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James Hartley

Goodreads Author


Born
in Bebington
Website

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Influences
Enid Blyton, Mark E Smith, Eca de Quieroz, Beryl Bainbridge, Malcolm L ...more

Member Since
September 2013


James was born near Liverpool, England. He moved to Singapore when he was seven and has lived in Oman, Thailand, France and Scotland. He now lives in Madrid, Spain, with his wife and two children. He loves writing and reading.

The Invisible Hand, the first book in the Shakespeare´s Moon series was published by Lodestone Books in February 2017. It was born out of his love of Macbeth.
Cold Fire, based on Romeo and Juliet, was published on 31st August, 2018. The third book in the trilogy, The Unexpected, based on Julius Caesar, was published on May 29th, 2020. It's set in the future and ties up the series.

He has also published a short novel, Entanglement, and two short Christmas novellas, The Bigger Picture and The Flight.

James has also written
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James Hartley Hi Bobbie. Thanks for the question. I think this is the first question I´ve been asked by a real person on Good Reads!
The writers most influential on…more
Hi Bobbie. Thanks for the question. I think this is the first question I´ve been asked by a real person on Good Reads!
The writers most influential on my writing are probably Enid Blyton, for her imagination (and for giving me hours and hours of reading pleasure as a child), Mark E Smith, an English rock singer, for his word play, Beryl Bainbridge, an English writer from Liverpool for her well-crafted later books and then Malcolm Lowry, Charles Bukowski, Iain Banks and Eca de Queiros among many others for their mastery of the art.
I don´t try and copy anyone but I do sometimes stop and take a metaphorical step back when I really like someone´s writing to ask myself "why?".
My experience in Asia plays into the humanity of the characters in the Shakespeare´s Moon books. In the past and probably in the future I will write more stories based in Asia but as these books are largely based in England, Asia comes through more from characters than settings.
I love Asia like I love everywhere I have been in the world. I love Libya, Syria and Singapore. I love Scotland, England, Ireland, France and Germany. I love the USA, Malaysia, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Italy. I´m not a big fan of borders and flags and nationalism. I don´t think anywhere´s "better" than anywhere else - really. I don´t know why I have to decide between A and B. I don´t believe life needs to be a competition anymore - I think we are beyond that mentally.
You don´t have to look hard to find horrible humans - within countries people fight, within workplaces, schools, streets, houses and families: people spend a lot of time fighting with themselves.
If anything, my travels in Asia informs my view of humanity: we´re all the same family; the same people who share the same home.(less)
James Hartley I go outside, no matter what time the day or night, and walk up to groups of strangers and begin to chant, "come on everybody! Let´s all have a sing s…moreI go outside, no matter what time the day or night, and walk up to groups of strangers and begin to chant, "come on everybody! Let´s all have a sing song" and then, depending on my mood, I either force everyone to sing Yellow Submarine by The Beatles or Happy by Pharrell Williams - which is not easy, as I live in Spain and not everyone speaks English. Then, when everyone is singing along, I do a bit of parkour.

If, after that, I don´t feel invigorated and inspired, I consider retraining as a chef or lawyer - the type of jobs which people always need. The idea of becoming a lawyer, though, usually sobers me up to the fact that writer´s block is not such a serious thing, at least if it doesn´t go on for years, and I return to my desk and begin plodding along again, typing, reading, typing and reading.

Does anyone read this stuff?(less)
Average rating: 3.98 · 94 ratings · 62 reviews · 10 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Invisible Hand (Shakesp...

3.76 avg rating — 51 ratings3 editions
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Cold Fire (Shakespeare’s Mo...

3.88 avg rating — 25 ratings3 editions
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Heart of Winter

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 11 ratings4 editions
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Eve’s Christmas

3.83 avg rating — 6 ratings
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The Unexpected (Shakespeare...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings2 editions
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Imperial Exile (The Napoleo...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Dragons and Ghosts

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Fascination Street Revisited

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Napoladelica: Mindblowing S...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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���No hay nada m��s importante que el amor.���

Una entrevista con Carlos Sobera por James Hartley.

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Published on June 05, 2024 00:19
The Invisible Hand Cold Fire The Unexpected
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Cold Fire
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Wonderful Tonight
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The Selected Lett...
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Chasing The Light by Oliver Stone
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Brilliant biography, up there with the Agassi and Miles Davis ones insofar as they give you a fresh, invigorating take on the 'way' of approaching such a thing.
Stone writes brilliantly and the book is alive on the page, taking you unflinchingly throu
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Wonderful Tonight by Pattie Boyd
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James Hartley rated a book it was amazing
Chasing The Light by Oliver Stone
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Brilliant biography, up there with the Agassi and Miles Davis ones insofar as they give you a fresh, invigorating take on the 'way' of approaching such a thing.
Stone writes brilliantly and the book is alive on the page, taking you unflinchingly throu
...more
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Island of the Lost by Joan Druett
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There's nothing better than reading about a horrendous survival ordeal and fierce, scary seas while you're lying in bed, safe and warm. Island of the Lost is a book to sink into, a world of the past which is, in every way, prescient to today.
Paralle
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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
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Great ideas but plodding, uneven writing for me.
Read up a bit about the book after finishing it and found it illuminating that Huxley originally intended BNW to be a kind of parody of some of HG Wells' books, until he started to take his own ideas s
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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Lovely surprise, this book - loved it.
I'm guessing there are a million reviews on here about it (haven't checked) but just to say, I hadn't seen any of the film versions before I read the book and was very pleasantly surprised by it. Well-written, or
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LOOKING FOR TROUBLE by GENERAL SIR PETER DE LA BILLIERE by GENERAL SIR PETER DE LA BIL...
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An entertaining widescreen walk through post-war British military history, taking in SAS operations in south east Asia, Oman and closer to home, in London. There's also a great take on the Gulf War, from the inside, as it were, and the Falklands Conf ...more
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Quiet Genius by Ian Herbert
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Absolutely loved this book - and I'm an Everton fan!
Growing up near Liverpool - being an Everton supporter and going to Goodison - Paisley always fascinated me. He was the man responsible for Liverpool's dominance - which, the odd derby match aside -
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Interesting, Very Interesting by Barry Davies
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This is a fairly shockingly poor autobiography from someone who, being bookish, well-read and urbane, should have known better. Rather than tell what might have been an interesting story - of his own life - Davies chooses a godawful way of organising ...more
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The Selected Letters of Malcolm Lowry by Malcolm Lowry
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Roald Dahl
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
Roald Dahl

John Ajvide Lindqvist
“Be me a little.”
John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In

V.S. Naipaul
“She had a great many opinions, but taken together they did not add up to a point of view.”
V. S. Naipul

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Comments (showing 1-5)    post a comment »
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Yodamom Hi James. I hope we can chat about some books soon


message 2: by James

James Hartley Thanks Jason - like your reviews!

Cheers.


message 1: by Jason

Jason Thanks for the friend request, nice Gnome joke. :)


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