About
My name is Blake Z. Rong. I am a modest writer of semi-serious import. As a journalist, my work has primarily been in the automotive and lifestyle world, featured in both print and online with national publications like Autoweek Magazine, Road & Track, and Jalopnik. For seven years I drove fast cars, attended racing schools, met some interesting people, profiled the first woman to race the most dangerous motorcycle competition in the world, shot some guns, drove a literal shoe, learned how to drag race, flew on the Goodyear Blimp (good day), and crushed a car with a tank.
As a freelance editor and copywriter I have developed branded content campaigns for The Guardian, Esquire, Car And Driver, and Popular Mechanics. Continuing the feature writing bent, I detailed the competition to launch the world’s first automatic chronograph wristwatch, tracked down the most unusual food in every state, watched television so you don’t have to, and lived vicariously through a racing instructor. You can see more of that work here, on this very website.
Branching out from cars, I am currently working on my first novel: tentatively titled Talossa, it is loosely based on personal experience, exploring the nuances of roots and stability and immigrants and what it’s like to call a place your childhood home, and what it’s like to lose it forever. Also, there are ghosts and Saabs in it. It’s not entirely based on experience.
I’m from Massachusetts, but I have lived in London, Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, and New Haven, Connecticut. I graduated from Syracuse University with a BA in Writing and Rhetoric, and a minor in American history. In my spare time I ride motorcycles, eat Mexican food, collect Soviet wristwatches, and take care of the world’s best cat, Mezzanotte. I am adept at skiing and mountain biking, have opinions on pizza, and can identify up to seven breeds of dogs.
Austin, Texas, 2016. Faux macho pretensions. (Kevin McCauley)
Blake Z. Rong is a writer, journalist, and creative professional who currently lives in a small apartment in Brooklyn with his small cat. He rides motorcycles, eats Mexican food, collects vintage wristwatches, skis pretty well, buys more books than he reads, owns a terrible old Swedish car named after Kurt Vonnegut, has a whole thing about gin, and can identify up to seven breeds of dogs.
In his journalism and freelance days he has written for Autoweek Magazine, Road & Track, and Jalopnik, Worn & Wound, and Watch Journal. His work has also appeared in Esquire, Town & Country, Automobile, Car And Driver, and Popular Mechanics. Some of of the weirder stuff he’s done in his 10+ year career has included flying on the Goodyear Blimp, learning how to become a getaway driver, living vicariously through racing instructors, tracking the most unusual food in every state, binging streaming television so you don’t have to, driving a literal shoe, learning how to drag race, and crushing a car with a tank.
He began to shift from editorial in 2016. As a freelance editor and copywriter he developed branded content campaigns for The Guardian, New York Magazine, and Autoguide.
He has written two books, an illustrated book on cars, and a collection of poetry:
Beautiful Machines: The Era Of The Elegant Sports Car (gestalten, 2019)
I Am Not Young And I Will Die With This Car In My Garage (Atmosphere Press, 2021)
He hails from central Massachusetts and has lived in London, Los Angeles, Austin, and Montpelier, the smallest state capital in the nation. He graduated from Syracuse University with a BA in Writing and Rhetoric, and a minor in American history. He recently completed an MFA in Writing and Publishing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and he is currently working on personal creative projects, ranging from poetry to a novel project.