Empty Promises:
Please welcome author of Empty Promises
James M. Jackson will be awarding the chance to name a character who will appear in FALSE BOTTOM (Seamus McCree #6) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Empty Promises
by James M. Jackson
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GENRE: Mystery/Suspense/Domestic Thriller
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INTERVIEW:
- What or who inspired you to start writing?
When I retired, I took several months pondering what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I spent time working through books like Zen and the Art of Making a Living and What Color is Your Parachute? What kept coming up was that I wanted to write.
Ever since reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew I had loved mysteries, so I figured that’s what I’d write. It should be easy, I thought. Ha!
- What expertise did you bring to your writing?
I’ll whisper this softly so you don’t shy away: I am a numbers geek. I earned a BS in Mathematics and an MBA with a concentration in Finance. I like spreadsheets, coding algorithms, macro and micro economics, and I’m good at finance. But, I’ve always been curious about how people behave and why people behave as they do, so I minored in psychology. I find how people relate to money endlessly fascinating.
In my work career, I discovered I have a real talent for explaining complex things in language people can understand. Combined with my understanding of finance, my interest in how individuals can corrupt the system, and why others fall for their schemes, provides a great background for making up stories that revolve around financial crimes.
- How did you come up with ideas for your books?
My mother’s not reading this, right? So here’s the secret: I have a perverse mind that wants to look at any financial transaction and figure out how someone might game the system. How would a crooked insurance agency cheat people? What about a life insurance company? What about selling stuff on eBay? How could a cigar shop (up north) or a nail salon (down south) be a front for the mob? Those kids of questions are natural for me.
Luckily, I had a moral upbringing and know I would not fare well in prison, so I’ve never been tempted to implement any of the schemes I imagined.
But in novels and short stories, I get to safely experience the thrill of the con and the agony of discovery. I can make sure the good guys (mostly) win and the bad guys (mostly) get their just desserts.
- Do you outline your books or just start writing?
I am a big-time pantser. As I begin writing, I have in mind an inciting incident and a vague sense how my series characters will be involved. I write the first draft over two or three months. By the time I finish the first draft, I’ve figured out what the story is really about. That first draft effectively becomes a 90,000-word outline.
My second and third drafts fill in the plot holes left from the first draft and eliminate or merge scenes and characters no longer needed. At that point, I ask my first reader to poke holes in my plot and characters. Based on that feedback I develop the draft that goes to my story editor. After reflecting her observations, I polish until I think it’s perfect and let my copyeditor bring me back to earth.
- Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to write a series.
I love reading series, and so when I decided to write in the mystery/suspense/thriller genre, I knew I wanted to write a series rather than multiple standalones. There are two kinds of series. In a “static” series, the protagonist does not change much over time. Two examples from series I have enjoyed are Robert B. Parker’s Spenser and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. If you look at those characters in the first few novels and the last few novels, they really haven’t changed much. They hardly even seem to age! Readers would be upset if Jack Reacher decided to settle down, buy a three-bedroom in the suburbs, get married, and have two children.
I prefer reading series in which characters change over time. Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosh and John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport are examples of series I’m hooked on. Not only do I expect a good tale, I want to know what’s been going on in the characters’ lives. Unlike Sue Grafton’s alphabet series with Kinsey Millhone, I wanted the characters to age in time.
When we first meet Seamus McCree in Ant Farm, he is divorced and his son, Paddy, is in college. In Bad Policy, Paddy is graduating college and Seamus has a developing love interest. Nine years have passed by the time we reach Empty Promises. Paddy has a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Megan. Seamus’s love interest is on the rocks. As their author, I’m interested in finding out whether they will learn from the past and grow or become psychologically stuck until some trauma forces change. They interact, of course, and their different objectives and ways of viewing the world bring conflict—I’m curious how they will deal with that.
- Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?
I have been a birdwatcher for nearly fifty years and I gave Seamus McCree that passion. When he’s outside, he’s likely to notice the birds or their calls or the silence in the woods when the birds have spotted something out-of-the-ordinary and shut down their vocalizations until they can assess the threat. When he’s in a city, it comes into play less, but much of Empty Promises takes place out in the woods where his birding acumen does inform his actions.
- If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why?
Two characters come to mind: one old, the other young. I am in awe of people like Owen Lyndstrom, who appears in Cabin Fever and Empty Promises. He’s not had an easy life, but he has never backed away from it. He’s worked about every job there is in the northwoods and is still working into his eighties. He’s a gossip, has his own way of talking, and comes out with the darndest observations, even if he sometimes butchers the English language, and drops all the Gs from the end of his words. He’s comfortable in his own skin and doesn’t let anyone define who he is or what he should do. And he’ll help anyone who needs it.
While I respect Owen, I wouldn’t want his life. I’d choose Megan McCree. In Empty Promises she’s three and a half. She’s Seamus’s granddaughter and is smart and curious and whimsical. My hope for the world’s future is in our children, and I’d love to find out exactly how Megan will help shape the world. I have no doubt it will be for the better.
- What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
Being told I really must be part of a critique group could qualify as both the best and worst advice I’ve received.
- Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?
