Timothy Sojka

Welcome to Uncaged! Your book, Payback Jack will release March 18th. Can you tell readers more about this book?

Every novel introduces at least one character who drives the action. In Payback Jack, the character is Smith Driskill, a 55-year-old east Texas farmer, windowed and abandoned by his children, dramatically executes child molester and murderer, Rodney William Markum. He is unprepared for the ensuing media circus painting him as a hero, or the political divisions that surface when he chooses death over a day in court. Why is Driskill so determined to die on death row, and why have so many people pledged to stop him?

Still, to me the core theme in this book is hypocrisy. For instance, this book addresses the death penalty.

Someone may be for the death penalty, still if their daughter was on death row, they will most likely change their stance.

If someone is against the death penalty, but a family member is murdered, they may become a proponent of the death penalty.

MIKE TYSON – “EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH”.

I think Mike’s point is important with opinions as well. People opine right up until a life changing events alter their beliefs (They get punched in the mouth.)

I do not mean this harshly; these points apply to me too. What I am really saying is understand and respect someone’s opinion, because circumstances really shape their core values.

What will a reader get out of this book? 1) More twist than a back country Texas road, 2) Characters they will hate then love. 3) Jaw dropping changes of direction.

What have you found the hardest to cope with during the pandemic? What are you looking forward to when a lot of restrictions are lifted?

I miss seeing people smile. I miss people seeing I am smiling for them. A smile is the simplest and most wonderful form of communication.

Still, this book would remain incomplete without the pandemic. The pandemic cancelled my commute for a few months, and gave me extra time to write and extra time with my family. So, you celebrate the highs.

You have been a successful real estate agent, what inspired you to start writing?

I started writing this book in the 1990’s because a story in the Houston Chronicle caught my attention. I still, believe the newspapers, or their online progeny supply the best starter fuel for stories.

Then life took over. I worked for Nestle Foodservice and they promoted me every few years, our daughter entered our life, addiction overtook me, and then my wife and I founded a successful real estate company. Our team, sales over $70,000,000 a year. So, starting and keeping the company afloat dominated our attention for over a decade.

Now, we have such great leadership on the team, I had more time to finish the novel.

Still, one strange incident pushed me to finish the novel. I watched a comedy special with comedian Ron White. Apparently, he and Dr. Phil are friends. Ron asked Phil, “What’s the one thing in your life you can do to feel good about yourself?”

Dr. Phil answered, “Just finish things.”

I finished almost everything in my life, I ran marathons, started companies, oversaw millions of

The unfinished manuscript gnawed at me, taunted me, haunted me.

This will sound selfish, or self-serving. The idea of immortality intrigues me beyond measure. I know physically I cannot go on. However, if an artist creates one magnificent work, just one, they live forever. The people they love live forever in the book’s acknowledgments. The message lives forever.

Real estate sales offer little opportunity for immortality.

You mention that the follow-up to Payback Jack is already in the works. When do you expect that book to release?

I understand this is unpopular in the world of Rambo 11 and Fast Furious 24, the Retirement Years.

I dislike sequels. As an author, I want my characters so exposed, so raw, so close to the reader, so tired of working with me they refuse a starring role again. I want the reader to experience such a roller-coaster with Smith Driskill they understand him completely.

However, I understand the readers desire to revisit great characters. All my characters live in a metaworld, the same fictional universe. So, they may reappear in a lesser, but important role, an easter egg of sorts, for someone who read my other work. Kayla Cope a heroine in Payback Jack reappears briefly in my next novel Politikill.

Still, I’m willing to leave the door cracked open for a sequel, if a character has the energy and inclination to step back through, God help us all.

Do you edit out anything substantial in your novels in the editing process? Do you make that

| TIMOTHy GEnE SOJKA | extra content available in any way to readers if you do?

God yes, I cut whole chapters, characters, scenes. Payback Jack started at 120,000 words. The finished novel came in at less than 80,000 words. So, a third of the book ended up in the circular file. If the character or scene are any good, they show up somewhere else. A shooting scene cut from Payback Jack anchors Politikill.

What was the first book that made you laugh and/or cry?

The Cannon Boy of the Alamo by R.L. Templeton accomplished both. I am a history nut and I love Texas, so that book punched my ticket.

What are some things you like to do to relax when you aren’t writing or working?

