Joanne Askew

A Love Letter

I am so excited that this week, we get to celebrate one of my favourite writers and a very dear friend. I’ve known Joanne for a few years now, and the way we met was originally through her writing. Back all the way in 2019, back before the pandemic, back in those blissfully unaware times, I started offering ‘beta reading’ as a service online. Mainly, I was trying to earn some extra cash for a trip we were taking for my birthday that year. My very first customer took a chance on me, sent me her short story, then sent me another the following week, and another the week after, and just kept sending them to me.

And I was absolutely delighted to get every single one. She isn’t the only friend to have started out as a client, but she was one of the ones who kept insisting what I was doing was actually editing, and I was massively undercharging for my work.

If it wasn’t for Jo (and, of course, S.H. Cooper) I don’t think I ever would have taken that step. She encouraged and pushed me, and it’s something that has continued throughout our friendship, though we have never met in person, and I hope she feels I encourage and push her, too.

From the moment I read Jo’s first short story, I knew this was a special kind of writer. And her skills have only got better. She has a way of crafting characters you can’t help but care completely about, of drawing you into these worlds she’s created. And her work is honest, tackling issues around gender, sexuality, and class. A lot of her characters face situations where they’re used, or mistreated, or overlooked. Her characters are often bi/pan, in worlds where sexuality isn’t as questioned or under scrutiny like it is in real life.

Some of her stories are bleak, but there’s always a ray of light shining through. Something, even if it’s just the tiniest glimmer of hope. And her women, well, they sure as hell don’t need any kind of man to save them.

Jo is passionate. She is passionate about her heritage and weaving that into her works, passionate about injustices, the treatment of women, sexuality, and mental health. She works at creating inclusive worlds, portraying people of different races, genders, people with disabilities, people dealing with OCD and depression. These aren’t treated as weaknesses, either. She crafts unique characters that jump off the page and burrow into your head.

And Sloth? Sloth isn’t the start, but it is part of her beginning. It’s her first novella, but there are plenty of short stories out there for you to all check out. And I’ve already seen her grow so much as a writer, I know she’s going to keep getting better, and better, and better. Which is good news for us, because we need more writers like her out there. If you haven’t checked out her work already, you really should, and keep your eye on her.

She’s got so many more amazing stories to tell us.

Post by Elle Turpitt
Twitter: @ElleTurpitt