Having been a practicing attorney for the past twenty-seven years should make me an expert in writing fiction, but don’t tell anybody. I am currently Of Counsel to the Dallas, Texas, law firm of Tipton Jones, where my practice includes complex commercial litigation as well as entertainment law, focusing on the movie and publishing industries.



But it’s the world of books and movies that is truly my passion. In addition to my practice at Tipton Jones, my wife Susan, also an attorney, and I run Farris Literary Agency, Inc. As agents, we have been fortunate to place several award-winning novels for publication, including Balaam Gimble’s Gumption by Mike Nichols, winner of the 2004 Texas Institute of Letters John Bloom Humor Award, and Sheldon Russell’s Dreams to Dust: A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush, winner of the 2006 Langum Prize for Excellence in American Historical Fiction. As a writer, I collaborated with television journalist Murphy Martin in 2003 to write Murphy’s memoir, Front Row Seat: A Veteran Reporter Relives the Four Decades that Reshaped America, for Eakin Press. In 2009, I collaborated with rodeo cowboy turned actor/director/producer Robert Hinkle to write Bob’s memoir, Call Me Lucky: A Texan in Hollywood, for the University of Oklahoma Press.

My latest work, KANAKA BLUES, a Hawaiian thriller, is soon to be released by Savant Books and Publications, whose Honolulu location makes it a natural for this novel, which is set against the backdrop of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. In addition to books,

I have tried my hand at screenwriting. My screenplay Live From the Boneyard is currently being cast by Sweet Revenge Entertainment of Beverly Hills. My inspirational family screenplay Reaching Jordan, based on a true story, is in development with Advocate Pictures for possible production in 2010, and my adaptation of the award-winning novel Balaam Gimble’s Gumption was produced in 2009 by Blue Logic Productions. In collaboration with New York Times best-selling novelist Patrick A. Davis, I am co-creator of two television series proposals based upon Pat’s novels, both of which are currently under contract to a Los Angeles-based television producer. I also collaborated with Edgar Award finalist Ben Rehder of Austin, Texas, to create a television series proposal based upon Ben’s Blanco County Mystery Series from St. Martin’s Minotaur, which is also under contract to an L.A. based TV producer.

I am looking forward to the imminent release of KANAKA BLUES and a long and productive relationship with Savant Books. Sincerely, MIke Farris