March 24, 2025

050-Being Followed with Derek Muk

050-Being Followed with Derek Muk
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Season 2

Derek Muk is a social worker and writer from California. His short stories have appeared in various online and print magazines. He has three chapbooks published: "Three Parts," "The Sacrifice and Other Stories," and "Sin after Sin." Also, look for his book, "Being Followed," which we discuss at length on this podcast.

Find Derek Muk online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derek.muk.7 
Twitter: https://x.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2FDerekMuk Website: https://theoccultfilesofalberttaylor.wordpress.com

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You're listening to the Weird Reader podcast, an extension of

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Jason's Weird Reads found on YouTube.

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Welcome, hello everyone, today, I have a brand new guest

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to the show. I read his book. Actually, he was

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supposed to be on the show much earlier than this,

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and I read his book about I think two months

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ago now, and that was being followed. We're going to

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be discussing that book today, plus maybe a couple of others.

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I want to welcome Derek Muck to the show. Welcome Derek.

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Hey, Hi Jason, how are you doing. Thank you for

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thank you for having me on the show.

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Yeah, no problem, and thank you for your patience. Because

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there was some SkELL enjoying issues all on my end,

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so I apologize. I had some work stuff pop up,

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unexpected work stuff pop up, and then there is also

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a situation where I overbooked, and so so here we

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are today. Finally, can you give you can you give

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us a brief introduction to yourself and your work?

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Sure? So. My names Derek, and I'm an indie author

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who writes mostly in the horror, mystery, science fiction, and

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young adult genres. I've been writing off and on since

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high school and more seriously. I have been writing more

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seriously since college. I've been published in different small press,

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indie magazines and anthologies. I've had some novellas published. And Yeah,

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I just enjoy writing create, I enjoy creative writing, and

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I love reading. I'm a avid reader of different genres,

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mostly in the specuator of fiction genres.

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H what is it about writing that you that you

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like a lot? Like Stephen King he calls it his drug?

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Is that? Is it something similar to that? Does it

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like completely take you away?

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It does. There's something about creative writing, particularly fiction writing,

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that yeah, takes me away. It's like an escape from

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our ordinary, kind of mundane lives. I use it as

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an outlet, like a creative outlet, to express my emotions,

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feelings on different topics, and just to get away from

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the the especially now during this day and age, to

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escape from the kind of the dreariness, the strangeness of

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the times that we're living in. Yeah. So it's a

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It's a fun thing to do, and once you start writing,

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it could be Yeah, it could be sort of addictive,

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I guess.

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Yea, and very cathartic too, sort of like you mentioned. Yes, Yeah,

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so I asked this almost of everyone who's new, because

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this is something that interests me. I always love hearing

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about how people got into reading horror. So what what's

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your origin story for reading horror or even watching movies?

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It doesn't matter.

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So I discovered horror, I guess when I was like

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in high school or maybe even earlier, like junior high.

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And of course, like a lot of people, I discovered

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and loved Stephen King's work and also the writing of

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other writers. And I was also a fan of the

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horror film genre, science fiction mysteries, and it was just

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you know what it was. Jason was just an outlet

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to escape again, gave into imaginary worlds and escape from

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you know, reality for a while and just and a

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lot of good fiction as well as movies and TV

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shows do that. Sometimes it's just an outlet to get

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away from everyday life. And I guess that's my ordin story.

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I I'm a I love going to like bookstores, and

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that's how I got started reading specutt of fiction, was

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going to like use bookstores and discovering writers like Ray Bradbury,

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Arlan Ellison, Joyce, Cara Oates, Shirley Jackson, and you know

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Conless other writers like that.

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Were those your first who? Who? Who did you first

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start reading? Like, was it Steve Oh? You mentioned Stephen

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King too?

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Yeah? He was he and like I guess, Ray Bradbury

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were among some of the first few ris that I

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started reading.

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Yeah, is there any book or author that you can

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think of that that you read and you just do

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remember that moment when when you were like, damn, I

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want to do this, this is what I want to do.

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I can't remember instances where I was like odd and

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just astonished by someone's you know, talent and great work.

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But I never thought, at least I didn't think back

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then that I would be writing now. I was just enjoying.

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I was just enjoying their work, their fiction, And at

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the time, I wasn't really thinking about writing like for myself.

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I was just enjoying, Like with any good book, I

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just like to sit back and enjoy it. And I

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guess that's how I was feeling back then. I wasn't

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thinking of it as like a bobby or like as

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a day job.

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You've written, You've written quite a not maybe not quite

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a few, but you have written. You do have a

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backlog of books. How many books have you written and published?

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I think I've written like maybe four or five Nobellas

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and I've but most of what I've written and have

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gotten published or like short stories and small press magazines.

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Nice. How how long ago did you start writing? Like? What?

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What a tree? Or you don't have to many your age,

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but how many years ago did you? Was it when

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you started writing? Like when you decided to sit down

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and you know, I'm going to start writing Nobella's or

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novels and start putting them out. When when was that?

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How long ago? Well?

