Meet James Goertel of Nashville/Los Angeles/New York

Today we’d like to introduce you to James Goertel

Hi James, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born in Mandan, North Dakota. Studied TV/Film at Temple University in Philly. Worked as a sound mixer for NBC Dateline, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC 20/20, ESPN, 60 Minutes and with a whole corral of celebrities and sports figures from Chris Isaak to Susan Sarandon, Kevin Bacon to Deion Sanders, Shaquille O’Neal to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robin Williams to Jack Nicklaus. After twenty years in the media mines, I hung up my pick axe and got my Masters in Journalism and a PhD in English. I started writing screenplays twenty-five years ago and fiction about fifteen years ago. Then in 2022, Cole Hauser (aka Rip Wheeler on Yellowstone) stumbled across my novel, Dakota Damned, and contacted me about adapting it into a TV series—which I did, producing a full-season, ten-episode manuscript. Time takes time in Hollywood, but just a “short” three years later Jai Stefan (The Irishman, Day of the Fight) has signed on as a producer and George Gallo (Midnight Run, Bad Boys) has come aboard to head the writing team which now consists of Gallo, his writing partner Jerry Brown, and me. The pilot episode revision was completed in December and spring will see some studio meetings in Hollywood. In the meantime, I’ve kept writing since publishing Dakota Damned back in 2019 and have penned a feature-length Western and four novellas. The latest is Owls in the Moss which dropped in late January.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well, if it were smooth I wouldn’t have any stories to tell and less to write about. So, yeah, struggles are a part of the journey. I think the biggest one is that I was a lone wolf for so much of it until Cole Hauser called and asked me to adapt my novel Dakota Damned into a series. Now I’ve got folks behind me like Cole and his producing partner Randall Batinkoff, writer/director George Gallo and his writing partner Jerry Brown, as well as producer Jai Stefan. What’s been amazing is hearing their stories of struggle and success. Hollywood is one tough town and any success there is tied to relationships, so it’s great not to be a lone wolf anymore. The road has been long for sure and filled with ups and downs, but fortunately the struggles never involve the writing which in my case is really the job.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Speaking of the writing, that is what I’m most proud of and I’m lucky to have a God-given talent for it. I started with screenplays, which I wrote, one after the other, for twelve years before tackling book fiction with my short story collection, Carry Each His Burden, back in 2011. I got up the nerve to attempt the big book in 2019 which produced the novel, Dakota Damned, and ironically was the writing that got my foot in the Hollywood door—more like a heavily locked gate. I continue to write screenplays and, of course, have hammered out the four novellas in just the past two years. I write in multiple genres to keep things interesting for myself and I only write what interests me. What sets my writing apart is that the voice is original. If you read me, you’ll never say, “Oh, this reminds me of…”—and I pride myself on that. I also write fast. Very fast. But I have the greatest editor in the world—my wife—so I don’t get too bogged down by the mechanics or the fact that I often abuse the function of the semicolon as I get the story on the page as quickly as it comes to me.

What makes you happy?
My wife and son make me happy. I like having a little family. We share a love of the outdoors and a similar work ethic. We simply enjoy one another, being with one another, loving one another. Beyond family, which is number one, it’s writing, reading, watching movies, and listening to music for me. But I’m most happy when I’m writing because it’s the one thing I can do really, really well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amazon.com/author/jamesgoertel
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jgoertel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/james.goertel
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-goertel-14162423/
• Twitter: https://x.com/JamesGoertel