We were lucky to catch up with Jeff Shaw recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jeff thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I struggled in my high school English classes. I never expected to need the simple things, like grammar. Then as a police recruit, I realized just how little I knew about writing correctly. I had always been an avid reader, so that helped. In writing police reports, I wanted to be the best, after all, attorneys and judges would be reading my reports. After retiring, I began writing some of my more memorable experiences so one day, my kids could understand what I did in my career. Those memories became my memoir, and that journey took 15 years. During those years, I had to add emotion to those stories, it was hard, as I was in effect reliving some horrible events that still affect me today.
Now I write crime novels and short stories. My goal is to one day feel like I am successful, and from what I hear, an author never feels he has done his best.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was a loner in school, today we call it being an introvert. I had wanted to be a pilot and fly for an airline. I did get my license, but at the time, the job market was flooded with pilots coming home from Vietnam, so I ended up applying to be a police officer. Law enforcement cured me of feeling socially awkward. As a young single man, I often found myself inside someone’s home, a couple with teenage kids having marital problems, even domestic violence and having to help them, through something traumatic.
I went to work each day wanting three things, to do the right thing, help someone, and not sully my profession.

Now as an author, I find myself slipping back into the introvert I was before. Writing by its nature, is a lonely profession, until you need to go outdoors and try and promote your work. It’s difficult for me, I suffer what’s known as ‘The Imposter Syndrome.’ But I get out there, put my best face on and introduce people to my characters.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I first started writing my memoir, I chose a story of a young teenager’s suicide. It was a gut-wrenching call, but at the time, I was used to dealing with death. But five years after retiring, I found myself vulnerable and it was a hard story to write. That story and many of the others often left me weeping at the keyboard. I shared that story with a few of my coworkers and found they too suffered nightmares from what we were all exposed to.
I met a woman who would become my editor and mentor and she encouraged me to write my stories to accomplish several things; a cathartic experience for myself, to let my coworkers know that they aren’t suffering alone, and for family members to understand what their son/husband/wife or parent has experienced. Trust me, being a cop is not what most people think it is.
So here I am today, I think writing that memoir has made me a better person, and I found a new passion, creative writing.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As I began to think about marketing my memoir, I found that hundreds, or thousands of retiring officers were writing memoirs. and most weren’t selling. But I persevered and self-published it in 2020. Secretly I was praying to get at least 10 reviews on Amazon, and I wanted one of them to be a positive review from a stranger.
It’s a difficult thing to do, to put your life down on paper and hand it out to strangers knowing they would judge you. Imagine a mom with a newborn showing off her baby to friends and neighbors. ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’ Secretly you pray that they won’t rip you to shreds.
So, it didn’t take long to get that 5-star review from a stranger, and I do feel that my baby is beautiful. I’ve sold thousands of my memoirs, and it’s the personal comments I still get, telling me they will never look at a cop the same, and thanking me for my service.
Now, I allow my work experiences to fuel my creative writing, and to hear someone praise my work is often the best part of my day.

Contact Info:

• Website: JshawWrites.com
• Instagram: Jeff Shaw Writes
• Facebook: Jeff Shaw Writes
• Twitter: @jshaw_six
• Other: My books are available on Amazon, BN.com and can be ordered at any local bookstore. Who I Am: The Man Behind the Badge Lieutenant Trufant LeAnn and the Clean Man Broken (coming soon) Echo Six (coming in July 2024)

Image Credits
My headshot photographer is Crystal Mynes Newgen. I have all the rights to this picture. My wife took the picture of me in uniform. The books were done through various designers with Fivver. I do have the rights.