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Interview with Joshua Grant , Author of 'The Lost Boy'

Aug. 19, 2020


I was privileged to invite Author Joshua Grant for an interview to discuss his latest book The Lost Boy and the inspiration behind it. Enjoy! 



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What's your book The Lost Boy about, and what inspired you to write it?
The Lost Boy is my retelling of the classic Peter Pan tale as a modern beat em up vigilante superhero thriller!  It follows Peter Barrie as he seeks revenge against crime boss J.M. Hook after the murder of his best friend.  A lot of little things inspired me to make this weird conglomeration.  I was watching The Dark Knight around the same time I was playing the great video game series Kingdom Hearts and it sort of clicked in my head.  I wanted to make a gritty examination of justice versus revenge like in the movie.  At the same time, Kingdom Hearts is this weird mash up of Disney characters with Final Fantasy, two genres that don't seem like they'd fit but it works really well.  It's fun to see who from the two franchises will show up next and I thought it'd be really fun to do something like that, a different take on a popular story.  After that I couldn't stop thinking about it and decided I had to write it.

Who is your target audience, and why do you think this book will appeal to them?
The Lost Boy can be enjoyed by a diverse audience. It's definitely for the comic book lovers out there, but even people who don't normally read comics have enjoyed it.  People who love revenge thrillers, crime dramas, superheros, or redemption stories can definitely get into it.  It's a story packed with emotion and depth that can appeal to a broad audience!

What message do you wish to pass across to your readers with this book?
I wanted to make a comic book with a lot of emotion and examine some deep moral issues.  It's my hope that readers will pull from it that nothing is truly broken beyond repair, and that differences and diversity are what makes us strong.

What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?
Writing The Lost Boy was a challenge simply because it's not what I usually write.  I'm a bestselling author of novels, but I've never written a comic book before.  It's a lot of fun, but challenging!  With novels, you can write and write and just pull stuff out later without thinking about it.  In a comic, you have to have it pretty well figured out while you're writing it, because every time you pull something out or change something, you have to change all the panels around it.  It's like building a house of cards and yanking one out each time!  It's really challenging, but honestly I have a lot of fun with it!

As a writer, is there anything you've learned about yourself while writing this book?
One of the many things I love about writing is how each thing I write changes me or gives me a different look at the world.  This book was all about reinventing an old story and is also about examining diversity and innocence.  It challenged and forced me to think in new directions and try entirely new things, both in the writing and in life.  I'm kind of a guy that likes the safe thing, so it was good to be forced to be adventurous.

What is your niche genre, and if you were to write in a different genre, what would it be?
I typically write Young Adult Fantasy or Sci Fi, but I'm also a bestseller in Horror/Thrillers.  Someday I'd love to write Lit Fic since I love a good tear-jerking drama though!

What books and authors have most influenced you?
A weird mash up of books have really influenced me. Mostly S.D. Perry and her novelization of the Resident Evil video game series.  Lois Lowry is truly the best (The Giver, Number the Stars).  And I love a lot of Dean Koontz too.

Do you have any more books in the works?
The Lost Boy Episode 2: Neverland has entered into the art stage and I'm almost done writing the whole first season of the series (6 episodes).  I'm also continuing books in almost all of my series (The Ascendants, The Hollow Men, Albanon, and The Organization).  It's a lot right now, but I'm almost there with a couple of them!

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I love to read reviews!  It's so much fun to see what readers latch onto and what they don't like.  It always stings a little when you get a bad review, but it's also helpful because readers are super diverse and you want to try to get a little something for everyone in your book within the boundries the story will allow, so different opinions matter.  I basically celebrate all reviews because they all mean I made someone feel something!

What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e., website, personal blog, Facebook page, Goodreads, etc.)?
I love to engage with readers (and authors) on my website Diabolic Shrimp!  I'm also very active on Goodreads if you'd like to stop by and say hi there!

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Joshua Grant is a self-proclaimed Bond villain and a thousandaire philanthropist (like a billionaire philanthropist, just with a lot less money).  He has survived a flash flood, encountered numerous bears, and sailed the ocean blue.  Josh loves to read, write, play video games, and occasionally read up on the crazy science that’s happening in the world, but most of all he loves just getting people together to love, laugh, and grow alongside each other.  Currently, Josh makes a living teaching and working with kids in various environments, with the occasional novel always in the works.  To learn about his work, please visit www.diabolicshrimp.com.





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