In this episode, I welcome speculative fiction author Annmarie SanSevero to the show for a lively, wide-ranging conversation that spans New York roots, Southern culture shocks, and the creative spark behind her new short story collection, The Butterfly Stroke and Other Stories. We dig into how hope, courage, and resilience power her science fiction and fantasy—from a former Olympian regaining movement through a brain implant to a detective aided by a wisecracking supernatural sidekick—while exploring the human consequences of fast-moving tech like neural interfaces. Anne Marie shares her journey from single mom squeezing in 15 minutes of writing a day to award-recognized short fiction, the research-first “what if” engine behind her worldbuilding, and the authors who shaped her voice.
We also talk Dickens, Babylon 5, cryptids-as-pen-pals, and why everything in life (even hospital stays and dog antics) becomes creative research. Stick around to hear where to find her work, upcoming projects (including a middle-grade steampunk/fantasy trilogy), and how stories help us face hard things with courage.
Plus, I recap a packed weekend across the show: a great in-studio conversation with Ruben Camarillo, a crypto update with resident “crypto psychic” Marisa Lee, and Sunday’s Bible study series on dispensations. I also preview episode 200 coming up on Wednesday and share ways to connect, comment, and support the show—all while my Frenchies Bean and Charlie remind me who really runs the studio.
Resources and links mentioned (non-sponsored):
- Annmarie SanSevero's website: asansevero.com (find book links and socials)
- The Butterfly Stroke and Other Stories (collection discussed)
- Writers & Illustrators of the Future (contest referenced)
- Show site and contact: joerooz.com
Joe's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/raise-funds-to-cover-mortgage-escrow-shortage
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Special thanks to:
Executive Producer Wayne Rankin
Executive Producer Rosanna Rankin
Executive Producer Carolina Jimenez
Executive Producer Marisa Lee
Executive Producer Angela Wetuski
Sponsored by:
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(00:00:45) Cold open and studio banter
(00:03:56) Show intro from Eagle Pass and weekend recap
(00:06:10) Crypto recap with Marissa Lee and set-it-and-forget-it strategy
(00:07:38) Sunday Bible study series: dispensations and conscience
(00:08:55) Housekeeping and tease for tonight’s guest
(00:12:59) Value-for-value and contact info
(00:13:22) Guest intro: author Anne Marie Sansevero
(00:14:41) Icebreakers: nerd confession, books, trig for relaxation
(00:21:01) From Staten Island to the South: culture shock and cryptids
(00:23:46) Lifelong writing, single mom hustle, and courage themes
(00:25:56) The Butterfly Stroke: title origin and Neuralink premise
(00:28:46) Balancing science and heart; memory, blood, and identity
(00:32:00) Writers of the Future journey and recognition jitters
(00:35:46) Where to start in the collection: SF vs. fantasy picks
(00:43:41) Worldbuilding process: what-if loops and Babylon 5 spark
(00:49:37) When science catches up to sci‑fi and Star Trek talk
(00:56:16) Warnings from sci‑fi: AI, brain chips, and Skynet vibes
(00:57:35) Genre tour: steampunk, middle grade mashups, and themes
(01:00:50) Influences: Dickens, dignity, and historical courage
(01:05:47) Dogs, dinners, and winding toward the close
(01:10:21) Takeaways, where to find Anne Marie, and socials
(01:12:51) Host close: episode 200, announcements, and sign‑off
- Wayne Rankin
- Rosanna Rankin
- Carolina Jimenez
[00:00:46]
Unknown:
My fans, I have arrived. Me too. Transmitting live from the asylum studios deep in the bowels of Southwest Texas. It's the Joe Ruge Show. The show where we talk about anything and everything. Where nothing is sacred, nothing is watered down, and nothing is PC. Alrighty. Hey, folks. This is Joe Ruse, and it is great to be with you once again transmitting live at the Asylum Studios, broadcasting from the pimple on the backside of Texas, the beautiful city of Eagle Pass, and doing the very best that we can to bring you the best quality talk radio we could muster without all the bluster.
Welcome to the Joe Russo. Alright. Thank you to our nonexistence studio audience. Really appreciate the applause. Alright, folks. It is Monday, 11/03/2025 at nineteen oh four hours. We got got a show for you tonight, folks. Looking forward to our guest this evening. So I hope you guys had, had a good weekend. It is the second Monday of the week. Remember what we said last week, every day of the week is a Monday, especially when you do what I do. Every day is a Monday, except Saturday. Saturday is pre Monday, because then Sunday is is Monday light. And then you have full Monday, then second Monday, you know, so on and so forth. So today is second Monday of the week. I know it sounds ridiculous. I'm sorry. That's just, it's just the way it is. Anyway, anyway, so we had a busy crazy weekend here at the show. I hope you guys were able to check it out. We had Ruben Camarillo in the studio with us on Saturday from the Now You Know Eagle Pass podcast.
Great guy. Hope you guys were able to catch that. That was really just a fantastic conversation. Had a great time with Ruben. Looking forward to connecting with him again and doing some more work together. And, we're gonna have a lot of things that we're gonna talk about, Ruben and I. So, especially food. He you should have seen the video he sent me before the show. It's son of a you know, I'm over here. I'm starving. I haven't eaten yet today, but he's over here sending me pictures of videos of him cooking. Yeah. Thanks, bud.
I appreciate you. I'll get you back. No worries. And then, of course, we had our our our, cryptocurrency show with our resident crypto psychic, Marissa Lee, on Saturday afternoon. That was spectacular. We had a lot of good information passed on to us there, particularly about PayPal and, the, the stock option of PayPal at this point or or the stock offering of PayPal at at this time. And, we talked about DIA. We talked about stable coin. We talked about, you know, trends and, of course, the usual stuff that we'd love to talk about like Solana and Algo and XRP and so on and so forth, that, you know, and how they're trending. And, so things are looking, you know, pretty good. You know, we're tend to live a lull with cryptos, but that's okay. You know, you gotta ride it out. You gotta be patient. You gotta watch. Like I said on the show on on on Saturday, I don't even pay attention to what I have in cryptos. I just whatever I put into it, I put into it, and if I check it once in a while, I check it once in a while. Because I know me, that if I go in there and I keep on looking at it, and I see it dip dip dip dip dip, I'm gonna panic, sell everything, and get out of it altogether, then I'm gonna kick myself because what usually happens for me is the day after I do something like that, and it takes off.
Totally takes off, and then I am screwed. So, you know, so I just I just adopted the the philosophy of just, you know, like, it's like the old Ronco thing. And you remember Ronco? He had that, that little roasting thing that he had he would put on, you know, in the early days of infomercials. And he had, you know, just set it and forget it, and that's basically what I do with the crypto stuff. I just set it and forget it, just move on. Just move on. And then, of course, Sunday, we had our Sunday Bible study show, which was fantastic, if I do say so myself. I think it went pretty well.
We talked about the well, as you know, we started a series on the dispensations, and so we were up to, the third one, which was yesterday, and we talked about the dispensation of conscience, and how how God gives every man a conscience, and and, you know, let your conscience be your guide type of thing up until the establishment of the law, which we'll be getting into next week. So that's gonna be a lot of interesting information there that I remember when I first taught this this this series, back in my church, and I did it as a bible study, for the, for our adult well, our teens, early adult group. And, it took me about four weeks of of study just to get through the just to the law alone before we got into the age that we're in now in grace. So, very interesting study. I'm looking forward to getting into it with you guys. I'm gonna see how I'm gonna do it on the show. I don't know yet. I haven't figured that out because I I I had a lot of graphics and such, you know, a lot of notating on the board on the whiteboard. And, I don't know if I could put a whiteboard up over here, but I don't know. We'll see. We'll figure something out. Who knows? I don't know. Well, it you know how we do things here. It's fly by the seat of your pants. So but we're we're good. We're we're we'll get there. And then, and then, you know, this week, and here we are. Man, it's it's here already.
I can't believe that. But, I don't wanna keep our guest waiting too much longer. So let me get through some of the housekeeping stuff that we have to do as always. So I wanna tell you about some of our sponsors. So first of all, Pod Home. Pod Home dot f m. That's our audio host home. So we, we've been with Pod home now for about three years. They are a fantastic audio side host platform, best you're gonna get on the market. It is the most easy and most modern podcast hosting platform that there is. You can use it to publish your episodes, enhance your audio, automatically generate chapters, titles, transcripts, show notes. You can even update your chapter art if you if you wanna get that creative. For every chapter, have a new piece of artwork for it, you can do that. That's fine.
If that's how you roll, I don't do that. I don't have time to do that, but you know, for those podcasts that have like huge crews that actually do all that stuff on the backside, you know, we'll get there. We'll get there. One day, somebody from Joe Rogan will call me and say, hey, we're gonna pay you. Hey, great. Until then, it's just us. So, so, your chapter's title, show notes, everything, all Pod Home. You could broadcast your your show live, actually, through Pod Home as well, through the modern podcast two point o apps. You can get those things, and you can actually listen to the show live. We're streaming the show live on audio as well as the video. And, you could also download you could also install the or or code, whatever they call it, the HTML to get a player on your website. And if you don't have a website, Pod Home gives you one. They'll set you up with one. No additional charge. You get all of that for a for one affordable monthly subscription of $15.99 a month. Just $15.99 a month. You cannot beat that. I've used other platforms. They charge you double triple for what you get with Pod Home. And Pod Home is improving every day.
They are they they just recently launched their own podcast player app, which is beautiful. And I gonna pat myself on the back a little bit because I was in the beta program for it. So, you know, it was pretty good pretty good app. I like it. You should try it out. And, you know, if you go over to Pod home today, you sign up today, you get thirty days free. So you can play with it for thirty days, get used to it, like it, love it, and then $15.99 a month after that, you'll not gonna go back to your other platform. I guarantee you that. Alright. So check them out. Podhome.fm.
That's podhome.fm. Alright. Also, I would like to tell you a little bit about t n e dot energy. Electricity is essential, folks. We should know that. We wouldn't be doing this without electricity. And t n e dot energy makes it affordable and personal. More than 1,000,000 customers across The US trust t n e energy to to, power their homes, earn free energy for referring their family and friends as well. Now, just visit the website t n e dot energy and explore all of the options that are available to you and your home today. That's t n e dot energy.
Alright. And also, don't forget to head over to our website, joeroos.com. It's very important we plug our own website. Right? Joeroos.com. And when you get over there, hit that contact section. Open up that little web form. Send us over a message. Let us know whatever is on your heart, whatever is on your mind. Any questions, comments, cares, concerns, any issues, any complaints. We don't want the complaints, but if you have one, send it. Okay? We'll give it its due diligence trash bin. But send it over anyway. Okay? And, let us know if you have a guy, an idea for a show, a guest, maybe there's a topic you want us to cover. Let us know. We'd love to hear from you guys. You could also email me at [email protected], if you don't wanna use the website. Totally fine.
And, or a novel idea. It just got me. There's a comment section down below, right down there somewhere. Leave a comment. Let us know. That's their in perpetuity. It's not going anywhere. So I can always go back and look at it. So do that. Alright. We love to hear from everybody. So please reach out to us. Let us know, what we can do to help you enjoy the show. Alright. Also, if you would, please look for the support button. As always, this is a value for value show. And all that simply means is that if you receive anything of value from what we're producing, we're asking you to return that value in the form of donation. It could be your time, your talent, your treasure. And as always, I'll lay all of that stuff out for you at the end of the show. I don't wanna scare everybody off yet. Alright. Now, tonight's guest is an author with a message of hope, courage, and imagination, Anne Marie Saint Severou. I know I didn't say it right. She'll correct me. I'm gonna fix the echo right now. There we go. See, I forgot, like I said.
She grew up in the amid the buzz of New York City before moving in high school to the South. She writes speculative fiction that dances between the human spirit and edges of science. Stories where technology, mystery, and supernatural intertwine intertwine. Her award winning short stories have been featured in the in anthologies, magazines, and now in her newest collection, The Butterflies, Stroke, and Other Stories, a book that reminds us we're not just meant to survive, but to change the world. Ann Marie, welcome to the show. It's great to have you here. Thanks for having me. Hey. It's a pleasure. You know, we we got a chance to talk a little bit before the show. So, so, you know, we we we both come from the same neck of the woods.
You know, Brooklyn, Staten Island, all that stuff. So we we're gonna have a lot of great stuff to talk about later on. But before we get into any of that stuff, I have a couple of questions I ask every single guest. I gotta put you on the spot right off the bat. Okay. Alright. So hope I don't know. Yeah. Hopefully, you listen to a couple of shows first before you checked in here. That's where you get the idea of what you're coming into because I ask everybody the same basic question. Alright. What is something that most people don't know about you but should?
[00:14:47] Unknown:
Oh, so I am a nerd, but I think that has been outed already, to be honest with you. And so I, I have more bookshelves in my house than furniture, and I haven't met a subject I didn't want to learn about. And, oh, one thing, I actually brought a trig book with me to the hospital the first time I was delivering a baby. A trig book? Yes. The nurses said bring something that will relax you. So that's what I brought. Trigonometry.
[00:15:26] Unknown:
It relaxes you. Okay. Yeah. I think I think the nerd thing comes through there. I'm I'm just gonna Yeah. Doesn't it? Yeah. I I I would I would think that trigonometry is probably the one thing I would not want to relax myself with. I I remember some of my my early college trigonometry stuff, and I it did Yeah. No. It wasn't for me, and not not for me at all. But as far as the book collection go, I love books. I I do I prefer to to actually hold a book in my hand, than sit there and and and scroll through electronic pages, and all that stuff. And there's another reason for that as well, because, you know, in today's digital age, you know, and and you're gonna think I'm a, like, you know, you think you're a nerd. I'm a I'm a conspiracy freak with these things. You know, I don't trust government. I I really don't. And, you know, who's to say that one day they're gonna determine that some particular books that that I like to read or you like to read are considered, propaganda. You're not allowed to you can't read them anymore. They could just flip a switch and it's gone.
But you actually have the paper book in your hands. That's valuable. That's valuable. That's why I usually buy multiple copies of books. So, you know, so, this way, I have them. But, I know people can think I'm crazy, but that's that's my little secret there. And I wish that I still had the book collection that I had, prior to coming to Eagle Pass. I had a, in the house I had back in New York, I had I had a room that was just all books. I mean, just every kind of book you could possibly imagine. I've relegated that to I have one bookshelf in, in the in the other room here. And the rest of my collection is is kinda spread out around the house. And then I have, I don't know, maybe three boxes full of books still in the closet that I have not unpacked yet. I've been here ten years. So, you know, it's, it's so yeah. So I I books my thing. I love books. I love to read.
I need I do need to read more though. To be honest, you know, this this thing gets in the way of actually reading books. And, because you you find yourself jumping to that thing more than just opening up a book and sitting down and reading and losing time. That way, I because and and I say losing time loosely. It's not really losing time. Mean, you could sit down with a good book and read, and let your imagination run. Man, that that beats anything you're ever gonna find on social media. That's gonna beat that beats anything you're ever gonna find online. I I would so much would rather be doing that than wasting time on the phone. So that's my that's my preach my preachy message for the day so far. Alright.
[00:18:04] Unknown:
Alright. I want to take you down with that message. Alright.
[00:18:07] Unknown:
Especially since you're a writer, so I would hope you would. Yeah. You know. So, next question. What's your go to beverage or activity that you like to do to help you unwind at the end of the day?
[00:18:20] Unknown:
If I have time to do something just for fun, I will tap dance or play violin.
[00:18:27] Unknown:
Really? Yes. Yeah. Not at the same time. But Well, that would be interesting. I I I think I think you you could make a TikTok video and probably make a lot of money on that. There we go. You know?
[00:18:39] Unknown:
Or break my violin. One or the other. Or your or your neck. Yeah.
[00:18:44] Unknown:
Yes. God forbid.
[00:18:46] Unknown:
Yeah.
