In the Booth with Ruth – Josh Evans, Author, Screenwriter, Filmmaker & Actor

What’s your writing background? When did you begin writing and what inspired you? 

I started writing when I was eight years old. I started with poetry and then after spending several years as an actor wrote a screenplay that I turned into a movie called Inside the Goldmine.

I try to do one original piece a year. I like to absorb as much as I can, reading non-fiction and observing life is my biggest inspiration. 

How often do you write? And how do you manage to fit in writing among other commitments? 

When I’m writing I write in the mornings when my head is the most clear and I feel the best – if I’m able to write a page a day for ninety days I know that it will bring me something interesting. Doing it like this requires a lot of patience and faith but it’s the best way for me.

In which genre do you most enjoy writing? 

I’ve written a lot of biographies for the screen: Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Tupac Shakur and Che Guevara. The Che Guevara screenplay became a film that I directed. But as a new novelist, I’ve found that I am compelled to write fiction – it’s liberating to be able to finally write thoughts instead of having to show them as visuals. Thus far, writing books has been extremely rewarding in an artistic sense and I look forward to writing more.

Can you tell me about your current project(s)?

My novella is called Gold Star. I wanted to write a story about music that was based on characters that I created in my imagination, instead of relying on autobiographies of famous musicians from the past. I wanted to draw on all of the elements that I have learned from real icons and make up my own icons.

What are your writing plans for the future?

I’m almost done with a second novella – it’s very different from Gold Star. It’s a love story that deals with immortality and the apocalypse. 

Josh Evans’s novella Gold Star is available on Amazon US here and Amazon UK here.