The Writers’ Block Podcast

There is a power in representation. I am happy to be a Black writer...not just a writer who happens to be Black. Remember to follow your other favorite Black writer on:Substack: @thatjenngottapen TikTok: @whatjayesaid2.0Threads: @authorjbharrisPatreon: THE DESK OF JBHARRISBlogs (all on WordPress-free to subscribe!):The Ideal Firestarter(http://theidealfirestarter.wordpress.com) Come Get Your Writelife (http://shekinahgloryllc1038.wordpress.com)I Breathe Fire (http://jenniferharrisbreathesfires.wordpress.com)

It's so good to be back! This episode starts SEASON NINE! I apologize for my absence as life and technology made things complicated. Yet, with all the upheaval in the world...I needed to remind myself that I'm not helpless. I'm a writer. A Black writer at that!Excuse the dust as I get everything settled for this season!All love notes can be sent to circlethewritersblock@gmail.com.January 2025 BLT (Black Like That) -https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/69697269/black-like-that-january-2025January 2025 YLTMT (Your Life The Mixtape)-https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/69679798/your-life-the-mixtape-mag-o-issue-20-january-2025February 2025 YLTMT (Your Life The Mixtape) -https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/69999433/your-life-the-mixtape-mag-o-issue-21-february-2025

With the cycle BOOK 7 of the Traditional Women Storytelling Project happening in September 2024, this prologue will be in the completed essay A WOMAN LIKE MY MOTHER (October 2024). Ruthless Flexing here: RUN THE NUMBERS- since 2021 1586 stories/videos 26 episodes 18 playlists 6 anthologies 3 social media platforms (TT, IG, FB) 1 short story collection 1 Christmas edition 1 podcast 1 reflection essay I couldn't have done this without yall. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

What a way to end SEASON 8 of this platform than with a professor at Texas Southern University. Professor Jennifer Julian is a scholar, writer, and a visible Black woman. For our time together, we talk about why it is the work of representation is on-going and why we can't get tired now. Works mentioned: ALL BLACK GIRLS ARE ACTIVISTS (Ebony Janice Moore) and POETRY IS NOT A LUXURY (Audre Lorde). Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Levar Burton will ALWAYS be part of THE CULTURE! Netflix has decided to have me in all my feelings and do a READING RAINBOW documentary…and I barely, BARELY, made it. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

At the time of this show, there are 1,586 stories to TRADITIONAL WOMEN STORYTELLING PROJECT. While this platform is not dedicated to this project (I NEED THE VELMAS PODCAST is), I believe more than a little celebration is warranted. The link to BOOK 6 is here: Paperback: https://a.co/d/09R1er02 and Ebook: https://a.co/d/0eS4m02j. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Z --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

bell hooks said, “People are hungry for descent.” Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why the writer, the artist, will never go away! We are needed… And necessary. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Sometimes, you have to do the hard work to get to the good part. There is no skipping. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Writers are responsible for re-creating humanity in a world by which may not see our own. In the world of diversity equity inclusion that we are in, and fight to remain in… It is easy to be swept up in the argument of diversity versus representation. Note: If this title looks familiar, it is the title of a book of poetry by Audre Lorde. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

In May 2019, I started this podcast with my adopted brother, the Anchor app, a pink notebook, and 45 minutes before work at a rehabilitation hospital. This is STILL cause for celebration. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

If I wasn't a writer, what would I be? Writing is what I do. I can't imagine doing anything else. Can you? Link to LEARNING TO BREATHE FIRE: Learning To Breathe Fire: The Collected Works During 30 Days Of Jaye 2019-2023 https://a.co/d/12Noxh5. AMERICAN MASTERS - ROD SERLING: https://youtu.be/T4ALNnImsmU?si=EFJOME6RmZTYvChT --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

TW: death and dying. Writers are mortal. But sometimes we can take the rest with us. How does one come to grips (or at peace!) with that? To review see Episode 90: THE WRITER'S WILL. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

“Men brag, and women hide.” Shonda Rhimes said this at an ELLE event. And when she said it, I couldn't shake that she was right— and I refuse to hide ANYMORE. Give up my pen (or light) for what? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Writers are strange creatures…and I am proud to be one. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Sometimes the hardest thing you can do is an artist is believing yourself… The second hardest thing is showing up for yourself. This show will have a SEND FOR A POET segment with my work “A POEM WITH NO TRANSLATION.” --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Creativity is a demanding mistress— and in constant need of attention and tending to. We have merch now! Get some! https://Seewhatjayesaid.threadless.com/designs/the-writers-block-podcast-merch --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Being inside, a writer head is a loud and complicated place! Sometimes the language doesn't always make sense, and sometimes we repeat that. And yet, it is needed and necessary. We have merch now! Get some! https://Seewhatjayesaid.threadless.com/designs/the-writers-block-podcast-merch --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Sometimes being a female fan of something that has protagonist, and heroes that are male is beyond complicated. We have merch now! Get some! https://Seewhatjayesaid.threadless.com/designs/the-writers-block-podcast-merch --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Welcome to Season 8! With all things being immediate, sometimes we as artists have to let things…simmer! A Cache is different from the Draft Drawer we spoke about way back in Season 1. But it's just as needed, trust me! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

You're doing better than you think you are. Onward to 2024! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

It took us 5 years to get to this point, and we are going to celebrate LOUDLY! Come and celebrate with us! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Writers are witnesses, agitators, and truth-tellers! The work we do is needed and necessary! Write like your life depends on it! Works mentioned: The Source of Self-Regard (T. Morrison), Bad Feminist (R. Gay) and WRITING IN A TIME OF SOCIAL CHANGE (MasterClass taught by R. Gay). SEND FOR A POET segment is by Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre. The work is called “VOTING AS A FIRE EXTINGUISHER.” Follow him on IG: @guantesolo. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

“Black people need witnesses in a world that thinks everything is White.” -James Baldwin --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

The work of the writer can be thankless…but we do it anyway. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

There is a White woman on TikTok who believes the LORD told her to “sanctify” Iniko's song Jericho—to make it sound more Christian and less “demonic.” Where have I/We/Us heard that before? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

The most glorious moment in fiction writing is when the characters take over. The scariest thing is fiction writing is when the characters take over! For this episode, we'll examine how great this is…and how scary that just might be. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Whew! And just like that then month of September is hours from being over. Let's take time to reflect on September, which is BACK TO WRITING MONTH, and the proceeding 9. Onward to 2024! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

At the time of this recording, recording artists/rapper/emcee/aka ESCO, NAS has released his 6th album in 3 years. For this episode, we are going to explore just how powerful (and needed) creative energy is. Note: listen to the end of this episode for a special announcement for February 2024 (Accounts to follow: IG: @authorjbharris, TT: @whatjayesaid2.0, Podcast: WHATJAYESAID: THE PODCAST). Note: The HAPPY BIRTHDAY HIP-HOP Series Is on I BREATHE FIRE (http://jenniferharrisbreathesfire.wordpress.com). --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

VENGEANCE IS THE BODY is available on Amazon/Kindle. This reading was done on Saturday, September 23, 2023. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

There will never be a time where the artist is not needed! And for the cards, for this noble guild, we do what we must. Artist are truth, tellers, soothsayers, and a type of magician. It is through our work, and weaving, for the force of our own imaginations, that we prove to the world that we are more alike than we are different. For what can experience, Grant, they may be uncommon to another man? Whether that be the exposure of hatred, the need of love, the need of peace and safety… Artists will always be needed. Works referenced: THE YEAR OF YES by Shonda Rhimes. THE STRUGGLE OF THE ARTIST (1969) by James Baldwin. Link: https://youtu.be/rGwPv7rm3l4?si=jR9hhFYbv5NAVG52 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

The Black writers who shaped my life, who I quote and study—are either aging or dead. When Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. (Nikki Giovanni) turned 80 this past June, this was driven home to me. My Foremothers…are leaving. Leaving! Where do we go from here? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Sometimes you have to encourage yourself and other people. In listening to BlackFluidPoet (podcast is the same name—listen to the episode titled “THE FOREST”), I want to answer the question of “Who is even listening?” The answer is this: the people who need to hear. Artists are a different type of healer…and we are more needed just like medicine… --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

For this episode, we are going to focus on what is currently happening in the Houston. Independent school district. Libraries are being closed for lack of a better word in order to make room for detention centers within schools that are being created under the guise of helping children to learn to learn how to read. We've been here before… Haven't we? Read here: https://t.co/PhO0TkEpBi Extras: follow THE RECLAIMED PODCAST, and support BOOKS N BROS (http://www.booksnbros.com)! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Tweeting. Facebooking. Instagramming, Duets. Stitching. Going Live. All these verbs are now part of our writing reality. Yet as technology changes, and these things are changed, improved, or even lost… How do we as writers manage that? Follow me on TT: @whatjayesaid2.0/shesgottapen2.0; IG: @authorjbharris SPILL: WHATJAYESAID Twitter: @authorjbharris/@theladyofharris FB: Jennifer Bush-Harris --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

