Akwasi M. Maru, Self-help, Educational, and Poetic Storyteller
Captain Akwasi Maru, age 41, is a career firefighter. A Birmingham, Alabama native, Akwasi is a mentor to firefighters, helping them prepare for their future roles as leaders within the fire department. His passion for his career has inspired him to write
Interrogation of the Fire Service, a book about issues facing the fire service. In it, he addresses the death of firefighters, the “cause and effects” of cancer, how government budget restraints caused the closing of fire stations and lay off hundreds of firefighters throughout the country. In addition, he details how the closing of those fire station lessens the response time to calls which increases civilian chances of dying.
Maru loves to read self-help authors and articles to learn different techniques and applications that he self-prescribed towards his career. The outcome resulted in one promotion after the next. He was promoted from private to sergeant in 2011, from sergeant to lieutenant in 2012, and from lieutenant to captain in February of 2016. Because of his success, Maru offered his experiences to others in his book, The Power of Your Words: How Changing Your Words Can Change Your Life.
Before November (2017), Maru had written and published only proactive books, but recently, he returned to his first passion and the love of his youth, poems.
Interviewer: Tell me about your passion for writing poetry?
Maru: My passion for poetry started as a child in elementary school. I discovered my talent from a school assignment by my 6th-grade teacher. She loved the poem and it was then, that my inner poet was born.
In 2015, Maru wrote a book of poems called, The Words Within the Words: A Poets Quest to Finding the Words. This year, he took those poems to another level by wrapping them in the arms of a fictional romance story called, Jarrod’s Poetic Diary: The Story of a Bleeding-Heart. It is his first work of fiction that reads like it happened to someone, at some point in life. With the effects of opioid drugs in today's headline, this story offers the 'why and what happens'. The readers will get an intriguing story and several insights of poetic words to take them into the mind of the character.
His main character, Jarrod, is a poet, and like his creator, throughout his story, he expresses his, “Pain, happiness, hurt, sadness, deceit, life, love, marriage, relationships, and time.” The story is quite different from your normal romance and it’s definitely not like a book of poetry. The reader will feel Jarrod’s heart by following the ink from his pen that will stop with an unexpected end.
Maru hopes that one day, his books will grace the best seller list, but he will be just as humble if his books reach the hands of millions and that his words will have “…life changing effects.”
At this time, Akwasi Maru has no new projects in the works, he’s taking the time to invest in his published work through marketing and getting the word out about his books. Marketing, he says, is “…the hardest thing about writing.” He also admits to what many of us suffers from, “…the use of proper grammar” in the text of a story. He’s really focused on these two issues and aspires to write, “…to a point where the reader does not lose focus. I want my books to be hard to put down once a person starts reading them.” Meanwhile, he plans to return to his blog site where he chats about various subjects, including self-help topics.
Aside from holding an AA degree in Psychology, a BS in Fire Science Admin, and a Master’s degree in Emergency Management, this active firefighter is a Red Cross Hometown Hero Awardee and a USAR (GSAR) team member. He's a Collapse Rescue Technician, Confined Space Rescue Technician, and a Rope Rescue Technician. In addition to his service in the fire industry, he volunteers for the American Red Cross Disaster Assistance Team. He holds multiple certifications from CPR Instructor to Emergency Management.
Akwasi is a committed husband of 14 years with two daughters who have captivated his heart. When he’s not spending time with his family, taking long nature walks, he enjoys fishing, writing poetry, and playing djembe drums.
"No man knows less than the man who knows it all~ Anonymous. This quote that Maru calls his favorite is the reason he puts so much research into his writing and he uses an outline to keep him focused. The deep-thinking author's inspiration comes from his life experiences, his career, and his desire to help others.
Maru leaves us with a few final words. “Books are life's utterance: Utterance is Words and words are our everyday speech. It is words that are on every author’s page. We put what we experience and love on paper, thus books are life’s utterance.” He says to others, “Stay focused, think about your final goal and what you want to accomplish with your project, be it financially or to entertainment.”
To connect with Akwasi M. Maru, look him up on the websites below.
