The Siren of Good Intentions author J.E. Mooney reinvents himself every 5 to 8 years. Sometimes by design, sometimes circumstance. He’s had a wide range of careers to show for it including engineering and teaching; he also was a Peace Corps country director and senior director for a technology nonprofit. While his experience is impressive, Mooney says it uniquely qualifies him for absolutely nothing. He likens his point to Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours (Outliers) mentality.
“I know a lot of people who’ve spent long careers doing one thing and doing it really well,” Mooney tells So Booking Cool. “Whether you’re a musician, writer, business person, scientist, an engineer, all of those things require some long-term dedication. My long-term dedication extended about 5 to 7 years….what I did discover, though, is that I have this desire to explore and really look at new things, find new things and incorporate them into my knowledge bank, my storytelling. When I say it uniquely qualifies me for absolutely nothing that may be a misnomer. It may be that it qualifies me to be a good storyteller because it has given me a breadth of experience from which to pull.”
Mooney began writing The Siren of Good Intentions at age 56 and published it this past November, over a decade later. The historical adventure romance is currently being re-published as a hard copy by Ingram Content Group. Mooney says it is based on real events in his life in the 70’s during his work in West Africa.
Watch the interview to learn more about The Siren of Good Intentions including how a former crush partly influenced the story and who he can see portray the characters; what he’s learned so far as an author such as using fewer words and what knowledge he’s going to apply to the novels he’s currently penning; his candidness regarding the fact that he didn’t always care about helping other countries; how he and his wife are a team; and more! For more information, visit Mooney’s official website. Check out the book trailer below!