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I first started writing. I belonged to like a fiction

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writers group in high school, and that's when I started

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writing short stories just for fun basically. And it wasn't

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until it wasn't until i'd say I finished college, maybe

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like or even like in the mid to late nineties

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that I got more serious into writing. And then later

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in the two thousands, early to mid two thousands, I

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started having some successful getting novella's accepted and published.

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So, yeah, I notice you're in a lot of anthologies.

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Like when I went to your good Reads profile page,

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it said you were in like a lot of books

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like that you it was like over thirty I think

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and I thought those are thirty books at first, until

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I started looking like the first six or seven where

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just your novellas and whatnot, and then it was all

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the anthologies that you're in. So is that something you

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still do? Do you write stories and try to submit

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to anthologies a lot?

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Yeah? I still do that, although not as much. I

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don't write short stories as much as before because I'm

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currently concentrating on writing longer works like novel lettes and

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novellas to write longer fiction, but I still on occasion

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do write short stories.

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Nice how uh? As I was going through your books,

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there was a couple that really drew my attention because

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of their names and their covers, like, these are pretty

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awesome covers. The first one is The Demon Seeds. Can

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you tell us what that one's about? So?

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The Demon Seeds follows two paranormal investigators, Albert Taylor and

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his teaching assistant Brad, student Jan and Jan's friend Carol

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is missing and they go down to La to look

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into her disappearance, and they come across what you know.

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They find out that she's been abducted by some kind

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of like satanic cult and that they're gonna you know

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it's that they're trying to like doctrinate andrwash her friend

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into the cult for like really nefarious purposes. So yeah,

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that was kind of fun to write. I remember there

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was a really kind of strong supernatural presence in that

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in that book, but yeah, that was I had fun

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writing that nice.

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I like the idea of that. Also, it sounds like,

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because of the premise, that could become a series. Have

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you ever considered turning something like that into a series.

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I have, and I've kind of like, actually, those two characters,

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the two paranormal investigators, they are part of a series.

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Like it's not like a fully blown out, like official series,

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but I've written about the two characters like off and

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on through short stories and some of the novellas, and

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I want to take it to a more serious plane.

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But as you know, you know, a lot of some

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of the small presses that I've submitted to have closed

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or folded. So it's kind of disheartening a lot. It's

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kind of true of a lot of the side of

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the times that a lot of presses have closed because

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you know, they can't keep it going. But I want

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to like sort of if I can, I like to

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have the series progress, so I'm kind of like kind

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of currently working on shopping around some other presses. I'm

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shopping around some other novelle's now that feature these two characters.

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Oh, very good. I definitely don't have to read that

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because that's hound's interesting. I just love the whole satanic

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cult thing too, you know, like that. I remember watching

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when I was younger. There would always be these satanic

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cult movies that would come on from the seventies nineteen seventies,

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where the satanic cults always won in the end, and

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I was just like what they almost always ended with

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the cult members and black hoods and black robes peering

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off the naked woman into the woods the end, and

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you're like, they won. This isn't conventional.

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Yeah, you know, I was a fan of those movies

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growing up. You know, they would show these, like you said,

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these kinda like low budget horror movies back in the day,

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like on the Sunday or Saturday afternoon movie. And that's

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how I got, like, I became a fan of those

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movies and of the genre of that in fiction. And

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it's funny you mentioned that the satanic coult movies from

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the seventies because that was that's been a big inspiration

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on The Demon Seeds and some of my other writings.

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So very good. Yeah. Also I noticed The Hangman that

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had a really cool cover or sorry, the Hanging Man cover.

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Can you tell us anthing about that?

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Sure? So The Hangman was a more recent book. It

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was published in twenty twenty three by Gloomhouse Publishing. By

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the way, Gloomhouse Publishing is a great publisher. James and

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his staff are really great in producing great books. That

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actually Jason that book. Also, The Hanging Man also featured

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Albert Taylor and his assistant Jan in that one. So

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if you're curious about The Demon Seeds, Hanging Man also

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features those two same characters. So I tried to carry that.

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I tried to carry the series along with that with

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Hanging Man. And so they were going to publish another

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Albert Taylor story, but again, sadly Lumhouse Publishing clothes or

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it's on hiatus. So the book that was going to

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be published, I guess this year they had to shelvet

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because the press is currently on hiatus.

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M that's too bad. Yeah, there's too many you know,

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you bring up a great point and there's so many

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indie publishers who come and go. It's it's like every

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every year there's a list, and that that's kind of

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does that like scare you away from from trying them out,

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or because there's like a strong chance eighty percent chance

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that the small press are submitting to is just gonna,

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you know, disappear one day.

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Yeah, you know it makes me think. I don't. I

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don't know if it necessarily scares me way, but because

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I've learned to be patient and calm and you know,

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understanding of the sign of the time with inde publishing,

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and you know, it's just part of reality that small

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presses closed and flowed up. But actually, if anything, it

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kind of makes me more wanted like investigate and search

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out other publishers to see who might be interested in

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publishing my work. I did. I think as as an

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indie writer, you just have to keep going. You have

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to keep going forward and see if anyone else is

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interested in your writings.

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Yeah, do you have a preference, because I've noticed you

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have some self published stuff too. Do you like self

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or do you like I'm pretty sure I saw something

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like self published. I could be wrong. It's just the

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way Goodread's words thing sometimes.

