Killgore, James 1959-

PERSONAL:

Born 1959, in New Orleans, LA; married; children: Emily, Max. Education: Louisiana State University, B.S.; New York University, M.S.J.; attended Napier University.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Glasgow, Scotland.

CAREER:

Editor and novelist. Medical and Dental Defence Union, Glasgow, Scotland, publications editor.

WRITINGS:

Buck Falaya, Polygon (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1995.

The Passage, Peachtree (Atlanta, GA), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Born and raised in Louisiana, James Killgore first traveled to the United Kingdom as an undergraduate exchange student. He was later drawn back after earning his master's degree in science journalism. He settled in Edinburgh with his Scottish-born wife. Killgore's primary career has been in medical editing, but in the mid-1990s he ventured into novel writing with the publication of his first work of fiction, Buck Falaya. The story centers on two young brothers growing up in Louisiana in the 1960s.

With his second novel, written more than ten years later, Killgore tried his hand at writing for young adults and teens. The idea for The Passage came out of an already abandoned epic novel about the American Civil War, for which Killgore had done extensive research. The novel is set in Mississippi during the Civil War, and follows a fifteen-year-old boy who forges his grandfather's signature to enlist in the Confederate Navy, convincing his best friend to do the same. The experience is ultimately devastating and results in tragedy, leading the young man back to his home town with a vastly different outlook on life. The story is "well-told," according to a Kirkus Reviews contributor. It was described by Claire Rosser in a review for Kliatt as "serious Civil War fiction based on Killgore's careful research" that "thoughtfully examines the meaning of bravery and honor."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2006, review of The Passage, p. 1017.

Kliatt, November 1, 2006, Claire Rosser, review of The Passage, p. 12.

ONLINE

Books, Reading, and Writing (BRAW) Web site,http://www.braw.org.uk/ (April 25, 2007), profile and interview with James Killgore.