About

Joyce L. Blalock-Thomas, also known by her pen name J.L. Sapphire, is a self-published author and blogger. She was born and raised in southern Arkansas, and she still lives there with her two children. As a child, her dreams for the future included being the next Whitney Houston, a ballerina, an interior designer, a teacher, an author, and a police officer. When she wasn't singing in her room, she had her nose in a book- particularly anything with the words Sweet Valley Twins on it. She was always extremely shy and is a bit of an introvert, so reading and writing quickly became her favorite hobbies.


As a single mother, her love of writing often took a backseat to parenthood, but she continued writing short stories, hoping one day she would be able to publish them. After getting encouragement from a friend, and after spending many long hours on Google, learning about self-publishing, she finally released her first novella, My Secret Life: Confessions of a Housewife, in May 2014 to rave reviews, where it reached #2 in the the Amazon Best Sellers category of African American Erotica and #3 in the Contemporary Urban Fiction category. Her novel, Two Can Play That Game, was published on June 27, 2014 and spent 3 consecutive days at #1 in the Amazon Best Sellers category for Contemporary Urban Fiction. Her other titles include Masquerade: Nina's Revenge, Sweet Taboo, What My Wife Didn't Know, an e-short story, and All Bets Are Off.

Writing is Joyce's version of Calgon, by locking herself in her room, she can get away from everything & everybody (at least for a little while) and lose herself in the lives of the characters she creates.