The Superhero Powers of Writer Jonathan Joy
By Pamela Hall
The Ashland Beacon
It is always exciting when someone in our area has success with achieving something out of the ordinary. It is even more exciting when that person is one of the writers of The Greater Ashland Beacon!
Jonathan Joy, the writer of our “Bedtime Stories for Kids” column, has recently published a play based on the characters from the column. Kid Superheroes on the Rise is a children’s play published through Drama Notebook, a website that contains drama resource materials for teachers. The website, www.dramanotebook.com, has the world’s largest collection of materials for teaching drama, including scripts, monologues, drama games and activities, and even lesson plans. It is subscribed to by teachers all over the world.
“Drama Notebook has a few other works of mine as well,” Joy noted. “This is my fifth publication with them in the past five or six years. The website is a great teaching resource for grades K-12.”
As you can see, Joy is no stranger to writing and has experienced much success from his craft. He is an Associate Professor of English at Ashland Community and Technical College where he teaches composition and creative writing. He has written over 50 plays, which have been performed in at least 18 states. He has also won numerous awards, including nine West Virginia Writers awards.
“Bedtime Stories For Kids” came about as a result of Joy telling his son stories… at bedtime, of course. He has been writing the column for about seven years.
“My son was five years old when I started writing bedtime stories for him,” Joy explained. “As he grew, he began to get his own ideas and come up with characters of his own. It became something we could work on together.”
Writing the column soon resulted in a podcast that Joy and his son began nearly five years ago. Professor Theo’s Mystery Lab is also partially based on the characters in the column. Joy is the voice of Professor Theo for the podcast. It can be heard on www.professortheo.com.
“We have almost 200 episodes now,” Joy said enthusiastically.
Kid Superheroes on the Rise was released on June 1 by Drama Notebook. It is the story of Buck and several of his elementary school classmates that have acquired superhero powers. They come together, trying to learn how to use their powers, as they attempt to overcome the bullies and bad guys. The story emphasizes the importance of using one’s creativity and imagination, working together, and stopping bullying.
Joy is another example of the amazing talents and artistic abilities with which our area is blessed. He has, indeed, achieved something out of the ordinary for which our area should be proud.
Congratulations to Jonathan Joy on his new publication. We think he’s the one with superhero powers!