00;00;00;00 - 00;00;09;29 Unknown That's. 00;00;09;29 - 00;00;31;19 Unknown And higher and higher and. 00;00;31;21 - 00;00;58;14 Unknown If you dig the twisted, admired the outlandish, and are enamored by the unusual, you're in the right place. True crime, the supernatural, the unexplained. Now you're speaking our language. If you agree. Join us as we dive into the darker side. You know, because it's more fun over here. Welcome to Total Conundrum. 00;00;58;17 - 00;01;10;08 Unknown One. Someone's first move. Born forward. Courtroom. Scarborough. This discussion is advanced. 00;01;10;08 - 00;01;38;09 Unknown Hey, conundrum crew. We're welcoming a local legend in the dark fantasy world, Patrick Marsh. He's a Minnesota author known for the Greenland Diaries series, a post-apocalyptic journal filled with monsters, survival, and deep human emotion. His stories explore how the creatures we face on the outside, often mirror the ones within. We'll talk about monsters, metaphors, and the wild imagination behind his eerie world. 00;01;38;14 - 00;01;58;29 Unknown Hey, Patrick, thanks for joining us. Well, thank you for having me. It's great to be here. I'm really looking forward to it. Yeah. We are so excited to have you. We met Patrick at Crypto Con in September of this year. Woo woo. It was so fun. And did you enjoy? Did you enjoy having the booth and stuff? I love doing it. 00;01;58;29 - 00;02;17;28 Unknown I've been doing crypto con for like, I don't know, maybe ten years now for the few gaps in between, but I, I've loved doing Crypto.com. I've sold books there for many years and yeah, it's always a good time. And I've had my table in some weird spots too. Like right in front of a stairwell in front of a bathroom, which actually I got a lot of traffic. 00;02;17;28 - 00;02;34;00 Unknown Because of that. I sold a quite a few books that year. So it all worked out. But yeah, I've always enjoyed my time at Crypto.com, so it was great meeting you guys there. Yeah, they had you kind of hidden in the back area in that one hallway, right? Yeah. And that hallway. Oh go ahead. Oh, it was very narrow. 00;02;34;02 - 00;02;56;20 Unknown It was a very narrow hallway. Got very close and personal with people going through that area and that hallway. It had all sorts of interesting cannabis smells going on to it. It did indeed. Yes. Yeah. It was. There was a lot of there's a lot of life in that hallway. There's a lot of life. Yeah. It felt kind of like a medieval marketplace. 00;02;56;20 - 00;03;15;27 Unknown Like from a video game where you have to go find a site, go on a side quest to find an item or something. Yeah, that it totally had that feel. But we also, while we are there, I'm going to grab them quick. I'm sure we, picked up a few of Patrick's books while we were there, and he signed them for us, but here is the first one. 00;03;16;01 - 00;03;39;20 Unknown Yeah. You were there. Yeah. Oh, sorry. Yeah. He reveals dark dark fantasy. Cursed island, bad guy. Lots of terrible things happen. But yeah, I am. We have not had a chance to read them yet. It's only been a few weeks since Crypto.com, but I'm very excited. And then we have his A Greenland Diaries. It's one 100. Yes. 00;03;39;20 - 00;03;59;08 Unknown And then we have monsters. Monsters everywhere. Right, right. And again, I always preface my horror writing is that I'm a somewhat decent guy. I'm like a normal dude. Like, I have, like a my. I drive a minivan, I got a center console, and I keep extra plastic bags in there for whatever people might need. So yeah, stuff like that. 00;03;59;13 - 00;04;19;29 Unknown But go ahead. That is weird. And then we got the second edition of the Greenland Diaries, which I'm excited to get the rest of them as well. So was like five of them. Yeah. Yeah. There's six total in the main narrative, plus a couple short story collection. People love that series. So I've just I've just gotten all out. 00;04;19;29 - 00;04;43;03 Unknown I've just mailed it in. Just totally just writing what people like. No matter what happens, people love the end of the world. So. Yeah. The whole apocalyptic. I think The Walking Dead really brought that out. A lot of people, too. Oh, yes. Yeah, definitely. We're going to do a little icebreaker round just to kind, kind of warm up here. 00;04;43;05 - 00;05;02;24 Unknown And these are just silly questions. And if you don't have an answer for them, that's fine. We can move on to the next one. But just some fun little questions to kind of get to know you a little bit. So if one of your monsters suddenly moved in with you, what's the first house rule that you would set for the monster? 00;05;02;24 - 00;05;31;05 Unknown Oh, that's a good question. Besides the obvious, don't. Don't murder me. But like for the unnamed from the Greenland Diaries, they're like this big, shrouded creature with all spiky and bony. I would ask them to put on, put it in a really, a large damage deposit down or a damage deposit, because as they go through doorway to doorway to the bathroom or wherever they're going, their body would be so huge would scrape up against the walls like, you know, my landlord might be upset. 00;05;31;06 - 00;05;55;29 Unknown Just extra damage. Deposit from the monster I love. Do your own dishes, damn it. Yes. Yeah. So I think that'd be my first, first rule, besides the obvious let me live kind of thing. Yeah, yeah, that's that's an important one. Would you rather face a horde of your monsters or explain your browser history? Search to the FBI? 00;05;56;03 - 00;06;12;15 Unknown Well, that's a great question. You know, I think I'd be fine with the browser search. Yeah, I think I'd be all right with that. Yeah. You know, it'd be weird. I feel very exposed as a human, I suppose. I, you know, for the in general. But I think I'd be I'd be okay with that versus facing off against the monsters. 00;06;12;15 - 00;06;35;22 Unknown Yeah, yeah, yeah, it'd be awkward, but tricky. Yeah. We always joke that we're sure we're on some kind of list with doing the true crime and paranormal. Oh, yeah. For sure. Yeah. No, my my, my, I do search a lot of things. And I do have a quick, quick little story about that. Actually, when I wrote a podcast I write or used to write, but we're on hiatus called Hidden Oaks. 00;06;35;28 - 00;06;52;02 Unknown There was a scene I wrote in it where a guy burned his house down, and in a scene I wrote that he used just one can of gas to burn the house down, and my co-creators and the producer was like, actually, Patrick, I don't know if you've ever burned anything down before, but you need more than one can of gasoline. 