Meet Jenny Block

Jenny, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My mom says I wrote and “published” my first book in elementary school. It was about ants, I believe. So, I guess, although my path has been circuitous in some ways, it does actually make sense that I would one day end up as an author.

I began as a Mass Communications major in college. But after getting an F in Newswriting, I became an English Major. I graduated with Honors and so went to Law School as I was told that that was what English Majors who graduate with Honors do. I hated it. It wasn’t the black and white world I imagined and I don’t do well operating in the grey.

So, I decided to try my hand at acting. It was something I had done when I was a kid all the way through High School and I loved it. So I thought I would give it a whirl professionally. But after two years on the road with touring Children’s Theater Companies playing Goldilocks and Pinocchio and Jack (of Beanstalk fame) and two summers doing summer stock (one at The Lost Colony and one with The Great American People Show), I was ready to return to academia. I received a fellowship to get my MA in English and began teaching on my first day of taking graduate classes.

I continued teaching for more than ten years when I decided it was time to start doing some writing instead of just teaching. Now, twenty-some years later, I have four books under my belt, the latest, “Be that Unicorn: Find your Magic. Live your Truth. Share your Shine,” which comes out February 4, 2020, and a zillion articles in and on Huffington Post, American Way, Dallas Morning News, Yahoo Travel, Playboy, OutSmart Magazine, The Dallas Voice, and many, many others.

My career has afforded me all sorts of amazing travel all around the world and all sorts of fun media opportunities. I’ve been on HuffPo Live, the HuffPo Sex and Love Podcast, and am featured in HuffPo’s “The Overdue, Under-Told Story of the Clitoris” project.

I’ve also done a ton of TV and radio including Nightline, The Tyra Banks Show, Good Morning Texas, Playboy Radio, and BBC Radio. I’ve spoken in bookstores and at events all across the country, including the AVN Convention, Exxxotica Convention, Catalyst Convention, Brain Tease Dallas, the Wyly Theatre, the Texas Theater, Georgetown University, and the Science Museum of Virginia. And, I get to speak/perform as a featured guest on Olivia cruises and at Olivia resorts, which is a really amazing experience.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. The money is never good. But you don’t write for the money. You write because your brain and heart and soul demand it. I get a lot of hate mail. That’s no fun. There are far too many people who have a hard time with women who are not only comfortable with their sexuality but who are also comfortable writing and talking about their sexuality. I have gotten a lot of rejection letters – a lot. From publications, websites, agents, publishers, you name it. But I like to think of all of the struggles as fuel for the fight to get my words out there, and that makes every bit of it worth it.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a writer and author. I write about life from sex and relationships to food and travel to how to kick ass and take names while still being kind to others and true to you – which is what Be that Unicorn is all about! I’m known for telling the truth about everything from food to far flung destinations to relationships to how to “do” life. What I’m the most proud of is that readers say they can “hear” me in my work and they love it. They say I have helped them in the most profound ways, and that is the most rewarding thing in the world. What sets me apart from others is that I am as good of a writer as I am a speaker and performer. I am also known for being a great listener and the world’s best cheerleader for whatever it is you dream of achieving!

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think luck has played a huge role in my life and my work. I have been luckier than same and unluckier than others. My dad says becoming a success is 40% talent and 60% luck. Sometimes the stars align and sometimes they don’t. They certainly aligned when I met my now wife, on Tinder of all places. But they have never lined up for that seven figure book or movie deal that most writers dream of. But there’s always tomorrow. And there is always someone who is interested is words well woven. And, so, I write and write and write.

Because truth be told, I couldn’t stop if I tried.