Check out this author spotlight for Joshua Grant!
You can find all his links furthest down the page, and don’t forget to check out his books!
1. Hi! Welcome to my humble blog of all things bookish! I would like for us to start by getting to know you. Give us a short bio, please!
Thank you so much for having me, Catrin! You’re a fantastic writer and it’s such an honor to be interviewed by you! I’m bestselling author and comic creator Josh Grant. I’ve lived a crazy life, having stared down numerous bears, sailed the ocean blue, and survived a flash flood and being trapped in the mountains for several days! Still, I love the simple things and just connecting and growing alongside people.
Professionally speaking, I used to be an actor before becoming an elementary teacher and eventually an author. These days, I’m mostly working on comics and a video game, but I’ve recently broke into the world of film as well!
2. To get to know you just a little bit better, I’d like to ask you some this or that questions. Answer 5 (or more!) of these and explain why you chose this or that, or maybe an entirely different alternative!
Winter, spring, summer or autumn?
Summer all the way, baby! I’m a warm weather mammal!
Cat or dog?
I know it’s not popular, but I’m a cat person! Dogs scare me! I was actually mauled by a dog when I was younger, and they can sense my fear and just want to eat me all the time!
Tea or coffee?
Soda, but I really want to like coffee, I just don’t.
Morning or evening?
I’m very much a night owl. I don’t know what it is, but the night just awakens my spirit.
Library or museums?
I actually have a side job at a museum, so I’ll have to choose that. I also never got a library card because I can’t stand the thought that someone else is waiting for the book I’m reading.
Hunter or gatherer?
Cannibal! I actually hunt the gatherers, mwhahaha! Just kidding. I’m more of a gatherer.
Witches or wizards?
Wizards! Gandalf is one of my favorite literary characters ever and it’s really fun to say ‘it’s wizard’s chess, Harry!’
Ninjas or pirates?
Samurai!
Mountains or beaches?
I live right next to the mountains and love them, but when I vacation I go to a beach. So…not sure I guess?
Plotter or pantser?
A bit of both really. I plot things out in my brain in general, and then I play around in the chapter to see where things take me.
Pen and paper or computer/phone?
I handwrite all my books and eventually type them up. It’s a problem since I have a million piles of papers lying around my home! My cat loves to roll in them!
Standalone or series?
I have a terrible habit of starting a million series without continuing them! I’m working on continuing them, it’s just slow going.
Book or ebook?
Ebooks are where I make all my money, but I always have a paper copy available since that’s what I love to read. There’s just no replacement for the smell of paper and the weight of a good book in your hands.
Hero or anti-hero?
I love them both! All my books typically have a mixture of both heroes and anti-heroes.
3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?
Growing up, I absolutely loved Star Wars. When I really started reading in college, I would pretty much exclusively read Star Wars books. Ultimately, I love stories where a group is battling against some evil empire or another. I also love stories with a spiritual or moral aspect integrated into it as well as morally conflicted characters!
4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!
I write in a whole variety of genres (I have a really hard time just choosing one). I started in the industry by writing Pandora and Jericho, my bestselling horror novels. Not sure why I started there since I’m actually a big scaredy cat myself, haha! I then did several young adult sci fi and fantasy novels.
Last year, I decided to branch out and create a comic book. My comic The Lost Boy is a gritty modern retelling of Peter Pan where Peter becomes a vigilante crime fighting superhero (like Batman). I was brand new to comics, so it really shocked me when The Lost Boy became a number one bestseller right off the bat! I’ve since shifted all my focus to comics lately. I’m currently about to publish Another Zombie Apocalypse, a collection of short zombie comics that are very different takes on the classic zombie formula (but they’re all secretly connected and build towards a big twist)! That comes out in October 2022, and you can even be drawn into the comic as a zombie by searching ‘Another Zombie Apocalypse’ on Kickstarter (campaign ends April 12)! I’m also converting my young adult fantasy book The Fifth Ascendant into a comic (and am so excited for that) as well as working on a video game!
5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!
Recently, I finished The Lost Boy’s first season. It was really fun to dive into a classic fairytale like Peter Pan and reimagine it in our modern world and also as a vigilante crime thriller! It was a fun challenge finding that right balance between being true to a character and doing something new with them. I really enjoyed Peter’s story arc, and I especially had fun exploring some of the characters who don’t get much focus in the original story like The Gentleman or Princess Tiger Lily (Lily was such a fun character to delve into)! I’ll be producing the second season of The Lost Boy this coming year where I’ll integrate characters and plots from The Wizard of Oz into it and can’t wait!
6. What real-life inspiration do you draw from, and what are your primary fictional sources of inspiration (books, authors, films, music, etc.)? Name a few!
A lot of characters in my books tend to deal with some moral dilemma or a loss of some kind. A lot of this comes from things I’ve experienced personally. I’ve had many challenging things thrown at me in life, but I’ve learned through the struggle that there’s always hope and the human heart is stronger and larger than anyone ever knows. The characters in my books tend to reflect this.
And my books are quite heavily inspired by various shows and video games! My horror series is deeply inspired by Resident Evil. The Fifth Ascendant is my love letter to Final Fantasy and Avatar The Last Airbender. And The Lost Boy has deep roots in Daredevil and of course Batman. I also love Lois Lowry’s works (The Giver), so I try to capture some of the emotion and depth she seamlessly builds in her works!
7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!
My life is ruled by a pile of sticky notes, haha! I get these crazy ideas for stories and jot them on sticky notes, so my house looks like I’m some detective trying to hunt a serial killer or something! When a story gets caught in my brain and I can’t stop thinking about it, I write it. I tend the plot the whole story in my head, but I don’t write down my plot since I feel like it’s already written then. I then tend to write a chapter or comic section a day on good old paper. Typing the story is my first line of revision followed by several more readthroughs and rewrites. I tend to shelve the book for a month or so and come back and look it over with fresh eyes before finally going to publish.
8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to becoming an author, what would it be?
Honestly, I don’t think I have any. Trying things out and seeing what works and what doesn’t is such a huge and important part of the writing experience. I guess I would say to myself and anyone, don’t be afraid to try something new and don’t be afraid to fail. It’s all part of the fun of writing! I would also probably tell myself not to print 5,000 business cards for my first book Pandora, haha! I still have about 4,954 of them hanging out beneath my desk!
9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!
Thank you so much for featuring me, Catrin! I’m truly honored! I love connecting with people, so anyone can seak me out via the links below!
Josh’s author website:
Diabolic Shrimp Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp5fRXb9o-yIOgzZsjl8BCw
Josh’s books on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Joshua-Grant/e/B01M62JM1J
Another Zombie Apocalypse Kickstarter campaign:
