Master Of Plot Twists: William Sterling

WEBVTT
00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:13.039
Still alive.
00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:17.839
What's up, everybody?
00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.160
Welcome back to Plat Twist Still Alive.
00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:25.519
I am your hostess with the most as three-time cancer survivor and chaos coordinator, Crystal with a K.
00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:26.719
Welcome back, guys.
00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:27.920
Oh my gosh.
00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:29.679
Thank you so much for coming back.
00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:32.960
We are officially on episode 22.
00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:37.920
Woo! We're gonna roll out the master of plot twists tonight.
00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:49.520
And you know, we talk about heavy shit all the time and we talk about fuck it lists, but I wanted to make room for people that do the things that are on our fucking list, try the things that people are scared to try.
00:00:49.600 --> 00:01:00.479
And so tonight I decided to invite a guest on that not only loves horror, but also does something that I've always wanted to do, and I think most people I know have, and that's write a book.
00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:01.759
He is an author.
00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:05.599
He's creepy and he's kooky, he's all a little spooky.
00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:07.280
He even wrote a bookie.
00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:08.879
His name's William Sterling.
00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.239
I don't know if that's like copyrighted or if I'm allowed to do that, but fuck it.
00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:13.760
Oh, I'm sure it is, but we're doing it.
00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:14.400
Fuck it.
00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:15.120
Is that right?
00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:15.680
It's okay.
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:17.439
Um, you would know more than me, Mr.
00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:18.000
Author.
00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:20.640
I appreciate you coming onto the show.
00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:23.519
And another thing that we're doing, plot twist, bitches.
00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:26.560
This is the first time ever we actually have videos.
00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:32.480
So, those of you that are listening at home on my Buzz Sprout, Spotify, Apple, there is actually a video.
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:34.400
Now, will it ever be put out there?
00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:36.719
God knows what Sterling or William.
00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:39.760
I keep wanting to call you spooky Sterling because of your handle.
00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:40.400
It works.
00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:42.000
I answered anything.
00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:43.040
Don't say that.
00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:44.400
But we're gonna see how this goes.
00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.519
And if it's great, you know, I have a lot of face right now happening.
00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:48.400
It's interesting.
00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.319
Usually I'm like in sweatpants and shit and boogers in my nose, doesn't matter.
00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:53.519
But now I had to do this.
00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:54.879
So I have my bag of lies on.
00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:55.280
Let's go.
00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:56.560
So, William Sterling.
00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:01.920
First, I just want you to tell me a little bit about miniature William Sterling.
00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.799
Like when you were a wee lad, what inspired you to decide to be a writer?
00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:12.639
Was that like when I grow up, I want to be this, or was there like other options first and then you settled on it?
00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:13.520
Or how'd that work?
00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:14.159
Yeah.
00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:22.080
Uh baby Sterling went kind of on a journey to get here, did the college route where I had no fucking clue what I wanted to do with my life.
00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:31.599
So I ping-ponged between majors a lot, really enjoyed all of my lit classes, but there was a lot of there's no careers in that involved.
00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:36.879
It like as like the first lesson in every single one of those classes, like all the brands.
00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:39.520
You're not gonna eat right off the bat.
00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:40.960
Yeah, immediately.
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:42.080
So wow.
00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.560
Somehow I ended up in law school.
00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:45.360
Oops.
00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:46.080
Really?
00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:58.719
I made it two months in law school and then hit the eject button because again, just people constantly being really down on anything you were trying to do and being like, yeah, you're gonna hate this profession.
00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:01.439
You're never actually gonna make any money unless you get really lucky.
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:05.280
I hope you don't love your wife because you're gonna lose them like through this profession.
00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:06.479
It's like, what the fuck?
00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:09.840
Why is this the third professor in a row telling me this shit?
00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.599
I maybe they were just trying to scare people out to thin the numbers or something.
00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:15.199
I don't know, but it worked for me.
00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.159
So mission accomplished, motherfuckers.
00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:18.800
Right?
00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:26.319
So bailed on that, hanging out with the roommates, and one of them stumbled across something called Nanoremo.
00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:32.319
If you're unfamiliar with this, it's an abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month.
00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:36.960
It's been corporatized to hell at this point and all sorts of other stuff.
00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:49.280
But in its infancy, it was this cool experiment where you would sign up, you would commit yourself to writing X many words every single day for the month of November, and at the end of it, you will have written a novel.
00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:56.000
So all of my roommates and I, super drunk November 1st, were sitting around, like, screw it, let's try it.
00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.360
There were five of us, two of us made it more than a single day.
00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:10.479
My friend Henry and I made it all the way to the end of the month, and what we wrote was absolute garbage because we had no clue what we were doing, and we were just getting words on page.
00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:14.400
But I think it kind of inspired something in me.
00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:25.199
There was something in that creation process and being at the end of it, and it's like, this is ugly and terrible and malformed, but it's mine, and I I made this.
00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:36.800
Um, and especially being in such a point of my life that it was like everything else felt like it was kind of dead ending, just having that little plant that I could nurture into something was cool.
00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:46.639
Okay, so prior to that though, in elementary school and middle school, they make you like write haikus and shit and poetry, and you know, I was reading goosebumps and like all of that.
00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:50.000
Is there any of that here sprinkled throughout?
00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:54.319
Or was it just like, hey, I was an adult before I really found like my love for it?
00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:58.399
No, there was there were little seeds sprinkled all over the place growing up.
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:05.680
I was the weird kid that had silence of the lambs in middle school, and like the teachers are writing home to my parents.
00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.560
Like, are you sure it's okay that he's reading this?
00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:12.879
I was the kid that would get a like five-page creative assignment.
00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:14.560
Like, yeah, just write a short story.
00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:17.759
I don't know, we're bored on a Friday and there's nothing else for the English class to do.
00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:19.199
So just write a five-page short story.
00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:22.639
And I'd come back at the end of the weekend with a 30-page short story for them.
00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:25.839
Like, here's all of my friends dying in a haunted house.
00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:26.639
Enjoy.
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:30.319
And my teachers would like again call the therapists on me and whatever.
00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:34.319
Okay, so this was actually this was like this, you were doing this as a kid.
00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:37.439
Yeah, but it was never, it was never intentional.
00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:42.639
It was never I could really like seat myself in this and do this long term.
00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.720
That just never came across my brain as a possibility.
00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:53.360
Um it was just a fun outlet to just get creative and go off and do do ridiculous shit.
00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:54.560
And you don't get in trouble.
00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:56.639
You do shit and then you kind of like it put the shit.
00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:57.360
That's a whole thing.
00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:58.000
It's a whole thing.
00:05:58.160 --> 00:05:58.399
I know.
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:06.480
I assume then, based on the fact that you said you were reading Silence of the Lambs, you were also into horror as a kid for sure.
00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:10.480
And were your parents cool with this, or was this something that you were sneaking around to do?
00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:10.879
No.
00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:13.920
So I think that's where my love of horror lit came from.
00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:22.000
Parents are the most like conservative, shape-laced, like never do anything like even slightly against the grain sort of people.
00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:27.759
Grew up in the 90s, your access to woo millennials.
00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:29.360
Uh, we run this shit.
00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:31.279
Suck and rock at the same time.
00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:36.879
Um, but just like in the 90s, if your parents didn't have it in the house, you didn't really have access to it.
00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:38.879
They didn't have any horror movies in the house.
00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:42.160
So I didn't get to experience my first horror movie until M.
00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:47.120
Night Shyamalan's signs out of sleepover in middle school.
00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:47.439
Right.
00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.120
I was about to say, we were in middle school.
00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:49.839
That's crazy.
00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:51.199
It was so late.
00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.120
But libraries are magic.
00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:56.639
I had open access to whatever I could find in the library.
00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:05.839
And our our librarians either did the worst job in the world of curating what they were putting in our like middle school libraries, or they did the best jobs.
00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:18.959
And I want to side on the second half of that where they knew exactly what the fuck they were doing and just kind of left those, those scattered around little nuggets of even when libraries were a thing before you really had the internet.
00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.639
I would go to the library if I was gonna go on a long road trip.
00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:24.879
So this was I God fuck, I'm 40 now.
00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:26.079
Jeez, said that out loud.
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:32.240
I was in my early 20s and I'd go on a road trip and I would go rent from the library or check out an audiobook.
00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:36.639
And they had like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, they had like a lot of horror shit in there.
00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:38.560
I was I was surprised about it.
00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:39.759
So I was the opposite.
00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:47.439
Whenever I was a kid, my love of horror came because when I was, I'm not even exaggerating, I was about two and a half, almost three.
00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.920
I don't know if this speaks on my parents, my parents' parenting skills, but um I digress.
00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:57.120
So we went, the first movie I got to saw see in theaters was Night of the Living Dead.
00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:01.600
And they had the curtains that like came across, you know, when they old school when they'd open.
00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:06.000
I thought, because I was a terrified of the fucking animatronics at Chuck E.
00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:09.839
Cheese, I thought there were monkeys and bears back there playing like instruments and shit.
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.000
So we were sitting there and I'm freaking out.
00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.319
My dad would like, he liked to like fuck with me.
00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:15.920
So he was like, you know what's behind there?
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:16.959
It's monkeys and bears.
00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:17.920
And I've like, why?
00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:19.519
Not the monkeys and bears.
00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:20.399
So I freaked out.
00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:24.160
And then the fucking horror movie starts, and I'm chilling, having a great time.
00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:30.800
So I grew up on like Freddie, Krueger, Jason, like Friday the 13th, Mike Myers, all the all the OG ones.
00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:36.559
And even to the point where, yes, people would look at us weird when we would go, because I was the oldest and we had I had two sisters.
00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.240
My youngest sister was probably six or seven, and we went and saw like Event Horizon.
00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:45.360
I don't know if you remember that movie or not, but it's really fucking violent and gory, fucked up.
00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:48.559
And this woman was like, my God, how could you bring your kid to this?
00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:51.039
And my dad's like, How the hell am I supposed to raise serial killer?
00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:56.879
So I think we grew up completely different, but ended up with similar loves of horror for whatever reason.
00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:58.159
So I just thought that was funny.
00:08:58.320 --> 00:08:58.639
Yeah.
00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:00.960
No, it's there's so many roads.
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:02.080
There's so many roads.
00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:18.080
So back to adult Sterling that or young adult sterling that decided after doing a random basically experiment to see who in your uh group of friends would bow up first, but you fell in love with the writing a book.
00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:18.879
Is that right?
00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:20.240
Yeah, that's exactly it.
00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:25.039
Just the process is there's something addictive about it, intoxicating.
00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:25.519
I don't know.
00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:27.440
All of the ings rolled into one.
00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:32.000
And so what what was like the next thing that helped you continue down that path?
00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:36.240
I think I realized that the first book was utter fucking garbage.
00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:39.600
So I kind of shelved it and was like, this is gonna be my masterpiece.
00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:41.919
I'm gonna come back to this in 10 years and write it the right way.
00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:47.600
But uh there was also just kind of this idea of like getting the bad ones out of the way.
00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:53.120
That's something that you'll hear a lot if you start like diving into the writing community.
00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:54.960
First thing, the writing community.
00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:56.879
That that's the short answer to this question.
00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:06.960
How did from point A to point B, the writing community and the horror writing community, especially, got their teeth into me and just like would not let me stop.
00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:16.559
There are so many friends and like champions of me as a person, me as a writer that just lifted me up throughout.
00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:22.320
I wrote book two and I wrote book three, and I was putting them out, and they were, they were also slop.
00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:24.080
They're they're they're also very bad.
00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:25.840
But I put them out there.
00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:40.320
A couple of other actual horror authors were kind enough to talk to me, and they took the book in and they were gonna blurb it, and they read through it for me, and they didn't necessarily do that, but they came back to me with so much advice.
00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:44.240
Hey, here's the things that I see in this book that you could work on.
00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:50.159
Here's some of the things that I see you doing repetitively that if you trimmed that out, the book would be so much stronger.
00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:54.000
Here's the thing about your your your plot twist that didn't quite work.
00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:56.000
What about thinking about it from this angle?
00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:04.159
And it's just getting that feedback and having those conversations with people just helped me grow and grow and grow until I think it was like book five or six.
00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:05.840
This is actually decent.
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:14.879
Like everything that everybody's helped been helping me out with, like this, this little little blossom of a thing has grown into like, holy crap, this has got some legs now.
00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:15.360
Yeah.
00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:19.360
So when you say five and six, so you wrote six books.
00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:23.440
When you say put them out, are you talking about like you straight up went like fuck it?
00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:27.919
We're gonna sell this book and see what happens, like publish it in all of that or what?
00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:32.000
Yeah, okay, so publishing crash course, publishing 101.
00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:34.159
Um, there are three ways to publish a book.
00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:36.399
Way number one is self-publishing.
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:51.120
Amazon and a place called Ingram Spark have a kind of platform where if you've got a Word document with words on it, you can upload it to there, you can upload a potential cover for the book, and you can make it live.
00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.600
And anybody that wants to can go buy it.
00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:54.000
Yeah.
00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:57.440
So that's what I'm doing with the first three, four books.
00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:00.240
And what around what year was this, if you don't mind me asking?
00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:02.000
Wee numbers.
00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:04.080
2015, Mark.
00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:04.320
Okay.
00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:05.200
16 maybe.
00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:07.039
So like almost 10 years ago.
00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:07.600
Yeah.
00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:09.440
But that's that's kind of route one.
00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:13.840
So the second route you can go through is through indie or mid-sized presses.
00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:23.600
Um, there are a lot of genre-specific presses run by really cool people that they will have these open call windows for a month each year.
00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:27.840
Everybody that wants to publish a story through them, send your stories on through.
00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:35.679
They'll read through them, they'll pick five or six that they want to publish, and then they'll work with you for the next year getting that published under their name.
00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.799
It's a little bit more professional, it's a little bit more established.
00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:40.639
And do you pay them to do this?
00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.960
Or do they get paid off of like selling your book?
00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:44.639
Depends on who you're talking about.
00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:52.799
Most of the quote unquote good ones are going to publish and they'll just take a cut of the royalties on the backside.
00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:55.360
So that's kind of a dicey thing.
00:12:55.519 --> 00:13:01.840
If any publisher is ever asking you to pay them money, that is a big red flag.
00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:07.279
And it's not always a bad thing, but 99% of the time it's a bad thing.
00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:13.200
So um Well, I'm glad I'm glad you are saying that because I d I didn't know that at all.
00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.159
Like I assumed you had to pay to get a book published.
00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:18.159
Like I thought that was just par for the course.
00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:19.679
So I'm glad you said that.
00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:21.039
So that's actually a scam.
00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:21.679
Perfect.
00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:22.159
Yes.
00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:23.759
You learn something new every day.
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.000
Rule of thumb, money goes to the author.
00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.720
It's helpful, especially when you are the fucking authors.
00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:29.279
Right.
00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:31.600
Love that, love that flow of cash.
00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:33.759
And then, so is there a third option?
00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:34.240
Yeah.
00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:39.120
So then the third option is like publishing through, they're called the big five.
00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:46.960
So we're thinking penguin, we're talking random house, we're talking the ones that you see every time you walk into any bookstore.
00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:50.159
If you're wanting to publish through them, you have to get an agent.
00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.320
The agent then has to bring your book to them, then they have to shop with agent.
00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:56.480
It's this whole long, drawn-out process.
00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.440
Really cool on the back end if you manage to get through it.
00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:05.519
But there are years and years where you're just kind of sitting here waiting for the next stuff to maybe happen.
00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:09.600
Did you use one of these routes or all of these routes at one point or a mixture?
00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:10.159
Yeah.
00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:19.200
So I started out with the self-publishing, and that's kind of why I was able to put those garbage first books out into the world that have since been removed from the world.
00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:24.960
The covers are still floating around, and I can't delete all of them, but they have been removed from purchase.
00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.960
And why it's did you do that?
00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:27.919
Was that yes?
00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:28.559
Yes.
00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:28.879
Yes.
00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:35.759
I went back at some point and was like, that is not, I do not want that to reflect my name anymore.
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:37.840
That should, that should go bye-bye now.
00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:38.320
Yeah.
00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:43.759
I mean, it's not like it's your child or anything, it's just a book that you spent years writing.
00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:44.480
Yeah.
00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:44.960
Yeah.
00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.879
It's it's a lot of hours of blood, sweat, and tears, but it's bad.