[00:18:47] Unknown:
That's great. You know, my, my my grandfather, God bless him. I I I miss my my grandfather passed away when I was 16, but my grandfather used to play the violin. He was a concert violinist at a at a very, very young age. And, I I'll never forget, especially on the holidays, he would come out. He would bring out the violin or the guitar, and he would sit and he'd play around the holidays, and we would just have a great time. You know, my I like I told you before the show, I mean, my family is is Italian, Sicilian, New York, Brooklyn, you know. So yet all of that great stuff, you know, around the holidays. It wasn't just, you know, mom, dad, and the kids. It was mom, dad, the kids, the grandparents, the great grandparents, the aunts, the uncles, the cousins, the third cousins, fourth cousins, the the the thirty second cousin removed.
You know, everybody was there, and it was just a great time. So I I love that stuff. And I can't I don't have anything about tap dancing though. That's the only thing I did. That's a little bit out of my my thing. I mean, I could tap dance around a a, you know, an explanation of something, but I can't. But I can't tap dance at all. I can't dance at all either, but but that's another story altogether. So, now again, so I've been alluding to this all night. We've been we've been we we share a common background. We both lived in New York. You grew up in in in Staten Island. Well, you grew up in New York City or Staten Island? Staten Island. You grew up on Staten Island. Okay. Yeah. See, a lot of people don't understand the difference. Like, when I moved here to Texas, like, people didn't understand that that New York's New York wasn't just Manhattan.
Right. There's five boroughs. Right. And and then there's a whole state surrounding it, you know. So, so it was kinda hard to explain that. Well, yeah. You have Manhattan, but then there are there are four other cities that make up New York City. Mhmm. You know? And, so so a lot of people don't understand that. But, but you grew up in in Staten Island, and then you moved down south, during high school, or around the high school age. And I think you you you're still living down south right now? I don't wanna say it. Because I have it in my notes, but I'm not gonna I don't wanna say it. I don't wanna, you know, throw it out there. Yeah. I'm I'm currently living down south and,
[00:20:57] Unknown:
at some point, I'm gonna move, but I haven't decided where.
[00:21:01] Unknown:
Okay. Well, how how now living going from New York to to to the South, how has that shaped your storytelling?
[00:21:11] Unknown:
It's given me two vastly different cultural perspectives, for one. When and when I first moved here, it it has grown a lot since I first moved here, but we I went from Staten Island to a town where there was 272 people. Oh, I love that. I felt so trapped, because I didn't have a way to get anywhere. There was no train you know, no public transportation, and, and I would sometimes get notes on my locker that said Yankee go home and Really? Things like that. Yeah. And so it was awkward. But, they've I mean, this this area has really grown both in population and in maturity and and kindness to people that are different, and that has been wonderful to watch.
I I'll tell you one way it shaped my writing. I was, invited to submit to a anthology on cryptids. And I don't know if you know what a cryptid is. I do. Okay. Okay. Super. We usually have to explain. So, yeah, you Well, you could explain for the audience. That's fine. I don't I don't mind that. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like those legends like Bigfoot and, Loch Ness Monster and things like that. And this particular anthology, it had to have a cryptid, and it had to have an epistolary element in it. And so I chose, the cryptid from Arkansas, which is the Fook monster, and the one from New York, which is Champy.
And I had them as pen pal kids, and the one from Arkansas really wanted a human friend, and the one from New York wanted to be a humanologist when he grew up. And so he would give him advice on how to get a human friend, and it just was disastrous advice, but it was fun. And so the editor had written and said, hey. Put some of that Arkansas lingo in there. And so I've got to use some of the things that I've heard but never really used, like busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest and stuff like that. And so
[00:23:11] Unknown:
You know, I'm sure I'm sure there are some sayings like that around here in Eagle Pass, but the the thing is down here, they they speak mostly Spanish. And I don't even being here ten years, I don't I I I I'm lost. Oh. If if I I walk around with my my Google translate, you know, just how I communicate with people. Yeah. They're not here. You know, but that's great. A a humanologist, I like that. That's good. That that that's pretty good. So now at what point in your life did you decide that, that you wanted to start writing and telling these stories?
[00:23:44] Unknown:
Or or was this something that just, you know, always been a part? It's always been a part of my life. Like, I've always been a huge reader. I used to kind of escape to the library, and, I while my friends were dreaming about being a rock star, I would sometimes dream about writing books, and I'd write little stories in my, you know, flower decorated notebooks as a little girl and stuff like that. But I you know, life took over, and I didn't get to do it for a long time. And then I got to a point where I realized if I don't do it now, I'm never going to. So I sat my kids down and said, hey.
Mommy really wants to write. And, so I'm gonna take a little time every day and do it, and they were really supportive about it. At first, you know, I was a single mom with four kids working three part time jobs, and so there was not a lot of time to write. I wouldn't think so. No. So I was doing fifteen minutes a day at first, and, then gradually as, they all started graduating, I got more time. And, so it's been just such a wonderful way of dealing with life and the writing that brought me courage when I was a kid, I wanna give to other people. And so I would read things about people going through horrible things, and they were to survive, and they do great, brave acts, and it gave me courage. So that's what I love about it. That's great. And and and you also kinda answered my next question. My next one was,
[00:25:12] Unknown:
you know, that you do write stories about about hope and courage and resilience. And and my question was gonna be, why why are they so important to you? Why are those themes so important to you?
[00:25:21] Unknown:
Yeah. I just I've been through a lot, and, knowing that you can go through hard things and come out on top is a great thing to have in your in your tool belt, I guess. I don't really have tools, but that would be useful. So, yeah. And
[00:25:43] Unknown:
I I'm sorry. Excuse me.
[00:25:44] Unknown:
No. That's fine. No. You have been feeling well. I'm sorry. I sometimes think about, you know, the kid that's struggling and scared when I write or the adult that's struggling and scared and wanna give them some hope.
[00:25:57] Unknown:
Well, let's talk about your book, The Butterfly Stroke.
[00:26:00] Unknown:
Mhmm.
[00:26:01] Unknown:
I I I had an opportunity to read some of it today, And, really well written. I like, I was I really enjoyed what I was reading. And, and it really caught my interest, especially with with what's going on right now with, with, like, with guys like Elon Musk, with Neuralink, and and all of those things. So, you know, I I was very, very curious. So I have to finish reading the book itself. I gotta I actually have to get the copy of it, so I could actually read the rest of the story because it it cut off right at that point where I was like, oh. You know, so yeah. So it was yeah. It was good. It was very very good. I I did enjoy it. I really did. I'm not just saying that because just you're across the way from me here. I'm I'm serious.
So but let's talk about the title a little bit. The the butterfly stroke. What what, where did that idea come from, and how did that come to you?
[00:26:50] Unknown:
So, I had written down a whole bunch of titles that I hated. And, I consulted a friend that is another writer, David Hankins. He's a fantastic writer, and he's funnier than I am and clever. And so I said, David, I'm stuck, and he helped me with that title. And I had named the the Neuralink that they use the butterfly because of how it's shaped. Okay. And because she was an Olympic swimmer and, you know, they had the butterfly stroke, David and I were riding back and forth, and he then we came up with that. So but I don't think I'd come up with that name without him, so I wanna give him as much credit as possible. Oh, that's okay. All the boring names in my short story collection that you're gonna read, those are probably all me. So
[00:27:39] Unknown:
I'm sure I'm sure they're good. I'm sure they're fine. So now so you have the this concept of a, of a, she was a former Olympic swimmer. Right? And she was able to regain her ability, to swim, to move, actually, because she was parallel quadriplegic in the story. Through through the brain implant and and then, facing unintended consequences. You know, that whole thing, that that it's that's powerful. It it really is. And, and how do you balance the emotional side of the story, with the scientific or the or the speculative elements?
[00:28:17] Unknown:
So I when I write so the the collection is equally divided between science fiction stories and fantasy stories. Stories. Okay. And when I read when I'm writing science fiction, I'm not only thinking about what we could do for humanity, but I'm thinking about how it affects us as humans. And so not just the technical side of it, because everything, like you were talking about earlier about not trusting government and worried about the them just saying, no. You can't have this book anymore. I have a suspicious mind as well, and so I always think about, okay. This is a wonderful idea. Mhmm. Now what's gonna go wrong with it? And and that's where the human element comes in.
[00:29:02] Unknown:
Yeah. So I don't know if that answered your question. No. It does. No. It does. It it it certainly does. So so which which story in all of your collection, was the hardest for you to write emotionally?
[00:29:16] Unknown:
In in that collection, I would say The Heresy of Peace was the hardest to write. And why was that? Because it was about generational hate and having to make great sacrifices for people who've done you harm. And, so that was an emotional one. The probably the most emotional story I've ever written, act I just finished after I put out this collection, was a more autobiographical one, the most autobiographical I'd ever written, but every single story I write has some aspect from my life in it. Like, there's one story, memory ghost in that collection about a woman who gets a partial brain graft, and she starts experiencing the memories of her donor.
And it turns out her donor was murdered, and so she solves the crime through her donor's memories. And it was because I was I was in the hospital one day, and it turned out my blood just my body just stopped producing enough blood. And so I had to get all these blood transfusions, and it was my first time ever experiencing something like that. And I was laying in the hospital, and this stranger's blood was going into my body, and I was really creeped out. And I kept thinking, I don't know anything about them. They should at least taken me to dinner or something. And and all I kept thinking was, what if it was something more intimate, like our mind instead of just blood?
And so everything I experience goes into the story somehow. That's interesting. Yeah. Every my mentor and I have a saying called everything is research. So when something horrible happens to me and I'm like, oh, Martin, look what happened. And he's like, remember, everything's research.
[00:31:04] Unknown:
And so I guess that's a good way to look at it. And it's funny because I that that line is, you know, at least take you to dinner first. I use that at my doctor's office all the time. Every time every every time the nurse comes in and says, well, I gotta give you a shot. Drop your pants. I'm like, well, usually we go to dinner first. You know? But and I remember the first time I ever said that, I mean, she just didn't know what to she didn't know how to react. She was like, just what? Like, nobody's ever said that to you? That's that's like a standard joke in these things. It's people in the South, they just don't get it.
[00:31:35] Unknown:
They don't get it. But but They probably Justin Green went bless his heart.
[00:31:40] Unknown:
Well, yeah. But depending on how they they say it, you know, is the real meaning behind it, you know? Yes. So that that that I've learned very very quickly here. But but you're right. Yeah. Everything is research. Everything. And it's the same thing I I employ the same thing with with the show, you know, when it comes to if I see something or if I experience something, I'm like, well, this could be part of a show at some point, you know, and and I try to work that. And I I totally understand, you know, everything is research. Now, how did you first get involved with writers and illustrators of the future? So, I had taken a class by David Farland, who was a phenomenal writer, and he was one of the judges.
[00:32:17] Unknown:
And he had passed away a few years ago, but right before he passed away, he said, you have to enter this competition. It's a it's a career maker. It will help you so much. And so I wasn't I wasn't a short story writer, I liked long form, and I'd been working on my first novel. And then I went to a writers conference that Dave had founded with some other great writers, like Kevin j Anderson and Brandon Sanderson and all the big names in science fiction and fantasy. And, Jonathan Mayberry was there, and he had a class called why you should be writing short stories. And I was like, well, I don't wanna write short stories, so I'm gonna go to the class to figure out if I'm wrong. And, and I was.
So he gave some really good reasons. And I started writing them and entering them in the contest, and I'm gonna continue entering until I either win or pro out. But everything in that collection has gotten either an honorable mention or or semifinalist
[00:33:17] Unknown:
So in their What is it like to get your work recognized like that?
[00:33:22] Unknown:
Nerve wracking. So yeah. And every time I'm waiting on the results, I'm sure they're gonna, like, write me back and say, you should stop writing. But when they actually give me something great, like a semifinalist or an op will mention it, it it does feel good. It's like, okay. I'm making progress. I'm doing better. And, now I'm starting to get, like, reviews from strangers about things I wrote. And, I so this felt weird. I had one woman. She was like, this writer's a genius. And I will tell you, I screenshotted that so much. I'm sure. I would do it too. That's right. And then, and when I first got my first short story published, it was actually a humorous one. And I had four kids constantly telling me I wasn't funny.
And so when I got that contract that they were actually paying me and saying, I laughed so hard. I, like, took it to my kids and was like, your mom's funny, and she's even paid. They didn't believe it
[00:34:19] Unknown:
then. That's okay. They don't have to believe it. That's right. It's it's what was that saying? There there are some things that are true whether you believe it or not? Yes. There there it is. There you go. But but that's good though. I mean, I used to write. I I told another I had somebody else on the show not too long ago that we were talking about writing. And I used to write short stories when I was younger. I was in in, well, now they call it middle school, but I was like junior high and high school. You know, I used to write a lot. I was quite prolific, as they would say. But, but, I never did anything. I like I have I have them I have the stories, the the actual written out stories in a in a binder someplace and I just have a label that said the unpublished works. You know?
So so so when I when I do when I do eventually pass on and, you know, they come and, you know, find my remains that the dogs have eaten pretty much mostly, you know, they'll they'll find this book of unpublished works and at least, you know, my kids will get some kind of inheritance. They'll think of something great. I don't know. They'll be worth millions. That's that's my point. Yeah. So, you know. So if you call it the unpublished stuff, I think it'll it'll work. It'll work better. Because then people start looking for the published stuff. It'll be a rare thing if you ever find anything. Right? So I I'm I don't know. It's the it's the medication. I'm telling you. I'm just I'm I'm all over the place here. So, so if a new reader would start, with one story from from the butterfly stroke, which story would you recommend and why would you recommend it?
[00:35:47] Unknown:
Gosh. That's a hard question. If they are into science fiction, I'd start with the butterfly stroke. If they are into fantasy, I would start with a living client. Okay. And so that one is that was I had twenty four hours to write that story because I'd made a commitment to myself. I was gonna enter Writers of the Future every quarter. And Okay. Life takes over, like, it does sometimes. And, you know, I have to work and I go to school and all this other stuff. And, so I had just done a brain dump. And as I was doing a brain dump to come up with the idea, I was all of a sudden thinking about this. I knew I was gonna do, like, a supernatural detective kind of thing.
And I had just seen a death in paradise episode where the guy had a skeleton in his classroom, but it was actually like the skeleton of his dead wife. He'd killed her. It was really creepy. And so I was gonna combine some of all those things, and I thought this supernatural detective is going to have haunted femur that's his assistant, and I'm gonna call it Luke Skywalker. And I just started laughing. Yeah.
[00:37:00] Unknown:
See? Tell my kids. That is funny. Both to put that on. It that's funny.
[00:37:05] Unknown:
Yes. But because I was tired and it made me laugh and I knew I had to write it really fast, I was like, that's what I'm gonna do. And so, that's the one I would start with for fantasy. But, honestly, I would just, like, pick a story a day and read them. They're they're not too long, and so you can get through it.
[00:37:24] Unknown:
Somehow, someway, you'll charge your way through these short stories. Right. That's right. Well, I I I'll tell you. Like, I I was saying earlier about, the story I read today about the Olympic swimmer. It was a tease because it because you know where it cuts off? It cut it cuts off just once Yeah. No spoilers. Yeah. No. I'm not gonna get too far, but it cuts it cuts off at a very, very interesting development in in in the recovery process. And it it I was like, no no no no. Damn it. One more page. That's all I needed. One more page. It would've been fine. But, but, but it's a great story though. Like, I'm I'm I'm really interested. I wanna finish the especially that one. So so so we're gonna, I would recommend that one. And you recommended what were the two you recommended again?
[00:38:17] Unknown:
So that one and Living Clients. Living Client. Okay. There's the Appease is a great one. If you like Scions and stuff, there's another one called Shattered. I mean, they're all different, so it's hard to, like, pick it's like asking me to pick which child is my favorite. You're just mean.
