Pump Up Your Book Chats with Thriller Author James Hayman

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Editor’s Note: James will be right in this very spot live on Monday, Nov. 27, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., answering any questions you may have about his book. Leave a question for James below anytime from now until his chat and he’ll be here to answer them for you on Nov. 27.  We will also be hosting a book giveaway!  If you would like a chance to win a FREE copy of her book, The Cutting, leave a question below with your email address underneath your comment.  The winner will be announced on Nov. 28. Good luck!

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Like the hero of The Cutting, James Hayman is a transplanted New Yorker. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Manhattan, he spent more than twenty years writing TV advertising for clients like The U.S. Army, Lincoln-Mercury and Procter & Gamble. He moved to Portland, Maine in 2001. Four years later he decided to scratch a lifelong itch to write fiction and began work on his first suspense thriller featuring homicide detective Mike McCabe. St. Martin’s/Minotaur bought rights to The Cutting and published it in July, 2009. Hayman is currently at work on the second McCabe novel which is due to be published in July, 2010. The tentative title is The Chill of Night.  You can visit his website at www.jameshaymanthrillers.com, his blog at www.jameshaymanthrillers.com/blog or connect with him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thecutting.

Thank you for this interview, James.  Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later?  Do you remember your first published piece?

I was always making up stories as a kid but I rarely wrote them down. I knew I wanted to write for a living when I left college.  I interviewed for jobs as a newspaper reporter and as an advertising copywriter. My first good offer came from one of the major NYC ad agencies.  I was almost out of money at the time so I said yes. My first “published” piece was a sixty second TV commercial for Viceroy Cigarettes. That was back in the day when cigarettes could still be advertised on TV.  The commercial consisted of a song lyric about a guy who goes up for his first solo flight in a small single engine plane.  When he manages to land safely he rewards himself by smoking a Viceroy. Pretty dopey but I remember how thrilled I was seeing it broadcast on network TV.

What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?

So far, thank goodness, there haven’t been too many frustrations.  The most rewarding side has been from people telling me they really like The Cutting.  These include my agent, my editor and a whole bunch of positive reviewers (especially one from the Portland Press-Herald (http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=274367&ac=Audience&pg=1 ).  But its even more fun to get emails from regular readers who bought the book or took it out of the library and enjoyed it enough to write and tell me so or send in a review to Amazon or Borders or B&N.

Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life?  Do you have support?

I’m married.  My wife’s a full-time artist.  My kids are grown up and living on their own. They’re all very supportive of my new career as a novelist

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?  Where do you like to vacation?  Can you tell us briefly about this?

I like reading. I like cooking. While I haven’t made all the recipes in Julia Childs’ Mastering the Art of French Cooking (like Julie Powell in Julie/Julia), I’ve made a lot of them. I like sailing (on other people’s boats).  I’m an urban sort of person and my favorite vacation destinations are cities with great architecture, great art and great restaurants. Paris, London, Rome, Barcelona, San Francisco and New York among others.

If you could be anywhere in the world for one hour right now, where would that place be and why?

On location in Portland, Maine, helping produce the movie version of The Cutting.  If that ever really happens, I think it will be a blast.

Who is your biggest fan?

That’s easy.  My wife Jeanne. She’s a perceptive, critical reader but also a huge supporter of this whole adventure.

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

A big leather easy chair in an extra bedroom we’ve turned into a writing room. It’s light and bright and has great views of my wife’s garden and the birch woods behind our property.

What’s your favorite library and why?

I spend a lot of time writing at the Glickman Library at the University of Southern Maine.  I like working there because it’s comfortable and there are none of the distractions one has working at home.

What’s your favorite bookstore and why?

I love all bookstores.  Among my favorites are Longfellows, my local indie in Portland Maine and the Strand Bookstore in New York City where they have, as they say, 18 miles of books…and then some.

Do you have any pets?

Not right now.  We’ve always had dogs but our last one, Tessie died a year or so ago.  We’ll probably get another dog fairly soon.

What are you reading right now?

James Lee Burke’s Rain Gods. It’s a terrific thriller with a great hero a seventy something sheriff in South Texas named Hackberry Holland.  Burke is one of my favorite thriller writers.

Tell us a secret no one else knows.

I can’t. It’s a secret.

What’s the first thing you notice when you meet someone?

Someone’s eyes.  I think the eyes tell you more about what kind of person someone is than anything else.

Have you ever won anything?

Aside from a few rounds of Trivial Pursuit and a bunch of advertising awards, no.

What’s on your to do list today?

I’m going to do a little writing this morning and then I’ll be going for a sail this afternoon with a friend.

I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in October and November via a virtual book tour.  Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?

Yes. The Internet is becoming a more and more important means of promoting books. I’m no Internet expert and needed the help.  Plus I’d rather spend my time writing fiction than figuring out where on the net to promote my book.  I’m happy to pay Pump Up Your Book Promotion to do that.

Thank you for this interview, James.  Good luck on your virtual book tour!