Featured Interview With James Arthur Donzella
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Born in Syracuse, New York. After a stint in the Army I attended Syracuse University, graduating with a Advertising/Marketing degree. Upon graduation I moved to San Francisco where I worked in Market Research. and Advertsing. I moved to Los Angeles where I worked in the entertainment industry, film-television-radio. I now live in Northern California among the Redwood Forest just a mile from Humboldt Bay, with my wife and Rusty our precocious cat. Writers tend to have cats. Ernest Hemingway was known to have had around 50-60 cats at his home in Key West.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Started reading Sci-Fi books in the fifth grade. Had a collection of pocketbook paperbacks about space travel, alien invasion, dying planets. It was around the same time that I started writing plays my brothers and friends would perform in our backyard during summer vacations. This led to jobs in advertising and finally script writing after taking courses at UCLA. After reading the Maltese Falcon I became obsessed with the murder mystery genre. After reading a few hundred murder mysteries I figured I could write one. I joined the Wordcommandos, a UCLA Writing group compossed of military veterans where I honed my craft writing and seling my short stories about the military to publications like The War Horse and Line of Advance.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Favoriet authors: Michael Connelley-Dashiel Hammett-Raymond Chandler-Frederick Forsyth-Tom Clancy-Rex Stout-Elmore Leonard-Walter Mosley-Graham Green-Ross MacDonnald-Gary Phillips-JD MacDonald: To mentions a few.
I’m especially inspired by Michael Connelley and Gary Phillips. I love their dialogue. I had an opporuity to meet Gary Phillips discussing his latest work. Sheepishly I asked if he would take some time to look at my work. You can’t imagine the thrill to have Gary’s review on the front cover of my book.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
In a city of shadows, one man walks the line between crime and justice…
San Francisco, 1948. The war is over, but for James Wolf, the battle’s just begun. Once a star inspector with the San Francisco PD, now a gumshoe scraping by on whiskey and regrets, Wolf prowls the alleys and avenues of a city that forgot how to sleep.
When a routine case blows open like a shotgun blast—Corpses pile up, bullets fly, and everyone’s got something to hide—especially the client.
Double-crosses, dirty money, and a city choking on its own secrets— the only thing sharper than Wolf’s wit is the blade at his back.
Wolf’s in it up to his neck, and the only way out is through the blood and the lies… He’s got a .38 in his coat, a score to settle, and nothing left to lose.
The city’s about to learn: you don’t corner a wounded Wolf.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
James Arthur Donzella’s Website
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