Listen to the lyrical rhythm of my wife, Lori’s voice. Paddle Board in the morning when the lake is smooth as glass.

Play 42 Dominoes with my mother or grandmother. Do anything with my daughter, Abigail, anything.

How many hours a day do you write? On average, how long does it take to write a full novel?

I wake up at 5 am. And sneak in a few hours, usually about 2 hours a day. Real estate investing, owning a small company, and real estate sells still take up much of my day.

How long does it take me to write a novel? The first one took me 25 years, the second one took me about 25 weeks. Now that I understand the pro-

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cess and the landmarks, the execution seems easy. A completely edited novel, ready for a publisher seems realistic every 18 months.

Do you prefer ebooks, audiobooks or physical books? Are you reading anything now?

I love the feel, smell, girth of a physical book. I just read the Firm and the Witching Hour again. I blew through Where the Crawdads Sing recently. Fahrenheit 451 occupies my side table now.

I just reread I am Legend too, greatest ending of a short story ever. Look the movies sucks, I get it, they went with a Hollywood ending. Find the short story read it today.

What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

I can accurately predict the end to most movies and books within moments of the opening scene.

Few things disappoint me more.

As a person, I strive for 100% honesty and like most humans fall short. My characters must be honest, even in their dishonesty.

Still as an author, I disagree with Abraham Lincoln, I aspire to fool all the people, all the time. I constantly search for a perfect plot twist. While understanding the difficulty of that task.

I’m pretty easy to find on Facebook. The Realtor me is everywhere. The author me is just getting started on Facebook. Readers, pick the author me, unless you want a ton a real estate updates. The easiest place to follow me is www.timothygenesojka.com

Also, book club discussion questions can be found at the end of Payback Jack. I will happily do a Zoom call with a book club group to get them started or at the end of the novel. For Book Club

Enjoy an excerpt from Payback Jack

Payback Jack Timothy Gene Sojka Crime Thriller Releases March 18

When Smith Driskill, a 55-year-old east Texas farmer, widowed and abandoned by his children; dramatically executes child molester and murderer Rodney William Markum; he is unprepared for the ensuing media circus painting him as a hero or the political divisions that surface when he chooses death over a day in court. Why is Driskill determined to die on death row, and why have so many people pledged to stop him?

Excerpt

12:22 p.m. Tuesday, December 4, 1989

Smith Driskill lowered the rifle as his head rolled right, then left.

Screams shattered the crisp air. No need to look back; Markum was dead...or dying. Rodney William Markum was now the newest inductee in the crowded cast of characters to haunt Smith’s nightmares.

Driskill arrived downtown the day before to map out Markum’s murder, doubting his chances. He was not nervous; hell, he had made tougher shots, killed men less deserving. Then Smith found the abandoned Sam Houston Hotel, the perfect place to take the shot. The decaying downtown landmark was situated a block from the Houston courthouse.

Smith sighed and regretfully left his old, well-maintained Remington on the floor.

Yesterday, he pried a piece of plywood from the hotel’s rear entrance and explored the vacant, reddishbrown brick structure for the first time. Pungency of rot and decay assailed Smith’s senses. Smith slowly took inventory of his surroundings. A few hotel windows were intact, most broken. He climbed the stairs and selected the fourth-floor window facing San Jacinto Street for the shot.

Haunted mansions aspire to appear equally foreboding. Once the hotel brimmed with life, but the Sam Houston Hotel now stood as a silent tombstone, marking a death seconds old.

Smith turned and descended the creaky stairs. He timed himself yesterday. Taking the shot and exiting the building took forty seconds. No need to run, even if his polluted lungs allowed that luxury. As suspected, the gunshot sent onlookers scurrying to and from the area Markum fell, far enough away for Smith to escape unnoticed. Smith exited into an alley just off Prairie Street, between the hotel and a sandwich shop. The alley served as an unattended parking lot; if someone were pulling in their car, they might identify him later, a requisite risk. The farmer needed to make it to his F150 before the coughing crippled him again.

Except for painting a bull’s-eye on Rodney William Markum’s forehead, whoever coordinated the event could not have made the shot easier. Markum spoke from an elevated stage; the other speakers stood two or three feet behind, clear shot.

