We caught up with the brilliant and insightful J Tyler Pennington a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
J Tyler, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
The most significant contributing factor to my resilience comes from my time in the US Army. When I was a junior in high school, for reasons a mystery even to myself, I decided to join the army. Between junior and senior year I went to basic training in Ft. Jackson, SC. I came back on a Friday and went to my senior year that coming Monday.
And if they teach you anything in the military, it’s resilience!
Walking a dozen miles in combat boots while carrying 30+ lbs of gear on a handful of hours of sleep. Dealing with screaming drill sergeants at literally all hours of the day. Throwing a live hand grenade and not freaking out while doing it.
Then you get deployed!
While in Iraq in 2004, I dealt with scorching heat all while wearing a bullet proof vest, boots, helmet, and pants and jacket, while people try to kill me. Though the vast majority of my time was spent waiting around (which is the unofficial motto of the military), you still needed to remain resilient to deal with the stressful situation that was a combat zone.
So, I’d say having all that happen to me before I turned 19 did a good job of installing a sense of resilience in me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
As with most people, my life was impacted quite significantly during the pandemic. A couple of months before lock down a semi-serious relationship ended, and when I was stuck at home all day, every day, I needed some kind of outlet.
I’ve always been a creative, with my main focus on writing. I’ve played countless hours of RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, World of Darkness, and Fate Core, and during those time’s I was able to flex my writing muscles. The pandemic gave me a good opportunity to hone my craft further now that I had nothing else better to do.
So, I sat down and started writing!
I’m a huge fan of HP Lovecraft, and his writing has influenced my style and tastes since I first learned about him back in middle school. I wasn’t really sure what to write first, I looked back to Lovecraft’s body of work. Everything he’s written is in the public domain, so I decided to write about my own original character set in the world Lovecraft created almost a hundred years ago.
Shortly after I published my first novella, a friend of mine suggested I get into acting. I’d always been interested in it, but never pursued it due to various reasons. But, since I had recently moved to a more central acting sphere in Ohio, I decided to reach out and see what kind of roles I could score. After getting cast as “Corporate Executive #2” and having about 1.5 seconds of screen time, I was HOOKED!
Much like everything I do, I dived into acting and auditioned for everything I could. After a few minor and supporting roles in the local film scene, I got the bug to make my own short film. Cue a few months of ruminating and writing (and spending a few thousand dollars on equipment), and I directed my first short film in the fall of 2020.
And then I was even more hooked.
In the last 4 years I’ve dived into filmmaking and writing. My Lovecraft inspired novella series, The Conclave Chronicles has 3 entries, and in August of 2023 I release my first full-length novel “Session Zero”. I’ve written and directed a handful of other short films, acted in everything from film contest entries to long form indie series, and helped produce an assortment of projects.
Recently I’ve found myself jumping back and forth between film and writing. I really enjoy both, and it’s hard for me to ignore one too long before the other creeps in wanting attention. This means everything I do takes entirely too long. But such is the life.
Upcoming projects wise, my second full-length novel, the sequel to “Session Zero”, is written and in editing at the moment (hopefully to be out sometime in July/August). The next entry in the Conclave Chronicles will come soon after. I’m acting in a web series, writing the script for a super hero short that will star Jarrell Pyro Johnson, and working on finishing up the last little bits of my latest short film “The Doughnut Mafia”.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Humility. I wasn’t always the most humble, but once I took a step back and started listening to others, my craft improved significantly. No one is perfect, and everyone can learn more than they know now.
Tenacity. People aren’t working against you, but they’re not working for you, either. If you don’t go out there and work for it, no one is going to give it to you. You have to be your own advocate and work towards whatever your goal is no matter what. When someone says ‘you can’t’, you use that to drive yourself even harder.
Wide Breadth of Knowledge. I can’t tell you the number of times the random facts I know have come in handy. Read books and watch movies and online videos on everything you can. If you find it interesting, learn about it.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The single most impactful “book” would actually be an article from Cracked.com I read years ago. I can’t remember the title, but in essence it detailed out how unforgiving the world is. Not because the world is inherently against, but because it’s not for you, either.
Imagine you and a loved one are walking down the street and they fall over on the ground no longer breathing. As you’re yelling for help, someone comes up to you. You ask them if they’re a doctor or nurse. They say no. You ask them if they have advanced medical training. They say no, but they’re kind to animals, take out their neighbors trash, and call their parents on the weekend.
So what? You don’t need someone like that. You need someone trained in medicine. Just because they’re a good person doesn’t mean they have value to you at this specific moment.
In essence, you are only what you can provide to someone else. Why do you have the job you have? Because you have the skills your employer wants. If you didn’t know anything about architecture, an architecture firm wouldn’t hire you, would they? It doesn’t matter how badly you want to be an architect, you first need to develop the skills.
That world view was taken to heart, and I’ve been doing my best to improve every chance I get.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jtylerpennington.com/
- Instagram: @jtylerpennington
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JTylerPennington
- Other: Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08CY3V3N5
Image Credits
Shannon Ahlstrand Photography
