Ask the Author: Josh Erikson
Answered Questions (9)
Josh Erikson
Hey thanks, Kristopher! You didn't miss the release date yet. My original hope was to have the audiobook out by the end of February, but the last few tracks gave me some trouble. (Read: I'm a hopeless perfectionist and had to edit the recording to within an inch of its life.) But it's all been submitted to Audible as of ten days ago, and it's just waiting for them to finish processing. Hopefully just a few more days to go! And even though I've been terrible about keeping people updated, I'll be sure to announce it here, on my website, twitter, facebook, and everywhere else I can think of. :) Thanks for checking and for being awesome!
Josh Erikson
Hi! Right now I have ten in mind, but I also have some shared-world novella ideas. So the whole collection could be longer if time allows. Thanks for asking!
Josh Erikson
Hey, thanks for the questions! And the review, by the way. :)
I mostly decided to do my own narration because it sounded like a ton of fun. And I've spent a good portion of my life studying and performing in Music Theatre, so it seemed like a natural fit to put that experience to work. But listening to Neil Gaiman do his stuff really inspired me. Anything that puts me in the same ballpark as that guy can't be bad, right? (Okay, more like the parking lot of the burger joint next door to the ballpark, but still...)
The sound booth setup was trouble for me at first. I'm more of an "art before science" guy, so I just grabbed some foam and jumped in. That...didn't work. It actually took me four months of research and testing to get the booth and software bugs all worked out. A good friend hooked me up with the right equipment, and THEN I was able to record. I'm looking forward to actually knowing what I'm doing for the second book.
As for that, the next book in the series is in edits now and goes to my editor on 9.15. She'll tell me where I've been painfully stupid, and then I'll polish it all up. I'm hoping to be recording by early November and do a release in all formats by January. Book three is outlined and will start to take shape in a few months. The goal is to release at least two books in the series every year until people start throwing things at me to quit.
Thanks again!!
I mostly decided to do my own narration because it sounded like a ton of fun. And I've spent a good portion of my life studying and performing in Music Theatre, so it seemed like a natural fit to put that experience to work. But listening to Neil Gaiman do his stuff really inspired me. Anything that puts me in the same ballpark as that guy can't be bad, right? (Okay, more like the parking lot of the burger joint next door to the ballpark, but still...)
The sound booth setup was trouble for me at first. I'm more of an "art before science" guy, so I just grabbed some foam and jumped in. That...didn't work. It actually took me four months of research and testing to get the booth and software bugs all worked out. A good friend hooked me up with the right equipment, and THEN I was able to record. I'm looking forward to actually knowing what I'm doing for the second book.
As for that, the next book in the series is in edits now and goes to my editor on 9.15. She'll tell me where I've been painfully stupid, and then I'll polish it all up. I'm hoping to be recording by early November and do a release in all formats by January. Book three is outlined and will start to take shape in a few months. The goal is to release at least two books in the series every year until people start throwing things at me to quit.
Thanks again!!
Josh Erikson
Write anyway. Start a short story or a different chapter. Just don't linger in front of that white expanse watching the cursor blink. It's mental quicksand. Relax and float for a while, then pull yourself out with something else. Once you're back on solid land, you'll find a different way around as long as you don't charge headlong back into the same trap you just escaped from.
Josh Erikson
Having permission to live in my own world. Note that I didn't say "control my own world" because I don't. I don't at all understand writers who have complete mastery of their stories, like they're pouring metal into a mold. For me, it grows from a seed of an idea and the branches go where it makes the most sense for them to grow. Sometimes that means the story deviates wildly from my assumptions, and I get to be just as surprised as everyone else when that happens. I get to be the first person to watch this organic thing come to life, and that feeling rivals almost any other in my experience.
Josh Erikson
1. Discipline. You won't have a book otherwise, and that's where everything starts. Begin at 100 words a day if you have to. Just get the train moving and don't let it ever ever EVER stop.
2. Persistence. There are so many ways to get your work out there now. Rejections and obstacles are going to happen, so get your mind ready for them before they hit. Swerve around or plow right through, just don't quit.
3. Education. No, not school. Or, at least, not JUST school. Learn as many new things as you can about writing, the publishing industry, and marketing--but also learn about absolutely everything else. Like, in the whole world. Writing and publishing savvy will help you immensely no matter how you publish, but your general knowledge about everything else will help your writing in ways you can't even measure. Inspiration is a living thing and it swims in the sea of your knowledge and experience. The more space you give it, the bigger it will grow.
2. Persistence. There are so many ways to get your work out there now. Rejections and obstacles are going to happen, so get your mind ready for them before they hit. Swerve around or plow right through, just don't quit.
3. Education. No, not school. Or, at least, not JUST school. Learn as many new things as you can about writing, the publishing industry, and marketing--but also learn about absolutely everything else. Like, in the whole world. Writing and publishing savvy will help you immensely no matter how you publish, but your general knowledge about everything else will help your writing in ways you can't even measure. Inspiration is a living thing and it swims in the sea of your knowledge and experience. The more space you give it, the bigger it will grow.
Josh Erikson
The next book in the ETHEREAL EARTH series! The first draft of Book 2 is done and awaiting revisions as of May 2018, and I can't wait to dive back in to start the second draft. Then that will go out for initial readings and edits by some very patient and kind people, and I'll be on to Book 3. My goal is to keep this series coming at a pretty rapid pace!
Josh Erikson
I used to think it came and went like tides and that I had to jump on the wave as it approached or wait until the next one. And for a long time I worked that way. But then I read a quote from The Oatmeal web comic (of all places, I know). It was something like, "Creativity is like breathing. When you're creating, you're exhaling. Eventually you have to breathe in." And that totally changed my approach. I realized that I tend to be the most creative right after I've absorbed the product of someone else's creativity. Like some kind of psychic vampire. So whenever I'm feeling used up, I recharge by watching cool shows, playing video games, or reading good books (more often listening to good books, actually). And that's it. Like plugging in your phone at the end of the day. When I need to turn it back on, it's recharged.
Josh Erikson
I'd love to say it came from a deep, churning well of molten inspiration that lives in my soul, but it just kind of popped into my head one day. I really enjoyed American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, and pretty much everything by Urban Fantasy masters like Jim Butcher and Kevin Hearne. And I love shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural. So I suppose all of those elements came together to make this story. The idea of having this dark backdrop behind these funny, snarky characters just appealed to me as a great way to deliver some difficult themes and hard questions without getting preachy or condescending.
Aaaaand I was told at one point by an industry professional that Fantasy readers in general (and Urban Fantasy readers in particular) don't want their themes to be too deep or too "smart". So there's also a little of the hope to prove her wrong in this book!
Aaaaand I was told at one point by an industry professional that Fantasy readers in general (and Urban Fantasy readers in particular) don't want their themes to be too deep or too "smart". So there's also a little of the hope to prove her wrong in this book!
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