Interview With Literary Fiction Author Jason Z. Morris

 

"A graduate student struggles to overcome generations of inherited trauma and an existential crisis in Morris' novel...  Morris treats the sensitive topics with care, delivering an enthralling read from cover to cover. A haunting, slow-burning story about the hunger for connection and the pressures of family."

-- Kirkus Reviews

1.      What is your newest novel, Another Kind of Fire, about?

 

Another Kind of Fire is the story of Jake Luria and his brilliant and complicated family. Jake struggles against the unceasing and conflicting demands of a hostile PhD mentor, irreconcilable family loyalties, and his own sense inadequacy. When Jake’s sister has a psychological crisis, Jake is pulled away from the experiments he has been working on to complete his PhD. He investigates the cause of his sister’s breakdown and uncovers generations of accumulated wounds in his family’s history. He encounters lost relatives who are all hurting in different ways. Some of them have found solace and meaning in Jewish mysticism, sometimes in combination with Buddhist or in Hindu philosophy. Their ideas, so different from anything in Jake’s experience, deeply disturb and challenge Jake. Jake is looking for some way to find meaning in the turmoil he sees all around him, and he can see the allure in some of those ideas, but suspects that they contributed to his sister’s mental illness. Throughout the book, Jake is fighting for his future, for his family’s survival and his own.

 

2.      What inspired its writing?

 

The book has strong emotional resonance for me although it’s not autobiographical, and none of the events or people are based on specific events or people. These are conflicts I’ve observed, and some of the struggles have echoes in the struggles I’ve faced or that people I know have faced.

 

3.      Your book has a number of rich story lines. One of them is about how one struggles to overcome generations of inherited trauma. Tell us about this.

 

I believe that when you write, it’s important to have empathy for your characters. Almost all of my characters have made some bad choices—some of them really bad. But when I’m writing a character, I have to ask why, or the character won’t hold together and the book won’t ring true. I always think of the Jessica Rabbitt answer: “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.” There are reasons people behave the way they do, and many of them don’t end up in the text of the book, but I have to know what they are. Those reasons aren’t excuses. They don’t demand forgiveness from us. But there are explanations, and sometimes those explanations go back to traumas the characters have experienced in their own lives. And sometimes those traumas were caused by other people who had their own traumas.

 

4.      Is there an existential crisis going on?

 

Well, the protagonist is a grad student in his late twenties, and he and his family are going through a lot. So I think as a writer, I would have been committing malpractice if there weren’t at least one existential crisis! But none of the characters in the book would ever think of themselves in terms of having an existential crisis. My protagonist would never permit himself that kind of self-importance. But many of the characters are looking for meaning in their lives, and many of them are going through a crisis of one sort or another. And for all of them, the stakes are high.

 

5. What role does spirituality and faith play in your book?

 

Spirituality is important in the book, but I think in an unusual way. The book isn’t reverent, and it isn’t sentimental. Religion is taken seriously in the book, and it’s a source of some of the book’s metaphors and ideas. Most of the main characters are Jewish, but those characters are Jewish in different ways, and they have very different takes on religion. And Judaism plays very different roles in their lives, just as you would find in many families. For some of them, their religion is a source of comfort and hope. Some of them engage deeply with Judaism, but in dialogue with Buddhist or Hindu spirituality. For some, all religion feels like a bunch of myths and oppressive customs. For some, the relationship to religion is more fluid and situationally dependent. I’m not writing to push one way of viewing religion or another.

 

6. What is your relationship with religion, and how does that inform or infuse your writings?

 

I have a yeshiva background, and I’ve been studying Judaism and other religions for my entire life. I’m an engaged Jew, and I belong to a Reform temple. The questions religions raise and the texts they rely on have always intrigued and inspired me. I’ve sometimes found Jewish texts and traditions (and the texts and traditions I’ve read about in other faiths) to be helpful in difficult times or to challenge me to be better. Sometimes I’ve found them to be distancing, or to offer approaches that feel pat, or simplistic, or outdated. But they’ve never been uninteresting to me. Especially Jewish texts—even when I have found them disturbing or maddening, they are disturbing and maddening in the way that only things that matter to you deep in your bones can disturb and madden you.

