Philip Neale and I met some time ago. I interviewed this interesting author on my former website and wanted to bring him over to this one.
Please, introduce yourself. Tell us about your personal life, family, education.
My name is Neal James, and I am a UK crime writer. Aside from writing, I retired two years ago from a 44-year career in accounting.
I live in Derbyshire, which is a county in the Midlands area of England, with my wife and family, and have spent my entire life in the same town.
I grew up in a mining family, where my Dad worked in one of the largest mines in the Derbyshire coalfields, and attended local Secondary schools (your High School equivalent) until I went to college in 1971. Returning home, I found my first job as a clerk with a local building firm and eventually qualified as an ACMA (the equivalent of your CPA) in February 2003.
I began writing part-time in 2006.
What do you like doing in your spare time?
My hobbies, apart from writing, include reading (crime, science fiction, horror), gardening where I spend a considerable amount of the spring preparing and planting our gardens under the watchful eye of my wife, music (both listening and playing), and travel.
I also enjoy sport, and am a fan of the AFC’s Buffalo Bills in additional to the normal British summer and winter professional sports (soccer and cricket).
If you are a writer, are you an avid reader?
Yes, I am. I think that the whole idea of being a writer depends upon how widely you read. I try to choose books from as many different writers and genres as I can, because sticking to a single style can become tiring.
What is your ultimate writing goal as you see it today?
I would love for one of my books to be made into a film or TV drama. All writers get a buzz from seeing their work on public display, and I have been fortunate in this respect by seeing my books in libraries and book shops up and down the UK.
The Inspiration
What inspired you to write your first book?
I began writing short stories back in 2006 and saw them published on a couple of US writing sites. One of them, ‘A Ticket to Tewkesbury’, became my first novel of the same name after the initial story gained some very favourable comments from readers.
How do you decide on the title of a book?
This is always the most difficult part of writing for me. I begin with a nondescript working title until an idea surfaces. This may not be the final version, and one of the books, ‘Threads of Deceit,’ went through three changes before I settled on the published version.
Have you developed a specific writing style and why?
I am, primarily, a writer of crime and thriller novels. This is because that is my chosen style of reading although, as I have already said, I do try to read as varied a selection as books as possible. I also write short story anthologies and have penned one science fiction saga.
How much of your books is realistic and experiences based on someone you know, or events in your life?
I try to write as much of what I know as possible – that way I do not run the risk of making huge logical errors. I sometimes use actual events and characterisations based upon people whom I have known. This gives me a grounding in fact and also aids in the building of characters.
Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?
Thomas Hardy, the ‘Grand Old Man’ of English literature. I first came across him whilst studying for my ‘A’ Levels at Grammar School (I’m a Brit). The set book was ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’, and I fell in love with her and Hardy’s style immediately. He combines descriptive text of physical locations with the ability to make the reader empathize with all of his characters in a way that holds my attention. I have all of his books.
Do you remember the first book you read?
‘The Morning After Death’ by Nicholas Blake. That would have been the first novel that I actually finished reading and I wo7uld have been about eleven at the time. Maybe that was what set me on the road to crime writing.
Still More Books
Is there an author, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?
Isaac Asimov. Arguably the most famous of all sci-fi writers. I read and re-read all of his books and would just love to spend an evening alone with him talking about his work and what influenced the way in which he wrote his stories.
When you see new authors struggling, what single piece of advice could you give them on a moment’s notice?
Write about what you know and not what others write about. Be your own strongest critic and look carefully at what you have written. Never be afraid to ask for help and advice – there’s always someone out there willing to assist.
Do you have a blog or website viewers can visit for updates, events and special offers? Include links to any and all of your sites.
Yes, I do. I run my own website that I have been developing for a number of years:
Excellent interview as always, Mary and Neal. I would love to have sat down with Asimov as well. He was also a scientist in his own right, as you know, and wrote some enlightening books on the topic of nonfictional science. I think he was a biochemist, wasn’t he? Another great is Robert Heinlein but he got weird towards the end of his life! Good talk, Mary. I enjoyed it and Neil, as an accountant, did you find your work perhaps less thrilling than that of a crime writer?