00;06;52;08 - 00;07;12;25 Unknown And I was like, oh, I did not know that. That's, that's. That's new to me. I had no clue. So it was kind of funny, like, I don't, you know, you do research weird things when you when you write dark stories for sure. Right? Then what's that? That they. Me, I don't think. Hang on one second. Or is it Dylan calling you? 00;07;12;27 - 00;07;31;21 Unknown Hello? I Julie? Hey, Julie. I'm. We're in the middle of recording a podcast interview. Can I call you back? It might have been. I haven't called recently. I'm sorry. I was, like, 12 years ago. Yeah, I'll give you a call back, but if I sort to make sure it wasn't anything important because I haven't heard from her in a long time. 00;07;31;22 - 00;07;56;24 Unknown Okay. Phone call you. What's that? I actually call you Facebook Messenger. That's why I thought it was weird. It's his. His aunt's best friend. So I thought it was strange that she was calling, and I'm like, what's going on? Okay, so the next question, what's your go to comfort snack? While you're right and creepy stuff, go to comfort snack, probably pizza rolls. 00;07;56;26 - 00;08;23;06 Unknown Pepperoni pizza rolls specifically. I'm not a huge fan of the sausage pizza rolls, but just pepperoni pizza rolls. Yeah, that's that's always a go to for me. Yeah, Jeremy's favorite pepperoni. Yeah. Pepperoni pizza, pizza rolls and, Reese's snacks. Yes. Reese's peanut butter cup, of course. Yeah. Yep. Definitely. All right. What horror movie monster would you absolutely befriend instead of fight? 00;08;23;06 - 00;08;42;22 Unknown Oh, that's a good question. Horror movie monster. Would I be friends to fight? You know, if I could get along with the, like, the xenomorph from alien or, like, the alien itself from alien? If I could somehow get along with that thing. It's such a physically imposing creature. I mean, it could help you with so many things around the house. 00;08;42;24 - 00;09;03;18 Unknown It could, you know, dust the roofs. I mean, that dust there. Dust the ceilings off for you, clean the ceiling fan, help you move things physically strong. And I don't want to talk much, which would be nice as well. It'd be just a very, very fine. Yeah. Silent friend. Dependable. Dependable. But silent. Yeah. Yes, I love that. 00;09;03;21 - 00;09;26;20 Unknown I think that zombies are invading Minnesota. What's your survival plan? Ooh. That's tough. I think for me, I would probably stay close to home. And that's kind of, a sentiment that I echo in the Greenland Diaries with my main character is he. He never leaves his house. He finds a place to hide in his house, and he stays someplace familiar. 00;09;26;20 - 00;09;43;24 Unknown And I think trying to get some place with a lot of people, I kind of had that refugee experience that that kind of got the zombie stories kind of inspire would be more dangerous than simply staying put in an area that's familiar to you. So I'd probably hide out at home, maybe in a crawlspace, a basement, my hollowed out wall, whatever. 00;09;43;24 - 00;10;02;24 Unknown Whatever spot you can go to. That's one thing I've never understood in like, the The Walking Dead. Why are they living out in the middle of the woods? And I mean, there's all of these houses that are abandoned and that seems like I mean, they're smartest thing was going to that prison where it was all kind of, you know. 00;10;02;24 - 00;10;26;06 Unknown Yeah. A built in fortress. Why would you expose yourself out in the wild when there's these resources? Well, you can go places to get resources, but why would you stay out in the middle of the woods instead of, like, in an enclosed home? Yeah. I mean it's difficult. Yeah. It's difficult to say prison. I remember the prison season and I did wonder that. 00;10;26;06 - 00;10;47;25 Unknown I mean it's, it's they can, they can control all the entrance and exits basically. And that would be really helpful. But yeah I've always wondered why people tend to leave the area versus stay someplace. They know it's familiar. They know where to hide. Yeah. It would just be difficult to to not only experience this trauma that's happening on a global scale, but also to like, leave what you're familiar with, leave where you have all your resources. 00;10;47;27 - 00;10;57;22 Unknown Right. It doesn't always logically make sense for the most part. Yeah, that's for good makes for good TV. But it does grow. 00;10;57;24 - 00;11;25;09 Unknown All right. Next one. If your writing style had a soundtrack, what would the first track be? Oh, that's a good question too. I'm going to go see a it's a good question. I listen to some such obscure music that I'm trying to find like a, like a more modern day relevant example to compare it to. I think I write with like, a lot of emotion, because I don't only do I write the, the books and stuff like that, but I also write poetry. 00;11;25;13 - 00;11;47;12 Unknown So it could be any form of, electronic music. Really. I don't even need to name a particular track. It be could be just that style where things that are more emotional versus like, I'm not as lyrical, I tend to go for more emotional, broad strokes and characters and tone and yeah, yeah, it'd probably be more like electronic music overall or a soundtrack of sorts. 00;11;47;12 - 00;12;17;10 Unknown Yeah. So like painting, painting a picture with like different sounds and music versus lyrics. Yeah. Yep, yep. Exactly. Yeah. I guess the first thing that popped into my head was sometimes I feel like somebody's watching me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. It's it's it's interesting and like, writing poetry and stuff. You do rely on a little bit more music and lyrical, like a lyrical sense for that and stuff. 00;12;17;17 - 00;12;37;25 Unknown But I write horror poetry, so I write poetry that has monsters in it. And one poem I recently published, that was about, harpy living in the woods and in the woods. There's a whirlpool, and a whirlpool is also a monster. And the harpy lures people in. And the whirlpool, the whirlpool eats the people, and they all kind of feed off of each other. 00;12;37;25 - 00;12;54;26 Unknown And it's all about how even scary things have relationships. So it's kind of like, that's kind of like if you want to apply a music to that, it is more like it is more like more instrumental versus lyrical, like how I'm using things. Yeah, I love that. That is a really cool way to think about it. Well, thank you. 00;12;54;27 - 00;13;14;25 Unknown Yeah. Which monster from your books would totally ghost you if you texted them? That's a good one. So in my book, beware the LS, the main character. It's all written from the main point main character's point of view. And he's this really dark, violent, standoffish guy. It's his job to protect this island. He's killed lots of people. 