Bug Books: Joey Paul Online

JOEY'S DISABILITY VLOG CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/JoeyOnWheels

Monday, 13 July 2026

Spoonie Write: Working At Your Speed

SPOONIE WRITER: WORKING AT YOUR SPEED

I think one thing that a lot of people, writers and otherwise, chronically ill and otherwise as well, is that there are very little things in the creative space, especially writing wise, where it is a race. There's so many ideas, and even if someone else is literally doing the exact same idea and characters and all the rest, there is always, always going to be differences in the execution of that idea, that it's damn near impossible for them both to be exactly the same.

There is no race in publishing. There is no upper age limit that says if you've not published by x age that you will be banned from ever doing so. I say this as someone who seriously started writing at 19, and then had my first book out at 23. It is still not a race. Yes, there may be hurdles for some that aren't there for others. Disability showcases that all the time, as do BIPOC authors and their stories. Even in 2026, we are not yet in a place where the majority of stories that are being trad pubbed aren't a huge percentage of white authors. It sucks, and it's wrong, and I hate that.

But for the chronically ill and/or disabled authors, the last thing you gotta be doing is pushing yourself to breaking point when there is genuinely no need to do so. I'll admit, when Blackout hit shelves in 2005, I was very anxious about the fact that with how bad my health was, I would never get to publish another book. I'm talking the kind of anxious that kept me up at night. I knew the option to go with the people who published Blackout was out of reach, and it was really only six years later that things like KDP came into play and allowed me to finally put that second book out, followed by a third, and so on.

Too much of the time, with things like hustle culture and productivity being used to define our worth, we do get caught up in all of that. I know that coming back to work after 8 months off, I really struggled with knowing that my plans had been so derailed, and the worry about whether I would be able to be as 'productive' as I had been before would derail plans even more. There were a lot of conversations with myself, with my carers, with my doctors, about just how much would be possible. It was heartbreaking to realise that in surviving something so serious, I had, possibly, also lost a huge part of myself, namely my ability to write and such.

For me it wasn't, necessarily, about being back at the pace I was, but about being able of finding a new kind of routine that would work for me, and would, maybe, retain some of those parts of writing and the author life that I love, and look forward to. For example, I didn't know if blog posts would be viable. I didn't know whether I would ever be well enough to do AuthorTube videos again, and both of these are things I actually enjoy and I didn't want to lose them so that I could continue to draft and everything that went with it.

It came down to a lot of things, and I'm aware that a lot of chronically ill and/or disabled writers are already aware of in theory. I had to learn how to pace myself a lot more than I used to. I had to be really careful about not overloading myself with work. I had to be okay with maybe not getting everything done. I had to be okay with rest days popping up unplanned, and I had to be okay with leaving a task right in the middle of it, if that was what I needed.

It's still a work in progress. I don't yet have a solid routine, and I'm also aware that I might not ever have one. The constant flux in health, in symptoms mean that I just have to take it as it comes, and hope that it all works out in the end. But if you are reading this, if you're disabled or chronically ill, know that I see you. It's not easy, it has never been, and will, probably, never will be, but however you show up for yourself, for your writing, you're doing amazing, and I wish all the good days for you.

Keep going!

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Thursday, 9 July 2026

Life Of Joey & Bi-Monthly Goals - July 2026 [CC]

Telling you what I managed last month, as well as setting goals for the coming two months! #Authortube

BUY INVISIBLE ON AUDIOBOOK: http://www.books2read.com/INVISIBLE01

BUY CRAMPING CHRONICLES: THE FOURTH TORMENT: http://www.books2read.com/TORMENT04

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JOEY'S DISABILITY VLOG CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/JoeyOnWheels

Monday, 6 July 2026

Dealing With Multiple Ideas

DEALING WITH MULTIPLE IDEAS

I have, throughout my writing life, always been juggling ideas. Whether that's ideas that have nothing but a small puzzle piece, or ideas that are already pretty fleshed out, or ideas for scenes later in a draft, or ideas for things to take into account when it comes to revision or editing. Before the sepsis in Oct 2025, I was juggling multiple revision projects with one just about to be sent off for edits. Having had to take eight months off, I knew when I came back that I would, at best, only be able to manage two projects, and even then, I still don't know if that will work long term.

Ideas, for writers, are something that come with the territory. I would, to be honest, worry about my chosen career if I wasn't constantly having to deal with all the ideas. Right now my focus are two revision projects because while in recovery mode I had some sparks of ideas for one that should, hopefully, answer some of my lingering questions, and do the same for readers as well. It makes me happy to be going back into those projects and knowing I am making them better.

