Meet Jeff Kronenfeld

We were lucky to catch up with Jeff Kronenfeld recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeff , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
My path to purpose was far from direct. Like many writers, I tried my hands at countless jobs before finally committing to a life of letters. I cooked in Flagstaff, planted trees in Montana, built homes in Portland, sold books in Scottsdale, and even dabbled in illicit horticulture. Throughout all these ups and downs, I read voraciously and scribbled away in notebooks — writing bad poetry, strange short stories and some truly awful essays. Eventually I found my way into journalism. I started with writing about arts and culture for local magazines in my free time. Then, I took the plunge into becoming a full-time newspaper reporter. After that, I became a freelancer covering science and pop culture for Discover Magazine, NewsBreak, Vice, WatchMojo, and many others. What I loved about journalism was talking to so many different kinds of passionate people and helping share their stories and insights with the world.
Thus, it was in serving others where my passion for writing truly began to blossom. In addition to my work as a journalist, I volunteered for a nonprofit that taught kids to race bicycles and tutored them on writing and reading. We’d ride 30 or more miles practicing rotating pace lines, drafting your opponent’s slipstream, and how to time your breakaway just right. Then, we’d review classic stories, grammar, or other writing fundamentals.
Later, I began volunteering with literary journals by reviewing slush piles, editing submissions, shipping books, and writing grants. For years I worked with Iron City Magazine, which publishes creative work by those impacted by mass incarceration, including prisoners, ex-cons, and their families. When I began to expand from fiction into screenwriting and comic writing, I also started helping organize and then lead writing workshops for students, the incarcerated, and the general public. I’ve taught at colleges, high schools, libraries, comic conventions, and even inside prisons.
All the while, I’ve continued to write fiction, screenplays, TV pilots, and comics. What keeps me tapping away at my keyboard through the lonely nights is the hope that I can spread a little joy and humor in a world filled with too much suffering.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
As a kid, I loved watching shows about dysfunctional yet loving families like The Simpsons, The Critic, and King of the Hill. Those shows freed me from problems at home, school, or beyond, at least for a bit. As an adult incarcerated for crimes related to growing cannabis, I witnessed inmates crowd around a five-inch screen to watch shows like Arrow every week. These shows freed them from fear, suffering, and shame, at least for a bit. When they invited me to join, I felt a human connection I’d lost. Then and there, I dedicated myself to becoming a writer to share this feeling with others, at least for a bit. Of course, going from prison cell to writer seemed impossible. Nevertheless, I persisted by reading, writing, and, most of all, humbling myself. I reconnected with my family, focused on bettering myself, and tried my best to stay out of trouble. I participated in a writing workshop for prisoners, resulting in my first publication.
Since getting out, I earned an English degree with a concertation in creative writing, became an award-winning writer, and volunteered to help the incarcerated through creative expression. I also married an incredible women. None of that happened overnight. When first paroled, I laid asphalt during Arizona’s sweltering summer days and delivered pizzas during its still pretty hot nights.
When I reflect on those trying times, it’s hard to believe how far I’ve come.
In 2022, I received a Research and Development Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts to create Dog Years, a graphic novella exploring mass incarceration in the US through anthropomorphic dogs. It highlighted the importance of creative programing for the incarcerated and the ability individuals and society as a whole to change for the better, though it also had lots of laughs and harrowing moments. Sine then, I’ve used Dog Years as an educational tool in workshops I’ve lead at universities, prisons, libraries and comic conventions. Earlier this year, my illustrator/creative partner and I were awarded a grant from the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture to expand Dog Years into full length graphic novel and to create a spin off series composed of minicomics created by inmates at my comic-making workshops for the incarcerated. Excerpts of Dog Years have been published by Iron City Magazine and purchased for ASU students for Humanities Week, and a production has even expressed interest in adapting it, so paws crossed, hopefully they’ll be more news on that soon.
I also wrote, created and developed My Lizard-Alien Dad, an animated TV show and mini-comic about a lonely lizard-alien reluctantly adopting a spunky orphan girl to save her from her murderous uncle and the corporation secretly controlling Earth. I wrote the pilot script, which has placed in several contests. I also developed a show bible, pitched the show for contests and entertainment companies, and led a team that created an animated teaser trailer of the pilot’s first three minutes, which you can watch on YouTube. To accomplish this all, I painted myself green and threw a series of fundraising concerts/live performances which were out of this world.
I’ve also developed another TV show called The Line with my friend and creative partner Isaiah Powers. That show follows an ex-convict and the DEA agent who busted him as they team up to stop an alliance of billionaires, a rogue military unit and a cartel bent on creating a horrifying new world order. It’s a southwest thriller with scifi and magical realist elements, including a massive mutant solider who dresses like a minotaur.
Just recently I finished the script for a feature film called Last Free Man about how after a decade as a hermit in the wilderness, a man obsessed with self-reliance battles the criminal justice system and a billionaire while reckoning with his reappearance’s impact before it destroys his family.
Finally, I’m still working on a collection of interconnected short stories called The Future is F*cked which explore what could happen if the growth of mass incarceration continues unchecked. Set in a western US devastated by climate change, social conflict, and inequality, it combines dystopian speculative fiction’s critical lens with the intensity of prison narrative. Many different genres are included in the collection, such as Sci-Fi, horror, romance, drama and even comedy. A half dozen of these stories have already been published in various literary journals and magazines.
If any of these projects tickle your fancy, feel free to check out my website, YouTube page and social media, or drop a message.

