Author Q&A with Richard James 

My main series of novels and short stories feature Detective Inspector George Bowman of Scotland Yard and all take place in the year 1892. In fact, there is a different story, either a novel or short, for each month of the year. The first novel, The Head In The Ice, sees Inspector Bowman released from a lunatic asylum following the death of his wife – a death for which he blames himself. As the series progresses, we see how he deals with a succession of investigations while fighting the demons that haunt him. The Bowman Of The Yard series is published in ebook and paperback by Sharpe Books.

As an actor, I’m very seldom in charge of my career. I take each job as it comes and tell someone else’s story as best I can. As a writer, I have complete control! I’ve found acting and writing go hand in hand. They seem to exercise the same muscles. My first written work was a surreal two man play called The Dreaming, where two characters in a play slowly realise they are just that. I went on to write almost thirty other plays before turning my hand to producing a novel.

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t make your word count for the day – play the long game! Even writing 500 words a day could mean a novel in six months. People often say ‘write what you know’, but I would say, write what you enjoy. Find yourself a set of characters you want to spend time with and pay attention to the closing lines of each chapter. Make your reader want to read on!

My Bowman Of The Yard series is set in Victorian England so there is a lot of research to be done for each book. Whilst I’m careful to be as accurate as possible, I don’t mind bending the facts a little to suit my story. There are lots of online resources available for Victorian times. My favourite is a map of Victorian London that lets you to ‘toggle’ to a present day view, which enables you to see how much things have changed – or not!

As an actor, I think I’ve grown a very thick skin! I always ask myself, where is this criticism coming from and what is the intent behind it? If it’s from a place of offering thoughts for improving your work, take it! I changed the ending of my first novel after a very trusted author friend advised me to do so. If I had ignored him, it would have been a much poorer story. Bear in mind, though, that not everyone will like your work, some people just won’t get it and some just want to cause trouble!

A reviewer of The Head In The Ice said, ‘A more interesting character could not have been conceived of than George Bowman’, which pleased me no end! He’s vulnerable and wracked with guilt over the death of his wife, but he’s still a professional detective, too. He plays by the book, knows right from wrong and, whether in the dark alleys of Victorian London or in the open vistas of a country village, is tenacious in his pursuit of the guilty.