Jim Seckler ’98 Cracks Market to Become a Published Novelist

After more than 20 years of chasing his dream, newspaper reporter, Jim Seckler ’98 has finally cracked the market to become a published novelist. Seckler's novel, "Sweet Slice of Fear," is now available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com and at his publisher, Publication Consultants.

After attending San Clemente High School, the author began his career in drafting. For 17 years, he worked at numerous electronic and mechanical manufacturing companies in Southern California, Seattle, Eugene, Oregon and New Mexico before returning to college to pursue his dream of being a novelist. He earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon.

He then worked at two small newspapers in Northern California and at the Kingman Daily Miner in Arizona, before settling at the Mohave Valley Daily News in Bullhead City, AZ.

While living in Seattle, Seckler bought several acres of wooded land about an hour west of Seattle, where he hoped to someday live. It was during his weekends there that he got the idea for “Sweet Slice of Fear.”

Seckler said working as a criminal court reporter has provided him with a bounty of plots and characters over the years, as well as extraordinary experiences. He has covered well-known murder trials, hearings on the Warren Jeffs’ polygamist case and interviewed several Arizona governor candidates. Over 12 years, he has interviewed the likes of Joe Montana, Janet Napolitano, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, U. S. Rep. Trent Franks and even received a phone call from Chris Matthews of MSNBC's "Hard Ball."

In addition to more than a dozen short stories, Seckler has also written six novels, including three historical novels, an autobiographical tale about growing up in San Clemente while working at a manufacturing plant, and a horror story about two female serial killers.

But, it was the "getting published" part of being a novelist that eluded him, with rejection after rejection, for more than 20 years. That was until he met another author at a Kingman book store.

The man, a writer from Bisbee, AZ, travelled the state selling his own books. He explained to Seckler that getting published is only half the battle; marketing his work was even harder.

Inspired by this, Seckler redoubled his efforts and kept in touch with the writer, who eventually referred him to one of his publishers, Publication Consultants, in Alaska. The company rejected Seckler's serial killers story, but accepted "Sweet Slice of Fear."

"I had sworn I would never use any kind of self-publishing or vanity presses," said Seckler, "so I was thrilled and relieved when a real publisher actually wanted my work."

Seckler, a husband and father, said writing is his passion but it is not always as easy in practice as it may sound."Putting together a good sentence is not the easiest thing to do," Seckler said. "And stringing sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into a book, is extremely difficult."

But, he added, if you stick with it, work hard, network and make contacts at writer's clubs and conferences, maybe your own "Sweet Slice of Fear" can become the "sweet smell of success".