Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion

Our first official group read of 2014 is The Geneva Decision by Seeley James, who happens to be a member of the group. We will conduct the discussion as usual, but the author may be willing to answer a question or two.

If you have a question specifically for Seeley, please put it in bold and address him by name.

to make your post in bold, use (b) in front of your post and (/b) afterward, but substitute < and > for ( and ).

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year! I'm honored you've chosen my book. Thank you.

Don't be shy about me being a member, I have very thick skin and take all criticisms as learning experiences. My goal is to write the best books I can, and that can only be done by listening to you.

If anyone would like a free ebook, write me at seeley@seeleyjames.com

Peace, Seeley

I read this a while back and remember it being a fun action book. I can't recall a lot of details as I moved onto the next book as the serial's come out.

I've not been active in a while, but When I saw my favorite book out there, I figured I could skim through for a refresher. Looking forward to it.

Thank you very much Seeley for sending me a free ebook copy, as the book is completely unavailable in my country (Bangladesh). Hope I'll join everyone soon in the discussion!

Yes, like Melissa, I will also be doing a refresher since I really enjoyed the book.

Congratulations, Seeley!

Looking forward to the discussion this month.

I skimmed the book. When does the discussion start? If I can kick it off: I'd forgotten how the early chapters were stiff and not written in the same way as the rest. It started smoothing out pretty quickly and rocked after the rough start.

The discussion is open. Feel free to post your thoughts and questions for other readers.

Melissa wrote: "I skimmed the book. When does the discussion start? If I can kick it off: I'd forgotten how the early chapters were stiff and not written in the same way as the rest. It started smoothing out prett..."

Hi Melissa, thanks for being a die-hard fan! I agree, the opening is not as strong as the rest. I've meant to go back and fix it several times but have never had the motivation. Now that I've been called out in public -- I'd better get to work :)

The problem started when I listened to too many suggestions and tried to do too much at once. At a certain point, and I still recall the decision I made, I said, 'time to stop fixing it and publish. I'll fix it later'. I didn't have as much confidence in my writing as I do now, so I'll get on it.

Thank you for the honest feedback!

Peace, Seeley

Seeley, that brings up a good question. I'm not a writer and I always wondered when does a writer say that was perfect and nothing needs to be changed?

How did you come up with the Pia's character?

Eileen wrote: "Seeley, that brings up a good question. I'm not a writer and I always wondered when does a writer say that was perfect and nothing needs to be changed?

How did you come up with the Pia's character?"

In a late-in-life interview, Pavarotti talked about the opera. When the interviewer played his most famous piece and asked what he thought of it, he said, "I hear only the imperfections. I could have done better."

At some point, you have to put it out there and move on. What's slowed down my current work is working it to death. I have to slap my hand at a certain point and say, do better next time.

Pia's character came from being surrounded by headstrong women all my life. When I was 19, I adopted a 3-yr-old girl and raised her up. She had a strong will. 20 years later, I got married and had a natural daughter who was just as pig headed... I mean head strong as the first. But the second played soccer. I rolled the two into one, added a some superwoman powers, and ... Pia Sabel!

Peace, Seeley

Starting this one today...looking forward to it!

I liked Alphonse. He felt real to me. Was he based on a real character?

Julia wrote: "I liked Alphonse. He felt real to me. Was he based on a real character?"

Yes/No. I think he feels real because of his odd accent. When I was growing up, there were many international students around the school where my parents worked. Each of them had a misunderstanding about English. A Frenchman thought "A" was French and "The" was the English equivalent. I never forgot that and, you'll notice that Alphonse never says "a" as in "a cat".

For the type of guy, I thought Pia would be sick of country club kids. I thought she'd fall for a humble, nice guy who cares. Nothing special or assumptive about him. But... you know what happens to nice guys in the end :)

Peace, Seeley