J. G. Sandom
Encyclopedia
J. G. Sandom, known in the advertising industry as the Father of Interactive (Internet) Advertising co-founded the nation's first digital advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...

, Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), in 1984, and is the author of nine works of fiction, including The God Machine, Gospel Truths, The Hunting Club, The Wave, The Unresolved and Resurrection Men.

Early life

Born in Chicago (19 December 1956), the youngest of three children, of a Danish immigrant mother (Else Hvingtoft) and father of Lithuanian ancestry (Zane Joseph Sandom), J.G. Sandom moved to Weybridge, England, at nine months. Zane Sandom worked for American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...

 and the family was transferred to France, where the author first began attending school at St. Martin's, in the town of Jouy-en-Josas
Jouy-en-Josas
Jouy-en-Josas is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the center.Jouy-en-Josas is home to the prestigious HEC School of Management.-Geography:...

, near Versailles. Less than two years later, Sandom moved to Rome, Italy, where he attended St. George's British International School
St. George's British International School
The St George’s British International School in Rome, Italy was founded in 1958 and is an independent and non-profit-making HMC school which is owned by an Association made up of parents of the school. The school has two junior-school locations, one in the Nomentana area in downtown Rome , and...

 during the next four years. While in Italy, Sandom performed on the legitimate stage at the Goldoni theatre as a mouse in the English pantomime Cinderella, and in a full-length motion picture produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Dino De Laurentiis
Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis was an Italian film producer.-Early life:He was born at Torre Annunziata in the province of Naples, and grew up selling spaghetti produced by his father...

 starring Walter Chiari
Walter Chiari
Walter Chiari, stage name of Walter Annichiarico , was a hugely successful Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles....

, called Il Giovedi.

Sandom then moved to San Rafael, California, where he attended the 3-Rs school, and where he first developed an interest in writing. After less than two years in San Rafael, the Sandom family was transferred back to Europe; they resided at the Wentworth Estate
Wentworth Estate
The Wentworth Estate is a 1920s development village of houses, shops and restaurants on an area of 700 hectares around the world famous Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England...

 in Surrey England, not far from Virginia Water. Sandom attended The Fernden School in Haslemere, Surrey, and Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...

, in Hampshire, over the next five years, through his O-Levels. During this period, the author’s family was transferred back to the United States, while he remained in boarding school in England.

Sandom returned to the United States at the age of 15. Following two years at New Canaan High School
New Canaan High School
New Canaan High School is a public high school in New Canaan, Connecticut.- History :Construction on the school was finalized in 1971. The school is located on grounds donated by the Lapham family, carving off approximiately 46 acres of Waveny Park....

 in Connecticut, Sandom entered Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

 in 1974, where he completed his first novel, The Seed of Icarus. Sandom took a semester off from college in order to work on a freighter (The African Dawn) which traveled to Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique, and then returned to graduate from Amherst with honors with a double major in English and philosophy. While in college, Sandom helped launch a literary magazine called Writing at Amherst, won both the Corbin prize and the Academy of American Poets
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...

prize, and studied under a variety of visiting writers, including Robert Stone, Julian Symons
Julian Symons
Julian Gustave Symons 1912 - 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature.-Life and work:...

 and the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...

.

Following graduation, Sandom spent several months traveling throughout the Sahara, primarily in southern Algeria, while researching his second novel, The Blue Men. Sandom then moved to New York City where, for the next five years, he worked as a freelance copy writer, public relations and advertising executive, and corporate spokesperson trainer for such companies as Hill & Knowlton
Hill & Knowlton
Hill & Knowlton is a global public relations company, headquartered in New York City, United States, with 79 offices in 44 countries. Hill & Knowlton was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1927 by John W. Hill and is today led by Chairman & CEO, Paul Taaffe...

 and Ketchum Inc.
Ketchum Inc.
Ketchum is a global public relations firm, offering marketing, branding and corporate communications services. Founded in 1923 by George Ketchum as a Pittsburgh-based advertising company which later evolved to include a public relations practice, the firm currently has 23 offices and 46 affiliates...


