James Francis Dwyer

Career and travels alt=cover artwork for Argosy showing the upper portions of a man, a woman, and a camel. A desert landscape can be seen over the woman's shoulder. Cover copy advertises Dwyer's story. After his parole period was completed, Dwyer relocated to London in 1906, saying that "the Australian writer has no real chance in his own land", and going against advice given to him by Rudyard Kipling;

Dwyer continued to try selling stories in New York. After winning a contest, he was given a commission to write for Black Cat. His 1913 novel, The Spotted Panther, received praise from The New York Times, who compared his style to H. Rider Haggard and said it was "written in a clear, spirited style, with the knack of narrative which makes all things seem possible". Dwyer travelled the US and Europe to gather information for the settings of his stories, and also visited Australia again in 1913. In 1915, Dwyer published Breath of the Jungle. It was the only collection of short stories that Dwyer published in book form. Most of the stories within it were set in the East Indies.

In December 1919, Dwyer divorced his wife and married his American agent, Catherine Welch. The 1926 film, Bride of the Storm, is based on his short story "Maryland, My Maryland". Dwyer and Welch settled in Pau, France, though they frequently traveled through Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

Legacy Dwyer's novels were mostly within the genres of mystery, adventure, thrillers and romance. He was considered to be among the most successful writers of the 1920s to have immigrated from English speaking countries to the US. Dwyer wrote over 1,000 short stories during his career. According to a 1940 book on Australian literature by E. Morris Miller, Dwyer was "perhaps the most prolific short story writer" from Australia, though his work reached a much wider audience internationally than in his homeland. His obituary in the Australian literary magazine Southerly said that Dwyer had been "virtually unknown in Australia until the publication of his autobiography".

Publications Dwyer published at least 11 fiction books throughout his career, plus his 1949 autobiography.

The White Waterfall (1912) The Spotted Panther (1913) Breath of the Jungle (1915) The Green Half-Moon (1917) O Splendid Sorcery (1930) Evelyn: Something More Than a Story (1931) The Romantic Quest of Peter Lamonte (1932) Cold Eyes (1933) Hespamora (1935) The Lady With Feet of Gold (1937) The City of Cobras (1938) Leg-Irons on Wings (1949)