J A Darkling
ja-darkling.bsky.social
J A Darkling
@ja-darkling.bsky.social
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
I am attending my first book fair and I learned a lot. It was great seeing 19 other authors doing what they do and watch as people walked through and interacted with them.
November 16, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Chapters Five and Six are up, which means Part One of Under the Sunflowers is now live.

The setup is done. The action begins.

If you've been waiting for a reason to dive in, this is it.

Start here:

jadarkling.com/table-of-con...
June 7, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Two more chapters of Under The Sunflowers are up. Chapter 4 is short but a favorite. Next week’s update kicks the story into gear. I added two posts, one personal, one about the marketing challenge of writing for upper middle grade.

I also added a parental guidance callout.
jadarkling.com
May 31, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Standing under the speaker stack at Thalia Hall, listening to Matt Berninger hypnotize the audience with his deep vocals and half-staggered gait, cleared away all my worries.

Pilsen never disappoints—with its murals, warmth, surprising quiet and cat-inhabited blocks.
May 25, 2025 at 6:34 PM
To dissuade anyone from thinking I’m too normal, these are my cats. One is very orange and the other has squeezed herself between the screen and sliding glass door on purpose. And I’m proud of both of them.
May 16, 2025 at 10:29 PM
The results of my Saturday bookstore run.
April 20, 2025 at 2:07 PM