Q&A with James D. Bell, Author of 'Maximilian's Treasure'

James D. Bell is an award-winning author and retired Judge who received the highest bar association approval ratings ever given to a Mississippi Circuit or County Judge. He is listed in Preeminent Lawyers, Outstanding Lawyers of America and Top 100 Attorneys of North America.  He is the author of two novels, Vampire Defense and Maximilian’s Treasure.  His short story, The Adventures of Sherlock Hound, was published in Mardi Allen’s collection, Dog Stories for the Soul, alongside stories from Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Willie Morris and others.  The son of a Choctaw mother and a Mississippi businessman, Judge Bell is devoted to his wife, Joanne.  They live near Jackson, Mississippi and have four children.  Judge Bell returned to law practice but is frequently called back to the bench by the Mississippi Supreme Court for short term assignments. 

Interview:

Tell us about your book, Maximilian's Treasure! What is it about and what inspired you to write it?

A stately Choctaw elder told my friend and me that he believed Civil War gold was buried on his farm in Mississippi.  He believed that Maximilian, the Emperor of Mexico, sent gold to support the South’s war effort, and that none other than Jesse James, then a member of the Confederate Cavalry, was with the shipment.  The war ended when the gold was near his farm and was hidden there.  He asked us to help him look for the treasure.  This was too far-fetched to believe, but my friend and I said, “Why not?”  We travelled with him to his farm and had a great day listening to his stories while we searched with him.  You might think this unusual.  It’s not.  It’s just another day of law practice in Mississippi, where the unusual and outlandish is an everyday occurrence.

This was one of many stories from forty years of law practice that I am desperate to tell.  My best friend and I were young lawyers defending citizens charged with crimes in Mississippi.  We attracted a bit of attention because we kept winning cases.  Jack was a loyal friend, an intrepid investigator, and a great researcher.  Together we regularly accomplished what at first seemed impossible.  Jack died twenty years ago; too young; too soon.  I miss him.  I brought him back to life in my novels.

In Maximilian’s Treasure rumors of hidden gold inspire a battle for possession of a Choctaw family farm.  Two young lawyers, John Brooks and Jackson Bradley, agree to help the family keep their farm.  Early legal success prompts the drive-by murder of the patriarch of the family.  The grandson chases the suspects whose bodies are found on the farm, scalped.  At the same time, clues to a vast treasure are found on the farm.  Jackson, pursued by fortune seekers, adventurers, an exotic beauty and a homicidal maniac, follows the clues to a Caribbean reef and then to the Chiapas jungle.  John stays behind to defend the grandson and continue the fight for the farm.  His efforts are complicated by arson, murder, race riots, and the realization that he lost his one true love.  The adventures of John and Jackson rush toward an intertwined triple climax.

Tell us about your publishing process. What was it like? Did you go indie or the traditional way?

I went with a small publisher, which permits me to have a close working relationship with the publisher.  I took a course, How to Sell What You Write, at Millsaps College taught by a successful author and publisher, James Dickerson of Sartoris Literary Group.  I followed his formula and he offered to publish my first novel!  That novel, Vampire Defense, became Sartoris’ best-selling fiction and Sartoris was happy to publish my second novel, Maximilian’s Treasure.

How did you choose the title for your book? Did it come to you right away, before you started writing it, or did it come later?

I had a different working title at first, but it was soon obvious that Maximilian’s Treasure is the right title for this story.

Tell us about the cover design process. Did you have a basic idea of what your book cover would be like?

I started with an enlarged photograph of a gold Maximilian coin before I hired an artist who designed a beautiful, exciting cover that captures the essence of the book.

Who is your cover designer and how did you find him/her?

Eric Summers (eric@thatsummersguy.com) designed the cover and did a great job.  He was recommended by my publisher.

How was your experience working with the designer?

Great!  He read the book and picked a scene that captures the essence of this romantic adventure.  The characters Jackson and Natalia, an exotic beauty, are in an embrace near a waterfall.  Jackson is peering through a waterfall trying to discover what is concealed behind it.  Natalia in ceremonial garb, dagger in hand, is looking over his shoulder, confidently ready to confront an approaching threat. 

