J. Carson Black

, Female

United States

Profile Information:

Hometown:: Tucson, Arizona
About Me:: I live an incredibly exciting life in the sun-baked desert with my husband and three cats. Turn-ons: writing on my laptop on a chaise outside, horseracing, cabins in the woods or cottages on the beach. Turn-offs: cat barf, high amazon numbers, and broccoli. I have two books in the Laura Cardinal mystery series, DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN and DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. Laura is based loosely on a real DPS detective here in Arizona, except she wears a bra and he doesn't (At least I don't think he wears a bra; you'd think his wife would have told me under the laws of full disclosure). You can call me Jake, even though I'm a girl.
I Am A:: Writer
Website:: http://www.jcarsonblack.com
Books And Authors I Like:: Better not. I'll miss somebody and then I'll be the only friendless person on Crimespace.
Movies And TV Shows I Like:: Sicko, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, My Name is Earl, The Office. Movies: This is Spinal Tap, LA Confidential, Mulholland Drive, Seabiscuit, Phar Lap, Lonesome Dove, National Velvet, Casey's Shadow, Frequency, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Double Indemnity, Psycho, Chinatown, Fargo, Slingblade, Gone With The Wind, Captain Blood (Dang, that Errol Flynn was cute), anything with Clark Gable in it. Anything with George Clooney in it. Anything with Denzel Washington in it. Anything with Harrison Ford in it. And horseracing on ESPN--anything with Kenny Mayne in it. Kingpin, Best in Show, Sunset Boulevard, Stranger than Fiction, Talladega Nights (What can I say? I'm a sucker for Baby Jesus talk at the dinner table.)

Comment Wall:

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J. Carson Black

Girl, you're quick on the draw, ain't ya?

Mar 17, 2007
Karen E. Olson

Thanks for wanting to be my Friend, Jake! Pretty soon we'll all be here and no one will read our blogs anymore.

Mar 17, 2007
Toni McGee Causey

Seconding Lori's yeehaw!

Mar 17, 2007
Alison Gaylin

Welcome Jake! So very happy to see your, uh, faceless outline.

Mar 17, 2007
J. Carson Black

Hey, great to see all the First Offers are my buds!

It's true, Karen. Who needs us, when we have us?

Mar 17, 2007
J. Carson Black

Hi Toni! I saw your trailer and loved it. Not the double-wide---the other one, on YouTube.

Mar 17, 2007
J. Carson Black

Hi Alison. I can't wait to see your new cover. Hurry up and show it to us, already!

Mar 17, 2007
Carol Davis Luce

Hey Jake, fancy meeting you here. Will you be my friend? Please. Please. :-)

Mar 18, 2007
J. Carson Black

Of course, Chill. I was going to invite you myself once I got on!

Mar 18, 2007
Lori G. Armstrong

You do realize the cactus looks like a penis, right?

Mar 18, 2007
Karen E. Olson

I second Lori's comment about the "penis" in the picture.

You should post a picture of Barbaro here somewhere, to keep his memory alive.

Mar 19, 2007
J. Carson Black

Karen, I will probably put Barbaro up at some point. But first, let me get used to my enhanced male self!

Mar 19, 2007
William Simon

Jake ROCKS. 'Nuff Said...:)

Mar 19, 2007
J. Carson Black

Thanks, William! I love your avatar---very cool! I'm not rockin' too much today, though. Our microwave went out. I had no idea how losing a microwave could affect lazy people like us. From heating up my coffee in the morning to making stale rolls plump and delicious, to zapping a Lean Cuisine - how much can one person take? But my heart will go on.

Mar 19, 2007
Lori G. Armstrong

Your microwave...my fridge...again. I keep unplugging it, then it works for a couple of weeks. I'm too damn cheap to buy a new one until we get our taxes back. That's why I had 3 kids, so THEY can run up and down the stairs hauling stuff to and from the extra fridge :)

Mar 21, 2007
J. Carson Black

Happiness is an extra fridge and indentured servants.

The microwave is under warranty, but we have to take it to this little hole-in-the-wall here in town called Telestar. The receptionist has to be in her eights. The front room is a squalid liittle alcove that could be Phil Marlowe's office. Last time they had our Sylvania TV set for close to two months, we had it a week and it went out again--so they had it another three weeks. So when we called the woman said that the repairman was going to be gone for two weeks, so we should call back later. Places like Telestar is a just a dumping ground for appliances from Sylvania and Panasonic to run out the clock on their one-year warrantys. Hate to be so cynical but these are the mean streets of Tucson, and it don't get seedier than that.

Mar 21, 2007
J. Carson Black

I don't know how to edit this thing, so I just want to say about the previous post that the woman was in her eighties (not eights) and that places like Telestar (are) a dumping ground for Sylvania and Panasonic (not is, as in, "Is our children learning?"). Since I'm supposed to be a writer, I figured I should set the record straight. Jake.