When I started writing fifteen years ago, one of the best things I did was follow the advice to join a critique group. The fiction critique group of the Cincinnati Writers Project (CWP) meets Wednesday evenings at a local restaurant. I belonged until I moved from the area. Through their weekly feedback, I learned to write well. To show my appreciation, I dedicated Ant Farm to the group.
Taking my critiquing responsibilities seriously was probably even more valuable than the feedback I received on my submissions. When something I was critiquing wasn’t working, I worked to understand the reasons why. And when something was written well, I analyzed that to figure out what how the author created the wonderful scene. That time and effort brought me a deeper understanding of story-telling using the written word.
When we moved from the Cincinnati area, I joined an online critique group, which furthered my education. When that group disbanded, I switched to using beta readers.
So that was all positive, how could joining a critique group be terrible advice? For a short time in between my two long-term groups, I belonged to another critique group. CWP was led by experienced authors whose objective was to help others in a positive, collegial atmosphere. Critiques were all about the writing; personalities had no part in the process. This other critique group did not have the same standards as CWP. Some critiques were full of putdowns; other critiques tried to rewrite everything from my voice into their voice. It didn’t take me long to realize the group fed on negative criticism, not positive improvement. Having no group would be much better than that group.
- Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?
The sixth Seamus McCree novel is titled False Bottom. It takes place shortly after the completion of Empty Promises. Uncle Mike O’Malley, Seamus’s surrogate father, is gunned down. Seamus returns to his Boston roots to handle the retired Boston police captain’s estate. He discovers Uncle Mike left him more than just stocks and bonds to worry about. The secrets and intrigue put the entire McCree clan at risk.
- As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
I have a great title and inciting incident for the “G” book in the Seamus McCree series, but my plans are to put that on the back burner and turn my attention to a planned Young Adult trilogy set in the near future.
I am a social liberal and fiscal conservative. Needless to say, elections haven’t been going my way. I began imagining what the United States might look like if it became bankrupt and corporations literally bought the country and ran it for profit. The country has been split apart and my heroine will bring about the beginning of its healing.
- What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?
I am often asked if I modeled Seamus McCree after myself. While we do share some interests, like birdwatching, and we’ve lived in the same areas, he’s younger, taller, faster, stronger, smarter, better looking, and if that weren’t enough, he’s independently wealthy.
But he needs to be careful. One electronic search and replace and all that can change.
- Anything else you might want to add?
Thanks so much to Christine for having me here today. I’ll be stopping by to respond to comments and answer any questions. Anyone can write a book, it takes readers to bring a book to life. Thank you, Readers, for continuing to bring my books into your lives. I hope you enjoy my most recent tale.
BLURB:
If you love the suspense and plot twists of domestic thrillers, this page-turner will be for you. Seamus McCree’s first solo bodyguard assignment goes from bad to worse. His client disappears. His granddog finds a buried human bone. Police find a fresh human body.
His client is to testify in a Chicago money laundering trial. He’s paranoid that with a price on his head, if the police know where he’s staying, the information will leak. Seamus promised his business partner and lover, Abigail Hancock, that he’d keep the witness safe at the McCree family camp located deep in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan’s woods.
Abigail is furious at his incompetence and their relationship flounders. Even his often-helpful son, Paddy, must put family safety ahead of helping his father. Seamus risks his own safety and freedom to turn amateur sleuth in hopes he can solve the crimes, fulfill his promise of protection, and win back Abigail. Wit and grit are on his side, but the clock is ticking . . . and the hit man is on his way.
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EXCERPT:
Dread joined us in the car. Even normally bubbly Megan grew silent.
Loggers had cut a narrow lane through the sixty-foot spruce I had watched come down at the beginning of the Grade, leaving most of the tree in place and towing the cut section to the side. They’d wasted no time on smaller branches littering the road and were opening up a one-lane path. I tiptoed the Outback over the debris and moved through the gap.
At first the downed trees were scattered, although limbs and branches dotted the entire road. But the further north we drove, the worse the damage became until the downed trees were a nearly continuous hazard. Paddy frequently left the car to remove branches with sharp breaks that might puncture a tire. I was regretting we hadn’t taken my old beater truck into town with its multi-ply tires. The Outback carried a donut spare, which wouldn’t last thirty seconds on the gravel roads. We had yet to see any other cars or people.
By the time we passed the five- and six-mile markers without any letup in the damage, tightened metal bands had taken up permanent residence around my chest. I feared for Elliot. I feared for my property. I worried whether I’d get a flat. Whether there would still be a hotel room if I had to send Paddy and Megan to Tall Pines. Megan, on the other hand, had given up her concerns and was in the back seat, singing along with a CD, a cheerful canary amidst the devastation.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree series consisting of five novels and one novella. Jim splits his time between the deep woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Georgia’s Lowcountry. He claims the moves between locations are weather-related, but others suggest they may have more to do with not overstaying his welcome. He is the past president of the 700+ member Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime. You can find information about Jim and his books at http://jamesmjackson.com. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and/or Amazon.
https://www.facebook.com/james.m.jackson.author
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6989254.James_M_Jackson
https://www.amazon.com/James-M.-Jackson/e/B004U7FRP2
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
James M. Jackson will be awarding the chance to name a character who will appear in FALSE BOTTOM (Seamus McCree #6) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2613
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