A Visit With Mystery Author James M. Jackson
Last summer, I took an online course with Jim Jackson and was impressed by his in-depth coverage of the art of revising a fiction manuscript and by his sense of humor. I hope you enjoy meeting him as much as I did.
NG: Welcome, Jim! Has any book changed your life or how you think about the world?
JJ: Yes. Oh, I suppose you want details. The reading list I have maintained since the beginning of high school shows I have read 2,854 books. Many have expanded my knowledge or changed my understanding of people and the world. I read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle in college. Although it’s fiction, it augmented my experiences assisting VISTA volunteers in Western New York State migrant camps. I came to understand that capitalism, left unchecked, leads to results that benefit the wealthy at the expense of society. Corporations require a strong government to balance their desire for profit with larger society needs (like clean air and water, safe products, reasonable wages, etc.). Citizens, in turn, must make strong government accountable through non-gerrymandered elections.
My social liberalism combined with fiscal conservativism means I haven’t had a lot to cheer about in decades. Much of what drives my series protagonist, Seamus McCree, to action is his outrage at those individuals, groups, companies, and governments that abuse their power. He might have read The Jungle too.
NG: Love that last answer, Jim! You have a home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, as well as one in Madison, Wisconsin. One place is rural, the other is a city. What is your favorite thing about each?
JJ: My favorite thing about Madison is the possibility of “culture”: concerts, theater, and such. I say possibility because we’ve lived there mostly under Covid and have had little opportunity to enjoy the arts.
My love is our place in the Upper Peninsula. However, rural does not do it justice: we are fifteen miles from where you can buy anything, and the nearest legal resident (as opposed to those who own property here, but vote elsewhere) is over five miles away. Picking a favorite thing is hard, but sitting at the edge of our lake with a book and a glass of wine and hearing no human sound is very special for me. I’ve attached a picture of the lake during fall colors.
NG: From your Facebook photos, I know you recently took a trip to Iceland. What made you decide to travel there? Do you have a favorite photo to share with us?
JJ? Jan, my life partner of nearly thirty years, and I love traveling in nature. Recently, we’ve used bird tours as the mechanism to get us outside in interesting places. This year, with Covid still raging in its various forms, I thought the perfect situation would be a cruise in which everyone entered “Covid-free” and abided by strong masking protocols. The only stops were in remote places where we spent most of our time outdoors.
Jan had always wanted to experience fiords, and I found a small-ship excursion that spent time in Iceland and Greenland, which has wonderful fiords. Picking a favorite photograph (of the several thousand I took) is as tough as choosing a single influential book. However, one peak experience on the trip was sharing a cove created by icebergs with a pod of humpback whales. While in a small boat, we watched them feed for a half hour. One swam directly under our boat. Jan is sure we humans were as entertaining to the whales as they were to us. Here’s one of the whale’s flukes dripping water.
NG: What are your hobbies?
JJ: Jan correctly says I have serial hobbies. While other interests ebb and flow, two have remained constant. I love to read, and I love to watch birds. Over time, my reading habits have shifted from 50/50 fiction/nonfiction to primarily fiction. And while I chased after birds to expand my life list, I now enjoy watching robins feeding in the yard as much as searching my woods for a rare migrant.
NG: Your seven-book mystery series features Seamus McCree, a private detective dealing with financial crimes. In Seamus’ latest adventure, Granite Oath, we quickly learn that he cares deeply about keeping his promises. What’s one Seamus trait you wish you had, but don’t?
JJ: Seamus has (and my father had) the ability to ask questions and listen to the answers in a way that allows him to discover ways to connect with that person’s experiences. It’s a skill I have been trying to develop, but still have a lot to learn.
Click here to buy Granite Oath!
NG: You gave the revision class a terrific handout on how to use an editing tool called ProWritingAid. I understand you also use other writing tools such as Aeon Timeline and Dragon Dictation software. If you could keep only one of these tools, which one would it be? Why?
JJ: I use ProWritingAid all the time as a first-line defense against my suboptimal writing preferences. It’s not perfect, but it does a good job checking grammar and highlighting possible style improvements. Left to my own devices, I can write convoluted passive sentences and think they are crystal clear. ProWritingAid shows me they are not.
NG: Your blog, “My Two Cents Worth,” shares your ideas about writing and your thoughts on politics and finance. Do you have a financial tip for us to help deal with inflation? Find Jim’s website here: https://jamesmjackson.com/ If you visit, look for another great photo of the lake. And don’t forget to sign up for his newsletter while you’re there.
JJ: With the Fed raising interest rates, it now pays to shop around for savings rates. Some traditional banks continue to offer .01%-.02% interest on your money, while some online banks offer 2% interest. On $10,000 of savings, the difference is $200 or more a year. It’s worth our time to shop around.
Jim and I would love to hear your comments below!
Alyson,
I tried a couple of times to respond to your question without success, so this time I’m trying a general comment (with fingers crossed). For me to write a mystery in a foreign land, I’d need to learn about that country’s laws, police forces, and how an amateur sleuth could intersect those worlds. I’d want to make sure that was all correct, which means a lot of research.
So, unless I partner on a novel with someone who has that knowledge, I think Seamus and other planned protagonists will need to remain in the United States.
Loved the interview. I have a real sense of you, Jim and will check out your books.
Hi Susan, glad you enjoyed the interview, and I hope you enjoy the books.
Hi, Jim—
Your trip to Iceland sounds wonderful. Any chance that you’ll use your experiences there in an upcoming mystery, a la Ann Cleeves use of Shetland? Thanks!
Hi, Alyson–
Several people have asked that very question. I suspect I will not take Seamus or anyone else abroad to solve mysteries. To do it right, I’d need to learn how about how the county’s police are organized, how they perform investigations, how they would deal with an amateur sleuth mucking around in their investigations, etc. I’d need to get it right and that involves a lot of research.
Now, if I could find an author to partner with who already had that local knowledge . . .
Hi Alyson —
I tried answering before but must have messed up since the response did not appear. The short answer is Seamus is unlikely to travel in order to get into trouble. The issue is I would have to thoroughly research foreign police agencies and laws before I could write a mystery set in someplace other than the U.S. I’d want to make sure I had the facts right, and that would take too much time.
Unless I could find a collaborative author who already knew that stuff and wanted to co-write a story.
A question I forget to ask, Jim. I really liked the summary at the bottom of your description of the first Seamus McCree novel, Ant Farm: “A protagonist written in the tradition of Robert B. Parker, John Sandford, and William Kent Krueger: Seamus is a good guy willing to pay a price to bring justice to the world.” Did you have to do have to do much research to come up with authors who write similar books?
Gosh, Nancy. If I had a buck for every hour I spent trying to write blurbs, I could retire. Oh wait, I am retired.
I’m fans of all three authors and know their writing styles and protagonists well. One of my friends, Jack Kerley (a fine author who hales from Kentucky) mentioned during a critique session that my style reminded him of early Robert B. Parker. That stuck with me. Sandford and Krueger’s protagonists are or have been police officers. Seamus is an amateur sleuth, but all three of us write stories that heavily involve family.
For advertising purposes, I continue to search for books similar to mine. And, I am having a devil of a time coming up with books similar to the spinoff series I am writing whose protagonist is an undercover federal agent.
Long answer to the question. 🙂
Thanks for the interview, Nancy. I’ll check back throughout the day and respond to any comments or questions readers have.
~ Jim
Fascinating interview.