Author To Watch: James S. Kelly Author of MAGNOLIA #authortowatch

James S. (Jim) Kelly is a retired United States Air Force Colonel with over 100 combat missions in Vietnam. Prior to his retirement, Jim was Program Director for a Communication’s Program in Iran, working directly under the Shah. Jim and his wife, Patricia own and operate High Meadow’s Horse Ranch outside Solvang, California. All of his novels use Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley as a setting. Over the past 15 years, Jim and his wife have been active in a charity supporting our troops in forward operating locations, in hostile territory, overseas. To contact Jim, email him at jkelly2020@outlook.com.

Website: www.kellywritings.com

Two young men grow up in the south, become great friends and love the same woman. One moves north as the civil war nears and becomes Administrative Asst to Abraham Lincoln The one who remained in the south vacates his office of US Senator to become the south’s chief spy. Both men are pitted against each other during the war. As the war ends, they try to renew their friendship but will the presence of the one they both love be an impediment.

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We welcome you to My Bookish Pleasures! Can you tell us how you got started writing fiction?

I initially attended Barnaby Conrad’s week long classes in various aspects of writing and got the idea for a murder mystery. It took me twenty years to complete that novel. In te interim, I finished and published  four other novels

Describe your writing process. Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants? When and where do you write?

I formulate an idea, work it around in my mind and have the basic structure down before I start writing. Once I start, I utilize the internet extensively to research various issues..

Can you tell us about your most recent release?

Magnolia is a civil war love story with emphasis on how the spying apparatus of both sides influenced the war.

How did you get the idea for the book?

Writing a civil war novel had been something I had in mind for at least fifteen years. The two main characters were modeled after two of my friends.

Of all your characters, which one is your favorite? Why?

Louisa Beauregard. Here was a woman ahead of her times, who saw the world as it was then and not how the gentile of the south painted it. She was willing to take risks and stand by her convictions

What was the most challenging aspect of writing your book?

To stay true to the issues at hand during the civil war

What projects are you currently working on?

I’ve completed about ninety percent of a new novel dealing with The Vietnamese War. The plot deals with an aviator who was shot down near Hanoi and manages to escape . The novel concentrates on the issues he faces when he comes home. Did he escape or was a collaborator who was helped by his enemy. How did he deal with an unfaithful wife when he returned? How would he assimilate into society.

What advice would you offer to new or aspiring fiction authors?

Concentrate on creating scenes for every aspect of the book