[00:38:37] Unknown:
I I can do it. My my favorite my favorite is Bean. Oh, there you go. And and and she's she's my my my five year old French Bulldog. There you go. So she's my baby. Well, I'm hoping all my kids thought they were my favorite. But, Well, my human kids. Yeah. My out of my human children, they, I I can't there's no way I could pick a favorite. Yeah. There's no way. At least not publicly.
[00:39:02] Unknown:
That's
[00:39:03] Unknown:
okay. Like I I could say it outside, you know, this is the one I wanted. But, you know, but, I think I think that if I said that in front of the kids, they would know. They would know what I meant. No. I'm I'm just kidding. I love both. My my kids are great. They're they're fantastic. I'm incredibly proud of them. Incredibly proud of them. And, how old are your kids by the way?
[00:39:22] Unknown:
The oldest is oh gosh. The oldest is 29,
[00:39:28] Unknown:
and the youngest is teen. Yeah. So they're growing they're all growing up now. It's just me. Yes. My, my my daughter my daughter just turned 29, and my my my son will be lucky if he makes 27. Okay. You know, so no. I'm kidding. My he's he's they're they're both great. I love them both. I'm incredibly proud of both of them. They both made such huge doting dad here. I'm sorry. But they they both made such such That's a good thing. My my my daughter had, she gave me three beautiful grandchildren. And, while she was pregnant, with number two, she worked her way through her master's program. She graduated from Columbia with honors with her MBA while pregnant and working full time. Her and her husband, you know, work both work incredibly hard to to give the kids a great life and, incredibly proud of them. My son is is doing spectacular. I am I'm just so proud of him, from where he's come. He had a very rough child. My my son had some disabilities, Asperger's and and and such, and it really slowed him down quite a bit, but he's he's worked so hard.
And, I I am just incredibly he he works for a, for a retail chain right now, and they just put him in their management training program. So I am incredibly proud of him. He's doing a fantastic job. But, and he he does get a little goofy at times and, you know, you know, we we we do have a couple of good laughs, which is good. He he's a he's a good kid. We're all goofy. My my and and my my daughter still lives on Staten Island. Oh. And, and my my sister still lives on Staten Island. So what hey. Off this off the subject books altogether, what do you think about this this this, this election cycle going on up there?
[00:41:10] Unknown:
It terrifies me. I'll be honest. Yeah. Right? Yes. I'm very nervous about the whole Manzani thing, but, I'm hoping they'll have common sense.
[00:41:24] Unknown:
But I hope so too. And it's interesting, because I I I I told my sister, and and she's reluctant because she works for the city. And I'm not gonna say where I'm not gonna jeopardize her her job or anything. Yeah.
[00:41:37] Unknown:
But, she,
[00:41:39] Unknown:
but she works for New York City and she's like, you know, I just gotta hang on just for just for a few more years so I get, you know, vested and I get all these all the benefits, you know, no matter what. And and I'm like, yeah. But, you know, if this guy wins, you gotta get out. You you gotta get out. It's it's it's not gonna be a good thing. It is not gonna be a good thing at all. Yeah. I think people hear free stuff, and they get excited.
[00:42:01] Unknown:
And I know what it's like to struggle. Funny I mean Mhmm. I was a single mom. I know what it's like to struggle. And, but free stuff, it's never really free. I mean, you just gotta pay for. And so It's it's free until they run out of the person's money that they're using to buy it. Yes. So I think they're gonna end up bankrupting. I mean, there's gonna be a mass exodus of all the there already has been a lot of companies from there already. And, so, anyway, I don't live there anymore, so I don't get a vote. But,
[00:42:30] Unknown:
Yeah. Yeah. But still, I'm in I'm interested because my my family's still up there. So I I'm I'm curious. I was just curious what you thought about it as a as a native New Yorker.
[00:42:39] Unknown:
I have people that I love that still have friends and family that still live there. And, but, and not all of them agree with me. Some of them will probably vote for him, but I just,
[00:42:50] Unknown:
hang on. I got you. I I I hear you. I hear I know it was off the subject, but it just it just crossed my mind. Yeah. So, so let's talk about your writing process a little bit. So, so how do you approach building, worlds that blend science and, human emotion, the supernatural, and all that together?
[00:43:09] Unknown:
Sure. So, I am emotional, period. Like, I'm not like I'm stoic in outwardly, but inwardly, I have, like, all this, like, empathy on steroids going on half the time. And so That's good. I, I'm writing that one down. Yeah. That part is easy to come up with, the feelings and how people would feel in certain situations. And I think it's been useful that I've been through so many things that that's helped me have experiences that I can put in there. The science part, I do a lot of research, and I don't mind that because like we said, I'm a nerd. I enjoy that. I will read I have a book on the history of secret codes I'm going through right now, and Oh, nice.
[00:43:56] Unknown:
It's really cool, actually. I'm sure I'm sure it is.
[00:43:59] Unknown:
Yeah. And, so I play a lot of what if. If I read something interesting well, for instance, like the Norlink in Butterfly Stroke. Mhmm. I thought, well, that's cool that he's coming up with something where they could use their eyes to move the computer mouse. But what if we found a stint that we put below below the break on the spine and it could con con you know, wirelessly connect to that, and then they could move? So I take one thing and I ask what if, and I keep asking what if. And then, for instance, after she was moving, well, what could go wrong with that? Because, you know, you're a writer. You have to make people's lives miserable for a short time. And At least. And then you hopefully fix it. So but, it was just, that so that's a lot of my process. Sometimes it depends on whether it's something I'm researching or an idea that just really comes across. With, the heresy of peace, I was watching Babylon five one day. Oh, yes. And, Yeah. And the doctor had mentioned something about the the black plague back in ancient Earth.
And, he was talking about how they killed the cats. I think I know that episode. Yes. I think I know when we talk about it. Babylon five fans. See? I knew we were gonna be friends.
[00:45:14] Unknown:
I know it as soon as you said Staten Island. There you are.
[00:45:19] Unknown:
But I was thinking, and it was the same time that there was a conflict going on in the news that was making me sad. And, the essential thought that came to me is what if the solution to your problem was your enemy, or what if you were the solution to your enemy's problem, and how would you handle that? And so that's one thing. It's sometimes a concept that I come across. Other times, I'm just being goofy. And when I was, wrote a story called The Problem with Control that's in Sally Port Magazine, I just thought, oh, I want a sarcastic dragon cat.
And so I just made up this monster that's like a Drake Felis is what I call him. So he's a dragon that when he has to be incognito, he has to morph into a cat, and he's really sarcastic and rude to his you know, the person who helps him to help the, they fight monsters and aliens and stuff like that. And so sometimes it's just I'm feeling goofy and wanna have fun, and other times it's serious, and then I just sit down and have fun with my imagination. Nice.
[00:46:25] Unknown:
So so are you a morning writer, or are you a night owl, or is it or is it, like, whenever whenever the mood strikes?
[00:46:35] Unknown:
I'm a whenever I can writer. I so a lot of the times, like, when I started, because I was still taking care of four kids myself, my laptop goes with me everywhere, goes to doctor's appointments. It went to my kids' music lessons or dance lessons. And while they were doing stuff, I was tapping away. And, I've become and I haven't become, like, a morning or night person. Now I have to be, like, an all the time person to get everything done. And so, but I don't go to bed until I've written. And I do have times that I know I write better. I write better in the morning,
[00:47:10] Unknown:
so I try to do it then. Mhmm. It doesn't always work out. But if I can, that's my favorite time to write. But either way, it's gonna get written. Yeah. I I you know, and it's it's funny because I I'm the same way when it comes to, like, brainstorming for shows and stuff like that. I find that I that that in the morning, you know, that's when I get the most crisp ideas for direction for shows and content and so on and so forth. And then my problem is though is that I don't I don't take a second to write it down. I'll remember. I'll remember. But as I'm getting older my memory is becoming more and more like Swiss cheese. So right now it's more like an alpine lay Swiss. So, you know, smaller hole but many. So, so, yeah. I I understand you exactly. Yeah. Morning is to me, I think is the best.
Creativity creatively speaking, I think the morning is the best time to do anything like this. You know, by the end of the day, you're tired, you're worn out, you're not gonna, you know, you're not thinking as clear, as as sharp as you did it, you know, when you first got up in the morning, that first cup of coffee. You know,
[00:48:10] Unknown:
That's that's to me, that's that's when I do my best work, for the show, anyway. Yeah. It it but you can't always do it when it's ideal. So you just have to, I I don't believe that you can only write when the muse is there because then you'd never write. You just have to True. Very true. That's right. I did have you were talking about memory for I tried keeping a notebook by my bed for a while. Like, because sometimes I'd have this dream, and I would think, oh, that's such a great idea. And I wake up from the dream, and I'll think, oh, I'll do that in the morning. And then in the morning, I don't remember it. So I started putting this thing by my bed. And then I had this idea in the middle of the night. I must have gotten up and written it down. And in the morning, I looked at it very excited about this idea that was so brilliant.
And all it said was like, frog's feet. I have no idea what that is, and I don't remember anything about a frog. Oh, that's funny.
[00:49:02] Unknown:
Yeah. That's right. That's actually that reminds me, you know you know the show Seinfeld? Yes. Okay. He he remember he had he had fallen asleep and he he had a dream about something. He wrote he went woke up, wrote it down, and he couldn't figure out what he wrote? That that that's what I was that's that's where I thought you were going with it. No.
[00:49:21] Unknown:
I mean, I could read it. I was just, like, I'm just disappointed, but I read. Yeah. So
[00:49:26] Unknown:
Maybe you were, thinking about dinner in France or something? I have no idea.
[00:49:34] Unknown:
That's one story that hasn't gotten written, I'll tell you.
[00:49:38] Unknown:
Okay. Well, at some point, you're gonna include frog's feet somewhere. So so, do you find that that, real world technology catches up with your imagination?
[00:49:49] Unknown:
Yes. Yeah. I do. And, but that's what it's supposed to do. I mean, I hope it does. My, grad school mentor, Kevin j Anderson, was invited to speak at this futurist convention. And it's all these big scientists who do these amazing things, and they were so nerding out to see him because of his science fiction writing and stuff. And they had mentioned how his books inspired them to come up with some ideas. And so I think a lot of scientists read science fiction
[00:50:22] Unknown:
I agree. Which is pretty cool. I agree. I I totally agree with that. I I think I think they they have their pulse on on what's up and coming in the in the, science fiction world and they look for ideas there because you you look at some of these science fiction, stories that at the technology, like, look at Star Trek. Right? You look at the technology that had Star Trek. They had the the communicators. Right? Well, we we have that now. You know, they're already talking about, you know, the possibility of engines that can that can break, you know, the time barrier. I mean, not time barrier. I'm sorry. The speed of light. Warp speed. Yeah. Warp speed.
So, you know, you look at that and it's so much the video technology, the, you know, the monitors, you have video communications in Star Trek, you know. Got it now. It's it's it's I so, yeah. It it I think, yeah. I think they they pull a lot from from the science fiction stuff and they try to re they're like what they call that back engineer. The, and and and like I don't know if you've ever noticed this. Like I I look at I'm I'm a I'm a Star Trek guy. I love I love Trek and all that stuff. Okay. What's your favorite? Well, I'm a TOS guy. I I I am I'm not I'm not big on the expanded universes on these things and, but I I I I'm a I'm a original series guy. You know, that's always my go to. I mean, I watch the new stuff, but Mhmm. I don't get into it like I do. I mean, I think some of it's just so ridiculous. I think that the older stuff, as ridiculous as those can be, a little bit more believable than some of the things that go on this. And and I like the style of the old of the old the old series and the old the original crew movies and things like that. For example, I I was, my favorite Star Trek movie is the second. It's a Star Trek two, The Wrath of Khan.
I think every every Trek fan that's their that's their favorite. You know, the motion picture, the first one, yeah. It had some issues, but still a good movie. Technologically wise, you know, well beautifully well done. But there was just that camaraderie that the chemistry wasn't there. The second one was much better, but I was I was doing some I was just like just kind of goofing around and looking through online and stuff like that and people actually dissect the the ship. You know, they take the enterprise, they break it down and they they they name all of these little components and sections and give you a detailed description of what exact Where are you getting that from? You know, like holy cow.
I mean, they they they create these these amazing descriptions for these things that really don't exist yet, as far as we know. I think they do but, but technically you know, they don't exist. I mean, how do you describe in detail a warp core? Like they do in the in on on some of these spec sheets that they put out. Where are you getting this stuff? The thrusters and and and they're here and they're here and this is what these are for those are for. Really?
[00:53:26] Unknown:
I mean, you kinda have to do that even if you're writing fantasy. Like, if you have a magic system, you have to know how that magic system works. Oh, sure. Yeah. If you have a bad guy, unless you want him to be some cardboard cutout bad guy, you need to know, why he does what he does. Like, for instance, if I'm planning, the big baddie for my story, I actually try to put him, like, in front of the gates of heaven and him giving his defense as to why he should be let in and why his cause is righteous. And even if I think he's a horrible person, he has to think he's not. I get you. I get you. Yeah. That's good. And yeah. So you always have to have,
[00:54:04] Unknown:
the brief side.
[00:54:06] Unknown:
Yeah. Some of that most of it should not go in the book, but you need to know it. Yeah. Yeah. And I think I think a lot of,
[00:54:14] Unknown:
like, when I would write, I was very I I used to love to play Dungeons and Dragons. That was one of my favorite things. Do you really? Yeah. Yes. I I I remember me, it was like five of us from the neighborhood. We used to get together at our friend Dave's house and and we would go down into the basement and we would just sit there and just we we would we would have, like, everything. The the the the the multi sided die and, you know, all the boards and the and the cards and all that stuff. And I remember sitting there behind the behind the little screen, you know, as as the dungeon master, you know. You know, telling the story here and playing out the whole thing. It was great and what a what a spark for your imagination. And I think a lot of the stuff I used to write back then was because I was so involved in that stuff and it would just just brought out the creative juices of it. So, yeah, everything goes into everything is research. You know?
It ties right back to it.
[00:55:08] Unknown:
That's right. I will say sometimes I wish scientists would not always like, we have some things in science fiction that I thought were warnings, but we seem to be doing them anyway. And I, in fact, one of the stories I recently read, I incorporated, they're taking, like, human brain cells Yeah. And incorporating them into silicon chips. And I'm like, like, how many science fiction movies have told us what a bad idea this is? Right. Exactly.
[00:55:33] Unknown:
Exactly. Exactly. Then you look at, like, the Terminator movies. Right? You have Skynet. Well, did you know that there actually is a real Skynet?
[00:55:41] Unknown:
Yes. You know?
[00:55:43] Unknown:
Hello? Yeah. You know? You know, remember, Arnold Schwarzenegger, he said, I'll be back. You know? But So he's coming. It it's it is crazy how how much writing parallels what what's really going on in the world before it actually happens. It's really it's very it's it's interesting to say the least. From from from a from a slightly cheeky point of view or or or expression of it, you know, it's it's interesting. If I was if I if I was able to do the eyebrow raise, I would do the eyebrow raise and say fascinating, but I can't. So Yeah. I can't do that either. I mean, I can do it this way. I can go like, you know, it's not gonna work. No. Yeah. We we like we just talked about you, but you've written across different genres, science fiction, fantasy, mystery. What is steampunk?
[00:56:36] Unknown:
Oh, steampunk is like, think Victorian period, but with cool gadgets. So they'll have, like, mech swords or, phaser guns that are not science phaser, but, like, steam powered kind of things. And Really? Have you seen, like, those people that were, like, they'll cosplay with they have top hats with goggles Oh, yeah. Yeah. And stuff like that. That's steampunk.
[00:57:00] Unknown:
So Oh, okay. Alright. I I kinda I kinda had an idea, but I I wasn't a 100% sure. That's what I wanted to ask you to make just so I knew I was on the right path with that. Probably a much simpler way to explain and figured it out yet.
