Out of the Cocoon........Joyce Oroz

Today I want to share an interview with you--this time it's me on the hot seat. 

http://wildandfreecreativity.com/be-featured/

Be Featured wildandfreecreativity.com 7 Wild And Free Questions: Inspiring Creativity Interview with YOU! I love featuring fellow writers ...

1. Who are you? 

My life began at twelve, reading Nancy Drew mysteries and painting with oil paints. Oil painting put me on a path I followed through motherhood and beyond. I painted murals for almost three decades all over California until a bad case of arthritis caught up to me. I turned to my second love, writing, which has, in the last nine years become my best love. I write the Josephine Stuart Mystery series, a blog and local press release information for clubs and concerns.
2. What is your personal understanding or definition of Wild and Free Creativity and Life?: 

Personally, I need to unbottle my creativity now and then--write something, paint something--sing in my truck where no one can hear me. Yes, I'm that bad. Creativity is the fuel I run on. Fortunately, many things stimulate my creativity like grandchildren, gardens, rivers, mountains, my husband, friends and life in general. Even ugly stuff can trigger an idea for a story.
3. What has been the most important lesson you have learned on your Creative Path?: 

Persevere! It's not how smart you are, it's how good you will be after you have persevered. I try not to let negative comments disrupt what I am creating. I mess up once in awhile--maybe more often than I know, but nothing is accomplished by looking back. Just learn from the mistakes and keep on trying.
4. How has your art changed you as a person? 

I am what I do. I was an artist--body mind and soul. When I gave up painting I didn't know who I was. Luckily my husband was writing a book at the time. It looked like fun so I took creative writing classes and jumped into the writing of books. There is a public side to writing that I knew nothing about. Going public forced me out of my life-long safety cocoon and I am having a blast!
5. What's your biggest creative dream, right now?: 

I would like things to stay as they are for fifty more years, but we all know that changes happen, besides, I would be older than Moses. In real life, I want to finish the sixth book in my Josephine series, including painting the cover. Yes I paint small projects now and then, but I hope to write for a long, long time.
6. What inspires you?: 

California inspires me, the beauty up and down the coast, the sunsets, wildlife, the Pacific Ocean. They supply the background for my stories. People and events inspire my plots. I have always loved to people-watch and make up stories about strangers in my head. Now that I write mysteries, I put the strangers on paper at my discretion.
7. What would you like every fellow writer and creative adventurer to know or understand? : 

Writing is about loving what you do. If you don't enjoy writing--find another job. If you love your work you will never "work" a day of your life.
Bonus question, just for fun: What's your favorite place in the world? :): 

Home is the most wonderful place I have found after traveling the world. Home is Aromas, California, country life at it's best. I live with my husband and dog in a sweet little house surrounded by flowers and trees--and deer, gophers, squirrels and giant-man-eating snails, all looking for a way to eat my garden.
Anything else?: 

My fifth book in the Josephine Stuart Mystery series is BEETLES IN THE BOXCAR. I hope you will give it a test-run and enjoy the ride! Amazon.com/joyceoroz