Featured Interview With Josh Shiben
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born and raised in the mountains of Maryland and Virginia (the Shenandoah Valley, to be specific). I now live in the swamps of Northern Virginia, with my wife and two mongrels. I’m an engineer by day, and by night (assuming I have the energy), I write.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve been a story-teller as long as I can remember. I was always the kid making up the scary stories around the camp fires, or inventing fantastical plots for movies I’d like to see. I’ve also been an avid reader as long as I can remember – I assume the two (imagination and reading) go hand-in-hand.
I started writing several years ago as a hobby, and just kept at it until I eventually had something I thought was worth asking money for.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite genres are horror and science fiction – together at the same time, if possible. H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Richard Matheson and Dan Simmons are all some of my favorites.
I’d say I most like the ideas and themes of Lovecraft, and I really tried to explore those in my book Dreams of Eschaton. I know most people think of Lovecraft as “The Cthulhu Guy,” but he’s so much more than that – fear of the unknown, forbidden knowledge, and cosmic insignificance are all still very real fears that we can contend with in our world. I enjoy that it’s “intelligent” horror, that really doesn’t rely on monsters and chase scenes to be scary, and that’s what I try to emulate.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Dreams of Eschaton initially began as a sort of homage to Lovecraft, exploring and (hopefully) expanding on some of his ideas. In it, I really tried to tackle some big questions about the nature of existence, the meaning of life, and the relationship between the creator and the created (in a suitably existentially horrifying manner, of course). The question I really tried to tackle was “Would finding out that life had a disappointing purpose be worse than discovering it had no purpose at all?”
I’ve been working on it on-and-off for nearly two years now, rolling new ideas into it, and polishing the whole thing together. It started as a short story, but quickly grew bigger and bigger as I fleshed out more and more of the backstory. It ended up being a very compact 100ish pages, with a few illustrations I had a local artist put together for good measure.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles