We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tia Ja’nae a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tia, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the most meaningful project I’ve worked on was writing my debut novel ‘Ghosts On The Block Never Sleep’, which was a political noir that dove into the undercurrent of East Side of Chicago and the outfall of automation, outsourcing, and elimination of blue collar employment with its residents. Through the eyes of a former middle class, blue collar protagonist forced into the underbelly of the street after losing her job, the story navigates her struggles to survive in the street while holding out hope that she will eventually be able to resume her blue collar existence.

‘Ghosts On The Block Never Sleep’ is a story I felt needed to be told, one that explored how Chicago residents deal with the roller coaster of economic consequences of human labor being phased out of certain segments of the blue collar world. It was a very personal endeavor that started as a short story that evolved into a novel. The book was controversial upon release, including an infamous showdown I had with Amazon about shadowbanning the book. Since then it’s become a cult classic with copies going for one thousand dollars on ebay since I had it pulled out of print but don’t worry, it’s getting re-released shortly.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Most people will associate me as Articulate Madness.

Once upon a time not that long ago, I started out as a poet in high school writing rhythmic verse (think Beowulf) which was solely through the encouragement of the baddest poet in Chicago never known Vania Hudson. Vania was the first real writer I ever met that told me I could do this and be in this business. Funny thing is, I believed her. I wrote some of everything in and out of poetry, which took me on a wonderful journey writing for film, television, and theater, which led to me receiving a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction nomination for a play I wrote for Richard Pryor, Jr. and Verna Hampton entitled ‘Loose Squares’. It’s been an incredible ride being able to write satire, science fiction, crime fiction, noir, humor, poetry, and everything in between.

What sets me apart from others as a writer is that I’m blessed not to be pigeonholed by my fans into one genre. Versatility is my true strength in writing which gives me a tremendous amount of creative space for exploring new characters, stories, and ideas and I’m thankful to the fans that ride with the crazy twisted articulate madness I come up with. I absolutely love satire and write it every chance I get, but I can hold my own with the best of my peers in literature, screenwriting, playwright, and of late, hip-hop journalism (which big ups to Configa for nudging me into that gently, I appreciate his insight and perception into encouraging me to step out my comfort zone and be a positive influence in the written word of the genre).

Have you ever had to pivot?

For a very long time, especially in the analog era where you had to mail your work to publications, I refused to submit stories to any imprint or magazine if they weren’t paying at least a couple hundred dollars. I was looking for the Playboy type money, so my publishing limitations left me with quite the catalog with no eyes on it. So around 2015-2016 I decided to get over myself, do the work, and send my stuff out to any publication that had submissions and have no limitations to pay.

The year I decided to write short stories regardless of the pay, my writing took off. I had always felt that writers should be paid for their work back in the days where you had to mail your stuff off exclusively to be considered for publication. In the digital age I just sat down and did the work. It paid off and everything fell into place. Since then I’ve been nominated for awards, have had several releases, and currently are on the verge of launching my own publishing company, A8M Press.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Being able to write without censorship or limitations is the goal of my creative journey. In a world of cancel culture it is incredibly difficult to write without being judged and castigated about political correctness, though I suit up for battle every time if something I’ve written warrants it. Writers, in my honest opinion, are the last bastion of freedom of speech; in the 1970s this was a given but in the 2020s this seems like a foreign concept. I hold to the truth that is self evident that you may not like what I say and vice versa, but you should defend my right to say it and vice versa. Without the exchange of ideas, even with those we may or may not agree with in and out of our comfort zone, freedom of speech and expression are stifled, targeted, and attacked. The world was a lot better place when there were differing opinions, which makes good social civility.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.articulatemadness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/articulatemadness
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/articul8madness
• Other: https://www.articulatemadness.net