Digital Career

In 1984, Sandom co-founded Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), an interactive advertising agency. It grew to become the largest digital marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

 services firm when it was purchased by D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles
D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles
D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles was an advertising agency in the United States with worldwide subsidiaries.DMB&B was established in November 1985 by the merger of the Benton & Bowles and D'Arcy-MacManus Masius advertising agencies...

 in 1994. Sandom continued to manage EASI on behalf of DMB&B through 1996.

From January 1997 through October 1999, Sandom served as Director of Interactive at OgilvyOne Worldwide, a division of Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...

. During this time, the company grew from a loss of $2 Million to an estimated $100 Million in revenues in 30 months, and from 12 “permalancers” to 650 digital marketing specialists worldwide. In 1998, OgilvyInteractive was named “Best Interactive Ad Agency” of the year by Adweek
Adweek
Adweek is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1978....

, and won two premier Cyber Lions awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in advertising and related fields. The seven-day festival, incorporating the awarding of the Lions awards, is held yearly at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France...

 for Campaign Magazine On-line and the IBM Olympic Luge Game.

From November 1999 through October 2003, Sandom served as President and CEO, and then Vice Chairman of RappDigital Worldwide, the interactive arm of direct marketing/direct response agency Rapp Collins, now a business unit of DDB Worldwide
DDB Worldwide
DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc., known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group Inc, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies...

, an Omnicom Company. Within a year of inception, RappDigital became one of the nation’s "Top Twenty" interactive ad agencies, according to Adweek
Adweek
Adweek is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1978....

 magazine.

Author

In 1992, Sandom wrote Gospel Truths. Since then, he has written six other novels, including The Wall Street Murder Club (formerly called The Hunting Club), The Wave, and The God Machine.

Booklist
Booklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...

called Gospel Truths, "a splendid, tautly woven thriller...(and) an intelligent mystery of tremendous spiritual and literary depth." Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...

said, "A masterful first novel, based on a true incident, which spins a complicated web of corruption, greed and deception." And Mostly Murder characterized it, "A fascinating mystery...captivating and engrossing."

Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...

described The Wall Street Murder Club as "A Big Apple Deliverance, endowing New York culture with all the corrosively dehumanizing power of Dickey's wild nature...Slickly entertaining right down to the last, inevitable twist. (Film rights to Warner Brothers -- and there's no mystery why.)" And Booklist said, "(Sandom) writes with stunning elegance and nearly poetic beauty...A sure hit with any suspense reader."

The Wall Street Murder Club was optioned for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 by Lee Rich for theatrical development; screenplay by Ronald Bass
Ronald Bass
Ronald Jay Bass , sometimes credited as Ron Bass, is an American screenwriter. Also a film producer, Bass's work is characterized as being highly in demand, and he is thought to be among the most highly paid writers in Hollywood. He is often called the "King of the Pitches"...

, with Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old...

 scheduled to direct.

While known mostly as a writer of thrillers and mysteries, Sandom is also the author of several Young Adult (YA) novels (originally released under the pen name T.K. Welsh) including the award-winning The Unresolved (August 2006) and Resurrection Men (Spring 2007), published by Dutton/Penguin. Both novels were republished in paperback in October 2010 by Fangless Fables Press: Kiss Me, I'm Dead (originally titled The Unresolved) and Confessions of a Teenage Body Snatcher (originally titled Resurrection Men).

Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...

called Confessions of a Teenage Body Snatcher, "A haunting tour of London's underclass during the 1830s...(Sandom's) visceral descriptions of industrial London are unflinching...Teens will likely be both captivated by Victor's harrowing story as well as his ability to prevail in the face of harsh injustices." VOYA said, "(Sandom's) plot and writing style are reminiscent of Oliver Twist by Dickens but far more graphic. Teen readers will thoroughly enjoy the hair-raising suspense in this historical thriller." And KLIATT said, "Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and lingers in the memory."

