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Jim Mather

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.arrowcatcherbook.com/

Genre

Fiction

Influences

James Clavell, Wallace Stegner, George R.R. Martin...

Member Since

July 2013

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Jim Mather graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Communications and minor in Creative Writing. He went on to receive an MA degree in Education and reach Ph.D Candidacy, also at Stanford. He has published hundreds of articles in various periodicals, including years as a columnist. He spends his time writing, teaching, and hiking along the Big Sur Coast, where he lives with his wife, Diane, and dog, Mira.

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you get inspired to write?

Jim Mather Hi, sorry for the slow response. I was tied up writing the sequel to my novel, which is about to be released.

I've never needed to be inspired to write…moreHi, sorry for the slow response. I was tied up writing the sequel to my novel, which is about to be released.

I've never needed to be inspired to write. Most writers I know are driven to write. You have to be or you'll never complete a novel and the necessary multiple rewrites to get out a successful novel. Who knows what psychologically drives us to do it. But there is something. A big element is discipline and a need to leave something behind when I'm gone, perhaps. I've never had the luxury of doing nothing but write. I've always had school or work, which forced me to write in my spare time. And I write something every day, even if it's only a sentence or two.(less)

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Jim Mather Hi, thanks for your question. Sorry to take so long to respond. I've been focused on completing the sequel to my novel, The Arrow Catcher. I just fini…moreHi, thanks for your question. Sorry to take so long to respond. I've been focused on completing the sequel to my novel, The Arrow Catcher. I just finished it and got it off to the publishers.

I generally start with the proverbial "What if?" I think about a character, often someone I know or knew, and wonder what would happen if they were faced with a situation that challenged their strengths or weaknesses. My latest book, The Arrow Shooter, is the sequel to The Arrow Catcher. It is merely the continuation of a story I created while a writing major at Stanford in the 80s. The situation in the middle east was on my mind at the time. I wondered what caused people to come into the world with a mental clean slate and somehow come to hate another group so violently that they could slaughter them without mercy. I set my novel in 1948, when the state of Israel was being created. My main character, Jonathan Lusk, was the son of a Harvard professor and Nobel prize winner who watches as his father is accidently killed by a bomb set by a friend and fellow professor to kill another friend and fellow professor, who was a Jew. I don't write from an outline. As I mentioned, I create characters, then merely record where they take me. I'm often as surprised as my readers where they go and do.(less)

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Combine Editions
Jim Mather’s books

Average rating: 3.78 · 229 ratings · 26 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Arrow Catcher 3.77 avg rating — 185 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Arrow Shooter (The Arrow Catcher #2) 3.82 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

17 posts
Jim Mather's Blog

Our wonderful alphabet!

Using just 26 letters, what knowledge we can pass on and tales we can create!

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Published on December 26, 2015 08:53

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Series by Jim Mather

The Arrow Catcher (2 books)
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Jim Mather (Goodreads Author)

3.78 avg rating — 229 ratings

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Around the World ...: Japan	60	2251	Feb 26, 2025 12:40PM

Jim’s Quotes

“intrepid, and he was not lacking even in moral virtues, being”
― Danny Chaplin, Sengoku Jidai. Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu: Three Unifiers of Japan

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