However, some of the ideas are coming for new drafting projects, and while, originally, the plan was to start drafting those in April, my body had other ideas, and my life took a sudden turn. But I have found many ways to help myself when it comes to dealing with all the ideas, because as a lot of people know, sometimes you think: I'll remember that, and your memory laughs at you as it deletes all traces!

So how have I managed to keep hold of them all? Being the organised person I am, I have a variety of ways to track, sort, and work out how to make sure none get lost along the way!

#1 WRITE THEM DOWN
It doesn't have to be pen and paper, which hasn't been a viable option for me for a while, and definitely isn't now! I have a notes app on both my phone and iPad, and I will write it all down there in a brand new note. If it's gotten to the point where it's fleshed out completely, it gets moved, but up until that point, it's there on its own, and I can expand and add to it as and when new pieces of the puzzle come to me.

#2 COMBINE WHEN READY
This is what I do when the idea has graduated. Like the initial idea is a seed, and now the flower it blooming. That's when I will move all the notes into another note on my iPad which is basically filled with story ideas that are far enough along for me to think about starting to write them. Sometimes, I'll go back and look at how it's going, and move things around to see if that adds more. This point is the closest it can be to being drafted.

#3 ARRANGE IN ORDER
This part is basically me deciding order of importance, or just which ideas I am more excited about writing next. The order can, and does change, but it's usually only because something newer has moved into this space and I want to write that more.

Basically after this, when I get ready to start drafting, I take the top two and do my minimal outline and jump in! When it comes to ideas for revision projects, while, for some reason they stay remembered, I have a separate note for those and keep an eye on them.

Overall, ideas are plentiful when you're a writer, and how you deal with them is up to you, but whatever way that turns out to be, have fun, enjoy, and keep writing!

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Thursday, 2 July 2026

Writer Reflection: Finishing Projects [CC]

Today, I'm talking about finishing projects, and the fun that comes along with them! #Authortube

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BUY CRAMPING CHRONICLES: THE FOURTH TORMENT: http://www.books2read.com/TORMENT04

BUY SIGNED BOOKS AT MY KO-FI SHOP: https://ko-fi.com/authorjoeypaul/shop

JOEY'S DISABILITY VLOG CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/JoeyOnWheels

Monday, 29 June 2026

Finding Your Voice - The Creative Process

FINDING YOUR VOICE

Something that can be hard when you're writing a new project is finding where your voice is. It can be pretty common to not recognise either your authorial voice, or the voice of each project. These two can be the same, and they can also be different, depending on the genre, the age category, and the way the story is told, like first person compared to third.

When I was first writing, I felt like the story I was crafting had a pretty unique voice to it. Some of that is newbie ego, and some of that is not having the experience to really know what all these things meant. That's not a bad thing, but I thought that today I was talk more about both kinds of voice, and also that it's completely okay if it takes you a while to spot and know yours.

I have drafted nearly fifty books. They are all young adult, and have all been a range of genres from thriller to mystery to paranormal to dystopian and urban fantasy. I usually, write solely in first person, and they are usually all told from one POV, though I do have some that are dual POV and such. I have published twenty-four books, with my next two, hopefully, coming out next year. I tell you this to give you an idea of where I'm coming from. I am, by no means, an expert, but I do have some solid experience to pull from, I was first published in 2005, and have been continuing with publishing since.

So let's focus on the first, the author voice. What do I mean when I say that? What are people looking for when they talk about wanting an author who's 'voicy'? How can you know, and work out, what that means for you?

AUTHOR VOICE

An author voice is quite simply, their way of telling a story that is so unique to them that you could pick up a random book, have no idea who the author is, and be able to tell from the prose, the descriptions, the way the characters sound, who the author is. It can be something writers have naturally, and it can also be something that develops over time. The more you write, the more you discover it.

As for what people are looking for, while this usually is something I see attributed to literary agents and publishers, and I have no experience with either, I'm going to focus more on the readers who talk about wanting this. A lot of the time what they want is a voice or story that is told similarly to one particular author they love. They're looking for recs of books that might meet their needs. Sometimes it's not always about the author's voice, but the characters, but it's a way to find new to them authors who they might enjoy.

A lot of the time, finding your author voice comes with practice. My debut was not the first book I'd written, but it was the first one I felt really had my voice to it. Now, granted I wrote it when I was 19, and it was published when I was 23, and while aspects of my author voice remain the same, others have changed as I've grown as an author. If you are someone who is just starting out, I would not stress on finding your voice in your words. It might take time, it did for me, and that's okay. Write your stories, enjoy yourself, and just lean into growing and changing.

CHARACTER VOICE

The character voice has a similar description as the author one, in that you could work out who these characters written by blindfolded simply because of the way they talk and go through the story. The difference is that it's not the same voice for every single character. If that happens, there's problems. But for me, usually, the character voice comes into play with the main character. Again, just to be clear, I do not mean that every main character I've written is exactly the same. That would not be good!

