Meet J.S. Living

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to J.S. Living. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi J.S., so happy to have you on the platform and I think our readers are in for a treat because you’ve got such an interesting story and so much insight and wisdom. So, let’s start with a topic that is relevant to everyone, regardless of industry etc. What do you do for self-care and how has it impacted you?

My self-care routine is simple: I’m a fan of therapy, comfort foods, and nice, hot bubble baths.

When I’ve had a hard time with balancing my full time job, my mental health, and my creative pursuits, I reach out to my therapist to discuss the things I’m most struggling with. Talking to her makes it easier to face my challenges. If I can’t speak to my therapist, then I talk to a trusted friend or family member—whoever is available to get me in a better mood.

After a good talk, I order my favorite comfort foods, usually pizza, wings, ice cream, and cake. But, sometimes it’ll be the tastes from home like fried chicken, collard greens, yams, and cornbread. It just depends on what I’m craving.

Then, I finish off with a nice, hot bubble bath where I light candles and soak in Epsom salt. Sometimes I’ll even include a glass of wine or a mixed drink along with water to cool me down afterward. And, if I really want to splurge, I’ll do a mani-pedi or a massage.

I also make sure to spend plenty of time with my cat because it brings me absolute, pure joy.

Performing my self-care routines help relax me and allows me to decompress so I can problem solve. It also helps alleviate stress and some of the aches and pains I experience due to Longhaul Covid. All of this serves to make me more effective at my full time job and with my creative works.

Having the ability to perform self care is a blessing, and I’m thankful every day that I have the means to carry it out when I really need to.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My professional focus has always been on being a writer. Though I enjoy my day job as a Technical Editor, writing books for a living has always been the dream.

In grade school, reading was a form of escapism; but when my teachers cultivated my writing skills, it became all consuming. Before I knew it, I had journals upon journals of songs, poems, and stories. But it’s not solely the act of writing that brings me joy.

It’s the binary of both freedom and control.

What I mean is, when I’m writing, I get to create entire worlds where the only rules I have to play by are my own. I have the freedom to create whatever I want however I want to within the story. But, I also have control over the lives of the character’s who populate my stories—that, is, when they’re not telling me what they want to do.

It’s a special feeling being able to play god in a way that brings joy to other people without putting **real** lives in danger.

Writing books has been an amazing journey, and I’m happy I get to continue it by releasing my next book at the end of this year or the beginningof next year. My Backerkit Campaign to fund the publication process is coming in September, and I’m also excited to be turning my short story collection into an audiobook via another Backerkit project in November.

Add to that my excitement for participating in The Write Women’s Bookfest in July and the Blend Book Fair and Once Upon A Con in August—all events in Maryland—and I’m downright giddy.

My hope is to continue doing well at events and crowdfunding so I can write even more stories that inspire people.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three qualities that were, and still are, most impact full in my journey are the willingness to learn, curiosity, and tenacity.

I’m a headstrong person, and I often believe I’m right about things; however, my three positive qualities help balance out the two more negative qualities.

Being able to ask others or look up information, even when I believe I’m correct, allows me to humble myself. My curiosity means I never stop asking questions, and my tenacity means I pursue answers until I’m satisfied.

My advice to people who want to develop or improve on these qualities is to remember to take a step back when you’re stumped or when someone is pushing your buttons. Be willing to learn about and from others; be curious enough to ask questions about their perspectives; and be tenacious and unrelenting about finding a compromise that works for both of you—ironically, this is also applicable to real people too, not just the character’s in books.

I kid.

This advice really is for when you’re dealing with people who are difficult or when you’re the headstrong person in the room.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The number one obstacle I have right now is funding. Since I’m an indie author, I pay for everything out of pocket—from cover design and editing costs, to hosting my book on NetGalley and commissioning art, it all falls on me.

My current plan for overcoming this has been to reinvest the money I make from selling my books back into my business.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve been dipping my toes into crowdfunding as a means to raise money to offset these costs.

I’ve also attempted to reach out to Book Influencers and reviewers to get word of my books out.

And, of course, I’ve been writing more books so I can have a decent backlog.

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