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?
Perseverance, constantly learning and the principles of screenwriting have helped me keep creating in the face of life’s up and downs. Regardless of what you do, one of the most important qualities is perseverance. The world can be a tough, cruel place, especially if you’re an artist. Whether I was trapped in a concrete cage, digging trenches in rock-hard caliche, or staring at the infinite abyss of a blank page, I kept pushing forward. It wasn’t always easy and sometimes seemed downright impossible, but I had to believe in myself before I could expect anybody else to believe in me. And while everyone is a critic busy juggling a million different things, the world belongs to does who just won’t quit.
While the world does seem a little dystopian at times, one of the great gifts of our age is the abundance of information. From libraries to YouTube videos to sub-Reddits, if there’s something you want to learn, you can. During my time behind bars, I read constantly, waking up early and staying up after lights out to grind through a few more pages. It was like my own personal university. I studied writing, physics, mythology, astronomy, history and too many other subjects to list. Since I got out, I haven’t stopped. While the internet has a lot of draw backs, the endless options for education from individual creators to world-renowned scholars make truly anything possible if you starting learning now.
A great case and point has been my study of screenwriting. While I wrote long before I started studying scripts and books by Syd Field, Robert McKee and others, screenwriting is what truly helped me grasp the principles of craft as a writer of any mode. I used to hack my wade blind through blank pages to carve short stories from nothingness, which is all well and good, but now I outline and plan, which helps alleviate blank page anxiety and has led me to complete so many projects. The key is realizing the fundamental forms aren’t rules, but guidelines. Even thousands of years ago, Aristotle noted every story has a beginning, middle, and end. This is partly a logical necessity, but on a deeper level, stories mirror the innerworkings of our consciousness. We learn and express ourselves through stories, through cause and effect, through heroic journeys of self-discovery. For me, I finally grasped this truth of life through the principles of screenwriting, but the same is true of any human endeavor.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
A wise man once told me the only thing free in this world is breathing. While there are now high price oxygen bars and driving to the mountains where the air is clean can cost a pretty penny, even in a smog-choked city, you can always breathe. When I feel overwhelmed or disheartened, I try to stop and breathe slowly. There’s actually all kinds of methods and systems for controlled your breathe, from ancient meditative practices to Marine box breathing, but it doesn’t really matter which you do as long as suck air in your lungs and slowly let it flow out. If I can, I close my eyes and imagine the waves on the beach or the wind rustling through the forest canopy. After even just 10 seconds, even if my problems are still there, at least I feel a little better. Then, I try to reapproach my problem, and more often than not, I find the Rubix Cube of my frustration is a little easier to solve.

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