Written Author Interview
Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do outside of writing. What is a day in the life like for you?
I guess we should start at the beginning, hello everyone my name is Joao. I immigrated to Canada when I was two years old from Portugal with my family and lived in Toronto for about 25 years, until I completed my teacher training in 2013. During that year there was also a hiring freeze (believe it or not) and there were vacancies to teach full time in England. So I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve been here ever since, I still teach and I am now settled in West Yorkshire with my fiancé and two children.
When I’m not writing I’m carving out some part of my day for exercise, HIIT training is the go to especially with my two little ones running around, and when I have a spare evening or early morning I strap on my running shoes and whisk around the block. Of course I also enjoy reading poetry and learning in general. In my spare time I managed to complete a UX Design course and now I’m trying my hand out at copywriting. I’m keen to keep my brain and body active.
On a typical day I’m up before the sun with the kids, serving breakfast and changing bums before 7am, then off to school to teach, by the time I get back home its a full schedule of playtime with the kids, family dinner, bathtime, stories and if all goes well- a quick bedtime. That leaves an hour or two for me to either do some writing or binge watch the latest crime drama with my fiancé.
What inspired your first novel? What was the thing that got you into writing in the first place?
My first poetry book came from a place of self healing. In between having our daughter and our son, we had a miscarriage. It really knocked the wind out of me and forever changed the lens in which I see the everyday. I was trying my best to process what had happened, but I think men and women process trauma in different ways. I would constantly ask myself, “Why me?” One night I remember scrolling through social media in an endless loop and I came across a poem by Mary Oliver called ‘Wild Geese’ and the last stanza just broke me. I felt seen, I felt lighter. I felt like I too wanted to partake in showing the beauty of poetry to others.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
There was a notebook that was given to me by my brother in law as a birthday present
that I hadn’t touched. I looked over and just began to write and write and write. I think I wrote about 10 poems that night alone. It was cathartic. Those poems gave me the courage to share my story as I began to post my poems online. After about two years of writing I accumulated my 50 best poems into themes of nature, grief, meaning and parenthood.
If I had to boil down my collection to one theme or inspiration it would be along the lines of Rumi’s The Guest House which speaks to the idea that grief, sadness, and loneliness are just guests that sweep through you and make way, make room, make you good and empty for the beauty of the world. Which couldn’t be truer in my case as two years after that miscarage we welcomed our son into this world.
How do you come up with characters? Are they spontaneous or meticulously planned?
A lot of the time I write from my own perspective. So I am the character, some version of me at least, sometimes in the future, sometimes in the past. Other times it is a different version of myself that I write from. People also inspire me. I meticulously watch social interactions, brushes of cheeks, side glances, and embrace these subtle everyday human moments that often inspire my writing.
What are some of your favorite genres to read? Are there any books you’d recommend to first time readers or people looking for something new?
Poetry of course. Although when I time before kids to sit down and finish 300 page novels, I would definitely enjoy my fair share of sci-fi novels. If you want to try your hand at poetry I would 100% recommend Mary Oliver, her prose is simple and sophisticated and she has a way to connect nature to being human. A Thousand Mornings is only 96 pages and chalked full of lines that will warm your heart and guide in practising gratitude for the small things in life. Also James A Pearson’s The Wilderness That Bears Your Name is a gorgeous collection at 95 pages, about finding your place in this world, and understanding each of our own ‘seasons’ of being.
What’s the most difficult thing about being a writer?
Being a writer means you are constantly battling that voice inside your head that says maybe this isn’t good enough. I think if you find time, anytime during the day to sit and write: be gentle with yourself. There is no perfect poem, just like there is no perfect novel, nor should you strive to be perfect in your creations. Little and often is my mantra. Finding any hour of the day to scribble down my thoughts is my meditation. It gets me to know myself more each time. So if you can win that battle and pick up the pen and write even if for only 5 minutes, you’ll be surprised at how quickly an hour can go by. So try and win that battle more often than not.
What is your process for completing a novel from outline to final product?