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You know, I did have one book published self published.

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It's called The Occult Files of Albert Taylor. And yeah,

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that was self published back in two thousand and nine,

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and I think that was the only title I had

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that was self published. And how that originated, Jason was?

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I just so The ac Cult Files of Albert Taylor

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is a collection of short stories featuring paranormal investigator Albert Taylor.

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And a friend of mine helped me compile all the stories.

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He did all the layout in the design of the book.

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He even like rendered the cover so and so he

230
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helped me put it out on Amazon. Actually was Create Space.

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Do you remember Create Space? That was the publishing Yeah,

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the publishing arm of AMA and then that closed and

233
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so that book is still available on Amazon, but unfortunately

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it's not available as an e book. It's only available

235
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as a paperback book.

236
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So yeah, now I want to go back to covers

237
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a little bit because I really enjoyed the cover for

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being followed that that cover is like wow, it's uh,

239
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it looks like a political poster you might have seen

240
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in the nineties. I was thinking, so this, how did that?

241
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The question I'm trying to get to here is do

242
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you have much control over your covers because they have

243
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a really good sort of aesthetic to them, and this

244
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one especially well, thank you.

245
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So I do have some input into what the covers

246
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will be. What usually happens is the small press will

247
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have like a cover artist or an artist in house artist,

248
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and they the publisher will ask me my thoughts about

249
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what the cover should look like and then or how

250
00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:10.480
like what could be in it on it, and so

251
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I'll give some I'll give some feedback to them, and

252
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then they'll try to create something like based on what

253
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I described. And so that's what happened with Being Followed,

254
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by the way. The cover design for that was done

255
00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:31.320
by a guy named Adrian Baldwin and he's with Domain

256
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Publishing d E. M. A I. N Publishing is the

257
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publisher that published Being Followed, and many kudos and thanks

258
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to Dean Drinkil and Adrian. They're the brains behind the

259
00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.879
main publishing and they're the ones that published the book,

260
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and I'm really thankful and really appreciate them for publishing

261
00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:56.039
the now the novella, and I thought Adrian did a

262
00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:59.919
great job, like you said, capturing that late eighties ninety

263
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area of the political scene. You know, I was really

264
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taken by it too.

265
00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:13.240
Yeah, oh read reading being followed. I couldn't help I

266
00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:16.880
asked this almost for everyone too, because some people don't

267
00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:19.279
like that, like the word you get your ideas question from.

268
00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:23.160
But I like knowing where a book started in a

269
00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.880
writer's mind. So where what was the genesis of for

270
00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:29.599
you to write being followed? Because you know, there's there's

271
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some specific points on this book too that make me

272
00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:34.640
want to ask this question even more.

273
00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:40.839
Well, you know, so that book was inspired I guess

274
00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:44.400
by the last several years, ten years worth of like

275
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as you could, you know, And I was gonna say,

276
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I'm not normally a political person. I don't usually express

277
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my political views very often, so but I think this

278
00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:59.759
is one of the few political thrillers that I've written,

279
00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.680
and it was inspired again by the political strangeness and

280
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craziness of the past decade, you know, you know, like

281
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a LGBT movement, of feminist movement, you know, racial tensions,

282
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the Charlottesville, Virginia rally in twenty seventeen, of course, in

283
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the Trump presidency, and murder of George Floyd. So all

284
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this stuff kind of made me, you know, kind of

285
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like maybe want to say something and express my feelings

286
00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:35.119
and all these on these wide range of topics. And

287
00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:38.200
that's how that's how that book came about, was because

288
00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.519
based on that and it was just my way, like

289
00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:43.400
you said earlier, you know, it was a really cathartic

290
00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:47.200
experience kind of expressing my feelings emotions about all these

291
00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:51.720
different topics on paper. And yeah, so that's what it

292
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.519
was big how how it came without.

293
00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:57.559
Yeah, I could see that. I mean, that's that's pretty

294
00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:00.359
much in every page of the book. You just get

295
00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.960
that feeling that this is maybe this is one of

296
00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.000
the things that piss you off, and you just needed

297
00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:12.599
to you just needed to, you know, talk about it.

298
00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:16.200
And how cathartic was it for you to write this book?

299
00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:24.079
It was pretty cathartic and satisfying, you know, just to

300
00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:28.400
express some views about all these really you know, strong,

301
00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:35.279
controversial and kind of you know of topics. And again,

302
00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:40.039
like I said, I don't really discuss politics, religion, or

303
00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:43.359
sports very much because they're kind of like divisive issues.

304
00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:47.039
And absolutely, you know, Jason, I'm totally not a confrontational person.

305
00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:49.279
I'm kind of if you get to know me, I'm

306
00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.759
kind of low key and quiet, even shy when you

307
00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:55.039
first meet me, but once you get to know me

308
00:19:55.079 --> 00:19:58.680
over time, I you know, I could be kind of

309
00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:01.880
talkative about certain things and interested in certain topics and

310
00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:06.279
but yeah, so it was it was. It was a

311
00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:08.680
good book to write, and it did have that really,

312
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.359
you know, as I was writing it, it had that therapy.