00;13;14;28 - 00;13;36;08 Unknown I can't picture him being very good at texting me back for anything. Like, even if it was like he's invite me over for the football game. I wanted to know the time I was going over there. He probably wanted to text me back for that. Yeah, yeah. Like I think a lot of my monsters, cause so much of them metaphorically, are based on a lack of communication or trauma that's been created from a lack of communication. 00;13;36;08 - 00;13;59;15 Unknown I think that all of them would be really bad at texting or communicating in general. Communicators. Yes, definitely. All right. So here's a fun one. This if they don't have opposable thumbs that too right. That's right. Yeah. Well yeah yeah I too that text though that's they do voice text but you know some of my creatures don't even talk like that's just. 00;13;59;17 - 00;14;21;17 Unknown Oh yeah, it's a bit difficult. Communication will be one sided. Yeah. All right Grunting yeah. It's a series of clicks and beeps yeah yeah yeah. You burn like the yoopers. Yep hahahahaha. All right last one. Kind of a fun one. Describe Minnesota's weather as if it were a horror horror villain. Horror villain. Ooh that's a good one. 00;14;21;24 - 00;14;38;25 Unknown Let's see, I just when I, when I think about it as a horror villain or like, I guess even a monster, but like a villain, I think of, like, Hannibal Lecter from maybe silence of the lambs. He's a very cold and calculating kind of guy, but there are moments of warmth and, communication and humanity in him. 00;14;38;25 - 00;15;02;12 Unknown So we get, like, warm, you know, we'll get. He's also wildly unpredictable because he feasts on human flesh. But, like, he's just he's all over the place. And I kind of feel that with our weather. So maybe Hannibal Lecter is a villain as a monster. That's also tricky, because I would go with a monster that favors unpredictability right now because the weather is so you know, one week it's 91 week at 60, or a low of 40, like mother tongue could be anything. 00;15;02;12 - 00;15;25;16 Unknown Maybe the thing creature from the thing adaptable changes shape, like each and every day. And, you know, maybe that I don't know, but that's a good question. Yeah. Our weather is definitely the craziest. It's. Yeah, I remember a few years back, was it March. We had tornadoes come through Zimmerman. Yeah. Yep. That's right. And then the next year we'll have no snow. 00;15;25;16 - 00;15;50;08 Unknown And the year after that will be pounded. And you can have a 16 degree swing in temperature. It's like somebody needs to take some little Mother Nature. Yeah, seriously it is. It is like that. Yeah. And it just it just seems like when it's about to become consistent, there's another variation to it. So it is it is wildly, almost consciously inconsistent about how it operates. 00;15;50;13 - 00;16;11;22 Unknown Yeah. I remember I was on a, vacation girls trip and Myrtle Beach and somebody asked me where I was from, and I said, Minnesota. And they're like, you have to be a psychopath to live there. I because yeah, yeah, yeah, you're kind of right. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you live in a place where the air hurts your face. 00;16;11;22 - 00;16;35;22 Unknown I'm like, yeah, that's very true. Yeah, yeah. At the very least you're like, we're all kind of masochistic. We're all okay with a certain level of suffering. Yeah, but it's beautiful. Yeah, I'm not okay with that. I'm just forced to be here if. Okay. All right. Sarah. Minnesotan by proxy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that. Yeah. He wants to move, but. 00;16;35;25 - 00;17;01;06 Unknown And I've always said that I would move as well. But now I have a granddaughter, so. We have a grandchild. So now I'm kind of like, I really want to move. Yeah, yeah, I, I, I know my, my parents would have like maybe to spend they go to Florida for a month, but since I've had my sons, my, my twin boys and they're ten, they don't go very long, go any place very long. 00;17;01;07 - 00;17;23;12 Unknown They got to be near their grandkids. So yeah, it is tricky. It is. Yeah. Well, let's get to know a little bit more about you and how you came into writing. What originally drew you into dark fiction and horror, and was it something you read, watched, or lived through that inspired you? Sure. Well, I got into these genres. 00;17;23;14 - 00;17;42;07 Unknown I've always been interested in monsters, but I am not. I must confess that I'm not a huge horror film guy. I'm not a huge horror enjoy as a genre guy. But I always was curious watching whether it was alien that I mentioned earlier growing up or X-Files or X-Files. I actually did a better job with it. I was always curious about what why? 00;17;42;11 - 00;18;04;11 Unknown What made the monster the monster like, how the monster got there and whether it was, you know, Godzilla because of nuclear radiation, or if it was like the alien, they're still trying to explain that. And in that universe, whether whatever. I always wanted to know more about the monster and, came upon writing in high school, published some work with the letter at the local the literary magazine at my high school. 00;18;04;11 - 00;18;36;05 Unknown And then I just kind of got into writing, but I've had kind of a very a varied background when it comes to writing, like I've studied it in colleges. I've done self-publishing, I've done traditional publishing, I've done screenwriting, I've done podcasts. I've kind of jumped around. Kind of. What led me here is that I love to use monsters to express either my own personal trauma that I've been through, the trauma of others that I've witnessed, use them as like a sociological mirror, in society, like, Frankenstein's monster is a great example of that, that Mary Shelley created. 00;18;36;08 - 00;18;54;03 Unknown I also just, like, think they're a great plot device in storytelling, and I just love a good monster. Yeah. And I mentioned the X-Files earlier. I, I watched that when I was way too young, and that kind of taught me that I could communicate through horror, because X-Files is horror, and each episode is like a horror story. 00;18;54;05 - 00;19;13;06 Unknown And that was really that was really formative for me. But I also did enjoy in the X-Files, as they did try to explain what the monsters were, where they came from. There was a couple creatures on the on the X-Files who were who they really just devoted the whole episode to, and that really inspired me, that I could explore that perspective. 