Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirk Wolgamott.
Hi Kirk, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My grandfather Dan was a prodigious storyteller. Growing up in rural Nebraska I spent innumerable childhood hours spellbound by his tales of the old west and World War I. I went through school to become a lawyer and engage my passion for helping seemingly defenseless people and protecting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. My father Gus was an ardent gun enthusiast; target shooting, sport clay shooting and hunting. Consequently I grew up with a firearm in hand. These three factors coincided to create a particular interest in the Second Amendment, gun violence, gun control and the right to bear arms. So I internally posed the question: What is one avenue that could be taken to change the social, economic and political status quo regarding firearms in America? My novel Shots Fired is a fictionalized possible answer to that question.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Fiction writing has always come easily for me. Over the years I’ve gone through stretches of time where I invent stories and commit some of them to paper. For example, for my three children I always made up bedtime stories that suited their particular interests at the time. So in that regard storytelling has always come easily and smoothly for me. The biggest challenge has been prioritizing the time necessary to write a novel or other book-length piece. I have been an attorney my entire professional life and generally speaking it is a very time-intensive career. In addition to that I have also dedicated time to my family and my leisure time was spent officiating sports, playing golf or reading. This left insufficient time for novel production. My children are now adults, my work has settled into a forty-hour a week routine and I no longer officiate or play golf. I used that leisure time to write Shots Fired.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My day job is as an attorney-adviser for an executive administrative agency within the federal government. However, I spent twenty years as a criminal defense attorney representing individuals accused, and often guilty, of every kind of felony and misdemeanor. This experience brought me into contact with a broad spectrum of people outside the realm of what is generally considered normal society. There are characters within that group that are colorful, dramatic and inspire storytelling. A prime example is one of the feature characters in Shots Fired that is a sex worker who goes by the name of “Perky”. Through Perky’s eyes in the book I try to show how apart from their jobs, strippers, escorts and other members of the adult industry are hard working people. Don’t get me wrong — there are certainly those in the business who have some kind of abusive past, have issues with drugs, alcohol or other questionable decision making. A point that I hope comes out in the story is “don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
In my young professional career a very successful businessman that I looked up to told me that you make your own luck. I have always tried to do that by bringing optimism, enthusiasm and the ability to adjust to setbacks to my life. I am lucky in that I was able to get a good education, become a lawyer, and I’m sure at some level I have benefited from White Privilege. The significant setbacks in my life, like many others, have involved money and the economy. For example my law practice faced financial collapse in the aftermath of 911. My client base, criminal defendants, were all on payment plans and nervous over the meaning and fallout of the attacks. 80% of my client base did not make a payment for two months. This was enough to trigger economic calamity in the firm to the point that I put November’s payroll on my personal credit card. Fortunately the firm was able to withstand the situation and we were back on a firm footing within a year.
Pricing:
- The book is available in both hard copy and digital form. It can be ordered through my website buffalonickel.com, Amazon, Apple Books and several other book sellers.
- Hard copy $21.75
- E-book $9.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.buffalonickelbooks.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010798065879
