Josu Diamond | Photography: Twitter profile.
Joshua Diamond, named Josu Lorenzo, was born in Irún. He is a writer, content creator on social platforms and also an entrepreneur. He is one of the booktubers y booktokers with more followers and more loved ones in Spain and Latin America, and their videos receive millions of views.
His first foray into the publishing world was in 2010 where he started a literary blog, which has subsequently led him to collaborate with different publishers for whom he reviews titles, mostly from theyouth iterature. On debut titled, under our skin, was published by Crossbooks in 2018. It has been followed by a trilogy that make up Two drinks in Sitges, A cocktail in Chueca y Three shots in Mykonos. He also gives talks and workshops and is behind the subscription box company LITERALI BOX. In this interview He tells us about his career as an author and many other topics. I appreciate his time.
Josu Diamond—Interview
- ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Writer, booktube, booktoker, creator of your own company... What do you keep or what is more satisfying, if you can choose?
JOSU DIAMOND: For me, the most satisfying thing is my career as writer and. There is nothing that fills me more than a person who trusts my books and shares their opinions directly with me or through their networks. It is beautiful and fills me with pride.
- AL: Can you go back to that first book you read? And the first story you wrote?
JD: I don't have a clear recollection of the first book I read, since I grew up among books and always had one in my hand. But I do keep memories of some that marked me in a slightly more conscious era, such as the Tower Chronicles, by Laura Gallego García, or the books by Twilight. Of course, in between, dozens of deliveries of the Steamboat of SM or the like or when I was younger, the collection of My world.
The first story I wrote… It's also complicated, but I do remember writing fan fiction of the series that I watched on TV on weekends with my friend, in the schoolyard.
- AL: A head writer? You can choose more than one and from all eras.
JD: I have few references that are from past centuries, I will not deny it. The classical they are not for me –at least not to read them motu proprio– so for many years it was Rowling, and in the recent ones I would say that authors like Cassandra clare they have helped me alot.
- AL: What character in a book would you have liked to meet and create?
JD: Magnus Bane, from the saga Shadowhunters, I find it fascinating on many levels. Not only does it serve as an excuse for the reader to know or revisit key moments in history, but his personality is wonderful and is a key piece in the entire universe of books.
Customs and genres
- AL: Any special habits or habits when it comes to writing or reading?
JD: Lately I need to put on instrumentals from Lana Del Rey background. Next to Lady Gaga she is my favorite artist, and her instrumental tracks lift me up to new worlds that are hard for me to wake up from.
- AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?
JD: in me officewith my desktop computer. Although sometimes I end up with back pain from the chair, it is undoubtedly the place with the most silence and tranquility from my flat Plus, it's where I keep all my books, so I'm surrounded by them. Maybe it's what helps me concentrate better, who knows.
- AL: Are there other genres that you like?
JD: I have mainstream genres, but in general I like those books that have something differentiating or that catches me enough to launch myself. I can read from thriller detective to contemporary romantic, erotic or epic fantasy. The truth is that less self-help, I think I have read everything at some point in my life.
- AL: What are you reading now? And writing?
JD: Currently reading Yellow, by Rebecca F. Kuang. I'm on pause from writingsince we are in the process of correction of my new novel, which will come out in 2024. As soon as we're done with it a bit and my mind is free, I'll start writing the next one.
Panorama
- AL: How do you think the publishing scene is?
JD: oversaturated. It's insane.
- AL: How are you doing in the moment we are living? Can you highlight something positive in both the cultural and social spheres?
JD: I think that at the level of reading, much more is being read even than during the pandemic, at least in the youth sector. We are living a cultural oversaturation in all aspects, both in audiovisual productions and in distribution media, as well as in the book sector. I I feel that we are on the brink of collapse and that things will change again shortly.