Q: Please introduce yourself! Share your name, pronouns, and something fun, interesting, curious, or important (take your pick) about yourself that you would like our audience to know about you.
A: I’m Joey Paul, she/her, and I’ve been published for over 20 years now. What started as a way to pass the time when I became disabled and chronically ill turned into a passion. As for curious, I’d tell the story of my webbed toes but I think I’ve used that one a few too many times lately!
Instead I’ll share that I've been a wheelchair user since I was 20, and I’m 43 now, and while I’m still somewhat ambulant, I do love getting to wheel places, even if it’s only been recently that I’ve started to branch out into wheelchair walks and properly getting better at wheeling.
Q: What genre or format do you write in? (for example: romance, fantasy, short stories, poetry, etc.)
A: I write young adult fiction. I’m not someone who sticks to any one genre though I do dabble in a few. Right now the majority of my works fall into crime/mystery, paranormal, dystopian, or urban fantasy. With as many books as I have, I’ve never really wanted to stay in just the one genre, I go where the ideas take me.
Q: Who do you write for? Who is your audience, and are you seeking to reach a particular type of reader with your work? Why?
A: I want to reach teenagers who were like me, vicarious readers, but also desperate to see some of themselves in fiction. I have several chronic illness and disabled characters, some side ones, some main, but I like to be able to write teens that feel real, and also deal with things teens are dealing with.
I also want to reach those disabled and chronically ill teenagers who feel like they are missed in fiction. While I wasn’t born disabled, I have been chronically ill my whole life and I wish I’d had more books to reach that showcased that experience.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration as a writer?
A: I find a lot of my inspiration as it were comes from just the ideas, the drive, the what if questions, life and everything in it. I will sometimes have a dream, or a conversation and a snippet of that will grow and grow in my head until it becomes something that I can use as a story. I do a lot of people watching too, whether while travelling or just from looking out my office window. Inspiration is everywhere and it comes and goes, but there’s an idea in everything, you just have to nurture it and let it grow in its own time.
Q: How do you fit into the disability and chronic illness community?
A: I have several chronic conditions that make me disabled. I have a severe form of asthma, M.E, (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome), Fibromyalgia, type two diabetes, depression, anxiety, and a whole host of other things as well.
Because of all of these, I use a wheelchair full time. My best friend of over 30 years became my carer when I got sicker at 19, and we live together with her child, Mx. K. I also use oxygen, and other medical aids to allow me to continue to live my life.
Q: Does being disabled/chronically ill impact the way you write? For example, do you have to pace yourself differently than your colleagues or structure your writing sessions in a particular way?
A: Yes!! I have been writing for about 25 years now, and dealing with chronic illness all my life, so I’ve had a lot of time to work out what works for me, and what doesn’t when it comes to the way I work. I usually wake up very early (think like 1am onwards) and will work for a few hours and then will have to call it a day and rest in bed the remainder of the day. So I really do have to structure my working time in a very strict way.
I started tracking my time a number of years ago, and bar just being able to see where it goes, it also allows me to know how long a certain task will take. While non-disabled and healthy writers might be able to switch things around here and there, I have to be stricter with my time because I know my energy is limited, my pain levels are limited and so on.
But I’ve found a way that works for me, which is the main thing!
Q: Does being disabled/chronically ill affect the content you write? Does it affect the audience you try to reach?
A: When I first started writing when I was 19, I only really had side characters with chronic illnesses, like my debut, Blackout, had a side character with the same form of severe asthma as me. I didn’t really branch out again to chronically ill and/or disabled characters until my fifth book, Lynne & Hope, which had a disabled character as one of the POVs.
For a long time, I didn’t think there was an audience for disabled/chronically ill characters, and then I kinda got over that internalised ableism, and told myself that even if there wasn’t a market (which there was of course) I would write the stories I wanted to write, and that’s when Cramping Chronicles, and Lights Out (both series) were born, main characters with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses as the focus without it only being about disability.
By the time I got to writing the Invisible quartet, I had a lot to say and a lot to do and a lot of time to think, and I can now confidently say that every book after those first ones has at least some disability/chronic illness rep in it, because these are the stories I want to share with teens who were like me, and spending time off school more often than their healthy peers.
Q: What do you do to hone your craft as a disabled writer that might be different from other writers who don’t have your set of experiences?
A: I don’t think there much I do that’s different from other writers when it comes to honing my craft. Other than more research into conditions and ways of working, I’m pretty much the same as other writers. I read a whole lot, I pick up more diverse books whether disability rep or otherwise, and I see how those can apply to my own stories.
On Representation
Q: Do you wish you could read more books with disabled or chronically ill characters? Do you wish there was more diversity in the types of stories told? Overall, how do you think we are doing when it comes to disability representation in literature?