There are certain things that feel like wins and like losses as a writer—which is individual to the writer who experiences them. And yet…we keep going… in spite of. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

If you ask a writer, what successes… They may not have a easy answer for you. Success is as individual as the writer whom you ask. In this two-part show explore what that means, what success really is, and what success actually means to me. Also! Listen all the way to the end of the show to hear about YOUR LIFE THE MIXTAPE MAGAZINE! I also am a feature writer for it—AND ITS FREE! Check out my column WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS! Subscribe today! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

There is something to be said for checking the work you abandoned, and what you got distracted from getting back to. For this episode, let it me a reminder to go back and look again—you might be surprised at what you find! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

At the time of this recording, the Writers Guild of America is still on strike. So often, this profession, this art, is not honored. And it's time that we start doing that. Without a writer nothing moves. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

With all that's going on in the world AI, it's just the newest innovation of what writers have faced for centuries. With every new invention that seeks to replace human creativity, it must be kept in proper perspective. For this particular show, I give my opinion on just how, I think AI can be useful, and what makes it detrimental. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

As of this show, we are nine days from our fourth year anniversary of podcasting. It is amazing just how far this platform has come, and how much further it Hass to go. There is an exuberance on the show, and energy on this show, that only a black woman can bring. Come and share this joy… A Black woman did this. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

The adage is that history is written by the winners. Yet, I pose you this question: is history really with written by the winner or is it written by the people who survived? And are still surviving? Being a primary resource, you have to understand that it is your responsibility to record what is happening around you… AND TO YOU in times of social upheaval and change! Toni Morrison said that artists/writers do their best work In times of social upheaval and change. in the spirit of that legacy, let this show be a reminder to you that your life indeed is a treasure. We are now the future ancestors. Let us act accordingly. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Every Writer needs a résumé! A document that can be given out. We need a necessary that tracks and celebrates all of your accomplishments. The thing that is so amazing about your write a résumé is it is built by you. I can also be neglected by you. Make time to update it every so often, and celebrate over it… Every so often. Note: AND KEEP IT UPDATED! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

One of the things most crucial in your writing journey is the management and control of your intellectual property. While there are many reputable places for you to submit your work (and you should!) there are also places that will take your work. It is essential for you as your own advocate, the proprietor of your intellectual property to read your releases. There should never be a time when you have your own authentic work in the world With no knowledge of what will be done with it, and no control over it. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

I know it seems that all is lost, and success may never come, but trust me—it is on the way. Keep going. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

As this project ends, I thought I would be fitting to end it with a sample of the work you will find in the title listed. It has been my hope, that you have gotten some encouragement, entertainment, and maybe remember just how complex love is… And how deep you can go. this book is available on Amazon and Kindle now. make sure that you rate, recommend, and review this podcast whatever you find it. Thank you. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

On his TikTok account, we have the campaign #FindMikeAWife. After hearing this piece, hopefully she will come to him soon! Make sure to follow MikeTheVoice on all his platforms and watch for his book! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

As we begin to wait if this project (this might return next year, so keep following this particular space!) We have Mike The Voice once more still with his soulful work. Make sure you're following Mike The Voice on all platforms to make sure you are aware when this book drops! Remember to rate, recommend, and review this podcast wherever you find it. Thank you! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

these two pieces are from the crate from the summer of 2022. There is a collection for them, don't worry! I am actually making room on the publishing calendar to include them in the work. I've been sitting on for a couple of years now. If poetry is our highest expression of language, then history, and it's recording is the key to immortality. please remember to rate, recommend, and review this plat form wherever you may find it. Thank you. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Today we get a sneak peek from a future work by Tiffany Richardson. She doesn't give a due date for this new work, but make sure that you were following her on social media so when that information is revealed, you're first to know. The name of the future work is gonna be called: WATERING MY PLANTS. Make sure that you write review and follow this platform. Where were you find it. Thank you. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support

Toni Morrison said it best that language is the measure of our lives. Yet with that measuring, we come across the ownership of language. Language is dexterous and fluid. Yes – but yet it matters of communication, especially among minority people, at what lengths do we go to preserve and protect language? Mini-series to come on COME GET YOUR WRITE LIFE on March 4. Also follow Dr. Raquel Martin (@raquelmartinphd on TT/IG). This miniseries will be on I BREATHE FIRE (http://jenniferharrisbreathesfire.wordpress.com) and JBHarris Writing Services (http://comegetyourwritelife.wordpress.com) starting March 4, 2023. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onthewritersblock/support