Josh Lindquist is a writer, film & television producer, and actor. He grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and has spent most of his adult life split between living in Colorado and Los Angeles, California. He served in the US Army Reserves from 2013-2016, and graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder. He writes fantasy and science fiction, primarily. He also loves being on set and working in film & television production. He has two cats, Russ and Haru.

Q1 – What is the name of your latest project? Tell us more about why you embarked on this project. If a writer, share your synopsis.

Josh Lindquist is currently a writer and producer on a tv series, The Devil’s Business, being developed and filmed in Colorado. It is a supernatural detective thriller about a man named Isaac Graves who gets summoned by people who are dealing with powers beyond their understanding. Bound by an ancient curse, he has to use his wit, powers of deduction, and knowledge of the arcane to try to help them deal with whatever otherworldly entities are plaguing them. Season 1 is currently in pre-production, with a planned 7-episode run.

I embarked on this project because it gave me a chance to collaborate with fellow writer and filmmaker Chad Gloria, and because I loved the themes that we want to explore in the show (nature vs civilization, people’s struggle to find meaning in a vast, scary universe, human nature, etc.).

Q2 – What inspired you when you encountered struggles along the way?

I only seriously started my writing career in 2020, at the start of the Pandemic. Prior to that, I had tried to write and, at the slightest struggle or obstacle, I would give up. But during the Pandemic, with my film & tv work halted, I decided it was now or never. And I began to set small, achievable goals for myself, and that helped me overcome obstacles; just staying focused on getting a complete draft that could be improved upon later, as opposed to letting small things I did not like stop me up along the way.

Q3 – Have you ever traveled as research for your work/project/story?

No, I have not. But I would like to. I think actually going to a place and seeing how people live there and interact with their environment is irreplaceable insight that will translate to a richer and more engaging story.

Q4 – How has your lived experience influenced your work/project/story?

I have been blessed with a life where I have gotten to have a lot of different jobs and gotten to interact with a lot of different people. So trying to write stories with as broad and inclusive of a scope as the life I have lived is definitely important to me. I want to explore topics that make people examine their values. Because as people, our values determine how we think, how we perceive things, and, ultimately, how we act. So examining our own values and asking ourselves tough questions is the only way to grow. I hope to be a part of that in people’s lives by writing things that help prompt such introspection. Certainly, writing the stories has caused me to undergo much introspection and growth, for which I am very grateful.

Q5 – What do you want readers to take away from your work/project/story?

Each of my written projects has different focuses, but I think themes that are prevalent through all of my works are Intellectual Integrity (encouraging people to allow their opinions and convictions to change and grow as they see more of the world around them), Respecting the Individuality of Others, and the Importance of Standing up for What is Right.

Q6 – Do you believe books can inspire social change? How?

Absolutely. I think reading a story is an experience. You go along on an adventure with the characters. And that adventure is going to be different for every reader, depending on how they relate to the material, but it nonetheless is an experience. And the things we experience shape who we are. So stories that make us examine ourselves and our values can have massive, important change in the world. Absolutely.

Q7 – Anton Chekhov said, “The world is, of course, nothing but our conception of it.” What is your opinion of this statement? How does it coincide or conflict with your perspective of the world?

I think there is a truth to it. I interpret the quote as meaning that the world is an aggregate result of everyone’s actions and decisions. And those things are of course shaped by our perception of the world, of what is right and wrong, of what the best course of action is. So I think that making people examine, and thereby grow and nurture, their conception of the world, is the best way to facilitate positive social change.

Q8 – What personal experience had the greatest influence on your worldview?

It’s hard to point to a single, definitive experience. I think it’s a lot of small, simple experiences that begin to add up to big shifts within me that I look back at. Certainly when I became an atheist at 22, that was one big important shift that I definitely look back on as an awakening of my journey into Intellectual Curiosity and embracing the values of Logic, Respect, and Compassion.

Q9 – What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged in your work/project/story?

I’ve definitely challenged religious extremism, greed, and intolerance of others in my stories. Those are the biggest threats to freedom and humanity’s progression as a species, in my opinion, in the real world. So those are things I want to examine and challenge in all of my stories.

Q10 – How do you see the relationship between writing and culture? How about the boundaries between fiction and reality?

This is a great question! The relationship between writing and culture is very interconnected, in my opinion. Culture can influence writing, but the opposite can also be true, for sure. I think the writing that manages to strike that mythical balance between engaging a large number of readers while also challenging values and ideas currently existing in the culture is the one that will impart the most change upon its culture, and, possibly, future cultures as well.

As for the boundaries between fiction and reality, I think we’ve seen many examples of fiction from previous years that ended up being an accurate prediction of a reality that we found ourselves in. In those cases, it can be helpful to look back at the fiction and say “alright, what pitfalls or consequences or ideas did they explore that it might be beneficial for us to examine, given that they were correct about the reality we now find ourselves in?”

