Twenty years finding the telling detail — in fiction, in journalism, and behind a lens. Available for work that demands precision and depth.
Selected Work
A winter-set American Gothic mystery set in fictional Yuletide, Vermont. Three founding families. A poet murdered a century ago. A curse that abides whether anyone believes in it or not. The first book of a seasonal American Gothic trilogy.
Read more →"Landscapes are wounded characters holding secrets they didn't choose."
Book One of the Seasonal American Gothic Trilogy · ~80,000 words
A forensic wildlife scientist and a game warden's son in the Vermont wilderness — where a protected fern, a surviving mountain lion, and a corrupt former operative converge.
Read more → 02 Novel · In ProgressBook Two of the trilogy: a failing Florida roadside animal attraction, a pharmaceutical laboratory in a failed 1920s hotel, and a summer that never quite ends.
Read more → 03 Novel · In ProgressBook Three: an autumn story in a small river town on the Mississippi bluffs north of Alton, Illinois — a fictional Gravedigger's Ball with Underground Railroad roots.
Read more →A Route 66 feature tracing the intersection of American mythology, rural infrastructure, and the communities that electricity built — and is now transforming.
Read more → 02 Reported EssayWhat happens when electric vehicle promises meet a January in the Midwest? A reported investigation into cold-weather performance, infrastructure gaps, and the people caught between.
Read more → 03 Essay · CraftOn the advice of a late professor, the discipline of specificity, and why the one true thing always defeats the many approximate ones.
Read more →How translating complex generation data into accessible visual storytelling changed how a cooperative talked to its members — and how its members listened.
Read more → 02 Case Study · Crisis CommsStrategic counsel during a high-stakes organizational crisis: the framework, the messaging architecture, and the decisions that preserved institutional trust.
Read more → 03 Case Study · BrandA long-form strategic branding engagement: from audience research through editorial voice, visual language, and a content architecture built to last.
Read more →Portfolio
Joe Richardson · Greenville, Illinois
About
"My late writing professor had one piece of advice: find the telling detail and build from it. I've spent twenty years trying to live up to that."
Joe Richardson is a writer and photographer based in Greenville, Illinois, with nearly two decades of professional communications experience — most recently as a strategic communicator for an electric cooperative, where he counseled leadership, built editorial programs, and translated complex infrastructure stories for general audiences.
His creative work runs alongside and in conversation with that professional life. He is currently at work on The House of Hawthorne, Cross & Crow, the first book of a seasonal American Gothic trilogy set in a fictional Vermont village. He is also the creator of the LongStoryShort podcast, which profiles independent bookshop owners across America.
His photography spans documentary, landscape, and portrait work — made with the same instinct that drives the writing: look for the detail no one else noticed, and let it carry the weight.
He is available for communications consulting, editorial writing, content strategy, and long-form journalism assignments.
Writing
Fiction · Journalism · Essays · Brand Narrative
Communications
Strategy · Crisis Counsel · Executive Voice
Photography
Documentary · Landscape · Editorial
Podcast
LongStoryShort · Independent Bookshop Owners
Get in Touch
Available for writing commissions, communications consulting, editorial photography, and long-form projects.
joe@genrejoe.com