00;19;13;08 - 00;19;32;25 Unknown And and then there was just a finish up on this question. There was a book I read called Grendel by John Gardner. That's a really famous book. It's from the it's written from the point. I don't know if you're familiar with the story Beowulf, but but Grendel is the monster from Beowulf. And in the book Grendel by John Gardner, he writes the story from Grendel point of view. 00;19;32;26 - 00;19;51;16 Unknown So he kind of flip flops. And this is before our point of view had become really popular in modern storytelling like it is now. This is back in the 60s and 70s, and I highly suggest the book Grendel by John Gardner, because it it is it's a different point of view, and it kind of puts you in the role of the monster versus the hero in Beowulf. 00;19;51;16 - 00;20;14;28 Unknown And it was really good. And I read that in high school, and once I could see that, I could tell stories in writing like that. That was kind of my big inspiration. I love that different point of view, because you never get the monster or the other side of it, right? Whether, you know, like in horror, you know, the vampires or the werewolf or whatever, you never get any of what they're thought processes. 00;20;14;28 - 00;20;42;16 Unknown So I love that. I'm definitely going to check that book out. I've never, never read that one. It's good. It's a nice short read. It's got some weird 60s, 70s psychedelic prose, like the author may have been out in the woods doing some areas substances kind of vibe to it, but overall it's a good read, right? Yeah. So in your life, have you ever had any type of like paranormal experience or cryptid experience? 00;20;42;23 - 00;21;16;17 Unknown I, I at one point I had I had one experience I think is not nothing cryptid related, but maybe like a ghost or something where, I was, I was living in Robbinsdale on which is where the Greenland Diaries is based, and I was sleeping one night and I had a dream about a woman standing at the end of the door, under the bed, and my bed was against the wall, and the door was on the opposite side, and there was a woman standing at the foot of the bed, and she was like an an old prairie dress, like frontier like kind of frontier garment kind of thing, where she looked like looked like she 00;21;16;17 - 00;21;36;27 Unknown was out, you know, hauling water on a farm someplace and that in the 1616 hundreds or something. 1700. And she was like standing at the foot of my bed. And she had some sort of weird face, like her face wasn't fully completed, and she had, like, yellow eyes and her skin was kind of hanging. It was very unsettling, but I thought I was just dreaming or whatever. 00;21;36;27 - 00;21;56;04 Unknown And I remember, you know, it was one of those classic physical sensations where you can't even move, you can't even breathe. You're just kind of stuck in that moment. Yeah. Sleep paralysis type. Yeah, that kind of thing. But I remember, like, having this dream or this waking dream or whatever, and seeing this, this figure, and I woke up from whatever was happening and she was gone. 00;21;56;04 - 00;22;21;16 Unknown But the door clicks shut, like like the door. Yeah. So that kind of that got me. Yeah. And at the time, my, my girlfriend at the time was Hmong. And in the Hmong culture they're very superstitious. Are like. And her family was at least was very superstitious about ghosts and had a lot of belief in that, and that that there were ghosts and spirits and supernatural entities. 00;22;21;20 - 00;22;44;03 Unknown So they were all they were they very much, believe me, which was nice. Right? But I told them about it. They were very supportive of the fact that I was terrified by a ghost. Right. Well, at first when you were talking about, you know, her appearance and stuff like that, I was thinking something back from the times of like the Plague, and maybe she had something that had happened and that aspect. 00;22;44;03 - 00;23;04;02 Unknown Yeah. But then in some aspects of it, it kind of it does almost sound like The Sleep Hag or the hat made the like, people talk about having the sleep hag or the hat man come during sleep paralysis and stuff. So it could be one of those that's like, which way could a go? But yeah, having the whole door click after it was validated. 00;23;04;05 - 00;23;20;11 Unknown Hell no, I don't want that. Yeah. No, no. And it was kind of one of those sounds you hear where. Because it was with my grandma. I was in my grandma's old house and my dad, bought it and was renting it to me at the time. And it had those old kind of almost like copper doorknobs that were very, like, loud if you turned them by. 00;23;20;14 - 00;23;35;09 Unknown I just remember, like always, if after you got done showing the door and you turn the knob, it would just click in a place. I remember hearing a click like the click was very like. I didn't want to hear it. My mind, my brain and body were like, you didn't want to hear that. But I definitely heard it. 00;23;35;11 - 00;23;54;20 Unknown It's just gives you the validation that you can't say, maybe it was just a dream, but what the hell for, right? Yeah. And that was, that was kind of like the only experience that I can at least remember or kind of put into a I can really share that really, you know, stuck with me or that had multiple elements happened to it. 00;23;54;20 - 00;24;21;02 Unknown Yeah. That's crazy. That'd be creepy. Yes. For sure. Yeah. So in my research, you've mentioned using monsters as metaphors for mental health. When did that connection first start to click for you as a writer? Well, it's interesting that my my relationship with my own mental health and watching other people in, you know, with various forms of anxiety, depression, personality disorders, whatever you want to call it, that. 00;24;21;02 - 00;24;42;23 Unknown I had been using monsters before I even was aware of it, to talk about my own struggles with anxiety and depression and whatnot. They had always been I had always been using them as metaphors, as as kind of like a easier way to bring it up, to talk about that. Like there's something either wrong with me currently, or I'm not feeling the best right now, or, there's something wrong with it. 00;24;42;23 - 00;25;03;16 Unknown A certain individual in my life, they were they were already serving as metaphors before I started to make that connection that I was doing that, if that makes sense. It's like they appeared before I had any understanding of them. Like for example, in my book series, The Greenland Diaries. There's the monsters, the unnamed, which are like these shrouded, faceless creatures. 00;25;03;16 - 00;25;22;21 Unknown They've got these giant claws. They got, you can see their ribs. That kind of phase in and out of reality. I very much going back and working on that series and doing revising it and just constantly having it on my mind base. Those monsters on this is going to sound very generic, but, on my father, my father is I have a very sweet father. 