JC McDowell
New Orleans, Louisiana
Good morning, JC. Welcome to Vision and Verse, the Place for Art and Authors. Tell us, what have you written? Is this a special day?
Yes! Today, December 15th,
an anthology of short stories will be published called Library of Dreams. My
short story is entitled ‘The Typewriter’ and it is a piece of creative
non-fiction. The contributors had connected via Wattpad, and we decided to
embark on this venture. All proceeds of this anthology will go to LitWorld, a
non-profit literacy organization fostering resilience, hope, and joy through
the power of story.
I am currently writing
my sixth novel, all of which can be read for free on Wattpad.
The series is dubbed
‘The Love Bug Series’: Watching Fireflies, Dragonfly Awakening, Hornet’s Nest,
Butterfly Sanctuary, Butterfly Resistance, and Dragonfly Redemption
What is your favorite
genre to write?
Romance. Even though
romance is a huge genre, it is very hard to capture true feelings and emotions
of what a romance is intended to be. This is what I strive to do every day.
There is always the old writer’s saying of ‘Show. Don’t Tell.’ I believe in romance,
it’s not tell or show. It’s feel. You must be able to feel what the character
is feeling. That is the biggest factor of romance, which I believe so few are
able to do these days with the influx of self publishing, but when you find
that one story, that one story that makes your heart feel, then you know you’ve
found a true romance.
Favorite food.
Beignets. There isn’t
much better than fried dough covered with powdered sugar.
Tea or coffee?
Coffee. Café au Lait to
be specific.
Pizza or ice cream?
Pizza!
Where would you like to
visit?
England … every inch of
it.
Favorite musical
artist.
At the moment, Mumford
& Sons.
Do you listen to music
when you write? What?
I do if I write in the
evening in order to help me focus after a long day at work; however, I prefer
writing in the morning when my mind is fresh.
If music is in order, I
lean towards Ray LaMontagne, Mumford & Sons, a bit of country, or
classical.
What makes you laugh?
Everything.
Oh, you're my kind of person. How old were you when
you started writing?
In high school, I
realized that I wasn’t that bad at writing. I tucked it away while serving my
time at Louisiana State University where I only wrote endless amounts of
History essays. It wasn’t until about a year and a half ago that I picked up a
pen a jotted my imagination down on paper. A year and a half later, I’m writing
my sixth and preparing to publish my first.
Describe your perfect
evening.
The perfect evening
would be a relaxing one including a glass of wine with a book in hand and
snuggling with my honey.
Where do you get your
inspiration?
Oddly enough, I think
the years upon years of watching soap operas were a huge inspiration for my
writing. I always loved that moment when something huge was revealed and I would
scream, “I knew it!”
What do you do when you
get a writer's block?
When I get stuck, I go
back to the beginning of the story and read it. I find it helps to get my
mindset back. It also helps with editing farther down the road.
Who is your favorite
author?
Jane Austen. How a
woman could write romance without ever truly experiencing love is mind
boggling.
Best book you ever
read.
Pride and Prejudice.
It’s cliché, but I cannot help it.
Who is the one person
who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
My grandfather. He was
a photographer, and I admired his ability to do something he loved for
employment. He worked at the New Orleans States-Item and then for The Times
Picayune, leaving his mark on New Orleans history for generations to come.
If you could sit down
and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who
would it be and why?
I would chose myself in
ten years … just to see how many more stories I have up my sleeve.
What advice would you
give someone who aspired to be a writer?
In the words of Ernest
Hemingway, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter
and bleed.” Then I would hand them a quill in order to pierce their skin.
Twitter: @JCMcDowell504
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