The Return of A Shot of Jack
New Short Fiction and A New Schedule For Year Four
And we’re back. These past two months did NOT go as I planned, but I expect they went as they needed to. Creative work is odd because intention is only part of it. The other part is this thing you can’t control that just goes where it goes.
Thanks for sticking around. I know it’s a busy, busy world and something short of a miracle that you’re spending your time reading an email newsletter in 2025. So please know I appreciate it.
In case you’re new here, I’m Jack Cameron. This is my newsletter, A Shot of Jack. I’m a writer with an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. I write fiction and true crime. (For true crime check out our sister newsletter Tacoma Stories where I write about every homicide that happens in my hometown of Tacoma.)
Given the nature of what I write about, let this be your all-purpose trigger warning.
And after a two month hiatus we’re back with a new schedule and new fiction.
Going Forward
This is the 4th year of A Shot of Jack.
Year One we were just getting this thing going.
Year Two we added a weekly serialized crime novel, A Better Lie to paying subscribers, publishing the physical copy for paying subscribers later that Summer.
Year Three we did the same thing with my second crime novel, Bad Pennies. The physical release of Bad Pennies will occur later this summer.
Year Four is going to be different in a number of ways and I’ll try to list them all here so no one is confused:
1. A Shot of Jack newsletter, the thing you’re reading right now will release every other Friday.
2. All sections of A Shot of Jack are available to ALL subscribers (free and paying) including A Better Lie and Bad Pennies.
3. The short fiction will be collected into a physical book and sent to paid subscribers in 2026.
In other words, every subscriber will have access to the new short stories this year, but if you want a physical copy of the book, you’ll need to be a paying subscriber.
Peak Experience - Short Fiction
by Jack Cameron
“Sean, we’ve all seen the videos. That incredible photo. We know the story of what happened. What we don’t know is what it was like for you. What was it like ending that rampage?”
“Let me tell you, Megan, it was a peak experience. Do you know what that means?”
Sean’s about to launch into his whole monologue about “peak experiences” like he has three times in the last week and probably hundreds of times before to Freshman bar girls.
Sean Harris is the Hero of Chambers Lake. He saved my life. Three weeks ago he shot and killed 45-year-old Brian Caine who had a gun to my head at the time.
Brian had reminded me of one of my dad’s poker buddies. Friendly, but not inappropriate, he’d been a good coworker, even a mentor when I first started working at the college. I’d never had a problem with him until that day. I’d learn later that the college had fired him via email after twelve years of employment. But at that moment the coldness of the gun barrel against my cheek had my full attention.
Sean’s the security guard. His shot had temporarily deafened me and I thought maybe Brian had pulled the trigger. But then I felt the pressure of the gun against my face ease.
When Brian fell after being shot I fell with him. I rolled off Brian and felt strong hands pull me up. Sean pulled me into his arms. He looked me in the eyes that were wet with tears. We kissed. Someone took a photo. It was a Hollywood ending to a shooting rampage that left eight dead at the Chambers Lake Community College admissions office.
My name is Katie Emerson. I’m a 26-year-old guidance counselor. And for the last three weeks I have been doing interviews next to Sean with everyone from CNN to NBC to even Fox News. We’re supposed to be on Good Morning America next week. I have yet to tell any of them the whole truth. How can I? Absolutely no one wants to hear what I have to say. Gun owners all over the country have found a perfect savior. They can point to him and say, “See? A good guy with a gun saved lives.”
My saying something bad about Sean Harris is like asking for death threats. Though honestly, I bet the rape threats would come first.
So I listen to Sean regurgitate Maslow’s philosophy of peak experiences and stay quiet, trying to remember to smile in case the camera cuts to me.
“You see, a peak experience is one in which you have sudden feelings of intense happiness and awareness. You’re no longer thinking about regrets from the past or worries of the future. You are fully engaged and alive in the moment. You feel your connection with the cosmos. These experiences are sometimes religious, sometimes drug-induced, sometimes they come from meditation, sometimes you can get that peak experience from really good sex.” The audience laughed at that line and he paused to let them.
“Other times are like that day.” Sean continued, “I was right there thinking of nothing at all except the present moment. It was that sort of clarity that allowed me to make that shot and end the situation.”
