Interview with Awesome Gang
- Mar 21
- 2 min read
J. Cabral-Jackson
Interview With Author J. Cabral-Jackson (extract)
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written. I’ve been a medic for over two decades now and did a Masters in Creative Writing in Manchester University with the Professor Jeanette Winterson, Geoff Ryman, and Ian Maguire. I’ve been writing and making up stories for as long as I can remember.
My debut novel Bain Rock came out in October 2025 and I sold a dozen sci-fi stories. I was a finalist in the NYC Midnight Screenwriting in 2024. My historical fiction novel, Louis & Marguerite was a finalist in the Pulp Idol Novel writing competition. I live in Canterbury with my wife and pet family.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it? Bain Rock is a sapphic dystopian fantasy set in the 80s. I’m Gen X and a latchkey kid with family in the beautiful Azores’s island of Saint Michael, the inspiration for Bain Rock.
Do you have any unusual writing habits? I wouldn’t necessarily call it unusual, but I don’t have a writing desk. I do most of my writing sitting on my couch surrounded by pets. Often with classical music in the background or sci-fi movie soundtracks, or 80s hits in the case of Bain Rock.
What authors, or books have influenced you? Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Pat Conroy, Cormac McCarthy and Stephen King.
What are you working on now?The sequel to Bain Rock, Rebellion as well as editing a portal fantasy novella, Fifty-Nine Minutes.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books? I’m active on TikTok and update my website with current posts about my writing.
Do you have any advice for new authors? Take your time, hire an editor, and a cover designer. Get active on the socials and interact with other writers and readers. Make sure you have beta readers and don’t rush ARC readers – they will help you get a number of reviews on release day. May it be Goodreads or Amazon.
What is the best advice you have ever heard? Don’t wait for inspiration to strike, just write the book. Worry about editing later – it will need dozens of edits and drafts anyway, before you even show it to beta readers.
What are you reading now? Reborn in Ashes by Maya Fisher and Ursula Le Guin’s The Word for World Is Forest.
What’s next for you as a writer? After the Bain Rock series, I’m carrying on with a dystopian space opera trilogy, Exodus, as well as an intergenerational ship space opera. I love screenwriting too and flash fiction which I hope to maintain alongside the long writing projects.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Stand by Stephen King
In The Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
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