Today I’m so excited to share my interview with an author I’ve known for over 20 years!
J. Blake Myersmann is the author of Stolen Ghost, his debut novel that came out on September 3, 2026. It’s the first book in the completed Shades of Humanity trilogy.
Enjoy my interview with Blake!
East Bay Bookshelf: I feel like I know part of your story, but tell EBB readers about yourself!
J. Blake Myersmann: I spent my childhood in Boise, Idaho, grew up in and around Houston, Texas, and became an adult in Stillwater, Oklahoma. I’ve been a geek for as long as I can remember, and that love of all things science-fiction and fantasy doesn’t show any sign of stopping! My wife and I both work for Oklahoma State University, though in very different departments. We live in a house full of books and board games with our two cats, Rhys and Eleri.
EBB: Tell us about your cats’ names. What’s the origin story?
JBM: I’m allergic to cats so when we went looking we had to adopt a purebred Siberian. He was already named Rhys Emrys Pendraig, and as a two-year-old cat we decided not to change it. A few years later we adopted “Turtle” as a kitten from a different breeder, but she was young enough that we wanted to keep the Welsh trend going and settled on Eleri!
EBB: What books got you into reading?
JBM: I remember flipping through James Gurney’s Dinotopia before I even knew how to read, but my earliest memory of reading on my own was probably Mary Pope Osborne’s episodic and informative Magic Tree House series. I loved the consistent structure and cadence of the language at key points, and often the problems are solved by the characters being clever and knowledgeable. Later, K.A. Applegate’s Animorphs series further opened my eyes with its more serialized story, multi-POVs, and codified “magic” system.
EBB: What’s the one book you recommend to everyone?
JBM: Robert Isaacs’ It’s Hard to Be an Animal. I fully gush about it in my review, but it’s a little romance about an anxious guy that suddenly and inexplicably can hear animals speak. It has foul-mouthed birds, Shakespearian Betta Fish, and a philosophical Pomeranian, but the magical premise frames a compelling mystery and a slice of life that’s simultaneously cozy and thought-provoking.
Honorable mention goes to Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches. “Suffragists but witches” (as she pitched it), this story is beautifully written and important.
EBB: Tell us about your reading habits.
JBM: I’m best described as an opportunistic reader. I always have an eBook on my phone to read when I have a few spare minutes (thank you, Libby!), and I’ll often end the day with a few chapters of a physical book before bed. Audiobooks are set aside for chores or road trips. While I’ve broadened my horizons in the last five years, whatever I’m reading has to have some fantastical element. Without it, the fiction just feels too voyeuristic to me.
EBB: When did you know you were a writer?
JBM: I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Never with any consistency (until recently), but I’ve always had a mind for stories. They stick in my brain like little else is able to, and that compost heap of ideas is often churning out new ones randomly. I still have a copy of a (one paragraph) story about velociraptor brothers that my mom typed up via dictation when I was in first grade!
EBB: I love this so much, that story definitely needs to go in your author archives. Describe your journey to where you are at in your writing life today.
JBM: It wasn’t until the beginning of the pandemic that I sought to write a complete work. Before that, I hadn’t done anything more than a simple outline or single scene, or perhaps a character backstory or two. But at my wife’s insistence, I tried to complete a one-month writing challenge.
I started work on a standalone story (what would eventually become Stolen Ghost, though it looked very different). I was quickly overwhelmed by watching myself fall short of the daily goal of 1,667 words, and had to pivot to simply a daily word tracker without an accompanying daily goal. That experience taught me about the importance of consistency over perfection, and over the following four years I wrote three books.
The last two years have been spent revising and self-publishing, which has been an order of magnitude harder than writing, which I talk a little about on my blog. With the help of my friends and family (and a great therapist!) I’ve been rediscovering the joy of the project, but it’s been slow going.
EBB: Are there any writers or authors you aspire to be like?