00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.879
So I can I can exercise that demon.
00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:57.679
I do have to give you a fuck ton of credit though, because most people would be afraid because it's not perfect, not to like not do it.
00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:02.320
I already hear just from your process of what you're saying, don't fucking live afraid, do it.
00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:07.120
And I I mean I talk about that all the time on this podcast in general, but I think it applies to almost everything in life.
00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:09.600
You'll be waiting forever for it to be perfect.
00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:10.799
Nothing's gonna be perfect.
00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:12.240
And what's the worst thing that happens?
00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:20.320
You put out a book, you don't spend any money because you do it the Amazon route, the the self-publishing route, and then people don't like it, boo hoo.
00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:25.679
Then you can always remove it like you did and make it non-existent after you write a decent one.
00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:26.960
Mostly non-existent.
00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:34.320
There's always gonna be a little bit of a digital trail and it's gonna kill you, but it's it's not the fucking internet, man.
00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:35.120
The fucking internet.
00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:37.679
Get you every time.
00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:38.240
Okay.
00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:43.840
Book five or six, or six, you said, was like, and is there a title to book six?
00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:54.000
Okay, the first one that I put out that I can still look back on today and be like, hell yeah, that's that's what I meant to put into the world, is called Killer Be Killed.
00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:57.120
It is, I call it a reverse camp slasher novel.
00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:05.120
So all the other camp slashers we can think of, you're kind of supposed to be rooting against the thing in the woods that's coming to kill all the counselors.
00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:09.840
My spin on that was, no, we're all cheering for the thing in the woods.
00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:11.919
So let's just make the thing in the woods the good guy.
00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.360
Let's make these camp counselors fucking horrible.
00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:19.440
And let's just openly embrace the fact that we're cheering for these deaths to happen.
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:24.320
So that's I mean, in the movies, I do have to like scroll for a second.
00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:27.279
I do feel like you still kind of do, though, right?
00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:37.039
You're just like, but when you're writing, like you don't realize you're doing it, but as you're watching them like have sex and then a kid drowns, you're like, fuck those people, or they're getting stoned and then they're like not doing their job.
00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.960
And you're like, this is the most unsafe fucking camp on the planet.
00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:42.879
How are you sending your eight-year-olds here?
00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.080
Then you're like kind of okay with the murder or killing them all.
00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:49.600
But I love the idea that you actually like wrote a book about it.
00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:53.120
And so uh when you wrote that book, and I'm sure it changes.
00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:57.360
I mean, maybe I'm wrong, you can tell me, but like, do you write it in third person, first person?
00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.320
Do you change characters, or do you what do you prefer to do?
00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:01.600
Or do you have you tried all of them?
00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:02.639
I'd imagine you have.
00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:06.480
Yeah, it it depends on the story.
00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:14.799
Most of the time I'm writing, I write in third person, past tense, and I jump around between two or three different narrators.
00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:19.359
I like to have multiple kind of things happening at the same time.
00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.039
So I love books like that.
00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:21.599
I love it.
00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:24.240
One of my favorite books is actually called Intensity.
00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:27.119
I don't know if you've ever heard of it, but it's a Dean Koons book.
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:28.799
I'm a very big Dean Koons fan.
00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:33.920
And it goes back and forth between the main character and the murderer.
00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:42.799
And it's just shifting between like this woman that was a victim in her early life, and like as the story progresses, she gets more and more powerful.
00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:44.319
And he's psychotic.
00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:48.880
And so you're delving into that, and it just every other chapter you're going back and forth.
00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:57.440
And so it's really interesting to just like flip back and forth because you're one minute, you're like this horrific psychopath, and then the next minute you're like this woman finding her strength.
00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:57.839
I don't know.
00:17:57.920 --> 00:17:58.960
I thought it was pretty badass.
00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:01.519
And I I think it was like 15 or 16 when I read that.
00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:05.599
So I love that you you do that because I think that's I don't know.
00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.559
Those are some of the most interesting books for me as a reader.
00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:10.079
Those are the ones I'm big fans of.
00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:19.759
The diversity of the point of views can really drive the horror home when something's not really affecting one character and then you go to a different character and they're freaking the fuck out like appropriately.
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.079
Just kind of playing around with perspective is fun.
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:27.440
But yeah, I've started doing a little bit more in first person and second person.
00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:31.200
I don't think I've quite got a handle on that yet, but I'm experimenting as I do.
00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:31.839
It's fun.
00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:33.839
So, what makes that challenging for you?
00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:34.880
Is my question.
00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:36.240
I I I've never written.
00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:45.119
So, like writing for dummies, what's difficult about first person if it's not you having to like be someone else completely and think like them and move like them?
00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:46.480
Is that is that the hard part or?
00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:50.319
So the hard part for me with first person, kind of as an example.
00:18:50.480 --> 00:19:03.680
I just got done last year working on a script for a sci-fi horror movie where a girl is in a observatory and like spooky-ookie shit's happening all around her.
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:16.079
The girl in the movie is really, really, really in tune with all of the buttons and knobs and things that happen in an observatory.
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:21.519
I know absolutely nothing about astronomy observatories.
00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:32.240
The first draft of the screenplay, I called it astronomy half the time because I just like totally whiffed on which of the Astros I was talking about.
00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:34.160
I use words wrong all the time.
00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:36.000
That makes me feel so seen.
00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:36.960
Thank you.
00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:38.720
And you're a fucking author.
00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:39.680
Thank God.
00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:43.519
It's not just us peasants that don't write books.
00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:46.640
I had a great producer that called me out on it and didn't fire me.
00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:47.440
Yeah.
00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:52.880
But in a screenplay or in third person, you can kind of get away with those things because you're not in the person's head.
00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:58.000
Uh, you can kind of couch what you know and what you don't know in some like fun little verbiage.
00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:03.200
But he had me kind of do an experiment of trying to write it out as a potential novel tie-in.
00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:04.480
Like, hey, you wrote the screenplay.
00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:05.680
Why don't you write the novel tie-in?
00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:12.240
I got a single chapter into that and had to bail on it because that first person perspective, I know nothing about this.
00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:17.440
I cannot get into this expert in astronomy, astrology.
00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.000
I cannot get into this expert in astros.
00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:25.759
Boom.
00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.759
Well, yeah, that, that guy.
00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:30.160
I could see that being a huge issue.
00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:34.319
I guess I wonder like, are the writers, because I do question that, even with movies.
00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:36.079
So I a little background.
00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:40.480
Like I was a nurse before I decided to run a breast cancer nonprofit.
00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.279
And before I've had a million jobs, but we'll talk about that another time.
00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:46.880
But whenever I was a nurse, it would annoy me when I would watch shows.
00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.599
They're fucking shocking somebody with AEDs.
00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:51.039
They don't have a heartbeat, you know.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.319
My favorite shows were ones that had people who had medical knowledge.
00:20:54.400 --> 00:21:00.400
Like Scrubs was actually one that had a lot of medical knowledge because I believe the writer went to medical school or something.
00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:05.599
And so it showed in their writing, and even though it was funny, everything they were doing medically made fucking sense to me.
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.359
And I was like, oh my God, this is great.
00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:15.599
So it takes you out of the story if you're watching or reading something and you actually have a little bit of knowledge on it, and you're like, this fuck, what is this person even doing?
00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:21.200
But I wonder for like authors, do are there just some people that just go and go, you know what?
00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:29.680
I'm gonna go do this training for six months so I can learn this, or I'll I'm gonna study the stars for a year so I can like I wonder if that's the process.
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.079
I mean, and you know a lot more authors than I do.
00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:38.319
Do you have some friends that just like that's part of the process is like learning all this shit so then you can write from that perspective?
00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:39.200
Absolutely.
00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:41.440
So so many follow up comments.
00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:44.000
One, the Scrubs reboot right now is so good.
00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:48.000
Number two, I I know people that kind of approach it two different ways.
00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:51.839
So Daniel Krause is one of the greatest authors going right now.
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.559
If he's not on your radar, he needs to be.
00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:59.839
He wrote Whalefall, which is coming out, I thought this summer, but we still haven't seen it.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.640
Trailer yet.
00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:02.079
Um, but it's got Josh Brolin.
00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:07.200
It's about a guy that gets swallowed by a whale and is like survival horror from inside the belly of the whale.
