Write On
“I like to think of the structure of a novel as opening with a question, and it closes by answering the question,” says Sealy. “With a mystery format, that’s easy – somebody’s dead, and then somebody did it.”
While he might say it’s easy, Sealy does extensive research to come up with the gripping plot lines and relatable details that are hallmarks of his books.
“Sometimes the research comes first, and then a book follows,” he explains, adding that his two children are currently reading the Harry Potter series, which inspired him to look into old Arthurian legends, reread Beowulf and learn about England in the Middle Ages. If a character or an image emerges from his research, he’ll start on a new novel.
Sealy’s own story begins in the Upstate town of Six Mile, S.C. With proximity to Clemson University, the town had great bookstores, where Sealy – the only child of an engineer at Oconee Nuclear Station and a social worker – would explore literary magazines and tomes on arcane research. While many of his friends went to Clemson University, Sealy wanted something different.
“You only have to visit Charleston once to really fall in love and feel like, ‘Oh, this is a good place to be,’” he says.
He came to the College thinking he might major in math or physics, but one English class was all it took for him to change his mind. He left an impression on Bret Lott, the bestselling author of 15 books who teaches fiction and nonfiction writing.
“Jon remains one of the two or three best students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching during my nearly four decades here at the College,” says Lott, who is retiring this year (see “Last Word” on Page 72). “He worked his butt off. He read. And he wrote and rewrote and rewrote. And he never gave up. Period. Those elements of character go beyond just showing up and doing the work for a grade. They are what make a writer a writer. I’m lucky to have been a witness to his passing through my life on his way to being the writer he is today.”
Sealy was lucky, too, having met his wife, Emily Oye Sealy ’05, in the class. After earning an M.F.A. from Purdue University in 2008, he followed her to Richmond, Va., where he briefly worked as an adjunct composition instructor and a salesman for a Circuit City electronics store. When he lost both jobs during the 2008 economic collapse, he set out to understand the financial crisis, which led to his first book, The Whiskey Baron, in 2014, set in South Carolina during the Depression. But that only came about after five years honing his craft, reading 100 pages of any given novel and writing 1,000 words a day, five days a week.
“It’s nice to feel like you’ve finally broken through and the life you’ve been chasing after is finally here,” he says. “But then, you still have to go back to the drawing board, and you’re on Page 1 again with a new novel.”
Sealy and his family still live near Richmond, where he also does communications consulting. In 2021, he wrote a craft memoir, So You Want to Be a Novelist, and has this advice for would-be writers:
“The stock advice is read a lot, but don’t just read it,” he says. “Find books that do what you’re trying to do and then really take them apart.”