I’m starting a new Q&A blog series with some of the authors and clients I’ve been fortunate enough to work with. Today, we’re kicking things off with Morgan James, author of eight contemporary southern novels, including the popular Promise McNeal cozy mystery series.
When did you first know you wanted to be an author?
Stories have always captivated me, taken me to places I’d rather be, instead of where I am. As children, my brother and I would make up stories to tell each other when we were supposed to be sleeping. And more than once my grandmother accused me of making up a story about something I’d swear I’d seen.
But I think it was when I discovered the public library in Milledgeville, Georgia that I realized the magical worlds stories could create. I’d had a hard time learning to read, and then all of a sudden, in the spring of fourth grade, all those strange and wondrous words began to make sense. Then, when the hot Georgia summer was in full bloom, my brother and I discovered we could walk or ride our bikes to the library. Once we did, we also discovered that the library was free and one of the few places in town with air conditioning. That was an added bonus.
I remember walking into the small brick building and smelling polished wood and the earthy aroma of paper bound between leather or cardboard on cloth covers. Everywhere, books stacked on shelves higher that I could reach. And in every book was a story, a story I wanted to know. I was in heaven. By the next summer, as I read my way through the stacks, I yearned to write my own stories of people who lived and spoke to me from that quiet place of my mind. It would take another two or three years to begin recording the stories, but by then, I was filled with the realization that writing down the stories was essential.
How many books have you written?
Looking For Ona is my eighth published book. Two early manuscripts went into the trashcan, where they belonged. In the early years I wrote short stories and bad poetry.
What is your writing process?
I don’t think a great deal about the process, though perhaps I should. Sometimes the thread of a story untwines in my mind. Most of the time my process begins with a character showing up and demanding to tell their story. I listen. And then comes the work of making sense of the story and putting it down into words, because writing is work, hard work, at least for me. I love doing it, but it’s hard work. One other thought on the process—maturity has taught me not to fall in love with what I first put on paper. A first draft is rarely the best I can do. I am the queen of re-writes.
What’s coming up next for you?
I’m working on book two of a new three book series, The Beyond Mysteries. After that, probably another Promise McNeal mystery. And then, who knows? We’ll see who shows up with an interesting story to tell.
To learn more about Morgan James, check her out at http://morganjameswrites.com/ or on her Amazon author page or Goodreads author page.