313
00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:15.200
That's what I love about writing, is it's very therapeutic,

314
00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:17.839
and especially like you you know with this book too.

315
00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:21.880
Yeah, can you share with us a little bit of

316
00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.400
your writing process for this book, Like was there much

317
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:29.240
research that went into it or did you just like

318
00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:31.440
sort of gather all the knowledge over the years and

319
00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:35.759
then spit it out. And you know, what's your writing schedule, like,

320
00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:37.359
like do you how often do you write?

321
00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:42.440
I try to write every day if possible. Sometimes that's

322
00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:45.319
not realistic because I do have a day job. My

323
00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:49.319
day job is that of being a social worker, so

324
00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:51.839
writing is more like on the side, and I try

325
00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:54.880
to write every day if I can. If not every day,

326
00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:57.039
maybe a few times a week. And I usually write

327
00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:02.680
like in the evenings after work or definitely on the weekends.

328
00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:04.880
And then to get back to your other question about

329
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:08.640
the book, it was based on years of research, like

330
00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:14.799
you know, practically living through these crazy, strange times and

331
00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.799
also reading books. I picked up some books on like

332
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:24.920
feminist rights, you know, feminist you know, female feminist activism,

333
00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:27.519
and so I checked out a whole bunch of books

334
00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:32.279
from the library about that, about LGBT rights, you know,

335
00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:34.720
all that kind of stuff. And I did a lot

336
00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:40.680
a lot of reading about you know, political activism and

337
00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:44.400
social justice online. So that was sort of like my

338
00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.960
research and homework into writing Being Followed.

339
00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:53.880
How did you develop the main characters, especially the husband

340
00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:56.440
and the life. I'm sorry, but their names escape me

341
00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:57.519
right now, it's been two months.

342
00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:04.400
That's okay. There and Albert were the main characters. So

343
00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:08.319
the way that came about was the Albert in Being

344
00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:12.359
Followed is actually the Albert Taylor from the Demon Seeds,

345
00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:17.759
from The Investigator, the paranormal investigative duel. So so in

346
00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:20.799
Being Followed, I basically fleshed out his character a little

347
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:26.839
bit and I created like his a character and Claire

348
00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:32.799
as his ex wife slash girlfriend. So I basically expanded

349
00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:36.680
on that and gave but I gave her clear like

350
00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:39.640
a larger role. It's it's basically so Being Followed is

351
00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:42.559
basically her book. She has Archer presence in the book,

352
00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:45.599
but Albert is more like, uh, I mean he has

353
00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:47.640
a significant role too, but it's more like he's the

354
00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:53.119
supporting character. And so that's how that's how those two

355
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.039
characters came about.

356
00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:59.160
Yeah, before I asked the next question, and I do

357
00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:03.920
apologize is going to be a political question. But before

358
00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:06.279
I get to that question, can you give us a short,

359
00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.519
extent synopsis of what the story is about.

360
00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:15.240
Sure? So basically, well, let me have a book right

361
00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:22.240
here by the way. Yes, Yeah, So the book is

362
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:28.440
about their their Goldman and she's a college professor at

363
00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:33.119
San Francisco State. When she writes this book, Uh, it's

364
00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:37.960
kind of it's like an expos on the white nationalist

365
00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:42.559
or supremacist movement, and it doesn't sit well with several

366
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.599
groups like that, and she starts receiving like threatening letters

367
00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:52.799
about it, how they disapprove of it, and when when

368
00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:56.960
she doesn't heed their advice or listen to them, the

369
00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:02.839
threats kind of escalate to like more physical and violent situations,

370
00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:06.839
like the white nationalist groups breaking to her apartment and

371
00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:11.440
following her around. And then that's when she turns to

372
00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:19.359
her college sweetheart ex husband Albert for help and advice.

373
00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:24.480
So he he helps her and protects her along the

374
00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:29.119
journey in finding it, trying to find out who's sending

375
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:32.039
these letters, and then the book kind of follows them

376
00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:36.319
as they confront who is behind the threatening letters, and

377
00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:42.680
you know, later clearer in the book is kidnapped. So

378
00:24:42.759 --> 00:24:44.440
that that's how I don't want to review too much

379
00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:47.640
or any spoilers, but that's how it kind of gets going.

380
00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:51.960
Yeah, Now, quite the political question here is I loved

381
00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:57.839
the anti fascist message in this book, but at the

382
00:24:57.880 --> 00:25:01.480
same time it angered me because of everything that's going

383
00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:06.519
on right now. It was like, you know, like I

384
00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:09.359
can't escape it anywhere, you know what I mean. But

385
00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:13.680
I was wondering, like, well, writing this, did you ever

386
00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.759
fear that you might piss off the wrong people? And

387
00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:20.759
to add on to that, have you received any backlash

388
00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:24.359
from the far right about this book at all?

389
00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:27.640
That's a great question, and thank you for bringing it up.