My process happens in stages. In the sense that I may sit down to write and just write for an hour, then I will leave it for a couple days and come back to it, and re-read, underline, and circle lines that excite me. Then I use those lines to write a poem. Sometimes I will have a line I hear from another poem, or a song, or a movie or speaker and that will inspire a poem on the spot.
I usually do a free write, or initial poem write in my notebook then rewrite it on a word document, as I begin to do line edits, or form or theme and as I am writing the theme may come to me and I will tweak it. Other times I will write with a theme in mind. Either way I will then let these word doc poems rest a while then come back to them after a few days, re-read them out loud re-edit them until I feel somewhat confident I have a cohesive and coherent idea or theme in each poem. After each stage of writing I give myself and the poems a chance to breath, so I can come back to them with a refreshed perspective.
Once I feel I have a poems that are generally around the same theme I send them off to an editor to have them critiqued, then it is a back and forth conversation about theme, line structure, word choice, order of poems etc.
Once this process has happened at least twice I have a final format then I am fortunate enough to have an amazing illustrator friend Shawn Lynch (https://shaunlynchillustration.com/) in which I collaborate with for my book covers. Once the cover and contents are set we have a final product.
What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve written in your novel? Don’t worry, we don’t judge here.
I have a poem called ‘Spill’ which is an ode to people who find it hard, like myself, to say what they really mean and I use the idea of blood and guts oozing out of you to make this point and wrote it when I had several confrontations and just couldn’t get my words out:
spill
spill your guts
spill the beans
spill it all
like losing blood from a wound
allow the words to unintentionally dribble from your mouth
‘tell the truth, but tell it slant’
tell it deep
let it ooze out of you
offer yourself on a platter
they will either take it or leave it, and either one is no concern of yours
What’s one thing about being a writer that absolutely drives you up the wall?
I don’t know actually. I think there’s nothing that makes me that angry about being a writer. My relationship with writing is that I want to use it to learn more about myself and share that with others. I will say one thing that is hard is using social media to build you audience because I can be a sucker for the endless scroll and as much as I tell myself I am only going to interact for 10 minutes or so and that’s it.
The timer goes off and I’ve found a new reel about how to make the best slow cooked beef. So it’s give and take. I love it for community building, especially substack there are a lot of amazing genuine writers there. Having to be on social media consistently is a pain in the backside but its also a part of the grind of being a self published author which I balance with open mic nights in the community and building relationships with local bookshops. Swings and roundabouts.
What does being a successful writer look like for you? What type of life do you want to live as a writer?
Freedom is my success. It’s my why. To be able to do what I want to do when I want to do it. If writing ever allows me to wake up on a Tuesday, go for a run, write an article, poem, or newsletter for a few hours then pick up my kids from school not worrying about work the next day, then I think I will have made it. I also dream about being a digital nomad, living in a warm country surrounded by delicious food and sunlight and sending off my latest manuscript to my editor then going off to the beach with my family. Sounds pretty magical to me.
Describe your writing journey. If you had to write a story centered around it, do you think you could pull it off?
Well I started my writing journey by writing poems to myself in my notebook to heal from some past traumas, then began sharing them online. I self-published these poems into a collection called ‘Good and Empty’ and if I don’t run out of things to write about, it may be the first of many collections ahead. But of course in between that I am still writing newsletters and articles online, dabbling in copywriting, reviving some old children’s book manuscripts and trying as much as I can to enjoy the act of creating.
I think my writing journey will not be linear at all and the path is slowly revealing itself to me as it unfolds. Kind of like those Goosebumps ‘choose your adventure’ stories. Each decision brings with it’s own set of opportunities and challenges. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.
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About
Joao is a Portuguese Canadian poet, based in Leeds, UK with his daughter, son, and fiancée. He began his writing journey by publishing his poetry and short stories online. He writes about themes of nature, family, meaning, and self-reflection while finding inspiration from the beauty of the surrounding Yorkshire countryside. His debut poetry collection ‘Good and Empty’ is now available.
Social Media
Website: http://www.joaocoimbra.com
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