I want to preface this post with a disclaimer: I love, love, love my job. This is not me lamenting my work. It’s me lamenting my own brain. Despite the woe-is-me nature of this post, I know how lucky I am to do what I do. There’s no way I’d rather make a living than … Continue reading My Life is a Space Opera
Category: Personal
A Writer’s Dream
Last night I dreamed a wonderful dream. In it, my novel became a worldwide phenomenon. I was frantic and frazzled, thrilled to the point of tears, the New York Times spread out on the table with my name at the top of the bestseller list, my phone ringing off the hook like it all happened … Continue reading A Writer’s Dream
How We Accidentally Wrote a Book for Our Times | JJ Blacklocke
HOW WE ACCIDENTALLY WROTE A BOOK FOR OUR TIMES by JJ Blacklocke AN ADVENTURE In 2016, two best friends traveled to New York City for a pair of adventures: to see HAMILTON on Broadway and to sit down together and plot out a science fiction series. Four and a half years later, we can watch … Continue reading How We Accidentally Wrote a Book for Our Times | JJ Blacklocke
Where Have I Been
::whispers:: hello. In the biggest ghost move I've ever pulled, I disappeared from social media earlier this year. I feel like I have some splainin' to do. The beginning of 2020, even before the pandemic, was a turbulent time for me. I went through a lot of personal ups and downs that were all consuming … Continue reading Where Have I Been
Why the Wet Water?
Poems, eh? Poems. And when I say they poured out of me, I quite literally mean it. I’m almost embarrassed to say how quickly this collection came to fruition. Why, though? Why miss horror writer are you writing poems? Why not? I...I guess I needed to pour my soul onto the page. Maybe, deep down, … Continue reading Why the Wet Water?
All First-Person Protagonists are Writers
DO YOU ever think about that? There’s an exception, of course: novels presented as transcribed verbal storytelling, like Stephen King’s Dolores Claiborne. For the most part, though, all first-person protagonists are writers. That’s not to say the character necessarily identifies as a writer within the time frame of the story, but whatever they experienced in … Continue reading All First-Person Protagonists are Writers
Writing Community or Writing Crowded Street?
I DON’T mean to add to the bitterness and despair of the Writing Community, but I have a bone to pick with this place. I’m starting to think it’s no community at all but rather a crowded street where the best interactions feel like calling out across the crowd and the average interaction is getting … Continue reading Writing Community or Writing Crowded Street?
I’m Living the Dream Over Here
TODAY I'VE been thinking about the night I decided on a whim to start my Twitter account. I didn't know why I was doing it at first, but I quickly became connected to this community of authors, and suddenly I had access to one big ongoing conversation about books and writing. This was brand new … Continue reading I’m Living the Dream Over Here
The Physicalness of Things
I'm in bed this morning, cradling a heating pad and trying to ignore my body. I've had a lot of musculoskeletal pains over the years, along with some other surprises as I've aged. As I lie here, accepting that I'm being forced to take some time off, I found myself pondering this body and why … Continue reading The Physicalness of Things
Gratitude
I promise I will start a series of writing tip posts soon but, reflecting on this weekend, I wanted to talk about gratitude. This past Saturday, I was a part of the Take 190 Book and Art Festival in Killeen, Texas. It was such a wonderful experience. I arrived early and sipped on a latte … Continue reading Gratitude
