Ask the Author: Josh Deere
Answered Questions (6)
Josh Deere
She stopped her struggle with the knots when he entered the room. He smelled of formaldehyde and bourbon.
Josh Deere
I tend to be always be working on multiple things at once. So if I do feel stumped on a certain project, I just switch over to another one and hammer on that for a while. This can be especially helpful if I go from one of my fiction books to a non-fiction, or vice-versa, because switching takes me completely out of one type of head space and plops me into another. That tends to clear out the cobwebs quite effectively.
Josh Deere
I'm certainly not the expert to ask...yet. But I did have a very wise person ask me one time, "more than anything else, what would you love to do?"
My answer: "I would love to be a writer."
Very wise person: "Well, let me tell you, you already ARE a writer. You just haven't started writing yet."
A famous Chinese proverb says "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
In other words, forget about being an "aspiring writer". Just start writing. Today. If you feel the itch to write, then write. At first, and probably for quite a while, you won't have much to show for it. But once you start writing, you will be scratching that itch, which is WAY better than just sitting around thinking, "man, wouldn't it be nice to scratch that itch?"
My answer: "I would love to be a writer."
Very wise person: "Well, let me tell you, you already ARE a writer. You just haven't started writing yet."
A famous Chinese proverb says "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
In other words, forget about being an "aspiring writer". Just start writing. Today. If you feel the itch to write, then write. At first, and probably for quite a while, you won't have much to show for it. But once you start writing, you will be scratching that itch, which is WAY better than just sitting around thinking, "man, wouldn't it be nice to scratch that itch?"
Josh Deere
A lot. Too much, probably. I have written about five chapters of a legal fiction title Red Flag which I am really excited about. I am also working on two nonfiction books: one on professional development and one on marketing and branding. I am also developing quite a few small books/e-books related to legal topics, and some other things. Oh, and yes, I am also working on book 2 of the Purgatorium series!
Josh Deere
Ideas come to me usually at odd times or in odd places. Many have come to me while driving, or taking a shower, or while at the gym, while others seem to spring from reading other books or watching movies. Purgatorium definitely started while on a long car trip for work.
However, once I have the idea, I will usually develop it while listening to music that fits the tone of the story I am working. For example, I am not a very romantic person by nature, so when writing the romantic stuff in Purgatorium, I had a playlist of a few songs that played on repeat to try and get me to that "place". Once I finished it and let my wife read it, she kept saying, "who is this person who wrote this stuff?" When I was writing the scary or intense parts, I would listen to really creepy instrumental stuff, although those parts were a lot easier for me to get into.
Also, I tend to start off working through ideas by hand on a legal pad (I am, after all, a lawyer). But then I push to turn that chicken-scratch into a viable outline on my computer, which eventually morphs into the book itself. I don't really feel like I can tell if a story has legs until I get it into a workable outline.
However, once I have the idea, I will usually develop it while listening to music that fits the tone of the story I am working. For example, I am not a very romantic person by nature, so when writing the romantic stuff in Purgatorium, I had a playlist of a few songs that played on repeat to try and get me to that "place". Once I finished it and let my wife read it, she kept saying, "who is this person who wrote this stuff?" When I was writing the scary or intense parts, I would listen to really creepy instrumental stuff, although those parts were a lot easier for me to get into.
Also, I tend to start off working through ideas by hand on a legal pad (I am, after all, a lawyer). But then I push to turn that chicken-scratch into a viable outline on my computer, which eventually morphs into the book itself. I don't really feel like I can tell if a story has legs until I get it into a workable outline.
Josh Deere
Purgatorium is about a couple who, not long after they meet, are caught up in a crazy paranormal disaster that causes their spirits to be ripped from their bodies. They find themselves stuck in a limbo-like a spirit world where they are fighting to survive while hordes of terrifying demons are hunting them, and trying to possess their bodies.
Oddly enough, the idea for Purgatorium came from a somewhat difficult time I went through a few years ago that included the tragic losses of my brother and father-in-law, some significant health problems, and frankly, some anxiety and depression. I had reached a point (as many of us do) when life seemed monotonous, as if there was nothing else left in the world to explore, and no more magic to discover. Then, one day, I started thinking about what else is out there that is mysterious and completely undiscovered? The answer was the afterlife.
Death is something that we are all going to experience, yet none of us really know what to expect. I happen to believe that life doesn't stop once we die, so that leaves this amazing, enigmatic event that all of us who are still here have yet to experience. That got the ol' noodle thinking about what things really could be like on the other side, and Purgatorium was the result.
Oddly enough, the idea for Purgatorium came from a somewhat difficult time I went through a few years ago that included the tragic losses of my brother and father-in-law, some significant health problems, and frankly, some anxiety and depression. I had reached a point (as many of us do) when life seemed monotonous, as if there was nothing else left in the world to explore, and no more magic to discover. Then, one day, I started thinking about what else is out there that is mysterious and completely undiscovered? The answer was the afterlife.
Death is something that we are all going to experience, yet none of us really know what to expect. I happen to believe that life doesn't stop once we die, so that leaves this amazing, enigmatic event that all of us who are still here have yet to experience. That got the ol' noodle thinking about what things really could be like on the other side, and Purgatorium was the result.
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