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Jamie Beckett

Goodreads Author

Born

in Phoenix, Arizona, The United States

Twitter

jamiebeckett

Genre

Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery

Influences

Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, A.A. Milne, Kinky Friedman, Abbie Hoffman

Member Since

May 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/JamieBeckett

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Jamie Beckett is all over the map. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, schooled in the suburbs of Hartford, Connecticut, and residing by choice in central Florida for nearly three decades, his mind wanders as broadly as his body does. A musician who became a pilot, Jamie has a tendency to write about issues and mix ideas that may not initially seem to be naturally compatible - and yet, they are.

Be cautious. Enlightenment may ensue.

Equally at home astride a motorcycle, at the controls of an airplane, playing guitar in front of an audience, or tapping away on a keyboard, Beckett's made a career out of seeing the world through a different prism than most of us and then sharing his observations in a quirky, sometimes humorous, and often inspirational sty ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?

Jamie Beckett I'm enamored of the world inhabited by Harry August in Claire North's, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Not that the world itself is significa…moreI'm enamored of the world inhabited by Harry August in Claire North's, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Not that the world itself is significantly different from the one I live in now, but Harry and his peers are very different. I would hope to be one of them.

Having the ability to leap from one life to the next, from one time period to the next, with full knowledge of the previous time - that would be an intoxicating experience. Tedious, dangerous, and repetitive at times too, I'm sure. But oh, what a ride that would be. (less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Jamie Beckett To be perfectly honest, and I'm a bit reticent to admit this, I've never experienced writer's block. Not that I've never been challenged to resolve a …moreTo be perfectly honest, and I'm a bit reticent to admit this, I've never experienced writer's block. Not that I've never been challenged to resolve a story problem, or a character's motivation for taking some action that's necessary to move the story along. I have been. That's certainly true of all writers. But I started writing songs, not stories. So I adapted to a method that worked for me then, and still works for me today. It's simple, easily repeatable, and effective. At least it's effective for me.

All I have to do to get myself into my next writing session is mow the lawn, or go on a long bicycle ride around my neighborhood, or take a walk. It doesn't so much matter what I do, only that the thing I choose is dull, repetitious, and provides a minimum of intellectual stimulation. If I do that my mind wanders, and as it wanders it ponders. Plot points seem to have a way of solving themselves. Characters reveal themselves in a way they would never dare if I were sitting at my desk. Everything just seems to fall into place. By the time I get back to my writing desk I have a clear vision, a real enthusiasm for writing the next chapters of the story, and a genuine curiosity to find out how the whole thing works out in the end.

To some extent the characters and places I write about guide me. It may seem odd, or even dishonest, but I swear to you it's not. I do not always know what they're going to do. But if I bore myself a bit, they tell me. And sure enough, when I sit down and start writing again - they do pretty much exactly what they suggested they were going to do.

That's why I love writing and perhaps why I've never really suffered from writer's block. I want to know how the story turns out, too. And I can't wait to get back to work on the story so I can find out. In that sense, I'm not much different from my readers. (less)

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Jamie Beckett’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 129 ratings · 14 reviews · 10 distinct works

	Burritos and Gasoline: A Novel 3.40 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 2006 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To the Lifeboats - a novella (The Lifeboat Augusta Series Book 1) 3.88 avg rating — 33 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Isle of Safety (Lifeboat Augusta, #3) 4.36 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Death in the Archives: A novelette 4.50 avg rating — 10 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Binary Choices (The Lifeboat Augusta series Book 4) 4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Just About Armageddon (The Lifeboat Augusta Series Book 2) 4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Survival of the Fittest (The Lifeboat Augusta Book 5) 4.11 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Deep in the Grove: A story from the heart of Abiaka County really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Just About Armageddon (Lifeboat Augusta, #2) 3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Medieval English Theatre 39: Stagecraft, Performance, Reception by Diana Wyatt (Contributor), James McBain (Contributor), James Stokes (Contributor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Jamie Beckett…

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Jamie Beckett's Blog

Science fiction at its finest

Claire North hits it out of the park with, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Yes, this story traverses the years, the decades, the centuries experienced by one Harry August, an otherwise unremarkable man from the British Isles, save for one odd fact. He continues to live the same lifetime over, and over, and over again. Not the same life, mind you. Just the same lifetime. He is always Harry Read more of this blog post »

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Published on May 02, 2014 09:17 • Tags: book, claire-north, fiction, harry-august, novel, science, story

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Jamie is Currently Reading

Jamie Beckett is currently reading

Deep in the Grove: A story from the heart of Abiaka County

by Jamie Beckett (Goodreads Author)

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Apr 27, 2022 06:30PM

Jamie Beckett is currently reading

The Wreck

by Landon Beach (Goodreads Author)

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Jul 16, 2019 07:53AM

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Jamie Beckett has read Tropical Warning (Serge Storms, #16.5) by Tim Dorsey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 21, 2024 11:38PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Tropical Warning by Tim Dorsey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Tropical Warning by Tim Dorsey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">