About Joshua Martin:
Hello everyone! Thanks for checking this out. I am a writer based out of New York, no not New York City, and no not "upstate." I live with my wife and two young children, they are a handful. I've written and published 2 novels DEVIL'S HOLLOW and my short story collection GHOST FROM THE RUINS. Check them out. I like them and think you will too!
What inspires you to write?
I write because I feel as though I have to. It's a coping mechanism. It calms me. It centers me. It lets me be creative. In a world that wants to always put you in a box, it's how I break free. Writing is liberation. There is nothing more liberating than the blank page.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
I write horror so I think I have to say Stephen King. He's just so good at taking the mundane and making it absolutely terrifying. I love Clive Barker as well. When I think of Clive I think the possibilities of your imagination are endless. And Tolkien, folks can get bogged down in the intricacies of the world and world-building, but through it, all his work is filled with such heart. There is so much passion in his works. When I think something is "good enough" I think about Tolkien and how he essentially created an entire genre and I think "maybe I should work on this a little more."
Tell us about your writing process.
Process? You're supposed to have a process? I kid (kind of). I have two young children, so it's very hard to get into a rhythm. I try to write every day, whenever I can. Even when I'm not sitting down and writing I'm still "writing" – stashing little notes or ideas in my pocket or in the back of my brain for later use. As far as a process? I don't outline. I just write, which is probably the worst way to do it, but I just like to let the story take me. I start with a vomit draft – put everything in. The hard thing for me is that I don't type well, so it's not uncommon to type a paragraph and have eight or nine of those ugly red lines screaming back at me. I try to ignore it and just keep moving. After the vomit draft, it's a content edit followed by a grammar edit, followed by the "oh no, this thing is terrible" weeping. Then I calm down give it another couple of passes and send it out.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I try to give each a unique voice. I have a good auditory memory, so many times I will act out what a character is saying and if it doesn't sound authentic it gets changed.
What advice would you give other writers?
Be yourself. What we as writers do is hold a mirror up to ourselves and create from what we see. It took me a long time to put my stuff out there because I was worried that people I knew would see too much of me in it. When I finally did that though, a strange thing happened. The parts of my books that are the most me, come across as the most honest, and that what my readers have responded to the most.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I decided to self-publish my first two books basically because I had an overwhelming fear of rejection. That will hopefully change with my next book.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It's an exciting time. Like all of the media the landscape is constantly changing. We've seen the digital revolution affect publishing more than almost any other medium. I think that will continue. I think there is a huge opportunity in the virtual space for writers. Imagine strapping on a virtual headset and being able to not only read a book but experience what characters see as you do.
What genres do you write?: Horror, Thriller
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Link To Joshua Martin Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Twitter
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.