Ranked one of the Top Ten Children's Books of 2006 by the Washington Post, Kiss Me, I'm Dead was nominated for a Young Adult Library Services Association
Young Adult Library Services Association
The Young Adult Library Services Association , established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. The mission of YALSA is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to...

 -- YALSA 2007 Teens' Top Ten, the only book award recommended and awarded solely by teens. The novel was named a 2007 Association of Jewish Libraries
Association of Jewish Libraries
The Association of Jewish Libraries is an international organization dedicated to the production, collection, organization and dissemination of Judaic resources and library/media/information service...

 Notable Book for Teens by the Sydney Taylor Book Award
Sydney Taylor Book Award
The Sydney Taylor Book Award recognizes the best in Jewish children's literature. Medals are awarded annually for outstanding books that authentically portray the Jewish experience. The award was established in 1968 by the Association of Jewish Libraries. It is named in memory of Sydney Taylor,...

 Committee, which recognized only six works in Jewish teen literature in 2007. The novel was also nominated for the 2006 Cybils literary awards, and for the 2007 Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) by the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

.

The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

said, "(Sandom) writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction," and called Kiss Me, I'm Dead a "rare gem." School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...

said, "Kiss Me, I'm Dead tells a remarkable story in a remarkable way." Horn Book Magazine
Horn Book Magazine
The Horn Book Magazine, founded in Boston in 1924, is a bimonthly periodical about literature for children and young adults. It began life as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietresses of the country's first bookstore for children, The...

called Kiss Me, I'm Dead, "A decidedly unconventional ghost story ... (and) a tightly wound novel." Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...

termed it, "A remarkable account." Romantic Times said, Kiss Me, I'm Dead is a book you shouldn't pass up." Midwest Book Review called Kiss Me, I'm Dead, "a wonderfully different kind of ghost story." And bookslut.com said, "Kiss Me, I'm Dead scores on several levels, most notably as a drama that blows apart all preconceived notions of how history can be retold."

The God Machine was released in May, 2009. Caroline Thompson (author of Edward Scissorhands) said, "Move over, Dan Brown...All hail J.G. Sandom...(The God Machine) is a thrilling and breathless, rapturously-written and mind-blowing read. It’ll keep you up all night, turning pages as fast as your little fingers can manage." Bookpage.com said "Sandom has a knack for combining legendary gospels, ancient secrets, star-crossed lovers and Masonic puzzles to create a simmering stew of conspiracy, intrigue and danger that keeps the plot pot boiling until the very end." And the Historical Novels Review said, "History galore, violence, and intrigue fill the pages of this tightly plotted, twisting and turning adventure story, reminding one of a multilayered Russian matryoshka doll. The reader will also learn a great deal about da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and many more historical geniuses...Those who love numbers, physics, and a truly unpredictable, suspenseful mystery will relish the facts and ponderings replete in this well-written, mysterious spin-off of The Da Vinci Code. The God Machine is a very impressive historical thriller!"

The Wave - A John Decker Thriller was republished as a trade paperback by Cornucopia Press in May 2010. Kirkus said, "Sandom's strength lies in the verve of his story, with writing that has both muscle...(and) brains...Races from improbable to crazywild, all in good fun, with Sandom always one step ahead...A story with enough manic energy to be worthy of a nuclear explosion."

J.G. Sandom continues to consult in the world of interactive advertising and digital marketing communications, and is currently working on a sequel to The Wave called The Plague.

Books

  • The Seed Of Icarus; 1975
  • The Blue Men; 1981
  • Gospel Truths; 1992
  • The Wall Street Murder Club; 1993 (originally titled The Hunting Club)
  • The Wave; 2002, 2010
  • Kiss Me, I'm Dead; 2006, 2010 (originally titled The Unresolved and released under pen name T.K. Welsh)
  • Confessions of a Teenage Body Snatcher; 2007, 2010 (originally titled Resurrection Men and released under pen name T.K. Welsh)
  • The God Machine, 2009
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