Levy County Journal - July, 2007
PIERCE KELLEY WRITES WHAT HE KNOWS
What local writer Pierce Kelley knows is what he generally writes about. A practicing attorney and educator since he passed the bar in 1974, his topic is courtroom drama.
He has served as lead counsel in over 100 jury trials and has successfully handled appeals to the Supreme Courts for the states of Florida and West Virginia.
His area of expertise is civil litigation. His novels present scenarios that cover issues that occur every day.
“In every one of my books, I want the reader to get the impression that the story could be about them, that they can relate to the main character and realize that could happen to any one of us.”
Kelley came to Cedar Key in 2000 after a long career in law because he wanted to live in a place where he felt he could be inspired to write. He has kept the “day job,” however, and now works part-time at Three Rivers Legal Services in the Lake City and Gainesville offices.
“We represent low-income individuals who have problems with mortgage foreclosures, credit card debt, bad car deals and consumer issues, as well as divorces and domestic violence issues,” Kelley said.
Kelley’s ambitions as a writer began in Miami when he was playing softball and broke an ankle. While convalescing, he decided towrite his first book, “Introducing Children to the Game of Tennis.” The book was acclaimed to be THE perfect introduction for parents of beginning players by the United States Tennis Association and Tennis Magazine.
Inspired by the success of that book, Kelley decided to write a text book for the class on civil litigation that he was teaching at St. Petersburg College to paralegal students. “Civil Litigation: A Case Study” was published in 2000 and is now the text at several colleges.
Before moving back to Miami, where he was raised, Kelley attended college in New Orleans, Louisiana on a full tennis scholarship and then received his law degree from George Washington University while coaching the varsity men’s tennis team to pay his tuition.
Kelley has written three novels about Cedar Key and has a fourth in the works. In his latest, Bocas del Toro, an archipelago of islands between Panama and Costa Rica, Kelley sticks to what he knows best…legal drama.
This reporter sat down with Kelley to talk candidly about the transformation he’s making from lawyer to novelist.
LCJ: What is your writing genre?
PK: Legal courtroom drama. All of my books have a legal issue at the core and all involve some kind of dramatic event that drastically alters the life of the main character. My latest novel, Bocas del Toro, is different from my first two or three in that there is not nearly as much courtroom activity. This one deals more with law on the street, confidential informants and is more of a police-detective kind of story.
LCJ: What do you mean when you say that you like for your readers to feel as if what happens to the main character could happen to them?
PK: What I like to do is present scenarios, or situations, that could happen to anyone. For example, how many young men, and women, go to bars? Many, right? But how many know that having more than three beers and then driving an automobile could cause them disastrous consequences if they should get into an accident, as Dan Brennan found out in A Very Fine Line? And how many young people know what trouble they could get into if they try to protect a friend who is wanted for questioning by police, as the boys in Fistfight at the L and M Saloon? These situations apply to more mature adults as well, but I like it when people read my books and say, “Wow! That could have happened to me!”
LCJ: What do you mean when you say “Write what you know”?
PK: I’m a lawyer. I’ve been a lawyer for over 33 years. I’ve learned a lot over those years and I like to share that knowledge with my readers. If you read any of my books you will learn something about the law that you didn’t know. I guarantee it. However, I have to make the story interesting. Not many people want to read a textbook for fun. In Bocas, the story line is based on several people I know. It may sound somewhat far-fetched to some, but it really isn’t. I have fictionalized the story but it is based on people I’ve met and stories I know about. All of my books are like that.
LCJ: Any big publishing deals in the works for you?
PK: I haven’t been able to land a “big-time” agent and until I do most of the major publishing houses are off-limits for me. Maybe Bocas del Toro will be my ticket to the big time, but if not, I’ll keep writing regardless. I enjoy the process and I have a feeling of purpose while writing and a feeling of accomplishment when finished