Interview with Stanton Jacobs

Author of A Family’s Deception

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

I am originally from the southern Indiana town of Bloomington, Indiana. Over the years, my family and I have lived in multiple cities and states across the U.S and even spent about 3 years living abroad in the United Kingdom, near London.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

All of my moves were associated with my long career in hospitality in which I managed various hotels and resorts. Such locations included Denver and later Vail, Colorado, various locations in California, including San Francisco, Ventura, Stockton, and Murrieta Hot Springs. These cities and great hotels provided the background, setting, and inspiration for my two books currently published.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

When I was a child, reading was challenging for me and the only way to improve the speed and retention of my reading was to force myself to read numerous books of all genre’s. My favorite books were the stories of adventure, mystery and suspense. Over time, I studies the structure and format of the stories I read and narrowed my interest further to stories that included many plot twists and kept the reader guessing until the last page. In turn, I found myself thinking of past experiences in real-life individuals that I could develop into a complex and intriguing story that I thought readers might enjoy.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

In VOYAGE OF DECEPTION, The reader will be drawn to the main character, Jake Oliver, as well as the other colorful characters of the story. Set in the gateway city of San Francisco, Jake Oliver, the new General Manager of the historic Wilford Plaza Hotel encounters greed, murder and deception yet cleverly outwits the bad guys and unravels the mysteries surrounding and event that originated from an event that took place in Hong Kong 70 years prior. Jake Oliver is part detective, part manager and the ultimate problem solver!

In A FAMILY’S DECEPTION, organized crime, unexplained supernatural phenomenon, and murder are all part of a family’s deception that crosses multiple generations. As each new twist and turn develops in the plot of this story, Jake Oliver presses on to uncover the mysteries that surround La Murata Resort & Health Spa and those associated with it. At the climax of the story, Jake Oliver masterfully pieces together the Palermo family’s deception and solves a mystery that has haunted the resort for the past 80 years!

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

I think I connect best with individual that like a good mystery. Set at grand and historic hotels and resorts also appeals to those intrigued by history. I also think these books appeal to those seeing an escape from reality with added adventure and suspense. I think that, although my stories are probably most directly written to a middle and upper class demographic ranging from 25-55 years old, I think these stories can have further appeal those younger, older, and even of different ethnic backgrounds

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

I learned that there is a great deal of responsibility and accountability a writer must have for his readers. I control where I take the reader throughout the story and it has to make sense, be realistic and leaving any issues “hanging and never explained”

I also learned that writing a mystery suspense novel in such a way so that the reader does not figure out the plot until the end of the novel is far easier said than done! The writer needs to write the novel in a manner that suggest that he does not know what the outcome will be, but in reality he does!

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

1. Start earlier in my life and assure I can set aside to necessary time needed to plan, research and write each novel.
2. Have a very realistic understanding of how highly competitive and challenging it will be to secure a publisher and / or literary agent for your work. IT IS HARD WORK!

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

I have always hoped that my books would appear to broad wide range of readers

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

Probably the most challenging and frustrating aspects of the prospects in the promotion and marketing of each book. And, remember, my entire career has been focused on marketing and promotion of the hotel and resorts I managed. I think for my books to truly have the reach and exposure needed to command mass readership, requires that the author secure an effective literary agent or contact with a publisher.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

I think I answered this with the previous questions. For me the strength is in the writing of the book, but my contacts and influence in terms of getting it published and marketed effectively is where I need the help.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

The publishing and marketing as stated above, but also assuring I have the time and resources to write the novels and get them out to the readers in a timely manner. Each of my books took 2-4 years each to write and get published. If I were to pursue writing full-time, I would need to shorten that timeline

When do you think you will write your next book?

I have a draft outline of my third novel prepared and I have conducted much of the initial research on the historic resort, which will be the setting for this book entitled AN ECHO FROM THE PAST, is set in Southern Indiana at a turn of the century resort, and there are echoes from Jake Oliver’s own past related to unsettled events involving crime, corruption and murder. Jake Oliver returns home to deal with a family crisis. Ultimately, his career and relationship with his family are in jeopardy involving the resort and his own family’s heritage!

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

Great question. After almost of year of reaching out to countless publishers and literary agents, with no success, I felt the next best thing was to put my money where my pen was and used a group, now called AuthorHOUSE. They published both of my novels and the process was cost effective and relatively smooth, but it does still require a lot of input and direction from the author throughout.