What has been the readers’ response to your cover?

Everyone says, “Wow!  I want that book!”

What tips would you give to authors who are looking for a cover designer?

Readers will judge your book by the cover.  Be creative.  You want your cover to communicate relevant information about your story in a powerful way to the prospective reader.  Find a gifted artist like Eric who is willing spend the time necessary to understand the story.

Anything else you’d like to say about your book?

Maximilian’s Treasure is packed with hidden treasurers to be discovered.  So, if you love mystery, adventure, romance, justice, belly laughs and hidden treasures, it’s all waiting for you in Maximilian’s Treasure. You’ve got to read it!

On the spotlight: A Police Action, by AA Freda

Title:  A Police Action

Genre:  Coming of Age Novel

Author: A.A. Freda

Website:  www.aafreda.com

Publisher: Dorrance Publishing

Find out more on Amazon

Award-winning novelist A.A. Freda received high acclaim for his debut novel, Goodbye Rudy Kazoody.  In his second novel, A Police Action, Freda delivers a gripping Vietnam era novel about two lost, confused young adults, Samantha Powers and James Coppi.   A Police Action has garnered high early praise:

“Well written and historically accurate, A Police Action is a reminder of what the 1960’s were really like, for better or worse.”

—Foreword Clarion

“Fluid, beautifully crafted, and emotionally rich. A brilliant intersection of coming-of-age and romance.”

—Manhattan Book Review

“An engrossing tale that moves deftly from the battlefield to the heart.”

—Midwest Book Review

“A spellbinding story with a powerful setting”

—Readers’ Favorite

About A Police Action: It is love at first sight when nineteen-year old Samantha Powers meets James Coppi at the Country Honky Tonk in Colorado Springs. There are just two problems standing in the way of a storybook ending for Samantha’s passion:  she is pregnant with someone else’s child—and James, a young soldier, is heading for a war in Vietnam.  But is there something more to this instant attraction?  And what will happen after James is deployed? Will he return home safely, and, if so, will it be for Samantha?  For James and Samantha, it seems uncertainty is the only certainty.  A moving story that unfolds as James and Sam mature through individual and shared hardships, A Police Action is unforgettable. 

A solid and thought-provoking novel, A Police Action is a richly textured tale resplendent with vivid historical detail.  In this unique story that blends elements of coming-of-age, romance, and historical fiction, novelist A. A. Freda captures the atmospheric, turbulent late 60s, the heady rush of young love, and the unmistakable restless uncertainty of youth.  A powerfully realistic story informed by Freda’s own experience in Vietnam, A Police Action brings to life the spirit and the struggles of the 60s.  With its engaging premise, multi-dimensional characters and gripping storyline, A Police Action is an extraordinary tale extraordinarily well told.

Chapter 1
The Launching Point

Coppi’s definition of a lifer is any man who enlisted to join the service, any soldier that has the initials RA on his dog tags, RA standing for Regular Army. Draftees, like Coppi, are not lifers. Their dog tags begin with the letters US, which stands for United States. The army probably doesn’t even consider them regular soldiers.

To Coppi, there is also a difference between a lifer and a true lifer. A lifer is a mixed-up jerk who joined the army for some stupid reason, probably to get away from something in his pathetic life on the outside. Once in the army, the poor slob realizes his mistake and wants to go home just as much as a draftee does. Unfortunately for him, his mistake will cost him an extra year of active duty.

A true lifer is a loser who has made the military a career.

• • • • •

Specialist Fourth Class James Coppi comes out of the company headquarters where he’s just reported for duty, early one mid-April evening, picks up his duffel bag, and heads to the barracks. A drab gray building of horizontal planks, it looks the same as all the other barracks he’s seen since being drafted. It makes him long for home for a minute—but just a minute—and then the beautiful Colorado evening with its night sky already full of stars reminds him that the Bronx was no Garden of Eden, either.