Mar 21, 2007
Brian Thornton

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN. Anyone who references a Springsteen song title in the title of one of their books is A-OK with me. Oh, and if you think Flynn was cute, you owe it to yourself to read MY WICKED, WICKED WAYS, his autobiography. Thanks for adding me as a friend!

Mar 21, 2007
J. Carson Black

Hi Brian! Talk about a writer - Springsteen is the master of slice of life. I'll have to read MY WICKED WICKED WAYS. I do remember that Errol Flynn and David Niven shared a bungalow on the beach called "Cirrhosis by the Sea".

Mar 21, 2007
anabrazil

about that editing thing...after a couple of posts on other pages, I just realized that we chatter at the bottom but it posts at the top. Which means my topsy-turvy world is now rooty-tooty.
thanks for inviting me into the club! Which do you prefer... J. Carson or Carson?

Mar 23, 2007
J. Carson Black

Anabrazil (Ana?) you can call me Jake.

I love you avatar!

Mar 23, 2007
Karen Dionne

Hi, Jake - thanks for the add! Looking forward to getting to know you beyond the image I have of you at the moment as a talking cactus. :) Will you be at ThrillerFest again this summer?

Mar 24, 2007
J. Carson Black

Karen, I'd like to go to Thrillerfest, but it's not to be, this year!

Re. the saguaro, I always wanted to be tall and slender. And this way I always have something to lean on.

Mar 24, 2007
Lori G. Armstrong

Just keep clicking the damn thing until something takes :)

That's how I shoot, by the way, too.

Not Bodacious...let me think which bull fits my personality. My first inclination would be Big Bucks - but as I'm with a small publisher that'd be false advertising :)

I got it! Werewolf Snuff! He's a toughie~

Mar 24, 2007
J. Carson Black

Remind me never to get drunk with you when you shoot out the lights, Lori! I always liked the bucking horse Five Minutes to Midnight. Is there a bull called Last Call?

Mar 24, 2007
Lori G. Armstrong

"Jake Black...you are a friend of mine, I like to drink with in crimespace cybertime..." Ah. Who doesn't love Shelly West?

Ooh. Nice name for a bronc.

Got nothing else but edits, darlin'........

Mar 24, 2007
J. Carson Black

Here's a good name for a bronc: Lucinda Williams. That would make 'em sit up and take notice.

"I changed the lock on my front door, so you can't see me any more" I love that gravelly voice!

Mar 24, 2007
Jeff Sherratt

Hey, Jake, I love Tucson, Arizona. I also lived on a ranch as a kid, but I moved back to L.A. when I was in grade school. You web site brought back memories. Thanks for being my friend.

Mar 24, 2007
J. Carson Black

Jeff - where exactly did you live? I grew unp riding my horse all over town. At least I think I grew up!

Mar 25, 2007
Jeff Sherratt

Hi Jake,

Actually my dad's ranch was in Southern Utah, similar to Arizona in a lot of ways, with many red bluffs and dry canyons, but a world apart culturally. The adventure only lasted three years before my father moved back to L. A. and resumed his business career. But in those short years I'd experienced so much, taking care of my pony, branding calves in the spring, and what real food tasted like. The memories have stayed with me 50 years now, and will be with me forever.

Thanks for asking.

Mar 27, 2007
J. Carson Black

Utah is beautiful. We spent one New Year's Eve week on a houseboat on Lake Powell. Gorgeous country, and we had the Rainbow Bridge all to ourselves. I've also been up through Provo, Salt Lake City and Ogden when I was a kid on camping trips with my parents. And Zion, more recently. What a beautiful place that is!

BTW - there's a fantastic mystery by Betty Webb called DESERT WIVES, about the polygamists in Colorado City.

Mar 27, 2007
Angie

Hi Jake & welcome! Nice to see another Arizonan on crimespace...there's a few running around here. If I could handle the heat and had any desire to live in a big city again, Tucson would be a great place to live - just was down there a few weeks ago to see Lucinda Williams at the Rialto & had a blast.

Mar 30, 2007
J. Carson Black

Hi Angie, do you still live in Prescott? I love it up there, and Sedona, and The White Mountains, and Flagstaff - I just plain love Arizona.

Believe it or not, I just found out about Lucinda Williams. I'm a big Imus fan, and he's been playing "Are you all right" and "I put a lock on my front door" pretty much nonstop.

Went to the Rialto once for a Little Feat concert. Great venue. I hope, though, when Little Feat comes back they'll go to the Fox Theater.

Really good to have you for my new friend!

Jake

Mar 30, 2007
Angie

Yep, I'm still in Prescott & I love it. 30 min. to Jerome, hour and fifteen to Sedona, 2 hours to Flag or Phoenix. Tucson is a stretch, but still doable. I'm with you - Arizona pretty much rocks.

