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Janisse Ray

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Janisse Ray

Goodreads Author


Born
in Baxley, Georgia, The United States
February 02, 1962

Website

Genre

Member Since
February 2013


is an award-winning and beloved American writer. Her work encourages wild, place-centric, sustainable lives and often calls attention to heart-breaking degradations of the natural world.

She writes the popular Substack TRACKLESS WILD, tracklesswild.substack.com.

Her newsletter for writers, SPIRAL-BOUND, janisseray.substack.com.

She is a sought-after and highly praised teacher of writing. She leads both in-person and online writing workshops, including a summer memoir course online, WRITE YOUR OWN STORY.

You can find more information about workshops and courses at her website.
https://janisseray.com/product-catego...

Check out her book CRAFT & CURRENT: A MANUAL FOR MAGICAL WRITING.

Janisse has won an American Book Award, Pushcart Prize, Southern
...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Janisse Ray I don't believe in writer's block. I believe the writer is always working. Perhaps words are not flowing onto the page, but the brain is thinking, org…moreI don't believe in writer's block. I believe the writer is always working. Perhaps words are not flowing onto the page, but the brain is thinking, organizing, preparing. If you want to get more words onto the page, block off time, remove distractions, and just sit. One other hack is to flow-write, which is to set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and choose a springboard, meaning a writing prompt. Then write for 5 minutes. Sometimes that will unstick you. Also, in general, I think dreaming helps, sleeping helps, walking helps, eating well helps. It helps to have a positive mindset about yourself, to have enough money in the bank, & to toss aside (for a while) as many worries as possible.(less)
Janisse Ray Hi Donna. The single thing we have to fix is our atmosphere, because climate disruption is catastrophic. I only wish I had the power. Let me know if y…moreHi Donna. The single thing we have to fix is our atmosphere, because climate disruption is catastrophic. I only wish I had the power. Let me know if you want me to say more about this. Thank you for caring.(less)
Average rating: 4.13 · 5,972 ratings · 870 reviews · 41 distinct worksSimilar authors
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

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The Woods of Fannin County

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The Seed Underground: A Gro...

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Wild Card Quilt: Taking a C...

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Drifting into Darien: A Per...

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Wild Spectacle: Seeking Won...

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Pinhook: Finding Wholeness ...

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A House of Branches

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Craft and Current: A Manual...

4.64 avg rating — 22 ratings
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Moody Forest

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4.16 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 2007
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More books by Janisse Ray…

Mystery of the Missing Mail

Your source for essays about being human in a wild world and wild in a human world. Thank you for being here.

THE FIRST DAY NO mail arrived we didn’t even notice. The second day with no mail didn’t register either. At evening the third day, I asked Raven, my husband, “Did you get the mail?”

“I checked it,” he replied, serving up mashed potatoes. “No mail.”

Raven and I live on a rural route, thirteen

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Published on November 19, 2025 11:15

Janisse’s Recent Updates

Janisse Ray wrote a new blog post

Mystery of the Missing Mail

Your source for essays about being human in a wild world and wild in a human world. Thank you for being here.THE FIRST DAY NO mail arrived we didn’t e Read more of this blog post »
Janisse Ray has read
Journey in Place by Janisse Ray
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Wild Card Quilt by Janisse Ray
"I love Janisse Ray and there way of writing, am not gonna spoil it but for me the book was really like a Wild Card Quilt, each entry is like a stand alone sequence, there is no order, well kinda, as you keep reading the book gets easier to understand" Read more of this review »
Wild Card Quilt by Janisse Ray
"It took me a long time to "get into" this book, but about halfway through, I really began to enjoy it. I appreciate the author's love of the Earth, and her work and dedication to help save its precious spaces. Thank you Janisse for all you do for the" Read more of this review »
Wild Card Quilt by Janisse Ray
"Less autobiographical than Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and more informative about her conservation efforts for the Georgia long leaf pine forests. When Ray is seeking out like-minded people in rural Georgia she laments, "Over
decades the South has" Read more of this review »
Janisse Ray rated a book did not like it
How to achieve financial freedom with Shopify by Tim Feriss
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This book is a SCAM. Do not buy it. Do not read it. It is the (poorly done) AI transcript of a Tim Ferriss podcast interview, put into book form. Ferriss did NOT do this. There is NOTHING in the book about Shopify except a 30-second advertisement fro ...more
Janisse Ray rated a book did not like it
How to achieve financial freedom with Shopify by Tim Ferriss
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This book is a SCAM. Do not buy it. Do not read it. It is the (poorly done) AI transcript of a Tim Ferriss podcast interview, put into book form. Ferriss did NOT do this. There is NOTHING in the book about Shopify except a 30-second advertisement fro ...more
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Blood, Bone, and Marrow by Ted Geltner
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You Want More by George Singleton
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Janisse Ray finished reading
The Entire Sky by Joe Wilkins
The Entire Sky
by Joe Wilkins (Goodreads Author)
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Quotes by Janisse Ray  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Of what use to humanity, I ask myself, is a man who cannot see beyond his own hurt?”
Janisse Ray

“I carry the landscape inside me like an ache. The story of who I am cannot be severed from the story of the flatwoods.”
Janisse Ray, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

“The assumption is that hope is a prerequisite for action. Without hope one becomes depressed and then unable to act.
I want to stress that I do not act because I have hope. I act whether I have hope or not. It is useless to rely on hope as motivation to do what's necessary and just and right. Why doesn't anybody ever talk about love as motivation to act?
I may not have a lot of hope but I have plenty of love, which gives me fight.
We are going to have to fall in love with place again and learn to stay put.”
Janisse Ray, The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food

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What shall we read in October, 2025? Books published after 1990.

 
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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
You'll love this ...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Connie's Rainbow Challenge 533 116 Jan 02, 2013 01:51PM  
Around the World ...: Georgia 5 176 Feb 13, 2013 05:37AM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Spring 2015 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE POSTS 3347 574 May 31, 2015 08:59PM  
The Challenge Fac...: TCF's 16/17 Winter Seasonal Challenge 51 97 Apr 01, 2017 11:45PM  
A Million More Pages: Arctic Survival Challenge 132 228 Apr 12, 2017 08:43AM  
A Million More Pages: Non-Fiction 67 105 Nov 26, 2017 09:08PM  
Book Riot's Read ...: Task #6: A book about nature 201 2006 Feb 12, 2019 07:06AM  
Around the World ...: Wanda' USA Circumnavigation 20 168 Oct 19, 2019 07:56AM  
“So many books, so little time.”
Frank Zappa

“Georgia Author Brenda Sutton Rose captures some of the conflicted and captivating characters of a rapidly changing South.”
Janisse Ray

“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pay the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pay the Lord my soul to take.”
Janisse Ray, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

“The moral of the story, Son," Pun would say, "is Don't take more on your heart than you can shake off on your heels."
Of all lessons, that one I never learned and I hope I never do. My heart daily grows new foliage, always adding people, picking up new heartaches like a wool coat collects cockleburs and beggar's-lice seeds. It gets fuller and fuller as I walk slow as a sloth, carrying all the pain Pun and Frank and so many others tried to walk from. Especially the pain of the lost forest. Sometimes there is no leaving, no looking westward for another promised land. We have to nail our shoes to the kitchen floor and unload the burden of our heart. We have to set to the task of repairing the damage done by and to us.”
Janisse Ray, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

“Are you going to farmer up or just lie there and bleed?”
Janisse Ray, The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food

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message 1: by Karla

Karla Merrifield Can't wait to get my hands (and eyes and heart) on Moody Forest! Meanwhile, keep warm this chilly day.


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