00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:19.119
We have listened to a bunch of podcasts that he did talking about the process for writing that, and he did exactly what you were talking about like months and months and months of research digging into the anatomy of the whale.
00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:21.119
He was at SeaWorld every fucking day.
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:22.559
Every fucking day.
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:23.759
But he went that route.
00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:30.240
And I also know like a lot of authors that do it the other way, they're just kind of like, fuck it, we're doing it for the plot.
00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:39.920
And then at the end, once they've got a plot that makes sense, and once they've got everything that they need to happen for the story, they'll reach out to a word for them.
00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.119
I'm sort of using this out of context, but sensitivity readers.
00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:43.359
Okay.
00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:50.559
But you can find a lot of experts in various fields that like just want to help these things be accurate.
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:55.200
So you can send the story to them and they'll be like, yeah, no, they don't have a heartbeat here.
00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:58.559
EMP is not gonna, I think I just used the wrong acronym.
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:02.720
Um, but the the defibulator is not gonna do anything when the heart's down.
00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:07.119
So then they can rework that scene a little bit and make it more you couldn't have worked on Scrubs, but that's okay.
00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:10.799
That's such a cool thing that that even exists with these people.
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:13.839
Is it the same as when we're talking about like the indie publishers?
00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:17.359
Are these people just doing it because they want it to be accurate, or do you have to pay a fee?
00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:18.960
Do you like Google them?
00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.319
Or is there like a directory where you're like, I need a Marine.
00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:23.920
There's 15 of them.
00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:28.960
I I don't think there's a directory, but for my purposes, my sister's a nurse.
00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:32.240
So anytime I've got the medical questions, I reach out to her and she's great for that.
00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:34.960
And just like everybody's kind of got these stable of people.
00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:42.160
Like it takes a village to do basically anything in life nowadays, but just kind of knowing your network and knowing who you can reach out to.
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:46.240
Like everybody has a point of contact that has a point of contact for them.
00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.680
You just gotta find, find those threads, find those connections.
00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:50.160
Okay.
00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:50.799
Good to know.
00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:51.359
Good to know.
00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:52.480
Don't ask me nurse questions.
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:54.000
You can ask me breast cancer questions.
00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:55.759
I can fucking answer those all of the time.
00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:57.200
No, we don't want to get on that road.
00:23:57.279 --> 00:23:57.440
Bye.
00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:58.319
That could be a horror.
00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:01.200
I mean, Frank and Titties, you could help me write a book about it.
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.359
I'm just saying, that's like your genre.
00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:03.839
Yeah.
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:09.119
I'm gonna, I'm gonna step out of like my story for a second and heap some praise on you.
00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:11.680
I don't think I've told you this yet.
00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:17.519
My family has a big history of breast cancer experiences of all the flavors.
00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:18.880
My aunt died from it.
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:24.640
My mom has been battling it for I think two years now, three years now.
00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:25.680
Uh she's past it.
00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:26.400
She's in remission.
00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.759
Yay! Um, but still, all the after effects of like going through everything.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:43.759
So being able to listen to your podcast, being able to hear your story, being able to hear you talk so openly, and you have such a good positive attitude about everything, and you address it in such a brave, this isn't gonna fucking take me down sort of a way.
00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:45.039
It's very uplifting.
00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:46.720
Uh so thank you.
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:48.160
It's all fake.
00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:49.200
It's all pretend.
00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:49.759
I'm pretending.
00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:50.559
No, I'm just kidding.
00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:52.319
Ha ha ha for two bitch.
00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:53.039
Just kidding.
00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:58.160
No, I mean, I think, yes, I'm positive, but it's because I make room for the dark too.
00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:00.079
Like you can put on a brave face.
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:04.160
Most people, especially women and moms, especially, we we do that.
00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:08.319
But making room for the dark to allow yourself to, I've just learned that.
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:20.079
Like, if you're gonna make room and go to the shittiest place, like I'm gonna die, or this is gonna be, I'm gonna lose my hair, everything, you know, I'm gonna leave my kids, all of these horrible things, you have you owe it to yourself to like go to the light too.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:29.599
And especially because of the amount of times I've done this cancer shit now, because God has favorites, I am to the point where I'm just like, I have to keep living my life.
00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:38.319
It is not promised, and I'm gonna, I can choose to live it sad and angry, or I can make the fucking most of it and just live it to the fullest full throttle.
00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:50.000
So I find a happy medium because I am a mom, because I have kids, but every chance I get to go do something that scares me or try to do the thing that everyone else is scared of, and even like writing a book, I really want to do that.
00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:51.200
I want to mark it off the list.
00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:55.119
So even having this discussion, believe it or not, like you are the reason.
00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:59.359
There's a bunch of people that randomly message me and they're like, hey, can I be on your podcast?
00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:05.279
And I'm like, I reached out to you because you're doing something that I really, really want to do.
00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:10.319
And I honestly have thought about writing like something more about my struggle.
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:14.480
But there, because I love horror, I also, again, don't want to fit into a genre.
00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:16.079
I'd like to write something else too.
00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:18.640
Because when I was a kid, I was writing shit about horror.
00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:22.000
I loved Goosebumps books, I loved the fucking scary stories books.
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:23.599
I I love the genre.
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:27.359
So like talking to you is just like I'm gathering all this info so that I can do it.
00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:32.160
And the fact that you put out shit books over and over just gives me the confidence.
00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:35.200
So I really but genuinely I appreciate it.
00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:36.240
Fuck cancer.
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:39.039
That goes out for you know your mom and your family as well.
00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:41.039
But I'm glad to hear that she's doing well.
00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:44.480
And if she ever needs, you know, talk to Frank and Titties, you can send her my info.
00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:46.000
I'll give her, I'll talk to her.
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:47.839
We'll go back to you now, though, okay?
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:48.799
This isn't all about me.
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:49.200
Jeez.
00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:49.920
Okay.
00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:55.200
So we scrolled because I had so many questions because I'm fangirling about fucking writing.
00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:00.000
So once you did your sixth book and it kill or be killed, that was like boom, bam.
00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:00.720
Thank you, ma'am.
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:02.640
I think this is we've got something.
00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:03.759
Eureka, bitch.
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:06.559
So then where did you go from there as far as writing?
00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:09.599
And at this point, are you working other jobs, side jobs?
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:11.039
Are you doing writing on the side?
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:11.920
What's going on for you?
00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:20.079
At this point, day life-wise, I am married, have a kid, and I am teaching full time.
00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:26.000
Realizing I don't love teaching full-time, but doing it and paying the paying the damn bills.
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:28.079
Wait, so you ended up doing teaching?
00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:28.960
That's where you went?
00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:32.079
Like you did no law school and all of that.
00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:33.680
You ended up as a teacher.
00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:34.240
Okay.
00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:34.559
All right.
00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:37.279
I ended up as a as a teacher and a running coach.
00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:38.559
So yay trap.
00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:38.960
Okay.
00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:39.839
Are you good at running?
00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:41.119
I used to be.
00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:44.160
You're ready for a horror movie in real life.
00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:45.519
You're like, I can run for shit.
00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:46.079
I'll be fine.
00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:51.519
No, any any of those you're talking about them being inaccurate with the like nursing scenes.
00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:57.200
Anytime somebody's sprinting through the woods and running out of breath, I'm like, you fucker, you're fucking faking it right now.
00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:01.200
And I can tell because your shoulders are still up and you're You've got shit posture, man.
00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:10.960
It's not no, but doing that, so I self-published Killer Be Killed, and that was kind of my signal flare that I am not a good self-publisher.
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:16.240
It is the right, great avenue for so many people in so many situations.
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:18.559
They can market the hell out of their own books.
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:20.319
They can build their own readership.
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:21.920
They can do all of these other things.
00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:23.359
Am not good at marketing.
00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:25.680
I'm objectively very bad at it.
00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:29.279
So I had this book that I was actually proud of finally.
00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:35.200
It was finding no audience, like two reviews over a couple of months, whatever.
00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:41.759
So started pivoting into kind of that second lane that I was talking about with the small presses, the medium, mid-sized presses.
00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:55.839
I knew enough people in the horror community at that point to kind of guide me to a couple of presses that we thought were great, pitched to them in their open submission calls, ended up working with some really cool publishers, ended up working with some really shit publishers.
00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:00.880
Um, and yeah, that's kind of been my lane for the last seven or eight years.
