You are here: Home > Authors > Bell, James Scott

VJ Books Features James Scott Bell!

James Scott Bell is the award winning author of several novels of suspense and historical intrigue, including Try Dying (2007) and Try Darkness (2008). His fiction has been compared by Booklist and the Los Angeles Times to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, two of his favorite authors. A former trial lawyer, Jim has been a the fiction columnist for Writers Digest Magazine and an adjunct professor of writing and Pepperdine University. His book on writing, Writing Great Fiction: Plot & Structure, is one of the most popular writing books available today. So, too, is his next entry Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self Editing.

Jim grew up in Los Angeles. "It's my home," he says. "The sunset over the ocean, silhouette of palm trees against burnt orange sky the mountains, the Hollywood Bowl on a warm summer evening. I guess I'm one of the few people who lives here who admits liking it."

After high school, Bell went on to play basketball at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he pursued a degree in Film. But his love of writing shot to the forefront of his interests. While still in college, Bell's writing got him a spot to study with Raymond Carver, one of America's most honored writers. Bell also won an award for a screenplay he wrote in his senior year. Upon graduation, Bell moved to New York to write for the theater. Almost immediately, he was cast in a small roll in an Off Broadway production of Othello, "and I began my actor phase." That phase included stints in several Off Broadway productions and in television commercials. "Commercials were nice," Bell remembers. "I'd hold up a tray of hamburgers for McDonald's and keep getting these residual checks. What a business."

While in New York Bell met his wife to be, an actress, and decided one thespian in the family was enough. He went to the University of Southern California Law School, graduated with honors and won the American Board of Trial Advocates' Award as the top student in Trial Practice. He was a litigator for a year with a large L.A. firm before opening up his own office. One day he and his wife went to the movies; they saw "Moonstruck", and Bell decided he wanted to be a writer again, and wouldn't stop, even if he never sold anything. He started with screenplays. After a couple years and some options, he turned to fiction, and hasn't turned away since.

"No matter what I write," Bell says, "my theme always seems to be the search for justice in a dark world. With Buchanan, I have the chance to explore this theme with a whole new character, in the landscape I know best." Bell recently returned to his screenwriting roots, hired to write an adaption of a bestselling novel. He has begun work on a new script, a thriller set - where else? - in Los Angeles.

Try Darkness
Signed First Edition

Try Dying
Signed First Edition

Try Fear
Signed First Edition

Sort By:

Page of 1

Bell, James Scott - Author Signed Bookplate (Signed Bookplate)

Usually Ships in 24 to 72 Hours
VJ Books Price $9.99

Author Signed Bookplate. Self-adhesive label, approximately 3" x 4" (though sizes may vary slightly), signed by James Scott Bell.

Bell, James Scott - Try Darkness (Signed, 1st)

Bell, James Scott - Try Darkness (Signed, 1st)

Usually Ships in 24 to 72 Hours
VJ Books Price $31.99

Author Signed Hardcover July 2008 NY: Center Street First edition, first printing, mint, new/unread in a flawless dustjacket, signed by the author. Each dust jacket is protected in an acid-free archival quality acetate cover.

Bell, James Scott - Try Dying (Signed, 1st)

Bell, James Scott - Try Dying (Signed, 1st)

Usually Ships in 24 to 72 Hours
VJ Books Price $31.99

Author Signed Hardcover. 2007 NY: Center Street First edition, first printing, mint, new/unread in a flawless dustjacket, signed by the author. Each dust jacket is protected in an acid-free archival quality acetate cover.

Bell, James Scott - Try Fear (Signed, 1st)

Bell, James Scott - Try Fear (Signed, 1st)

Usually Ships in 24 to 72 Hours
VJ Books Price $31.99

Author Signed Hardcover July 2009 NY: Little, Brown, and Co. First edition, first printing, mint, new/unread in a flawless dustjacket, signed by the author. Each dust jacket is protected in an acid-free archival quality acetate cover.

VJ Books Features James Scott Bell!

Try DarknessSigned First Edition

Try DyingSigned First Edition

Try FearSigned First Edition

Try Darkness
Signed First Edition

Try Dying
Signed First Edition

Try Fear
Signed First Edition