Last summer, I took an online course with Jim Jackson this summer and was impressed by his in-depth coverage of the art of revising a fiction manuscript and by his sense of humor. Welcome, Jim!

NG: Has any book changed your life or how you think about the world?

JJ: Yes. Oh, I suppose you want details. The reading list I have maintained since the beginning of high school shows I have read 2,854 books. Many have expanded my knowledge or changed my understanding of people and the world. I read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle in college. Although it’s fiction, it augmented my experiences assisting VISTA volunteers in Western New York State migrant camps. I came to understand that capitalism, left unchecked, leads to results that benefit the wealthy at the expense of society. Corporations require a strong government to balance their desire for profit with larger society needs (like clean air and water, safe products, reasonable wages, etc.). Citizens, in turn, must make strong government accountable through non-gerrymandered elections.

My social liberalism combined with fiscal conservativism means I haven’t had a lot to cheer about in decades. Much of what drives my series protagonist, Seamus McCree, to action is his outrage at those individuals, groups, companies, and governments that abuse their power. He might have read The Jungle too.

NG: Love that last answer, Jim! You have a home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, as well as one in Madison, Wisconsin. One place is rural, the other is a city. What is your favorite thing about each?

JJ: My favorite thing about Madison is the possibility of “culture”: concerts, theater, and such. I say possibility because we’ve lived there mostly under Covid and have had little opportunity to enjoy the arts.

My love is our place in the Upper Peninsula. However, rural does not do it justice: we are fifteen miles from where you can buy anything, and the nearest legal resident (as opposed to those who own property here, but vote elsewhere) is over five miles away. Picking a favorite thing is hard, but sitting at the edge of our lake with a book and a glass of wine and hearing no human sound is very special for me. I’ve attached a picture of the lake during fall colors.

NG: From your Facebook photos, I know you recently took a trip to Iceland. What made you decide to travel there? Do you have a favorite photo to share with us?

JJ? Jan, my life partner of nearly thirty years, and I love traveling in nature. Recently, we’ve used bird tours as the mechanism to get us outside in interesting places. This year, with Covid still raging in its various forms, I thought the perfect situation would be a cruise in which everyone entered “Covid-free” and abided by strong masking protocols. The only stops were in remote places where we spent most of our time outdoors.

Jan had always wanted to experience fiords, and I found a small-ship excursion that spent time in Iceland and Greenland, which has wonderful fiords. Picking a favorite photograph (of the several thousand I took) is as tough as choosing a single influential book. However, one peak experience on the trip was sharing a cove created by icebergs with a pod of humpback whales. While in a small boat, we watched them feed for a half hour. One swam directly under our boat. Jan is sure we humans were as entertaining to the whales as they were to us. Here’s one of the whale’s flukes dripping water.

NG: What are your hobbies?

JJ: Jan correctly says I have serial hobbies. While other interests ebb and flow, two have remained constant. I love to read, and I love to watch birds. Over time, my reading habits have shifted from 50/50 fiction/nonfiction to primarily fiction. And while I chased after birds to expand my life list, I now enjoy watching robins feeding in the yard as much as searching my woods for a rare migrant.

NG: Your seven-book mystery series features Seamus McCree, a private detective dealing with financial crimes. In Seamus’ latest adventure, Granite Oath, we quickly learn that he cares deeply about keeping his promises. What’s one Seamus trait you wish you had, but don’t?

JJ: Seamus has (and my father had) the ability to ask questions and listen to the answers in a way that allows him to discover ways to connect with that person’s experiences. It’s a skill I have been trying to develop, but still have a lot to learn.

NG: You gave the revision class a terrific handout on how to use an editing tool called ProWritingAid. I understand you also use other writing tools such as Aeon Timeline and Dragon Dictation software. If you could keep only one of these tools, which one would it be? Why?

JJ: I use ProWritingAid all the time as a first-line defense against my suboptimal writing preferences. It’s not perfect, but it does a good job checking grammar and highlighting possible style improvements. Left to my own devices, I can write convoluted passive sentences and think they are crystal clear. ProWritingAid shows me they are not.

NG: Your blog, “My Two Cents Worth,” shares your ideas about writing and your thoughts on politics and finance. Do you have a financial tip for us to help deal with inflation?

JJ: With the Fed raising interest rates, it now pays to shop around for savings rates. Some traditional banks continue to offer .01%-.02% interest on your money, while some online banks offer 2% interest. On $10,000 of savings, the difference is $200 or more a year. It’s worth our time to shop around.

Click to purchase Granite Oath

Tell us more about your sense of humor. Was your family funny? Who are your comedic favorites?

I’m actually not a big comedy guy. Rarely like it in movies, find standup routines uncomfortable to sit through. But I like literary wit, I think. Douglas Adams is my patron saint as far as that goes. 

Plus, it’s probably a defense mechanism. The moment I start taking something too seriously, I stop sounding like myself. That means I’ve lost perspective (not saying this is true, just how I feel). I always assume that if you could know every truth about life, could see it all, your reaction would be to laugh. Maybe a sad laugh, maybe a hysterical one, maybe even a joyful one (though I doubt the last), but definitely a laugh. So, if there’s a God, he’s probably an ineffectual one because he’s too busy rolling on the floor trying to catch his breath between the thunder of laughter.