“I’d love to chat with any fellow WLT writers to help share your stories!”
— Joey Held
A member of the Writers’ League since 2021, Joey lives in Austin, TX.
Scribe: Welcome, writer! Tell us — what do you write?
Joey Held: I’ve written a good mix of things! Primarily, though, I focus on topics around sports, culture, homes, personal finance, and cloud computing.
As an author, I’ve generally written short stories about the ways we interact with the people in our lives, whether close friends or distant strangers.
Scribe: If you could choose one author to blurb your book, who would it be, and what would you want it to say?
JH: I’d want Roald Dahl to say my book reminds him of the quirky whimsy of being a mischievous child or a rebellious soul.
Scribe: You have one book you’re allowed to push onto all of your friends, and they’re forced to read it to remain your friend — which one would you choose?
JH: Movies (And Other Things) by Shea Serrano — it’s an easy enough read that I’m not asking TOO much of my friends, and it seeks to answer questions that certainly don’t need to be asked, like “would this movie be better, the same, or worse with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in it?”
Scribe: Tell us your WLT story.
JH: I wish my story was more of a meet cute, but I was Googling “writers groups in Texas” and WLT popped up. Looking forward to learning tons and meeting great people!
Scribe: Where do you see your writing taking you (or you taking it) in the future?
JH: I’d love to write more books—I have a few non-fiction and fiction ideas in various stages of completion, and now that I have one book under my belt I look forward to finishing more.
I’ve also very much enjoyed writing on behalf of other authors (from subject matter experts to executives) and look forward to continuing that as content marketing remains an important part of business strategy.
Finally, I’d like to write a fiction podcast and craft a full story in an audio format. I’ve only ever done interview or recap podcasts, and this seems like a daunting challenge that would be incredibly rewarding.
Scribe: Here at the WLT, we love sharing book recommendations. What’s one book that has come out within the past few years that you couldn’t put down? (Bonus points if the book is Texas related!)
JH: This Was Always About Basketball by Craig Leener — I’m a big basketball fan and this book perfectly weaves what I love about the game with elements of history, science fiction, and friendship. It’s definitely a page-turner!
Scribe: Is there anything else about you that you would like to share with the world? An opportunity for blatant self-promotion!
JH: I have a podcast (Good People, Cool Things) where I interview authors, musicians, and other creatives. I’d love to chat with any fellow WLT writers to help share your stories!
I also just wrote a book called Kind, But Kind of Weird: Short Stories on Life’s Relationships. I’m super proud of it and hope it makes people smile.
Scribe: Where can our readers find more of you?
JH: Twitter: https://twitter.com/josephcurrency
Instagram: https://instagram.com/phat_phoodies