00;25;22;21 - 00;25;48;19 Unknown Very he's a very good man. But, he was abandoned when he was seven by his father, and he grew up without that relationship. And that always made it difficult for him to communicate more as a father to me. And in this and the Greenland Diaries, the unnamed, they kill people, but they actually. And I don't want to give too many spoilers to people, but they actually resurrect people. 00;25;48;22 - 00;26;08;27 Unknown They kill people and they stole them back together because the people they can sew back together that come into this world, that that they, I call them the reanimated in the books. They can communicate, they can communicate. And the unnamed cannot communicate with humans even though they kind of want to. So the only way they can react are they can communicate with humans is by reanimating them. 00;26;08;27 - 00;26;28;28 Unknown So that broad metaphor is, is my own relationship with my father, where he can't necessarily communicate with me, but he kind of hopes that I can communicate with him, kind of idea. So yeah, that's just well thank you. Yeah. It's just that's just one example of how I use monsters as a metaphor in my storytelling. The unnamed are are a good example of that. 00;26;28;28 - 00;26;51;18 Unknown It's always interesting to hear the perspective, because when someone is reading or listening to music or whatever, they kind of put their own spin on what they think is trying to be portrayed and stuff. But I always find it super intriguing to actually hear from the person who composes or writes or what you know, has the whole thought process that goes into it. 00;26;51;18 - 00;27;11;02 Unknown I love hearing how it all comes together. So that is really, really, really interesting, I love that. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah. I've always been willing to talk about kind of where the monsters come from and and whatnot for my stories, but it is varies really. And like in my book, the B would be where the L's that you showed earlier. 00;27;11;04 - 00;27;29;18 Unknown It's all written from the point of view of this guy on his hunt, on his cursed island. And it's his job to kill. He's like, protects the island. He kills whoever comes on the shore or stuff like that. The metaphor for him is, is you can't outrun a sense of morality. It catches up with you. For me, I was just I published that book and wrote that book and stuff. 00;27;29;18 - 00;28;09;02 Unknown I was simply trying to, like, write my ship personally. Like I was in a bad space. I was very self-destructive. I wasn't a good person to be around. But eventually you kind of come around or, you eventually you kind of have to kind of rebuild yourself. And that's what that book was about as well. It plays on multiple layers where I use monsters or characters as metaphors for trauma and personal difficulty, and that's a good way to get through and try to have some personal healing, too, because it's yeah, it's a form of journaling, getting the emotions and everything out, but putting them into a different, we'll say, character to try to help deal 00;28;09;03 - 00;28;32;21 Unknown to. And if I remember correctly from cryptic on the beware the Ills, that Was what you said was your favorite book. It's not the most popular, but it's your most popular now. So that's one of the reasons why we bought it. Because we were wondering. Yeah. You know, beware the eels. It's dark fantasy. And like I said, it's about this guy on an island, and it's all written from his point of view. 00;28;32;21 - 00;28;53;03 Unknown And I wrote the prose in it, the point of view. So stream of consciousness, so all over the place where the audience may get annoyed by the way he talks, the way he thinks about things. He repeats himself a lot. He he ruminates on things a lot. He constantly says the same things over and over again. Too much of what we we do in our own daily life as human beings only. 00;28;53;03 - 00;29;14;02 Unknown He's in very extraordinary, circumstances on this island. Yeah. Beware the ills is kind of, a love letter to being able to change, to be able to be a better person. And that's what I wanted to write with the book. But the prose and the style of it, and sometimes it makes the audience a little bit more squeamish in terms of simply digesting the narrative. 00;29;14;02 - 00;29;40;03 Unknown Where with The Greenland Diaries, my very popular work, it's it's written in found journal format so people can literally pick it up and it's meant for anyone to read because the guy writing it within the story wanted to leave a record of what happened. So I love that. And that kind of leads into my next question. The Greenland Diaries is written in such a unique format, the journal style apocalypse. 00;29;40;06 - 00;30;04;01 Unknown What made you choose that voice for the story? Well, at the time, I was writing it in the form of a blog on blogspot back in 2011. This was like, you know, early blogs. So there weren't, it wasn't like blogs now and where people really create a platform for themselves on them. And I was a very amateurish writer at the time, and I wanted to practice writing in past tense. 00;30;04;02 - 00;30;29;01 Unknown So in the journal entry format, where yesterday I did this like I'm always writing the past in a journal I'm talking about the previous day, right. So so I just use that format, and then I just basically created a monster to go in it called The Unnamed, and I threw everything I could into these monsters. Like, I mean, the monsters in the Greenland Diaries are so unique and so just very cool creatures, and they evolve throughout the whole book series. 00;30;29;01 - 00;30;44;02 Unknown Like if you read the whole book series, they're not the same in the first book than they are in the last book. So there's so much variation to their characters. And I threw everything I could, and I had a small blog, barely anyone to read it, only my friends and family would read it, but they wouldn't really read it. 00;30;44;02 - 00;31;00;12 Unknown They'd just click on it because they're like, hey, I clicked on it. You got to click. And I'm like, thanks. Did you, did you read it? Did you read the story? So, so that was kind of my what I did. And eventually I started to get a following on there. I got like after like 30,000, 40,000 people read the read the blog. 00;31;00;12 - 00;31;22;15 Unknown I thought, okay, I'll self-publish this. And I've I've been releasing books with it ever since. But yeah, I chose that format because I was limited in my ability as a writer at the time. Like I could not write anything better than that. That journal entry at the time. And things have changed since then, thankfully in my skill level, but it was just an easy format for me to do, and I didn't feel like I had a lot of. 00;31;22;16 - 00;31;43;02 Unknown I didn't have to be super perfect in it either. If I made mistakes in the journal, it was more authentic to the experience of the character versus seeming maybe amateurish for people reading it. That's I love that that's. And to think that it all started with just a blog, you know, doing a blog entry. And yeah, that's the writing exercise really? 