James Tucker

James Tucker is the author of The Paris Escape, as well as two acclaimed mysteries: The Holdouts and Next of Kin, an Amazon Crime Fiction Bestseller and recipient of a Publishers Weekly starred review.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Various titles work for novels, but in the case of The Paris Escape I wanted a title that included the word 'Paris', as that is the setting of the story and one that fascinates readers all over the world. And I chose 'Escape' because it has a double meaning that becomes clear during the course of the story: Henry and Laura are escaping from the rules and restrictions of the American Midwest in the 1930s, and later, they must escape from Paris when their lives are at stake.

What's in a name?

Finding the right name for a character can be difficult, and it's much easier to find names that don't work. Some names come to you and they fit the character perfectly. But I've finished entire novels and then changed the names of characters. In a story, the point of a name is to hint at something within the character, some quality, rather than just being something to identify one characters vs. another. For example, Fitzwilliam Darcy could never have been called Bob Smith.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I grew up in Minnesota, traveling almost entirely within the U.S. It would have excited me to know that this novel, and the next several novels, take place in foreign capitals that I could only dream of visiting, let alone knowing well enough to set novels there.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are the most difficult. They set forth the characters, the setting, the tone, and they must entice readers--all at the same time. It's very difficult to do all of these well, and within three to five pages. They're often the first thing I see in my mind about a story, and they must be interesting to me, or they won't be interesting to readers. In The Paris Escape, the first thing I imagined was a young man in a dinner jacket, standing on the deck of an ocean liner and meeting a young stowaway. What were both of them doing there? And who was the woman who soon joined them? So many questions need to be answered clearly and without too much effort on the part of readers. If the kernel of the idea is right, then I revise the beginning but I don't change the characters or the idea or setting. Endings are easier. By then, I've written nearly the entire novel and I know exactly what will happen, and I've had weeks to think about the last scene and the last paragraph--and most importantly, the emotional sense the readers must have on the last page.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

The characters don't have to be me, but I need to understand them. I need to feel connected to them and, most of all, they must interest me. If they don't interest me, they won't interest readers. They live in a different world from mine, but they may have some of the same concerns and thoughts. Or I must be able to imagine their concerns and thoughts from what I know about life, about people, about the world. In the end, all characters come from my imagination, so all of them are me.

Visit James Tucker's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Holdouts.

The Page 69 Test: The Holdouts.

--Marshal Zeringue