After a variety of other jobs (scaffolding, teaching, bookselling, trawler-hand, lumberjack and short-order cook in a greasy spoon[2]) James worked publishing other people's books.
In 1974 he published his first full-length novel, "Earth Lies Sleeping" – the first in a series focused on the exploits of a galactic secret agent named Simon Rack.
[3] In addition, around 1974, James published the fantasy saga of Hells Angels in England & Wales in the early 1990s under the name Mick Norman.
His writings included books for the series "Dark Future," "Earth Blood," "Galactic Security Service" and "Survival 2000," as well as a number of independent novels and short stories.
James then went on to write solely no fewer than 32 novels in this series, attracting a significant fandom, up to and including Eclipse at Noon' in 1995.