[00:57:12] Unknown:
There's I have a middle grade novel coming out next year
[00:57:15] Unknown:
that's equally divided between a steampunk and fantasy world, and so I've mashed those two genres together. Okay. Now is is there one that you, like, feel more comfortable with or or at home in? Or or do you like going across the boundaries?
[00:57:29] Unknown:
It honestly depends on my mood. In this case, it was more I, so I had one of my kids was being a little rude. I don't know. Maybe your kids are perfect.
[00:57:40] Unknown:
But No.
[00:57:42] Unknown:
Okay. And so I had said to them, I I don't think you talked to your dad this way. And the child admitted they did not. And I said, so why do you think it's okay to talk to me this way? And the response was, Because I know you'll love me anyway. And I started thinking about when kids are divided between two parents, and so I made this world where he was divided between the two worlds, essentially, and his family had, his world had rejected magic for the more noble art of machines, but then he finds out that his mother, who he's never met, is actually from the magic kingdom, and so he's got to make some decisions about things, and realize that he can, love both his parents.
And by loving one, it doesn't mean he's rejecting the other. Essentially, like, his father disappears, and in order to rescue his father, he has to learn the old magic that will make his father not want to love him anymore. Wow. And so it's a hard choice, but I, wanted to I wanted kids to understand, that you don't have to choose,
[00:59:01] Unknown:
that both parents will love you, and you can love both parents. Yeah. That that that that's an important message to get out. I just have to get a lot of kids deal with that issue. They they they're not sure where they stand with one or the other or something or, you know, unfortunately, sometimes both. And that But I didn't wanna preach it because kids don't wanna be preached to. Yeah. Like, they don't wanna be lectured. So I just made it a fun adventure with lots of cool gadgets. Oh, that's neat. I like that. That's good. So so what are you what are you currently working on? Any sneak peeks at anything upcoming?
[00:59:32] Unknown:
Yeah. I have yeah. I just finished a genetic story that's pretty cool, and I'm working on another fantasy short story that I can't tell you about because the competition is judged anonymously. And if one of the judges is watching this, I'll get booted out. Ah, I gotcha. After it's judged, I'll totally tell you all about it. Okay. So The the middle grade novel that's coming out next year, I'm working on book two of that because it they gave me a three book deal. And, I'm also working on a You about a society of genetically engineered twins. And so everyone in that world is a twin, and That's interesting. They have special powers, but they're dependent on their twin for their powers to work.
And then one of them has their twin disappear. So that's what that one's about. Interesting. That's
[01:00:25] Unknown:
That that that sounds like it could be something very, very, very compelling. Almost like a movie. Maybe a movie. A lifetime movie.
[01:00:34] Unknown:
There we go. Maybe. Okay. It works in Walmart. I'll tell you that.
[01:00:40] Unknown:
We'll make it work. So, so, what authors or or storytellers have influenced your work the most?
[01:00:51] Unknown:
Oh, that's so hard. You ask good questions. Thank you. So part of my problem is I have a lot of author friends, and I'm a little afraid if I name one and not another, they're gonna be mad. So I'll I'm gonna I'll do it. My default is to stick with the dead writers. Okay. So if they can't get mad, they can haunt me. So I loved Dickens, especially, because he had this way of tapping into some real problems and making you love the people that were dealing with them and breaking your heart along with their hearts being broken. Yes. Yes. I agree with that. Yeah. Yeah. And he has now I have this goal of one day making this beautiful Dickensian plot where there's all these threads out there, and then he ties them up in this neat little bow at the end. And you think that's gonna be impossible, but he does it. I don't I feel like I'm still too much of a baby rider to accomplish that yet, but it's I'm going to do it at some point. And Set the goal. Just do it. Yeah. I think my favorite of his is Little Dorrit, which most people haven't heard of.
But it's about how it's about a girl who grew up in debtors prison. Like, she was born in debtors prison. Okay. And,
[01:02:03] Unknown:
I'm not familiar with this one.
[01:02:05] Unknown:
No. Most people aren't. I would say if you aren't, it's a very complicated one. There's a great miniseries. You can do the cheat version, that has, like, Claire Foy and Matthew McFadyen on it, and it's great. But it's about how everyone needs to feel the sense of dignity no matter what their circumstances are. So he was a big influence on me because of those factors. Bodie Taney is an historical fiction writer I loved. She might still be alive, but I don't know her, so it doesn't count. And she, she wrote this great series about the Holocaust that changed my life, as far as understanding what people went through and and what courage was in the face of difficult things, and so that had a big impact on me.
So that's it. And, I'm gonna stop there because I'll accidentally talk about people I know. Okay. Alright. Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. But Dickens, I agree.
[01:03:04] Unknown:
Yes. Sorry.
[01:03:07] Unknown:
No. You're you're you're last you know, off. Well, thank you. Appreciate that.
[01:03:12] Unknown:
But, yeah, Dickens, I love Dickens. I I I and as you were describing earlier about him about some of the things he's written. You're absolutely right. He does kind of tap into that and and get you to to have feelings for the character that that you might not normally like. Like I I don't know. My favorite Dickens story is is, Christmas Carol, you know. And I mean that I know that's probably common to a lot of people, but, you know, like I like, I'm not talking about the movie version. I'm talking about the actual book. Right. You read the book. The language is so well done. Yeah. Yes. It is. Absolutely.
And, I must have read I must have read that book cover to cover, man, I wanna say at least twenty thirty times over the course of my life. You know? And, it's one of my favorite things to do. I and and what I used to do I haven't done it in a while, but what I what I used to do would I I would start reading it in, in December. Like, December 1, I would start. And I would just read through the whole book all the way through Christmas, you know, and then finish it on Christmas Eve. As as as Alright. Great. You did that. And it was it was so much fun to do that. And I I did that cons I did that consistently for a few years. And I, you know, I mentioned I'm gonna have to pull out my copy. I'm gonna have to do that again, I think. I think I need to do that. I think I'm gonna do that now this this year. Thanks. It was a lot of it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed that, you know? And, the the the trick was, though, was trying to pace it out so it you finish.
[01:04:48] Unknown:
You know? You know? Don't get into it too much. Right.
[01:04:52] Unknown:
Exactly. Exactly. But you know even if I had to read a 100 pages, this didn't matter. You know, I just I I always finished it on Christmas Eve. And, and and and but it's true because you do you you you take a character like Ebenezer Scrooge who you you, you know, what a horrible human being. But then, you read the backstory as to why he became that. And then, you understand it a little bit. And so, you don't hate him. You know? You you're not you're you're more empathetic towards him. Toward empathy.
[01:05:25] Unknown:
For his heart. Exactly. You want him to learn. Exactly. So I love that. I I know, I don't know if you've seen the movie this isn't the movie Christmas Carol. It's the movie about Dickens writing a Christmas Carol. I haven't seen that. I haven't I didn't know that. Yeah. The man who invented Christmas, and I think you will love it. I have to check it out. For sure.
[01:05:48] Unknown:
Yeah. It was really well done. Charlie's at the door. He's letting me know, so I was almost over. Oh. And char I so I have two I didn't tell you. So I have two French bulldogs. I have Bean as my girl. She's she's my five year old. She's my baby. And then I have her brother is Charlie and he's four. And, what I do is when I do the show, I I put it on in the living room for them so they can watch it. And it never fails. Charlie knows. He he knows when time is coming up, and he comes to the studio door, and I hear him at the door letting me know That's so cute. That it's I don't know. I I it's the craziest I like, I never taught him that. I never trained him on that. It that's just something that he did.
And, you know, he's, he's my bud. He's my pal. So and they're also waiting for dinner too. I cook for them. I I they they they get a they get a home cooked meal every night.
[01:06:37] Unknown:
Oh, wow. Your dogs are way more, they get much more treasured dinners than mine gets. My
[01:06:44] Unknown:
they're my babies though. They're they're they're they're they're like they're my life right now. So, you know, and they they deserve everything. They get everything. So, like, they'll they'll have they'll have rib eye steaks. They'll have I've I've made I've made filet mignon for them. They're also my test kitchen, so I'll make stuff and I'll I'll let them taste it first. Like Okay. You're dorking better than I am now. So One one night are you ready for this one? You're gonna like this one. One night, I made I made, filet mignon. I made a bacon wrapped filet mignon with, a red wine reduction for a sauce.
And, I love to cook. Cooking is my my therapy. So, so I made it and, you know, I I I had some of it myself, but but the two of them are sitting there watching me eat this thing and they're both literally drooling. So I was like, alright. So so I I sliced it all up for them and they had bacon wrapped filet mignon with the red wine sauce for for dinner one night. It was fun. And then Charlie Charlie's like a he's like a bud, man. He, you know, I'm a bourbon guy. I love bourbons. I like to sample different bourbons and so does Charlie. So, like, I don't give him just for for the people who out there are gonna think that I intend I, like, I give him a You feel drunk? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I do. But but I don't do but it's not like I give him a whole, like a glass of bourbon or anything like that. What I'll do is if I'm try if I'm sampling something new, I'll I'll dip my finger in it and give them a couple of drops off my finger.
And, sometimes it it does its thing, you know. I I have I have some incredible pictures, somewhere on my phone of of of Charlie passed out on laying laying on top of me on his back with his head to the side, his paws like this, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, you know. He's my pal, you know. He's my buddy.
[01:08:35] Unknown:
Oh. He's my rock. To a story at some point. I'm sorry.
[01:08:40] Unknown:
You could steal it. It's fine. It's, he he he's my he's my bud, you know. They're they're everything to me. So he's at the door and he's like, here at the door. Where's my steak? Well, no. Tonight they're getting tonight they're getting braised chicken breasts tonight. So so it's gonna be interesting because I really don't feel like cooking, but I can't say no. I I, you know But you know what they'll do? They'll they'll go to the bowl and that because I I leave dry down dry food for them, you know. But they'll go there and they'll stand the both of them, they'll both stand at their food bowl and they'll look at me like, this is all we're getting?
[01:09:15] Unknown:
Yeah. My dear.
[01:09:17] Unknown:
You know? So you know what I'm talking about? So so they so they're they're hysterical and I love it. They're the best. So so they're gonna get they're gonna get chicken tonight And, I'm gonna have some chicken soup because I can't. I'm dying. You're not feeling like I am dying right now. Mine can tell when I'm slowing down on my food and I'm not gonna finish. And so then they come quietly over and sit there, and then they get the last pieces of my meal. Nice. And so you're happy. You see mine, though. Mine what they'll do is my boy, he'll he'll lay down next to me on the floor, right next to the chair, and he won't move. Like, he won't look at me. He won't do anything. He'll just lay there and wait. My girl will go under the table and go up in between your legs on the chair and you'll just look you'll excuse me. You'll look down. You'll just see her face right there. And she has the she has the saddest eyes when she does that. Like her ears go back and she her eyes get all wet and I'm like, okay. Here you
[01:10:10] Unknown:
go. So yeah. It's hard to cut that out.
[01:10:14] Unknown:
It's terrible. It's they're they're the best. I love them. So anyway, so just just to kind of wrap up, our our conversation, which has been great. I love this. This has been a great conversation. So, what what do you hope that the audience takes away from our discussion tonight?
[01:10:30] Unknown:
That, they can have fun reading and that reading can teach them about other people that they never experienced before in their lives, and to get to know a different type of person, and that they can do incredible things. You see what some of the people in my books do, And I know they're fake, but there are real people who've done things just as hard, so they can too.
[01:10:56] Unknown:
Alright. Alright. So where can the audience go to get more information about you, your work, your books?
[01:11:01] Unknown:
Yeah. I have a website. It is a sanseveredo.com, so the a and then my last name. And, so I have everything listed on there. The books are available. You can get them at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, but Amazon doesn't let the author or the publisher pick the prices, and sometimes I don't like how they like, sometimes they overprice them. So I would yeah. I would go to my website where I show where all the places you can get them, and you can, you know, shop for a discount. Okay. Alright. Awesome.
[01:11:35] Unknown:
Alright. Outstanding. Now, of course, your website, all that information is gonna be all on our show notes, so folks should be able to just, click on a link in the in the show notes. You'll be able to go right to her website and find out all the information you could about her. Any social medias you wanna promote? Anything you wanna put out there?
[01:11:50] Unknown:
Yeah. I'm on Facebook. I'm on x. I am on Instagram. I'm probably the most active on Facebook because I'm old and it's easier. But I I, you know, I try to do all three.
[01:12:07] Unknown:
Alright. Outstanding. Well, Ann Marie, thank you so much for being here with us tonight. I really do appreciate it. This has been a lot of fun. You've you've been a great guest. I I really thank you so much for it. And, so I'm gonna do I'm gonna you could you could just wanna hang out for a minute. I'm just gonna close out the show, and then I'll I'll catch you, once we, once we end the stream. We'll just tie up a few things. Alright? Sounds great. Ann Marie Anne Marie Sansevero.
[01:12:31] Unknown:
Sanseviro. Sanseviro. Okay. Okay. Sorry. That's saying right. That's alright. Alright. Alright. Alright. I'm embarrassed as a New York Italian. I didn't say the name. No. And so and a lot of New Yorkers will say it's Sanseviro.
[01:12:41] Unknown:
Well, that's how I was saying it earlier today.
[01:12:43] Unknown:
Yes. So it's fun. Alright.
[01:12:47] Unknown:
Anne Marie, again, thank you so much. I appreciate you. Alright. Thanks, man. We'll be with you in a few. Alright, folks. So Anne Marie, what a great show. Right? She was great. I really enjoyed having her on the show tonight. So hopefully, we'll get it have her come back again, when she has her new project released. And then, we'll we'll touch base with her there. Alright. But in the meantime, folks, Pro HVAC r Solutions leverages over 30 of expertise in providing HVAC sales and repair services specializing in both residential and commercial installations. ProHVAC's team of skilled technicians is dedicated to providing efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions for your home or business with a focus on quality, workmanship, and customer satisfaction.
Pro HVAC ensures your comfort all year round. Contact Pro HVAC our solutions today for reliable HVAC services tailored to your individual needs. Visit prohvacrsolutions.com. That's prohvacrsolutions.com. Alright. And let's see what else we got here. Just a couple of quick announcements for you. Please don't forget to head over to our website, joeroos.com joeroos.com. And when you get there, there's gonna be a little thing that's gonna pop up on the home pages for an email list that we have. It's just a programming email list. We're not selling you anything. We're not gonna, you know, I'm not gonna send you a a coffee mug for $80 and say, hey, buy this. You know, I'm not gonna do that to you. It's just it's just for programming information. So upcoming shows, guests, any changes in schedules, all that stuff.
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It's the cold medicine catching me here. And that was today. So, I'll get some updates for you on how that all went and we'll talk about that on Wednesday night show. And hey, listen. Don't forget. Check out Wednesday night show. You know why? Because it's episode 200. We hit 200 episodes coming up on Wednesday. Very excited about that. Like I told you guys yesterday, most podcasts stop at episode 10 and they don't go on. Alright. We're here, episode 200. And I know there are hundreds, thousands of podcasts that go way beyond that. But for us, this is a big thing.
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Alright. Charlie is howling at the door, so I think it's time for us to say goodbye for tonight. Thank you for taking the time to be with us. Really enjoyed tonight's show and I hope you guys did too. Drop a comment down below, email us, let us know what you think. And, don't forget, make Texas independent again. Go podcasting, keep a steady stride, and keep talking. Good night folks, we'll see you Wednesday.
My fans, I have arrived. Me too. Transmitting live from the asylum studios deep in the bowels of Southwest Texas. It's the Joe Ruge Show. The show where we talk about anything and everything. Where nothing is sacred, nothing is watered down, and nothing is PC. Alrighty. Hey, folks. This is Joe Ruse, and it is great to be with you once again transmitting live at the Asylum Studios, broadcasting from the pimple on the backside of Texas, the beautiful city of Eagle Pass, and doing the very best that we can to bring you the best quality talk radio we could muster without all the bluster.
