James Griffith

To all those who read this, and to you who have purchased my books, thank you. To Amazon Kindle Books, thank you for the opportunity allowing authors an outlet for our work. I have rejection notices for work that has sold well on Amazon.

So why do I write? It is a tedious process that has taken me three months for my shortest of eight books, “Blue Birds in a Christmas Tree”, written for my handicapped daughter, to my first book, several years of toil, “The Tethered Scalp”.

I have many friends that are authors. We talk about this very subject. It seems we are blessed with creativity that must have an outlet. I started writing in my early twenties, prompted by two experiences.

I was, and still am, a slow reader. I find it a blessing, I remember what I read. I was required to take a speedreading class in collage where we did book reports on our reading. In those days, the James Bond books were just hitting the market. The instructor came to me one day and said, that after reading my book reports, that I should write. It was as if she had read the book.

My training and background is in electronics. I spent forty five years repairing electronics and learning how to write on the side, and still learning. I put a lot of my electronic experience in my book, “Backfire”.

In one of my electronic classes, I made a long and fast friend with the instructor, Mr. Robert L. Schrader. He pass in 2013. He wrote his own text book and others that became enormously popular, becoming a wealthy man. He was a great help and example to me.

Not because he made money from writing, never my goal, because of his ability as a clear and articulate writer, and a great passion for it. In later years, he read and corrected my work.

My creative juices were flowing. I focused on building electronics as an outlet, but turned to writing more and more as I became older. In 1991, I happen to see advertisement for a writing contest. For the fun of it, I entered. Months went by hearing nothing. I even forgot about it.

One day, leaving on vacation with my family for a few days, I stopped to get the mail, and pulled out a letter saying I had won. That goes a long way to build confidence. So, I started writing short stories, and managed to sale all but one. In the background, I had been working on my first book.

In 2010, besides becoming mobility impaired, disabled for several months relating to knee surgery that developed into other serious problems. (Thank you, my dear wife Ann.) Sitting in the corner in a lift chair, I got busy writing, big time. I found it to be very addictive feeding my creativity. One thing I have not told you is, that I have been a reader, a slow one, since high school, and still am, every night at bedtime.

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Since 2010, I have not stopped writing books, my creative juices well satisfied. I am working on book number eight which is turning out to be a massive project the more I write. Title at the moment is “Death Rides Decoy Q-29”.

I have created a series of books titled “Death Rides”. My second book, start of the series, “Death Rides the Bannack Trail” has been popular on Amazon Kindle Books, based on fact and fiction. A local gold robbery, and the characters living in Bannack at the time.

I have visited most historical sites in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, using this in my books. Bannack happens to be only a couple hours away, an still intact the way it was in the 1860’s, the cover picture.

I have always claimed I can feel history from the ground up. My fist experience visiting Virginia, City Montana, in 1969, my wife, who was not at the time, took a picture of me standing on Boot Hill in my socks holding my boots. I've included the photo here, which I think says it all about my passion for writing.

Do I sit down and punch out a book, and send it off. NO! I often say I cannot spell or punctuate myself out of a wet paper sack with a sharp knife, but I work it out. I tell you this because there are a lot of new writers out there that want to start.

I depend on many things when I write: emotions at the time I am writing, feelings of limited writing skills when I want to really express myself, on what my kids tell me on my work, I have five, my wife and her sisters, friends, and two proofreaders to get it right. With all that, there is a good chance one will find a whoops in my books. It turns out, we all have different eyes, something I did not understand until I started using proofreaders. Mine are the final eyes and take full responsibility for my writing.

Vulgarity you will not find in my books. Bad language, sexual encounter or grotesque violence I will not present to a reader. If you are looking for that, go somewhere else. I am not going to have my children, grandchildren, friends, and readers, read that stuff and think of, or remember me by it. I will not be judged by unacceptable writing, at least in my view, now, or at my funeral. When I wrote “Blue Birds in a Christmas Tree”, I called it a romance without bedrooms. I want any person to read my books in comfort, and not worry about their children reading them either. I see my job as presenting an interesting and compelling story, you don't want to put down. From feedback, that is just what I am doing.

Money is not the root of many writers. I do not live off of writing, and do not plan on quitting my day job — retirement. I write because I love it, and the creativity it allows me. One can tell by the breadth in genres I write in — science fiction to romance, and western adventure.

My current work will be the most intensive I have written, and also a massive project both in research and page length. Titled at the moment, "Death Rides Decoy Q-29". My eyes are giving me fits, so I have one more project that I have worked on for four years. A how to video on how to bind a book that looks as good as a publisher can produce in perfect binding format. I have developed a system to bind ten book, learning many tricks of the trade, most applying to my equipment that I designed. The project spurred by my kids and friends, wanting hard copies of my work. This has been a fun sideline for me. I give my books out to people who have helped me in someway, usually young people. I am mobility limited and get a lot of help from young people at the grocery store, young men in the neighborhood helping out here at home, and members of our church. I love giving giving surprise Christmas presents to the kids at the our local grocery store. We live in the country and there is only one grocery store close.

Thank you for reading.

James L. Griffith