JBM: Comparison is the thief of joy, as they say, but I’m inspired by Brandon Sanderson’s consistency and eclecticism, Alix E. Harrow’s beautiful prose and activism, and Ted Chiang’s efficiency and creativity. The three of them are masters of their particular arenas!
EBB: Take us behind the scenes of your writing process.
JBM: On the weekdays, I’m an early morning writer. I’ll wake up, exercise, shower, eat breakfast, and then write a few hundred words (on a good day) before it’s time to go to work. At my peak, weekend mornings (’til around 11am) were set aside completely for writing. I had a lot of success with that uninterrupted time and starting off each session with some gratitude and planning journaling.
My wife keeps our weekly social calendar pretty full, but near the end of the third book and into series revisions I had to step back from a lot of those hangouts to keep making progress. Interestingly, as my mental health deteriorated, my habits flipped – I was getting up later and doing my “book work” in the evenings. I don’t recommend it! Looking forward to getting back to my normal schedule someday.
EBB: I do my best work in the mornings, too! Do you have a favorite quote or piece of advice for aspiring writers?
JBM: There are a lot of great ones out there that feel descended from this aphorism: perfect is the enemy of good. As a lifelong recovering perfectionist, I’ve had to constantly remind myself to just get words on the page, clean them up later, and limit those revisions within reason. I find it rings true in much of life, too!
EBB: Any literary or writing sins you’d like to confess?
JBM: I have never been able to finish reading The Lord of the Rings! I adore the movies but the original stories read too much like history books to me. I’ve never even attempted Dune for similar reasons. I did also sneak a couple of memes into the Shades of Humanity trilogy. I couldn’t resist!
EBB: Ok, I also have a confession to make here. I finally watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy a few years ago after decades of avoiding it. And I loved it. Proof that there is a time and place for everything. What’s next for you?
JBM: My few fans want spinoffs of my Shades of Humanity trilogy, but I’ve been in that world for so long I think I need to do something different. Revising all three books before release made for great internal consistency, but it was a huge undertaking. My next book will probably be a standalone in the urban fantasy genre. Something fun and modern with a hidden world of magic!
EBB: I can’t wait to hear more about it! Anything else you’d like for the EBB audience to know?
JBM: My wife’s book club reads things like Krystal Marquis’ The Davenports, Lucy Foley’s The Guest List, and Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures, but included my trilogy on their docket in a very kind gesture. Though they aren’t usually sci-fi fans they were all surprised by how much they liked my books (you can read some of their honest reviews on Goodreads). Stolen Ghost is very accessible, so I encourage anyone intrigued by the premise to check it out even if it’s not their usual thing!
EBB: Where can readers find you?
JBM: My website https://jblakemyersmannbooks.com/ is the best source of up-to-date information, but I also post from time to time on Instagram and Bluesky.
I hope you enjoyed my interview with Blake. Learn more about Stolen Ghost and the rest of the series below!
- Pay special attention to the signed copy available for order (mine is on its way!)
- Blake also provided a discount code specifically for East Bay Bookshelf readers! Use code BNPEASTBAY10 at Barnes & Noble check-out when you purchase the e-book.
- Mark your calendar for book 2, Rogue Spirit, out on October 22nd!
About STOLEN GHOST:
Described as Firefly meets The Lies of Locke Lamora, STOLEN GHOST is a YA-friendly adult science-fiction adventure in a galaxy where humans are a long-forgotten myth.
Captain Trace Abraxi has more planned for her crew’s next tour than the usual idle piracy. She’s after a fleet of her own, stolen from under the noses of religious zealots. But when a virtual stowaway is found on board, it threatens to derail the entire heist – or it might be its only chance of success.
The first in the completed Shades of Humanity trilogy, the story that STOLEN GHOST begins continues with ROGUE SPIRIT (22Oct) and concludes with CRUEL PHANTOMS (10Dec).
Request it from your library through Libby or purchase a copy here:
eBooks
- Barnes & Noble (use code BNPEASTBAY10 at check-out for the e-book)
- Kobo
- Apple Books
Physical Books
- Barnes & Noble
- My Shop (signed)
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