“Wow. Powerful stuff,” Megan said.
I tried not to roll my eyes.
“Katie, what was that day like for you?”
It was the worst day of my life. But I can’t say that. They’ll point out how Sean saved me. How lucky I was to have Sean there. How our kiss is world famous. When I think of that day, I end up with two images in my head. One is seeing Sean pull that gun and thinking, ‘Shit. Now Sean’s going to kill me playing hero.’ And the other image was Sean’s dick. I didn’t want to, but there it was.
That morning I came in an hour early straight from my workout to get a head start on things. Brian was fired the day before making his caseload now my caseload. I was still wearing my gym clothes when I showed up. Sean waved as I approached the front door. He unlocked the door, letting me in, then relocked it. The building didn’t open to the public for another hour.
“Hey, Katie. Looking good.” Sean said, clearly staring at my boobs like a 14-year-old boy.
“Thanks, Sean.” I said. (Though, “Go fuck yourself.” seemed more appropriate.) I walked into the women’s restroom, turned on the light, and started getting changed into my work clothes.
I don’t know how long he’d been standing there. I wasn’t facing the door and I didn’t hear it open. But I was only in my underwear when I turned around to grab my my little green sundress and saw Sean. It took me a moment to realize that he had unzipped. He stroked himself and smiled at me as if he expected me to smile back. I didn’t.
I didn’t scream. I didn’t run. I thought that in circumstances like these, the fight or flight reflex would kick in, but I did neither. I just froze. (My therapist recently told me this is a very common reaction, but at the time I remember thinking, ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’)
He started walking closer. Something clicked inside me. I said quietly, in a voice that did not sound like it came from me, “Get. Out.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning around and quickly going for the door. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Four hours later Sean kills Brian, shoves his tongue down my throat, and becomes a hero for saving me. The entire planet wants me to thank him for that ‘peak experience’ because they only know the second part of our day. You know what? Fuck it.
“Megan, for me that entire day was the worst day of my life.” I said.
“Really? But what about-” I held up one finger. She stopped talking. I looked at Sean’s smug face. My own face felt hot, but I wasn’t about to stop now.
“Sean, I agree that it was a peak experience. The thing is Maslow says that a peak experience is always a positive one. I disagree. I think Maslow’s confusing excitement with positivity. Nothing about that day was positive for me.”
“I watched Brian shoot Wendy, Todd, Jocelyn, and two of the five other students shot by him before you shot him. That too, was a peak experience. Unfortunately it hadn’t been the first one of the day. That’d been when I caught you rubbing one out while I was changing in the restroom that morning.”
I pause, but not for laughter. I think the gasp might not have been the audience but Sean himself.
“I imagine this moment right now is a peak experience for you, Sean. The difference is you aren’t the victim here. You’re the hero of the Chambers Lake. You’re also a sexual predator. And as long as we’re here on television applauding you for one, I figured now would be a good time to condemn you for the other. But hey, don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll never do see a day in jail.
“Still, at least this way, women who encounter you will know that not every peak experience with Sean Harris is a good one.”
END.
Links Worth Clicking
NaNoWriMo Is DEAD - Less than a year after embracing Artificial Intelligence, the organization supporting National Novel Writing Month has died in the wake of a series of scandals. It’s a well-deserved death.
Chain Racing - Each team has two cars chained to each other. The one in the front has an engine and no brakes. The one in the back has brakes but no engine. This is a thing that grown adults do.
Bill Maher Went To Mar-A-Lago to Kiss The Ring - Larry David used the event to write some fantastic satire.
The Russians Have Sputnik - But the first manmade object in space might very well have been a manhole cover shot into space by a nuclear cannon.
A Reminder - Russell Brand has always been a terrible human being.
Optimus Prime Wants To Go Back To Sleep - After learning that the Americans elected Megatron.
60 Minutes Has Been Compromised - And the man who ran it for the most of this century just resigned in protest.
One Last Thing
If you’ve read this far, you clearly enjoy what I’m doing.* You probably know someone else who would enjoy it too. Forward this email to two friends. And if this newsletter was forwarded to you, consider hitting that subscribe button.
Do this and you’ll make Year Five of A Shot of Jack possible.
Stay safe out there.
- Jack Cameron