390
00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:33.559
I guess I was in a way afraid of the

391
00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:35.640
reception of this book, like what it would get. It

392
00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:37.240
kind of made me feel a little It made me

393
00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:41.599
feel a little nervous how people would take it and

394
00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:45.759
how they would receive it. But no, I mean I

395
00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:53.079
haven't gotten any negative backlash yet about it. But in fact,

396
00:25:53.079 --> 00:25:55.039
some of the most of the reviews for the book

397
00:25:55.279 --> 00:26:01.279
that I've gotten have been positive, So thankful for that. Yeah,

398
00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:06.079
but you get a really good yeah, yeah, thank you.

399
00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:09.640
That's why I feel like I don't That's why I

400
00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:14.359
haven't written very many political thrillers. It kind of it's

401
00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:18.400
it's a very delicate, controversial topic and I feel like,

402
00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:22.720
you know, it's I kind of want to maybe limit

403
00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:26.400
what I do in that genre because I do I'm

404
00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:29.079
kind of sensitive to other people and their feelings, so

405
00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:31.799
I don't want to like, you know, you know, upset

406
00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:34.160
or you know, piss out, to piss off too many people.

407
00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:36.920
So, yeah, do you think this will be your last

408
00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:39.839
political thriller or do you think there's more in you?

409
00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:44.319
Uh, it may be the last one for a while.

410
00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:47.039
I mean, I I might write something that's kind of

411
00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:54.839
like more not as strongly political in the future. That

412
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:59.200
might you know, kind of like approach it more more delicately.

413
00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:03.680
Yeah. How I was wondering about themes because that was

414
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:06.519
like a huge theme in the book, but other themes

415
00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:12.559
in the book. Do you find yourself writing or are

416
00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:15.000
there any other themes in any of your other books

417
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:16.799
that you've explored in this book as well?

418
00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:28.039
Well, let's see. I always try to explore like the

419
00:27:28.119 --> 00:27:33.519
humanity of the characters, about the interpersonal relationships between the

420
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:40.559
characters in each book I write, and I think, so,

421
00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:43.519
I think I've done that too of this book. Yeah,

422
00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:46.960
that's what I really try to do is develop the

423
00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:53.480
characters and have me hopefully have them impact the reader

424
00:27:53.480 --> 00:27:54.000
in some way.

425
00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:57.480
Yeah, how do you develop characters? This is sort of

426
00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.759
a not a repeat question because I did ask like

427
00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:03.519
how came up with characters? But I'm curious how you

428
00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:07.079
come up with characters? Are they are they from? Like

429
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:10.759
do you think they're from real life? Or or do

430
00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:14.839
you do they just appear to you and start nattering

431
00:28:14.920 --> 00:28:17.119
in your head? You know, as I've heard some writers say,

432
00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:19.240
is it? What's it? What is it for you?

433
00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:24.559
It's sort of a combination of those. It's I feel

434
00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:27.640
like they are living in my mind like voices or

435
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:33.160
what have you talking to me? And they're also kind

436
00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:37.240
of like a mix of people I've met in real life,

437
00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:42.759
whether it was in college, in previous jobs. And sometimes

438
00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:47.400
they're even based on of all things. I know, this

439
00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:50.319
sounds kind of strange. They're based on like celebrities, like

440
00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:55.000
movie stars that I that I like or admire. And

441
00:28:55.720 --> 00:28:59.759
it's interesting sometimes as I'm writing about or creating a character,

442
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:03.160
I kind of base sometimes not all the time. I

443
00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:06.519
kind of based them on how they look and act

444
00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:10.319
and behave, based on movie stars that I like in

445
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:15.039
certain movies. And yeah, I mean sometimes it's easy for

446
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:20.000
a writer to imagine or picture a character that way.

447
00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:22.480
Some For me, that's how I sometimes base it.

448
00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:25.759
M hmm. Yeah, I've heard of that before and I've

449
00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:29.200
tried it myself. It does a good It's I like

450
00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:32.200
doing that because it gives you a face, right, it

451
00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:35.079
gives you a body type and everything. And and if

452
00:29:35.319 --> 00:29:38.720
you typically pick the characters in a similar role from

453
00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:42.720
a similar role because they they embody that sort of

454
00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:43.799
characteristic right.

455
00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:45.400
Yes.

456
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:52.200
Yeah, So we mentioned the reception the book has gotten.

457
00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:57.400
I was perusing through Amazon and good Reads and you've

458
00:29:57.440 --> 00:29:59.640
got like quite a few five stars for this book.

459
00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:02.559
So there's been a good reception here.

460
00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:09.039
Yes, yes, been a pretty good reception, and I'm grateful

461
00:30:09.079 --> 00:30:13.240
and thankful for that. But getting back to what you said,

462
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:16.519
it's like I can understand how some people may not

463
00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:19.480
take this book well because they you know, you read

464
00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:21.319
about you read the description of it, and it's like

465
00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:25.759
another kind of book about what's going on now. It's

466
00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:28.119
like you're trying, I know, how some people want to

467
00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:32.680
escape our current crazy times. You know, they probably had

468
00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:35.240
enough of it watching the news and reading about Trump

469
00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:40.240
and about his administration, and to see a book like

470
00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:42.559
written about that, they probably just want to get away

471
00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.799
from it because it's like we're living it right now.