00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:04.720
Just kind of So that's like where you found like where you needed to be.
00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:05.200
Yeah.
00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.440
But that's also I feel like I'm in the right place now.
00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:09.759
I think it's uh marketing yourself's difficult.
00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:11.039
It's extremely difficult.
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:18.000
I mean, even if you believe in yourself, it feels weird to push something, especially when you're spent, like you said, like blood, sweat, and tears in it.
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:19.519
It's not even that people hate it.
00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:23.279
It's like, fuck, I have to like talk you into even giving it a chance.
00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:25.440
Like that's a lot of effort, a lot of energy.
00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:32.640
I had jobs throughout that kind of helped me figure out how to market myself and working for a breast cancer nonprofit for four years.
00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:34.000
Like I learned a lot.
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:40.480
The funny thing is now, like my marketing for this, my former partner from the nonprofits always like hitting me up.
00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:42.799
She's like, Did you fucking know how to do this the whole time?
00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:44.319
I'm like, no, bitch, I did not.
00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:47.039
I self-taught because she would that was her side.
00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:48.559
I mean, it was a very small nonprofit.
00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:53.519
I did like more of the forward-facing support for warriors and things like that.
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:59.839
But like, I'm the person that'll do like all caps in the fucking Facebook, Instagram, and like 18 exclamation points.
00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:01.599
Like it would drive her fucking crazy.
00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:06.799
I still to this day don't know how to like tag somebody without like fucking up.
00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:09.839
So it's just, it's you, but you learn it.
00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:14.640
And because of that, I already kind of had people supporting me and knowing my story.
00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:16.559
So that's why I started with my story.
00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:23.680
But then having the opportunity to like hear everyone else's, that like like what you're saying, that's what really helps me push it.
00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:24.960
Because my first one was mine.
00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:26.160
It was an easy sell.
00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:26.960
Everyone knew my story.
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:30.240
So they're like, oh, well, listen to Crystal's podcast once about her breast cancer.
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:32.079
We've heard her talk about it fucking all the time.
00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:39.200
But then when I actually have other survivors from different things, other people dealing with shit, it's so much easier for me to push it.
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:42.640
And I, it's just made me want to market it good for them.
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:45.440
I want to make sure that their story is told the way they want.
00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:46.880
So bring it back into you.
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:53.599
I I completely relate to you feeling more comfortable and confident doing that or having someone else do that for you.
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:54.480
Does that make sense?
00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:55.759
Yeah, a hundred percent.
00:30:55.920 --> 00:31:03.519
And I'm I'm in the kind of privileged position now where I'm putting out books in two different styles at this point.
00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:05.839
So I've got books that I am the author of.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:06.880
I wrote this thing.
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:08.960
Woo-hoo, yay! Stories.
00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:10.960
And I'm also please read them.
00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:17.440
But I'm also the editor of uh ongoing anthology series called Punk Goes Horror.
00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:18.240
Where's this?
00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:21.119
It's that one! Oh my gosh, look at that cover.
00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:21.759
Look at it.
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:22.880
Would you just look at that?
00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:24.160
This one's two, okay?
00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:28.160
So you need to get the first one and then the second one because there's two.
00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:32.400
Woo! So, but this is like your this one is your most recent book, correct?
00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:32.880
Yes.
00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:33.599
The one I have?
00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:36.960
So I am the editor for that anthology.
00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:47.680
So I got to reach out to a bunch of my friends, and they wrote stories for me, and I just made sure that all the screws were as tightened as possible before it went out into the world.
00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:54.000
And that is so much easier to cheerlead in my mind because it's not me saying, I'm the greatest author in the world.
00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:56.319
Look at my look at my words in this order.
00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:01.279
It's I can point at Abby Vale's story in the beginning of that book and be like, Abby's fucking awesome.
00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:02.720
Everybody should read the story.
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:08.000
And I can say that with absolutely no like modesty necessary.
00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:09.920
Was that the which one was that?
00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:19.279
She is the story in the beginning where the female lead singer of a band is being objectified by the press and her friend friends.
00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:19.680
Yes.
00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:20.160
Right.
00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:21.200
Spirit Box.
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.279
Yeah, Spirit Box inspired one.
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:34.319
So I did read, I but I didn't haven't had time to read all of it because when I did this, I also had to teach myself how to how to fucking vodcast, which evidently that's just regular podcasting now, and I'm dumb.
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:35.359
But it's fine.
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:36.160
We learn things.
00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:38.960
But no, I actually really liked that story specifically.
00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:41.200
I mean, I'm always look, I'm a girl's girl.
00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:48.720
I'm always gonna like if a woman is, and it was like the best of both because it was a female singer for a band, and then it's also a female author.
00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:51.200
And I was like, yes, bitch, snaps and claps all day.
00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:53.759
Like if you have a vagina, I'm behind you, you know?
00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:54.960
You probably do know.
00:32:55.119 --> 00:32:58.240
Um, so anyway, 13-year-old boy.
00:32:58.400 --> 00:32:59.680
Anyhow, so I read that one.
00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:00.480
I thought it was great.
00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:11.200
And it's funny because I I was reading this book, and I love how like any art form or whatever, you know, reading, I'm reading it and I'm seeing all these bands that I'm like, I don't know this band.
00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:16.720
So then I have to fucking take a break from reading before I even read the story because I'm like, no, I need to know what's going on.
00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:22.880
And I'm one of those people, you and I had had a chat before about like genres just being like a construct of people and whatever.
00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:27.839
But same with uh, you know, music and and reading and movies.
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:29.519
Like I like all types of shit.
00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:33.680
So when I'm going through here, it's mostly like punk or metal or you know, that type of thing.
00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:36.880
I knew a couple, I think I knew like, what is it, shipping up to Boston?
00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:38.960
I think that's like the only song I for sure knew.
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:41.680
But I looked into Spirit Box and I was like, I know them.
00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:45.200
They were with Megan thee Stallion because I'm a hip hop bitch.
00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:46.960
But no, the story was great.
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:51.839
And I love that the book made me want to like go and listen to other types of music as well.
00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:54.960
Cause that's that's another whole thing for me.
00:33:55.039 --> 00:34:06.640
Like, I don't even have to love that genre, but if someone else just is obsessed with it, I love going to like shows, metal shows, EDM shows just to watch all of the fans because it's like visceral, you can feel it.
00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:11.119
And I feel like this book kind of opened my eyes up to different types of.
00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:17.440
I've I've like some metal, I have some metal friends, but like this is definitely educated me a little bit on that.
00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:27.039
And then you have like a fucking basically like a fan fiction story about this this badass fucking lead singer or lead bass slash singer player.
00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:27.760
So I don't know.
00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:28.880
I thought it was cool as shit.
00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:29.440
Great job.
00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:30.559
Her name's Abby, right?
00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:31.119
Thank you.
00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:32.079
Yeah, Abby Vale.
00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:33.280
Great job to Abby.
00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:34.880
She is killing it right now.
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:35.360
Yeah.
00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:44.159
Um, so context for the anthology, it's 19 stor 19 horror stories inspired by 19 punk or punk adjacent songs.
00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:47.679
Abby chose to write a story based on Spirit Box, like you said.
00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:54.480
Abby is the bassist for a band called Safe Sermon that's putting out some awesome stuff right now.
00:34:54.719 --> 00:35:00.079
Abby has at least three books in various stages of publication right now.
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:06.239
And I think I've read two of the three, and like every single time she makes you hurt.
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:10.159
She is a she is a violent author in the best way.
00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:15.599
But yeah, it if if you like female rage violence, Abby might be up your alley.
00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:16.400
I loved it.
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:17.679
I thought her story was great.
00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:25.599
And it's also, again, you're going, you read a few pages, you can literally read like a chapter, quote unquote, and then it's a different story for each one.
00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:29.199
If people don't know what anthologies are, I mean, kind of, I was like, oh, an anthology.
00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:30.000
Yeah, I know what that is.
00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:30.960
And I'm like nodding my head.
00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:33.760
And then when I got the book, I was like, this is 19 different fucking stories.
00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:35.679
That's what he meant when he said anthologies.
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:38.000
If you don't know now, you know.
00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:40.079
So the this is the second one.
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:43.519
With the first one, was that the first time you had done an anthology?
