Virtual Blog Tour – meet Joseph Eastwood

My guest today is Mr. Joseph Eastwood.  Joseph hails from my dream vacation land in the United Kingdom!  (Hmmm, maybe I can manage a business expense trip to UK to interview him in length.)  www.josepheastwood.com

Without further ado, give it up for Joseph Eastwood!

The question asked this week:  What song describes one of your books and why? 

I don’t really think of my books being described in terms of songs. However, when I think of my book, Lumen, I always think of this one song that I listened to whilst writing it, and that song is Drops of Jupiter by Train. I liked this song because of how calming it was, and also because of the lyrics… in Lumen there is a lot of mention to the solar system just like there is in this song. When I do self-publish Lumen, and if you read it, it’s likely that you won’t be thinking of this song.

    “Drops Of Jupiter”

Now that she’s back in the atmosphere

With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey

She acts like summer and walks like rain

Reminds me that there’s time to change, hey, hey

Since the return from her stay on the moon

She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey
Tell me did you sail across the sun

Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded

And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star

One without a permanent scar

And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there
Now that she’s back from that soul vacation

Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey

She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo

Reminds me that there’s room to grow, hey, hey
Now that she’s back in the atmosphere

I’m afraid that she might think of me as plain ol’

Jane Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet

Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day

And head back to the Milky Way

And tell me, did Venus blow your mind

Was it everything you wanted to find

And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken

Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you’re wrong

Can you imagine no first dance, freeze-dried romance five-hour phone conversation

The best soy latte that you ever had . . . and me
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet

Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day

And head back toward the Milky Way
[Repeat 1st Chorus]

I have a question for you guys, have you read a book recently that reminded you of a certain song? If so, what song and why?

About Joseph:

Joseph Eastwood is the eldest of five siblings. He lives and grew up in Lancaster, England, where he also attends the University of Cumbria, studying English Literature and Creative Writing.

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 or trying to get some university work done. 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

Lumen Joe Eastwood

Passion

Writing a romance requires a passion about well, passion.  Not every romance is a bodice ripper. In fact the subgenres of romance are about as vast as most of the other genres combined.  The plot of a romance is simple – true love.  The dynamics of any relationship is a complex, psychological battlefield at best.

The passion that the writer feels, or doesn’t feel comes across on the pages.  As the story unfolds, you discover something about the author.  Psychological thrillers are no different.  Stephen King loves what he does, and he does it well.  He is the master of the macabre.  I’ve read Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and others.  None of them push you to the edge of your fears quite the way King does.  He’s passionate about scaring the living daylights out of us.

I have made a self discovery in this passionate pursuit of writing.  I am an eclectic person.  That’s not the discovery,  I’m catching you up to speed.  I like a wide variety of things.  I’m not brand favorite to much of anything, with the exception of Coke.  I don’t have them very often any more but if I have a cola, it’s Coke.  I’m not a Pepsi fan, and those cheap store brands are like pouring battery acid down your throat.

I tried to think of food brands, because we all eat, but the only brand I’m loyal to is my own.  I cook from scratch, and we eat our meals in most of the time.  One really bad thing about being a great cook: we don’t go out to restaurants very often.  I guess you could say my husband is passionate about my cooking.

Creatives are often passionate in their work.  Creatives being writers, artists, musicians, actors, and such.  My discovery came to me while listening to Pearl Jam.

Even Flow by Pearl Jam

Eddie Vedder is a man of passion. You can see it in his performances, hear it in his vocals and lyrics.  He FEELS the words he wrote, writes from his heart, and sings with abandoned passion.

I am attracted to passion.  I don’t  just listen to one style of music, but rather artists that grab my attention.  I don’t go for the popular actor, I go for the actors that have passion.  They may not be top dollar box office favorites, but those are for the shallow masses anyway.

Liam Neeson is a man of passion.  Whether he is playing Rob Roy, Qui-Gon Jinn or Ra’s al Ghul.  While my friends are drooling over Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, I go for Russell Crowe or Vigo Mortensen.  It doesn’t hurt that they are sexy men either.

Some people are passionate about sports, about fashion, or nutrition.  I am passionate about passion!

The artists that I am drawn to are passionate about their craft.  The doctor I trust is not the one that got into medicine to have the Ferrari, but the one that cares about the care of his elderly patients.  There is so much phoniness  in the world, it doesn’t take much for the genuines to stand out.

Passion can be a double-edged sword.  A person that lives life passionately is prone to extremes.  I’ve often stated that my marriage is one of passion.  Often misdirected passion, but passion never the less.  People know exactly where they stand with me, I don’t make pretenses.  I’m not into sugar-coated fluff, and often I’m brutally honest. Life’s just too short to play act.

The pursuit in my writing is that the passion is conveyed.  My character’s story is of course translated through my personality, views, and sarcastic bent. In the telling of the tale, my hope is that my writer’s voice disappears, and my readers get lost in the characters story.  The narrative keeps it moving, and clues in the reader in areas that their dialog doesn’t cover.  I work hard trying to select the right words to make the movie playing in my head transfer to the pages in vivid Technicolor detail.

What are you passionate about?  Are you loyal to a specific sport team?  a specific sport?  Do you only listen to one genre of music?  read one genre of books? A specific brand of coffee?

As I’m listening to Eddie Vedder belt out Black, I am envisioning him as my character for a different WIP, Faere Guardian (copyright 2012 Ellie Mack)  Add about 15 pounds of muscle mass to Eddie, put him in a kilt with a Claymore, fighting to defend his lady’s honor.  Yeah, move over Jason Momoa you’ve got some competition.