472
00:30:44.839 --> 00:30:47.160
And I can totally understand that how some people may

473
00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:50.839
not be interested in it, and that's totally fine. It's

474
00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:55.480
not for everyone, so but yeah, so it.

475
00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:58.519
Can be cathartic for some people too, because it's the

476
00:30:58.519 --> 00:31:00.839
lines are clearly drawn, who who the bad guys are

477
00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:02.920
and who the good guys are. And I'm not going

478
00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:05.200
to spoil anything, but you know, things happen in the

479
00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:09.680
book that might leave hope in the reader's mind.

480
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:14.079
Yes, yes, And I guess that's the message I'm trying

481
00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:16.920
to come across. I'm trying to convey to the reader

482
00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:20.400
is that there, you know, there may be a glimmer

483
00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:26.359
of hope, and you know, you know, good versus evil?

484
00:31:26.440 --> 00:31:32.039
What have you hopefully good will win and hopefully you know,

485
00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.880
I hope they care about the characters because you know,

486
00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:38.720
building building them up to a certain certain situation and

487
00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:39.759
expectation level.

488
00:31:39.880 --> 00:31:45.000
So did you struggle with that because there is a

489
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.160
certain amount of tension that's built up until a certain

490
00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:53.160
thing happens. And what was like, what was that like writing? Like,

491
00:31:53.319 --> 00:31:55.319
how do you build suspense like that?

492
00:31:57.799 --> 00:32:04.079
I just yeah, it just it took took several drafts

493
00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:10.079
trying to create that tension and that suspense, and I

494
00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:15.640
just followed the advice of you know, like my editors

495
00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:19.039
and like beta readers and just trying to incorporate things

496
00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:21.400
that would make the book more suspenseful.

497
00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:30.119
Yeah. Cool. So I guess that's it about those about

498
00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:35.960
being followed. It's a it's a really interesting book. Like

499
00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:39.599
you said, some people might be uh put off by it,

500
00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:42.000
you know. To be honest with you, I was a

501
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:44.920
little bit put off because I was just like, ah,

502
00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:47.759
you know, like we see this in the news every day.

503
00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:49.480
But at the same time, by the end of it,

504
00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:52.319
I was happy because of that glimmer of hope. Is

505
00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:55.319
there is there anything else that you hope readers can

506
00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:59.279
pull from it? You mentioned characters, But is there anything else?

507
00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:09.599
Well, I hope that I hope that it's Uh. I

508
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:13.880
hope they may be interested in reading the other Albert

509
00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:16.920
Taylor books that I've written to get a glimpse of

510
00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:23.640
that character more. And I don't know, I just for

511
00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:26.400
I guess for any reader, hope they gain some insight

512
00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:35.599
or maybe some insight and uh, I guess uh caring

513
00:33:35.640 --> 00:33:38.759
more about humanity in the future, about the times we're

514
00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:40.519
living in along with it.

515
00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:45.319
Yeah, you got you got to wonder when kindness and

516
00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:50.319
compassion have become something looked down upon, Like mm hmm,

517
00:33:50.759 --> 00:33:53.480
it doesn't make sense there people are pushing for cruelty

518
00:33:53.720 --> 00:33:58.440
and power, you know, like nobody respects that. In the end,

519
00:33:58.519 --> 00:34:01.160
it always falls apart. Don't think they see that though?

520
00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:10.679
Yeah, so true. And to me it's like mindless. To me,

521
00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:13.079
it's just like what's the point of it, you know,

522
00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:20.760
like trying to exert that cruelty and bigotry and violence

523
00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:26.519
and trying to sway people to follow in to follow them.

524
00:34:26.760 --> 00:34:32.760
I don't see the the logic or you know, what's

525
00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:34.039
the what's the good of that? You know?

526
00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:38.920
Yea, you've written about Albert a few times now, is

527
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:42.039
he Is he appearing in works that you're working on

528
00:34:42.119 --> 00:34:44.199
now or do you plan on writing about him again?

529
00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:52.400
Yes, I'm so, I'm shopping around. So the wh what

530
00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:57.119
I mentioned earlier about Gloomhouse Publishing who published The Hanging Man,

531
00:34:58.280 --> 00:35:00.679
they were gonna they had accept and we're going to

532
00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:04.199
publish another Albert Taylor book, but they are that press

533
00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:07.559
is now on hiatus. So I'm currently shopping around for

534
00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:13.119
another publisher for that Albert Taylor novella. So I'm doing that,

535
00:35:13.239 --> 00:35:17.360
and also by I've written another Albert Taylor and Jan

536
00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:20.599
novella that I have to go back and sort of

537
00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:24.239
revise a little. But yes, I plan on having him

538
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:26.559
up here in future works.

539
00:35:26.840 --> 00:35:34.000
So awesome. Do you have anything coming out soon, either

540
00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:38.199
short story or novella or novel that you can share

541
00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:40.559
with us?

542
00:35:41.400 --> 00:35:46.599
So I'm working My current work in progress is another

543
00:35:46.920 --> 00:35:53.519
novella that's of the mystery suspense genre, and it features

544
00:35:53.800 --> 00:35:57.559
all new characters. It does not follow Albert Taylor or

545
00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:00.719
clear it features all new character and so that's what

546
00:36:00.760 --> 00:36:05.000
I'm currently working on. And I'm currently editing that right now,

547
00:36:05.079 --> 00:36:08.320
and you know, tweaking it and posting it up a bit.

