series. Do you think you will be writing any more of those?

Earl Emerson: I've been saying yes to that but now I'm saying probably not. I think a number of people have delayed reading my stand-alones because they're holding out for another Black. I might write them again, but not in the foreseeable future.

ReadersRoom: Lex F., Falls Church, VA: Before I read one of your books, I heard that you were a true "storyteller." Do your books come in audio and do you do the reading?

Earl Emerson: They come in audio but I don't read them. I'm not sure which titles are available right now. I'm not a big fan of audio, although I know a lot of professional drivers rely on them.

Rob Holden: And our final reader's question ...

ReadersRoom: Bill H., Winslow, AZ: I am envious of your dual career. What is your single favorite aspect of each job? What one special thing would you like to do just for yourself in the next ten years?

Earl Emerson: A good day of writing or even half an hour creating a special paragraph gives me endless satisfaction. I also like hearing from readers when they tell me how much my work means to them. That really means a lot. Writers get so little daily feedback. In the fire department, my favorite part is the repartee around the station and on calls. And the jokes. Most of the jokes, though, are so IN that it's hard to relate them. I try in my books. What I would like to do for myself? Four months skiing at altitude with no cares or worries other than skiing, sleeping, and eating.

Rob Holden: Thanks for answering those. I would like to follow up one of those questions and ask why you stopped the Thomas Black series, when it was doing so well?

Earl Emerson: I couldn't keep writing Thomas Black and expand with the stand-alones. It takes too long to write a book. It was a calculated gamble that the stand-alones would appeal to my readers and also to new readers. It was also a calculated gamble that I would still like the work. I find the stand-alones much more challenging and more difficult to complete, but I also truly believe they're better books than my mysteries were.

Natalie R. Collins: To change the subject a bit, how have you seen the business of publishing change from the beginning of your career until the present time?

Earl Emerson: Publishing is going to hell in a handbasket. No published author I know disputes this. Conglomerates whose bottom line is the almighty dollar are ruining what used to be a business people got into because they loved books and reading. The readers' choices are vanishing. Look at any airport rack and see how many choices you have compared to 15 years ago. It's dismal. Publishers would much rather publish a million copies of one book by one author, than a million copies all told of a hundred authors. Whose loss is that? Everybody's. We keep thinking that the Internet or online books or something will come along and take up the slack, but so far I don't really see it happening. It is practically impossible for new authors to get published these days.

Rob Holden: One of the questions that our readers who are also writers like us to ask is about our guests' writing habits and schedules. In your case, this would probably be best asked as: When do you find TIME to write?

Earl Emerson: I like to write as early as possible. I try to make it to the computer by 8:00. I write until 11:30 or so and have lunch, then nap, then write for a couple more hours. Ideally, I'll get out of the house for a workout by 4:00. Sometimes by 2:30 or 3:00. On a rainy day I may work straight through until 6:00. The discipline is the hardest part of being a writer and for me, it gets harder every year. I don't know if that's because I have so many distractions, or what. Also, I guess what I forgot to say was that in the SFD we work two 24-hour shifts every eight days. I work eight days a month and get 22 off. That gives me the time.

Rob Holden: You mentioned earlier that you are working on a new novel. Can you tell us anything about that, or would you prefer to keep it under wraps?

Earl Emerson: The Smoke Room is finished and coming out next July. It's a noir about a young firefighter, green around the gills, who makes a bad call at the beginning of the story, involving sex, and gets sucked into a maelstrom of greed and theft because of it. Currently, I'm plotting a large novel using the same technique of revolving first person chapters I used in Pyro. It seemed to work quite well. Quite a few people have commented on it.

Rob Holden: Before we wrap this up, I would like to thank Marie Coolman at Ballantine Books for all her help in making this chat happen. And your fans can find out more about what is going on with you at your website. Could you give us the address?

Earl Emerson:www.earlemerson.com

Rob Holden: Finally, is there anything you would like to say to your fans who might read this chat at ReadersRoom.com?

Earl Emerson: Keep reading. Support bookstores and especially libraries. The printed word, fiction or not, is the most important thing we have in a democracy.

Rob Holden: Earl Emerson, thanks for joining us here today, and best of luck with Pyro and all your future endeavors!

Earl Emerson: Thank you.




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