Welcome to the Joe Russo. Alright. Thank you to our nonexistence studio audience. Really appreciate the applause. Alright, folks. It is Monday, 11/03/2025 at nineteen oh four hours. We got got a show for you tonight, folks. Looking forward to our guest this evening. So I hope you guys had, had a good weekend. It is the second Monday of the week. Remember what we said last week, every day of the week is a Monday, especially when you do what I do. Every day is a Monday, except Saturday. Saturday is pre Monday, because then Sunday is is Monday light. And then you have full Monday, then second Monday, you know, so on and so forth. So today is second Monday of the week. I know it sounds ridiculous. I'm sorry. That's just, it's just the way it is. Anyway, anyway, so we had a busy crazy weekend here at the show. I hope you guys were able to check it out. We had Ruben Camarillo in the studio with us on Saturday from the Now You Know Eagle Pass podcast.
Great guy. Hope you guys were able to catch that. That was really just a fantastic conversation. Had a great time with Ruben. Looking forward to connecting with him again and doing some more work together. And, we're gonna have a lot of things that we're gonna talk about, Ruben and I. So, especially food. He you should have seen the video he sent me before the show. It's son of a you know, I'm over here. I'm starving. I haven't eaten yet today, but he's over here sending me pictures of videos of him cooking. Yeah. Thanks, bud.
I appreciate you. I'll get you back. No worries. And then, of course, we had our our our, cryptocurrency show with our resident crypto psychic, Marissa Lee, on Saturday afternoon. That was spectacular. We had a lot of good information passed on to us there, particularly about PayPal and, the, the stock option of PayPal at this point or or the stock offering of PayPal at at this time. And, we talked about DIA. We talked about stable coin. We talked about, you know, trends and, of course, the usual stuff that we'd love to talk about like Solana and Algo and XRP and so on and so forth, that, you know, and how they're trending. And, so things are looking, you know, pretty good. You know, we're tend to live a lull with cryptos, but that's okay. You know, you gotta ride it out. You gotta be patient. You gotta watch. Like I said on the show on on on Saturday, I don't even pay attention to what I have in cryptos. I just whatever I put into it, I put into it, and if I check it once in a while, I check it once in a while. Because I know me, that if I go in there and I keep on looking at it, and I see it dip dip dip dip dip, I'm gonna panic, sell everything, and get out of it altogether, then I'm gonna kick myself because what usually happens for me is the day after I do something like that, and it takes off.
Totally takes off, and then I am screwed. So, you know, so I just I just adopted the the philosophy of just, you know, like, it's like the old Ronco thing. And you remember Ronco? He had that, that little roasting thing that he had he would put on, you know, in the early days of infomercials. And he had, you know, just set it and forget it, and that's basically what I do with the crypto stuff. I just set it and forget it, just move on. Just move on. And then, of course, Sunday, we had our Sunday Bible study show, which was fantastic, if I do say so myself. I think it went pretty well.
We talked about the well, as you know, we started a series on the dispensations, and so we were up to, the third one, which was yesterday, and we talked about the dispensation of conscience, and how how God gives every man a conscience, and and, you know, let your conscience be your guide type of thing up until the establishment of the law, which we'll be getting into next week. So that's gonna be a lot of interesting information there that I remember when I first taught this this this series, back in my church, and I did it as a bible study, for the, for our adult well, our teens, early adult group. And, it took me about four weeks of of study just to get through the just to the law alone before we got into the age that we're in now in grace. So, very interesting study. I'm looking forward to getting into it with you guys. I'm gonna see how I'm gonna do it on the show. I don't know yet. I haven't figured that out because I I I had a lot of graphics and such, you know, a lot of notating on the board on the whiteboard. And, I don't know if I could put a whiteboard up over here, but I don't know. We'll see. We'll figure something out. Who knows? I don't know. Well, it you know how we do things here. It's fly by the seat of your pants. So but we're we're good. We're we're we'll get there. And then, and then, you know, this week, and here we are. Man, it's it's here already.
I can't believe that. But, I don't wanna keep our guest waiting too much longer. So let me get through some of the housekeeping stuff that we have to do as always. So I wanna tell you about some of our sponsors. So first of all, Pod Home. Pod Home dot f m. That's our audio host home. So we, we've been with Pod home now for about three years. They are a fantastic audio side host platform, best you're gonna get on the market. It is the most easy and most modern podcast hosting platform that there is. You can use it to publish your episodes, enhance your audio, automatically generate chapters, titles, transcripts, show notes. You can even update your chapter art if you if you wanna get that creative. For every chapter, have a new piece of artwork for it, you can do that. That's fine.
If that's how you roll, I don't do that. I don't have time to do that, but you know, for those podcasts that have like huge crews that actually do all that stuff on the backside, you know, we'll get there. We'll get there. One day, somebody from Joe Rogan will call me and say, hey, we're gonna pay you. Hey, great. Until then, it's just us. So, so, your chapter's title, show notes, everything, all Pod Home. You could broadcast your your show live, actually, through Pod Home as well, through the modern podcast two point o apps. You can get those things, and you can actually listen to the show live. We're streaming the show live on audio as well as the video. And, you could also download you could also install the or or code, whatever they call it, the HTML to get a player on your website. And if you don't have a website, Pod Home gives you one. They'll set you up with one. No additional charge. You get all of that for a for one affordable monthly subscription of $15.99 a month. Just $15.99 a month. You cannot beat that. I've used other platforms. They charge you double triple for what you get with Pod Home. And Pod Home is improving every day.
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That's podhome.fm. Alright. Also, I would like to tell you a little bit about t n e dot energy. Electricity is essential, folks. We should know that. We wouldn't be doing this without electricity. And t n e dot energy makes it affordable and personal. More than 1,000,000 customers across The US trust t n e energy to to, power their homes, earn free energy for referring their family and friends as well. Now, just visit the website t n e dot energy and explore all of the options that are available to you and your home today. That's t n e dot energy.
Alright. And also, don't forget to head over to our website, joeroos.com. It's very important we plug our own website. Right? Joeroos.com. And when you get over there, hit that contact section. Open up that little web form. Send us over a message. Let us know whatever is on your heart, whatever is on your mind. Any questions, comments, cares, concerns, any issues, any complaints. We don't want the complaints, but if you have one, send it. Okay? We'll give it its due diligence trash bin. But send it over anyway. Okay? And, let us know if you have a guy, an idea for a show, a guest, maybe there's a topic you want us to cover. Let us know. We'd love to hear from you guys. You could also email me at [email protected], if you don't wanna use the website. Totally fine.
And, or a novel idea. It just got me. There's a comment section down below, right down there somewhere. Leave a comment. Let us know. That's their in perpetuity. It's not going anywhere. So I can always go back and look at it. So do that. Alright. We love to hear from everybody. So please reach out to us. Let us know, what we can do to help you enjoy the show. Alright. Also, if you would, please look for the support button. As always, this is a value for value show. And all that simply means is that if you receive anything of value from what we're producing, we're asking you to return that value in the form of donation. It could be your time, your talent, your treasure. And as always, I'll lay all of that stuff out for you at the end of the show. I don't wanna scare everybody off yet. Alright. Now, tonight's guest is an author with a message of hope, courage, and imagination, Anne Marie Saint Severou. I know I didn't say it right. She'll correct me. I'm gonna fix the echo right now. There we go. See, I forgot, like I said.
She grew up in the amid the buzz of New York City before moving in high school to the South. She writes speculative fiction that dances between the human spirit and edges of science. Stories where technology, mystery, and supernatural intertwine intertwine. Her award winning short stories have been featured in the in anthologies, magazines, and now in her newest collection, The Butterflies, Stroke, and Other Stories, a book that reminds us we're not just meant to survive, but to change the world. Ann Marie, welcome to the show. It's great to have you here. Thanks for having me. Hey. It's a pleasure. You know, we we got a chance to talk a little bit before the show. So, so, you know, we we we both come from the same neck of the woods.
You know, Brooklyn, Staten Island, all that stuff. So we we're gonna have a lot of great stuff to talk about later on. But before we get into any of that stuff, I have a couple of questions I ask every single guest. I gotta put you on the spot right off the bat. Okay. Alright. So hope I don't know. Yeah. Hopefully, you listen to a couple of shows first before you checked in here. That's where you get the idea of what you're coming into because I ask everybody the same basic question. Alright. What is something that most people don't know about you but should?
[00:14:47] Unknown:
Oh, so I am a nerd, but I think that has been outed already, to be honest with you. And so I, I have more bookshelves in my house than furniture, and I haven't met a subject I didn't want to learn about. And, oh, one thing, I actually brought a trig book with me to the hospital the first time I was delivering a baby. A trig book? Yes. The nurses said bring something that will relax you. So that's what I brought. Trigonometry.
[00:15:26] Unknown:
It relaxes you. Okay. Yeah. I think I think the nerd thing comes through there. I'm I'm just gonna Yeah. Doesn't it? Yeah. I I I would I would think that trigonometry is probably the one thing I would not want to relax myself with. I I remember some of my my early college trigonometry stuff, and I it did Yeah. No. It wasn't for me, and not not for me at all. But as far as the book collection go, I love books. I I do I prefer to to actually hold a book in my hand, than sit there and and and scroll through electronic pages, and all that stuff. And there's another reason for that as well, because, you know, in today's digital age, you know, and and you're gonna think I'm a, like, you know, you think you're a nerd. I'm a I'm a conspiracy freak with these things. You know, I don't trust government. I I really don't. And, you know, who's to say that one day they're gonna determine that some particular books that that I like to read or you like to read are considered, propaganda. You're not allowed to you can't read them anymore. They could just flip a switch and it's gone.
But you actually have the paper book in your hands. That's valuable. That's valuable. That's why I usually buy multiple copies of books. So, you know, so, this way, I have them. But, I know people can think I'm crazy, but that's that's my little secret there. And I wish that I still had the book collection that I had, prior to coming to Eagle Pass. I had a, in the house I had back in New York, I had I had a room that was just all books. I mean, just every kind of book you could possibly imagine. I've relegated that to I have one bookshelf in, in the in the other room here. And the rest of my collection is is kinda spread out around the house. And then I have, I don't know, maybe three boxes full of books still in the closet that I have not unpacked yet. I've been here ten years. So, you know, it's, it's so yeah. So I I books my thing. I love books. I love to read.
I need I do need to read more though. To be honest, you know, this this thing gets in the way of actually reading books. And, because you you find yourself jumping to that thing more than just opening up a book and sitting down and reading and losing time. That way, I because and and I say losing time loosely. It's not really losing time. Mean, you could sit down with a good book and read, and let your imagination run. Man, that that beats anything you're ever gonna find on social media. That's gonna beat that beats anything you're ever gonna find online. I I would so much would rather be doing that than wasting time on the phone. So that's my that's my preach my preachy message for the day so far. Alright.
[00:18:04] Unknown:
Alright. I want to take you down with that message. Alright.
[00:18:07] Unknown:
Especially since you're a writer, so I would hope you would. Yeah. You know. So, next question. What's your go to beverage or activity that you like to do to help you unwind at the end of the day?
[00:18:20] Unknown:
If I have time to do something just for fun, I will tap dance or play violin.
[00:18:27] Unknown:
Really? Yes. Yeah. Not at the same time. But Well, that would be interesting. I I I think I think you you could make a TikTok video and probably make a lot of money on that. There we go. You know?
[00:18:39] Unknown:
Or break my violin. One or the other. Or your or your neck. Yeah.
[00:18:44] Unknown:
Yes. God forbid.
[00:18:46] Unknown:
Yeah.
[00:18:47] Unknown:
That's great. You know, my, my my grandfather, God bless him. I I I miss my my grandfather passed away when I was 16, but my grandfather used to play the violin. He was a concert violinist at a at a very, very young age. And, I I'll never forget, especially on the holidays, he would come out. He would bring out the violin or the guitar, and he would sit and he'd play around the holidays, and we would just have a great time. You know, my I like I told you before the show, I mean, my family is is Italian, Sicilian, New York, Brooklyn, you know. So yet all of that great stuff, you know, around the holidays. It wasn't just, you know, mom, dad, and the kids. It was mom, dad, the kids, the grandparents, the great grandparents, the aunts, the uncles, the cousins, the third cousins, fourth cousins, the the the thirty second cousin removed.
You know, everybody was there, and it was just a great time. So I I love that stuff. And I can't I don't have anything about tap dancing though. That's the only thing I did. That's a little bit out of my my thing. I mean, I could tap dance around a a, you know, an explanation of something, but I can't. But I can't tap dance at all. I can't dance at all either, but but that's another story altogether. So, now again, so I've been alluding to this all night. We've been we've been we we share a common background. We both lived in New York. You grew up in in in Staten Island. Well, you grew up in New York City or Staten Island? Staten Island. You grew up on Staten Island. Okay. Yeah. See, a lot of people don't understand the difference. Like, when I moved here to Texas, like, people didn't understand that that New York's New York wasn't just Manhattan.
Right. There's five boroughs. Right. And and then there's a whole state surrounding it, you know. So, so it was kinda hard to explain that. Well, yeah. You have Manhattan, but then there are there are four other cities that make up New York City. Mhmm. You know? And, so so a lot of people don't understand that. But, but you grew up in in Staten Island, and then you moved down south, during high school, or around the high school age. And I think you you you're still living down south right now? I don't wanna say it. Because I have it in my notes, but I'm not gonna I don't wanna say it. I don't wanna, you know, throw it out there. Yeah. I'm I'm currently living down south and,
[00:20:57] Unknown:
at some point, I'm gonna move, but I haven't decided where.
[00:21:01] Unknown:
Okay. Well, how how now living going from New York to to to the South, how has that shaped your storytelling?
[00:21:11] Unknown:
It's given me two vastly different cultural perspectives, for one. When and when I first moved here, it it has grown a lot since I first moved here, but we I went from Staten Island to a town where there was 272 people. Oh, I love that. I felt so trapped, because I didn't have a way to get anywhere. There was no train you know, no public transportation, and, and I would sometimes get notes on my locker that said Yankee go home and Really? Things like that. Yeah. And so it was awkward. But, they've I mean, this this area has really grown both in population and in maturity and and kindness to people that are different, and that has been wonderful to watch.
I I'll tell you one way it shaped my writing. I was, invited to submit to a anthology on cryptids. And I don't know if you know what a cryptid is. I do. Okay. Okay. Super. We usually have to explain. So, yeah, you Well, you could explain for the audience. That's fine. I don't I don't mind that. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like those legends like Bigfoot and, Loch Ness Monster and things like that. And this particular anthology, it had to have a cryptid, and it had to have an epistolary element in it. And so I chose, the cryptid from Arkansas, which is the Fook monster, and the one from New York, which is Champy.
And I had them as pen pal kids, and the one from Arkansas really wanted a human friend, and the one from New York wanted to be a humanologist when he grew up. And so he would give him advice on how to get a human friend, and it just was disastrous advice, but it was fun. And so the editor had written and said, hey. Put some of that Arkansas lingo in there. And so I've got to use some of the things that I've heard but never really used, like busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest and stuff like that. And so
[00:23:11] Unknown:
You know, I'm sure I'm sure there are some sayings like that around here in Eagle Pass, but the the thing is down here, they they speak mostly Spanish. And I don't even being here ten years, I don't I I I I'm lost. Oh. If if I I walk around with my my Google translate, you know, just how I communicate with people. Yeah. They're not here. You know, but that's great. A a humanologist, I like that. That's good. That that that's pretty good. So now at what point in your life did you decide that, that you wanted to start writing and telling these stories?
[00:23:44] Unknown:
Or or was this something that just, you know, always been a part? It's always been a part of my life. Like, I've always been a huge reader. I used to kind of escape to the library, and, I while my friends were dreaming about being a rock star, I would sometimes dream about writing books, and I'd write little stories in my, you know, flower decorated notebooks as a little girl and stuff like that. But I you know, life took over, and I didn't get to do it for a long time. And then I got to a point where I realized if I don't do it now, I'm never going to. So I sat my kids down and said, hey.