"Are You All Right" is the single from Lucinda's newest, West. She kicked off the tour in Tucson & her bass player is originally from Tucson, so the audience was very, very hyped. And yeah, the Rialto is really a beautiful venue!

Anyway, nice ta meetya!

Mar 30, 2007
J. Carson Black

Angie - I've always wanted to set a scene in Jerome. Preferably, a climax scene, with somebody falling off the mountain.

Mar 30, 2007
Rhonda

Hello J.Carson Black thanks for the invite your book sound interesting I will have to get the library to buy it.

Mar 31, 2007
J. Carson Black

Hi Rhonda. I have relatives who live in Oz - in Perth. Quite a distance away. Most of my family lives in NZ. Just found out about another member of our family living in Queensland.

I've heard really great things about an Australian author who writes thrillers. Her book was going to be published here in America after it was published by an English pub, but I can't remember her name. Have you read any new thriller or police procedural writer from Australia who has made a big splash? I'd like to find her book.

Jake

Apr 1, 2007
J. Carson Black

Just answered my own question. The Australian author is P.D. Martin, and the book, BODY COUNT, came out with Mira in January. My New Zealand aunt flipped over her book, which is good enough for me. (She flipped over mine, too, but that was a requirement.)

Apr 1, 2007
Bobbi A. Chukran

I love that black/white photo, J!

bobbi c.

Apr 3, 2007
J. Carson Black

Thanks, Bobbi! I love old motels, diners, coffee shops, filling stations etc., preferably bleached by the sun and falling apart. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd drive Route 66 as far as it goes.

Apr 3, 2007
Lesa Holstine

Hi Jake! I saw you at ThrillerFest, but was too intimidated to introduce myself. I loved both of your books, and I've recommended them to library patrons who want good mysteries set in Arizona. Laura is an intiguing character. And, your love of Arizona comes through in your books. Thank you.

Apr 13, 2007
J. Carson Black

Lesa - I wish we'd met! I will always hold what you said about Darkness close to my heart. It made me happy to think that my book might help in some way to educate people about sexual predators.

One of these days... we're only a couple of hours away.

Apr 13, 2007
Lesa Holstine

If nothing else, I hope to meet you when you're up here for something for The Poisoned Pen. Or, I might be able to get up to The Well-Red Coyote in Sedona. I haven't been there yet. You're right. We'll get together sometime.

Apr 13, 2007
J. Carson Black

The Well Red Coyote is a great place! I'm sure my mystery writer friends and I will make a trek up there at some point again. (Southwest Crime Ink - Liz Gunn, Mike Hayes, and Susan Cummins Miller.)

Apr 13, 2007
Lesa Holstine

Jake - You were mentioned on FictionL (a list for public librarians) today as an underappreciated mystery writer. Great list to be on.

And, you mentioned Liz Gunn. She's another underappreciated one. So underappeciated that I'm offering five copies of her Six-pound Walleye on a contest on my book blog this week.

Apr 28, 2007
J. Carson Black

Thanks, Lesa - I apprecite so much your telling me that. Sometimes it seems as if our books go out into a vacuum, and we don't get a lot of feedback. And good feedback is especially appreciated!

Liz is fantatic, isn't she? I dedicated DARK SIDE to her, and for a very good reason. She was instrumental in getting me to the place where I could write that series. Does she know about your contest? She and I and the other two Southwest Crime Insters will be speaking at SSA's Sunday event on May 20th, so maybe you could spread the word to your Tucson friends.

Apr 29, 2007
Lesa Holstine

Jake -

No she doesn't know about the contest, as far as I know. I've been really pleased with the entrants so far. One school librarian hopes to win, thinking her high school students will like it. It's a blind draw though. (My husband picks the winners.) And, I had some entrants who have never entered before because I mentioned it on FictionL. That's not the place to mention contests, normally, but the subject fit into a current topic of underappreciated mysteries.

Unfortunately, I don't have any friends in Tucson. Everyone I know in AZ is in the Glendale/Phoenix area. But, good luck on the 20th!

Apr 30, 2007
Jane Hill

Hi Jake... I was attracted by your photo, and then read on and loved your list of films as well. I took my aged mother on a road trip around Arizona last October - we had such a good time. A bit like Thelma and Louise but without the rape and murder. Or Brad Pitt.

May 1, 2007
J. Carson Black

Jane - Brad Pitt, or the open pit mine - although we've got plenty. I hope you got down here to Southern Arizona, which is truly beautiful (she said as she sat outside on the terrace typing on her laptop.) I checked out the Kay-El Bar Ranch in Wickenburg - and wish I could go!

All my relatives live in England, New Zealand and Australia. Whereabouts do you live?

May 1, 2007
Jane Hill

Yes, we spent a few days in Tucson, and ventured down to Tombstone (my mum is a huge Western fan) and also Bisbee. We particularly loved the desert museum.

I live in Portsmouth on the south coast of England.

May 1, 2007