A: I am seeing a lot more rep, and a lot more rep from disabled authors, which is great. I love reading disabled and chronically ill characters, and the majority of them are so well done that it’s just nice to see! My only qualm comes when the ones being platformed are the ones by non-disabled authors and while they may be done really well, it’s just an annoyance to see rep by authors who actually are disabled and/or chronically ill fade into obscurity and not been seen. I’d like to see much more own voices platformed and talked about.
Q: What does disability representation in literature mean to you? Is it important to you? Does it affect culture - or is it a side effect? What are your thoughts in this area?
A: I think a lot of the time, disability and chronic illness can be seen as a terrible thing, and how there’s no life when disabled and/or chronically ill. I’ve seen books go viral that basically have the belief that disability and/or chronic illness are a death sentence. I feel like having positive rep, showing that disabled joy is a thing, and real, and felt by a lot of disabled and chronically ill people, is a very good thing.
I think showing this, especially in the YA sphere, is a hugely positive thing. It allows teens to see themselves in fiction, but it also allows non-disabled teens to see lives that are not like their own, it shows behind the curtain for disability and chronic illness and shows that it does not therefore mean your life is over, that there’s nothing good left.
With the way things are in the world right now, it can only be a good thing to allow people to see that disability and chronic illness isn’t this terrible thing that equals a life not worth living, while at the same time, showing the struggle it can be because I’m not one for only positivity. It needs to be real, the warts and all, but with those warts are some points of joy too.
Q: Does disability representation play a role in what or how you write? Please talk about why or why not.
A: When I first started writing, I didn’t really focus on disability rep. I think some of it was struggling to adapt to my own disabilities and chronic illnesses and the changes that brought into my life. My debut had a chronically ill side character, but I didn’t really feel comfortable doing more rep until my fifth book, and even then I didn’t lean into it too much.
It took me a while to really be okay with leaning into the disability rep, and from there it was like all these ideas and characters popped to life. I think some of that was internalised ableism, where I felt like I couldn’t tell these stories, and I didn’t think there was a market for them.
When I finally got to the point where I embraced my disabilities that I found that disabled joy and explored it in my work. Something clicked for me then and I found that those words came a lot easier, and the stories went a lot smoother, and it just opened up a whole new world of writing, of stories, and also of being okay in my own disabled life.
Some of that was also seeing rep in the books I read, and some of it was meeting other disabled authors and writers and finding my people as it were that allowed me to move through that hesitancy when it came to writing rep myself.
Q: Do you come across bad disability representation in the books you read? How does it make you feel? How do you think we can do better when representing the disability community in literature?
A: I have come across disability rep and found that it’s either harmful tropes, or toxic ones. I’ve even done videos about it on my Authortube channel and found that they are highly watched and people love them. I feel like too much of the time, these are either authors who haven’t done their research, or have just added a disability for rep points, and they’ve done something like curing the disability at the end, or making the bad guy disabled because that’s why they’re bad. It’s irritating because there are so many examples of good rep out there, and it feels like the bad rep is the ones that get platformed.
I don’t think you have to only write your own disability, but you do need to put the work in. Research, sensitivity readers, and working on it as much as you would any other part of the book that you don’t have personal, or lived experience with.
I’ve done disability rep that are not my own disabilities and I’ve been careful about both doing my research and also hiring sensitivity readers and because of that, it’s made my work better.
As for how it makes me feel, I don’t like it. I feel like harmful rep is worse than no rep. I can think of a number of books that have presented disability rep as tragic and nothing else, to the point where the disabled characters have been killed off, and it painted as better off for them, or there’s the magical cure, and that just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Q: Do you have any further thoughts on disability representation you would like to add?
A: Even if you have no lived experience with disability, it’s not an impossible thing to include. There are so many resources, whether just on the internet, or hiring a sensitivity reader to make sure that you’re not perpetuating harmful tropes and rep. It doesn’t have to be doom and gloom, there is disabled joy and there is life in disability.
On Advice
Q: What advice would you give to new writers?
A: Don’t be afraid to take your time. Publishing is not a race, there’s no time limit on it. You have to do what works for you, and if that’s a lot of trial and error until you find that way. Remember to breathe, and remember to take breaks to look after yourself.
Q: What writing or life “hacks” would you recommend to other disabled or chronically ill writers, especially those who are still starting out on their writing journey?
A: I’ve found a way that works for me, but I know that it’s not something that works for everyone. I juggle multiple projects, but I found that setting one thing to do every day, rather than trying to get a lot of things done in one day. I also track my time just because that way I know that things will take longer than others and it’s been really useful for me.
I’m not a planner when it comes to drafting, but I am a big planner when it comes to my time. So I have a paper planner, and also use my iPad as a planner too. That way I know what’s expected of me when I get up in the morning.
Q: What do you wish someone had told you when you were finding your path?
A: That it’s okay to switch the way you do things if it’s not working for you, you don’t have to set things in stone, you can switch and try something new, it’s okay to do that, and it doesn’t mean you’ve failed or anything like that.
Q: What was the best piece of advice given to you as a writer, or even as a disabled writer?
A: I was about ten years into being an author when one of my besties listened to me rant about all the things I had to do, and all the deadlines and everything else all wrapped up. She said to me: Joey, it takes as long as it takes, and that’s okay.
It was like a puzzle piece clicking into place and since then it’s become a bit of a mantra for me. So I use that as a piece of advice for people because it’s so very true!
About Your Work
Q: Would you like to share anything about your current work-in-progress?
A: I work on multiple projects, and right now I have five current works! I am rewriting/revising two projects which I won’t mention because they’re far off from being published. I’m revising two other projects, and working on proof edits for one coming out in October.
So let’s share with those final three!
- Visible - Revising Project One: This is the third in the Invisible quartet which is a YA dystopian series all about disability, resilience and adapting to both new disabilities and the way they are viewed in the future, and in some ways in this time as well. This was the series where I leaned heavily into as much disability and chronic illness rep as possible and I adore it so much.
- Cramping Chronicles: The Fifth Agony - Revising Project Two: This is the fifth and final book in the Cramping Chronicles series which is a YA urban fantasy series about Jessie who’s 15, chronically ill and also able to literally feel certain people’s physical and emotional pain, in other words, she’s an empath. This is the explosive ending and I am having a lot of fun working with the final instalment and bringing it all to a satisfying ending.
- Cramping Chronicles: The Fourth Torment - Proof Edits: This is the book coming out on October 14th 2025, and is the fourth book in the Cramping Chronicles book. I’m almost ready to send it to ARC readers and I’m excited to hear what they all think!
Q: What do you love most about crafting a new work?
A: I’ve been focusing on revising and rewriting for the past year, but I have to say my favourite part of the writing process is drafting. I already have two new ideas brewing in my head and I’m looking forward to jumping into them some time next year. I love getting to meet new characters and bring the idea into a story and to life on the page. I could happily draft and draft and just never do the rest of the work, but alas, I do so because I want the stories to actually make sense and since I don’t outline much, it takes a lot of the other stuff to get things to work well!
Q: Do you have any work already out there that you would like to talk about? If so, please tell us about the project, why you wrote it, and what you hope readers will take from it.
A: I have almost twenty-four books out, four series, two complete, and two in progress, as well as several standalones.
The two I’m gonna mention are the newer ones!
- Invisible quartet: YA dystopian, and it’s all about disability. I wrote it because I wanted to show that survival of the fittest also includes disability because we’re so used to adapting quickly.
- Cramping Chronicles series: YA urban fantasy. I loved getting to take a disabled protagonist and put her in situations that kept my love of mystery while also crafted another world within it. I had a whole lot of fun with this, and I can’t wait for readers to read the ending!
Q: Where can readers find your work? Please share links and pertinent information.
A: The best place is my website: www.joeypaulonline.com
For my books, the pages are best!
My standalones: http://www.joeypaulonline.com/p/standalones.html
Dying Thoughts series: http://www.joeypaulonline.com/p/dying-thoughts-series.html
Lights Out trilogy: http://www.joeypaulonline.com/p/lights-out-trilogy.html
Cramping Chronicles series: http://www.joeypaulonline.com/p/cramping-chronicles-series.html
Invisible quartet: http://www.joeypaulonline.com/p/invisible-quartet.html
Final Thoughts
Q: What would you like to share or say to the Underground Bookshelf audience that hasn’t already been brought up?
A: I think it’s mostly don’t forget to look for those smaller indie disabled authors because you will be in for a treat when it comes to their rep!
Q: Thank you for sharing your thoughts, today. Any final words?
A: I think that’s everything, thanks for having me! I apologise for the novel when it comes to my answers!
About the Author
Joey has always had an over-active imagination and first put pen to paper to write a book when she was thirteen. At the age of nineteen she was diagnosed with M.E and Fibromyalgia and retired from her job on medical grounds. Combined with her severe brittle asthma, Joey became disabled and a full-time wheelchair user. She was told that she would probably never work a normal job again and took to rewriting that first book as a creative outlet.
Joey enjoys reading herself and is a fan of the crime genre. She also enjoys TV shows such as DOCTOR WHO, and various Harlan Coben crime dramas on Netflix. In her spare time, she also cross-stitches, as well as spending time in the great outdoors wheelchair walking along with her best friend and carer, B, occasionally doing a challenge to raise money for charity.
Joey welcomes questions from her readers and any comments. Feel free to email her at bugbooks@virginmedia.com.
To stay up to date with book news, release dates and everything else Joey does, follow this blog or like her on her Facebook page. You can also find Joey on Threads, BlueSky, Tumblr, Goodreads, Instagram, and YouTube.
Her website is Bug Books: Joey Paul Online and her hype is Joey Paul | Hype.
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