We were lucky to catch up with Joshua Todd James recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Joshua Todd thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Initially, I learned to write by reading. I read books nonstop as a child, a teen, and an adult.

I could have sped it up by paying more attention in English class, but sadly, I did not. I was bored by school and sought refuge in books. In fairness, as a high school student, I had spectacularly bad teachers (my English teacher was, in fact, fired after my senior year). It was only far later in life that I got serious about learning more language writing skills. After reading Stephen King’s ON WRITING, I immediately went and bought ELEMENTS OF STYLE.

My main obstacle is that I had no one to learn from, in my opinion. I knew no writers, and I didn’t even really meet any book lovers until I went to college. And even in college (the one I attended, which was a church college), there weren’t many. I did have the author Robert J. Conley as a comp instructor in college, however, and he gave me the first positive feedback I ever received for a piece of fiction.

Joshua Todd, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I went to college on a theatre scholarship, so I learned about theatre, which would become helpful later on, though in hindsight, I wish I’d majored in creative writing. After college, I attended grad school at the University of Iowa as an actor and would meet and become friends with playwrights, actual living, breathing playwrights, and it was thrilling. It was at Iowa that I began writing for the first time. I wrote sketches for a cabaret show called NO SHAME THEATRE.

I left grad school early to move to New York City and began writing plays, many of which were produced right away. I was very fortunate in that regard, it was an exciting time to be in NYC in the 90s, as it had a vibrant underground theatre scene.

Theatre, however, is sadly not something one can make a living at, at least as a writer. Early on, folks would ask me if I ever wrote screenplays, so I got a book, learned how they were constructed, and wrote my first one. That script would change my life, though it’s never gotten made. It began my career as a professional screenwriter.

Throughout all of this, however, I never stopped reading books. I loved fiction, and I would go to author events and listen to the authors read from their works. At one of these, I realized I needed to try this!

Thus began my journey as an author.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Books, films, and television saved my life as a child, and I truly believe this. They took me on journeys to other worlds and gave me visions of a kinder, better society.

They made the world better. Even entertainment that, upon first look, appears disposable, like Star Trek (the original series) or genre paperbacks (like Elmore Leonard) that weren’t looked upon as serious art, they reflected a better way back to me as a youngster.

I wanted to be part of that change, to create something that reflected the world and yet pointed to a better, richer, broader future.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Healthcare. Public healthcare is big. One can strive in service to their art and even go hungry (I have), but one must have healthcare, and many of the artists I have known had to leave their artistic dreams behind to take a job that offers healthcare benefits, especially when one decides to have a family.

We have many famous artists and actors from the UK, AUS, and NZ in the USA now, and part of the reason those artists were able to develop their craft to the level of global awareness is that they never had to worry about healthcare (other things, sure, but not healthcare).

It’s simply wrong that we don’t have public healthcare. End of story.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joshuatoddjames.substack.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuatoddjames/