Matthew West-James

Why I Wanted to Be an Entomologist When I Was Five The Inspiration Behind Burning Salt People occasionally ask where the idea for Burning Salt came from. Like most stories, there isn’t a single answer. There were dozens of influences over the years, but one of the biggest started long before I ever thought about becoming a writer. When I was very young, well before I even started school, I had already decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be an entomologist. My mother has…

Welcome back to the Burning Salt – Jaka Cultural Exchange Archive. One of the most enjoyable parts of writing these companion pieces has been exploring ideas that would have slowed the pace of the novel. In Burning Salt, you’ll encounter the Royal Caste, but the story doesn’t stop to explain why an ancient civilization that values consensus, specialization, and continuity would still maintain what humans would call a monarch. I hope you enjoy the next entry from the archives. Matthew…

The Fear of Failure When I wrote Unlearning What Worked, I thought I was writing about failure. Looking back, I don’t think I was. I think I was writing about the fear of failure. For much of my life, I believed the safest decision was to avoid situations where I might fail. If I wasn’t reasonably confident I could succeed, it often felt easier not to try at all. That mindset influenced far more than my career. It affected friendships, leadership opportunities, public speaking, and countless…