Spotlight On Writers
Joe Russo
- Where, do you hail from?
I hail from a lot of places hence why I call myself a gypsy. I was born in New York then I moved to Florida with my family then we moved to Texas then I moved back to New York then back to Texas and finally am living back in Florida where I’m spending some time recouping only to move back to New York.
- What is the greatest thing about the place you call home?
Everyone hated this small town in high school and I couldn’t understand why. Why hate on the ma and pop shops that fed us homemade ice cream? Or the thrift stores that put clothes on our backs or books in our hands. The greatest thing about this town though is that I found who I am here and in that I found who I want to still become.
- What turns you on creatively?
The question “What If?” I always start a new piece like that – “What if you were Marilyn Monroe? How would you act?” or “What if you attacked because the one you love is also the same sex?” I’m always trying to push boundaries – what can I say or what can I do to make people really look REALLY SEE the deeper picture. Because story isn’t just conflict – it’s characters. Give me a strong character and I’m on board.
- What is your favorite word, and can you use it in a poetic sentence?
My favorite word has to be LOVE.
Do you ever see
How he looks at you his eyes,
Brown, but yet in love,
Cloudy, but still he knows what makes you
You.
And you,
Blue eyes, do you ever look at him
The way he looks at you?
Ask yourself that
The next time you spend
The night with the man
Who doesn’t love (know) you.
- What is your pet peeve?
The statements “I wish” and “I would” I know too many people who passed on the life they wished they had because they were afraid of money or not finding work or worried about how others would react. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to be rejected (I’m working on my 78th rejection to date!)
I always talk about a personal piece of mine called “Clowning’s” and how it was rejected by sixteen literary magazines and journals. I was on the brink of failure and about to throw in the towel when I submitted it to one more magazine. Three months later it was published in Door Is A Jar Magazine.
“Don’t ever give up!”
- What defines Joe Russo?
Some quotes by my favorite singer –
“Don’t you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can’t be exactly who you are.”
― Lady Gaga
“You have to be unique, and different, and shine in your own way.”
― Lady Gaga
“It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you come from, or how much money you’ve got in your pocket. You have your own destiny and your own life ahead of you.”
― Lady Gaga
- Spotlight On Writers – Joe Russo - September 3, 2016
- Love: A Recipe - July 24, 2016
- Because the New House - June 11, 2016