00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:46.320
So punk goes horror, just the original one.
00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:47.599
Is that the first time?
00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:48.320
Yes.
00:35:48.559 --> 00:35:51.199
What like made you decide you wanted to do that?
00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:55.519
And how how did you go about picking or asking the authors to be part of it?
00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:56.639
This was chaotic.
00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:01.920
It started with the threads post, the old like punk goes pop album.
00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:16.079
I made some off-handed post about how somebody should do horror stories based on music, and it got enough traction and kind of the brain bug worked its way into my own mind and wouldn't let go of trying to pursue that.
00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:19.360
So Brewborn Press is one of the cool presses.
00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:21.599
There were some great ones and some awful ones.
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:22.800
Fantastic.
00:36:23.039 --> 00:36:27.440
Stina Osborne runs it, and she is one of the most magical human beings.
00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:28.960
Um, but I approached her with it.
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:31.599
Their whole slant is that they want to do weird horror.
00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:33.280
I was like, this is kind of weird, isn't it?
00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:34.559
And she was like, Yes, it is.
00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:42.880
So she kind of gave me just a just a blank check like, hey, go out, find some authors that would be into this thing.
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:51.679
And I started shooting my shot with a lot of authors that are like big, big, big horror author names in the scene right now.
00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:59.280
And kind of looping back to what I was saying way earlier in the podcast about the horror writer community is so fucking cool.
00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:10.239
Like front to back, there's some weirdos in there, but like 80 to 90% of the horror writing community are amazing people that just want to make cool shit.
00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:19.679
And so I'm reaching out to people like Rachel Harrison, who's a USA Today bestseller, and like, hey, Rachel, you don't know me, but I have this concept, anything?
00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:22.800
And she's like, Yes, I will do an alkaline trio song, sign me up.
00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:24.079
I'm like, perfect.
00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:24.880
Just like that.
00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:31.519
And I want to take this moment to tell people, and no matter what job you have or anything, the worst somebody can say to you is fucking no.
00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:33.119
Like it really is that simple.
00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:36.000
And once you wrap your head around it, your heart's not gonna fucking stop.
00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:37.039
You're not gonna drop dead.
00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:38.559
Like you just ask.
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:40.559
And if they say no, that's okay.
00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:41.760
It's not gonna hurt you.
00:37:41.840 --> 00:37:42.480
And why not?
00:37:42.559 --> 00:37:43.280
Why the fuck not?
00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:46.800
Because a lot of times nobody asks because they're scared.
00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:50.719
And then you come along and you're like, hey, would you like to do this one little thing with me?
00:37:50.880 --> 00:37:52.400
And they're like, sure, I want to do this.
00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:58.400
And it's just fucking, and I'm sure you were jaw on the ground, like holy shit, jumping up and down, screaming like a little girl.
00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:00.320
But like, yes, that's maybe not.
00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:01.199
Maybe I don't know.
00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:01.840
I could see it.
00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:04.159
No, that's in exactly the right picture.
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:05.199
It's perfect.
00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:06.079
Yuppie!
00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:08.960
But freeze frame as I'm up in the air with my heels kicked up.
00:38:09.199 --> 00:38:09.440
That's right.
00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:13.039
Like the feet kicked up in the back because I did, I did track.
00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:16.559
But I love that you like just went out on a limb and you were like, fuck it, why not?
00:38:16.719 --> 00:38:19.440
At the end of the day, they're all authors, you guys are all people.
00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:31.280
It's just awesome because those people that may be a little more well known may help bring light on other authors that aren't as well known in this anthology series, which is super fucking badass too.
00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:33.360
Like to have your story next to somebody like that.
00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:36.400
So you find, and how many stories were in the first one?
00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:39.519
Uh the first one was 15 stories.
00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:42.000
Five of those were invited authors.
00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:50.400
And then we did an open call where Christina and Trueborn Press said, Hey, everybody that wants to write something to this theme, like, you've got a month.
00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:51.679
Send us what you got.
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:55.519
We got another cool schmorgis board of people.
00:38:55.679 --> 00:38:57.119
There was there was Eric J.
00:38:57.280 --> 00:39:00.639
Gignard who slid into our DMs with a story.
00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:07.440
He's a World Fantasy Award-winning author submitting to an open call, which is like, what the fuck is happening here?
00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:21.760
And then we've got other authors that had never published anything before, but they sent the story in, and the story was just so good that it was like, yup, you go right next to Rachel and Eric, because like quality and I kind of love that about anthologies.
00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:35.920
I was gonna say, I think that you, like you guys coming up with a concept that is weird and different, just because somebody is a super well-known author, it might have been something where they're like, this will be fun, or this will be a challenge, or this will be something that I've always wanted to do, and I get to do it now.
00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:49.679
So again, you're helping someone else maybe check off their bucket list or do something that they've wanted to do and just haven't, or just to have fucking like sometimes doing it for a living and being this person that wins all these awards and everything, you lose the fun in it occasionally.
00:39:49.840 --> 00:39:55.599
And so you probably gave them an opportunity to do something that they really, really enjoyed just by writing that story.
00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:56.079
Yeah.
00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:57.119
One yes.
00:39:57.360 --> 00:39:58.159
Nothing to add.
00:39:58.400 --> 00:39:59.199
No notes.
00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:00.079
No notes.
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:04.079
I'm assuming, I'm assuming that Punko's Horror One.
00:40:04.239 --> 00:40:08.639
I I'm assuming you didn't name it one because we didn't know at that point if there was going to be a two, correct?
00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:10.000
The OG, right.
00:40:10.159 --> 00:40:11.679
The OG Punk O's horror.
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:15.440
I'm assuming it went well because you ended up writing a second one.
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:17.840
So how was that like overall?
00:40:18.079 --> 00:40:34.719
And again, you know, I was talking to you a little bit about like podcasts and what looks successful and whatnot, because there's such a slew of like in movies and in box, you know, box offices, and then with social media posts versus podcasts versus books, was it quote unquote a success?
00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:39.599
And how do you how what does success look like for authors or for a book that's put out?
00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:49.039
I think that's gonna vary person to person, but I think for me personally, you nailed it on the head a second ago with just trying to have some fucking fun.
00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:50.239
We put the book out.
00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:54.639
Trueborn did a great job marketing it because I wasn't in charge of the marketing.
00:40:54.800 --> 00:40:57.360
Um, and Christina's great at things like that.
00:40:57.519 --> 00:40:58.800
No, I'm selling myself short.
00:40:58.880 --> 00:40:59.920
I did a little bit of marketing.
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:00.480
I helped.
00:41:00.559 --> 00:41:13.039
I pushed the card a little bit, but it made enough of its money back, and it was just such a fun moment in my, I'm gonna call it a career, and that's a little bit overinflated, but whatever, I'm gonna call it that.
00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:22.639
It was such a fun moment in my career, and I think it was such a fun moment for Trueborn Press to have some of those bigger named authors in their stable as a young indie press.
00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:26.960
And then I went to StokerCon last year, which was in Stamford, Connecticut.
00:41:27.199 --> 00:41:27.679
What is this?
00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:29.440
Never go to Stamford, Connecticut.
00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:30.079
Don't do it.
00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:36.800
StokerCon is the big horror authors award ceremony, get together each year.
00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:40.480
It's like it's the one that everybody descends on.
00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:44.239
Um, and they give out the big award for horror author of the year and things like that.
00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:55.679
But running around that hotel convention center and running into these people that I had worked with and admire so much, and being able just like, hey, I'm Will, punk goes horror.
00:41:55.840 --> 00:41:56.800
Like we just worked on that.
00:41:56.880 --> 00:42:01.280
And like having a kinship with them and like flicking off the camera, like, yeah, punk it.
00:42:01.440 --> 00:42:13.679
Just like that sort of a vibe was such a cool, wholesome moment for me that it was like as soon as we earned out on punk goes horror one, there was a quick DM to Christina, like, can we please do this again?
00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:15.360
And she said yes, and we did it again.
00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:18.000
And here we are now with with round two out in the world.
00:42:18.239 --> 00:42:20.400
Literally with bells on, ching jing jingle jingle.
00:42:20.559 --> 00:42:22.400
Yeah, right, hitting things off on the side here.
00:42:22.639 --> 00:42:23.679
That's fucking awesome, man.
00:42:23.840 --> 00:42:24.880
And I didn't even think about it.
