Ask the Author: Jim Nesbitt
Answered Questions (10)
Jim Nesbitt
Ed Earl is a bit of an Everyman, battered by life but still swinging. He's not super smart like Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe and he isn't super cool like Steve McQueen in Bullitt. He dogged and determined -- smart enough, tough enough, profane and reckless. And deeply flawed. People have a habit of underestimating him and he makes them pay for that mistake -- with cuffs or a bullet. Doesn't matter to him. And he attracts unsavory but unforgettable characters like flies.
Jim Nesbitt
Hunter's Venom, By Peter J. Earle
Prussian Blue, By Philip Kerr
Charcoal Joe, By Walter Mosely
Prussian Blue, By Philip Kerr
Charcoal Joe, By Walter Mosely
Jim Nesbitt
My last journalism gig was with the News & Observer in Raleigh where I served as a senior staff writer and editor. And, yes, I loved that crazy life.
Jim Nesbitt
I've always thought hard-boiled detective novels an American art form. At their best, they're more than who-dun-its or thrillers, they're vehicles for a writer's observations about culture, politics, philosophy, music, history and a time or a place. Or both. When you write, you start with what you know. And I knew a little something about the border, Texas and Mexico and I knew I wanted to write a noirish detective novel. So I started with that and went from there.
Jim Nesbitt
Reading good writers. It doesn't always inspires me -- sometimes, their writing is so good I get depressed that I'll never reach their heights. Then I get prideful and ticked and take up the challenge to up my game.
Jim Nesbitt
Driving the last changes on my first book, The Last Second Chance: An Ed Earl Burch Novel, while promoting same. And editing my second book, The Right Wrong Number, which is also an Ed Earl Burch novel.
Jim Nesbitt
Plant your butt in the chair and write. Every day. Again, no magic bullet.
Jim Nesbitt
I get to see all the voices in my head come alive on paper.
Jim Nesbitt
I just finished chatted with a fellow author about this very subject. There's no magic bullet. You put the book down and walk away from it for a while. Then you plunk your butt back down and start writing your way through the block. It's painful at first and what you write is crap, but eventually, you punch through. It's also a good time to review your original notes or outlines to recenter yourself. And, maybe, sketch out an endgame.
Jim Nesbitt
Oh, jeez -- this brings back a memory from a job interview I once had. I knew the background of the editor asking me this question and how he'd never risen above being a suburban bureau chief. So, when I rattled off a few examples -- presidential campaign coverage (in and out, not full time), Senate and gubernatorial campaign profiles (including Jim Hunt versus Jesse Helms), airline crashes, hurricanes, high-profile murders and dragnets, etc -- I saw his jaw tighten and his lips purse. Didn't get the job. In three decades, I covered everything except a war. But my favorite stories were trend pieces on issues like grazing and logging rights on public lands out West, the rise of legalized gambling across the U.S., the militia and Christian patriot movement, the digital divide between rural and urban America and anything to do with the border between the U.S. and Mexico, including immigration policy. I was fortunate to work for outfits that would send me to where the action on these issues was the hottest.
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