Interview with Author Joey Paul

Joey Paul

Swindon, UK

Welcome, Joey!  It's a pleasure to have you here on Vision and Verse, a blog about Art and Authors.  You've been a very busy girl!   Tell us what have you written? 
I have written nearly twelve books so far, well, I’m working on 11 and 12 right now. I have had six published through my own indie label – Bug Books – and plan to release one a year. My seventh book will be out in June/July 2014. My first book – BLACKOUT – was released in August 2005 as a paperback and then under my own label in February 2011, alongside my second book DYING THOUGHTS – FIRST TOUCH as e-books. Since then I have had the second & third in the Dying Thoughts series released and two other standalone books – THE FRIENDSHIP TRIANGLE and LYNNE & HOPE. The next book to be released with also be a standalone book in the young adult romance genre.

What is your favorite genre to write? 
I mostly write the crime/mystery genre for young adults. I have dabbled in romance, friendship, supernatural and a few others, but my main genre is crime/mystery. I always write young adult fiction.

I was truly taken with LYNNE & HOPE.  It was nothing like what I thought it would be. Great story! What is your favorite food? 
I love lasagna when my carer and best friend makes it, but I also love my mum’s macaroni and cheese too!

Where would you like to visit? 
Right now I’d love to be able to go over to the US to see my significant other, Scott who lives in Kansas. In general, I would love to visit Hawaii and also go on a long distance train ride – one that lasts for a few days.

Favorite musical artist.  Do you listen to music when you write?  What?
I have a lot of favourite songs and artists. I love Phil Collins and I love Busted – who were a UK band that broke up in 2005 – I don’t listen to music every time I write, but I do sometimes and it’s usually a mix of songs from people like Plain White T’s, Simple Plan, Busted, John Barrowman…a whole bunch make it onto my “writing” playlist.

What makes you laugh?
I love to laugh and I’ll laugh at a lot of things from when my eight year old goddaughter tries to make up her own jokes (they are always very bad ones!) or watching a TV show. Talking with friends about various things will usually get a smile from me, but I don’t generally like to laugh at the expense of others, if you know what I mean.

                                                 How old were you when you started writing?
I was thirteen when I put pen to paper and decided to write a story. However, it wasn’t until I was nineteen and retired from my job on medical grounds that I became a serious writer.

Where do you get your inspiration?
Oh all over the place! Some of it comes from reading, some of it comes from dreams, some comes from talking with people and some comes from the deep dark recesses of my brain and I couldn’t explain how they got there!

What do you do when you get a writer's block?
I try to work through it and if that doesn’t work, then I take a break and come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes and see if I can get through what’s blocking me. I usually find that once I get started again, I’m okay, it’s just the getting started that’s the issue!

Who is your favorite author?
That’s another hard one. I love Harlan Coben, Sue Grafton, Kathy Reichs, Karin Slaughter and Sophie Kinsella. It’s hard to pick one! The ones I will read everything they write are Harlan Coben and Sue Grafton so I guess they are more favourite than the others!
Best book you ever read. This is actually an easier one, but it’s a non-fiction books. It’s called “Life Disrupted: Getting Real about Chronic Illness in your Twenties and Thirties” by Laurie Edwards. I have been chronically ill for most of my life and this book just spoke to me, it was like reading about my own life and gave me hope that I could move forward.


Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
I would have to say two people. One is my best friend, B. When I got sick at 19, I had no job and no permanent place to live. I was depressed and felt like I would never feel like “me” again. We’ve been friends since we were 13 so going on 18 years now. She pushed me on to my writing path and she also became my carer when I could no longer manage on my own. She moved in with me and looked after me for no other reason than she was my best friend. She is also my cover artist and never ceases to amaze me how she can create something so like what I have in my head.
The other person is B’s eight year old, Miss D, I was there when she was born and I’m her “Aunty Joey”. As she grows older she changes her mind about what she wants to be when she grows up – a fireman, a vet, a doctor etc. She recently decided she wanted to be an artist like her mum and a writer like me. She inspires me to get out of bed in the morning when the pain is awful and I just feel horrible. All it takes is a cuddle from her and the words “I love you” and I feel so much better. She’s shown me that no matter how ill and disabled I get, I’m good enough, I’m her Aunty Joey and nothing is going to change that.

If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?
Either Dr Gregory House because I have some undiagnosed issues and would like to know what is causing them. They have a big impact on my life and I’d like some answers. Or, Harlan Coben, he’s a big name in the crime/mystery genre and has recently branched into young adult and I’d like to just sit with him, have some tea and just talk writing without any pressure.

                                            What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?
Don’t give up. You will be rejected. You will be told your writing isn’t good enough, but don’t let that stop you. Keep going and keep writing, you will get there even if you have to go indie and do it yourself. I believe everyone has at least one good book inside of them, so keep trying to find the story inside of you.

Links?
Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B007FXH8LE
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/BugBooks
Blog/Website: http://www.joeypaulonline.com/

Thank you, Joey, for the lovely interview.  You are a remarkable person and an inspiration to all of us.  We wish you much success in all your endeavors.  Please come back when Book Eleven comes out and we'll do a Cover Reveal for you.

P.S.  For a Book Review of Joey Paul's LYNNE & HOPE, please go back to the September 26, 2013 entry here on Vision and Verse