00;31;43;05 - 00;32;06;23 Unknown Yeah. Right. And that ended up being one of your most popular. Yes. And it gives an open end to, you know, where you keep going with it. And you can kind of keep changing the narrative a little bit and giving it room to grow. Yeah. Yeah. And I've written other stories and books kind of in the same universe to kind of give different points of view and to enhance the main arc of the narrative. 00;32;07;01 - 00;32;30;28 Unknown But I've never, I've always kept the main character in this degree in the diaries itself, within the journal entries. And yeah, it's been it's been a good experience. I never thought I would be six books into the series at this point, so that's amazing. Thank you. So fans love the psychological depth in your books. Do you think readers relate more to the monsters or the humans trying to survive them? 00;32;31;00 - 00;32;53;19 Unknown I that's a great question. I think it's both. I think they relate to the main character. His name is Richard, and he's the narrator of the story. He writes the journal entries. I think they relate to him because he's just a normal guy. He's he's got he goes through many extraordinary things within a story, but he's just a normal dude who was working as a bank teller. 00;32;53;19 - 00;33;12;11 Unknown One evening when this drum started playing and these monsters appeared. And I've often told people at conventions or events or by my books, I'm like, this guy is not some sort of, you know, ex-special ops bank teller. Like in his spare time. He's not like, I'm, you know, I work, I moonlight as a bank teller, but I'm really a, you know, mercenary during the that, you know, it's not like anything like that. 00;33;12;11 - 00;33;30;03 Unknown He has no skills. In fact, for the majority of the first book, he has a shotgun and he doesn't know the gauge of the shotgun. He just finds it like there's many things that are just found knowledge for him. There's guns that he doesn't know how to use. There's all sorts of things. So I think the audience can relate to having a normal person being in this situation. 00;33;30;09 - 00;33;48;03 Unknown But he sees so many extraordinary things, and he's a part of so many different things within the narrative. I think he becomes a little bit less relatable as the story gets on and the monsters become more relatable, because the monsters start off is just scary. But the more you learn about them, the more you understand that there's some sort of individuality there. 00;33;48;03 - 00;34;15;01 Unknown It's not just some hive of monsters tormenting humanity. There's some other something else happening. And it's it's, I think for the audience, it kind of flip flops, depending upon why you're reading the book, to recall it. It's very cool. What advice would you give creatives who want to use art to process trauma for or excuse me, what advice would you give to creatives who want to use art to process trauma or anxiety? 00;34;15;04 - 00;34;36;28 Unknown That's a great question. And my advice would be that it's, a double edged knife. You you can use it, effectively to communicate your own personal trauma or a trauma you've witnessed or, you know, trauma of society or trauma that you you think you know, is occurring or whatnot. You can do all that, but it does take a toll. 00;34;36;28 - 00;35;01;16 Unknown Like you have to be able to communicate it effectively, to make sure it's, digestible for your audience, but also so you're not overly exposing what you've been through as a person. I think I think you I think it's a great way to I think it's very cathartic. And I think it's a great way to communicate trauma and stress and whether, you know, it's depression, anxiety, a personality disorder, any of that kind of stuff. 00;35;01;16 - 00;35;19;27 Unknown But I do think it's it's difficult. It's hard. And there are more there are more dangers to it than you might realize using it as a catalyst for your stories. But I also think it is worthwhile at the same time. So it's like I would say, experiment, but be wary. Be gentle with yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself about it. 00;35;20;01 - 00;35;48;05 Unknown Don't overexpose yourself. Don't confess. You know all the bad things that have happened to you through or through a narrative, right? Also, don't it's it also it metaphorically a monster or fiction or horror in general is a good engine to deal with topics that are hard to talk about. That's I love that that is great advice. And how do you mentally handle because you, you know, will dive into some dark, heavy spaces. 00;35;48;11 - 00;36;12;12 Unknown How do you handle just like disconnecting from that? Like you're writing in a way and you have to okay, the twins need something. How do you write right out of that? Yeah, it's it's it's it's a skill that's evolved over time. I think, I'd, I tend to, my stories, I write my poetry. All of the very dark things that I create. 00;36;12;12 - 00;36;35;02 Unknown I tend to give myself a lot of distance with in my personal life. Like I talked about horror earlier, I don't watch a lot of horror. I don't I don't, read a lot of horror. Like, I'm not a huge I don't digest a lot of horror as my media choice. I mean, I don't mind it. And there's certain things I love, like I mentioned alien earlier or the X-Files, but I do tend to keep things a little bit lighter in the media that I digest. 00;36;35;05 - 00;36;53;02 Unknown You know, whether it's comedy, reality TV is a huge escape for me. I love a good reality show, too. Yeah, like it's I love those. Occasionally I will get into horror more. Recently I watched all the, What is it? Black mass is a black mass or all the other, the Mike Flanagan shows on Netflix. 