00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:26.480
Like, you're writing separately.
00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:28.800
You guys don't even have to meet, technically.
00:42:28.960 --> 00:42:29.199
Yeah.
00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:36.719
So to be able to actually like person to person be like, holy shit, I loved your story, or thank you so much for doing this, and being able to connect.
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:40.320
And again, you're all authors, so like that's really, really cool.
00:42:40.480 --> 00:42:42.559
I thought you said don't go to Stoker Fest.
00:42:42.719 --> 00:42:44.239
Did you still go to Stanford?
00:42:44.400 --> 00:42:49.199
Stanford, Connecticut is the weirdest, like most backrooms fucking place.
00:42:49.360 --> 00:42:51.840
Like, I don't get I I don't get how it exists.
00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:53.360
Stoker Con is amazing.
00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:54.400
They're hosting it in Pittsburgh.
00:42:54.639 --> 00:42:55.440
Are you a southern person?
00:42:55.760 --> 00:42:56.719
Are you a southern person?
00:42:56.800 --> 00:42:58.159
Were you born in the South for the most part?
00:42:58.320 --> 00:42:59.840
You're in Atlanta now, currently, yes.
00:42:59.920 --> 00:43:00.079
Yep.
00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:00.400
Yeah.
00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:02.480
So I'm a Texas girl, but I moved around a lot.
00:43:02.639 --> 00:43:03.039
I don't know.
00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:06.159
I guess watching Pet Cemetery and stuff, it's just the accents up there.
00:43:06.239 --> 00:43:08.239
It's like, no better, no worse.
00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:10.320
Sometimes Louis, dead is better.
00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:11.519
Like, I don't get it.
00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:12.480
Where did that go?
00:43:13.039 --> 00:43:16.719
That's the main reason I stay away from Connecticut because I don't know what the fuck they're talking about.
00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:18.159
Um, I'm just kidding.
00:43:18.320 --> 00:43:23.199
All you Connecticutes, Connecticut, Connecticut Connecticut.
00:43:24.079 --> 00:43:26.159
We're gonna get so much shit for this part of the episode.
00:43:26.480 --> 00:43:29.519
We are so good at words, both of us.
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:33.039
I read a podcast and you're a fucking author team.
00:43:34.079 --> 00:43:36.480
No, so I we're having a great time, actually.
00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:37.360
I'm very happy.
00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:44.960
Uh you are genuinely the first person that I have done a like not in the same room podcast with.
00:43:45.119 --> 00:43:46.400
So that's really cool.
00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:47.840
I got to check that off the list.
00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:48.960
No, and it's going great.
00:43:49.039 --> 00:43:53.599
Like, you know, there's always a little nerves when you're talking to a stranger, but then and then I got the armpit sweat.
00:43:53.679 --> 00:43:56.000
That's why I wear black, but you know, and deodorant.
00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:56.639
But it's fine.
00:43:56.719 --> 00:43:57.280
Now we're good.
00:43:57.440 --> 00:43:59.280
So this has been out for how long?
00:43:59.440 --> 00:43:59.679
Punk.
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:03.920
Goes forward to as of recording a little less than a month, maybe two or three weeks.
00:44:04.159 --> 00:44:04.400
Okay.
00:44:04.559 --> 00:44:04.719
Okay.
00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:04.960
Okay.
00:44:05.119 --> 00:44:13.760
And I saw somewhere posted that you were like a niche, but you're like up there in the niche category for what does it fall under?
00:44:14.079 --> 00:44:15.280
Just out of curiosity.
00:44:15.920 --> 00:44:26.079
Amazon, Amazon has subcategories within subcategories within subcategories within subcategories that you can position your book in when you publish it through them.
00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:31.920
Apparently, Christina put this in absurdist horror fiction.
00:44:32.079 --> 00:44:33.119
Sure, why not?
00:44:33.360 --> 00:44:34.320
Works for me.
00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:45.440
Um yeah, it became a number one bestseller in absurdist horror fiction on Kindle, which is just like this very tiny target.
00:44:45.519 --> 00:44:47.119
But damn it, we hit a target.
00:44:47.360 --> 00:44:48.960
Yeah, that's fucking awesome.
00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:53.519
Congratulations to you and the 19 folks that are in here in this book.
00:44:53.760 --> 00:44:54.400
You should buy it.
00:44:54.480 --> 00:45:00.159
It's actually really, again, have not, I'm actually ashamed to say this because I am such a like I love books.
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:05.760
I'm more an audio person just because I'm in the car more often, but I enjoy, I can't do a Kindle.
00:45:05.840 --> 00:45:07.360
I don't want to read it on a computer.
00:45:07.599 --> 00:45:13.199
I really enjoy like the paper and the like touching it and smelling it and being a fucking weirdo about it.
00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:13.840
Okay, good.
00:45:13.920 --> 00:45:17.920
So like your book is the first book that I've read probably in a few years.
00:45:18.159 --> 00:45:20.000
And it's just been really cool.
00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:23.599
So thank you for again doing this because I was like, I can't look.
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:30.719
I know some people, they'll go and they'll like interview somebody and they won't even like crack open the book and they'll just ask questions like, okay, buy it on Amazon today.
00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:32.320
I don't feel like that's genuine.
00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:34.480
I really want to, I wish I could have read more.
00:45:34.559 --> 00:45:37.199
Again, I was teaching myself this shit, so one thing at a time.
00:45:37.360 --> 00:45:39.039
I fully intend to read the entire thing.
00:45:39.119 --> 00:45:40.320
I'm very excited about it.
00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:48.800
And I love that I can like read one story and then put it down for a bit and go and come back and I don't even have to like remember what happened or any of that shit.
00:45:48.880 --> 00:45:51.119
It's perfect, especially because I'm old now.
00:45:51.599 --> 00:45:55.920
Yeah, if I can if I can plug for one last second, yeah, I think that's the magic.
00:45:56.079 --> 00:45:57.920
I think that's the magic of anthologies.
00:45:58.079 --> 00:46:03.920
If you are not typically a reader, but you're read curious, um grabbing anything.
00:46:04.239 --> 00:46:05.280
Curious adjacent.
00:46:05.920 --> 00:46:07.039
Curious adjacent.
00:46:07.440 --> 00:46:13.360
If you grab an anthology, these stories are super quick hits, 10 to 15 pages usually.
00:46:13.519 --> 00:46:17.679
And the emphasis with this anthology is really being a mixtape anthology.
00:46:17.840 --> 00:46:21.760
All the different horror sub genres mix it up as you go from one to the next.
00:46:21.840 --> 00:46:35.679
It's it's super cute because you guys like the way that you do it, it's like, I don't know if it can like show it, but like you have side A over here, and then like in later, I was like, this is so up my alley.
00:46:35.760 --> 00:46:36.960
Because again, 90s, right?
00:46:37.039 --> 00:46:42.239
Like the 90s kid, and I had a fucking boom box and I had to like push two buttons to record and play at the same time.
00:46:42.400 --> 00:46:51.119
And God forbid you like started at the wrong place and then you recorded over the other song because then we wouldn't get all of shipping out to Boston, we would only get part of it leading in.
00:46:51.280 --> 00:46:54.000
I know it would be layered over Savage Garden or some shit.
00:46:54.159 --> 00:46:56.239
It was like, how is this on the tape?
00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:58.639
Why and why does this work so well?
00:46:58.880 --> 00:47:01.039
Because it's a chick a cherry cola, that's why.
00:47:01.199 --> 00:47:04.480
I don't even know what the fuck that is, but that's what it is.
00:47:04.639 --> 00:47:05.920
Can someone tell me what that is?
00:47:06.079 --> 00:47:06.960
Please write in.
00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:10.480
So how can people purchase your books?
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:12.079
And are there any other books?
00:47:12.239 --> 00:47:18.480
Obviously, this is your most recent, but are there any other books of yours that you like are your favorites?
00:47:18.639 --> 00:47:21.760
I know you don't love marketing yourself, but uh let me help you market.
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:28.079
What books do you are you very, very proud of that you'd like to put out there, like right now, on the spot for my 30 listeners?
00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:35.039
Typically, like if you're trying to find stuff about me, I'm at spooky underscore sterling on all the social medias that I'm on.
00:47:35.199 --> 00:47:37.920
I'm off to Twitter now, not doing that shit.
