The newest author to join the Eckhartz Press stable is Doug E. Jones. He has written an incredible novel that takes place in 1974 Chicago, called Take Me Back to Chicago.
The book is available for pre-order now, and will ship in November.
We got a chance recently to discuss it with him.
EP: First of all, your back story is a little different than most of our authors. How did your journey manage to take you from Evanston to Australia and the other exotic locations you lived along the way?
Doug: I always knew I wanted to write simply because I was always writing. Scraps of paper, or up and down my arm, short stories and what I thought were great lines. Writing for TV or the movies seemed like a blast. As luck would have it, I graduated from UCLA and started to pick up production assistant jobs in Hollywood. Jobs you had to work for free until someone deemed you worthy of being paid. I could see the ladder forming. To keep climbing seemed obvious but I knew that once I got started I’d be locked in. So, when a good friend found some cheap around the world plane tickets, I was off to Fiji and New Zealand, and then out of money, working in Sydney, Australia for six months in a variety of odd jobs. On the road with high school friends, every day was a new and now treasured experience. After that, it was India, Nepal, and Thailand, all of which play a role in my first novel, Nowhere To Goa.
EP: I think you are the first TV writer in the Eckhartz Press stable. A few have dabbled, but none were part of a writing staff for a hit television show. Tell us about your days with Charmed.
Doug: So, I started as a production assistant again, but at thirty, and ended up working on a Love Boat reboot for Spelling Television, while Aaron Spelling was still very much in charge. Which was super fun and very interesting. As a P.A. you see a little of everything, while you’re getting everyone coffee, which, thankfully, in the nineties meant that everyone just got coffee, nothing fancy, cream, sugar, that was about it. While making endless photocopies of Love Boat scripts, I got word that Spelling had a new show in the works, with witches, that was just about to shoot a pilot. They needed help. And, well, the Love Boat was barely treading water. I ended up on all 178 episodes of Charmed, from production assistant to getting my first episode on season 4 to getting staffed permanently for the last 2 seasons. A matter of right place, right time, and quickly coming up with something smart to say in limited moments. Needless to say, I loved it.
EP: Who are some of the writers that you admire, whether it’s novels or television writing?
Doug: First of all, I love Tarantino. He writes the movies he wants to see. So, I tried to write a book that I’d want to read, with elements that hold interest to me. Writing a novel is very different from writing for television, the amount of detail, and in some ways harder. Novelists who’ve inspired me include Irving, Vonnegut, and Tom Robbins who wrote one of my favorite books, Jitterbug Perfume.
EP: The thing that grabbed us about Take Me Back To Chicago when we first read it was your grasp of 1974 Chicago. The neighborhoods were a lot different than they are today. Was that lived experience, research, or a combination of the two?
Doug: The internet helps a ton but definitely a combination. I grew up in Evanston, though I did live in Chicago for a very short time, too close to the L, which seemingly ran right through my apartment. Of course, my friends and I ventured into the city quite often in the late 1970s. We took the L to Cub games and got rides to Sox games at old Comiskey Park with the shower in center field and really needing it during a boiling afternoon double header against the Royals. Plus, we tried to hit all the rock concerts around the city when we were in our early teens.
EP: Tickets to the Bozo show are a major plot element. Did you ever get to go to the show or know someone who did?
Doug: In elementary school, we ran home for lunch to watch Bozo. My wife, who I met in 1974, was one of the lucky ones to get tickets, but I never applied. Rumor had it that you could be on the waiting list for years. That whole era of WGN television was amazing. Ray Raynor, Frazier Thomas, and later Donahue. We were so lucky to bear witness.
EP: Like your first novel, Disco Inferno, this new story takes place almost entirely in Chicago. Why do you like writing about this great city of your youth?
Doug: We often hear that you should write what you know, which is true, but I also write what I love. Chicago fits into that. The diverse culture. Incredible skyline. Great food. Huge lake. Tons to do. Day games at the ballpark being at the top of the list.
EP: The Cubs are also a big part of this novel. You obviously are a Cubs fan. Some classic 1970s Cubs make appearances in the pages of your book. Care to tease a few of them and why you chose to write about them?
Doug: I knew that I wanted the story to take place in 1974. In Chicago. I was nine years old at the time. I love the 1970s. The music. The fashion. There’s so much to tap into. I also knew it was going to be a summer novel so I immediately looked up the Cubs roster. See who did what. Rick Monday and Jose Cardenal and Billy Williams, all get shout outs. I was also interested in another player, one of my early baseball heroes, who last played for the Cubs in 1973. Number 8. A lefty like me. Joe Pepitone. So cool with the big sideburns. I had to work him into the story, but all I knew about him was on the back of a baseball card. Pep became a myth as I got older. I wanted to know more. So, I read his book, Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud. Great read. Joe was very honest and forthcoming in detailing his life. I took a nugget and ran with it.
EP: Finally, give us your elevator pitch for this book. You’ve just met a stranger on the street and they want to know what your novel is about. How would you describe it?
Doug: At 26, Rick is a bouncer at clubs and concert venues in 1974 Chicago. He’s also a widow, raising his young daughter. And though his mom has moved into his apartment to help out, his deadbeat dad has just died, leaving him a $50,000 debt to the Irish mob due on the 4th of July.
Take Me Back to Chicago is available for pre-order now. It will ship in November. Keep an eye out for chances to meet Doug in the coming weeks.
Leave a Comment