From nurse to horror books writer
Alongside his job as nurse at the Eye Treatment Centre, Joshua Robinson, has a passion for writing books in particular, horror stories.
We speak to him about this passion, and how he balances this with his busy job at Whipps Cross.
1) Hi Joshua, can you first tell us a bit more about your role at the Eye Treatment Centre (ETC)?
I care for patients who have various eye problems such as glaucoma and cataracts. My role involves a variety of things from testing people’s vision to assisting with eye injection procedures.
2) How long have you been at Whipps and what does a day/week look like for you?
I’ve been at Whipps for nearly a year. No one day is the same in the ETC as we are allocated to different areas all the time. One day I could be responsible for giving dilating eye drops, the next I could be running the paediatric clinic alongside the consultant. Each week brings new challenges.
3) How did you start writing books and how many have you written/published?
In 2019 I watched a horror movie called “Incident in a Ghostland”. It really blew me away and that’s when I decided I wanted to write horror stories of my own. Horror is pretty much all I write.
I’ve written quite a lot of short stories which have been published in various magazines. I’ve written four longer books, including a novel. So far, “The Devil’s Gift” is the first of those bigger books to get published.
4) How do you balance your work with your passion?
Luckily, it’s not too hard to balance the writing with my job at ETC. I only work four days a week, always getting the weekends off too. So that’s a good three days a week to dedicate to writing, not to mention annual leave. During work days though, I’ll sometimes wake up at 3 or 4am to get some writing in before leaving for work.
5) How do you feel about your book ‘The Devil’s Gift’ being published on Amazon?
When I got the news that my book was going to be published, I was just insanely happy. It felt unreal. I remember writing this book during the first lockdown, and it’s crazy seeing how far it’s come since then. The fact that people can now buy and read it so easily, It feels great to put it lightly.
"The Devil’s Gift" was accepted for publication by Ghost Orchid Press back in April 2022. It’s available on the publisher’s website, as well as Amazon. But you can also order it from places like Waterstones and Barnes & Noble in the US.
6) Would you like to become a full-time writer sometime?
I’d definitely like to become a full-time writer one day. That’s the dream! No question.
7) Anything in particular that you enjoy about writing?
I love coming up with the unique characters/setting/storylines. Just everything about the creating process gets me excited. In terms of my horror stories, I especially love coming up with the villains. If they’re supernatural, like in "The Devil’s Gift", I get to do things like decide their powers and weaknesses etc. It’s great fun.
8) How do you find working at Whipps Cross?
I quite like it so far. My team here in ETC is fantastic. So supportive and friendly that it makes the day just flow like a breeze. I really enjoy working with them.
9) Are you on social media?
Yes. You can find me on Instagram @joshua_robinson_author as well as on Twitter @JoshuaRob111