Action Interviews

@JoeRover2

Welcome to action interviews!

We hope you enjoy getting to know these amazing action writers, do swing by their profiles and check out their action-packed stories!

This interview was done by EagleFromAL

So without further ado, we introduce to you JoeRover2

1. Congratulations on winning this contest! How do you feel about this?

Thanks and thanks for doing these interviews. I feel great. I went in with the goal to have fun and I had fun. Winning was just icing on the cake (if you'll pardon the cliche).

2. Where were you when you heard that you won?

Patiently waiting to see who'd won. And by patiently I mean refreshing the site every 30 minutes.

3. What does it mean to you to win?

I hate to sound cold or calculating, buuuut...it means bragging rights. Since I have eBooks published, I can tell potential customers that I won an award (in most cases people don't care what award you won, just that you won).

But it also means that I can look back and not live with the regret of not trying. It also came with meeting new people and coming up with new inspiration for new stories. Some of the prompts lead to openings for new stories to be written down the road. Even if I hadn't won a round, I still would have won because I had met those people, evolved as a writer, and gained new ideas.

4. How long did it take you to write and Did you find the contest interesting?

Usually, it took me a day or two to write and edit the entry, depending on the word length. The contest was interesting; I learned how to be a better action writer and learned that I wasn't as terrible as I thought.

5. How were you feeling when you entered the contest? Like we're you feeling confident? Or were you just trying your luck?

I figured since I couldn't write action (I tried to avoid action scenes as much as possible in my stories) I wouldn't win anything. I was mainly doing it to see if I could make it through all nine rounds. I also wanted to joke about having a "black belt."

I never expected to meet people like @KlaraSofe @Shreya_VA @Ranger_of_the_North @MidNight_WriteR360 @Meghana_violet or @frostwingak . And I didn't expect to be written into an entry by @JenniferJonnes or go on an "adventure" when @dracollavenore disappeared because something happened to their account.

6. How would you describe yourself to other writers?

Hard working. I used to be a perfectionist until I realized that there's no such thing as "the perfect story." No matter how many times you edit it (or have some professional edit it) and no matter how many beta readers you have, there is always that comma you missed or that word you missed spelled.

I used to spend days going over just one chapter. I realized if this kept up, I'd never get a book ready for publishing; it'd be ten years later and I'd still be on the first chapter. You still want the story to be well done and professional—you want to do your best and put your best foot forward, but there comes a time when you just have to "let your child out into the world" and hope for the best.

7. What is your favorite genre?

Science fiction, though I like when it has elements of fantasy to it.

8. Who or what inspires your writing? 

Everything. The news, listening to how someone's day went, other stories, the comment section on Wattpad, social media posts, and so on. I'm always getting ideas shot at me like some nerd going up against a baseball (or tennis) pitching machine. I have to carry around a notebook just in case inspiration hits. Which reminds me, I should totally write down that sentence about the nerd and the pitching machine...

9. How long have you been writing? Like, did you start after joining wattpad or you used to write before?

I've been writing just about my whole life. I wrote my first "story" (if you can call it that) when I was the either in the first or second grade. Eventually, after being rejected many times, I did get published but had to stop for awhile to get a "real" job. But thanks to self-publishing, I started again.

10. If you could pass on a single piece of advice to anyone who just started writing, what would it be?

If you are want to be published/read, take some business classes. It helps a lot to know about marketing (like how to make a marketing plan) and industry trends. You need to know things like you'll spend 20% of your writing time promoting your book/business. And how of that 20% you spend about 20% of that actually hard selling. The other 80% is spent being more covert. You don't want to spam your audience with "buy my book, buy my book, buy my book," because people don't like ads.

You want to spend the time giving advice, asking for advice, asking how their day went, responding to their Tweets and such, sharing news—like winning a contest. Basically trying to be a friend. And that's a big key to a business: be a friend/be nice (but also remember you are a business—you can't be too nice).

Thanks for checking in, until next time!

Stay awesome!