Ten questions with Sheldon Siegel

It’s an honor and a thrill to interview New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling author Sheldon Siegel!

1.         Please tell us about your debut novel.

My first novel, Special Circumstances, is a story about a murder in a big law firm. The protagonist is Mike Daley, a San Francisco criminal defense attorney who is a former partner at the firm as well as a former public defender, former priest, and former husband of Rosie Fernandez, his law partner.

They say that you should write what you know, and I have worked at big law firms in San Francisco since I graduated from law school in 1983. I had the idea for the story for about ten years before I started writing it. It turned out that I ended up working at a firm where there was a real murder. In 1993, I was working at a big law firm in the 101 California office tower in San Francisco. On July 1, a crazed former client came up to our office with an AK-47 and a pistol and shot and killed eight people and wounded about a dozen others. It was a truly horrible day. I was in the office that day, but I got lucky and got behind a locked door. We closed the firm two years later, and most of us moved to another firm across the street. When we moved to the new firm, I decided that I would try to write the novel that I was probably never going to write. At first, I was a little uncomfortable about writing a story similar my real-life experience. The story that I ended up writing was a lot different than my experience at our old firm.

I was thirty-seven years old when I started writing the story. I set a deadline of trying to complete the story by my fortieth birthday. It took me three years to write it (mostly on a laptop on my daily commute downtown on the Larkspur ferry). I beat my self-imposed deadline by three days. Special Circumstances was published in February of 2000. I’ve written twelve more books in the series since then.

2.         I’ve read that only 4% of the people who start a novel, finish writing it. Why do you think you beat the odds?

 I took a writing class at Book Passage, which is our local independent bookstore in Marin County where I live. It was taught by two award-winning mystery novelists, Katherine Forrest and Michael Nava. The class was excellent, and I never would have completed my first novel without a lot of help from Katherine and Michael. They looked at the first few chapters of Special Circumstances and encouraged me to finish the book. Katherine edited the full manuscript. In addition, of the eight people in our class, six of us continued to meet after the class ended, and we read and critiqued each other’s work. Of that group, two of us have published novels, and a third has published several non-fiction books. I don’t think I would have completed my novel if our group hadn’t continued to meet.

3.         Was your debut novel the first book you wrote? (Any prior efforts hiding on your hard drive?)

Yes. My first book was my first attempt to write a novel. I don’t have any short stories or unpublished manuscripts in my drawer. I’m a very unlikely writer. I studied accounting in college and have spent the last thirty-five years working as a corporate lawyer. Somehow, I’ve managed to write twelve books about murder trials that people think are authentic, even though I’ve never handled a criminal case. I think that I was able to complete the first novel because I’m persistent and my lawyer-job requires me to write a lot. I just kept typing and hoping that if I spent enough time editing the manuscript, eventually, the words would line up in the right order. I’m also very fortunate that I know several very generous prosecutors, public defenders, judges and police officers who help me with my books.

4.         What helped you become a better writer? Any books or resources you found helpful?

My two favorite books on writing are Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and On Writing by Stephen King. I would also encourage aspiring writers to join professional organizations such as the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. They have excellent programs and resources. The members of these organizations are also very kind and generous people. Finally, I would encourage you to find some other writers who can read and critique your work. If you can find a few people that you trust, it will be very helpful.

5.         What was your process like getting an agent?

I got very lucky. After I had finished the manuscript of my first novel, I started looking for an agent. Then I went to a retreat for my law firm, and one of our partners in our San Diego office mentioned that he had a friend who was a literary agent. He called his friend and asked her to read my book. She agreed to do so as a favor to him. I sent her the manuscript and she started reading it. The next day, she offered to represent me. She sent the manuscript to about a dozen publishers in New York. After a brief bidding war, I had a two-book deal for a high six figure advance. It was an example of the stars lining up. It probably wouldn’t happen today.

6.         How did you celebrate when you learned your book would be published?

My wife and I bought an expensive bottle of champagne and took it over to Book Passage to celebrate with the owners of the store. There’s nothing like getting a deal for your first book.

7.         What was the most exciting moment involving the publication of your debut novel? (The moment you first saw the cover? The call when you learned when it was being published? When you cashed your advance check?)

I got a call from my agent telling me that several publishers were interested in my book. This was entirely unexpected and an absolute thrill. She called back a short time later and said that there was a bidding war on the book. That was even more unexpected.

8.         What’s your best advice for someone who wants to be published?

Read a lot and write a lot. You can learn a lot from other writers—especially those who work in your genre. In addition, I would encourage you to write your story in your voice. It’s hard to write in a voice that isn’t comfortable for you. It’s also very difficult to try to time the market. If you try to write what’s hot today, it will probably be cold by the time it’s published. And try to write a little every day. If you can write 2-3 pages a day, eventually, you’ll have an entire novel. 

9.         What are you currently reading? Or, what’s one of the best novels you’ve read lately?

I recently finished a preview copy of a thriller called The Carnevale Conspiracy by Joseph Badal. It’s an international thriller set in Venice. Joe Badal is a retired military officer who worked all over the world, so he knows his stuff. His novels are well-written and terrifying.

10.       What are you working on now? Any projects coming out soon?

I am working on the thirteenth Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez novel. I’m about two-thirds of the way through the first draft, which I hope to complete by the end of July. Then I will do at least five more rewrites before the story is ready to go. That should keep me busy until the end of the year. And then I’ll start on the next one.

If you would like to learn more about Sheldon Siegel and his novels, check out his Twitter, Facebook and website.

His newest release is out now!