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Three Adorable Typewriters
Meet the family It’s been a running joke for the last few years in my bio—the sentence or two that accompanies every blog post, podcast, and publication I put out into the world. You know the line: Jonny Eberle lives in Tacoma, WA, with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. The joke, of course, is that the adjective “adorable” should probably be applied to my family or at least my dog (who is incredibly cute), and not a hefty steel writing machine from the middle of the last century. The line usually elicits a smirk or a chuckle,…
Keep readingParting of the Ways: When It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Your Books
For most of my life, I have accumulated books. Gifts, garage sale finds, thrift store discoveries, college textbooks, and bookstore impulse buys have turned into a mountain of novels and nonfiction books. By weight, books probably make up the vast majority of my belongings, as anyone who’s ever helped me move can attest. I’ve been lucky enough to have space to store my vast collection in spare rooms and home offices—but those days are quickly coming to an end. In a few short months, a second child will be joining our family. That’s causing some shakeups around our relatively small…
Keep readingFor the Love of the Written Word: 10 Years of Creative Colloquy
I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into the dimly lit B Sharp Cafe in downtown Tacoma. Most of the tables were full and someone was making an announcement at the microphone, inviting anyone who wanted to read to sign up for an open mic slot. I don’t remember who the featured readers were that evening, but I know they must have run the gamut from literary fiction and poetry to genre fare. From the start, Creative Colloquy has attracted a wide range of writers and readers of all ages and interests. I was hooked. I got involved…
Keep readingRise of the Birthday Resolutions
It’s that time again, when I like to set forth goals for the year to come. I’ve been making birthday resolutions (similar to, but legally distinct from New Year’s resolutions) for well over a decade, but the tradition is far, far older than me or you or anyone alive today. The first recorded resolutions to mark the start of a new year were made by the Babylonians sometime around the year 2000 BCE. These pledges were made during a festival to mark the start of the planting season, a good time to start fresh. Festivities included oaths of loyalty to…
Keep readingYear in Review: 2023 Edition
Another year has come and gone. On this New Year’s Eve, a time when we traditionally take stock of our selves, I want to turn an eye on this website—and offer a peek behind the curtain. I’ve been blogging at jweberle.com for many years, but my output has significantly slowed compared to my early days. A decade ago, I used to average over 50 blog posts a year. In 2023, I managed to write 13, but I’ve learned to prioritize quality over quantity and this has lead to those few posts reaching a much wider audience than ever before. In…
Keep readingTwo Live Storytelling Events with Creative Colloquy
’Tis the season to cozy up with a hot beverage and a good, old fashioned yarn. And, if you’re in the South Sound region, you’ll have two chances to hear me read you a story this month. Creative Colloquy Volume Nine Book Release Party When: Monday, December 18 | 6:30–9 p.m. Where: Shakabrah Java, 2618 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98406 Why: It’s hard to believe it’s been bringing lovers of the written word together for almost a decade, but Creative Colloquy, Tacoma’s homegrown literary community, is launching our ninth print anthology this week. I’ll be reading my short story, “Reviews…
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The Complicated Ethics of Travel Writing
Can we make better travel decisions—and inspire readers to do the same? I have always loved to explore new places. As a kid, my family went on camping trips and epic road trips across the American Southwest. Starting in college, when my finances would allow it, I started to travel more broadly, stamping my passport at destinations around the world throughout my 20s. Along the way, I did some travel writing. At first, the purpose of these articles was to record my experiences. Memory is fleeting and I knew I needed to write down as much as I could to…
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Fuel for the Machine
My website was used to train an A.I. chatbot. Now what? I started this site in 2011 as a place to house my personal and professional writing. Over the past 12 years, I’ve poured my heart and soul into this website and in the process, published just shy of 180,000 words—nearly the length of The Fellowship of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. My intention when I signed up for WordPress and purchased a domain name all those years ago was to practice writing and build my brand as an author and storyteller. I never expected that someone would steal my…
Keep readingBlast From the Past: A Love Letter to Retrofuturism
When we see the future through the eyes of the past, we can tap into a sense of wonder that’s hard to come by in 2023. Imagine for a moment that you live in the early 20th century. It is an era of unprecedented change and technological advancement. Electricity, automobiles, airplanes, radio, and other innovations have reshaped your every day life. If you were to look to the future, you would probably think that the pace of change would continue unabated. From your vantage point, it would be reasonable to assume that flying cars, interstellar travel, and robots would be…
Keep readingDispatches Returns for Season 3
The rumors are true. My podcast about writing, travel, and the creative life, Dispatches with Jonny Eberle, is making its triumphant return—like Gandalf riding in to save the day at the Battle of Helm’s Deep. That may be a slight embellishment, but I am really excited about the third season and I hope you are, too. The first episode features a reading of my time travel short story, “Firemaker,” and a discussion of how I wrote the story. It’s available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and pretty much everywhere podcasts are be found. New episodes will be released twice a…
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J.W. Eberle 