Mommy really wants to write. And, so I'm gonna take a little time every day and do it, and they were really supportive about it. At first, you know, I was a single mom with four kids working three part time jobs, and so there was not a lot of time to write. I wouldn't think so. No. So I was doing fifteen minutes a day at first, and, then gradually as, they all started graduating, I got more time. And, so it's been just such a wonderful way of dealing with life and the writing that brought me courage when I was a kid, I wanna give to other people. And so I would read things about people going through horrible things, and they were to survive, and they do great, brave acts, and it gave me courage. So that's what I love about it. That's great. And and and you also kinda answered my next question. My next one was,
[00:25:12] Unknown:
you know, that you do write stories about about hope and courage and resilience. And and my question was gonna be, why why are they so important to you? Why are those themes so important to you?
[00:25:21] Unknown:
Yeah. I just I've been through a lot, and, knowing that you can go through hard things and come out on top is a great thing to have in your in your tool belt, I guess. I don't really have tools, but that would be useful. So, yeah. And
[00:25:43] Unknown:
I I'm sorry. Excuse me.
[00:25:44] Unknown:
No. That's fine. No. You have been feeling well. I'm sorry. I sometimes think about, you know, the kid that's struggling and scared when I write or the adult that's struggling and scared and wanna give them some hope.
[00:25:57] Unknown:
Well, let's talk about your book, The Butterfly Stroke.
[00:26:00] Unknown:
Mhmm.
[00:26:01] Unknown:
I I I had an opportunity to read some of it today, And, really well written. I like, I was I really enjoyed what I was reading. And, and it really caught my interest, especially with with what's going on right now with, with, like, with guys like Elon Musk, with Neuralink, and and all of those things. So, you know, I I was very, very curious. So I have to finish reading the book itself. I gotta I actually have to get the copy of it, so I could actually read the rest of the story because it it cut off right at that point where I was like, oh. You know, so yeah. So it was yeah. It was good. It was very very good. I I did enjoy it. I really did. I'm not just saying that because just you're across the way from me here. I'm I'm serious.
So but let's talk about the title a little bit. The the butterfly stroke. What what, where did that idea come from, and how did that come to you?
[00:26:50] Unknown:
So, I had written down a whole bunch of titles that I hated. And, I consulted a friend that is another writer, David Hankins. He's a fantastic writer, and he's funnier than I am and clever. And so I said, David, I'm stuck, and he helped me with that title. And I had named the the Neuralink that they use the butterfly because of how it's shaped. Okay. And because she was an Olympic swimmer and, you know, they had the butterfly stroke, David and I were riding back and forth, and he then we came up with that. So but I don't think I'd come up with that name without him, so I wanna give him as much credit as possible. Oh, that's okay. All the boring names in my short story collection that you're gonna read, those are probably all me. So
[00:27:39] Unknown:
I'm sure I'm sure they're good. I'm sure they're fine. So now so you have the this concept of a, of a, she was a former Olympic swimmer. Right? And she was able to regain her ability, to swim, to move, actually, because she was parallel quadriplegic in the story. Through through the brain implant and and then, facing unintended consequences. You know, that whole thing, that that it's that's powerful. It it really is. And, and how do you balance the emotional side of the story, with the scientific or the or the speculative elements?
[00:28:17] Unknown:
So I when I write so the the collection is equally divided between science fiction stories and fantasy stories. Stories. Okay. And when I read when I'm writing science fiction, I'm not only thinking about what we could do for humanity, but I'm thinking about how it affects us as humans. And so not just the technical side of it, because everything, like you were talking about earlier about not trusting government and worried about the them just saying, no. You can't have this book anymore. I have a suspicious mind as well, and so I always think about, okay. This is a wonderful idea. Mhmm. Now what's gonna go wrong with it? And and that's where the human element comes in.
[00:29:02] Unknown:
Yeah. So I don't know if that answered your question. No. It does. No. It does. It it it certainly does. So so which which story in all of your collection, was the hardest for you to write emotionally?
[00:29:16] Unknown:
In in that collection, I would say The Heresy of Peace was the hardest to write. And why was that? Because it was about generational hate and having to make great sacrifices for people who've done you harm. And, so that was an emotional one. The probably the most emotional story I've ever written, act I just finished after I put out this collection, was a more autobiographical one, the most autobiographical I'd ever written, but every single story I write has some aspect from my life in it. Like, there's one story, memory ghost in that collection about a woman who gets a partial brain graft, and she starts experiencing the memories of her donor.
And it turns out her donor was murdered, and so she solves the crime through her donor's memories. And it was because I was I was in the hospital one day, and it turned out my blood just my body just stopped producing enough blood. And so I had to get all these blood transfusions, and it was my first time ever experiencing something like that. And I was laying in the hospital, and this stranger's blood was going into my body, and I was really creeped out. And I kept thinking, I don't know anything about them. They should at least taken me to dinner or something. And and all I kept thinking was, what if it was something more intimate, like our mind instead of just blood?
And so everything I experience goes into the story somehow. That's interesting. Yeah. Every my mentor and I have a saying called everything is research. So when something horrible happens to me and I'm like, oh, Martin, look what happened. And he's like, remember, everything's research.
[00:31:04] Unknown:
And so I guess that's a good way to look at it. And it's funny because I that that line is, you know, at least take you to dinner first. I use that at my doctor's office all the time. Every time every every time the nurse comes in and says, well, I gotta give you a shot. Drop your pants. I'm like, well, usually we go to dinner first. You know? But and I remember the first time I ever said that, I mean, she just didn't know what to she didn't know how to react. She was like, just what? Like, nobody's ever said that to you? That's that's like a standard joke in these things. It's people in the South, they just don't get it.
[00:31:35] Unknown:
They don't get it. But but They probably Justin Green went bless his heart.
[00:31:40] Unknown:
Well, yeah. But depending on how they they say it, you know, is the real meaning behind it, you know? Yes. So that that that I've learned very very quickly here. But but you're right. Yeah. Everything is research. Everything. And it's the same thing I I employ the same thing with with the show, you know, when it comes to if I see something or if I experience something, I'm like, well, this could be part of a show at some point, you know, and and I try to work that. And I I totally understand, you know, everything is research. Now, how did you first get involved with writers and illustrators of the future? So, I had taken a class by David Farland, who was a phenomenal writer, and he was one of the judges.
[00:32:17] Unknown:
And he had passed away a few years ago, but right before he passed away, he said, you have to enter this competition. It's a it's a career maker. It will help you so much. And so I wasn't I wasn't a short story writer, I liked long form, and I'd been working on my first novel. And then I went to a writers conference that Dave had founded with some other great writers, like Kevin j Anderson and Brandon Sanderson and all the big names in science fiction and fantasy. And, Jonathan Mayberry was there, and he had a class called why you should be writing short stories. And I was like, well, I don't wanna write short stories, so I'm gonna go to the class to figure out if I'm wrong. And, and I was.
So he gave some really good reasons. And I started writing them and entering them in the contest, and I'm gonna continue entering until I either win or pro out. But everything in that collection has gotten either an honorable mention or or semifinalist
[00:33:17] Unknown:
So in their What is it like to get your work recognized like that?
[00:33:22] Unknown:
Nerve wracking. So yeah. And every time I'm waiting on the results, I'm sure they're gonna, like, write me back and say, you should stop writing. But when they actually give me something great, like a semifinalist or an op will mention it, it it does feel good. It's like, okay. I'm making progress. I'm doing better. And, now I'm starting to get, like, reviews from strangers about things I wrote. And, I so this felt weird. I had one woman. She was like, this writer's a genius. And I will tell you, I screenshotted that so much. I'm sure. I would do it too. That's right. And then, and when I first got my first short story published, it was actually a humorous one. And I had four kids constantly telling me I wasn't funny.
And so when I got that contract that they were actually paying me and saying, I laughed so hard. I, like, took it to my kids and was like, your mom's funny, and she's even paid. They didn't believe it
[00:34:19] Unknown:
then. That's okay. They don't have to believe it. That's right. It's it's what was that saying? There there are some things that are true whether you believe it or not? Yes. There there it is. There you go. But but that's good though. I mean, I used to write. I I told another I had somebody else on the show not too long ago that we were talking about writing. And I used to write short stories when I was younger. I was in in, well, now they call it middle school, but I was like junior high and high school. You know, I used to write a lot. I was quite prolific, as they would say. But, but, I never did anything. I like I have I have them I have the stories, the the actual written out stories in a in a binder someplace and I just have a label that said the unpublished works. You know?
So so so when I when I do when I do eventually pass on and, you know, they come and, you know, find my remains that the dogs have eaten pretty much mostly, you know, they'll they'll find this book of unpublished works and at least, you know, my kids will get some kind of inheritance. They'll think of something great. I don't know. They'll be worth millions. That's that's my point. Yeah. So, you know. So if you call it the unpublished stuff, I think it'll it'll work. It'll work better. Because then people start looking for the published stuff. It'll be a rare thing if you ever find anything. Right? So I I'm I don't know. It's the it's the medication. I'm telling you. I'm just I'm I'm all over the place here. So, so if a new reader would start, with one story from from the butterfly stroke, which story would you recommend and why would you recommend it?
[00:35:47] Unknown:
Gosh. That's a hard question. If they are into science fiction, I'd start with the butterfly stroke. If they are into fantasy, I would start with a living client. Okay. And so that one is that was I had twenty four hours to write that story because I'd made a commitment to myself. I was gonna enter Writers of the Future every quarter. And Okay. Life takes over, like, it does sometimes. And, you know, I have to work and I go to school and all this other stuff. And, so I had just done a brain dump. And as I was doing a brain dump to come up with the idea, I was all of a sudden thinking about this. I knew I was gonna do, like, a supernatural detective kind of thing.
And I had just seen a death in paradise episode where the guy had a skeleton in his classroom, but it was actually like the skeleton of his dead wife. He'd killed her. It was really creepy. And so I was gonna combine some of all those things, and I thought this supernatural detective is going to have haunted femur that's his assistant, and I'm gonna call it Luke Skywalker. And I just started laughing. Yeah.
[00:37:00] Unknown:
See? Tell my kids. That is funny. Both to put that on. It that's funny.
[00:37:05] Unknown:
Yes. But because I was tired and it made me laugh and I knew I had to write it really fast, I was like, that's what I'm gonna do. And so, that's the one I would start with for fantasy. But, honestly, I would just, like, pick a story a day and read them. They're they're not too long, and so you can get through it.
[00:37:24] Unknown:
Somehow, someway, you'll charge your way through these short stories. Right. That's right. Well, I I I'll tell you. Like, I I was saying earlier about, the story I read today about the Olympic swimmer. It was a tease because it because you know where it cuts off? It cut it cuts off just once Yeah. No spoilers. Yeah. No. I'm not gonna get too far, but it cuts it cuts off at a very, very interesting development in in in the recovery process. And it it I was like, no no no no. Damn it. One more page. That's all I needed. One more page. It would've been fine. But, but, but it's a great story though. Like, I'm I'm I'm really interested. I wanna finish the especially that one. So so so we're gonna, I would recommend that one. And you recommended what were the two you recommended again?
[00:38:17] Unknown:
So that one and Living Clients. Living Client. Okay. There's the Appease is a great one. If you like Scions and stuff, there's another one called Shattered. I mean, they're all different, so it's hard to, like, pick it's like asking me to pick which child is my favorite. You're just mean.
[00:38:37] Unknown:
I I can do it. My my favorite my favorite is Bean. Oh, there you go. And and and she's she's my my my five year old French Bulldog. There you go. So she's my baby. Well, I'm hoping all my kids thought they were my favorite. But, Well, my human kids. Yeah. My out of my human children, they, I I can't there's no way I could pick a favorite. Yeah. There's no way. At least not publicly.
[00:39:02] Unknown:
That's
[00:39:03] Unknown:
okay. Like I I could say it outside, you know, this is the one I wanted. But, you know, but, I think I think that if I said that in front of the kids, they would know. They would know what I meant. No. I'm I'm just kidding. I love both. My my kids are great. They're they're fantastic. I'm incredibly proud of them. Incredibly proud of them. And, how old are your kids by the way?
[00:39:22] Unknown:
The oldest is oh gosh. The oldest is 29,
[00:39:28] Unknown:
and the youngest is teen. Yeah. So they're growing they're all growing up now. It's just me. Yes. My, my my daughter my daughter just turned 29, and my my my son will be lucky if he makes 27. Okay. You know, so no. I'm kidding. My he's he's they're they're both great. I love them both. I'm incredibly proud of both of them. They both made such huge doting dad here. I'm sorry. But they they both made such such That's a good thing. My my my daughter had, she gave me three beautiful grandchildren. And, while she was pregnant, with number two, she worked her way through her master's program. She graduated from Columbia with honors with her MBA while pregnant and working full time. Her and her husband, you know, work both work incredibly hard to to give the kids a great life and, incredibly proud of them. My son is is doing spectacular. I am I'm just so proud of him, from where he's come. He had a very rough child. My my son had some disabilities, Asperger's and and and such, and it really slowed him down quite a bit, but he's he's worked so hard.
And, I I am just incredibly he he works for a, for a retail chain right now, and they just put him in their management training program. So I am incredibly proud of him. He's doing a fantastic job. But, and he he does get a little goofy at times and, you know, you know, we we we do have a couple of good laughs, which is good. He he's a he's a good kid. We're all goofy. My my and and my my daughter still lives on Staten Island. Oh. And, and my my sister still lives on Staten Island. So what hey. Off this off the subject books altogether, what do you think about this this this, this election cycle going on up there?
[00:41:10] Unknown:
It terrifies me. I'll be honest. Yeah. Right? Yes. I'm very nervous about the whole Manzani thing, but, I'm hoping they'll have common sense.
[00:41:24] Unknown:
But I hope so too. And it's interesting, because I I I I told my sister, and and she's reluctant because she works for the city. And I'm not gonna say where I'm not gonna jeopardize her her job or anything. Yeah.
[00:41:37] Unknown:
But, she,
[00:41:39] Unknown:
but she works for New York City and she's like, you know, I just gotta hang on just for just for a few more years so I get, you know, vested and I get all these all the benefits, you know, no matter what. And and I'm like, yeah. But, you know, if this guy wins, you gotta get out. You you gotta get out. It's it's it's not gonna be a good thing. It is not gonna be a good thing at all. Yeah. I think people hear free stuff, and they get excited.
[00:42:01] Unknown:
And I know what it's like to struggle. Funny I mean Mhmm. I was a single mom. I know what it's like to struggle. And, but free stuff, it's never really free. I mean, you just gotta pay for. And so It's it's free until they run out of the person's money that they're using to buy it. Yes. So I think they're gonna end up bankrupting. I mean, there's gonna be a mass exodus of all the there already has been a lot of companies from there already. And, so, anyway, I don't live there anymore, so I don't get a vote. But,
[00:42:30] Unknown:
Yeah. Yeah. But still, I'm in I'm interested because my my family's still up there. So I I'm I'm curious. I was just curious what you thought about it as a as a native New Yorker.
[00:42:39] Unknown:
I have people that I love that still have friends and family that still live there. And, but, and not all of them agree with me. Some of them will probably vote for him, but I just,
[00:42:50] Unknown:
hang on. I got you. I I I hear you. I hear I know it was off the subject, but it just it just crossed my mind. Yeah. So, so let's talk about your writing process a little bit. So, so how do you approach building, worlds that blend science and, human emotion, the supernatural, and all that together?
[00:43:09] Unknown:
Sure. So, I am emotional, period. Like, I'm not like I'm stoic in outwardly, but inwardly, I have, like, all this, like, empathy on steroids going on half the time. And so That's good. I, I'm writing that one down. Yeah. That part is easy to come up with, the feelings and how people would feel in certain situations. And I think it's been useful that I've been through so many things that that's helped me have experiences that I can put in there. The science part, I do a lot of research, and I don't mind that because like we said, I'm a nerd. I enjoy that. I will read I have a book on the history of secret codes I'm going through right now, and Oh, nice.
