You may have noticed I haven’t posted for a few days? Anyone???? Computers are finicky things. Temperamental beasts on their best day. Hopefully now, we hae all previous issues resolved and I think (fingers crossed here) we are back up and fully operational!
Today I have a special guest. His just released book , hot off the press is flying off the shelves! Joseph Eastwood shared a bit earlier on my blog about his work, check it out HERE!
Let’s get right to it then.
Hey Joseph! Glad you could make it. Thank you for taking the time to let me interview you.
What’s your choice of beverage? That doesn’t count as a question, just making you comfy.
JE: COFFEE! I love coffee!
Hernando and Javier bring coffee and refreshments, setting a plate of light pastries, fresh fruit, and cheese in front of us. My stomach growls, having not eaten yet. Javier stands to the side, flexing his shirtless form for Josephs’s benefit. I pour my cup, Javier has already poured Josephs. Hmmm, I can’t seem to get him motivated.
Welcome to Quotidiandose! A place where you just never know what might happen. Just when you think I’ve settled into a groove, ha fooled you! LOL
Ready????
You’re the eldest child of five. Ironically, I’m the youngest of five. Do you think there’s anything to that personality/birth order connection?
Definitely, as the eldest I’ve always been the first to do everything, high school, moving out, university etc. but as the eldest you also feel like you’re the guinea pig as parents might be seeing what kind of parent they are, or god forbid reading parenting books. Parents mollycoddle their youngest, and if there are middle children, then they are the ones to usually rebel. (That’s my theory anyway.)
Hmmm, I’d have to disagree. As the youngest, my folks were done with any ‘mollycoddling ‘- never heard that term before. I’m the rebel of the bunch.
I see you’re a student at UNI, what do you plan to do with your degree when you graduate?
I don’t want to do anything with it, maybe perhaps do my masters. But getting a degree in Eng and creative writing is what I do part time, it’s not all of my focus, my writing and self-publishing career is my real focus and my real goal in life.
What do you do when you’re not writing or going to UNI?
I watch a lot of TV! Like, I am an actually a TV whore, but only the good stuff like Grimm, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, The Good Wife, Cupcake Wars, and some reality TV that I won’t mention as it’s embarrassing to speak about in public.
Javier refills Joseph’s cup. He’s very attentive today.
I had some really aggravating assignments when I was in college. What was your worst writing assignment?
The one I didn’t hand in I guess, but it the most simple of assignments I’ve ever had, all I had to do was write a 1,000 word essay and then annotate a poem and also write 500 words about that, but I didn’t hand it in. Eeek.
You’ve said that you’re a TRUE BLOOD fan. Who’s your favorite character and why?
Jessica! She really doesn’t get enough attention. She was turned into a vampire after being taken from her strict Christian (don’t know which religion) family, and then she became some AH-MAZING vampire lady. I think she’s the only character that I actually like anymore. Oh, and Pam! Everyone else is just super weird, and Bill cannot act.
Pfft! Bill! *rolls eyes* Give me Erik or Alcide anyday!!
Have you read the Charlaine Harris books that are the inspiration for True Blood?
I haven’t, although I do have the first few books on my shelf… which I will one day get around to reading.
Are you a pantser or a plotter?
A plotter. I’m a major plotter! I absolutely love plotting and I’ve actually plotted all of the books in my three series, which is around 11 novels and 2 novellas… and I’m writing them all… so my life is revolving around getting these stories out.
You’ve stated that you like to put your characters through hoops. What is the most bizarre “hoop” you’ve made them (one?) jump through – without giving away your story?
Well, why don’t you read Lumen and see what hoops I’ve created for Daniel to jump through, or the characters that I’ve created to get in Daniel’s way.
What qualifies a “writing session” for you? Do you set a word count, a timer, or write until a scene is complete? Describe.
To me, a writing session is when I hit the 500 mark and can’t stop writing, but a writing session becomes fulfilling when I hit 2,500 words. My sessions can go from 1,000 to 5,000 words, and it all depends on what I’m doing that day, or if I’ve planned the session or not.
I wrote my first ever flash fiction for your blog. It was surprisingly fun. If I gave you a story prompt, how long would it take you to write a flash piece, a short story, or a scene? Which would you choose and why?
