Jared Nathan Garrett - Coming-of-Age Story in a Real-Life Cult

Jared Nathan Garrett - Coming-of-Age Story in a Real-Life Cult
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Jared Garrett is the author of the bestselling Beat Series as well as the Guide and the Sword Series. He is a family man raising seven kids with his best friend and wife of two decades. At the age of 17, Jared escaped from a nomadic Scientology splinter cult. Since then, he’s worked as a teacher, a firefighter, a BBQ restaurant manager, a cowboy theater actor, a DJ, a bellman, a concierge, a rock crusher, and as a rubber vulcanizing engineer, among many others. He’s traveled all over the world, speaks four languages, and teaches groups large and small about overcoming trauma, the creative process, and the power of belief. His favorite authors are Terry Pratchett, Robert Ludlum, Katherine Paterson, Mercedes Lackey, Patricia McKillip, Brandon Sanderson, Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and many more. Keep writing and you might become one of his favorite authors too.

Please give us a short introduction to what Beyond the Cabin is about.

This book is inspired by true events. Beyond the Cabin is about Josh, a young man who seeks escape from the reclusive, abusive commune-cult that is all he's ever known. After the one person Josh thought he could count on abandons him, Josh spirals into isolation and anger. Then, following a horrific tragedy, Josh, blind with grief, determines to escape the cult and begins preparing and planning. But a new friendship with one of the other cult children opens his eyes to the plight of the many other kids and Josh sets off down another path. Ultimately, Josh will have to decide if escape means betraying those who have come to depend on him for protection.

What inspired you to write a coming-of-age story against the backdrop of a real-life, infamous Scientology splinter cult?

We're often told to write what we know. While I was struggling with my own past in a cult, I thought it might be interesting to explore my life but through the lens of a fictional version of me. So I condensed about ten years of events and my own life into about four months in Josh's life. This book is fictional, but much of it comes directly from my own life experience.

How much research did this book require from you? What was the most interesting aspect of this research?

I had to research how the cult began and I had to talk to some of the other 'cult orphans' I grew up with to make sure I portrayed the accurate experience.

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Tell us more about Josh. What makes him tick?

Josh is always feeling things. He's scared of how strong his emotions are and he's worried that he's overthinking things. He recognizes that his fears paralyze him and he wants to overcome that, but thinks he can do it alone. At his core, Josh wants to be able to trust and depend on someone because he has never had that. But he will do whatever it takes to build a relationship like that. As he starts to realize that his isolation might be both his own fault and the fault of his oldest brother, he has to learn to be honest with himself as well.

You also spent your childhood in a nomadic cult. How much of your own experiences have you written into this story?

This is my story. Josh is basically me, but he learns in four months the lessons I took over twenty years to learn. All the difficult, negative, and bad events that happen in this book are things I experienced. The cult's daily life is exactly how my childhood was. My mother was not the leader and she was not Miriam, but Miriam is absolutely based on the lady who loomed large in the life of all of us kids for ten years. Also, the portrayal of kids being essentially abandoned by their parents into the hands of other cult members and not knowing who their parents were sometimes is dead-on. The conversation that Josh and Malachi have is almost verbatim from several conversations I had.

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Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?

I love to cook. I've been cooking seriously since I was thirteen. I took over cooking in the boys' house in the cult when I was fifteen. When I was 20, I managed and was the main chef in a BBQ restaurant, even! Also, I garden, speak four languages, record audiobooks professionally, and have a podcast about growing up in the cult. Most importantly, I have been married for 22 years and have seven kids and we are going strong.

Please tell us more about the cover and how it came about.

The original cover was by an artist friend. I liked it a lot, but a couple years after I published the book, I started getting an image in my head of what a more ideal cover would be. I spent two years scouring online photo depositories and finally found this image. I bought it, did a bunch of careful photoshop work, and made the cover myself with lots of input and guidance from wonderful author friends. I adore this new cover so much. It's perfect.

You have traveled all over the world. How has this influenced your perspective on life?

The world is big and the imagination is bigger. The world is also beautifully diverse and adding diversity into stories makes them richer. And I love languages, so I love to try language things out in my stories.

Is there something that compels you to write? And do you find that writing helps you achieve a clarity about yourself or ideas you've been struggling with?

I write because I have always loved stories. They saved my sanity in the cult after I read every single science fiction and fantasy novel in the Oak Lawn branch of the Dallas Public Library. It helps that when I'm writing, I feel like myself more than doing any other paying activity- with the exception of teaching.

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What is the best writing advice you’ve received?

Finish the story. Then make it better. Then get to work on the next story and finish it.

Which of your characters has been the most challenging to write for?

Lakhoni, because his cultural heritage and ecosystem are so fundamentally different from mine and I needed to do that culture, mythos, and people the proper justice.

Do you ever have days when writing is a struggle?

Every day. I have a lot going on and I have to be pretty forgiving of myself and energy due to so many warring priorities. There's a time and season to everything and I will push on until my writing time waxes rather than wanes.

What are you working on right now?

I am working on a possible sequel to Beyond the Cabin, as well as the second book of a new trilogy and outlining the final trilogy in a multi-series chronicle. I'm also recording my next audiobook.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

My stuff is on Amazon and some is on Barnes and Noble. You can also ask a B&N to order a copy and they'll get it to you. If you want signed copies, email [email protected]. Also, I'm on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/JaredGarrettAuthor), Twitter (@jaredgarrett) and Instagram (@jared.n.garrett). I answer every message and email that isn't spam. Also, I'm a Utah Teaching Artist.

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