Coppi hasn’t seen so many stars in the sky since he was a young boy in his native Italy. The air is already beginning to freshen, a cool breeze moving across his face and carrying with it the aroma of those fields of bright-blue flowers he saw out the window of his plane as it landed earlier. What were they called … Texas bluebells? Yes, that’s the name. The sight of acres of deep sky blue blooms had stayed with him. There is something else in the air, too—a chill following not far behind the fading sun and the fragrance of the flowers; he wouldn’t be surprised if during the night there’s a late-spring freeze. He’s read that the night temperature in the Rockies can easily drop fifty degrees.

He still can’t believe he’s headed for Vietnam. Only ten months left on his tour—he’d thought he was in the clear. What draftee goes to Nam in his last ten months? He will have only six months remaining on his service when this unit heads out, sometime in July. The army must be really hard up for men. The news coming from the conflict is bad. The Tet Offensive, mounted by the North Vietnamese Army, has shown the general public that victory for the Americans, as assured them by the politicians, is not imminent. The news is so bad that Lyndon Johnson has dropped out of his reelection bid. The stubborn fool still won’t accept reality and defeat. So, what’s his plan…to increase the forces fighting in Southeast Asia to more than five hundred thousand? To what end?

Guest post by Barb Caffrey, author of 'Changing Faces'

As you see, there are two faces on this cover for my new novel Changing Faces. One is my hero, Allen Bridgeway, a thirty-year-old heterosexual male in love with my heroine, Elaine Foster, a twenty-eight-year-old bisexual and transgender female. Elaine is beautiful, while Allen's an average-looking guy to start off the book. However, as things go on, Allen quickly gets put into Elaine's body, while Elaine gets put into Allen's (and in a coma). The reason the cover looks this way is because of the gift of artist Tamian Wood…she captured Elaine, who is Hispanic, beautifully, and gave Allen a depth and richness that I appreciated without compromising his seemingly average looks.

In addition, because this book is set in Nebraska and features two clarinetists, there are subtle touches of musical notes in the lettering, and a long road for the two lovers to walk…and we have all the colors of the heavens behind them, depicting the two aliens/angels who take a hand in helping Allen and Elaine stay together, albeit by the expedient of changing their faces.

I think Tamian Wood did an outstanding job, and I couldn't ask for a better cover.

In addition, I'm extremely fortunate that my publisher, Lida Quillen, was able to obtain Tamian's services…

Now, as far as how long did it take to come up with this cover? Tamian had three possibilities for me, and all were excellent. (My publisher, Lida Quillen of Twilight Times Books, agreed.) So it was an embarrassment of riches, truly…I picked the best representations of Allen and Elaine, and we went from there.

I think this cover fully encapsulates the overarching message of Changing Faces, and gives you an idea of all of the major themes without making it too heavy or cloying. (In other words, I just love this cover and am thrilled to be talking about it.)

///////////////////////

Barb Caffrey is a writer, musician, editor, and composer from the Upper Midwest who holds a BA in Music from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and a Master's in Music from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She's the author of Changing Faces and the Elfy duology, An Elfy on the Loose and A Little Elfy in Big Trouble (two YA urban fantasy/romances). Her short stories have been featured in many places, most recently in Realms of Darkover. Find her at Barb Caffrey's Elfyverse: http://elfyverse.wordpress.com

About the book:

Title: CHANGING FACES

Genre: transgender fantasy-romance (contemporary)

Author: Barb Caffrey        

Website: http://elfyverse.wordpress.com

Publisher: Twilight Times Books

Purchase links: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N3CQKWJ/

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/changing-faces-barb-caffrey/1125707044

Allen and Elaine are graduate students in Nebraska, and love each other very much. Their life should be idyllic, but Elaine's past includes rape, neglect, and abuse from those who should've loved her—but didn't, because from childhood, Elaine identified as transgender.

When Elaine tells Allen right before Christmas, he doesn't know what to do. He loves Elaine, loves her soul, has heard about transgender people before, but didn't think Elaine was one of them—she looks and acts like anyone else. Now, she wants to become a man and is going to leave.

He prays for divine intervention, and says he'll do anything, just please don't separate him from Elaine…and gets it.

Now, he's in Elaine's body. And she's in his. They'll get a second chance at love.

Why? Because once you find your soulmate, the universe will do almost anything to keep you together—even change your faces.