ABOUT

J.R. Blackwell

J.R. Blackwell is a writer and photographer living in Philadelphia.

J.R. Blackwell

Her work centers around creating compelling stories though photography and fiction. As a photographer for Philadelphia Weekly, J.R. regularly attends events around the Philadelphia area. In 2013, she documented 24 hours in the city, staying awake for that time and capturing photos from around the city, including dawn over the Ben Franklin Bridge, the aftermath of a concert on South Street and a burning parking kiosk. She has photographed authors, dancers, politicians, drag queens and monsters. J.R. has produced the covers to the novels Playing for Keeps, The Case of the Singing Sword, The Case of the Pitchers Pendant. Her photography ranges from the journalistic to the fantastical, but all of her images aim to tell stories to the viewer.

At the age of 24, J.R. founded 365 Tomorrows, a group flash fiction website dedicated to producing a new piece of science fiction daily. It continues that mandate to this day. J.R. wrote the zombie survival game called Shelter In Place, which won a Judge’s Choice ENnie award in 2012. Her essay “Evidence of a Baker” was published in the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in March 2006. Her stories have been published by Escape Pod Magazine, Aoife’s Kiss, Kaleidotrope, Bewildering Stories, Static Movement Magazine, EMG Magazine, HeavyGlow Magazine and in the first Podiobook anthology “Voices: New Media Fiction”. Her board game, Velociraptor! Cannibalism!, raised over $43,000 on Kickstarter and is published by Game Salute.

J.R. holds a Masters of Liberal Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, artist Jared Axelrod.

CONTACT J.R. BLACKWELL

For all inquiries, contact J.R. Blackwell at jrblackwell (at) gmail (dot) com.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME

Twitter: I link back to the blog when I post new stuff, but you also get to hear what comes out of my skull at 1AM: jrblackwell
I blog regularly here at http://www.jrblackwell.com and if you follow my blog, you can expect to see lots of photographs, fiction, games, Dr. Mercury and my adventures living in this glorious world.
Tumblr: Random photos, tiny bits of fiction and reblogging galore: http://jrblackwell.tumblr.com/
Flickr: Lots and lots of photos! http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrblackwell/

HIRE ME

I am available for hire for various projects at reasonable rates. My photography rates can be found here: RATES If you have a special project you’d like me to work on, please feel free to contact me to discuss details and rates.

ARTISTS ON J.R. BLACKWELL

“JR Blackwell is mentioned often when it comes to naming influences. She is brought up quite a bit when we talk of inspirations. I still think it strange that she gets surprised when people recognize her talent. When people want to use her for that talent; whether it be her writing, or her photography, which are both incredible. But it’s that very thing fact about her – how humble she is – that makes me love her all the time. How can a woman like her not realize how absolutely wonderful she is?” -Katie West, Photographer

“If you want to know anything about J.R. Blackwell then I want you to know that she’s nothing if not imaginative. Her photos are experiments with her eyes and ours. We get to see the things we don’t bother to put together when she gets to work. She’s emotion in the most inventive way you can be in everyday life. She’s every afternoon of our lives if we just bothered to take everything in.” -Jack Scoresby, Photographer

” 365Tomorrows was an ideal reaction to sf publishing in new media, the concept of flash fiction and the way the medium works. 100-word bursts of speculative fiction, daily. JR Blackwell’s gotten herself a career out of it. And note how 365 K kept producing and fulfilled its mandate even as sf sites and sf print magazines died on either side of it.” -Warren Ellis, Author

INTERVIEWS

The Way of the Buffalo Podcast: Episode 26: Interview with J.R. Blackwell

Final Girl Support Group: Shelter in Place: An Interview with J.R. Blackwell

The Secret Lair: J.R. Blackwell’s Shelter in Place

The Voice of the Revolution: July, 2011

This Just In From GenCon: July, 2011

Girls Rules: June, 2011

PJ Schnyder: January, 2011

The Voice of the Revolution: April, 2010

UltraCreatives: June 2008

Balticon Podcast, February 2007