Author Q&A: Houston Author William A. “Tex” Harrison

Author William A. “Tex” Harrison’s book, Hunting Justice, opens with a mysterious predawn explosion in a deer hunting house on a large ranch in West Texas that leaves a cadre of hunters dead with only one survivor. A flurry of lawsuits results, brought about by an onslaught of high-powered plaintiff’s lawyers with San Antonio trial lawyer Tony Bravo leading the pack. Talented small firm lawyer Frank Withey knows he is in for the trial of his young career, fending off fierce claims for multimillions in damages. Finely drawn characters fueled by ambition, obsession, and love clash in a vortex of mystery and suspense.

Tex answers some questions that I posed to him about Hunting Justice:

What inspired you to start writing?

In my 40-plus years of trying jury cases in the courts around Texas, often for Lloyd’s of London, I was involved in a number of unusual and hard-fought energy cases arising out of unique facts filled with colorful characters one often encounters in the energy industry. In recent years I have often found myself thinking about these unique matters and people, so decided that the story for my first novel would come from that world. While my story is purely fictional it is substantially inspired by my experiences in those cases, and I have worked to capture the real feel of the “big time” injury and death litigation that often flows from “oil patch” tragedies.

Can you share something with me about your book that is not in the blurb?

Lurking in the fabric of my story is the lesson that “truth and justice” often mean very different things to those adverse parties involved in hotly contested jury cases. Litigants, lawyers, witnesses, and juries can often look at the same set of facts and come away with very different thoughts about what “really happened,” causing the participants to misevaluate their positions.

What do you hope your readers take away from your book?

I hope the reader takes away a better understanding of how events like the house explosion in my story affect the people that are directly or indirectly involved in the occurrence, as well as their struggle to survive and adapt to the changes that they are forced to make in their lives. Lastly, to know how arduous and uncertain most “quests for justice” can be.

What surprised you most in writing this book?

In the Texas Legal World of today, women are found in abundance in all roles in the litigation/trial process: lawyers at all levels in firms of any size, to the highest judicial positions of the state. This was not necessarily the case in the late 1990s, the period in which this story is cast. My surprise was that the pivotal decision makers in my story were mostly females. It just naturally turned out that way. 

Are you working on anything at the present time that you would like to share with me?

Yes, I am mulling over a legal thriller where my protagonist, Frank Withey, becomes involved in an entangling web of fraud in a violent gas well blowout and a suspected murdered of a key witness in the strange land of Southern Louisiana, where only the Napoleonic Code is the law (unlike the rest of our 49 states) and the Cajun French view of life is often at odds with what a Texan might expect.

Share something your readers wouldn’t know about you.

That sometimes I must learn things the hard way. I started as an underpaid teenage ranch worker doing fences in the blazing heat and chasing wild cattle in the Texas Big Thicket and later subjected myself to the repetitive contact with the dirt of numerous small-town rodeo arenas, which caused my dad to tell me: “Son, make your living with your mind and protect your body to better enjoy that living.” He was right, so I studied engineering, but later my young wife rightly explained that my true talents likely lay elsewhere.

What are you reading now and what have you read recently that you loved?

I am a fan of Paulette Jiles and have gone back to read her book, The Color of Lightning, which I am thoroughly enjoying. I recently discovered Percival Everett and his excellent book James, which I would strongly recommend. 

For more book recommendations and bookish thoughts, see Cindy’s monthly Buzz Reads column, her award-winning Thoughts from a Page Podcast or follow @ThoughtsFromaPage on Instagram.