About Joel Shoemaker:
Joel Shoemaker has been a librarian for a decade and a magician for three! He lives in central Illinois with his husband, a frog, a colony of cherry shrimp, and his dog, Maximus. He consumes an inordinate amount of cheese.
What inspires you to write?
I wanted to write books for people like me, that is, gay people of faith. A central theme of many successful LGBTQIA+ books that I had read all said the same thing regarding faith, and that was that they couldn't have both. Gratefully though, affirming faith communities are on the rise and I am trying to write work that shows that you can be who you were created to be and worship the creator BECAUSE of it, if you so choose.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
My favorite author is Chuck Palahniuk! I also adore Chelsea Cain, who happens to be my writing teacher.
Tell us about your writing process.
I don't really have a process. I've just written a lot of nonsense for fun and tried to give it the necessary message when I felt one was warranted. Otherwise, I'm happy with nonsense. 🙂
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I self-published bacon grief because I had been repeatedly told it was too short. That's probably true, but I wrote it for reluctant tween and teen readers and I'm proud of the unique formatting and length. I'm happy that Silas on Sundays is with an independent publisher and feel like they did a WONDERFUL job with the illustrations which is something I could have never done on my own.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I have no idea! I think books are always going to be such an important lifeline for people and fiction a wonderful escape. So, the future is bright, in my opinion! Very bright!
What genres do you write?: LGBTQIA+ picture book, YA and short story collection for adults
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Joel Shoemaker Home Page Link
Link To Joel Shoemaker Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