00;36;53;02 - 00;37;10;14 Unknown I watched all of those this last year, so occasionally I'll have streaks where I get really into horror, but normally I try to separate a little bit of what I write and what I experience as a medium in terms of media. So yeah, that's one thing I do at small doses. I read a lot in small doses, different, multiple projects at once. 00;37;10;14 - 00;37;32;28 Unknown You know, every week I'm working on, a new book, a new poem, a new short story, a new piece of flash fiction. So there's a lot of variety. I don't get kind of stuck in one, one dark territory, so to speak. So what's your favorite, reality TV show right now? So I really like I don't know if this one's as mainstream, but I really like Bering Sea gold. 00;37;33;00 - 00;37;51;05 Unknown I haven't, it's one. It's it's made by the same people that do Deadliest Catch and Bering Sea Gold. It's about a bunch of people in Nome, Alaska. And they harvest. They go underneath the water because there's a bunch of gold in on the Bering Sea, and they harvest gold out of the soil. And newsflash, it doesn't go well. 00;37;51;05 - 00;38;09;23 Unknown Like it's hard to harvest gold out of what? Frozen ocean, Earth or frozen sea. Yeah. And so they're and they're also they're the most interesting people that do it. And everything breaks all the time. They'll be on a boat and they'll be like, oh my God, you know that propeller went out? Oh, God, this went on. They're always surprised. 00;38;09;23 - 00;38;27;15 Unknown They're always like, oh no, I'm broke. And I'm like, you guys are ripping gold out of like a frozen sea. Like at first things are going to break, but it just reminds me of my, my family and stuff, watching it too, like my, you know, because my family's very blue collar, very, like, fix things themselves kind of thing. 00;38;27;15 - 00;38;45;24 Unknown And watching it just reminds me of them and how things would break and how they would react. It's almost nostalgic for me to watch. Yeah. What was that gold show that you were watching for a while there? Old Russian gold rush? Yeah. Gold rush. I'm a little familiar with that one, but not quite as much. But yeah, yeah, that one was doing it. 00;38;45;26 - 00;39;09;16 Unknown But yeah, I mean, all those shows are kind of all drama, you know. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. There's no mess to go bad. Yeah, yeah. If it was successful then it wouldn't be entertaining. No I mean yeah. What's your favorite reality show? I like more of the I do more of the Bravo stuff. Oh yeah. Okay. All right. 00;39;09;16 - 00;39;33;15 Unknown It's mindless and. Oh, yeah, I really like they had the new one that just came out. Or you die in the city. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. What? Farming family. And, was it Missouri? I think Kansas or Missouri? One of the two. So that one was kind of fun. But yeah, I like more of Jeremy just rolls his eyes at me because the TV's always all of them. 00;39;33;15 - 00;39;57;06 Unknown But, you know, I like I got my island and a Love Island. That's a that's like I said, it's just one of those. I need something that's just mindless at times. But, yeah, just, not have to think and just, you know, my life could be worse, right? Right. Yeah. No, it's true, it's true. It does kind of even things out for you on, like, you're just like, oh, things aren't so bad. 00;39;57;06 - 00;40;23;28 Unknown Yeah. Yeah, definitely. But I do like the, survival series and stuff, too, like Naked and Afraid and Survivor. Yeah, I like those. And it was. Yeah, it was so funny. I actually turned on survivor the other day. I haven't watched it in probably a couple of years. Yeah. And I've watched so much of Naked and Afraid. I was like, wow, it looks really weird when people have their clothes on. 00;40;24;05 - 00;40;44;15 Unknown Yeah. Right. Right, right. Yeah. I'm like, wait, you're not naked? Yeah, yeah. That's weird. Yeah. I feel like survivor has gotten more tame over the years, and Naked and Afraid is still like the original survivor, where people are just, like, ditched in the wild. Yeah, right. I'm like, what? You get food given to you? I had forgotten it. 00;40;44;15 - 00;41;05;17 Unknown It's like I had. Like I said, I've watched Naked and Afraid for so long now that it's like, survivor just seems like a cakewalk. Yeah, it's true, it is. It is definitely more of a cakewalk. Yeah, well. And what's, what's her name? Carolyn. I can't think of her last name. Carolyn or whatever. Yeah. She was she was on survivor, and she was also on traitors. 00;41;05;21 - 00;41;32;28 Unknown But she's a Minnesota native. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I loved her on traitors. I hadn't seen her season on survivor yet, but she's got that total quirky personality. And have you ever watched traitors I have, yeah. Yeah, yeah, my fiance is really into it. Yeah, that's what's been on. I've been I've seen it. Yeah, I, I've watched it and there's I, it's kind of fun because you do get to see the cross reality. 00;41;33;00 - 00;41;47;22 Unknown People come in to our. We're basically making a living as reality stars, which is great for them. But yeah, it's it's just kind of funny because you're like, well, on the last show I saw them on, they were kind of like, they're kind of as a human. They were just kind of off. And then you see them on traitors and you're like, yeah, they're still like that. 00;41;47;22 - 00;42;15;02 Unknown Yeah. Well, there's a little thing about Boston Rob here. Oh oh my God, Boston Rob yeah. Legit. Yeah. He's been on a lot of reality too. I always root for him when I see him on the show. Yes me too. I did not like him on the first season of survivor, but I liked him on everything else. Yeah, yeah, I, he's kind of on the evil side, but you just can't stop watching him because he's funny. 00;42;15;04 - 00;42;40;21 Unknown Yeah, yeah, he's got a sense of humor about his villainy. Yeah, right. Yeah. He was just on. What's that? The money show. That's a game show that they turned into a competition show. Oh, my gosh, that was all the cases or. Yeah, the the Deal or No Deal Island. Yes. Yeah, he was on too. But yes, I love me some reality TV. 00;42;40;21 - 00;43;01;27 Unknown It's just a great escape. It is. And from a storytelling perspective, like writing and writing as much as I do, and working with structure and style and tone and within prose, it's nice to watch something where I'm not maybe thinking about that, like where I'm thinking about all this character seems, you know, like this, or the story plot with beat and the story doesn't seem quite there. 00;43;01;27 - 00;43;20;17 Unknown Like, I'm not turning down a part of my brain to watch reality TV. Like I'm just kind of enjoying the mess that it is versus other media that I'll watch where, I might do that more. So then you definitely need to watch those Housewives because they're loony, right? Yeah, I have, I have seen a few of those actually. 00;43;20;17 - 00;43;47;25 Unknown Yeah, yeah, I have watched a few of those. And yet there you watch that and you're like, well, the truth is stranger than fiction like that. Like that's where you're like, Holy cow, people are so strange. Yeah. You can't read a monster. Yeah, right. Exactly. You can't write that. Yeah. Well, with us diving so much into the true crime and paranormal, not so much paranormal, because paranormal is kind of our break from the true crime. 