Member Spotlight: David Jackson Ambrose

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing puts my voice out into the hum of the universe.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Keep writing through what feels like dreck until I hit something meaningful that then turns to the sweet spot.

What is your favorite time to write? First thing in the morning. And also at the height of insomnia, when sleep evades, that is usually a character or my soul telling me to get up and do some work.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Shut up and write. Turn off the tv and write. Put down that Entenmanns poundcake and write. Close that riveting new book and write. Get out of that department store and write. Put down that phone….well, you get the message….

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? This is a dream I never thought of as a reality for me. Many working class African American families do not encourage the use of creativity as a logical means of making a living. Growing up, if you did not have a job, which can only be a nine to five type of existence, then you were not seen as seriously ‘adulting.’ So all my life that has been what I’ve done, also, when you need to pay the rent, calling yourself an ‘author’ is a lofty, but impractical thing. Now that I have made a way to make the dream a reality, it often seems like extravagance, calling something I love doing a job. It’s weird!

David Jackson Ambrose’s A Blind Eye is out April 5 with NineStar Press.