[00:43:56] Unknown:
It's really cool, actually. I'm sure I'm sure it is.
[00:43:59] Unknown:
Yeah. And, so I play a lot of what if. If I read something interesting well, for instance, like the Norlink in Butterfly Stroke. Mhmm. I thought, well, that's cool that he's coming up with something where they could use their eyes to move the computer mouse. But what if we found a stint that we put below below the break on the spine and it could con con you know, wirelessly connect to that, and then they could move? So I take one thing and I ask what if, and I keep asking what if. And then, for instance, after she was moving, well, what could go wrong with that? Because, you know, you're a writer. You have to make people's lives miserable for a short time. And At least. And then you hopefully fix it. So but, it was just, that so that's a lot of my process. Sometimes it depends on whether it's something I'm researching or an idea that just really comes across. With, the heresy of peace, I was watching Babylon five one day. Oh, yes. And, Yeah. And the doctor had mentioned something about the the black plague back in ancient Earth.
And, he was talking about how they killed the cats. I think I know that episode. Yes. I think I know when we talk about it. Babylon five fans. See? I knew we were gonna be friends.
[00:45:14] Unknown:
I know it as soon as you said Staten Island. There you are.
[00:45:19] Unknown:
But I was thinking, and it was the same time that there was a conflict going on in the news that was making me sad. And, the essential thought that came to me is what if the solution to your problem was your enemy, or what if you were the solution to your enemy's problem, and how would you handle that? And so that's one thing. It's sometimes a concept that I come across. Other times, I'm just being goofy. And when I was, wrote a story called The Problem with Control that's in Sally Port Magazine, I just thought, oh, I want a sarcastic dragon cat.
And so I just made up this monster that's like a Drake Felis is what I call him. So he's a dragon that when he has to be incognito, he has to morph into a cat, and he's really sarcastic and rude to his you know, the person who helps him to help the, they fight monsters and aliens and stuff like that. And so sometimes it's just I'm feeling goofy and wanna have fun, and other times it's serious, and then I just sit down and have fun with my imagination. Nice.
[00:46:25] Unknown:
So so are you a morning writer, or are you a night owl, or is it or is it, like, whenever whenever the mood strikes?
[00:46:35] Unknown:
I'm a whenever I can writer. I so a lot of the times, like, when I started, because I was still taking care of four kids myself, my laptop goes with me everywhere, goes to doctor's appointments. It went to my kids' music lessons or dance lessons. And while they were doing stuff, I was tapping away. And, I've become and I haven't become, like, a morning or night person. Now I have to be, like, an all the time person to get everything done. And so, but I don't go to bed until I've written. And I do have times that I know I write better. I write better in the morning,
[00:47:10] Unknown:
so I try to do it then. Mhmm. It doesn't always work out. But if I can, that's my favorite time to write. But either way, it's gonna get written. Yeah. I I you know, and it's it's funny because I I'm the same way when it comes to, like, brainstorming for shows and stuff like that. I find that I that that in the morning, you know, that's when I get the most crisp ideas for direction for shows and content and so on and so forth. And then my problem is though is that I don't I don't take a second to write it down. I'll remember. I'll remember. But as I'm getting older my memory is becoming more and more like Swiss cheese. So right now it's more like an alpine lay Swiss. So, you know, smaller hole but many. So, so, yeah. I I understand you exactly. Yeah. Morning is to me, I think is the best.
Creativity creatively speaking, I think the morning is the best time to do anything like this. You know, by the end of the day, you're tired, you're worn out, you're not gonna, you know, you're not thinking as clear, as as sharp as you did it, you know, when you first got up in the morning, that first cup of coffee. You know,
[00:48:10] Unknown:
That's that's to me, that's that's when I do my best work, for the show, anyway. Yeah. It it but you can't always do it when it's ideal. So you just have to, I I don't believe that you can only write when the muse is there because then you'd never write. You just have to True. Very true. That's right. I did have you were talking about memory for I tried keeping a notebook by my bed for a while. Like, because sometimes I'd have this dream, and I would think, oh, that's such a great idea. And I wake up from the dream, and I'll think, oh, I'll do that in the morning. And then in the morning, I don't remember it. So I started putting this thing by my bed. And then I had this idea in the middle of the night. I must have gotten up and written it down. And in the morning, I looked at it very excited about this idea that was so brilliant.
And all it said was like, frog's feet. I have no idea what that is, and I don't remember anything about a frog. Oh, that's funny.
[00:49:02] Unknown:
Yeah. That's right. That's actually that reminds me, you know you know the show Seinfeld? Yes. Okay. He he remember he had he had fallen asleep and he he had a dream about something. He wrote he went woke up, wrote it down, and he couldn't figure out what he wrote? That that that's what I was that's that's where I thought you were going with it. No.
[00:49:21] Unknown:
I mean, I could read it. I was just, like, I'm just disappointed, but I read. Yeah. So
[00:49:26] Unknown:
Maybe you were, thinking about dinner in France or something? I have no idea.
[00:49:34] Unknown:
That's one story that hasn't gotten written, I'll tell you.
[00:49:38] Unknown:
Okay. Well, at some point, you're gonna include frog's feet somewhere. So so, do you find that that, real world technology catches up with your imagination?
[00:49:49] Unknown:
Yes. Yeah. I do. And, but that's what it's supposed to do. I mean, I hope it does. My, grad school mentor, Kevin j Anderson, was invited to speak at this futurist convention. And it's all these big scientists who do these amazing things, and they were so nerding out to see him because of his science fiction writing and stuff. And they had mentioned how his books inspired them to come up with some ideas. And so I think a lot of scientists read science fiction
[00:50:22] Unknown:
I agree. Which is pretty cool. I agree. I I totally agree with that. I I think I think they they have their pulse on on what's up and coming in the in the, science fiction world and they look for ideas there because you you look at some of these science fiction, stories that at the technology, like, look at Star Trek. Right? You look at the technology that had Star Trek. They had the the communicators. Right? Well, we we have that now. You know, they're already talking about, you know, the possibility of engines that can that can break, you know, the time barrier. I mean, not time barrier. I'm sorry. The speed of light. Warp speed. Yeah. Warp speed.
So, you know, you look at that and it's so much the video technology, the, you know, the monitors, you have video communications in Star Trek, you know. Got it now. It's it's it's I so, yeah. It it I think, yeah. I think they they pull a lot from from the science fiction stuff and they try to re they're like what they call that back engineer. The, and and and like I don't know if you've ever noticed this. Like I I look at I'm I'm a I'm a Star Trek guy. I love I love Trek and all that stuff. Okay. What's your favorite? Well, I'm a TOS guy. I I I am I'm not I'm not big on the expanded universes on these things and, but I I I I'm a I'm a original series guy. You know, that's always my go to. I mean, I watch the new stuff, but Mhmm. I don't get into it like I do. I mean, I think some of it's just so ridiculous. I think that the older stuff, as ridiculous as those can be, a little bit more believable than some of the things that go on this. And and I like the style of the old of the old the old series and the old the original crew movies and things like that. For example, I I was, my favorite Star Trek movie is the second. It's a Star Trek two, The Wrath of Khan.
I think every every Trek fan that's their that's their favorite. You know, the motion picture, the first one, yeah. It had some issues, but still a good movie. Technologically wise, you know, well beautifully well done. But there was just that camaraderie that the chemistry wasn't there. The second one was much better, but I was I was doing some I was just like just kind of goofing around and looking through online and stuff like that and people actually dissect the the ship. You know, they take the enterprise, they break it down and they they they name all of these little components and sections and give you a detailed description of what exact Where are you getting that from? You know, like holy cow.
I mean, they they they create these these amazing descriptions for these things that really don't exist yet, as far as we know. I think they do but, but technically you know, they don't exist. I mean, how do you describe in detail a warp core? Like they do in the in on on some of these spec sheets that they put out. Where are you getting this stuff? The thrusters and and and they're here and they're here and this is what these are for those are for. Really?
[00:53:26] Unknown:
I mean, you kinda have to do that even if you're writing fantasy. Like, if you have a magic system, you have to know how that magic system works. Oh, sure. Yeah. If you have a bad guy, unless you want him to be some cardboard cutout bad guy, you need to know, why he does what he does. Like, for instance, if I'm planning, the big baddie for my story, I actually try to put him, like, in front of the gates of heaven and him giving his defense as to why he should be let in and why his cause is righteous. And even if I think he's a horrible person, he has to think he's not. I get you. I get you. Yeah. That's good. And yeah. So you always have to have,
[00:54:04] Unknown:
the brief side.
[00:54:06] Unknown:
Yeah. Some of that most of it should not go in the book, but you need to know it. Yeah. Yeah. And I think I think a lot of,
[00:54:14] Unknown:
like, when I would write, I was very I I used to love to play Dungeons and Dragons. That was one of my favorite things. Do you really? Yeah. Yes. I I I remember me, it was like five of us from the neighborhood. We used to get together at our friend Dave's house and and we would go down into the basement and we would just sit there and just we we would we would have, like, everything. The the the the the multi sided die and, you know, all the boards and the and the cards and all that stuff. And I remember sitting there behind the behind the little screen, you know, as as the dungeon master, you know. You know, telling the story here and playing out the whole thing. It was great and what a what a spark for your imagination. And I think a lot of the stuff I used to write back then was because I was so involved in that stuff and it would just just brought out the creative juices of it. So, yeah, everything goes into everything is research. You know?
It ties right back to it.
[00:55:08] Unknown:
That's right. I will say sometimes I wish scientists would not always like, we have some things in science fiction that I thought were warnings, but we seem to be doing them anyway. And I, in fact, one of the stories I recently read, I incorporated, they're taking, like, human brain cells Yeah. And incorporating them into silicon chips. And I'm like, like, how many science fiction movies have told us what a bad idea this is? Right. Exactly.
[00:55:33] Unknown:
Exactly. Exactly. Then you look at, like, the Terminator movies. Right? You have Skynet. Well, did you know that there actually is a real Skynet?
[00:55:41] Unknown:
Yes. You know?
[00:55:43] Unknown:
Hello? Yeah. You know? You know, remember, Arnold Schwarzenegger, he said, I'll be back. You know? But So he's coming. It it's it is crazy how how much writing parallels what what's really going on in the world before it actually happens. It's really it's very it's it's interesting to say the least. From from from a from a slightly cheeky point of view or or or expression of it, you know, it's it's interesting. If I was if I if I was able to do the eyebrow raise, I would do the eyebrow raise and say fascinating, but I can't. So Yeah. I can't do that either. I mean, I can do it this way. I can go like, you know, it's not gonna work. No. Yeah. We we like we just talked about you, but you've written across different genres, science fiction, fantasy, mystery. What is steampunk?
[00:56:36] Unknown:
Oh, steampunk is like, think Victorian period, but with cool gadgets. So they'll have, like, mech swords or, phaser guns that are not science phaser, but, like, steam powered kind of things. And Really? Have you seen, like, those people that were, like, they'll cosplay with they have top hats with goggles Oh, yeah. Yeah. And stuff like that. That's steampunk.
[00:57:00] Unknown:
So Oh, okay. Alright. I I kinda I kinda had an idea, but I I wasn't a 100% sure. That's what I wanted to ask you to make just so I knew I was on the right path with that. Probably a much simpler way to explain and figured it out yet.
[00:57:12] Unknown:
There's I have a middle grade novel coming out next year
[00:57:15] Unknown:
that's equally divided between a steampunk and fantasy world, and so I've mashed those two genres together. Okay. Now is is there one that you, like, feel more comfortable with or or at home in? Or or do you like going across the boundaries?
[00:57:29] Unknown:
It honestly depends on my mood. In this case, it was more I, so I had one of my kids was being a little rude. I don't know. Maybe your kids are perfect.
[00:57:40] Unknown:
But No.
[00:57:42] Unknown:
Okay. And so I had said to them, I I don't think you talked to your dad this way. And the child admitted they did not. And I said, so why do you think it's okay to talk to me this way? And the response was, Because I know you'll love me anyway. And I started thinking about when kids are divided between two parents, and so I made this world where he was divided between the two worlds, essentially, and his family had, his world had rejected magic for the more noble art of machines, but then he finds out that his mother, who he's never met, is actually from the magic kingdom, and so he's got to make some decisions about things, and realize that he can, love both his parents.
And by loving one, it doesn't mean he's rejecting the other. Essentially, like, his father disappears, and in order to rescue his father, he has to learn the old magic that will make his father not want to love him anymore. Wow. And so it's a hard choice, but I, wanted to I wanted kids to understand, that you don't have to choose,
[00:59:01] Unknown:
that both parents will love you, and you can love both parents. Yeah. That that that that's an important message to get out. I just have to get a lot of kids deal with that issue. They they they're not sure where they stand with one or the other or something or, you know, unfortunately, sometimes both. And that But I didn't wanna preach it because kids don't wanna be preached to. Yeah. Like, they don't wanna be lectured. So I just made it a fun adventure with lots of cool gadgets. Oh, that's neat. I like that. That's good. So so what are you what are you currently working on? Any sneak peeks at anything upcoming?
[00:59:32] Unknown:
Yeah. I have yeah. I just finished a genetic story that's pretty cool, and I'm working on another fantasy short story that I can't tell you about because the competition is judged anonymously. And if one of the judges is watching this, I'll get booted out. Ah, I gotcha. After it's judged, I'll totally tell you all about it. Okay. So The the middle grade novel that's coming out next year, I'm working on book two of that because it they gave me a three book deal. And, I'm also working on a You about a society of genetically engineered twins. And so everyone in that world is a twin, and That's interesting. They have special powers, but they're dependent on their twin for their powers to work.
And then one of them has their twin disappear. So that's what that one's about. Interesting. That's
[01:00:25] Unknown:
That that that sounds like it could be something very, very, very compelling. Almost like a movie. Maybe a movie. A lifetime movie.
[01:00:34] Unknown:
There we go. Maybe. Okay. It works in Walmart. I'll tell you that.
[01:00:40] Unknown:
We'll make it work. So, so, what authors or or storytellers have influenced your work the most?
[01:00:51] Unknown:
Oh, that's so hard. You ask good questions. Thank you. So part of my problem is I have a lot of author friends, and I'm a little afraid if I name one and not another, they're gonna be mad. So I'll I'm gonna I'll do it. My default is to stick with the dead writers. Okay. So if they can't get mad, they can haunt me. So I loved Dickens, especially, because he had this way of tapping into some real problems and making you love the people that were dealing with them and breaking your heart along with their hearts being broken. Yes. Yes. I agree with that. Yeah. Yeah. And he has now I have this goal of one day making this beautiful Dickensian plot where there's all these threads out there, and then he ties them up in this neat little bow at the end. And you think that's gonna be impossible, but he does it. I don't I feel like I'm still too much of a baby rider to accomplish that yet, but it's I'm going to do it at some point. And Set the goal. Just do it. Yeah. I think my favorite of his is Little Dorrit, which most people haven't heard of.
But it's about how it's about a girl who grew up in debtors prison. Like, she was born in debtors prison. Okay. And,
[01:02:03] Unknown:
I'm not familiar with this one.
[01:02:05] Unknown:
No. Most people aren't. I would say if you aren't, it's a very complicated one. There's a great miniseries. You can do the cheat version, that has, like, Claire Foy and Matthew McFadyen on it, and it's great. But it's about how everyone needs to feel the sense of dignity no matter what their circumstances are. So he was a big influence on me because of those factors. Bodie Taney is an historical fiction writer I loved. She might still be alive, but I don't know her, so it doesn't count. And she, she wrote this great series about the Holocaust that changed my life, as far as understanding what people went through and and what courage was in the face of difficult things, and so that had a big impact on me.
So that's it. And, I'm gonna stop there because I'll accidentally talk about people I know. Okay. Alright. Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. But Dickens, I agree.