 

7. What type of reader is your novel intended for?

 

The book is about family, and about looking for meaning. I hope the characters are drawn with empathy. I know I care about them, and I hope the reader will too. People who are interested in complicated families and their dynamics, or who are interested in academia and its power structures or in religious questions might have a particular access point, but I hope the book is something that can appeal to almost everyone. I think the book moves quickly, but it definitely isn’t a beach read.

 

8. What is a college professor of biology doing writing novels? Shouldn't you be writing about amoeba and paramecium cells?

 

I’d like to think we’re all more than one thing. We’re all multi-faceted. It takes me a while to write a novel in part because I do have this other job that I love and that I’m committed to. And it’s not just my work--I’m a biologist, but I’m also a teacher, a father, a husband, a sibling, a son, a friend… I have a lot of academic interests. I love music. Something I love about my job teaching at Fordham is that I have the chance to bring my whole self to my work and I can encourage my students to do the same. Writing is another endeavor I can bring my whole self to. And one nice advantage of writing over lab work is the control you have over the world you create as opposed to the world you are trying to investigate and to which you are answerable.

 

9. Your book offers a darkly funny critique of the abuses of academia. Is the novel a vehicle to make some statements about the world of academics?

 

There’s a lot to love about academia: the intellectual energy, the investment in discovery, the passion people bring to their work, the opportunity to mentor young people with enormous potential. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. But there are downsides to the culture—the hierarchy, the self-importance it can encourage, the bad behavior it tolerates in its stars. This is a world I have lived in over several decades and in several types of institutions, and I understand it and I’m interested in it, so that’s a lot of what I write about. It’s not a crusade of any kind. It’s just what I know. I’m glad the humor comes through, though. Academia can also be very funny—sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.

 

10. How would you describe your writing style in Another Kind of Fire?

 

It’s written in the first person, and the protagonist is in a vulnerable, highly charged emotional state. He’s an observer, and he’s thoughtful, but he’s also a bit of a mess. Even in his darkest moments, he has a self-deprecating sense of humor, and he can often see the absurdity of his situation even when it’s very dramatic. I hope that all comes through in the writing.

 

11. Where does the title come from?

 

There’s a Talmudic passage about fire in the book, and there is some Jewish mystical imagery that comes into play as well. But I don’t want to spoil anything.

 

12. How does this book compare to your debut novel, Thicker Than Mud?

 

In terms of tone, the books are really different. Thicker Than Mud took place around the Jewish high holidays, and the main character was in mourning. That context dominated the tone of the book, and so for the most part, it was reflective, rational, and somber. Another Kind of Fire begins at the Jewish holiday of Purim, which in terms of tone is the polar opposite of the high holidays: the world of Purim is wild, upside down, unpredictable, and dangerous. And yet, two sides of a coin are deeply connected: they are part of the same coin. There are definitely threads that run through both books. I’d like to think I learned something about writing between my beginning Thicker Than Mud and my finishing Another Kind of Fire. But I’m proud of both books, and I hope readers enjoy both of them.

About The Author: 

Jason Z. Morris earned his PhD in genetics at Harvard Medical School in a lab that was quite different from the one described in Another Kind of Fire, but in a larger culture that readers of the book might recognize. He is a professor in the Department of Natural Sciences at Fordham University, where he enjoys teaching and mentoring undergraduates. He has studied genetics of aging, fertility, growth, and behavior (which, come to think of it, are essential themes for fiction as well). Jason has a strong Jewish background, and Jewish study and practice have always been central to his life: he continues to engage with Jewish texts at his Reform temple and at Fordham, and to study the history and sacred texts of many other faiths as well. He also consumes music omnivorously and is trying (baby steps) to learn how to play and write music on the guitar. Jason lives with his wife in New Rochelle and has two adult children. Another Kind of Fire is Jason’s second novel. His first is Thicker Than Mud. For more information, please see:  anotherkindoffire.com and this one: https://www.fordham.edu/academics/departments/natural-sciences/faculty-and-staff/jason-z-morris/ He resides in New Rochelle with his wife.

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For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

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