Hello All! Recently I had the privilege to be interviewed regarding Burning Salt by NewInBooks. You can click the link to read it there or read below! Interview with Matthew West-James, Author of Burning Salt by NewInBooks What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book? The story grew out of my fascination with biology, perception, and the enormous variety of life. I enjoy the classic big-headed gray alien or space elf as much as the next person, but I find it…

Welcome back to the Burning Salt – Jaka Cultural Exchange Archive. The previous entries focused on the history and institutions that shaped Jaka civilization. This entry turns toward a smaller problem that became unexpectedly important after first contact: what humans should call an individual Jaka. The Jaka did not lack a way to identify one another. Their system was far more precise than human naming conventions. The problem was that precision alone did not create familiarity, trust, or the…

Welcome back to the Burning Salt – Jaka Cultural Exchange Archive. The previous entry explored why the Jaka continue to maintain what humans would call a monarch. This entry moves backward into their history and examines the crisis that created the Royal Caste. The conflict did not begin between unrelated civilizations or competing species. It began when one civilization adapted itself to two environments on the same world, only to discover that biological separation could eventually become…