The Mass of Men: The Academy
The Mass of Menis the first novel to delve into the intensive atmosphere of a fire academy. Why this arena has yet to be explored is a mystery to me. The making of firefighters is not only a grueling chain of events filled with drama and humor, it is also fundamental to the safety of a community and the personalities that make up a training class are wonderful fodder for a writer.I graduated from the Central Florida Fire Academy (which I have fictionalized for the book), and I look back on that experience as one that changed me as an individual, molded me as a professional, and set the tone for what would be an incredible career.My previous book,Let Burn: The Making and Breaking of a Firefighter/Paramedic,merely scraped the surface of my academy training.The Mass of Menfollows the curriculum as I experienced it and I have tried to make the training sequences as real and exact as possible. I want the reader to experience the relentless repetition, the physical exhaustion, and the emotional turmoil that accompanies such training.I also want to expose the range of personalities that make up a class, for they come in such wonderful varieties.I hope you enjoy the book. It is the first in a series of four that follow Sam, Ty, and others as they mature within the field of firefighting. Enjoy!