Interview With Author Josie Lugo
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a full-time author with an associates degree in liberal arts with an emphasis on English, something I am very proud of. My laptop is full of stories that I am currently writing as well as already written that I am still working on getting published. A short-story was actually my first publication within a literary magazine, but in Dec 2022, my first full-length novel was published. Since then, I’ve signed a contract for two more finished books that are currently in the works with a cover design artist and editors to hopefully be released in 2023.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest publication, “For What It’s Worth”, was actually inspired through my frustration in some of the books I was reading. As much as I love happily ever afters, I hated that the entire world seemed to change, and politics seemed to be incomprehensible, within a span of a week. So while writing FWIW, I wrote a character who still gets love and happiness, and yet, still needs to make sacrifices. Society dealt her a bad hand and she has to learn to play by the rules. But, of course, she has some helpful hands.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write Monday through Friday, 9-5. My husband helped me set up a beautiful office with a castle mural on one wall and my bookshelves on the other. It has several windows which means great lighting and even a special gliding chair my parents bought me years and years ago for a graduation present. Do I write in that beautiful office? No. My cats aren’t allowed in there and they don’t like not hanging out with me, so everyday you’ll find me in the living room, writing, and taking pictures of my cats as they breathe.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Merri Bright is the first author to come to mind. She’s completely new to writing, such an inspiration with her success, and one of the first authors within the omegaverse subgenre that I read and thought, ‘why not me next?’. Tahereh Mafi as well because I simply love her and her work and everyday I wish to aspire to her level of inner beauty and patience. Her advice to treat writing as a job, to get up and work at it, is information I heard once and then implemented into my life. I And I think, most of all, Margaret Atwood. I hope my writing one day touches the lives of people in the same way Atwood’s does.
What are you working on now?
Right now I am working on a series. Book one and two have already been picked up and I’m planning six in total. It’s a romantic series with each book focusing on a different character in a small town. Still paranormal, although not quite as explicit in its spice than my first published book. Of course, I also have short stories that I rotate in submitting, so I am also focusing on getting that work published as well.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am obsessed with Instagram. Every three days I post, ensuring that in between those days, I utilize other apps like TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter. With each post, I use unique hashtags and make sure to keep them focused on my writing.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t be discouraged by rejections. I remember my first one and it’s so hard to separate you as the author from you as the marketer, but you have to try your best. Rejections don’t mean it’s bad. Keep submitting to new places.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My writing professor always told me that writer’s block doesn’t exist. He said real authors write everyday. Good or bad, it doesn’t matter, but putting nothing down because its hard means you aren’t a writer, you’re a hobbyist. Even if you never get published, or only get one, or everything you write is picked up. Money doesn’t make you a writer. Publicity doesn’t either. Writing makes you a writer, so freaking write. (He didn’t say freaking.)
What are you reading now?
You can always check my goodreads (@authorjosielugo) for the new book I manage to pick up each week. There’s an anthropology I’m determined to read all of called the PoisonVerse, so I’m currently making my way through those.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. I want to finish this series of six, go back and do a sequel to FWIW, and hopefully in that time get one of my already completed novels picked up so I can start on their sequels. Slowing down? What even is that? I have so many stories done, ideas for more, works already in progress. This is my career, babes. I’m here to stay.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. “Ignite Me” by Tahereh Mafi. “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer. And I’m definitely taking the max of four. “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas.
Author Websites and Profiles
Josie Lugo’s Social Media Links