Jackson Allen's Blog

It’s time to discuss everything I hated about Jurassic Park. I feel so dirty. Somebody get me a dirty soda. Or maybe not – I don’t really enjoy them. Moxie and Mason are here to be my emotional support Authorcats as I do some heavy personal work. It’s time to discuss everything I hated about […]

The post Everything I Hated About: Jurassic Park first appeared on Inkican.

“How to Fix Star Wars?” You bet! Kudos to Jamelle Bouie for his insightful takedown on everything that’s wrong about Star Wars and how to fix it. Disney take note, this is how to fix your dipping movie / streaming sales. Will Disney listen? Will Star Wars get fixed? Who knows! But first, a reminder […]

The post Sci-Friday #229 – How to Fix Star Wars first appeared on Inkican.

The road less traveled comes from Frosts eponymous poem, but it's a larger metaphor for the choices we make in life. As a person who's made plenty of bad choices, I'd like to help you identify how to make good choices of your own. I can't put my brain in your head, but I can tell you to take the road less traveled whenever you're facing big choices. That's what this essay is all about.

The post STL: The Road less Traveled first appeared on Inkican.

Dateline: Eugene, Or – zombie bears and phantom data centers are just two of the strange and unusual events taking […]

The post Notes from Eugene – 08/10/2026 – Zombie Bears and Phantom Data Centers first appeared on Inkican.

We must say ‘No toxic influence’ in science fiction. Toxic influence is killing our community, it’s killing our genre, and it’s killing US. We must say ‘No’ to toxic influence in science fiction. Toxic influencers – they make about as much sense as a protein shake made with one drop of poison. All the mental […]

The post STL: Say No to Toxic Influence first appeared on Inkican.

My job as an author is the answer to the question: What Happened to Boyhood Adventure? Modern boy’s adventure stories need reactivation. In a world where kids need context to their experience, we owe it to them (and to ourselves) to speak to them with authenticity, emotional depth, and respect. If we’re honest with ourselves, […]

The post What Happened to Boyhood Adventure? first appeared on Inkican.

Your help matters when it comes to Smashwords and Author math. Many readers might be surprised to learn that ‘getting paid’ for writing is usually where most authors spend their time. Differing ideas of what our books are worth are based on differing factors. For example, the pricing we use, the platform we’re selling through, […]

The post Smashwords – Author Math – Your Help Matters first appeared on Inkican.

July 20 isn’t just another Monday – it’s the fifty-seventh anniversary of the Apollo 11 EVA – the extravehicular activity. Fifty-seven years ago, men walked on another planet for the first time. Think about what that means. We never did it before – we decided to go – and we did it. Go humans! Here’s […]

The post Apollo 11 – We Walked On the Moon Fifty-Seven Years Ago first appeared on Inkican.

Wow, I feel validated – this Neal Brennan / Josh Johnson clip is EXACTLY what I was talking about in The Rocket. Can billionaires really escape the dismal dystopia we’re racing toward in 2026? I didn’t think so, and it turns out Neal Brennan and Josh Johnson agree. Take a listen, and then let’s discuss: […]

The post No Billionaire Escape Plan first appeared on Inkican.

I recently came across a message thread regarding entrepreneurs that I want to share as part of my ‘Authors are One-Person Startups’ idea. Remember that? TL;DR – Every writer can learn from other startups since we are startups unto ourselves. Except in authors’ cases, we’re not building a SaaS tool – we’re building ‘imagination as […]

The post Authors are One-Person Startups – Part II first appeared on Inkican.