HI, MY NAME IS… Sam Lee Jackson and I’m a professional novelist.
I’VE LIVED IN PHOENIX FOR 45 YEARS… I moved here October of 1979.
A TYPICAL DAY IN MY LIFE INCLUDES… Writing. I have published 10 action thrillers in the Jackson Blackhawk series (four of which are Amazon bestsellers.) I am currently working on “John Daisy” the third book in a western series, “The Shonto Series.”
MY FAMILY IS… Everything. My wife Carol, our daughter Amanda, our grandkids Lily and Davis, and their father Lance. Family time is precious time.
ONE THING I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT IS… My wife, my daughter and grandkids and coffee. In that order. I don’t mind a scotch at night.
MY FAVORITE MOVIE I COULD NEVER GET TIRED OF WATCHING AND WHY… “Hombre” with Paul Newman and “Jerimiah Johnson” with Robert Redford. I love American Western history, and these movies portray their stories with honesty and accuracy. One movie that impacted me a lot when I was young was “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Even now, when the piano starts at the opening segment I get chills.
WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I WANTED TO BE… As a kid, I wanted to be an Indian living wild and free in the forest. When I matured and read a whole bunch about the native Americans, I realized it was a much tougher life than portrayed in juvenile books. Into my teens I wanted to be a writer. John Steinbeck was my God. I was asked once what the difference was between John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway. To my view, Hemingway wrote about heroes and Steinbeck wrote about the common man.
THE SONG I WOULD SING AT KARAOKE NIGHT IS… Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman.”
THE ONE PERSON WHO MOTIVATES ME IS… My wife Carol and my oldest brother Bill (RIP).
THE LAST THING THAT MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD WAS… My wife telling me of the two blond sisters that went hiking. They came to a river and decided to split up, each one taking a different bank. When the river got rough one sister yelled to the other, “How do I get to the other bank?” Her sister answered, “You are already there!”
THE PERFECT DAY IS… Any day with Carol.
MY FAVORITE LOCAL NONPROFIT IS… Phoenix Children’s Hospital. My grandson Davis had stage four cancer at age four and they saved him.
MY LIFE IS… Perfect despite my age (78) and a couple of physical things that I’m in process of fixing.
THE BEST GIFT I’VE EVER RECEIVED WAS… Carol’s hand in marriage.
MY DREAM VACATION WOULD BE… Two weeks on a houseboat in the Ozarks. Or, a week on a ranch in Montana.
THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE I’VE EVER RECEIVED IS… “Don’t waste time on regrets. Just learn from them and move forward.” The second best was “It doesn’t matter what you want to be, just be the best you can be.” Receiving the notice from Amazon that my novel The Strike of the Black Mamba was the number one thriller in America was a dream come true.