548
00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:15.239
As far as like other short stories or books. I'm

549
00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:18.039
still kind of shopping around other titles to see if

550
00:36:18.079 --> 00:36:22.480
there's any other places for them to find a home.

551
00:36:28.519 --> 00:36:30.800
If you like what I'm doing here and want to

552
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:34.239
support the channel without involving any money on your part,

553
00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:38.119
you can do so by sharing the podcast on social media.

554
00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:39.880
You can also write a review.

555
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:43.360
On Apple Podcasts or rate the show on Spotify. I

556
00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:46.519
can't stress enough to you how much I would appreciate

557
00:36:46.679 --> 00:36:47.639
that alone.

558
00:36:47.719 --> 00:36:48.840
Please leave a.

559
00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:53.519
Review on Apple Podcasts or rate the show on Spotify.

560
00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:56.440
As I just said, each and every way you can

561
00:36:56.480 --> 00:37:00.920
help out the channel and podcast grow would be great appreciated.

562
00:37:01.239 --> 00:37:09.519
Thank you so much. Where would you like to see

563
00:37:10.280 --> 00:37:12.519
your writing evolved into the future.

564
00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:20.239
That's a good question. I'm I'm I'm just I'm totally

565
00:37:20.239 --> 00:37:24.440
happy with reader readers. I'm grateful to anybody that reads

566
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:29.079
my work and to all the editors and book reviewers

567
00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:32.760
that have reviewed my works. And I feel like if

568
00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:38.159
someone walks away having enjoyed any of my books and

569
00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:41.920
if they write a review of it, I'm just grateful

570
00:37:41.960 --> 00:37:45.079
for that because, as you know, it's so hard to

571
00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:51.719
find an audience for your work. Yeah, and it's it's

572
00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:54.519
hard finding book reviewers. Oh my god. You know, it's

573
00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:56.800
been like a struggle. You're trying to find book reviews

574
00:37:56.800 --> 00:38:00.519
with so many book review sites closing up or down.

575
00:38:01.360 --> 00:38:06.039
So I just take my hat off, and I'm so

576
00:38:06.119 --> 00:38:10.280
grateful to book reviewers and readers who have picked up

577
00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:11.480
any of my books.

578
00:38:11.800 --> 00:38:14.599
How do you approach getting book reviewers?

579
00:38:16.119 --> 00:38:16.199
Like?

580
00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:19.519
Do you find lists of people who do blogs and

581
00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:24.840
podcasts and YouTube videos?

582
00:38:25.599 --> 00:38:33.039
Yes? So I usually just peruse the internet and if

583
00:38:33.079 --> 00:38:37.639
I come across book reviewers of the genres that I

584
00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:40.760
write in, you know, I'll message them or you know,

585
00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:43.559
ask them if they will be interested in reading reviewing

586
00:38:43.559 --> 00:38:46.719
one of my works. Yeah, so that's that's how I

587
00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:47.679
usually go about it.

588
00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:55.039
Awesome, excuse me here. So this is a question I

589
00:38:55.119 --> 00:38:57.280
ask everybody, and if I stump you with it, I

590
00:38:57.320 --> 00:39:00.559
really apologize because I usually send the question ahead of time,

591
00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:04.199
and I with everything going on, not just in the

592
00:39:04.199 --> 00:39:06.320
world but in my real life, it's been really busy.

593
00:39:06.360 --> 00:39:09.239
I forgot to send it to you. But I'm just

594
00:39:09.280 --> 00:39:12.079
wondering if you have any authors in mind right now

595
00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:17.360
or books that you feel need more attention by people.

596
00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:23.800
That's a great question. You know, there are so many

597
00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:28.719
great talented writers out there, and whenever I read a

598
00:39:28.760 --> 00:39:31.480
book I try to make it a point to review

599
00:39:31.480 --> 00:39:35.199
it too as well, and I'll you know, I'll share

600
00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:39.280
it on social media and good Reads. So I'm trying

601
00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:41.920
to think of some of the writers. Well, you know,

602
00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:43.760
one of the writers that I'm reading right now, I'm

603
00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:48.960
reading a book by the author is Christa Karma. First

604
00:39:49.039 --> 00:39:51.760
name c h R I s t A. Last name

605
00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:55.159
c A R m e N. The book is called

606
00:39:55.360 --> 00:39:57.880
The Daughters of Block Island.

607
00:39:57.599 --> 00:40:01.079
I have that book on my Kendle. Yeah, that vacation.

608
00:40:01.239 --> 00:40:04.119
That's a great book. Yeah, it's it's a it's a

609
00:40:04.239 --> 00:40:08.320
Gothic horrn a novel. And what I like about her

610
00:40:08.360 --> 00:40:14.079
writing is she really captures all the intricacies and arts

611
00:40:14.119 --> 00:40:18.880
and so many different characters in in the in the

612
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:22.760
gothic corn genre, and it's like filled with suspense and

613
00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:25.519
keeps you guessing. There's all these twists along the way.

