Local resident, Pam Egbert, has been writing books since she first started on her computer that was green screen and everything was saved on disks. Her first book, The Silver Heart, was all saved on disks and when she brought the manuscript back out of her file cabinet they had to retype it from the hard copy. No one had the equipment to download the files off the floppy disks. So, she had her office assistant come in and start typing, while she worked on other projects she had to do for other clients.
Before The Silver Heart was published Egbert took back her pen name for her books, Samantha Sheridan. Her children’s book, Galon the Northern Pintail Duck, had a stalker on her Facebook Messenger and she made the decision to use a pen name for the rest of her books. Many authors use pen names so they can keep their private life separate from their public life.
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Pam’s new book, Smoky Mountains Romance, was started after she went to a Lima Memorial Hospital banquet in which Randolph Mantooth was speaking about his time playing John Gage on the television show, Emergency. The banquet was for the paramedics, fire fighters and police officers in the surrounding area. Lima Memorial brought in someone who would be of interest to the rescue personnel and someone they could ask questions of the guest speaker. Mantooth also autographed pictures and took pictures with the attendees.
“Emergency” took place in the 70’s and Mantooth revealed they did most of their own stunts and they had to take classes to be on the show as paramedics. After the show ended Randolph told the group he was offered a job with the Los Angeles Fire Department as a paramedic, because of his training for the show.
“Listening to him inspired me” Pam said. Randolph Mantooth told the story of a little boy who was injured, and the Fire Department Captain told the little boy he would stay with him until he went to the hospital. Just that little bit of compassion made a big difference to the little boy. He was no longer scared and afraid
“Mantooth was doing a ride along for his part of the tv show,” Egbert added.
A few days later, Pam put down the book she had been working on and started a new book. She had been to the Smoky Mountains hundreds of times and she wanted to make that area the backdrop of the book in the Smokies. Because of copyright rules she could not use the character’s names from the television series, so she only used Mantooth’s first name in the show, John. She then changed the last name to Tate.
Pam had watched the show as a kid and loved the show. Luckily, Emergency was showing on the cable station, so she watched a few episodes to get herself in the right frame of mind to pick up on the paramedic end of the story. Then, Pam had to figure out how she was going to add in the love interest for John Tate and not have her be a nurse like the women in the tv series. Pam decided to put her in a hospital setting, making her the director of the promotions and events. Pam knew she could create situations where they would run into one another, and eventually fall in love.
There are so many Emergency fans out there and Pam added little tidbits in for them. Pam put in some things from the television show, like Station 51. One of the characters is exactly like Chet on the show. “If my book was being written from a speech by Randolph Mantooth she wanted to find a way to incorporate it in her book without it infringing on copyright laws,” Egbert stated.
Many authors set up an outline for their book before they write the book, so they know what direction the book is going. They know where their book is going before they ever put one word on the page and know the ending. Pam has stated “from the start she writes with her heart”. Pam starts the first word and lets the story and characters determine where the book is going.
“I have to admit most of the time I am writing I am listening to music while I write,” suggested Pam. Pam continued, “songs put me in the mood to write and I can feel the music as I am traveling the path with the characters in my book. Also, my books seem to take a life of their own.” “I want the book to decide the direction, not me. It may sound odd but it works for me. I guess it is like a song writer who lets the music take them on the path to the end.”
This time Egbert had to ask for help because she didn’t know much about being a fire fighter or a paramedic. She wants to make things in the book as real as can be with the correct terminology and procedures. Derek Stitzel, paramedic for Sidney Fire Department and Jason Wright, Jackson Center fire fighter were her sources when she had a situation where she needed more information.
Pam has known Jason for years and Derek is the husband of my assistant so I could send my questions to Jessica and she would get the information to me or Pam talks to Derek directly. “I feel very blessed to have people in my lives who can help me with my books,” Pam explained.
“Jessica has been working for me off and on for years and she worked on my first romance book, “The Silver Heart”. She would do the editing corrections sent to us from my editor in Canada. It was a long process, and Jess was so great through it. She is invaluable to me in the office.”
Smoky Mountains Romance is a different book for me, Egbert explained. “I had been to the Smoky Mountains many times, from when I was a small child and I love the mountains. I remembered some of the things I knew from growing up in the Rocky Mountains and I applied them to this book. It is not just about romance it is about people. The people in the ER, the people who live back in the mountains, the fire department personnel and the people who live in, Kenton, Tennessee.”
Pam laughed, “if you are looking for stories, like some romance books, you are not getting it from me. I write books that are love stories but wholesome. I want anyone to be able to read the books. They are books what could sit on the shelf in a Christian bookstore.”
“If I can’t let my grandmother read it without being embarrassed, I can’t write it. It is not who I am,” Egbert stated.
Pam’s new romance is about a young lady to moves to Tennessee for a job at the local hospital and literally bumps into John Tate. After that fate takes over bringing them together, through forest fires, accidents, and other incidents that throw a bump in the road for them. Will they be together in the end and how with their love conquer all? These are questions the readers ask themselves.
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As a consultant for two companies in Nashville, Pam helps with their promotions, marketing, and music which also became a part of this book. Pam met Craig J. Martin online and she started to talk to him. Craig posted a song called “I Have a Dream”, which she fell in love with. Pam asked if she could use the song in her book and Craig J. Martin agreed.
“In July of 2020 we lost Craig to a heart attack,” Pam said. “I had been sending the parts of the book Craig was written into to him so he could see the direction of the storyline and he approved them. I am so glad I did because he got to read his part in the book before he passed.”
After Craig J. Martin passed Egbert was told, by some Nashville friends, Tim McGraw was going to record “I Have a Dream” but Covid-19 hit and it stopped the recording industry. Tim McGraw recorded one of Martin’s other songs, he wrote with Larry W. Johnson, “Don’t Take the Girl” in 1994. It was no surprise that Tim McGraw showed interest in “I Have a Dream” that know him in Nashville.
“To be able to use Craig’s song is very special to me. I had no idea who he was when I talked to him about the song” said Pam. La Donna Brewer-Capps a friend and singer-songwriter from Nashville was surprised I didn’t know who he was and she filled me in on who Craig was and that he was one of the best songwriters in Nashville. All Pam knew was he was a friend on Facebook and someone who was so nice and easy to talk to.
The book signing will be held at Interior Motifs, 204 E. Auglaize Street, Wapakoneta. The book signing will take place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. There will be paperbacks available and hard cover books for autographs.
For more information on Samantha Sheridan, aka Pam Egbert, go to www.samanthasheridanauthor.com or go to her Facebook page at @authorSamanthaSheridan.