Jamie Freveletti, the author of Running from the Devil
Posted by RPJr
on Nov 06, 2015
After Ms. Freveletti's talk as Thursday's speaker, she had us running, too... to buy some of her books! She talked of her career, her craft as an author, getting the assignment to take over writing the Ludlum Borne Identity novel series, and shared off-the-record comments about some upcoming events. Our thanks for Mark Tauber for seeking out this exciting and informative program. To see her in a You-Tube Video about Running from the Devil, paste or click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBOvPdcH7es
For details about how she practices her craft, how her career developed, and about surveillance, click "More"
In photo, author Jamie Freveletti autographs some copies of her books as Mark Tauber (right) and CW (left) look on.
Both Jamie and her husband were excited about her speaking to Rotary, in part because he is a member of Rotary One, having joined in 1987. And she was glad to visit the suburbs, having grown up in Addison ... near one of the old Nike missile bases, admiring and being curious about the mysterious dome that was a part of it.
Ms. Freveletti said she has always loved reading. She tackled Edgar Allen Poe at the age of 9, her family open to anyone reading anything. This interest continues today. She reads a wide variety of papers from around the world (Der Spiegel most liked because "it gives unvarnished commentary"). This love of reading has provided ideas and is part of the extensive research she does as preparation for her books.
Ideas have also come from her experiences. On the way back from Colorado where she helped put on a 100-mile race her husband was running, she got the idea of the title, Running for the Devil. While in London with her daughter, she was struck by the large number of surveillance cameras and used the theme as part of her book Geneva Stragegy
What are her days like? She became a lawyer, writing on the side while raising a family – “it’s the way I heal”. She started out simply, then her notes developed into a book. She said she loves writing and hasn’t had writer’s block, noting she can write more than one manuscript at a time, shifting between them as she feels the need. She writes about 1,000 words a day (80,000 to 100,000 are in an average book), starting around 6 a.m. every day in a room looking out on simply an alley at their home in Chicago.
In response to some questions after the program, she said she always rewrites based on the suggestions that she receives from her editors, and in the case of Ludlum, from the executive producer and his agent. She usually writes a section in one long flow: no outlines, just sitting down and writing. Once an entire manuscript is done (or in the case of Ludlum 125 pages), she then gets feedback from her agent and editor, and then begins a rewrite. She'll fix any pacing problems, continuity problems, etc, during the first rewrite. A manuscript can go through several rewrites until completion. When she started it took her 18 months to write and rewrite her first. Now it takes her 9 months for one.
As a writer about espionage and spy craft, she also commented about our surveillance world. She cited some facts -- there are 6 million cameras in England, 13,000 in London (1 camera / 11 people, up from 1/32 people in 5 years. Chicago has 32,000 cameras, or 1/123 people. In her research she doesn’t use a tool many authors use to be anonymous, figuring that if authorities see what she’s doing they won’t have need to be worried about her. She said she has had the FBI and others looking at her computer.
She is still a lawyer but is taking a hiatus, because as her husband said, “This writing thing seems to be taking off!”