Interview with Joshua Graham, author of 'Terminus'

WINNER OF the INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS (Beyond Justice),
#1 bestselling author Joshua Graham’s award-winning novel DARKROOM hit 3 bestseller lists on Amazon the night of its release.

CBS News described DARKROOM as a book with “action, political intrigue and well-rounded characters…a novel that thriller fans will devour.”

Many of Graham’s readers blame him for sleepless nights, arriving to work late, neglected dishes and family members, and not allowing them to put the book down.

Suspense Magazine listed BEYOND JUSTICE in its BEST OF 2010, alongside titles by Scott Turrow, Ted Dekker, Steven James and Brad Thor.

His short story THE DOOR’S OPEN won the HarperCollins Authonomy Competition (Christmas 2010.)

Publishers Weekly described BEYOND JUSTICE as: “A riveting legal thriller…breaking new ground with a vengeance…demonically entertaining and surprisingly inspiring.”

Joshua Graham grew up in Brooklyn, NY where he lived for the better part of 30 years. He holds a Bachelor and Master’s Degree and went on to earn his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. During his time in Maryland, he taught as a professor at Shepherd College (WV), Western Maryland College, and Columbia Union College (MD).

Today he lives with his beautiful wife and children in Southern California. Several of Graham’s short fiction works have been published by Pocket Books and Dawn Treader Press.

Writing under the pen name Ian Alexander, Graham debuted with his first Epic Fantasy novel ONCE WE WERE KINGS, an Amazon #1 Bestseller in multiple categories and Award-Winning Finalist in the SciFi/Fantasy category of The USA “Best Books 2011″ Awards, as well as an Award-Winning Finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category of The USA “Best Books 2011″ Awards, and an Award Winner in the 2011 Forward National Literature Awards in the Teen/Young Adult category. ONCE WE WERE KINGS is available in ebook and hardcover editions.

For Film Rights Josh is represented by UNITED TALENT AGENCY.   Please use the CONTACT button on this website for all inquiries.

Joshua’s latest book is the paranormal suspense novel, Terminus.
Visit his website at www.joshua-graham.com.

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Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life! Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning? Where did you come up with the idea to write your book? 

This idea actually came to me in 2009 during a professional writer’s masterclass in which we had to come up with about 3-4 book proposals per day. The creative juices were flowing and I really loved the concept for TERMINUS. It took a few years to complete, while getting other books published along the way, but I’m glad it finally came together. Many of the themes arose from my pondering on the ideas of mortality, eternity, spiritual warfare, and the like. I had read a book called “Fearless” by Max Lucado, and a particular chapter about facing death and beyond unafraid touched me particularly. I believe this was the final push that took TERMINUS from a proposal to a finished book. 

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers? 

All books are more difficult to write than they need be. My advice to other writers is to simply trust your inner creative voice. Upon the editing of my book, I realized how I had over complicated my story because I didn’t trust myself to tell a Paranormal Thriller story without over explaining both the world building and inner thoughts of my characters. In the end, my wonderful editor Renni Browne showed me how I had overwritten the manuscript by about 30,000 words! Less is often more. Trust yourself and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Look how many words had been cut from my book, and it got better. 

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published? 

This probably refers to my last book DARKROOM (Howard Books/Simon & Schuster 2012). I suppose what surprised me was that an imprint of a “Big Six” NY publisher would show such enthusiasm for my book. There are so many great writers and books out there. I never take for granted that my book was chosen among them. It’s something for which I’ll always be grateful. 

Q: Can you describe the feeling when you saw your published book for the first time? 

It had to be one of the most amazing experiences ever, seeing my book on the shelves of Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, Amazon, etc. 

Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published? 

I’m not at complete liberty to say, right now. But rest assured, there are more book proposals in my file, and in my head than there is time in one lifetime to write them all. I’ll say this though, if readers sign up for my newsletter, they will be the first to know about upcoming releases, as well as be automatically entered for occasional giveaways. 

Q: Fun question: How does your book contribute to making this world a better place? 

Aye, there’s the rub. I hope that my book will broaden my readers’ perspective on the meaning of life, when seen through the perspective of eternity. We’re talking about angels and demons, and that sort of thing, so it stands to reason that my book deals with concepts outside of what we see as our mortal life. Yes, it’s fiction. But I hope it will spur thoughts beyond everyday life, and into something more profound. 

Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book? 

No matter the situation, there is an eternal hope. When we live our lives not just for the temporary, material things of mortality, but in view of an eternity after this life, our priorities and choices shift dramatically. But how can we know if there is a heaven, or a hell? We cannot know, we can only believe. Time itself will tell and reveal the truth. But no matter what we chose (Heaven or no Heaven, God or no God) we chose to believe. It is an act of faith. To think otherwise is self-deception at best. 

Q: Thank you again for this interview! Do you have any final words? 

It has been a pleasure. I just want to encourage everyone to stop for a moment and imagine that you found out that your life would be over in about a week. Would your priorities change? Would you choose to live differently during that last week? We ought to live so purposefully every day of our lives. I can be reached on the contact form on my website: www.joshua-graham.com I’m also on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/J0shGraham And on twitter: www.twitter.com/j0shuagraham