Interview & Giveaway with Mystery Author . . . Jim Miller

I had the pleasure of interviewing a debut mystery author in person, Mr. Jim Miller in regards to his novel, Mined Your Own Business. Set in the 1960’s, a rebel named Rabbi Hawkins stumbles across dead bodies, buried treasure and a conspiracy that only he can uncover. A fast paced read with a great hook, I couldn’t wait to interview Jim and see what he had to say about his debut novel.

Miller was born on the Isle of Man and moved to Canada with his family when he was a wee lad of eight years old. Writing is not a new passion for Jim, “Always been a writer,” was his response when I asked him how long he’d been at the word smithing. Being published at 14 in the library newsletter in Willowdale (which is the north end of Toronto) only cemented his passion for the written word and put him on a lifelong path of telling stories.

Since that time Jim has pursued his writing in between being an army and family man, travelling all over the country and even spending time overseas in Germany.

I asked Jim how much his writing reflected his own time in the army seeing as the main character in Mined Your Own Business, Rabbi Hawkins, is a rebel. He told me what one of his compatriots said to him, “You’re a rebel, you always have been and you always will be.” This was confirmed by Jim’s wife Bev as she dropped in on the interview, despite Miller’s insistence to the contrary.

Influenced by a wide range of authors, a few of which are Robert B Parker, PG Wodehouse, Rex Stout and Tom Sharpe. All who have similar styles of writing as Miller with either a smart ass mystery detective at the center of their stories or a healthy dose of humour.

When asked to give advice to upcoming authors, Miller had this to say. “If you’re going to be a writer and you have this compulsion to write, then you’re going to write. And if you want to be published, sooner or later you have cross the wall from writing for yourself to writing for the world. Eventually you have to do that, you may as well do it sooner than later.”

Next up for Jim Miller is two short stories, Soldiers are not always Nice and Bayonet, Bayonet, whose got the Bayonet? These two should be available in the next 4 months if all goes smooth in the publishing business . . .

Leave a comment telling us about your favourite mystery moment, movie or book and you’ll be entered to win an e-book copy of Jim Miller’s book, Mined Your Own Business.