Featured Interview With Jo Szewczyk
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Jo is a post-modern reject who spent most of their time writing jokes only Norm Macdonald, Thomas Pynchon, and Rachel get.
Much to his amusement, his newest book, the controversial “Surviving Gen X”, has been banned by churches, certain nation states, and from his mother’s house.
When not being the top-ranked feline whisperer of Minnesota, Jo juggles his time between academia, his podcasts What’s Kraken? and Streamin’ Demons, and his websites of HauntedMTL.com, a haven for horror enthusiasts, and Czykmate.com, a platform dedicated to the art of writing and helping others find their voice.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My aunt was my first book dealer. She was an avid Stephen King reader and forgot her copy of The Stand when she visited us for Christmas. I snuck it into my room and read it within a week. I was five.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have a love for a large spread of genres. Stephen King, Isaac Thorne, and Clive Barker are my horror go-tos; nobody beats Agatha Christie for mystery; and I’ll read every Jaimee Colbert book, then immediately get depressed because I know I won’t be as good as she is.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Surviving Gen X is a post-modern biography of an era that started with the space shuttle exploding and ended with a televised terrorist attack on US soil. We saw the advent of the internet in all its dial-up screeching glory and ended up with most of our icons dead by suicide, drugs, or general misadventure.
The book is an experience that delves into the desolation of a generation caught amidst the disintegration of societal norms, searching for meaning in a world that seems to have forgotten them.
It’s a journey through a decade marked by upheaval and transformation and discover a tale that is once a testament to the indomitable spirit of Generation X and a haunting reflection on the universal human quest for connection.
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