Today I have the pleasure of welcoming T.F. Jacobs to Chat About Books! 🙂

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

Yes, My name is T.F. Jacobs and I’m a writer based in Southern California. My book is titled Untangling the Black Web, and it was just released by the Amazon imprint, Kindle Press.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

I write about issues I’m passionate about. Untangling the Black Web is based on the corruption and interconnected pieces of the healthcare industry. Politics aside, I was upset with all the corrupt practices I saw firsthand in dealing with the healthcare industry. One of my favorite authors, Joseph Finder, wrote a piece of nonfiction he was passionate about, but it didn’t do as well as he’d hoped. So he turned it into a fictional piece, and it became a bestseller. I wanted to take a similar approach with Untangling the Black Web.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

I try to make my characters as three-dimensional as possible, and in order to do that I have based characters loosely on people I know. My main characters always have a bit of me in them as I write in first person, but at the same time I always try to make my characters unique.

How do you pick your characters names?

I research popular baby names of certain years, then pick the ones I feel best fit the personality I’m going for.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

In this day and age it’s easy to get distracted, so I try to write for a few hours early in the morning before I start anything else, that way I can get it done and out of the way. When you get a routine going like that, it’s amazing how quickly a book begins to take shape.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

Joseph Finder is a true master of suspense, and Blake Crouch has the art of writing thrillers down to a tee. Another personal inspiration is the late Stieg Larsson of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. Dan Brown tackles some huge subjects in interesting ways. Hate on him all you want, but clearly what he’s doing is making him successful. I’ve just started reading Don Winslow, and I quite enjoy how gritty and raw his thrillers are.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

It would have to be Dan Brown, and I’d ask him how he goes about tackling such big and controversial topics in such simple and captivating ways.

Were you a big reader as a child?

Not too big. A series of Unfortunate Events was fun, same with Harry Potter, but reading didn’t become interesting to me until my late teens.

When did you start to write?

I started writing when I was sixteen, and was terrible at it. I finished a young adult novel after about a year, but it’s embarrassingly bad and I will probably never look at it again.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. So engaging with such rich characters.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?

You Don’t Know Until You Do It

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee who would it be and where would you take them?

Mikael Blomkvist and I’d take him to Hidden House Coffee, a cool almost hidden spot in San Juan Capistrano.

What are you working on right now?

I’m finishing a psychological thriller right now that I’m super excited about. Very different for me, but so fun. Won’t say any more than that.

Do you have a new release due?

Untangling the Black Web released October 10th, so I am working alongside Amazon to try to make the launch a success.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

No time to celebrate between trying to market a book and working on a new one!

How can readers keep in touch with you?

Visit my website at TFJacobs.com and sign up for alerts. My email is also on there, and I love to hear from readers. Reach out to me and I promise to respond.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions! 🙂

Thanks so much for the opportunity!

An Amazon Kindle Scout Selection.

When David’s wife dies at the hands of a corrupt medical system, David is out for justice. With his skills as a lawyer and his position inside the biggest health insurance company in America—American True Care—he plans to bring down the system, from the inside.

David begins to work his way up the company while recruiting a clandestine team to build a covert case against American True Care. But this is a dangerous game and the players have ties to the highest levels of government. Propped up by lobbyists, senators, congressmen, and even the White House, American True Care will do whatever it takes to keep hold of its power.

As the web of deception and danger tightens around David and his team, they begin to realize that to win they have to risk it all—even their lives.