[01:03:04] Unknown:
Yes. Sorry.
[01:03:07] Unknown:
No. You're you're you're last you know, off. Well, thank you. Appreciate that.
[01:03:12] Unknown:
But, yeah, Dickens, I love Dickens. I I I and as you were describing earlier about him about some of the things he's written. You're absolutely right. He does kind of tap into that and and get you to to have feelings for the character that that you might not normally like. Like I I don't know. My favorite Dickens story is is, Christmas Carol, you know. And I mean that I know that's probably common to a lot of people, but, you know, like I like, I'm not talking about the movie version. I'm talking about the actual book. Right. You read the book. The language is so well done. Yeah. Yes. It is. Absolutely.
And, I must have read I must have read that book cover to cover, man, I wanna say at least twenty thirty times over the course of my life. You know? And, it's one of my favorite things to do. I and and what I used to do I haven't done it in a while, but what I what I used to do would I I would start reading it in, in December. Like, December 1, I would start. And I would just read through the whole book all the way through Christmas, you know, and then finish it on Christmas Eve. As as as Alright. Great. You did that. And it was it was so much fun to do that. And I I did that cons I did that consistently for a few years. And I, you know, I mentioned I'm gonna have to pull out my copy. I'm gonna have to do that again, I think. I think I need to do that. I think I'm gonna do that now this this year. Thanks. It was a lot of it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed that, you know? And, the the the trick was, though, was trying to pace it out so it you finish.
[01:04:48] Unknown:
You know? You know? Don't get into it too much. Right.
[01:04:52] Unknown:
Exactly. Exactly. But you know even if I had to read a 100 pages, this didn't matter. You know, I just I I always finished it on Christmas Eve. And, and and and but it's true because you do you you you take a character like Ebenezer Scrooge who you you, you know, what a horrible human being. But then, you read the backstory as to why he became that. And then, you understand it a little bit. And so, you don't hate him. You know? You you're not you're you're more empathetic towards him. Toward empathy.
[01:05:25] Unknown:
For his heart. Exactly. You want him to learn. Exactly. So I love that. I I know, I don't know if you've seen the movie this isn't the movie Christmas Carol. It's the movie about Dickens writing a Christmas Carol. I haven't seen that. I haven't I didn't know that. Yeah. The man who invented Christmas, and I think you will love it. I have to check it out. For sure.
[01:05:48] Unknown:
Yeah. It was really well done. Charlie's at the door. He's letting me know, so I was almost over. Oh. And char I so I have two I didn't tell you. So I have two French bulldogs. I have Bean as my girl. She's she's my five year old. She's my baby. And then I have her brother is Charlie and he's four. And, what I do is when I do the show, I I put it on in the living room for them so they can watch it. And it never fails. Charlie knows. He he knows when time is coming up, and he comes to the studio door, and I hear him at the door letting me know That's so cute. That it's I don't know. I I it's the craziest I like, I never taught him that. I never trained him on that. It that's just something that he did.
And, you know, he's, he's my bud. He's my pal. So and they're also waiting for dinner too. I cook for them. I I they they they get a they get a home cooked meal every night.
[01:06:37] Unknown:
Oh, wow. Your dogs are way more, they get much more treasured dinners than mine gets. My
[01:06:44] Unknown:
they're my babies though. They're they're they're they're they're like they're my life right now. So, you know, and they they deserve everything. They get everything. So, like, they'll they'll have they'll have rib eye steaks. They'll have I've I've made I've made filet mignon for them. They're also my test kitchen, so I'll make stuff and I'll I'll let them taste it first. Like Okay. You're dorking better than I am now. So One one night are you ready for this one? You're gonna like this one. One night, I made I made, filet mignon. I made a bacon wrapped filet mignon with, a red wine reduction for a sauce.
And, I love to cook. Cooking is my my therapy. So, so I made it and, you know, I I I had some of it myself, but but the two of them are sitting there watching me eat this thing and they're both literally drooling. So I was like, alright. So so I I sliced it all up for them and they had bacon wrapped filet mignon with the red wine sauce for for dinner one night. It was fun. And then Charlie Charlie's like a he's like a bud, man. He, you know, I'm a bourbon guy. I love bourbons. I like to sample different bourbons and so does Charlie. So, like, I don't give him just for for the people who out there are gonna think that I intend I, like, I give him a You feel drunk? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I do. But but I don't do but it's not like I give him a whole, like a glass of bourbon or anything like that. What I'll do is if I'm try if I'm sampling something new, I'll I'll dip my finger in it and give them a couple of drops off my finger.
And, sometimes it it does its thing, you know. I I have I have some incredible pictures, somewhere on my phone of of of Charlie passed out on laying laying on top of me on his back with his head to the side, his paws like this, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, you know. He's my pal, you know. He's my buddy.
[01:08:35] Unknown:
Oh. He's my rock. To a story at some point. I'm sorry.
[01:08:40] Unknown:
You could steal it. It's fine. It's, he he he's my he's my bud, you know. They're they're everything to me. So he's at the door and he's like, here at the door. Where's my steak? Well, no. Tonight they're getting tonight they're getting braised chicken breasts tonight. So so it's gonna be interesting because I really don't feel like cooking, but I can't say no. I I, you know But you know what they'll do? They'll they'll go to the bowl and that because I I leave dry down dry food for them, you know. But they'll go there and they'll stand the both of them, they'll both stand at their food bowl and they'll look at me like, this is all we're getting?
[01:09:15] Unknown:
Yeah. My dear.
[01:09:17] Unknown:
You know? So you know what I'm talking about? So so they so they're they're hysterical and I love it. They're the best. So so they're gonna get they're gonna get chicken tonight And, I'm gonna have some chicken soup because I can't. I'm dying. You're not feeling like I am dying right now. Mine can tell when I'm slowing down on my food and I'm not gonna finish. And so then they come quietly over and sit there, and then they get the last pieces of my meal. Nice. And so you're happy. You see mine, though. Mine what they'll do is my boy, he'll he'll lay down next to me on the floor, right next to the chair, and he won't move. Like, he won't look at me. He won't do anything. He'll just lay there and wait. My girl will go under the table and go up in between your legs on the chair and you'll just look you'll excuse me. You'll look down. You'll just see her face right there. And she has the she has the saddest eyes when she does that. Like her ears go back and she her eyes get all wet and I'm like, okay. Here you
[01:10:10] Unknown:
go. So yeah. It's hard to cut that out.
[01:10:14] Unknown:
It's terrible. It's they're they're the best. I love them. So anyway, so just just to kind of wrap up, our our conversation, which has been great. I love this. This has been a great conversation. So, what what do you hope that the audience takes away from our discussion tonight?
[01:10:30] Unknown:
That, they can have fun reading and that reading can teach them about other people that they never experienced before in their lives, and to get to know a different type of person, and that they can do incredible things. You see what some of the people in my books do, And I know they're fake, but there are real people who've done things just as hard, so they can too.
[01:10:56] Unknown:
Alright. Alright. So where can the audience go to get more information about you, your work, your books?
[01:11:01] Unknown:
Yeah. I have a website. It is a sanseveredo.com, so the a and then my last name. And, so I have everything listed on there. The books are available. You can get them at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, but Amazon doesn't let the author or the publisher pick the prices, and sometimes I don't like how they like, sometimes they overprice them. So I would yeah. I would go to my website where I show where all the places you can get them, and you can, you know, shop for a discount. Okay. Alright. Awesome.
[01:11:35] Unknown:
Alright. Outstanding. Now, of course, your website, all that information is gonna be all on our show notes, so folks should be able to just, click on a link in the in the show notes. You'll be able to go right to her website and find out all the information you could about her. Any social medias you wanna promote? Anything you wanna put out there?
[01:11:50] Unknown:
Yeah. I'm on Facebook. I'm on x. I am on Instagram. I'm probably the most active on Facebook because I'm old and it's easier. But I I, you know, I try to do all three.
[01:12:07] Unknown:
Alright. Outstanding. Well, Ann Marie, thank you so much for being here with us tonight. I really do appreciate it. This has been a lot of fun. You've you've been a great guest. I I really thank you so much for it. And, so I'm gonna do I'm gonna you could you could just wanna hang out for a minute. I'm just gonna close out the show, and then I'll I'll catch you, once we, once we end the stream. We'll just tie up a few things. Alright? Sounds great. Ann Marie Anne Marie Sansevero.
[01:12:31] Unknown:
Sanseviro. Sanseviro. Okay. Okay. Sorry. That's saying right. That's alright. Alright. Alright. Alright. I'm embarrassed as a New York Italian. I didn't say the name. No. And so and a lot of New Yorkers will say it's Sanseviro.
[01:12:41] Unknown:
Well, that's how I was saying it earlier today.
[01:12:43] Unknown:
Yes. So it's fun. Alright.
[01:12:47] Unknown:
Anne Marie, again, thank you so much. I appreciate you. Alright. Thanks, man. We'll be with you in a few. Alright, folks. So Anne Marie, what a great show. Right? She was great. I really enjoyed having her on the show tonight. So hopefully, we'll get it have her come back again, when she has her new project released. And then, we'll we'll touch base with her there. Alright. But in the meantime, folks, Pro HVAC r Solutions leverages over 30 of expertise in providing HVAC sales and repair services specializing in both residential and commercial installations. ProHVAC's team of skilled technicians is dedicated to providing efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning solutions for your home or business with a focus on quality, workmanship, and customer satisfaction.
Pro HVAC ensures your comfort all year round. Contact Pro HVAC our solutions today for reliable HVAC services tailored to your individual needs. Visit prohvacrsolutions.com. That's prohvacrsolutions.com. Alright. And let's see what else we got here. Just a couple of quick announcements for you. Please don't forget to head over to our website, joeroos.com joeroos.com. And when you get there, there's gonna be a little thing that's gonna pop up on the home pages for an email list that we have. It's just a programming email list. We're not selling you anything. We're not gonna, you know, I'm not gonna send you a a coffee mug for $80 and say, hey, buy this. You know, I'm not gonna do that to you. It's just it's just for programming information. So upcoming shows, guests, any changes in schedules, all that stuff.
So it's it's important to be on a list though because it's the easiest way we communicate because, you know, I am terrible with social media stuff. So, get yourself on the mailing list. Look, it's free. Okay. Free. Don't cost you nothing. Free. Get on the mailing list. Okay? Stay in the know. Don't forget also folks coming up. This is, the well, that was today actually. Never mind. Can't tell you about that one now. Never mind. See, shame on me. I didn't update my stuff. But today was the, food drive for, the veterans at the Eagle Pass, Maverick Food County, food pantry.
It's the cold medicine catching me here. And that was today. So, I'll get some updates for you on how that all went and we'll talk about that on Wednesday night show. And hey, listen. Don't forget. Check out Wednesday night show. You know why? Because it's episode 200. We hit 200 episodes coming up on Wednesday. Very excited about that. Like I told you guys yesterday, most podcasts stop at episode 10 and they don't go on. Alright. We're here, episode 200. And I know there are hundreds, thousands of podcasts that go way beyond that. But for us, this is a big thing.
Alright. So, check out the show on on on, on Wednesday night, episode number 200. Alright. If you wanna follow us on the socials, don't forget we're on Twix or Twitter x, I call it Twix, at Joe Ruse. Truth social at Joe Ruse minds, Joe Ruse. Don't forget, November 21, the CEO, cofounder of minds.com will be here on the show with us. So that's gonna be a lot of fun. Looking forward to talking to Bill Ottman. Minds.com at Joe Roose. Facebook, we are the, no, it's not that. Facebook is Joe Roose Show. Instagram, we are not Joe Roux on Instagram. Okay. No. That's the names. Not Joe Roux because remember, when I tried to open up an Instagram account, they banned me before I even finished the sign up. So I had to do a different thing. So I signed up as not Joe Roos and they somehow accepted that.
TikTok. I don't know why I'm on TikTok. I I I think any any man that's on TikTok is weird. Alright. Just for the record, but I have a TikTok account for the show. So it's at joe dot ruse and then Gettr. We're back on Gettr, so find us over there at joe ruse as well. Alright. Let's see. Shout outs to our producing team. Executive Producers, Wayne Rankin, Rosanna Rankin, Carolina Jimenez, Marissa Lee, and the inestimable anonymous Angela. Thank you guys so much for everything that you do in devoting your time, your talent, your treasure to make this show possible. So thank you so much for it and, God bless you for it. We really do appreciate it. Now if you wanna join in the fun, you could always head over to the website, hit the support button and, do a one time donation in any amount. You could do a recurring donation in any amount And then this is where the value for value comes in. You could do you could become an associate producer of the show for recurring donation of $17.76.
You could become a producer of the show for $18.36. And, you can become an executive producer for $25 and up a month. Okay? Recurring donations. All the producers get the shout out on every show, get included in all of our show notes, any emails that go out. Why? Because you are helping us by donating your time, your talent, your treasure. You are helping us produce this show. So therefore, you are producers. And you got the credit. And I am still trying to work with IMDB so that they can actually recognize you as legitimate producers so you can actually put that on your resume. See, that's how I think about you. Alright. So try it out. If, you can help, we appreciate it. If you have the means to do it, we appreciate that. That would be fantastic. We'd love to get more people involved and, hopefully, that might be you. And don't forget also, the executive producer gets to come on the show with us. So it's a lot of fun that way. Remember, we have our Wednesdays with Wayne.
Wayne comes on the show on Wednesdays. He's not gonna be coming on this Wednesday, unfortunately. He's still recovering from his surgery. So, he's not ready yet. We spoke to him today. But, he'll be back on very shortly. So one one of you guys jump in the spot. Come on on. It'd be a lot of fun. Alright. If you wanna help us out with crypto donations, you can do that as well. Also, all our crypto wallet information is up there on the screen, up on the website. And then also, we have a number of folks that are helping us out by donating, through the modern podcast apps. They're streaming SATs to us. SATs are just micropayments of Bitcoin.
Very, very easy to do. All they have all you have to do is just hook up your wallet to the pod modern podcast app that you're using. It was podcast guru, pod home, fountain.fm, any of those modern podcast apps. And it's easy to do. Look, I did it. I'm an old guy. I did it. I figured the whole thing out. So it's one two three. Just do it. Alright? And, if you like what you hear, just click that boost button and you can send over some Satoris some Satoshis and we would really appreciate those as well. Alright. And if you wanna try out the modern podcast apps, you can get them in your, most of them anyway, you can get in your app store for your device. But if you wanna be rogue, go to modernpodcastapps.com or podcastindex.org.
Alright. Charlie is howling at the door, so I think it's time for us to say goodbye for tonight. Thank you for taking the time to be with us. Really enjoyed tonight's show and I hope you guys did too. Drop a comment down below, email us, let us know what you think. And, don't forget, make Texas independent again. Go podcasting, keep a steady stride, and keep talking. Good night folks, we'll see you Wednesday.
Cold open and studio banter
Show intro from Eagle Pass and weekend recap
Crypto recap with Marissa Lee and set-it-and-forget-it strategy
Sunday Bible study series: dispensations and conscience
Housekeeping and tease for tonight’s guest
Value-for-value and contact info
Guest intro: author Anne Marie Sansevero
Icebreakers: nerd confession, books, trig for relaxation
From Staten Island to the South: culture shock and cryptids
Lifelong writing, single mom hustle, and courage themes
The Butterfly Stroke: title origin and Neuralink premise
Balancing science and heart; memory, blood, and identity
Writers of the Future journey and recognition jitters
Where to start in the collection: SF vs. fantasy picks
Worldbuilding process: what-if loops and Babylon 5 spark
When science catches up to sci‑fi and Star Trek talk
Warnings from sci‑fi: AI, brain chips, and Skynet vibes
Genre tour: steampunk, middle grade mashups, and themes
Influences: Dickens, dignity, and historical courage
Dogs, dinners, and winding toward the close
Takeaways, where to find Anne Marie, and socials
Host close: episode 200, announcements, and sign‑off
