Joseph Rhea’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

We recently had the chance to connect with Joseph Rhea and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Joseph, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
For the past 30 years, my younger brother Dave and I have been trying to create computer games and science fiction novels while pursuing our individual careers. We designed and published two computer games and half a dozen books together, but when Dave passed away from cancer in 2019, I gave up my creative pursuits entirely. However, I eventually realized that creating “something from nothing” is a requirement for me, not just a pastime. That’s why I started writing again; first adapting one of my existing books into a feature screenplay, then writing an original screenplay that I turned into a book, which was published this year. That book is now the first in a trilogy I hope to finish in the next year. It’s hard writing without my brother’s daily feedback and insights, but in his honor, I am keeping the worlds we created alive.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I was actually advised by my high school English teacher to pursue a life of writing, but I chose a career in engineering and ocean science, because I had a need to explore the world and help create new technologies. Now I’m using that experience to add a little more science to my science fiction. My books include Cyberdrome, a near-future techno-thriller about a rogue programmer navigating a computer-generated virtual world to rescue the love of his life, and The Novum Chronicles, a five-book series that immerses readers in the depths of an alien ocean where a young cargo-sub captain faces an enemy threatening humanity’s survival. I’ve also written two feature screenplays; one adapted from the first book of my Novum saga (which made the second round at the Austin Film Festival) and a new original screenplay that later became the first book of a Novum prequel trilogy, called Rogue Wave.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My wife, of course. And later, my two children. They keep me grounded and in touch with what’s going on around me, especially when I am lost in the worlds and stories I am constantly creating in my head.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I gave up writing when my brother, Dave, passed away after a short but brave battle with cancer in 2019. It was devastating to our entire family since he was the youngest of three siblings. He and I talked nearly every day, discussing our creative projects or movies we had watched. Even though I wrote all of my books alone, he was my “story consultant” and helped create the worlds I was writing inside of. After he passed away, I didn’t write at all for three years. But eventually, the stories in my head began fighting for release, and I was forced to put my fingers back on my keyboard. It was a slow beginning, but a few sentences a day eventually turned into two screenplays and a complete book. I never told Dave, and this is the first time I’m admitting it, but the hero of my 5-book Novum series, as well as my newest Novum prequel trilogy, Rogue Wave, was based on him. I guess writing these stories is one way I am keeping his memory alive for me.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
I am a very private person and even doing an interview like this is difficult for me. I don’t have a public “persona” at all. The real me someone who craves solving problems, the more difficult the better. The real me is also someone who would give it all up for my family. My wife and children are the most important people in my life.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Absolutely. I’ve written 2 screenplay and 7 science fiction book to date, and none of them were for the public. I write what I want to read or watch on the big screen. I follow these pursuits as “hobbies” and am thankful that I don’t need to sell millions of copies to keep writing. The fact that people like them is great, but it’s not why I write. Would I be thrilled if some bought one of my screenplays and created a feature film? Absolutely, but I’m a realist and know that can’t be in my head when I am creating. I create simply because I need to.

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