J. G. Sandom

J.G. Sandom
Web Pioneer and Author

J. G. Sandom, often referred to as the "Father of Interactive (Internet) Advertising," co-founded the world’s first interactive advertising agency, Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), in 1984, and is the author of nine works of fiction, including GOSPEL TRUTHS, THE WAVE, THE UNRESOLVED and RESURRECTION MEN.

Biography

Born in Chicago, the youngest of three children, of a Danish immigrant mother and father of Lithuanian ancestry, J.G. Sandom moved to Weybridge, England (for the first time), at the age of only nine months. Due to the family’s business, the family was then transferred to France, and the author first began attending school in the town of Jouy-en-Josas, not far from Versailles, the location of the famous chateau built by Louis XIV (The Sun King). Less than two years later, Sandom moved to Rome, Italy, where he attended St. George’s English School during the next four years. While in Italy, T.K. also developed a love for acting. At the age of nine, the author performed on the legitimate stage at the Goldoni theatre as a mouse in Cinderella, and in a full-length motion picture produced by Dino De Laurentiis, starring Walter Chiari, 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, T.K.’s family was transferred back to Europe; they resided at the Wentworth Estates in Surrey England, not far from Virginia Water – where a key scene from his novel, RESURRECTION MEN, is set. The author attended The Fernden School in Haslemere, Surrey, and Winchester College, 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 in Connecticut, Sandom entered Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he completed his first novel, THE SEED OF ICARUS. The author took a semester off from college in order to work on a freighter 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 the Academy of American Poets Prize, and studied under a variety of visiting writers, including Robert Stone, Julian Symons and the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney.

Following graduation, he spent several months traveling throughout the Sahara, primarily in southern Algeria, while researcing 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.

In 1984, Sandom co-founded Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), the nation's first interactive advertising agency. It grew to become the largest digital marketing services firm when it was purchased by DMB&B (MacManus Group) 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, where he grew the company from a loss of $2MM to an estimated $100MM 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, and won two premier Cyber Lions awards at the Cannes Advertising Festival 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 giant Rapp Collins Worldwide, an Omnicom Company. Within a year of inception, RappDigital became one of the nation’s "Top Twenty" interactive ad agencies, according to Adweek magazine..

In 1992, Sandom wrote GOSPEL TRUTHS, published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell. Since then, he wrote seven other novels, GOSPEL TRUTHS[1], (Doubleday/Bantam/Dell), THE HUNTING CLUB[2] (Doubleday/Bantam/Dell), THE WAVE[3] and THE GOD MACHINE[4] (Doubleday/Bantam/Dell).

Booklist called GOSPEL TRUTHS, "a splendid, tautly woven thriller...(and) an intelligent mystery of tremendous spiritual and literary depth." Library Journal 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 as, "A fascinating mystery...captivating and engrossing."

Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent and Ordinary Heroes, called THE HUNTING CLUB, "A gripping story, well-told...not only a tale of murder and betrayal, but an intelligent exploration of issues of male identity." Kirkus Reviews termed the book, "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 HUNTING CLUB was optioned for Warner Bros. by Lee Rich for theatrical development; screenplay by Ronald Bass, with Joel Schumacher scheduled to direct.

While known mostly as a writer of thrillers and mysteries, Sandom is also the author of several Young Adult (YA) novels, written under the pen name T.K. Welsh[5], including THE UNRESOLVED (August 2006) and RESURRECTION MEN (Spring 2007), both from Dutton/Penguin.

Publishers Weekly[6] called RESURRECTION MEN, "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[7] 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[8], THE UNRESOLVED was nominated for a Young Adult Library Services Association -- YALSA 2007 Teens' Top Ten[9], the only book award recommended and awarded solely by teens. The novel was named a 2007 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Teens by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee[10], which recognized only six works in Jewish teen literature in 2007. The novel was also nominated for the 2006 Cybils[11] literary awards, and for the 2007 Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA)[12] by the American Library Association.

The Washington Post said, "(Sandom) writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction." School Library Journal said, "THE UNRESOLVED tells a remarkable story in a remarkable way." Horn Book Magazine called THE UNRESOLVED, "A decidedly unconventional ghost story ... (and) a tightly wound novel." Kirkus Reviews termed it, "A remarkable account." Romantic Times said, "THE UNRESOLVED is a book you shouldn't pass up." The Edge of the Forest said, "It may be the most beautifully written novel I've read this year." All About the Book said, "The Unresolved is a great one. Mallory is the most well-developed ghostly character I've seen in a long, long time..." Midwest Book Review called THE UNRESOLVED, "a wonderfully different kind of ghost story." And bookslut.com said, "THE UNRESOLVED scores on several levels, most notably as a drama that blows apart all preconceived notions of how history can be retold."

Sandom continues to consult in the world of interactive advertising and digital marketing communications, and is currently working on a new novel for Bantam, THE GOD MACHINE, scheduled for release in 2008.

Books

• THE SEED OF ICARUS, 1975
• THE BLUE MEN, 1981
• GOSPEL TRUTHS, 1992
• THE HUNTING CLUB, 1993
• THE PUBLICIST, 1998
• THE WAVE, 2002
• THE UNRESOLVED, 2006 (under pen name T.K. Welsh)
• RESURRECTION MEN, 2007 (under pen name T.K. Welsh)
• GOSPEL TRUTHS, 2007 (rereleased)
• THE GOD MACHINE, 2008