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John Everett Branch Jr.

Goodreads Author

Born

in Irving, Texas, The United States

Website

https://ifitbenotnow.wordpress.com/about/

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JEB54

Genre

Fiction, Nonfiction

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June 2011

URL

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Popular Answered Questions

What books are on your summer reading list this year?

John Everett Branch Jr. Why do people talk about “summer reading”? No one thinks of any other season of the year in this way: there’s no autumn, winter, or spring reading. (N…moreWhy do people talk about “summer reading”? No one thinks of any other season of the year in this way: there’s no autumn, winter, or spring reading. (Northrop Frye employed the seasons in one of his analytical approaches, but he didn’t propose reading by the calendar.) No one who has finished school, and not everyone who’s still in it, has extra time for reading during the summer; parents whose children are of school age may have less time in those months. The whole idea is, I think, largely an artifact from that period in our life when we did (if we grew up in America, anyway, for things are different elsewhere) have whole days free, or when, if we worked, at least we had no homework.

But it might be amusing to resort to fantasy in answering the question. Summer, then, is a dream of freedom and time, and summer reading would mean living in a book for hours on end; it would mean catching up on old desires as well as picking new things at leisure, as they struck my fancy. A visit to a bookstore now and then, to wander among the continent-shelves and island-displays… A few book readings or author discussions, to hear a writer’s second voice… A plunge into some hefty volumes in the stacks I have at home, such as The Tale of Genji, by Lady Murasaki, or The Novel: A Biography, by Michael Schmidt, or The Big Book of Science Fiction, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer… I’d read Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet, by Jennifer Homans; I’d escape into the novels in the Aubrey-Maturin series, by Patrick O’Brian, that I haven’t yet enjoyed; I’d get around to Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project and a few other books pertaining to Paris that are half hidden on a lower shelf. And William Gibson’s nonfiction collection, and Jorge Luis Borges’s essays on literature. Most of these are books that I already have. Who knows what I might think of, or hear about, or find in a shop? The sun would rise and loll about endlessly in the sky as I read. Each day would be long and full of adventure, and when I went to sleep at night I’d know that another one, very much like it or very different, would follow.(less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

John Everett Branch Jr. I don’t deal with writer’s block, because I have never yet had writer’s block. I’ve never lacked ideas to write about; while I seldom know, from the m…moreI don’t deal with writer’s block, because I have never yet had writer’s block. I’ve never lacked ideas to write about; while I seldom know, from the moment I pick up an idea, what the first words should be, I can always start jotting notes and find the beginning later; and though I don’t always finish what I start, it’s almost never because I can’t but only because I don’t. If for now I don’t see how to conclude a story, I simply set it aside, knowing that I can return to it later.

For myself, I don’t even believe in writer’s block. In part this is because it doesn’t happen to me, and in part it’s because the concept is fishy. As I noted in a blog post, other creative endeavors are not, that I know of, attended by blocks. I’ve never heard of architect’s block or chef’s block. In any case, there are ways around the kind of obstacle that the term “writer’s block” connotes; there are ways to stimulate the imagination, a few of which are mentioned in a New Yorker web article that my blog post links to.

If the question really means “What advice do you have for dealing with writer’s block?” I can answer that. Write down ideas whenever they occur to you, keep them in a file, and read through the file now and then. If you don’t know how to begin a project, start by writing notes. Work consistently. If you start to run out of steam in any given session, stop and do something else. If you find yourself stalled, try a creativity exercise.(less)

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Average rating: 4.0 · 1 rating · 0 reviews · 1 distinct work

Identity & Anonymity: An Artful Anthology
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Jonathan Talbot (Editor),

Leslie Fandrich (Editor),

Steven M. Specht (Editor)

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John Everett Branch Jr.'s Blog

Desultory thoughts on lawyers, chatbots, Russians, etc.

Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne playing an electric guitar in a concert, in an image with visual distortions.

A distorted view: Jackson Browne in concert in the 1980s. (Original image from Mediapunch; photographer not credited, date not specified. With effects added by me. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.)

A friend recently told me that someone we know was getting married. Because AI is in the air (literally), that led me to wonder how AI might make a difference to a wedding. Then I wondered what kind o

John is Currently Reading

John Jr. is currently reading

Blue Mars (Mars Trilogy)

by Kim Stanley Robinson

bookshelves: currently-reading, sf

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Jul 22, 2025 04:25AM

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The Annotated Arabian Nights: Tales from 1001 Nights

by Yasmine Seale

bookshelves: currently-reading, fiction, literature-history-criticism

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John Jr. rated a book it was amazing A Cultural History of Physics by Karoly Simonyi	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I can’t claim to offer a fair review, having read only 65 pages of excerpts drawn from throughout this book, but what I read impressed me enough that I wanted to say something. First: This is designed and illustrated like no physics book I’ve ever see ...more
Aug 31, 2025 01:54PM · like · see review
John Jr. is on page 635 of 800 of Blue Mars: “There were two or three years between their deaths, but still, after the long decades during which none of them had died, this frequency pattern felt very fast. So they got through those funerals as best they could, and meanwhile everything was getting darker” (634). Blue Mars (Mars Trilogy) by Kim Stanley Robinson progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 31, 2025 06:02AM · like · see status · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
John Jr. made a comment on his review of The Complete Plays " Last night, I finished rereading What the Butler Saw and turned to a science fiction novel by Kim Stanley Robinson that I'm in the middle of, but I fo ...more "
Aug 22, 2025 06:37AM · see review
John Jr. rated a book really liked it Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (Goodreads Author) recommended for: J.S., Mike Romo	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
When this novel was published, it could be seen as a fictional harbinger of real political change in the Middle East and North Africa. That didn’t pan out in the way many hoped, but now that we’re not distracted by historical coincidences, we can see ...more
Jul 23, 2025 08:25AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
John Jr. is currently reading Blue Mars (Mars Trilogy) by Kim Stanley Robinson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 22, 2025 04:25AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
John Jr. marked as suspended-or-reference The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition by C.S. Lewis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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John Jr. rated a book really liked it The Gashlycrumb Tinies (The Vinegar Works #1) by Edward Gorey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
What kind of insensate brute would fail to crinkle the eyes, turn up the corners of the mouth, stifle a snort, or even let rip a laugh after viewing the fates of a few of these fine young people? But that’s overstated. Failing to enjoy these delicate ...more
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John Jr. rated a book really liked it Firesign: The Electromagnetic History of Everything as Told on Nine Comedy Albums by Jeremy Braddock	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Explaining a joke is often comparable to killing it. But explaining the jokesters isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It can be very helpful. This book is an excellent example. I knew, from my colorful past, a good number of silly, weird, and absurd bits f ...more
Jun 02, 2025 09:50AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Firesign by Jeremy Braddock. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Firesign by Jeremy Braddock <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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John’s Quotes

“Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.”
― Terry Pratchett, Jingo

tags: humor, proverb

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“There’s something heroic in a woman–-Brigitte Bardot, Anita Ekberg, Marianne Faithfull–-who takes great beauty, smokes it down to the filter and grinds it out under her sole.”
― Farran Smith Nehme

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“I don't like novels that end happily. They depress me so much”
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

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“Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.”
― Bertrand Russell

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“Information wants to eat brie.”
― Evgeny Morozov

tags: data, pun

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John’s Year In Books

John Everett Branch Jr.’s Followers (71)

John’s Bookshelves

John’s Friends (89)

John Everett Branch Jr.

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98 posts
John Everett Branch Jr.'s Blog

Desultory thoughts on lawyers, chatbots, Russians, etc.

John is Currently Reading

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