In their day-to-day jobs working for the city of Pilot Point, Jerry Carnes is the building official, and Jason Poncio is the parks and recreation director.
However, on Saturday, at their joint book signing tour, they celebrated their additional title of authors.
“It's great that we have people pursuing things outside of work that they're passionate about and that they're being successful in those endeavors,” said Stephanie Mills, the human resources director for the city of Pilot Point.
She turned out Saturday to support her colleagues and friends.
Jerry and Poncio decided to join forces and organize their first-ever book-signing tour after realizing they were both writing books at the same time.
Poncio helped Jerry connect with his publisher to get his book released.
“[Jerry’s] doing awesome,” Poncio said. “I'm proud of him for that.”
Their book signing hit the road, traveling through the surrounding cities with three stops: the first at Moto & Latte Coffee in Pilot Point, the second at the Tioga Fire Department and the third at Summer Moon Coffee in Celina.
“It's very nice to have them choose our location to do their book signing at, one of the three stops that they have today,” Fire Chief Richard Hartman said. “Jerry's been in our department for a number of years now, and he's actually our deputy chief, so we're real proud of him, his book and his accomplishments, and wish him the best of luck.”
Jerry’s book, “Invisible Guardians: Building Safety, Codes and the Responsibility to Protect,” is based on his professional experience.
In it, he discusses why certain codes are in place as well as their importance, and he provides real-world examples for builders and residents.
“There's one [example] in there from Texas in the early 1900s because of the New London school explosion, where natural gas was leaking in the school and it exploded, and it killed like 160-something people,” Jerry said. “But it was before they [introduced] the additive to natural gas so you can smell it. So that's why now, after that happened, they added that smell in there so you can know there's a gas leak.”
He worked on the project during his time off, when his wife was at work and their kids were at school.
It wasn’t until he gave it to his wife, Tera Carnes, to proofread the manuscript that she found out he was writing a book.
“[It was] extremely shocking, because it wasn't anything that I ever thought that he would tackle, … but then I started reading, and it's really good,” Tera said.
Poncio’s trilogy follows different phases in his life.
“The opportunity came where my publisher, also a good friend, had been helping me with the entertainment industry for a long time, was like, ‘Hey, you need to write a book,’” Poncio said. “I mean, I've written songs, of course, and movie scripts. I've never written a book, so I started with the short novels and we put it together.”
“Blue Eyes” is about his high school sweetheart, and it is also based on a song he wrote about her titled “You Know I.”
“It was a hit in Japan, and since then, since I've re-released it, I've streamed over 26 million, not just with that song, but all the music,” Poncio said.
“Forever Love” is about his life after his divorce and the friendship they created together.
“We reconnected and, it's pure, it's real and it's true love, from my perspective, and so, the bond is still strong, the bond is still there,” Poncio said.
The third short novel, “Hunt Down,” is a suspense about a game he would play with his friends, with an added twist.
Both authors have had success on Amazon with their books, placing in the top three in their respective categories, and now have them available online at Barnes & Noble.
The best way to keep up with their endeavors is through Instagram at @ Jerry.Carnes and @Jason-PoncioMusic.
