Author Q&A With James R. Benn
I’ve been fortunate to say I’ve gotten to know James Benn over the years through the Author Guild and more recently Books Uplift, on which he is a “frequent flyer.” James is an award-winning author of both series and stand-alone novels. His debut novel, Billy Boyle, was named one of the five top mysteries of 2006 by Book Sense and was a nominee for the Dilys Award. A Blind Goddess was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and The Rest Is Silence was a Barry Award nominee.
James lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida with his wife, Deborah Mandel, a psychotherapist and copyeditor who offers many insights into the motivations, as well as a good critical read of his character and much else. They have two sons, Jeff and Ben, and seven grandchildren (Camille, Claudia, Emma, Luke, Nathaniel, Noah, Oliver). Despite his busy schedule, he was gracious enough to come back to Books Uplift for a second Author Q&A. If you haven’t already, now’s your chance to meet James:
It’s been a few years since you’ve been featured on Books Uplift. What have you been up to? I’ve been working at keeping my Billy Boyle WW2 mystery series going, which means paying attention to the emotional growth of the characters. When readers like a character like my protagonist, Billy Boyle, they want to return to what they like in the next book, but it also must provide a new spark that keeps them coming back—tricky stuff. That’s my writing world; in the real world, we’ve been busy having hurricane windows and doors installed, along with a generator. That’s life on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
What is your most recent book, and what sparked the idea? A Bitter Wind is number twenty in the series and releases on September 23, 2025. I’ve long been interested in a little-known event in occupied Yugoslavia, in which hundreds of downed Allied flyers were rescued in a top-secret operation. Partisan fighters dug out improvised airfields in mountainous terrain for transport planes to land and bring out airmen who had been shot down on bombing raids. It was the largest air rescue operation in history, a truly incredible feat.
While researching this book, I came across a fact that I knew I had to include. Jean Conan Doyle, daughter of Sir Arthur, was an intelligence officer during the war (and served well after as well). With Billy Boyle already on record as a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories, I knew she had to be in the book. So the story starts with the discovery of a murdered American officer on an RAF airbase, where Squadron Officer Conan Doyle commands a secret radio interception unit.
Are any of your characters biographical or inspired by those you know? In addition to Jean Conan Doyle, this book includes a cameo appearance by George McGovern, a senator from South Dakota and the Democratic nominee in the 1972 presidential election. He was a B-24 pilot, and in December 1944, he made a dangerous landing on an island in the Adriatic Sea. With perfect unplanned serendipity, this placed him in the right time and place to play a role in this story. Coming in with one dead engine and another on fire, he safely landed on the airfield half the length required for a heavy bomber. For that feat, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
McGovern never publicized his heroism for political purposes. He did cooperate with author Stephen Ambrose, who wrote about McGovern’s service in his book The Wild Blue. McGovern’s understanding was that the book was about the air war in general, but when he saw how prominently he was featured, he declined to participate in any publicity events. He was a man from another time.
How do you hope your book uplifts those who read it? I want readers to enjoy and be challenged by my books. I want them to have a good reading experience and come away having learned something about history that’s worth knowing. But mainly, I work to give a real sense, through fiction, of what it must have been like for the men and women who experienced their piece of the Second World War. Fiction has been described as an empathy machine, and I strive to leave readers with an emotional connection to the past.
What motivated you to become an author? Reading lousy books. I distinctly remember tossing a paperback into a corner and saying, ‘I could write better than this crap. In truth, I always wanted to see if I could write a novel, but at that moment, the gauntlet was thrown. And dear reader, I did!
What’s your favorite part about being an author? Searching out new ideas for the Billy Boyle novels, short stories, or stand-alone novels. When starting a new manuscript, everything is possible, and the story is wide open. Right now, I’m working on a novella involving Frankenstein’s creature. The story picks up at the end of Mary Shelley’s novel as the unnamed creature strands himself on an Arctic icefloe in hopes of dying. But then dormant memories in his ‘donated’ brain awaken, and he discovers that the person was murdered. It’s a horror/mystery, and it’s all I want to talk about right now! But back to work on the next Billy Boyle soon.
What’s your least favorite, or most challenging, part of being an author? Editing. Ugh! Before I became involved in the publishing world, I naively thought that once a writer turned in a manuscript, it was the editor’s job to polish it up and fix all those little inconsistencies, typos, and poor grammar – without bothering the author much. Wouldn’t it be nice? But the most challenging part of editing for me is that by the time I do it for a submitted manuscript, I’m already marketing the current release and starting to write the next. My mind is elsewhere.
What author events do you enjoy attending? One of the most rewarding experiences is being part of a book club that has already read one of my titles. It’s fun to talk with readers who have finished the book, so we can chat.
What advice would you give to novice authors? What about bestselling authors? For novice authors: Read your work out loud. Not in-your-head-out-loud, but read with fervor. Could you act it out? The parts that don’t work will quickly become apparent. Also, no matter what kind of cloud backup and storage you use, email yourself a copy of your file after every writing session—simple, easy, and free backup for the backups. For bestselling authors: Buy my books, thank you very much.
Being an author today is like running a business. How do you manage your publicity and social media and maintain engagement with readers? By recognizing that writing is a business, and that’s all part of the job description. Do it yourself, hire a publicist, and do more than flog your books. Tell people about interesting things you find in research, or how you approach your writing schedule, for instance. If you engage folks along the way, when you do need to promote sales, they will be more likely to respond.
What’s your ideal day look like? Finishing writing in time for a dip in the pool. So, gotta go! Thanks for the chance to chat.
Connect with James and learn more about his books and his life via his website.