Q11 – Aldous Huxley said, “I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” How have you changed throughout your creative process? How do you improve yourself every day?

I’ve sort of already answered this in previous questions, but I completely agree with Huxley’s quote. I think as authors, we (or, at least, I) want to impart positive change to others and to our culture, but the only certainty is that we ourselves will change in the process. Most of that is through examining values and ideas and characters. But also through research and talking to others about your work in progress. I have definitely become more in-tune with and more aware of my values throughout my writing career. And it has helped me reach a higher level of self-actualization, for sure.

Q12 – To what extent can fiction affect or improve the developments in science and technology in human life? What about religion and politics?

I think it inspires and prompts people who are in a position to affect those things to ask important questions or to further examine their values. I think fiction (really, art in general) is an integral part of non-artistic endeavors, as it helps build an ethical and moral backbone to accompany those industries.

Q13 – Eckhart Tolle said, “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” In your opinion, what is the next step and how can writers affect this?

Eckhart Tolle is brilliant! However, I think in order to enact positive change, in the majority of people, more than awareness is needed. Because despite the recent innovations of the internet and easier access to travel (all making the world more interconnected and accessible than ever), intolerance and close-mindedness are still massively and discouragingly widespread. I think that in addition to awareness, prompting introspection is needed. You can’t just write “this character is a bigot, and therefore, he is bad” (as much as I want to). You have to show a character (a realistically complex human character), and then illustrate their behavior and why it is problematic. You have to show the reader why and how certain actions or beliefs are dangerous. It’s almost like a closing argument in a court case. You have to take all of the evidence you’ve given to the jury up until this point and articulate their ramifications, so that as you state the conclusion the evidence leads you to, that the jury follows along and arrives at the same conclusion as you.

Q14 – Intolerance and divisiveness are prevalent across the globe. Our voice may not be loud enough to right every wrong, but it is enough to make a difference one person at a time. Small acts move mountains. What one thing would you ask your audience to do to help inspire social change?

I would ask anyone who has read something I have written to just remember that while people can be very different and unique (one of the most beautiful qualities of humanity), that at the core, people really are not that different. We all want love and acceptance and purpose and fulfillment. We want comfort and safety and joy. If we all remembered that about everyone and acted in accordance with it all the time, the world would be a much, much better place.

Q15 – Pick 1-3 social issues that are most important to you. Explain why you picked these and how we can help raise awareness/impact change.

It’s the three things I mentioned in Question #9. Religious Extremism. Greed (by which I mean, runaway, unregulated capitalism and massive wealth inequality). And Intolerance of Others. These three things are the biggest threats we face as humans. These three things are at the core of why we are killing our planet, of why we are not developing as rapidly as we could be. These three things are the reason that there is, unfortunately, a very real chance, in my mind, that humanity could go extinct in the next couple thousand (or, sadly, maybe even hundreds) of years.

I think continuing to be bastions of challenging these things and continuing to undermine their utility and efficacy is the best that we can do to help beat them. But its going to be a tough fight, because these things have become so horribly intertwined with our political and economic systems, that it is definitely an uphill battle.

Q16 – Maya Angelou said, “I did then what I knew how to do, but now that I know better, I do better.” We have all made choices that we regret. We are all flawed humans. Together, we are experiencing this human story unfolding. Share a transformative experience where you learned from a mistake. How do you actively choose to make better choices?

Wow, I can apply to this to so many experiences. We all grow up and change so much. I know I have changed a ton over the years. I think my biggest change is in relation to religion. I was raised in a religious household, and then I became even more reliant upon that in college, when I had some trying medical experiences shortly after moving away from home for the first time. As with any maladaptive coping skill or addiction, at first the religion helped. It gave me a way to cope with and regulate the stress and anxiety and panic. But it grew quickly toxic, and many of the things I said or did (especially to myself) I regret to this day. I am very glad I finally came to the realization that there are no supernatural entities or deities out there, and that religion is a flawed, corrupt thing created by people for controlling others, and I was able to free my mind from that toxic prison I had lived in for so long.

Q17 – Challenge readers and listeners with action steps to increase engagement with identifying hashtag and @mention.

I don’t want to identify or focus in on any specific hashtag or user, just because things happen to rapidly and unpredictably on the internet. When an important issue comes up, it’ll have its range of hashtags that we can engage with to hopefully further the discussion in a meaningful way.

Connect with Joshua Lindquist

An author is only as good as his audience. Support this amazing writer by connecting with him and checking out his books.

Website: https://www.amazon.com/Josh-Lindquist/e/B09PD2H1CJ

Twitter: @JLindquistBP

Instagram: @joshlindquistbp

FB: josh.lindquist.963

TikTok: @joshlindquistbp

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Michael Camarillo