Newsletter

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…

Welcome back to the Burning Salt – Jaka Cultural Exchange Archive. One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about writing Burning Salt has been exploring not only how humans would misunderstand an ancient alien civilization, but how that civilization might misunderstand us in return. Every archive entry is an attempt to bridge that gap by presenting the Jaka’s own explanations of their history, culture, and society through documents prepared after first contact. This time, we turn to a subject…

The Mistakes We Never Stop Replaying Do you have one of those moments that your brain simply refuses to let go? Not the life-changing disasters. I’m talking about the little ones. Waving back at someone who wasn’t actually waving at you. Calling someone by the wrong name. Saying something awkward and wishing you could rewind the last thirty seconds. For years, those were the moments I replayed over and over. I suspect most of us have at least a few of them. The kind of memory that pops into…

Welcome to the first entry in what I hope will become an ongoing companion series to Burning Salt. While writing the novel, I developed far more of the Jaka civilization than could reasonably fit into the story itself. Rather than leave those ideas on the cutting room floor, I’ve decided to share them here as occasional newsletter pieces. These aren’t deleted scenes, nor are they required reading to enjoy the novel. Instead, they’re presented as documents from the Jaka Cultural Exchange…

Welcome to the West-James Press newsletter! Hi, Recently, you joined the West James Press mailing list. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and let you know what you can expect from future emails. I’m Matthew West-James, an veteran, IT professional, and independent author. I write both nonfiction and science fiction, with stories that explore resilience, discovery, and the human experience. Here’s what you can expect from this newsletter: New book announcements Exclusive discounts…