Josh Liccardi is an American author who grew up in the Berkshires located in Western Massachusetts. He was born in 1981 to a small family and grew up in a rural area 15 miles away from a small centralized city.
With not much to do he spent his time creating scenarios for himself and other neighborhood kids near him in order to pass the time outside of school. At an early age Josh became interested in computers and started learning their ways from the inside out, which ended up turning into a career choice as he aged.
School was never of much interest, but Josh did attend some college, before dropping out and focusing solely on his first IT job. The years went by and he bounced around between a few different companies, but still to this day is working in IT.
When not engrossed in work he was able to find time to write various things, which did get put on hold after the birth of his daughter. Josh is able to focus more on writing now however and recently created 151 Productions with his dear friend and artist Shawn.
Through this endeavor Shawn and Josh will continue to create and publish various works such as a comic book series as well as upcoming novels that are already in process. They are both very grateful to get their creations out into the world and hope to share their art for years to come.
Book Talk with Josh Liccardi
What inspired you to write this book?
The inspiration for this book was none other than the passing of my own brother who is the narrative voice of the story itself. I lost my brother when I was 18 and he was only 23. I had the idea to write about it shortly after his death, however I didn’t do so until almost 10 years later. Almost everything in the book is true with little to no embellishment. I was close to him during the last two years of his life and was able to pull information from that time in order to ultimately tell the story.
Tell us a little bit about the characters in Standing Room Only
The main character is the voice of my brother who is also the narrator of the story. Along the way, you meet a few of his friends, his girlfriend & brother (myself). The characters themselves are all based on real people, and their actions are depicted just as they occur in real life.
How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?
Since they were all based on real people, and they were people who I had spent plenty of time around, depicting them in the book was easy to do. In this type of story that is based on reality there was very little that had to be created or fictionalized.
Where did you come up with the names in the story?
Even though the characters are all based on real people, I did indeed change their names for anonymity. I chose names that had no actual connection to anyone involved in real life. I stuck with using basic names that were easy to remember and flowed through the story naturally.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
There were parts of this book that were quite hard to write, however the rewarding feeling after getting through some of the milestones was extremely enjoyable. Every time this occurred, I was filled with motivation to keep going until I finally made it to the end. The overall sense of accomplishment, and surprising myself that I had finished an entire book was a spectacular feeling.
What’s next for you?
I am currently working on an autobiography which has a heavy focus on my own personal experiences/feelings surrounding the story in Standing Room Only. My goal with this project is to show the perspective from one of the people that is left behind after such a tragedy, and to also hopefully help others that have experienced loss in this way.
Connect with Josh on his Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads
About the Book
Standing Room Only by Josh Liccardi
Genre: Fictional Biography
One man’s journey through the sick and twisted world of heroin addiction. Listen to his every thought as he tries to reexamine life, or what it has become. See each struggle unfold as things get more and more complicated. Learn how to curve the pain, and ultimately how to simply just give up.
*Please note – due to an Amazon error, the ebook connected to the Amazon paperback is incorrect and NOT by this author!*
Purchase the book on 151 Productions | Amazon | Goodreads | B&N
