Jarod K. Anderson

Make Your Life & Creative Work More Rich with Meaning with Jarod K. Anderson YouTube video by Creative Pep Talk

Hear me talk about meaning-making, being creative with a hard-mode brain, and lots of other stuff on the Creative Pep Talk podcast: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eAr...

The Kirkus review of the
Strange Animals audiobook
says it has “an atmosphere reminiscent of Twin Peaks,”
a show I’ve still never seen,
but think I would like!

Their verdict?
“Get it.”
www.kirkusreviews.com/audiobook-re...

When I say we should "circle back," I'm referring to the circular backs of turtles and suggesting we nap deep in the mud all winter long.

Done

Ross Art Museum: Art and the Environment Talk Series - Jarod Anderson The Ross Art Museum in collaboration with the OWU Department of Environment & Sustainability will host a series of talks this year on the intersection…

I'll be doing a reading and Q&A at the Ross Art Museum tomorrow (3/3) evening at 6:30 (in Delaware, Ohio). Event details here: www.owu.edu/calendars/de...

Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson – ARC Review! After a series of inexplicable encounters upends his life, Green finds himself alone and terrified in the Appalachian mountains, full of questions about the transformation he’s undergoing and the i…

Today’s review is for ‘Strange Animals’ by Jarod K. Anderson.

Heartwarming and slightly horrifying in places, it’s a story filled with wonder and easily became my second 5* read of the year! crooksbooks.blog/2026/02/12/s...

Cleveland ConCoction - Registration Cleveland ConCoction - Registration

www.clevelandconcoction.org/registration...

I'll be lurking around Cleveland Concoction March 6-8 (writing panels, signing books, probably playing boardgames). #cleveland

Book Review: Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson Green trips on the curb, falls flat into the street, and sees the city bus speeding toward him. And then . . . blink. He’s back on the curb, miraculously still alive. A five-foot-tall cro…

I read Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson. This book is flat-out amazing. You can read my review linked below (or just go ahead and pre-order the book now).

@jarodkanderson.bsky.social #StrangeAnimals #booksky #bookblogger

Congrats!
And I really love that cover.

That’s so kind. Thank you!

Finished this book today and I highly recommend it! Jarod's poetic prose and love for nature really shines. It's one of the few books I pre-ordered recently. GET IT, it's a rich tale of self-discovery through cryptid encounters in the woods, filled with lovely weird people.

First line: Green died and then he didn’t.

Common Nature Mnemonics:

Leaves of three, let it be.
(Meh. Sometimes true.)

Red next to black, friend of jack; Red next to yellow, could kill a fellow.
(Meh. Sometimes true.)

Geese have teeth, but snails have more,
never enter the mushroom door.
(100% accurate.)

Wanna come see me at Penguicon
March 27-29 in Detroit?

I’ll be participating on these writer panels:

The Paths to Publishing
Poetry Isn't Dead; It's Undead
Hook Your Reader: Starting Your Book
The Dreaded Second Draft: Editing Your Novel
Navigating Contracts for Authors
2026.penguicon.org

Same.

I mean… look… I’m not like the world’s #1 Thoreau fan or anything, but there is something deeply gross about slapping an AI slop cover on a HDT book. And what an unforced error. It’s not like there aren’t LOTS of good Thoreau images very much in the public domain.

Quick favor? If you have a GoodReads account, you can help my new novel by leaving a quick review OR (even easier) just like the positive reviews there to boost their visibility.

Strange Animals had a great first week in print!
Please help me spread the word,
and if you order a signed copy,
I get to stop by my local bookstore
and personalize it for you…
which is my absolute favorite errand.
(Link in bio.)

I love cryptids and I love 20 questions. This was so much fun. (And I'm looking forward to our event at next week at Clintonville Books!)

If you enjoyed my new book, please take a sec and post your thoughts in the usual review places (especially on that one giant website).

I had way too much fun playing 20 Questions: Cryptid Edition with author @jarodkanderson.bsky.social!

Jarod K. Anderson’s fantastical new novel STRANGE ANIMALS is out now, featuring mysterious cryptids from his imagination. Already one of my fave reads of the year!

Look at this important art I made.
Mothman: A Song and a Dream

Do you ever have a movie scene/line repeat in your mind in association with a creative project?

For my new novel, I keep thinking of David Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China saying, “Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to ‘get it.’”

So... you're saying those dino shaped chicken nuggets... are... actually...

Screenshot of a message thread between Jarod and Leslie Anderson: Leslie: Bosa? Jarod: What's Bosa? Leslie: BOSA DEEZ NUTS Leslie: But also a small town in Italy Leslie: lovely place Jarod: Wow Leslie: Before you ask I am VERY proud of myself, yes Jarod: I hope some literature department collects and studies our correspondence after we die

Being married to a writer means deep, sophisticated conversations.

Any Wikipedia editors around willing to make a page for me?
Maybe this is nonsense request, but as "an old," I would be delighted to finally have a Wikipedia entry.
If you're up for doing it, DM me and I can send you a bunch of links from established sources/pages about my work.

Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson: 9798217092468 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of supernatural creatures—and an unexpected home—in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut. “Unique, haunting, riveting, and beautifully...

Love cryptids? Stories about self discovery? Excellent character writing with relatable (and often funny) dialogue? Read this.The writing is incredible, the story is magic, and he brings that wonder and strangeness of nature from his poetry into his fiction in the best way.

#books #fantasy

Text post: Yeah, you can ask a machine to pretend to be a storyteller or a lover or a painter. You could draw-up your own diploma. You can pay for a ride to a marathon finish-line and throw your arms up in victory. You could 3D print an ear and whisper your hopes and dreams into it. You could mail yourself a love letter or spend an evening singing a lullaby to a plastic doll. You could fake all sorts of human endeavor, but why would you want to? - Jarod K. Anderson [Excerpt from my latest free essay on Substack/Patreon]