Author Bio:
Joseph Murphy was born and raised in Ontario, Canada. He earned his geekdom at an early age. He read X-Men comics from at the age of 8 and it only went downhill from there.
As a teenager he wrote short stories and wanted to be the next Stephen King. Instead of horror, however, he kept writing fantasy stories. After surviving high school as a goth with a purple mohawk, he studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor.
When not writing, Joseph works as Lead Accounting instructor at Everest College. He also lectures to other businesses on outside-the-box marketing. He lives in Windsor, ON (right across the stream from Detroit, Michigan) with his husband, two cats, and shy-but-friendly ghost.
What inspires you to write?
Watching movies where people do really dumb things. That makes me anger. Anger leads to the dark side or, as I call it, my writing dungeon. Also alcohol.
Tell us about your writing process.
Anyone that waits for the muse to hit them isn’t doing it correctly. Writing is dedication. I write four pages a day – every day – even when it sucks. I finish a rough draft in about 3 months then spend another month revising. That’s followed by several rounds of beta reading, edits, and proofreading. It’s not glamorous, but that’s writing.
I’m a stupidly-detailed outliner. However, the best laid plans often get thrown out the window. Sometimes my characters refuse to follow the outline.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Yeppers. If I wasn’t a writer people would call me crazy.
What advice would you give other writers?
Read lots. Write every day.Practice. You’ll get better. Get a professional editor and someone else, also a professional, to proofread. Make sure you have a professional cover. Everyone knows a book is judged by it’s cover. Being lazy with your cover is insulting to readers.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Initially I intended to publish through the traditional way. I was going to look for an agent and find a publisher. Then, I spoke with other writers. I learned that publishers don’t do much for you except help with distribution. They don’t help you market your book. That’s on you.
Since I have a background in marketing and I’m not afraid of a little – okay a lot – of work, I self-published.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Ebooks are growing. Like it not, the sale of physical books will decrease over the next ten years. The big publishing houses need to find a way to stay relevant or they are in deep trouble.
What do you use?
Professional Editor, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?
Urban Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Horror
What formats are your books in?
eBook
Website(s)
M Joseph Murphy Home Page Link
Link To M Joseph Murphy Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7163595.M_Joseph_Murphy
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.murphy3
https://twitter.com/Windswarlock
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