I’d choose a piece of flash fiction as it only takes me around 30 minutes to go from plotting what’s going to happen in the 500+/- words to writing it.
Are you a neat freak, a scrunge, or somewhere in the middle of the road? How about your writing area? Does it tend to the sanitized surface, or a cluttered heap?
I think I’m in the middle of the road. I’m certainly not a neat freak though. I usually write in bed with laptop on my knees and a bunch of paper around me, so you could say that my writing area is just a cluttered mess.
Are there any characters that have given you complete fits? Been difficult to work with, or refused to cooperate?
Oh god no, if I can’t work with my characters I kick them out, they either work with me, or they hitch onto someone else’s imagination. I also love building huge character profiles up for my main characters so that I can get a feel for them and know how to work them with my writing.
Laughing here, because mine can be quite the divas at times. I’ve had them show up, want their story told then play coy in how they want it told. Trust me, dragons can be such divas!
When Lumen hits phenomenal status, and is contracted for a movie, what actor and actresses would you like to see play your characters?
Oh, if only this would happen to Lumen, although all the way through writing it, and then after so many rereads I always imagined it being played on the big screen inside my head. I’m not someone to go through a list of celebrities and pick out who I’d want to play it if I was turned into a film. But if I saw someone, I’d say. Nobody really stands out when I think about it being a film. I’d probably have some newbie actors with fresh faces.
One of the things I enjoy is playing video games. My favorite is Tombraider, and Skyrim is becoming a huge favorite as well. Do you play and what games do you enjoy?
SIMS! I absolutely love The Sims! That counts as a video game, right? Other than that I don’t really play anything else. I would probably play Skyrim if I had a PS3 or something, but I don’t.
LOL! My kids love SIMS!
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
Self-publish my book. It was crazy. I didn’t know what to do once I’d clicked the upload button. So, the craziest thing I’ve ever done is self-publishing… whoa, my life is boring.
My kids and I have this weird little thing we do, memorizing lines from movies then reciting full scenes with each other. Do you ever memorize lines from movies, and “reenact them with your friends or siblings”?
HAHA! Awh, that sounds so cute! I wish I could see that. No, I don’t do anything like that. We sometimes quote films, like Mean Girls etc. but not full scenes, although that would be fun.
The Olympics were just in London. Did you go? Did you watch? What was your favorite event? How do you feel about the US smokin’ everyone on the medals?
Hehe, I know I live in the UK, but at the opposite end from London… like, the north. Ha! I watched a couple of events, and my fav would have to be the mens gymnastics… who wouldn’t like to watch muscly men in lycra and spandex doing flips around a room.
Javier moves closer, then gets an odd expression staring at Joseph.
Thank you so much for visitng me here in the midwest. I know it’s a far cry from the UK. We’ve had a drought recently, it’s usually at least a little nicer here. *clears throat, turns pale*
How do you feel about spiders?
NO. NEVER. GO AWAY! I’ll start crying. I mean it.
Hernando steps in and knocks spider off Joseph’s shoulder. I’m sorry. With all this dry heat, they’ve become a real problem.
Javier escorts Joseph quickly out the door while Hernando cleans up the spider guts.
Speaking of unexpected, take a look at Joseph’s book for his unexpected twist with Daniel.
About Joseph
Joseph Eastwood is the eldest of five siblings, and he lives and grew up in Lancaster, England.
He has always had a giant creative connection in his life, from drawing and writing to having an eclectic taste in music and reading a wide range of books, which he hopes reflects in his own writing. He also loves watching sci-fi, supernatural and fantasy based TV shows and films. Among some of his favourites are Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. As well as those he loves dramas, like The Good Wife and Desperate Housewives.
Joseph is either busy doing edits and writing, that, or he’s on his Facebook page being a professional procrastinator. He lives for creativity, striving to be different and thinking up new hoops for his characters to jump through.
Links
http://www.josepheastwood.com/ – Blog
https://www.facebook.com/josephswriting – Facebook page
https://twitter.com/#!/Joe_Eastwood – Twitter
Got any questions for Joseph? Leave him a comment adn show your love!!
Write on my friends, write on!
quotidiandose 
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