James WallaceBorn in the small port city of Burnie in Tasmania, I moved to the north shore of Sydney before my 9th birthday. I had a passion for the arts, especially writing and music, but loved sport even more at that age, and cricket, tennis, and rugby successflly hijacked most of my time.After high school, I attended Macquarie Uni and embraced an audacious pursuit of rock music and uni parties interrupted by the occasional class in economics and politics. After uni, I turned down a sought-after role as a journalist due to a severe paper allergy that had secretly troubled me for years and went into the world of currency trading where paper shuffling wasn't necessary. I loved the chaotic and barely regulated markets of the '90s and worked for major banks in Sydney, London, and New York before moving into the world of hedge funds, where I set up and ran two global macro hedge funds for a total of 13 years.In 2014 I needed a change. My passion for adventure and storytelling was unfulfilled, so I gave finance away, came up with an idea to trek the Kokoda Trail, formed a film production company, rallied some iconic sponsors, and co-produced Life Challenge Kokoda as my first foray into the industry. It was quite the adventure and one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life to date.In December 2020, I decided to change my life after a challenging 18 months in film production through Covid-19. I wanted to try a year without alcohol, eat a healthy ketogenic diet, get back into running and novelize a few of my screenplays. It's been one of the best decisions of my life. The combination of no alcohol, minimal sugar and limited carbs significantly reduced the inflammation in my body, and my liver and kidneys are working like new. But the most significant change has been the clarity in my mind and idea flow. It's as if Thalia, Melpomene, Euterpe, and Erato have been sitting with me every day as I work.The journey to write Pre-Devoted has been very special to me. I wrote the screenplay first and then gave myself the freedom to further explore the backstories of the characters as it was novelized. The story is very dear to me and riddled with elements of my personal life including my love for New York and France. I hope you enjoy it Read More Read Less