What would you do if you found a ton of cash in a burning building? Ken Jaworowski’s new thriller “Small Town Sins” asks that and more.
The book follows three separate individuals who get caught up in crimes in a small Pennsylvania town that could ultimately cost them their lives. As an editor for the New York Times, Jaworowski knew when crafting this story, he wanted to have what readers would like in mind.
“As a journalist, you have to write for the reader, but I was sort of always writing for myself. No one wants to hear your own theories of anything. No one wants to hear your politics, people post on social media and no one wants to read that,” said Jaworowski. “I said, you know what? I gotta write for the reader.”
Naturally, Jaworowski is no stranger to writing and editing. As a writer, Jaworowski had tried to separate his journalistic writing from his creative writing to write novels in the past, but ultimately went nowhere with it at the time.
It was only when Jaworowski started to connect the two writing styles together that “Small Town Sins” started to really form.
“I used to think [those skills] were different. I tried to publish novels in the past and I never could, I couldn’t even get an agent. I found myself putting on a voice, when I wrote I used to feel like I was putting on a voice, and this time I did the opposite,” said Jaworowski. “I said to myself, don’t be a writer, just be a reporter, and then I’d edit it. I think the two complemented each other when I learned to let them complement each other.”
When writing “Small Town Sins,” Jaworowski was able to tap into his years of experience in journalism to help create the story. One of the plot points is based on a situation that he had read about previously in the news.
“One of the big plot points is a fireman who goes into a burning cabin and finds a stack of money. He makes a split decision to take it. I had read a similar story about a fireman, I think in the city, who got arrested for stealing something from a burning building, and I thought, oh wouldn’t that be a good little plot?” said Jaworowski. “What happens if he’s a guy who has done the right thing his whole life, and then all of a sudden he’s in a burning building and realizes “If I take that money, no one will know.” What happens if he gets caught up in, in a crime after being a good guy?”
Jaworowski says that the characters, though they have separate stories, their situations are similar and do intertwine on some level. The small town, Jaworowski noted, ends up being a character in itself.
“All of these little towns that are sort of cute, you wonder if they have a dark side,” said Jaworowski. “This little town has a dark side.”
So far, “Small Town Sins” has generated a ton of buzz, including a feature on Publishers Weekly and being listed as one of the Top 10 Books of the Summer for Philly Magazine. Jaworowski hopes that those who read “Small Town Sins” will just enjoy the ride.
“I want it to be a good story, maybe you’re hopefully entertained a lot. I think about “Moby Dick,” everyone reads it and thinks about what it’s about. I like to think that Melville was like hey, it’s an exciting story about a whale,” said Jaworowski. “I hope you have a good time, I hope it’s a good read. If you came to me and told me, “Hey, that was a good read,” that would be the highest compliment I could take.”
“Small Town Sins” is available where books are sold. For more information about Jaworowski, visit kenjaworowski.com.
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