SIX QUESTIONS WITH JOEL EISENBERG
You Can Take The Boy Outta Brooklyn, But...
Joel Eisenberg is an author (“The Chronicles of Ara” series), screenwriter, and producer who has set up scripts, programs, and films with TNT, Fox, CBS-Decades, Hulu, Warner Brothers, Amazon Prime, Ovation Network, Reelz Channel, Roddenberry Entertainment, Cinemax, and more. He is a member of the WGA, PenAmerica, and the Horror Writers Association. Joel also frequently writes articles on politics, social issues, and the arts. He considers himself an entrepreneurial writer responsible for his own success and has spoken at film and writing conferences around the country. As a sideline, Joel ran networking groups for entertainment industry professionals at Warner Brothers Studios, Paramount Studios, Sunset-Gower Studios, and the WGA.
1 - Which writer who came before, do you admire the most?
Rod Serling and Arthur Miller, and it’s interesting to me Serling admired Miller’s work and considered him one of his most influential. William Gaines and Al Feldstein. If I can incorporate Anne Rice in here, I was not yet writing at any notable clip when “Interview with the Vampire” was released in 1976 (I was 12). The book rocked my world. Ditto Stephen King’s “Carrie” and his oeuvre.
2 - Which teacher(s) had the most profound effect on you?
I was failing junior high, and very close to repeating a year. My English teacher said my reading comprehension was not up to par. That was emphatically not the case though, as I lived on a steady diet of comic books, monster magazines, and classic novels. My dad made her an offer: “Let my son do a book report on a book of his choice. If you still think he should not pass, we’ll accept that.” I wrote the report on Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House” and received an A+. If it was not for that teacher, or my dad, I would not have broached the writing career I have today as I would not have had the confidence.
3 - Besides writing, what’s your favorite hobby or passion?
Biking. Raquetball. Movies. Comics (still). And, well — I don’t generally care to admit it — I still watch professional wrestling. Don’t ask. Horror. Science Fiction. Edgy humor and profoundly audacious books, aka reading the smart stuff.
4 - What is something that those who don’t write fiction do not know or understand about it?
Great question. I believe people mistake “write what you know” to mean, “Don’t get too carried away with your invention.” Thankfully, most esteemed fantasists never bought into that.
5 - Can you think of a key breakthrough moment in your work, for you, that you’d be willing to share?
When I entered high school, I promised my parents I would one day write a novel (and have it published). Four novels later …
6 - What’s next for you?
Conquering space and time. (Actually, I strive for that one elusive deep work that will inspire the masses. I have no idea of the subject or when it will happen, but I’m working on it!