Seeley James’ near-death experiences range from talking a jealous husband into putting the gun down to spinning out on an icy freeway in heavy traffic without touching anything. His resume ranges from washing dishes to global technology management. His personal life ranges from homeless at 17, adopting a 3-year-old at 19, getting married at 37, fathering his last child at 43, hiking the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim at 59, and taking the occasional nap.
His writing career ranges from humble beginnings with short stories in The Battered Suitcase, to being awarded a Medallion from the Book Readers Appreciation Group. Seeley is best known for his Sabel Security series of thrillers featuring athlete and heiress Pia Sabel and her bodyguard, veteran Jacob Stearne. One of them kicks ass and the other talks to the wrong god.
His love of creativity began at an early age, growing up at Frank Lloyd Wright’s School of Architecture in Arizona and Wisconsin. He carried his imagination first into a successful career in sales and marketing, and then to his real love: fiction.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: http://www.seeleyjames.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seeleyjamesauthor/
Other Books by Seeley James
Who killed Chloe England?
When a friend from her days in international soccer, now a British constable, is murdered, Pia Sabel uncovers an assassination ring catering to the ultra-rich – putting her dead center in their crosshairs.
For most of her life, Pia Sabel worked through the pain of losing her parents, threw herself into her work, and lived with insomnia. Now her doctor warns growing paranoia will soon threaten her mental health. She escapes to rural England to mourn the loss of her friend. On arrival, she is attacked by a mob, dismissed by officials, and ridiculed by high society for inquiring about an English Lord and a British institute. The more people tell her not to ask questions, the more she questions their motives.
Unconquered and unafraid, she investigates the murder and exposes a well-connected web of billionaire suspects. Along the way, she touches a nerve, bringing down an avalanche of killers on top of her. Unable to trust anyone, from the handsome Scot she wants to know better to Britain’s titled class, she must unravel the clues before more victims land in the morgue. Peeling back the layers of deceit, lies and cover-ups, Pia finally discovers the truth about who killed Chloe England. A revelation sure to endanger everyone she loves.
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We welcome you to
My Bookish Pleasures! Can you tell us how you got started writing fiction?
When everyone in your
life calls you a liar, you stop and think, “How can I monetize that?”
Seriously, when I was ten or so, I read Treasure Island and thought, “Wow, you
can make a living telling tall tales like this? How come I get spanked?” OK,
really serious this time: I always wanted to be a writer.
But my life didn’t go along the traditional routes. I was homeless, hungry, and tired at 19 when I adopted a 3-year-old girl. I quickly realized a single dad needs a good deal of money, so I took any job I could get and eventually wound up in tech. I never lost sight of my dream and when I’d accumulated all the gold I could eat, I retired early and set out to learn how to write the kind of mysteries and thrillers I love to read.
Describe your
writing process. Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants? When and where
do you write?
I am neither a plotter
nor a pantser. Having spent decades in the tech business, I’m a spreadsheet
guy. I make something similar to an outline but not so elaborate. I chart the OH-NO
moments on a grid that follows Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth concepts. I then
begin writing and, using a companion spreadsheet, track the story developments
as I write them to see if and how they fall in line with the master plan. I try
to make my writing surprise me, so I often re-write the masterplan to fit a new
direction. That keeps it fresh and surprising.
Physically, I write anywhere I can. Mostly in my home office and on my patio. I also love writing in crowds, on airplanes, on vacations, wherever it’s most annoying to my family.
Can you tell us
about your most recent release?
I love classic whodunits.
I grew up on Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Auguste Dupin, among many others
and I’ve always wanted to write those types of mysteries. I held off for a few
years because I wanted to be in complete command of my craft before embarking
on the mind game that is a good mystery. My goal is to have all the facts in
front of the reader, let them wonder what it means, then watch the heroine, Pia
Sabel, piece it all together. The Morpheus Decision hits all the right
marks and the early readers love it.
In this story, we have a complex woman who sets out to solve the murder of an old friend. When clues lead her into English high society, where she is an unwelcome outsider, she finds herself stepping on a lot of toes. It took several passes and many beta readers to get all the clues lined up so the answers were neither a shock nor a foregone conclusion. See if you can figure out the three big questions: Who is the mastermind? Who is the killer? How did they kill their victims?
How did you get
the idea for the book?
I use an online notebook called OneNote and stuff ideas in it whenever they occur to me. I tuck in bits and pieces I like from books I read, such as how a clue plays out or a type of conspiracy. Eventually the mess coalesces into an concept. I then use my spreadsheet to see if that core-story can grow into a novel. In this case, I wanted to tease out a whodunit with a howdunit while offering up a villain or two without revealing the mastermind. The result is diabolical if I don’t say so myself. A reader might guess one of the answers but will still struggle to piece it all together until our heroine, Pia Sabel, reveals the last clue in the last chapter.
Of all your
characters, which one is your favorite? Why?
Not a fair question!
Which of my children is my favorite? Which book is my favorite? All of them.
Each has reasons for being special. A writer loves characters who present a
challenge to write, and if I’m doing it right, they all have challenges.
Naturally, Pia Sabel has the smarts, the strength, and the wit to be a heroine, but she also struggles with suspicions, both founded and not, that can be debilitating. Making someone who has everything vulnerable and relatable is a big challenge. In a similar vein, Tania Cooper, in a classic sidekick role, struggles as a black woman in a white man’s world. Bringing out the difficulties all women face, compounding that with the challenges black women face, and doing it without coming off as pedantic is a great challenge. Equally challenging is writing the men who are romantically interested in these formidable women. Yes, they’re all my favorites.
What was the most
challenging aspect of writing your book?
Making the clues add up without giving it away. I am grateful for all the poor, unfortunate souls who read the early drafts to find when, where, and what gave it away. Since you can only read a mystery once, I needed a lot of fresh meat willing to read quickly in order to take out a word here or add a paragraph there. A mystery has to be delicately balanced and, with the help of twenty close friends, we got there!
What projects are
you currently working on?
Today, I’m working on the next Jacob Stearne Thriller which starts a three-book arc. At the same time, I’m collecting notes for the next two Pia Sabel Mysteries. Her stories are floating around in my head, so I make notes and file them in OneNote. I’m hoping to pick up the pace of my writing in order to get them all out in 2021.
What advice would
you offer to new or aspiring fiction authors?
Readers are smart and deserve the most fascinating story you can devise. Anything that feels easy to write—needs another look.
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