A Conversation with James Swain
Q: You recently released four original ebooks – Wild Card, Jackpot, The Program, and The Man Who Cheated Death. Are you moving away from traditional publishing?
A: Not at all! I have a new series coming out in the fall of 2011 called Dark Magic that will be published by Tor. It’s about a magician with paranormal abilities. I decided to publish these four books because my readers have been clamoring for them.
Wild Card and Jackpot are part of the Tony Valentine series, and were purchased by Ballantine, to be published in 2003 and 2007. My publisher decided to release other books in the series instead, and these two books were kicked back to me. I was holding off publishing them in the hopes the TV series will come out, but decided why wait.
The Program is the 4th installment in the Jack Carpenter series, while The Man Who Cheated Death is part of the Vincent Hardare series which I wrote years ago.
I’ve written fourteen novels, and these four books are my favorites. Publishing them as ebooks has been a real thrill.
Q: Do you plan to publish more original ebooks?
A: I hope to. My series all have loyal followings, and the advent of ebooks allows me to continue writing to those fans about these terrific characters.
Q: Tell me about Wild Card and Jackpot, the Tony Valentine novels.
A: Wild Card is a prequel, and takes place in 1979. It shows how Valentine becomes a casino detective, while also telling the story of how the mob stole a million dollars a day from the casinos, right under everyone’s noses. There’s also a serial killer picking up women in the casinos who Valentine must catch, and a host of other nefarious characters. I had help with this book from a famous hustler named Izzie Hirsch.
Q: So it’s based on true events. What about Jackpot?
A: In Jackpot, Valentine has a score to settle. Decades before, his brother-in-law was gunned down by a gang of ruthless con men, each of whom Valentine has sworn to track down. When the book opens, only one is left, a killer named Bronco Marchese.
Valentine goes to Nevada to bring Bronco to justice, while also helping the police figure out how someone is stealing hundreds of slot machine jackpots without ever touching the machines. It’s a case that only Valentine with his amazing “grift sense” can solve. It’s also based upon a true story.
Q: How about The Program?
A: This is the 4th installment in the Jack Carpenter series. As some of my readers may remember, there’s an FBI agent in those books named Ken Linderman who’s searching for his missing daughter, who he believes was abducted by a serial killer. This novel deals with that case, and introduces a new character, a hot-headed FBI agent named Rachel Vick. Vick is the first major female character in my novels, and is someone I hope to bring back in future books.
Q: Last but not least, tell me about The Man Who Cheated Death.
A: Vincent Hardare is a character I introduced over twenty years ago. He’s a magician, and the nephew of Harry Houdini. The story takes place in Los Angeles, and involves a crazed killer who calls himself Death, who Hardare is helping the LAPD try and catch. The novel deals with two of my favorite subjects – magic and murder – and has some of the most hair-raising scenes I’ve ever written.
Q: Last question. Many writers and publishers seem fearful of ebooks. You seem excited by them. Can you explain why?
A: I think ebooks are the greatest thing that’s happened to publishing since the invention of moveable type. As an author, they allow me to grow my readership and tell my stories in a way that was not available to me before. They are the future of books.
JAMES SWAIN IN THE NEWS.
Click the below link to read an article with James on the future of ebooks.
Creative Loafing. Festival of Reading: future of eBooks panel discussion
JAMES SWAIN ON VIDEO
Have you seen this?
James on Video - Go dierctly to multiple TV appearances by James Swain
James demonstrates "hustles, cheats, cons and scams" CLICK HERE
Joe Konrath's Guest Blog - A Newbie's Guide to Publishing
"I asked Jim to answer a few questions about ebooks, and he kindly responded."
CLICK HERE to go directly to the blog and read what Jim had to say.
