MEET STEFAN JACOB
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Stikine Wild - The
Wilderness Years - Second Edition: Raising Our Family In The Canadian/Alaskan
Wilderness
by Stefan Jacob
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Can you share a bit
about your background and how it has influenced your writing?
I have written a journal most of my life, and spent many
years homesteading in the wilderness of Northwest BC, Canada, near the Alaskan
‘panhandle’ SE of Juneau. After many years of living and raising a family in
the wilderness, we returned to civilization, and I wanted to preserve that
experience for others with my writing and photography. The following is a short
overview:
The Place at the End of
All Roads was called Glenora, Beside
the Stikine River. The dirt road simply ended on the rocky shore of the
river. Past that point, for hundreds of miles to the south, west, and north,
there were no roads and no people until the river finally reached Alaska, 150
miles away. It was there and beyond where we lived and raised our family for
many years.
In late winter, we drove into the village of Telegraph Creek, BC, the most
remote community in British Columbia, Canada, near Alaska. The town had no
electricity, telephone, or television and was 400 miles (700 km) by dirt and
gravel road from the nearest town with a supermarket – a twelve-hour drive each
way.
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At the end of the road in Glenora, twelve miles beyond Telegraph Creek, we left
our van by the frozen river and went 17 miles (25 km) further down the river on
the ice, to live in a tiny 8X10 foot abandoned log cabin homestead. This is the
story of our life in the Stikine wilderness, raising a family of three
children, creating our own electricity, growing vegetables for the town and
eventually helping develop a salmon fishery in the Stikine River wilderness –
150 road-less miles down the Stikine River to Wrangell Alaska.
The in-river commercial fishery created an international conflict between
Canada and Alaska, since Alaska didn't want to share the salmon. I represented
the Canadian Stikine River fishermen along with a representative from the
Tahltan Tribal Council (the local first nation people of the Stikine region) at
the salmon treaty talks. Together they helped find a compromise based on co-
managing the salmon stocks with Alaska, eventually creating more salmon for
both countries. This formed the basis for the Trans-boundary Salmon Treaty.
This book chronicles our personal adventure in the Canadian wilderness, and
also tells the largely unwritten history of the conflict between Alaska and
Canada over the fishing rights to the salmon spawned in the river, and the
future role of the Tahltan First Nation people controlling their own salmon
resources. Later I co-managed the commercial in-river fishery with the Tahltan
First Nation, which led to many other adventures and an unexpected conclusion.
The story is both a personal memoir of our family’s adventure, and a snapshot
of that time and place in the history of this remote region of the country.
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What inspired you to
become an author?
The desire to document the extraordinary experiences.
Whenever I told people about that life and many events, people were fascinated
and asked me to write about it.
What is your latest
book about, and what inspired its story?
This is the only full-length book that I have written and
published. I have written many shorter works, but have yet to publish them.
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Can you walk us through your research process for this book?
I kept copious notes and photographs, chronicling the many
years we lived there, and I represented the Stikine River fishermen at the
International Salmon Treaty negotiations between Canada and the USA.
Could you describe
your typical writing routine?
I write best and most productively in long, uninterrupted
times. Often late at night.
How do you approach
character development and world-building in your writing?
Many of the people in my stories were in themselves ‘larger than life.’ I often find real life more interesting than fiction. Many people who have read my book tell me that it was one of the most interesting books that they have ever read, including writers. I have had over 300 reviews on Amazon with a 4.2 average rating.
Do you experience
writer’s block, and if so, how do you overcome it?
Mostly not. I wait till I am called to write, then it just
flows out of me, nonstop.
What have been the
biggest challenges you’ve faced in your writing career?
Learning how to interface with Kindle by myself, and
publishing. When I found out that most publishers wanted exclusive access to my
book for 6-12 months, and then only accepted only 2-4% of submissions, I chose
to go with Kindle self-publish.
What do you consider
your greatest achievement as an author?
Conveying the feeling of being there with me. Many have told
me that they came with me.
How has reader
feedback influenced your writing, if at all?
I added a powerful lead in, cut back on words and forced
myself to be more succinct.
What do you hope
readers take away from your book?
To feel the experience we had, and to feel the vast beauty
of the wilderness.
Which authors or
books have had a significant impact on you and your writing?
Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, many books of true life
Alaskan and Canadian wilderness adventures, The
Call of the Wild and many stories by Jack London, and numerous other
adventure classics.
What advice would you
give to aspiring authors?
Inhabit your story! Put 110% of yourself into the experience
and become part of your story.
What are some common
misconceptions about being an author?
I can only speak for myself.
Are you currently
working on any new projects? Can you give us a sneak peek?
Chronicling seven days riding the rails across the USA in
the mid 60’s, gathering other short stories that I have written into a
collection, and possibly getting Stikine Wild made into a movie (filmed on site
with some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in North America that most
people have never seen. Oh, also traveling overland from Europe to India and
Nepal filled with many deep and meaningful events and some near death
experiences
What has writing
taught you about yourself?
That I have had a rich, wonderful life which people love having me share with them.
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