Interview with an Author: Joshua Dyer

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Joshua Dyer

Joshua Dyer writes in several different genres and styles including horror, fantasy, science fiction, and mainstream fiction. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, where some of his fiction won their “Reader’s Choice Award” for best story of the year. When he’s not writing, Dyer likes to read, study languages, play video games, and bake stuff.

How did you become interested in writing fiction?

I can’t point to any one event or work that inspired me to write. I love to tell stories in any medium: novels, short fiction, poetry, songs, plays, film scripts, sketchs, you name it. I’d say that the expression of storytelling is a form of therapy for me. A compulsion of positive and negative release.

You write numerous genres: horror, fantasy, science fiction, and mainstream fiction. Most authors stick to one or two genres at most. What draws you to this variety?

It depends on what my release is at that time. I tell stories that remind me in some way that I’m still alive. I go where this leads me. I won’t be bound by marketing conventions.

How do you organize your writing? Are you highly detailed or just let it come as it flows?

I have a meticulous writing process that includes preproduction, production, and post-production. I flesh out characters and plot an outine of each chapter. If there’s a particular scene, set of lines, or a dialogue exchange I want, I’ll note these as well. I never write the final ending. I may give a story three or four ways to end, but I won’t know until I get there. The characters will determine how it concludes.

You also write short stories for the Los Angeles Times and even won the Reader’s Choice Award for best story of the year. What kinds of stories do you write for the paper? Tell us about your winning story.

I wrote fairy tales for them. It was fun and a challenge to tell a tale in 600 words or less that held a child’s imagination. A few of my stories won this award: “Gift of Hope,” “The Silver Whistle,” and “Cloudrunner.”

What kind of research do you do for your books, and how do you do them?

Historical fiction takes the most time. I want to get as many of the details right as possible. I’ll do online research, perform interviews, watch videos and view documentaries of the subjects. Science fiction is the second toughest. A lot of it comes from my imagination, but I still want a solid plausible environment for the story.

You have published around 14 books and stories. Is there one that is especially memorable to you?

Good question. Stories, to me, are a lot like people you’ve dated. You look back on the first one and the first time with fondness, but when compared to what you have now, it sucked. It was rushed. The setting was all wrong. There was no development. Hell, you had no time for that. You just wanted to rip clothes off and get to the sensation. After that, you learn that there’s more pleasure in patience. More importantly, you just LEARN.

I’m always curious how authors name their characters. How do you come up with the names of your characters?

I flesh out the person first. Sometimes, a name hits me right away. Others, I need to wait until they tell me who they are. This causes some readers frustration wondering when the next work in a series is due. It rattles me, too. Believe me.

You like to study languages. What languages have you studied, and what draws you to them?

I have a professional working proficiency in Russian and French. I’ve got a basic understanding of Italian, Norwegian (Bokmal), and Japanese. I find it interesting how we as humans express ourselves via language. The same way we say “I love you,” for example, doesn’t quite work in Japanese. They use “I like” for this. Controlling your passions is a deeply rooted cultural thing for them. Besides, I love reading authors in their native tongue. Pushkin in Russian, Hugo in French, Dante in Italian, and so on.

You also like to play video games. What games do you enjoy?

My favorite series are Elder Scrolls and Tomb Raider. Final Fantasy has some great stuff, too. The Lightening Saga, III, VII, and IX. Again, it boils down to whether or not the game tells a good story.

What authors have inspired your own writing?

Many. George McDonald was the father of fairy tales and fantasy. If you can’t write a good fairy tale, then don’t expect a better result in your fantasy epic. Margaret Weis mentored me for a year, so I owe her a lot of gratitude. I love the Russian classics. There are too many horror authors to name here. I’ve always loved Robert Louis Stevenson. Steinbeck had a big influence on my fiction, as did Van Goethe.

To learn more about Josh, visit the following sites:

Amazon author page
Facebook author page

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