Pen Name: Josiah Mork (very original, I know :D)

Username: mrimagination01

Is your pen name your legal name? If no, then how did you make up one?

Yup, it's my real name. I see my writing as an important part of my identity so I enjoy having it associated with my name.

How many books have you published till date?

Hmm, I only have two completed books published here on Wattpad. About another half-dozen are in various forms of incompletion, mostly as drafts. I also have a dozen or so short stories published here on Wattpad.

What are your future projects?

Right now I am working on a pre-courser to Blade of Erogrund called Dusk Over Arcath. It examines some of the events that led up to those of Blade of Erogrund and that precluded it by roughly a thousand years. Few other projects are on the queue at the moment, but I am toying with a couple sci-fi ideas as well.

What is writing to you?

To me, writing is parable. For much of my writing, I am putting my words into the mouths of characters braver than me. It's the jokes, critiques, and relationships that are so difficult for me to say in experience in person. My stories are tailored to the struggles I am going through in life and the weird, mangled, hopefully insightful ideas that battle inside my mind. For quite a few years I was dealing with intermittent depression. During this time, I wrote Blade of Erogrund. Looking back, I can definitely see some of the themes at work. In the last couple months God has really worked in my life and introduced some great people who have helped me heal, but that has changed my passion for writing and my style quite significantly. I lost a lot of vision I used to carry. Writing was my coping mechanism and my outlet for communicating the dark, cruelly gorgeous lens I saw the world through. God, using some good friends, has removed that toxic worldview but with it has gone much of my vision for writing.

Is being an author, your long time dream or a hidden passion you found out later?

Being an author was my long-time dream, but that has kind of changed. Writing will always hold a special place in my heart but most of my energy now goes into graphic design and game design. I wrote and published a tabletop role-playing game called Blade (please check it out on Amazon or B&N!) and am working on a second, sci-fi game at the moment. Creative writing has kind of taken the back-burner but I will always identify as a writer.

What genre books you like to work on?

I like primarily High Fantasy. I have dabbled in science fiction and contemporary fiction, but only in short stories. For some reason the High Fantasy genre has always struck me as the easiest medium to flesh out my ideas. Plus, growing up it was my favorite so I relate to it the most.

If we challenge you to write a book of another genre we suggest, then would you take it up?

I would seriously consider it! An entire book, probably not, but I might give you a short story on it. It would also depend on the genre you chose. Romance is VERY much not my gist just in case you decide to take me up on it.

Then we would love to read Fantasy Romance story in Poetry style soon.

Writing is a reality that paints a beautiful fantasy. What do you think are the charms of writing fiction/non fictional books?

Fictional books are an escape. They are vivid, captivating stories of the heroes and villains we all imagine ourselves as. They are frequently entirely fake and yet the themes within them feel realer than life sometime. Honestly, life is messy. It's hard to go through your day and maintain a perspective of what's important. In a book, though, it's easy to root for characters and see them develop. Then, seeing your life next to the lives of your favorite characters, you learn about them and about yourself.

Who are your favorite authors in and out of wattpad?

On Wattpad, I only really have one favorite author - CelticWarriorQueen17. We knew each other from an online Lord of the Rings forum prior to writing on here, and she was a huge encouragement in my early writing days. Not to mention, she is a fantastically creative author! Outside of Wattpad, I most enjoy George R. Martin, Christopher Paolini, and Brandon Sanderson. Tolkien has some fantastic world-building, though I have to say his narrative is a bit too verbose for me. Lisa McMann, Brandon Mull, and Rick Roidan are honorable mentions as well, though I have kind of outgrown most of their stuff.

Name few of your close wattpad friends.

Honestly the only one I can name is CelticWarriorQueen17 . There are countless other amazing authors on here, I just haven't had the pleasure of getting to know many very well.

What is your favorite series you have recently watched or read?

Watched, I love Castle, Psych, and currently watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Book series, I admire the writing of Song of Ice and Fire despite not loving the content at times. I will always be a major fan of the Inheritance Cycle and will fiercely defend it against any haters -- no offense to anyone. :D I have only read the first Stormlight Archive so far but am certain it will rank high on the list as well.

Who is your favorite actor/actress?

Probably Dwayne Johnson. I seriously respect that man, both in acting and in business.

Who is your favorite Villain you couldn't help but love?

No one really sticks out... I guess the evil wizard from the Beyonders books (I think his name was Melkor?) struck me as a pretty cool character. I secretly rooted for him a little, to be honest.

What are your hobbies other than writing and reading?

I love making and playing classic boardgames, debating public policy, investing, and just listening to music.

What are your hidden talents?

Oof. So I am kind of boring... I really don't have many of those.

Who is your first celebrity crush?

Emma Watson.

What is the most embarrassing situation that you have ever been through?

I got caught taking a popcorn bucket out of a trash can at a theater to get free re-fills... They didn't kick me out thankfully but I have never been so mortified in my entire life.

One craziest thing you have ever done?

Written a book. Seriously, anyone who starts out to write a book is crazy. Anyone who succeeds must be even crazier. Guess I'm both...

There are many authors who just started their journey and many readers who want to write but has no courage to do so. Please give them a tip and a word of encouragement.

In my limited experience, the greatest authors are the ones who actually write the book. A great author does not come from journalling, listening to podcasts, making outlines, taking notes, making character charts, etc. A great author is someone who has the guts to stare at a blinking cursor on an empty white page and literally give birth to a cast of new characters in a world that never existed before. If you can do that, you are already through the biggest step to becoming a good author. Just write. Write. And write some more. I am not very good about this, but it is absolutely crucial. If you want to be a great author, you have to be an author first. So write something.

Last but not the least, have you ever dreamt of writing your own comic?

Odd question, but oddly enough I have. I even got into comic illustrating for a little while. My doodles improved significantly but not significantly enough to ever actually make a comic.

What do you feel about this interview?

It was great! Good questions. Quite thought provoking too... It honestly made me seriously analyze my approach to being an author which is probably pretty important. Everyone is likely coming from a different direction that helps define their style. I think I found a little bit of mine in this.

Hope you had a great time answering our questions. We appreciate you for your beautiful works and also spending valuable time with us.

We wish you to write many more successful stories and be a bestselling author one day.