Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a kid who grew up during the dawn of the Hollywood blockbuster, and I had parents who really encouraged creativity. I think the exposure to so much great literature, film, and art really shaped me, and contributed to my desire to tell stories. I’ve written as long as I can remember, and I find it thrilling that self-publishing has come so far. There’s a great big world full of readers out there! I have a collection of stories, novels, and poems that I’ve only begun to publish for readers. I have 14 complete novels for my fantasy adventure series done, and getting prepped for publishing, while I also have some shorter stories which I am putting into collections.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Well, the latest book out there is the first one I’ve self published, and it is the novelization of our independent horror film, “Escape from the Dead”. We shot the movie here in Iowa, and I novelized it because I love writing books more than screenplays, and “Escape” was first a manuscript I wrote a long time ago. Novelizing the movie was a JOY, because I got to do all the things in the book that just weren’t possible in our movie, because of budget constraints or other considerations. The book is based on my original story, as well as the final draft of the screenplay.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m not sure I do anything unusual, but I can tell you, I’ve never met a creative writing class I didn’t bug out of! Writing has always just kind of come naturally, so I spent more time learning a larger vocabulary, and more of the nuts and bolts of English than to create things. I never had a problem creating things! And I don’t waste an ounce of the creative juices- if I get inspired to write something, I get it down, and I’ll worry about where it fits in or the bigger picture later. I’ve written things that have started as a single line of dialog that turned into a whole story, so if something creative hits? Put it on a page and sort out further details later.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
This is always a tricky one for me, because I’m not a big reader. There are books I’ve read, and some of them multiple times, but in general, I don’t do a lot of reading. I was utterly fascinated by Steven King’s “IT”, but I’m not necessarily a Steven King fan. I do love a good mystery, but I’m not sure how much those inspire me to write horror or fantasy. One book I have read about four times that I find inspiring is the autobiography of KISS front man Paul Stanley, titled “Face the Music: A Life Exposed”. His life story is a great one about overcoming challenges to succeed.
What are you working on now?
Aside from working on producing a new movie for this year, I am working on three separate books to get published. The first will be a collection of short horror stories and poems, entitled “The Discomposure Agglomeration”. That one is nearing done, as I put the final touches on a couple of short stories for it, and arrange for some illustrations. There is a shorter horror novel I’m finishing which is geared more toward a teen/young adult audience, and then there is the big one, the first book in my Fantasy/Adventure series: Wolfshire. The first book, “Dawn of Heroes” should be out some time this year as well.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far, I’m pretty new to the publishing game, and so I am learning more and more about that each day. Social media has turned out to be only so useful, but that’s why I’m looking up sites like Awesomegang, as I really am interested within the next couple years in making writing my main job. I have some plans to keep increasing visibility for my books, but mainly right now, I’m learning, watching, and trying to make myself wiser about promotion and distribution.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
This will sound tremendously cliche, but… WRITE. Never quit getting better at it, and don’t be afraid to step outside what is comfortable for you to write. But always be writing, and trying to find ways to make yourself better at it. And when you think you’ve reviewed your latest masterpiece enough? Read and review it one more time.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t be afraid to pay for advertising your stuff. It is kind of a falsehood that you can succeed by JUST promoting your stuff on social media. I’ve found that to be false for both movies and books. I’m sure it has worked for someone, but we’ve always gotten better results when we’ve coughed up a few dollars to get our projects or my books in front of more eyes.
What are you reading now?
Not much at the moment outside of materials regarding publishing, promoting, and distributing books. I feel like I should read a poetry book, or maybe a good mystery soon.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Next for me as a writer is to get more of my completed works to the publishing stage, and get them out there for audiences. I have spent a lot of time reading, and I just reached a point where I knew I really had to start releasing stuff. A lifetime of work with the keyboard, now to actually share it with people who love to read! I’m hoping within a month or so to have the horror collection, “The Discomposure Agglomeration” out there for readers!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
First would be one of my unreleased Wolfshire books, called “Curse of the Vampiress”. It has become my favorite of the series, and I could read that one over and over. I think, as I mentioned earlier, Paul Stanley’s autobiography would be another one that would go with me. And probably some kind of DIY book like “How to build sea worthy rafts” would be my third choice, because being stranded on a desert island is just not going to work for me for very long…
Author Websites and Profiles
Joshua Brown Website
Joshua Brown Amazon Profile
Joshua Brown’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile