Interview with Julian Black – Ramona Portelli Blog

Interview with Julian Black

Ramona: Tell me more about your latest book

Julian Black: My latest book is called : ‘I was screaming Inside and the world did listen’.  It’s a book about the personal trauma’s I have gone through in my life and it links in with my memoir.  I was screaming inside, but nobody could hear me, now the world listens. In the book I discuss how creativity came back into my life in my late twenties and early thirties ( I was creative as a child with a huge imagination), and how writing stories which mirrored my own life gave me so much joy and inner happiness when I was going through so much inner pain of living a life of fear and repression and Isolation. I also talk in the book about self-publishing and marketing and the enormous cost to my pocket, but the inner confidence it gave me to be an author of stories which were and are very personal to my own life. I have had so much negativity and discouragement in my life, but my writing gave me something to lean on and getting published even though I paid to get all my books published gave me that one thing to be proud of. It was my own little boost of inner confidence and my writing may have even kept me alive. ‘I was screaming inside and the world did listen’ is being published by Matador very soon. I cannot wait it’s a small book with a bigger than life story. 

Ramona: What was the most challenging aspect of writing this book?

Julian Black: There were no challenges really to writing this book because it was such a joy to write, as all of my books have been a joy to write.  I wanted to share with people how creativity in one’s life can be a complete joy and can bring so much magic when there is so much pain.  Through writing I was able to escape into my imagination and write stories of fear and the pain of living on planet earth. It has all been a complete joy for me and personal achievement. The hard part of it all is getting published and the cost involved, but as usual I dipped into my own pocket from my hard-earned money and found myself a publisher. All of my books have been a joy to write because they have all come from my heart. I don’t go out or socialize, so why shouldn’t I use my money on something which means a lot to me. 

Ramona: Do you ever struggle with writers block?

Julian Black: I have to say hand on heart, I have never struggled with writers block all of my stories have just popped up in my head, when I have been out walking or sat in the house an idea just comes into my head and I keep it there and type a few lines and from that Idea I then develop a story within a few days.  I have had so much fear and turmoil in my life that writing about it and putting my characters into bizarre situations is easy for me to write about.  If you research my history of my life you will find parts of my life in all my stories ok it’s dark material, but planet earth can be a very dark place to live. You know human beings do hurt one another – it’s our tragic flaws unfortunately. 

Ramona: What motivated you to become an author?

Julian Black: My life was boring, it was full of fear.  I had repressed my body and mind of happiness and wellbeing and my social and family environments were very bigoted and I have not really been given a very fair deal in life, but I have been looked down on and constantly mocked not to mention bullied in my work places over many years  simply because I was a target. (depressing stuff right).  Can you imagine what a complete joy and escape it was for me to run away into my imagination.  I am very very lucky to have been given such a gift which I have used to autobiographically tell stories. I consider myself very lucky to have found something in my life such as an imagination which has given me so much strength on the inside. 

Ramona: How many books have you written so far?

A secret gay passion

Where does homosexuality come from, Me and My Ghost

Nicky a bit of a wet rag – What goes on behind the curtain of a closed homosexual

Story of a young gay American porn star

I was screaming inside, but nobody could hear me now the world listens

Me the Ouija board and my ancient friend

Going back twenty five years with a paranormal twist

I caught HIV from a bird who flew over me

I was screaming inside and the world did listen

Ramona: What are some of your best practices as a writer?
Julian Black: I love the fact that I write about humanity and the tragic flaws that we have as human beings living in a very tragic world. It’s a joy for me to write about tragic flaws within humanity and then people read my stories and maybe see their own human mistakes and errors and maybe get reflection from it. I wish everybody would write their memoir and then take a good deep look at their life. We could learn so much about each other. 

Ramona: What is your advice for aspiring writers?
Julian Black: Write what you know and keep a journal of your life we can write stories from our own everyday lives and we can take something from it you know get on your laptop or take notes with a pen and paper and just write a sentence and then expand from there write something every day and never give up on your dreams just keep being creative. Save up your money to get published this way you have a book out there on the Internet which could get picked up by somebody you just never know. Write what’s personal to you make it come from the heart never mind if it’s a small story or a big story if it has a personal message readers will take it to their hearts. Unless you give it a go and persist with it your dreams could very well become a reality. You never know what’s around the corner. Writing can be a joy it has been for me personally, but it can be a very isolating hobby too. 

Visit below links to get in touch with Julian Black

Frontpage : www.julianblackbooks.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk : Julianblackbooks

Twitter : @Julianbo6677425

Facebook : Julian Black

Instagram : Julianblack_Author

Scroll to top