Meet
J.B. Ocean
Novel Authors
J.B. Ocean (1976) is a writing duo consisting of two girlfriends, Joke Vander Aa and Barbara De Smedt.From their home base Antwerp and recently also Portugal they, each with their families, enjoy life.
Barbara: 'I'm a real bookworm, I'm afraid, ever since I was little. Sunday was the highlight of my week, when we went with the whole family to the Antwerp city library, which I soon finished reading. I can still see myself sitting there in the reading corner, with a cushion behind my back and a stack of books in front of me. My idea of heaven. I also wrote stories and occasionally started a "book" or a "script," some of which I still have today, but none of which ever got finished. It ended up taking more than thirty years before I could really call myself a writer.'
Joke: "My chaotic mind has been leading me to new adventures all my life. When I was younger it was mainly limited to dreams. Later I took action. The bon vivant in me loves to explore new paths and take in all the beauty, love and good things I encounter. Somewhere along the way, I received two beautiful daughters as gifts, got a wedding ring, and got to know wonderful people who I can call my friends. Blue is one of the adventures in my life that I was privileged to have with one of those girlfriends. It has been a wonderful story in itself to write the book. Where the future takes me I leave somewhere to chance, but reading and writing will probably always be there. Indeed, words, in all their forms, are one of the few things that bring me peace.'
They debuted in June 2019 with "Blue," a novel they self-published. The book was noticed by Hamley Books after a few weeks and was partially reworked and re-released in spring 2020.
