I'm so thrilled about today's guest. Fans of Robyn Carr's Virgin River series know Jack and the patrons of his small-town bar very well. If you're not a fan yet, you will be in just a little bit. So raise your glass and let's hear it for Jack!
There are two things you learn right away when you become a bartender—how to know when people want to talk and when they want to be left alone.
Hi. I’m Jack Sheridan and I’ve been running this little bar for six or seven years now. I’m the one that keeps up with the locals and meets the tourists—usually hunters and fishermen. There’s hardly a person in Virgin River who doesn’t end up in here eventually.
My wife Mel says men are not good listeners. They can’t help it, she says—they just want to fix things. Well, I beg to differ, I’m a very good listener! I listen a lot more than I talk, never mind what she says. But if I happen to just know how to fix something, am I supposed to keep quiet? For example, when my young friend Rick came home from Iraq one leg short, I’d have been happy to listen if he’d talked, but he was screwed up in the head. So I did what any good friend would do—I told him what was wrong with him, then I threw him in the truck and carted him off to counseling and physical therapy. I’m sure he’ll thank me one of these days. But if I hadn’t pushed on him a little bit...okay, all right, maybe I should’ve been a little more patient.
And when I found out Preacher was getting involved with a woman who had a dangerous abusive husband after her, I just naturally wanted to warn him how that could end up not going too well. You know what they say about those domestic things. Okay, I admit I was wrong about that, but I think him cold-cocking me was overkill. And then when my sister was getting involved with one of my best friends, I felt it was only right and honest to point out to her how that could be problematic, given the number of women he’d already been through, including two wives. Okay, I’m a big guy—I can admit I might’ve been a little hasty there. But she is my sister, after all. And threatening to shoot me could have been mean-spirited.
I can’t help it if I hear things. I generally learn who’s out of work, who’s fighting with his wife, who has a baby on the way, who has bills they can’t pay. Then, of course, I find out things no one tells me—like who might be on the wrong side of the law, who might be in an all-out war against Cupid, who might have a shine for someone they just can’t have. Recently I learned someone thinks I’m his biological father! News to me! And get this—someone died and left a big pot of money to the town and put me in charge! Now, this is a good little town, but not a rich town and certainly not a perfect town. Don’t think you can dangle money in front of them and expect them to act the same. Kind of turned the place inside out.
People tend to expect their private stories to get spread around pretty quick here. I suspect they secretly like it, too. Takes a lot of the pressure off the burden of trying to keep secrets. The only people in Virgin River I know who you can absolutely expect to never tell are the town doctor, Cameron Michaels, and Mel, the town midwife. Frankly, I find that irritates the hell out of me. A little too self-righteous for me, but hey—I guess they get a pass for medical issues.
As for me, I hear it all. I see it all. People expect me to keep my eyes and ears open. They also expect advice and it’s usually good advice if I do say so myself. And I’ve been known to slip a time or two, but I’m pretty damn good with secrets. Sit up here at the bar, my friend, and tell me what’s on your mind. Worst case? Six hundred or so find out eventually, but only if it’s interesting. We’re connoisseurs.
Welcome to the river. Life is simple, good, and an open book. You’ll get used to it in no time.
Thanks, Jack, for giving us the "story behind the story". I'm sure we'll have some questions for you, so feel free to pour another round and we'll start the interrogation! (Just don't tell anyone how I won your visit here in a contest, okay? We can just keep that between us.)
If there's anything else Jack can't--or won't--tell, hopefully Robyn Carr will be by later to spill some secrets.
But wait, there's more! It looks like one lucky commenter will receive a copy of Wild Man Creek.
So let's talk about Virgin River, and what it would be like to live there, or the people you'd like to sit next to at Jack's Bar.
And don't forget, you can buy Wild Man Creek, along with all the other books in the Virgin River series, here. Start making your list!