00:47:38.079 --> 00:47:38.800
No more tweety.
00:47:39.039 --> 00:47:39.199
Okay.
00:47:39.440 --> 00:47:40.159
No more tweety.
00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:44.000
So I'm on Instagram, I'm on threads.
00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:48.000
My books are available on Amazon if you want to go that route.
00:47:48.320 --> 00:47:55.599
But I really, really, really like to encourage people to go to the press's websites and to buy directly from them.
00:47:55.760 --> 00:47:58.639
The presses get a larger cut of the profit that way.
00:47:58.800 --> 00:48:01.840
I don't necessarily, but Christine is awesome.
00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:03.679
Uh, Crystal Lake is awesome.
00:48:03.840 --> 00:48:08.719
Like the others, like all the little presses, Mad Act Media, Joey Powell, amazing.
00:48:08.880 --> 00:48:09.599
Love them to death.
00:48:09.679 --> 00:48:13.119
So the more traction I can send their way, the better.
00:48:13.440 --> 00:48:24.480
And little bonus things, if you order Punk Goes Horror from the TrueBorn website, then that side A, side B thing that you had, it's actually a flippable book at that point.
00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:27.760
And side B is upside down, like you just flipped the vinyl.
00:48:28.079 --> 00:48:31.679
I guess she couldn't figure out how to do that on Amazon, but damn it.
00:48:32.159 --> 00:48:36.000
If you order it from Trueborn, then she gets she gets more love.
00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:40.639
You get a I fucking told on myself that I got it from Amazon, but I did need it very quickly.
00:48:40.800 --> 00:48:42.960
I don't know how quickly they send it from the press.
00:48:43.280 --> 00:48:43.920
Not fast.
00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:45.039
Um so that yeah.
00:48:45.360 --> 00:48:45.760
Not fast.
00:48:46.239 --> 00:48:49.360
I imagine I'm addicted to Amazon.
00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:50.079
This is a problem.
00:48:50.320 --> 00:48:56.000
Send me those, like if you can send me the links for those, and then if you're cool with it, I can put it on my social media as well.
00:48:56.159 --> 00:49:01.679
And then um, I usually do a blog too, so I can do and get you to send me a little blurby blurb about yourself.
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:07.280
That way people can look at you and your your handsome nerd face and be like, hey, here, here I am.
00:49:07.360 --> 00:49:08.079
I'm an author.
00:49:08.239 --> 00:49:08.880
Check me out.
00:49:09.360 --> 00:49:12.320
Um, you're now officially an author.
00:49:12.480 --> 00:49:13.199
You've made it.
00:49:13.360 --> 00:49:15.920
Are you still a teacher and a track person?
00:49:16.320 --> 00:49:23.519
Uh you said something about writing a script, so it seems like you've gone beyond just books and you you're doing other things, have other avenues.
00:49:23.599 --> 00:49:26.320
So, what what is William Sterling look like now?
00:49:26.559 --> 00:49:28.880
I am Captain Sidequest at this point.
00:49:29.119 --> 00:49:47.599
Um, I am an author, I'm an editor, I'm a screenwriter, sometimes I'm an actor, and my main gig, I work for a large retail store at this point, and I'm the video personality for them doing a lot of their social media stuff.
00:49:47.760 --> 00:49:50.239
So kind of in line with all the rest of it.
00:49:50.719 --> 00:49:55.039
I did look your name up or William Sterling, and there is another guy that's an actor.
00:49:55.199 --> 00:50:01.119
I think it's another guy, unless you just like go from or is that you at a different time when that was kind of more burly?
00:50:01.280 --> 00:50:01.679
I don't know.
00:50:02.079 --> 00:50:02.880
No, that wasn't me.
00:50:02.960 --> 00:50:04.480
I've always been Twig man.
00:50:04.719 --> 00:50:07.360
No, it's I am slender man.
00:50:07.519 --> 00:50:13.199
You're not that now that we have video, I know that people who are listening on audio can't see you.
00:50:13.519 --> 00:50:14.880
You're not that skinny.
00:50:15.199 --> 00:50:15.920
You're killing now.
00:50:16.079 --> 00:50:17.360
This is a child's watch.
00:50:17.440 --> 00:50:18.559
It's a schmedium.
00:50:18.800 --> 00:50:22.079
So um, so I guess my again, that's awesome.
00:50:22.239 --> 00:50:25.039
We will definitely put all of your info for your books out.
00:50:25.119 --> 00:50:26.960
Again, I'm very excited to finish this book.
00:50:27.039 --> 00:50:29.039
I will give you updates once I'm done.
00:50:29.199 --> 00:50:33.440
My last thing I always ask all of my guests, you know, I'm definitely down to write a book.
00:50:33.519 --> 00:50:42.559
You've educated me on a few things, but if you can give a little bit of advice to anybody, and if they're writing just any book, it doesn't necessarily even have to be horror, though I think that's fucking awesome.
00:50:42.800 --> 00:50:49.599
If it's anything, what what are the biggest tips that you would give aside from ones that you've given throughout this podcast so far?
00:50:49.920 --> 00:50:53.199
I'm just gonna really punch home, like, just do the damn thing.
00:50:53.519 --> 00:50:59.679
So many people like give you that line at barbecues or whatever, like, oh, I've got a book idea.
00:50:59.760 --> 00:51:01.280
I'd I'm gonna write it one of these days.
00:51:01.360 --> 00:51:02.719
And they just never do.
00:51:02.880 --> 00:51:06.719
They sit on it, and they sit on it, and they keep bringing it up every single time you talk to them.
00:51:06.880 --> 00:51:20.960
But they they never put pen to paper, and that's like the biggest advice, like writing specific, getting your story out there specific, but just life in general, like ass in chair, pen on paper, do the thing.
00:51:21.119 --> 00:51:27.199
Give it permission to suck for a little while because you've got to get the suck drafts out of the way before you can get to the good draft.
00:51:27.360 --> 00:51:32.800
But you're never gonna get anywhere with it if it just lives in your head, if it just sits there and you just stew on it forever.
00:51:33.039 --> 00:51:34.400
And life is too fucking short.
00:51:34.480 --> 00:51:35.360
So just do the damn thing.
00:51:35.519 --> 00:51:36.480
Do but no swoop.
00:51:36.559 --> 00:51:36.960
Just do it.
00:51:37.039 --> 00:51:38.000
Right, don't add the swoops.
00:51:38.159 --> 00:51:41.760
Do it in, do it in a different way, not an athletic way in a writing way.
00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:42.719
Yes, there.
00:51:42.960 --> 00:51:43.280
Okay.
00:51:43.599 --> 00:51:46.079
Well, I appreciate you so much for being here.
00:51:46.400 --> 00:52:00.000
If you guys have any questions or any follow-up questions, or you just didn't look at my blog and you don't know what's happening and you want to message me, uh, reach out to plot twistolive at gmail.com, Instagram and on Facebook, and I also embarrass myself on TikTok.
00:52:00.159 --> 00:52:02.320
If you want to cringe at a 40-year-old, go ahead.
00:52:02.400 --> 00:52:02.719
I don't care.
00:52:02.880 --> 00:52:03.599
Life's too short.
00:52:03.679 --> 00:52:04.320
I just did it.
00:52:04.400 --> 00:52:04.719
Okay.
00:52:04.960 --> 00:52:06.400
So please reach out.
00:52:06.639 --> 00:52:14.239
And also please give us reviews on Spotify and on Apple and all of the things because I need it.
00:52:14.400 --> 00:52:17.440
And you know you want to give me a five-star bitch because it's amazing.
00:52:17.519 --> 00:52:21.599
So thank you so much for being our very first master of plot twists.
00:52:21.679 --> 00:52:26.159
I don't know if this is the first time you've ever been called a master, but thank you, Master William Sterling.
00:52:26.239 --> 00:52:27.599
And this is a new one.
00:52:27.760 --> 00:52:30.400
Yeah, hopefully it's not the last if you're into that sort of thing.
00:52:30.559 --> 00:52:33.039
So we're gonna end this the right way.
00:52:33.199 --> 00:52:34.880
All right, we're gonna do a high five.
00:52:35.440 --> 00:52:37.599
Still alive and do your evil laugh.
00:52:41.360 --> 00:52:42.800
That was pretty good.