Joshua Ray Senter (born February 14, 1979) is an American screenwriter and novelist known for his work on the television series ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'' and his critically-acclaimed novel, ''Still the Night Call.''

Career

Senter was born in Plato, Missouri, and his first

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

ambition was to become a

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animator. After he sent his portfolio of drawings to Disney at the age of seventeen, the company called to tell him they were impressed but were not currently hiring, and he should resubmit in another six months. During those six months, he decided to pursue film directing, his other passion, and sent a collection of homemade films to

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. He was one of fifteen film students selected that year, and one of the only students to have not already graduated from college. Senter redirected his pursuit of directing to writing, working on spec scripts, both feature length and for television. He soon landed his first job on the iconic lesbian drama ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama series that aired on Showtime in the United States from 2004 to 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated wit ...

''. He followed up that incredible experience with a position as a writer on the ABC drama series ''

''. He wrote six episodes spanning the series'

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

seasons, debuting with the episode " Goodbye for Now". He wrote many of Bree,

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and

Mary Alice Mary Alice Smith (December 3, 1936 – July 27, 2022), known professionally as Mary Alice, was an American television, film, and stage actress. Alice was known for her roles as Leticia "Lettie" Bostic on the sitcom ''A Different World'' (1987� ...

's storylines, for which he drew much inspiration from his own mother. In 2006 Senter was nominated for a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

for the episode " Don't Look at Me". In 2014 Senter helped write and produce a new series for ABC Family called ''

Chasing Life ''Chasing Life'' is an American drama television series that aired on ABC Family from June 10, 2014, to September 28, 2015. The series is adapted from the Televisa Spanish-language Mexican television series ''Terminales''. Ordered for 13 episode ...

''. His debut novel ''Daisies'', about the evolution of love in America, was released by Diversion Books on July 22, 2014. In 2015 he began work as a writer and producer for the critically acclaimed

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

series '' Finding Carter''. In 2015 Senter was placed on the Tracking Board's Young and Hungry List as one of the top 100 writer's working in Hollywood. In 2016, 2017, and 2018 he wrote pilots for ABC, FOX, and NBC respectively. A Valentine's Day movie he co-wrote for Freeform, called '' The Thing About Harry'', aired in February 2020 and was nominated for a 2021 GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV Movie." On January 14, 2022, Senter's sophomore novel
Still the Night Call
' was released by Roubidoux Press to critical-acclaim. ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

Reviews'' called it "A majestic and melancholy story of farm life, politics, and unwanted decisions in an amazing Ozark landscape." ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' gave it one of their coveted stars, and said it's "A candid tale that triumphantly understands the Midwestern psyche, delivering moments of beauty and tragedy." It was also named Best Indie Book of 2021 by ''

.'' In March 2022, The Eric Hoffer Awards bestowed an honorable mention upon ''Still the Night Call'' and named it a finalist for their grand prize. In May 202
IndieReader
awarded ''Still the Night Call'' Best Literary Fiction of 2022. Senter's work has been praised for its humor, heart, and honesty. He has a knack for creating relatable characters and stories that resonate with audiences. He is considered a role model for aspiring writers and a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ representation in Hollywood.

Personal life

Joshua enter grew up on a farm in

Fort Leonard Wood Fort Leonard Wood is a United States Army, U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri The Ozarks, Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of the city of St. Robert, Missouri, St. Robert. The post was created in De ...

near

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and was

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

with his four sisters by his mother Brenda. Before the age of thirteen, his parents' fundamental

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

beliefs did not allow him to watch or their family to own a television, so instead he spent his time alone drawing, painting, throwing pottery and sewing: "Being alone so much probably helped me become a better writer since it's just you and the page," he says of his childhood. He recalls in particular his first viewing of ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton, centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of De-extinction#Cloning, cloned dinosaurs. It bega ...

'', which he says inspired him to become a filmmaker. Before heading for Hollywood, he and his youngest sister used his father's home video camera to make short films and music videos. He now resides in Los Angeles with his husband and their three cats.

References

External links

Official site and blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Senter, Josh 1979 births Living people American soap opera writers American male screenwriters People from Texas County, Missouri American male television writers American television writers People from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri Screenwriters from Missouri