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…

Burning Salt Is Now Available Today is release day. After months of writing, editing, revisions, and far more worldbuilding than ever made it into the final manuscript, Burning Salt is officially available. This novel marks a departure from my previous books. Rather than memoir, Burning Salt is a work of science fiction built around first contact, alien civilizations, and the unintended consequences of exploring a universe that is far stranger than humanity ever imagined. Whether you prefer…

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…

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…

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…