This week YA Author Joseph J. Jordan took over our Twitter as a part of our weekly Thursday Twitter Takeover. Joseph J. Jordan is the author of British Empire of Magic and The Clima-Race (See YEM’s interview of Joseph J. Jordan here.) See highlights from the takeover below.
Hi all! I’m Joseph ( @josephjjordanuk ) ! Author of The British Empire of Magic trilogy and The Clima-Race trilogy! I’m so excited to be here with you for the next few hours for the Twitter takeover! Let’s get started! #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/F7iyYmynP7
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
So a bit about my self; let’s talk childhood! I grew up in a bit of a strange way, you might say. I lived in a place called Woody Bay, yup it’s what you imagine, think tinny tiny Hogwarts and you’re halfway there! There were only 4 other houses in the bay! #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
I didn’t go to school because my mothers career meant that we were travelling around the world a lot so, never in one place for too long. It was an amazing and privileged time of my life, getting to experience things and places that I am very grateful for now. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
My mother is one of, if not the most successful women in British music history and a household name throughout the country. Her wiki if you’re interested https://t.co/cR6H7TsLvD. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
Yup! It was really exciting growing up with a famous mum once I realised that not everyone’s parent walks out on stage to thousands of people to earn a living 😂 #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
But with that came some difficulties, learning that the press can be harsh & have an effect on family life but chiefly among those difficulties being I was slow to understand most things in education, for example I still couldn’t read properly at the age of 12 #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
That all changed when the 1st Harry Potter book arrived on my bedroom table. I was so excited about the story that everyone was talking about; So I forced myself to learn and read this book. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
That sparked my love of the fantasy genre and sent my imagination wild. A lesson learned later that It’s amazing how much easier it is to learn something when it genuinely interests you. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
But I didn’t go into writing until two decades later! But we will circle back to that later! A lot had happened before starting my writing career. Acting, modelling, skiing and paragliding instructing and a bit more 😂 #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
I started out acting and then modelling at the age of about 16. Doing work with Pepsi and Louis Vuitton, I really enjoyed it but I felt that world wasn’t right for me at that time of my life #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
I then became a ski instructor in Canada and later a paragliding instructor in Switzerland; it was lots of fun and I met some very talented and interesting people that no doubt served me later in life when creating characters for my books. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
By the time I was 26 I realised I wanted to start my own business & so I created my FIRST business; a clothing brand aimed at the fitness industry, which I later moved on to start another business; this was a scary & rewarding experience that taught me a lot . #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
With a friend of mine we created the UK’s first plastic free food gift brand which we have run for 4 years but then…covid 19 struck! Everything changed for me and the world. A new direction was needed – ✍️ #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
It was in 2021, during the hardships of the covid pandemic and lockdown I started, in secret, writing my first book The British Empire of Magic ( @MagicBritish ) I self published it and I was not expecting or prepared for the response I would receive. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
When I published the book the immediate response from the lgbtq+ community was amazing; The British Empire of Magic protagonist Prince Jacob is in a relationship with a man, Elliot. I was unaware that gay characters were underrepresented in that genre. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/YtJHK2xmdG
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
The response from readers had a profound impact on me, least not because I had struggled myself with coming out. The idea that my books were helping people, if only in a small way was humbling. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
2. So I took extra care with the characters to make sure I was staying true to the individuals they had become#YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
Another thing I didn’t expect was the impact these characters (Jacob and Elliot) would have on me. They made me look back on my coming out journey, how hard I’d found it and longed for a world like the one I had created in The British Empire of Magic #YAauthorTakeover #LGBTQ pic.twitter.com/w3dFFFjhwH
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
Realising how accurate representation of our community can have a positive impact on readers made me want to explore this more as I created new stories and began new projects. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
And within my latest work The Clima-Race (@TheClimaRace) we have teenage twins Elijah and Hajile living in the year 2100. Exploring what the world could be like (or hope for) for our community in the future was exciting. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/aIbwPUJ4rH
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
Doing the research for this project was sobering! But, there’s always hope. Climate change is everywhere we look if we open our eyes to it. We can do something about it but it will take someone selfless to lead us. Cue the character Isabel Hope @TheClimaRace #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
I’ve always had strong, career driven and loving women in my life; whether that be my mother or friends, so it was natural to make the protagonist of the first book in @TheClimaRace trilogy, Isabel Hope, CEO of Hope Incorporated, in the year 2100.#YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
She embodies everything the world needs at that point in human future history. She’s powerful, wealthy, influential and most importantly, conscientious of the state of the world she is living in. She wants to help, for her twin sons and for humanities future. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
But like everything, what one sees as right others may see as wrong. It’s natural for us to question others and we fear change. Our real world history proves that. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
2. We see an example of this in chapter one of Part One of @TheClimaRace ; Isabel Hope is of mixed racial heritage and is a woman at the top of the most powerful company in the world. #YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
But there’s at the same time fear of a new race of humans better evolved to live in a world where climate change is threatening the very survival of humanity. So the ugly head of discrimination rises once again.#YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
2. We quickly discover that the twins are embroiled in the mystery of @TheClimaRace and appear at the centre of the emerging race. In book two we see their bond stretched and struggle to be apart from one another without the support they have come to rely on from each other.
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
My journey to become the @josephjjordanuk bestseller wasn’t plain sailing, in fact it was a bumpy road as this video explains but are there any questions on what I’ve spoken about so far? I’d love to hear your thoughts 💭 #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/lk5Q5cHRnz
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
It seems we are at an end of this fabulous few hours! Boy that’s gone quick. Thank you so much for your time and to everyone at Young Entertainment Magazine ❤️ if you want to take a look at my books just pop over to👉🏼 https://t.co/iy0xrxLaXs 👈🏼#YAauthorTakeover
— Ricky is 🤴🏻 (@YoungEntmag) November 25, 2022
