I started to write this book hoping that I would be able to show people a little of the other side of firefighting: the side you don't see in movies and television. The side to emergency workers where accidents, fires and deaths come home with you to your own living room. I have to say I started with a little bit of anger, too - anger at the fact that it wasn't immediatly obvious that firefighters are people, and are bound to react to traumatic scenes much the same way other people do. I think I've managed to escape the anger, and that may mean I get to escape the trauma as well. Some time. This blog will talk about my travels with this book, where I find myself, and what I'm doing. Cathartic for me - and hopefully, interesting for anyone who might read it. If you have questions, send them as comments, and I'll answer as best I can. If you have critiques, send them as well - I'll steam for a day or two, but then I'll read them with clear eyes, and I'll learn from them.
Come back anytime.
Russell
- Russell Wangersky
- is a writer whose first collection of short stories, The Hour of Bad Decisions, was nominated for numerous awards including, most notably, the longlist for the 2006 Giller Prize and the shortlist for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. The editor of the St. John’s Telegram in Newfoundland, his columns and editorials appear in newspapers across Canada.