Character voice to me is more subjective, and leans more into the reader experience. Some readers will see it straight away, and others won't, and neither of them really are wrong there. I do feel like it's somewhat easier to lean into character voice than author voice, but that, of course, is subjective to each author!

So there we go, while I do think author voice is something that can take a while to develop, it doesn't mean you are bad at writing, or that your work is not worthy of publication. Everyone moves to their own pace, and that is completely okay!

Follow Joey to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

Thursday, 25 June 2026

Writing With... Mental Health Issues [CC]

Talking about writing while having mental health issues! #Authortube

BUY INVISIBLE ON AUDIOBOOK: http://www.books2read.com/INVISIBLE01

BUY CRAMPING CHRONICLES: THE FOURTH TORMENT: http://www.books2read.com/TORMENT04

BUY SIGNED BOOKS AT MY KO-FI SHOP: https://ko-fi.com/authorjoeypaul/shop

JOEY'S DISABILITY VLOG CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/JoeyOnWheels

Monday, 22 June 2026

Presenting Your Author Side

PRESENTING YOUR AUTHOR SIDE

I set this blog post to be written last year, when I was in my 20th year as an author. So much has changed since then, but I am happy to be here, writing a blog post that has waited so long to be written out. For those who don't know, I'm chronically ill and disabled, and in October 2025, my body tried to kill me. I had sepsis, in ICU, coma for seven days and then more on a regular ward. I have a few parting gifts from the sepsis, the biggest being partial paralysis in my right hand and arm, which is, or was, my dominant side. I've been off work since then, and because of my organisation, I had three posts I'd already written ready to go, and you'll have seen them finally posted at the start of June 2026. This is the first blog post I have written after recovery.

But I'm getting off topic, and not at the same time. I have always been a disabled author, and have never been shy about people knowing that. I have, just like everyone else in either the author sphere, or just a person in general, the ability to draw a line between what parts of my life are talked about publicly, and which I choose to not share. As an author who was first published before social media was either a thing, or as big as it is now, it feels like I was lucky enough to grow into who I wanted to be seen as by readers, and what I wanted to just not share.

Obviously that is a very personal choice. I would never sit here and tell anyone that they can't make their own decisions about things like this, but in my mind, there should be some idea out there of how that information will be received and used. Now I wanna be clear that I do not speak from any other place than my own experience, and from what I've seen, and heard about from other disabled writers. From a minority perspective, I can't speak on matters of race, and while being bi, I don't feel like I have enough lived experience when it comes to that either, but I have seen it online too. So I'm gonna focus solely on disability.

#1 YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DISCLOSE ANYTHING
While it's true that there is nothing wrong with talking about your disabilities, there is also no rule that states you have to. If you don't feel safe doing so, that's completely okay and valid. While the opposite is also true, if you want to talk about your disabilities, and the impact they have on your writing and author life, you are still allowed to not share everything. I have been quite open about my disabilities both online, and with my author life content. I do it because that's what I want, and feel comfortable doing. But you don't owe anyone your medical history. It is, and should always be, your personal choice, no matter where you are in your author journey.

#2 YOU DO NOT OWE ANYONE POSITIVITY
Toxic positivity is something that is rampant around ALL online spaces, for ALL groups, but you will usually see it highlighted especially in minority groups, and especially within the disability and chronically ill sphere. Now, the majority of the time in this group, it's coming from those observing from outside of the group itself. They want to see everyone stay positive despite what they're going through as if somehow that is going to cure or help. I'll cover those more in a moment. But as a disabled author, you do not have to always be positive about anything in your life, even if that's about the things going on disability wise. Having a bad day or period of your life, that's normal, and I feel like being real with readers, and other authors, allows people to really see that we are human, and doing what we can to survive and thrive in our work, and in our lives. That's not a bad thing.

#3 YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN INSPIRATION
Like I said above, some people want to view disabled people, author not, as an inspiration, because, look at them, managing to string words together and make a whole book! This is so freaking dismissive and I hate every part of it. But there's a second part to this too which I feel like isn't talked about enough. We're not supposed to write fiction. we're supposed to write books which detail every medical visit, every symptom, and how hard and depressing our lives were/are, and if we don't do that, we get looks that kinda imply that the only thing non disabled people want to read from us is about our personal disability experience. We have nothing else worthy of publishing, and how wrong that is!

So while I have made it through enough recovery to be allowed back at work, I am also very aware that the way I worked before is not going to be the way I will, probably, ever work again. Disability is always changing, and when you are in those trenches, you have to roll with it and keep going.

Follow Joey to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

Thursday, 18 June 2026

Writing Disability Right [CC]

Talking about writing disability right today! #Authortube

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