Hello. Thank you for visiting my blog today. The following interview is with an author in my writing circle (promotional Twitter group) called, Author’s Social Media Support Group. His name is Joseph Ephraim. Enjoy!

Scarberryfields: Can you tell us a little about your nationality/ancestry?

Joe: You know that’s a really intriguing question: on my father’s line it’s mainly Jewish/Irish, however, on my mother’s side it’s really strange! You see she was adopted. All my family could find out about her was that her mother was a doctor’s daughter, and her father was a class above the gentry ~ obviously she was born out of wedlock, and in those days it was quite a stigma ~ the sad thing is I never got to question my mother about the aforementioned. She died two years ago!

Scarberryfields: When you finished your debut novel, did you miss the characters?

Joe: Nice one! I have hundreds of characters swimming around in my head ~ it’s all part of my make-up, (fiction), guess if one gets killed off in one of my books then a bit like the phoenix they inevitably rise from the ashes dust themselves off and adorn a new set of clothes, and, enter a new plot.

Scarberryfields: While writing, if you need help with punctuation, grammar, etc., where do you turn?

Joe: You know what? every writer is different and they all have their own little traits.  A lot of writers today are worried about grammatical punctuation and grammar. I once did a 500,000 word dissertation examining the life and works of Christopher Marlowe and the relationship between the works of Marlowe and Shakespeare. The latter taught me virtually every aspect of writing covering all the classics post to modern day! Wow you may think, cool! Not really you see the Hoffman prize was instigated by an extremely clever ‘New York Times’ journalist, the late Calvin Hofman, who put up a ‘MILLION DOLLAR’ legacy for anyone who could definitely prove that Marlowe was the author of Shakespeare’s works. Well I took the bait hook line and sinker. Ten years later after a long hard slog, I came to the positive conclusion that Shakespeare’s canon was put together by a group of university wits. However, one only has to look at Marlowe’s Dr. Fautus, and compare The Jew of Malta to the Merchant of Venice to see pure genius at work!

Scarberryfields: With the number of hours spent writing, do family members support you or complain about the time spent away from them?

Joe: Yes definitely! However, as you all probably know writing is a very lonely business. I must say the greatest support I ever had was from the literary manager at ‘the Royal National theatre London.’ One Jack Bradley. He sent me quite a few notes, however, the most memorable was the one which read: “…for a piece of work to satisfy our large audiences it must contain a strong central and original idea. It needs to be imaginatively executed with flair and a hugely developed sense of craft and of course, not clash thematically with anything ever presented before. ~ I know these are challenging demands. No wonder so few writers regularly attain them. Moreover, fewer still do so without a lifetime’s experience.

Scarberryfields: Does writing benefit you in any way and if so, how?

Joe: No not really it takes up most of my time if ya get my drift ~ however, it’s fun and addictive!

Scarberryfields: When you’re writing, do you shut-off all social networks?

Joe: Yes I completely shut-off from everything ~ writing is like a jig-saw puzzle for me, I have my trusted note-book from which I take pieces, create and begin putting the jig-saw together, at the end of the day hopefully there’s a book!

Scarberryfields: Did you use any family members as Beta readers for your debut novel?

Joe: NO! :0)

Scarberryfields: What do you do when you aren’t writing? Do you have any hobbies or a job?

Joe: Travel and people listening and watching ~ I’ve been lucky, by nearly traveling the length of the Nile to visiting family over in Australia, and extensive travel around Europe, Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, from ‘The Valley of the Kings’ to standing in St. John’s cave, Patmos to standing under the dome in St. Peter Basilica…

Scarberryfields: What is the last book called that you completed and published?

Joe: See below:~

Scarberryfields: Where can readers go to find your books?

Joe: Just bang ‘Nourished By that Which Consumes’ by Joseph Ephraim into your U.S. Amazon search engine

Scarberryfields: Thank you, Joe for taking time out from your busy day to answer my questions. I’ve enjoyed getting to know more about you. It’s a pleasure having you in my circle. I wish you the best with your debut novel and any you publish in the future.