Behind The Scenes With Andrew Bernstein (Author of Red Meat Village)

0:00 All right, so I am here with a wonderful Andy Bernstein. Andy, do you prefer Andy or Andrew? Well, I mean my friends called me Andy, but since we're talking about something that I've written, you know my professional name is Andrew Bernstein. So we have been working on Meat Village together for what sure at least a year at this point, right, Yes, well I think it's more than a yes. And we started with your books, which are excellent. We then said, all right, well we're going to turn this into a scripted podcast. How are we going to do this? And you know, a lot of it was already there on the page in your books. Ultimately, I think it's a relatively faithful adaptation. But the only thing that we really changed was gearing it towards the audio format.

0:44 Do you remember what kind of like our discussions about that and how we ended up tackling that. Yeah, I know, I know, it's a whole it's a whole different genre in effect, at least, it's a different it's a different venue. So I remember we went back and forth on that, on that quite a bit, but we finally we finally figured it out, and I thought you did a really good job right in the script. I appreciate it, man. Yeah, I think what was cool was that, you know, you were so passionate about the female lead of your story, and you know, I fell in love. I fell in love with her and writing her character. Yeah, and I think that your passion inspired me. And so we ended up coming up with this device where it switches the POV character. So one episode where with Tony and he's doing the first person narration, and then one episode with Lisa and she's doing the first person narration.

1:32 And it was really helpful because in noir classically right, and this is contemporary noir, but it's still noir. In noir, the fatal character always did secret right, but you don't really get interiority to that character when you're watching a noir film for example, or even I think a lot of noir fiction, you're typically in the in the detective's headspace. So getting to sort of hear her thoughts was kind of a useful way, I think to explore the character a little more. Yeah, I think, you know, I think that definitely helps. Lisa Flower is by far the most complex character in the in the universe of Tony. Just there's so many good things about her, which is why Tony you know, and and me why we're both so deeply in love with her. And yet you know, in that in that volume one Red Meat Village that we turned into a dramatic audio podcast, you know, she does some bad things and you know, and messes up her relationship with the with the man who loves her so yeah, and puts his life in grave danger. So she's mixed in that in a certainly in in Red Meat Village, but very very complex character. Yeah, it's um So, I guess I thought it would be interesting for the audience to just kind of talk through like how we actually did this right. So it started with your books which I read, and then we discussed doing the adaptation and we worked on the adaptation together. Then we went to casting and we were fortunate to get Malik Yoba and Catherine Bell to do voices in the show and they were excellent. Yeah, we were really happy with their performances and both they're both great, They're both really terrific. We had original music from our composer, which I thought, I think really adds a lot to it. Malik

3:04 Yoba contributed sixteenth it's impromptu. Yes, he did um and then I guess maybe if you could take the listeners back. You know. One thing that I really loved is that when we finished it, I think I sent you a note and I said you should go listen to this in a bar somewhere in New York. Yeah, if you could just tell the listeners the when you listen to them. We finally had a cut for you to listen to. Where did you listen to it? Because it was something you and I had talked about. Where where did I first listen listen to it? You know, Dad, I don't even remember. I think it was. I think it was probably in my car, you know, when I was driving, because you know, I teach philosophy. I think I was. I was driving home from the from the college, and I was I was listening in my car, But it I don't remember for sure, but it makes the What would be really good is like you mentioned a bar, you know, sitting in a bos somewhere in Brooklyn, which is where which is Brooklyn, New York, Which is where the story takes place, you know, and listen listen to it with with a bunch of with a bunch of your drunks, you know, and the guy's drinking, drinking, and the ball that would be that would be perfect for this kind of you know scenes, this kind of the wir story. Yeah, if you're somebody who lives in New York, if you are walking home from the bar at like two am and you put in the AirPods and listen to this show, I think that would be almost the ideal way to listen to it. Yeah, absolutely, because I grew up. I grew up in Brooklyn. You know, people don't realize that. They hear me talk, they think I was up from Louisiana, but I'm not. And that's a joke by way. Nobody thinks

4:36 up from Louisiana. You know, I grew up in Brooklyn, so I know, I know the area. You know, I know the area well. And there's a lot of there's a lot of colorful uh you know Brooklyn locations. And you know one thing about the New York borough, Um, you know Brooklyn, the Bronx Queens. Uh, they have a reputation for being gritty, you know, and you know, a tough minded and you know, and that I think that's often the case. You know, I says as a different reputation than say Hollywood, which people often think people in Hollywood, they think it's disingenuous, you know, it's dishonest. People. People don't tell you the truth. You know. In the New York boroughs, they tend to be more in your face, you know, and they'll tell you the truth, even if it's not pretty and it's too much truth.

5:21 Yeah, yeah, it's sometimes it's too much truth, you know. And so you know, it has that The Red Meat Village has that Brooklyn ambiance. It has that you know, that feel, you know that that feel too. It's tough. It's gretty and tough minded, which is which is perfect, you know, atmosphere of noirs that I really liked. It's I'm originally from the East Coast, from Baltimore, and I've always well, that's like the murder capital, one of the murder capitals of the country. Though, right, we used to joke we're number one, We're number one. Uh yeah. Baltimore has actually cleaned up quite a bit and gentrified in the years since, but there was a while yeah, where it was really dad. Yeah, I think you've been supplanted at number one in the Murderer.