Smith stopped to confront an oncoming coughing fit. Hours earlier he arrived and assumed position, watching as the police patrolled the crowd. Two uniforms stood by a man in a suit, not far away. Smith considered the two uniforms, sensing they were not police officers, more likely security guards. If the guards reacted quickly, they might see him exit the building. Yet, as he guessed, they watched events unfold. The delay supplied time to escape. His heart caterwauled in his chest; his old knees ached.

He wanted to take his favorite hunting rifle with him, but no chance. Driskill thought it through. The police may eventually use his old Remington to track him, despite his precautions. Smith carried the gun in a box through downtown and into the deserted hotel. No one considered this curious before the shooting; now responding police units were an obstacle.

Smith turned to his left and right. No witnesses in the alley. He smothered another cough.

He planned to kill Rodney William Markum since Kayla Cope’s report on Inside Houston weeks before. Finding the time and place was easy. Smith heard about this debacle on news radio, called the law firm of Barney, Jones, and Dupree, and pressed for specifics. He removed the rubber gloves and hairnet, stuffing them into his coat pocket.

Smith consumed crime novels, so he knew he should not smoke or eat while at the scene. These days, one drop of saliva was all a crime lab needed. He wore rubber gloves and a hairnet yesterday when he explored the building, and today, to make sure he did not leave fingerprints or hair samples. With Smith’s history, his prints were still on file. He walked unnoticed onto Prairie Street.

Smith almost backed out. His daughter may unfortunately learn about his past, but this task was too important. His actions would confuse, anger, and hurt Rachel. In time—probably after he died—she would forgive him.

He coughed as perspiration drained down his face, soiling his shirt collar.

A teen walking with his mother pointed at Smith— probably saying how sickly the old man looked. Thousands of folks were coughing this time of year. No need for nerves; the boy would forget by

Smith’s luck had held. Fortune provided him a clear shot, no witnesses in the alley, and with a little luck, a forgetful 14-year-old.

Coated in a rank cold sweat, Smith turned onto Travis Street.

He parked his pickup blocks from the hotel in a lot near Texas Commerce Center. The police will stop vehicles near the courthouse. Best to walk several blocks to his truck, just a sweaty executive in a gray suit, anonymous.

Only a few more minutes until he reached his Ford F150.

Driskill must drive to Beaumont. He smelled and felt like French-fried dog crap, too tired to set up a tent. Instead, he would stay at a small motel he staked out. In each town he visited, he looked for secluded campsites and mismanaged motels.

Smith opened the truck door and flopped inside; relief washed over him.

Yesterday, he packed everything he owned. Still, what does a broken-down, failed farmer in his fifties, with waning endurance and a hacking cough—who just punched his murderer’s card— do with his life? What would happen when he stopped running?

Smith turned the ignition, and the road-worn, well-maintained engine roared. He pulled out of the parking lot as police cars, sirens blaring, sped by him. The Ford turned east on Interstate 10, toward Beaumont.

This is Korra. She is an Alaskan Klee Kai and is five years old. We absolutely adore her! My kids decided that Korra needed a Christmas sweater this year. She can do tricks, but only if there are treats involved.

JILLIAN EATON & Scarlett

This is Scarlett. Scarlett is a 13+-year-old (exact age unknown!) cattle dog x jack russell that we rescued from the Humane Society two years ago. She was an owner surrender through no fault of her own, and is the sweetest, kindest, most patient dog in the entire world. I wish more people would realize how amazing senior pets are – little to no training, you already know their personality, and they are so grateful when you give them a forever home.

TIMOTHY GENE SOJKA & Sadie

My wife Lori, selected Sadie after holding the Yorkie puppy for several minutes. She needed to feel the sweetness, and we got the gentlest dog on the planet. Sadie must greet every human, dog, squirrel and lizard. She means them no harm; she just wants to begin a friendship. Geckos entertain Sadie endlessly in the summer and the tiny reptiles serve as unwilling babysitters for hours. Sadie still goes spastic if you mention the word WALK in any context. The tan and soft gray beauty cannot go thirty minutes without checking up on every member of the house. I tease my wife for spoiling the dog, however, I am just as guilty.

TK TRITSCHLER & Mochi

I have three cats, two elderly gentleman brothers called Darwin and Columbus and one new addition to the family who is a ginger ninja named Mochi. My dog is a miniature Schanauzer called Henry who walks with me each morning. Mochi likes nothing more than to ‘help’ me with my writing – so I have included a photo of how helpful he is.