James Tobin, Author

With my first published work, I made a small impact on a close group of beta readers and friends. I think that this is a welcome result, in that it exposed me to my skills’ reception by others. “Getting my foot in the door,” as the saying goes, was also a vital milestone along the course of my career in letters. Chemical Philosophy: A Novel of Discovery, weighing-in at roughly 180,000 words, was published in 2019 (Page Publishing), and it represented the crystallization (my preferred term) of nearly two decades’ worth of struggle colored by an intrinsic upward grasping for the light.

While this novel was hardly a commercial success, I was deeply encouraged to improve my craft by grace of the kind words shared by my readers—some of which are present on this little page. I have experienced, firsthand, the therapeutic effect of writing and art in its broadest, most encompassing sense, and I count it my highest honor to be a medium for this curative current. When I read the “blurbs” (what an awful, necessary word!) on my novel’s Amazon page, I feel over the moon.

Minor accolades, aside, it is the proceeding in one’s craft which yields the apogee of delight. I invite you to read the next book on your shelf with a mind not of awe, a mind not overwhelmed by the seemingly Herculean strength, resolve, and, in some cases, “grit,” required to author a novel of whatever stripe; rather, read with an eye which draws the grace and spirit of the written word and instills it in a mind ripe for cultivation. The human mind is capable of wonders—sometimes, these are sui generis, but most often, they are cumulative reflections.  

Welcome yourselves to reading as a conversation, not merely a lesson!