6:02 I think Saint Louis is now. But I'm not. Yeah, I'm not sure, but there is an East Coast thing. There's sort of an East Coast flavor that I think is very present in your writing and in the show as well. And I think you know that that actually brings me to another thing that I wanted to discuss with you. So, you know, we put the show out, and you always want the show to be successful, you know. We we're really proud of the show. We think the show is excellent, but you always there's always a fear of man, what if what if we're wrong? Right? What if we don't think like the audience that we think is there isn't there or whatever? And we were so pleased to see that pretty quickly it shot up to number seventeen of all fiction podcasts and Apple podcasts. Was that I mean, was that a surprise to you or was it sort of like a confirmation of your instincts as a writer that people clearly were enjoying the show that it kind of moved up the charts like that. Well, it made me very happy that you know that that's doing well. I'm glad. I'm glad people like it. Uh. I think it's a really good story, So you know, and that and that people who like this genre will enjoy it. So I wasn't surprised, you know, that it was doing well, but I was definitely pleased. I'm really I'm really happy that you know that, uh, that that the listeners enjoy it as much as as much as I do. So yeah, I was, I was real happy to see that. Did you buy any chance Andy listened to the behind the scenes interviews with Malik and Catherine, Yeah, I did. Was there anything that you heard that surprised you? Well, Catherine Catherine Bell, I mean, she's I mean, she's she's a lovely woman, you know, and she's been playing the good She's famous for playing a good witch, right, was a Cassie Nightingale character, I think,

7:33 and you know, there's a sweetness about her. And she said, you know, I preferred he's tough. I preferred these tough babes, you know, these these you know, and these la fem fata rather than the you know, than the sugar and spice everything nice girl next door. So I don't know if that surprised me, but I was. I was definitely pleased to hear it, because you know, that's that's the kind of female characters that I was always, always, always attracted to the you know, the bad girls. Unfortunately, you know, then, since you're a fan of Noa, sometimes those those bad girls turn out to be murderous. You know. I'm thinking of the Barbara's Standwick character and Double and Double Indemnity, which is like a classica Phil and Barbara standard, very beautiful, very sexy, very good actors. But yeah, she's a murderer. So no, no, I don't want to go that far, you know, with the bad girls, the naughty girls. But somebody was like, you know, it's got a little it's got a naughty side. It isn't just you a goody goody. Those are the kind of women I always liked. So so Katherine Bill said that I was very pleased. Hear. Yeah. I have to say I think that Catherine was really the great victory of this project from a casting perspective, because, like you said, I mean really, if you look at her recent work, she's probably better known for doing this kind of soft, more hallmarky kind of stuff, and I just had an instinct that she had that gear. I don't even know why. I think I might have read an interview with her at one point years ago or something like that.

8:50 But I just had an instinct that she had that gear, and when we started recording together, it was immediately obvious that she had that gear. Your instincts well one hundred percent right. She was rate. I mean, she just nailed the character of Lisa flow, her voice, her voice inflections and intonation. She was she was outstanding. I'm not surprised that Malik Yobo I remember him as Yo Brenna, you know, from Cool Runnings and Tough Cop was it, what was it New York Undercover. I'm not surprised that he would be perfect as Reggie h D. But Catherine Bell, I, you know, she didn't surprised me because I know she's a talented actress. But I loved it. I was I was really pleased because I'm in love with the character. I like Reggie, I like Tony, but I love Lisa, and so that Catherine Bell was so great as it was made me very happy. Yeah. I mean it speaks to the writing process, right when you when you write something, you have to be into it emotionally in order for it to be good, you know. And so I think that what you're saying, you know, connects to that. What's uh, I'm curious as a fan of yours as a writer, what's the status of the books? Are you now looking towards publishing them? Yes, I'm almost done with volume three of the Tonys, and I think your me Billas is the first. I think The Night Is Long was volume two. The Captive Brain volume three. I think they get better and better. I'm almost done with it early next year, let's say sometime in February, I should haven't done, so i'll have a successful podcast. I'll have three novels at a series, not just one book, but three, and then I'm gonna start looking for literary agents to market this to mainstream you know, New York publishers,

10:24 whether it's you know, Simon and Schuster, Random House, Connops, something like that, because I think this has your widespread commercial appeal. So yeah, twenty twenty three, I'm going to begin the marketing process. I'm going to use the podcast. They look there's a market, but you know for these stories and for these characters. Yeah, man, I think we've proven it. Yeah, it's it's really cool. So all right, awesome, man, Well, um, is there anything else that you want to share with the listeners of Red Mead Village. Well, I mean, I'm just I think, you know, I think the noir crime story genre was certainly more popular in Hollywood back in the day than it is now. There was some classic who was I mentioned Double Indemnity, which is a classic, and every fan of the genres should know that, should know that story. I hope, I hope it makes a comeback because I love, you know, and Liam Neeson has made these kind of gritty, you know, crime stories and you know, in recent years, and I hope it makes a comeback because it's it's a great genre. It's very entertaining. You The stories typically don't ramble because you know, somebody's been murdered and the detectives got to track down the murderer. You know, you know s something or something like us.

11:31 These stories have a plot, they have life and life and death stakes. Good guys and dad guys love beautiful sexy la fem fatale you know, very very often. So I hope this makes a comeback, and I hope Red Meat Village is bought of it. Both the both the dramatic audio podcasts that you guys put together at Voyage and you know, the novels that I'm gonna be marketing next year. All Right, awesome, Thank you so much. I really appreciate it, and thank you for all your work on this project. Absolutely is my pleasure, and I guess for listeners, yeah, look out for those books whenever they come out. We will definitely update the show notes so that you know you can find them. Great. Thanks Dan, all right, thanks a lot. Thanks for listening to this behind the scenes discussion with Andrew Bernstein, the author of Red Meat Village, and you can find Redmeat Village on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.