This interview is a SCREENPLAY.COM exclusive.

Sheldon Siegel:
Lawyer by Day, Writer by Night

Interview by Sheldon R. Siegel

Sheldon Siegel graduated from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley in 1983. He has been in private practice in San Francisco for over seventeen years and specializes in corporate and securities law with the firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP. His first novel was the critically-acclaimed national best seller, Special Circumstances. He followed up with another bestseller, Incriminating Evidence. His third novel, Criminal Intent, was released August 2002. He lives in Marin County with his wife, Linda, and twin sons, Alan and Stephen. He is at work on his fourth Mike Daley story.

Was there one particular factor or many that made you decide to write your first novel?

I've wanted to write a novel since I was in high school.  I don't know why, except that it was something that I really wanted to try.   I don't have any special training (I studied accounting in college and I'm a corporate and securities lawyer).  Nevertheless, it is something that was in the back of my mind for a long time.

There was an event at my old law firm that got me to start writing.  A disgruntled former client of our firm came to our offices on July 1, 1993, armed with uzis and pistols and killed eight people and wounded six others. It was a truly horrible event.  It also made me (and many of my colleagues) think about our priorities and goals.  Among the things I always wanted to do was to write a novel.  I started the book two years later.

How long did it take from that first decision until you started writing and then how long until you finished?

I got the idea for my first book in 1989.  I didn't start writing until 1995.  It took me three years to write my first book.  I was working full time and I did most of the work on a laptop computer while I was computing to work on the ferry from my home in Marin County to my office in San Francisco.

How do you know when you have finished a story?

There comes a point where you realize that you're making changes, but the story isn't getting any better.  I know that I'm done when I change something in the morning and change it back in the afternoon.  Eventually, you want to move on to the next story.

How many publishers (if there was more than one) did you submit your manuscript to before it was optioned?

My agent submitted my first book to about a dozen publishers.  At one point, six of them were bidding on the book and I had a deal about two weeks later.

Did you know while writing your first book that there would be more?

I didn't intend to write a series until I was about 2/3 of the way through my first book.  That's when I decided I wanted to do another story with the same characters.  I'm now on my fourth book with the same characters and I intend to do a couple more in the series.

Has the writing process gotten any easier for you since your first book?

The writing process has gotten easier in the sense that I've finished four books and I know that I will get the books done.  I have a character and a setting that work (this is very important) and I'm more organized in putting the stories together.  I don't work full time anymore, so I don't have to do my writing while I'm commuting or late at night.  On the other hand, it's getting more difficult to find new and fresh ideas and I'm a lot more particular about my writing.

Do you base your characters mostly on real people or are they mostly fictitious?

Most of my characters have some characteristics of people I know, but they aren't recognizable in any meaningful way because the characters change a lot as I'm developing them in the context of my stories.  My protagonist sounds just like me and his law partner sounds just like my wife.

Have you ever had problems with writers' block and, if so, how do you get past it?

I've been lucky that I haven't had a substantial problem with writers' block.  I'm a lawyer in the daytime and I keep telling myself that there's no such thing as "lawyer's block."  If I get stuck, I work on another part of the story or I edit an earlier part of the story. I always try to save a couple of my favorite scenes to write at the end.

Do you read your own books after they are published?

Yes, although I don't read them very often and I'm always tempted to go back and start editing.

Since you are also a lawyer, do you see yourself now as a lawyer who writes or as a writer who also practices law?

I'm still a lawyer who writes, but that's starting to change.  When I first started doing this, I spent most of my time practicing law. Now, my life is pretty evenly divided between writing and lawyering. I still like being a lawyer and I don't plan to quit my day job.  On the other hand, writing stories is more fun.

Did you write your own contracts when signing with your publishing company?

The publishing companies have their own contract forms that are prepared by their lawyers.  I review them with the help of my agent, but the terms are pretty standard.

Are you planning on writing anything other than novels?  Films? TV? Stage plays?

I'm going to stick with novels for the time being.  I have a tv/movie agent who is attempting to sell my stories for development as movies and/or a tv series.  I hope to have some level of involvement if I get a movie or tv deal, but I probably won't take the lead in writing the screenplays.

Mr. Siegel may be contacted through his website at http://www.sheldonsiegel.com or by email at: sheldon@sheldonsiegel.com