James (Jim) Newport is an Emmy-nominated Production Designer of over 100 feature films and television series. Brokedown Palace, The Piano Lesson, China Beach,The Shield, Bangkok Dangerous, and LOST are a few of his credits.
Also an author of eight novels – five in the Vampire Of Siam series, plus TinselTown, Chasing Jimi and Yankee Dragon
His alter-ego Jimmy Fame is a blues shouter who performs regularly in Phuket.
Watch the interview here:
The Vampire Of Siam
An epic tale that spans half the globe and a course of 190 years. In A Dark Christmas, Jim’s newest book in the Vampire series is a tragedy that strikes on Christmas Eve, bringing Martin Larue and the vampire Ramonne Delacroix together once again to face, perhaps, their greatest and most powerful modern enemy.
“It’s been twenty years since I wrote The Vampire of Siam. At the time I had no idea it would spawn four sequels. The city of Bangkok has changed – almost beyond recognition from the time I first arrived.
“Lately, the rapidity of the change is unnerving. The obliteration of its history with one massive skyscraper after another, has taken a toll on the health of the population. But it’s not just dust that this race to the skies showers on the city’s pedestrian population. Contractors wantonly ignore construction codes and orders – inevitably causing injuries and death. When this happens, local officials are difficult to corner for comment, while the contractors scramble for ‘fall guys’ to sacrifice.
“A dear friend of mine’s family were victims of just such a travesty several years ago, and I watched in anger as he fought not just for compensation for the loss of his son, but for an admission of guilt. He was no novice in the ways of the Land of Smiles, but he was stifled at every turn by a legal system that favored the corrupt and powerful.
“Hence I’ve taken liberation to tell a version of his tale, not just because he and his family suffered so much, but so that their story and hundreds of others – are not forgotten.
“My heartfelt thanks to my dear friend Patrick “Shrimp” Gauvain and his family for allowing me to portray a fictionalized version of the loss of their beloved son Leo.” JN
Jimmy Fame
Jim has been living and traveling around Thailand for many years, Finally making the island of Phuket his permanent home after selling the movie rights to the Vampire of Siam book series. Although a movie has not yet been made, The storyline was so good that the sale was enough to afford a beachfront house in Kamala.
His alter-ego Jimmy Fame is a Blues Shouter who performs regularly in Phuket. His Rotary charity event Jimmy Fame & Friends – One Night In Phuket was captured on DVD. His latest CD Backalleys is composed of original songs written and recorded during the lockdown at Phuket’s Legend Studios, as was the previous CD Wanted Man. (Yes, we did mention CD’s and DVD’s in 2020 lol, his work is available online at www.jimmyfame.com)
