By Jason Kaplan
Joseph Olsen grew up with 10 brothers and sisters, but as a Jehovah’s Witness he often felt alienated from his peers. For companionship, Olsen turned to writing and the characters he created.
Olsen is the author of one collection of poetry (“Between Us and Imagination”) and two children’s books (“Max Finds a Master” and “Lock away the Monsters”). His latest book, “Do You Smell That?” will be released next week and is available for pre-order.
Due to his family’s religious beliefs, Olsen wasn’t able to celebrate holidays or birthdays and wasn’t allowed to compete in athletics. The exclusion from such activities made him feel isolated so he created his own friends to deal with the challenges he faced in life. As he continued to grow, writing became a good crutch when dealing with break-ups as well.
Now Olsen draws from those life experiences and uses them as inspiration for his writing, particularly the antics of his two sons, Alexander and Nicholas.
The premise for “Do You Smell That?” is actually based on an experience Alexander had.
Olsen explained he heard giggling coming from the living room one day. Nicholas exits his bedroom and asks, “Do you smell that?” A scent began wafting into Olsen’s bedroom. “Yeah, it smells like Alex blew a sewage plant through his underpants,” he replied. Walking into the living room, Olsen is shocked to see Alex had literally blown a hole in his underpants.
Not only did the incident spawn the subject of a book, but it also motivated Olsen to collect underpants for needy boys and girls. Through Nov. 30, Butterhill Day School, The Cornwall Local newspaper, Cornwall Central High School, and Sweet Peas Café will be collecting new, packaged underwear on behalf of Safe Homes of Orange County.
“I just want to give back,” said Olsen.
Those unfamiliar with Olsen the author, may recognize him as owner of the Cornwall-based business, Intrepid Computing. About 20 years ago, Olsen began tinkering with computers, trying to build the ultimate machine. He learned from the failures and opted to take some classes. He decided to make himself available to others and realized the problems people faced with their computers were the same issues he had when building his own.
Olsen also started his own publishing company, Formation Press, under which he’s published his four books. His ultimate goal is to eventually take on other clients.
“I grew up hustling,” Olsen said. “I love the hustle. I’ll do what it it takes to sell the books. I love that drive to take action and get out there.”
Olsen commits himself to writing daily, but finds completing a book is “as easy as whatever personal obstacles are in your way.” His latest offering took two-and-a-half years to complete because of personal obstacles in his life. During that timespan, however, Olsen managed to fill three 500-page journals with poems and other free writing.
“I feel like I have a purpose when I’m writing, especially my poetry,” Olsen said. A day I’m not writing [is a day] I feel like I haven’t progressed.”
He recently completed a chapter book, for young teens, called “Santa’s New Gig.” A magical spell has befallen Santa’s elves, leaving them incapable of producing toys for Christmas. Instead, Santa has to get a job, one of them delivering pizzas. Although he thought delivering 25 pies to a party would be an easy task, Santa was quickly fired when he climbed down the chimney rather than knocking on the door.
“Do You Smell That” is available to pre-order by visiting formationpress.com, but will also be available for sale at the Shops at 277 Main (Cornwall), Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
