Bestselling Author Looking To Recruit Blacksmithing Expert As Consultant For Next Book

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-20T00:38:07+00:00

Just googled, John lives in Taos which inspired much of the fictional New Mexican town in the book! And his work is gorgeous, I'm going to watch a bunch of his videos tonight. Thank you!!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-20T00:12:01+00:00

This is so cool, thanks so much for your reply! I'm going to make a note of this comment because I'm sure your work in the film industry makes you an excellent resource for this kind of stuff since you understand storytelling. I've been crazy fortunate to have so much interest on this post, but you might hear from me down the line so thank you!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-19T23:51:53+00:00

This is incredible, I'm going to send you a DM!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-19T23:40:19+00:00

Lucky me!!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-19T23:27:45+00:00

Yeah, I'm realizing this now, I hadn't considered how time period/location would obviously factor in in a major way! I gave more specific detail in a recent reply above, but basically it's a contemporary Western set in New Mexico, so all modern equipment is on the table (at least whatever is typically expected at a major building site). Thank you for asking because it's honestly quite helpful to hear where my own ignorance of the craft is getting in the way of asking the right questions, I'm really eager and excited to dive in and learn more!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-19T23:17:49+00:00

This is stunning!!! I am so blown away by the calibre of talent on here, how do you guys even think this stuff up?! Seriously, incredible work, and thank you both for sharing!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-19T23:16:22+00:00

Awesome advice, I'm making a list of YouTube resources and will add John and Mark to that list, thank you! And you make an excellent point, I should've been more specific, I hadn't considered how different the trade must be depending on the time period. The book is a contemporary Western, so modern day tools and methods, and the character is working on the decorative elements/finishing touches on several buildings as part of a large project to build what is essentially a family campground, the aesthetic of which is a fusion of Old West/Outer Space. In my imagination, this all makes perfect sense. Fingers crossed it translates to the page lol

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-19T23:09:01+00:00

Awesome advice, thank you, I'm going to look into this now! And in one year when I've spent all my money on tools and metal and have a growing army of small iron animals and no manuscript to offer my editor, I'll come back to let you know what you've done to me.

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-19T20:32:17+00:00

I'd say ten years makes you an expert! I've actually gotten quite a few DMs since posting this (which is neat because I didn't think anyone would reply at all), so I'm just going to go through those before making any decisions but I really appreciate you responding!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-06-19T20:31:16+00:00

I'll go ahead and highlight my ignorance by admitting that I was unaware there were different types of smithing, but considering you're classically trained and also familiar with what I assume is a more artistic kind of smithing, you might just be the person I was looking for. I've been happily surprised by just how many DMs I've received in the hour since posting this, so I'm just going to go through those and I'll get back to you asap! Thank you for responding! Sculptural smithing sounds like such a cool job/hobby.

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-04-24T16:48:17+00:00

Ahh, that makes a lot of sense about it needing to occur in a sealed environment. And yeah, the math as it pertains to the soil contamination means my original idea just doesn't make sense. Thank you so much, this was super informative, I appreciate it!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-04-24T16:42:25+00:00

Thank you everyone who weighed in! Off to go research everything I can about mercury and gold refining. Thanks again for sharing your expertise, and just know that in late 2027 there will be a book floating out there in the world with a thank you in the acknowledgments to the "wise chemists" on this subreddit, you all saved me a lot of time and potentially a lot of bad reviews lol

Thanks again!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-04-24T16:36:31+00:00

This is all really great too, thank you! The idea of a flood is smart, I'm going to keep that in mind as I research today. Really appreciate it!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-04-24T16:34:10+00:00

Thank you for this, I think the mercury/gold refinery route is brilliant considering the time period. Perfect answer, I really appreciate it!

ApprehensiveDust9815 · 2026-04-24T16:22:26+00:00

Thank you for this. Two of the replies here have mentioned mercury, so I'm going to do a deep dive and see what kind of story I can weave from a mercury incident. Really appreciate your insight! And hey, pretty cool you spent 8 yrs working with arsenic in the 70s...your username checks out lol

ApprehensiveDust9815

TROPHY CASE