614
00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:29.599
And the book, that book, the Daughters of Black Island,

615
00:40:29.599 --> 00:40:32.679
it takes place on this uh New England, Uh, this

616
00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:35.920
island off the New England coast, and it's just like

617
00:40:35.960 --> 00:40:39.000
in the store in the storm, It's like the perfect

618
00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:42.639
uh set drop uh setting for a gothic horror novel

619
00:40:42.679 --> 00:40:47.000
and so uh that that one that author sticks out

620
00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:51.800
in my head. And and also I've read who else

621
00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:57.480
do I mention I've written? I've read I've read another

622
00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:02.719
book by Gwendolyn Kristy your last name.

623
00:41:04.039 --> 00:41:05.039
I've talked to her a couple of Ye.

624
00:41:05.960 --> 00:41:12.000
Yes, she's great. I like her writing too. And also

625
00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:16.119
have you read Mike Thorne last name.

626
00:41:16.119 --> 00:41:19.519
T h Or I've read pretty much. I think I've

627
00:41:19.559 --> 00:41:23.440
read everything he's put out to date, like his collections

628
00:41:23.639 --> 00:41:26.639
and the novella he released. Oh no, there is there

629
00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:29.599
is one. There's like a collection of two longer short

630
00:41:29.639 --> 00:41:32.840
stories that I actually have somewhere around here that I

631
00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:36.360
haven't read yet. But but yeah, i had him on

632
00:41:36.400 --> 00:41:38.039
the show once too, and I'm hoping to get him

633
00:41:38.079 --> 00:41:39.559
on again. Yeah he's he's awesome.

634
00:41:40.440 --> 00:41:47.119
Yeah, yeah, so him. Also, and also there's another writer

635
00:41:47.199 --> 00:41:50.880
I really like his His name is Steve Stread and

636
00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:54.000
he's written like a lot of kind of like splatterpunk,

637
00:41:55.239 --> 00:41:59.760
creature feature horror novels. And yeah, joy I've enjoyed his

638
00:41:59.800 --> 00:42:00.280
work too.

639
00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:02.599
Yeah, Steve Shred is awesome. He's a guy. I want

640
00:42:02.599 --> 00:42:03.760
to get it on the show at some point.

641
00:42:05.599 --> 00:42:07.800
Wow, Jason, you've had some great writers on the show.

642
00:42:08.119 --> 00:42:10.639
I should I want to check out your episodes with them.

643
00:42:11.320 --> 00:42:13.239
Yeah, well it's if you just want to check out

644
00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:18.119
the podcasts. It's Weird Reads and you can find that

645
00:42:18.239 --> 00:42:21.320
any and to everyone who's listening, you can find that

646
00:42:21.639 --> 00:42:24.719
anywhere you listen to your podcasts. Starting to sound like

647
00:42:24.760 --> 00:42:30.320
an advertiser now, all right, So before we go, Derek,

648
00:42:30.599 --> 00:42:32.639
where can people find you online?

649
00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:40.440
So they could find me on Facebook? Should I give

650
00:42:40.440 --> 00:42:45.360
the Facebook like profile or how about?

651
00:42:46.079 --> 00:42:49.440
Yeah, you can do that and if you can send

652
00:42:49.480 --> 00:42:53.000
me a message with the link, I can act.

653
00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:57.360
Okay, great, Yeah, I'll do that so I could be

654
00:42:57.360 --> 00:43:02.079
found on Facebook X. And also I have a website.

655
00:43:03.079 --> 00:43:09.960
It's it's the account files of Albert Taylor dot WordPress

656
00:43:10.079 --> 00:43:16.400
dot com. That's my own personal writing website address again,

657
00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:21.039
account files of Albertaylor dot WordPress dot com. And also

658
00:43:21.079 --> 00:43:24.800
I'll send you the Facebook and XS links later.

659
00:43:25.360 --> 00:43:28.159
Awesome. All right, Well, I want to thank you for

660
00:43:28.199 --> 00:43:30.840
coming on at a great time talking with you, and

661
00:43:30.880 --> 00:43:32.800
I'm looking forward to a lot more of your work.

662
00:43:34.840 --> 00:43:38.440
So yeah, you're invited to come back anytime. Just send

663
00:43:38.480 --> 00:43:41.360
me a message and I want to thank everyone else

664
00:43:41.400 --> 00:43:45.840
for coming, people who've been listening here and now, and

665
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:49.280
people who will come in the future to listen. Go

666
00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:52.719
check out Derek MUCKs. Where am I pronouncing that right,

667
00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:55.880
Derek Derek Muck, Yes you are. Thank you for asking.

668
00:43:56.239 --> 00:44:00.079
I just kind of assumed earlier, but it was one

669
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:01.880
of the questions I wanted to ask make sure that

670
00:44:01.960 --> 00:44:06.400
I'm not, you know, messing your name up. So yeah,

671
00:44:06.440 --> 00:44:10.760
thank you very much, and and we will see everyone again.

672
00:44:12.360 --> 00:44:14.280
Thanks a lot, Jason. I had a blast on the show.

673
00:44:14.320 --> 00:44:15.079
Thank you so much.