Courtney Boyd Myers

Bio:

I've wanted to be a writer my whole life. First it was just in diaries, then it was poetry, essays on English and African American lit, twisted fiction, philosophy, and finally Forbes started paying me to write about finance and very rich people. After the economy crashed, it became too depressing to do so. That's when I started writing about robots. I wrote about robots for Forbes, PCMag, IEEE Spectrum, PSFK, Pocket-Lint, The Faster Times and the Huffington Post. In between all of that, I spent a quick stint in 2010 living in Buenos Aires, working in social media for ZZK Records and sipping on Torrontés. Now, I'm a writer for The Next Web, which is based in Amsterdam, and I'm their girl on the ground in New York City. Actually, I'm their girl on the ground for all of the East Coast. First and foremost, my job is to unleash the awesomeness of New York City's startup ventures upon our readers. Secondly, it's to spread The Next Web love in the U.S. Have you seen our site? It's absolutely beautiful. Personally, when I'm not writing about tech, I'm practicing yoga and biking around the neighborhood. I really like fresh seafood by the ocean and reading my Kindle on the beach in countries where I can practice my Spanish. I still write poems. 

• Title: East Coast Editor of The Next Web
• Age: 26
• Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
• Contact: @CBM

Do you ever get writer’s block? What kind of things do you do in order to overcome it?

I've never suffered from writer's block, so I have no idea what to write…....Kidding. First, get the blood flowing in a different direction. Tactics include: Downward dog and headstands followed by jumping jacks. Then literally shift your perspective in some way. Work on something else. Change your seat. Leave the room. Take a walk. Go for a jog. Have a glass of wine. Smoke a joint. Leave the country. Jump in the ocean, if available. If that doesn't work, come back to it later. Inspiration tends to find you.

How does working as East Coast Editor of The Next Web compare to writing for places like Forbes or the Huffington Post?

The three are vastly different experiences. Forbes Magazine was properly corporate. It was a depressing time to work in old school publishing but it was a very scholarly environment. I essentially walked away with a Masters in Journalism without the debt. The Huffington Post was a mill, but it taught me the power of a byline on the Web-- the intense interaction with readers, the aggression of PR reps and the instant satisfaction of hitting "publish". Writing for The Next Web has been the most fulfilling time of my professional life. Building a 24-hour news website with a lean, global staff has its challenges but I couldn't imagine doing anything else right now. I hesitate to call it a job, I think of it as getting my Masters in the Internet. 

What were your favorite things to read as a kid?  Who is your favorite author?

I get chills when I think about A Wrinkle in Time. The Newberry Medal winning novel tells the story of four children travelling through the folds of time to different dimensions, meeting Centaurs who live on light and having to rely on the power of love to overcome evil government scientists in order to bring their family back together. At 8-years old, the story opened my eyes to the fact that reality is much more than I can see. Now, my favorite American authors include Kurt Vonnegut and J.D. Salinger. I've read Salinger's entire body of work. And while most praise The Catcher in the Rye, it's my least favorite in his collection; my favorite is 22 Stories. I'm only halfway through Vonnegut's opus but I've read his second novel, Sirens of Titan three times.

You mention in your bio that you enjoy biking around the neighborhood.  What are some of your favorite places in the City to go biking?  Also, what kind of bike do you have?

I ride a blue English Raleigh with a step-through frame from the early 1980s. It has a leather seat, a white basket and a bell. I don't go very far! But I do love riding up Kent on summer nights and locking up at Brooklyn Bowl, or riding into Greenpoint on a lazy afternoon and grabbing a glass of wine in the back garden of Milk & Roses.