00;43;47;27 - 00;44;14;07 Unknown And that's why we did both with our podcast. But you get into some really dark, dark stuff and it's like I used to watch a lot of like Dateline and stuff like that, just for fun. But now it's like, I only watch that stuff when I'm like looking for new content or, you know, doing research because you can't be down that rabbit hole all the time. 00;44;14;14 - 00;44;44;02 Unknown No, no, it's it's very difficult. Yeah. It's very difficult. I agree. I, Jeremy, I put him through it any more than I do. Yeah. That's funny. Well, yeah, I like the later stories. Yes. You like the more paranormal, the fun stuff. You can't really banter, you know, say too much when it comes to true crime, but it's it's important stories to tell because these people have come through tragic had tragic thing happen. 00;44;44;02 - 00;45;10;20 Unknown And so it's they're important to get out there. But it's it's very dark and not so yeah it takes it takes a little sacrifice watching stuff like that and creating content for it and stuff. Yeah. Absolutely. Right. Definitely. So you've been active in the Minnesota's horror and fantasy scene from crypt taken to local readings? Yeah. What's the community like here for the the dark genre writers? 00;45;10;20 - 00;45;35;05 Unknown It's great. It's great. I, I've always had supportive readers and followers of my work. I've never really had any negative experiences ever with any of it. I think, you know, Minnesota's got a really good horror community. And again, coming from me, who again, horror is not necessarily something I digest for fun. I've always found like a cryptic con and other events readings. 00;45;35;05 - 00;45;57;11 Unknown I've always found very supportive people, people that enjoy the darker themes stuff as a, as a, as a catalyst for whatever, you know, emotional issue they might be having at the time or whatever they can relate to. I have noticed that in Minnesota it's very prevalent within audiences. But yeah, I've I've really enjoyed my time working with the communities and stuff I actually have. 00;45;57;11 - 00;46;22;21 Unknown At the end of the month here, I'm hosting a Halloween reading at ten K Brewing Anoka, oh on October 28th at 7:00, I'll be doing, I'll be hosting horror writers to read their works and stuff. I'll be reading some of mine as well. Yeah, the community's great. I can't really say enough about them. And I think, I think the community in general of fantasy as well, and science fiction, there's so many miniature conventions and so many like I've been doing conversions for years. 00;46;22;21 - 00;46;53;24 Unknown I love the convergence community. I've been doing so many of these smaller events too. I've always had people support me and buy my books or at least look me up. And check out my work and stuff. And that's pretty much all I can ask for. Yeah. And it's there's definitely a sense of community in Minnesota. I mean, you get some of the, you know, the not so great stuff, but it's I truly think that, you know, like the Minnesota nice and the Minnesota, you know, the Minnesota acceptance is truly a thing. 00;46;53;24 - 00;47;20;00 Unknown And we've really enjoyed going to crypto Con. We've only got this was our second year. And we'll definitely continue going every year. And we want to learn about more conventions and stuff. Like we met a couple people that were telling us like about convergence and yeah, some other ones that we had no idea about, but it's just so everybody's so friendly and yeah, it's it's a great community. 00;47;20;03 - 00;47;40;08 Unknown It is. It's a very nice community. I agree. And it's, it's been cultivated from something that was not necessarily small, but not a lot of people per se were there. And now it's it's gone on for so long and yeah, no it's very supportive. And I one of my favorite things about going to Crypto.com or any other convention and seeing people that I've, maybe they're not even people that I've spoken to, but just people that I recognize. 00;47;40;11 - 00;47;58;24 Unknown They're back again. It's nice to see the same faces over and over again at these events. Right? And sometimes I've talked, I've seen people from the beginning of Crypto.com when I was going there ten years ago that I just talked to this year. You know, it just kind of goes like that, right? But yeah, it's celeb. The celeb. 00;47;58;24 - 00;48;22;18 Unknown Yeah. The majority of them are just so personable. And yes, I mean, we met Jamison Newlander last year when we were there. He was our elevator buddy. Every time we went into the elevator, he was always in there, you know? And we've had him on the podcast and, you know, we've kept a friendship open with him, and we've met a few other people through that. 00;48;22;18 - 00;48;50;00 Unknown And it's just been it's been so much fun. We really, really enjoy. And I waiver as I would like to have a table there for the podcast. But yeah, I don't want to be last. So do a location because it's so fun to be around. And yeah, so that would be it. It is difficult. And I do get I try to take some time to go roam around and stuff at Crypto.com for sure, and talk to some other artists and writers, and they're always supportive. 00;48;50;00 - 00;49;11;00 Unknown But yeah, the celebrities at Crypto.com are very personable. I've never I don't think I've had a negative experience with any of them. But I do think, I think that horror is such a unique genre that way that like when you get a community of horror people and they're going to be very supportive of each other because it's just it's not one of those genres that necessarily you think of as a community per se, but it's very well supported. 00;49;11;00 - 00;49;34;26 Unknown And I didn't I didn't know much about horror until I started going to Crypto.com, to be honest. So but yeah, people love it. It's great. When we first booked our tickets last year to Crypto.com, I was confused on why there was horror celebrities because I thought it was a cryptid festival. Yeah. Yeah, and I was really. I'm like, why are all these horror actors here? 00;49;34;26 - 00;49;54;22 Unknown Then we got there and I was like, there's nothing about cryptids. It's it's like, you know, then somebody explained it to me. It's kind of like it's cryptic, like, you know, cryptic con is. Yeah. So yeah, I was all confused. I'm like, where's all the Bigfoot stuff? Right? Right. Yeah. I know there aren't a lot of cryptids there. 00;49;54;22 - 00;50;23;00 Unknown There are definitely there's merchandise of cryptids there. There's stuff like there's there's people that like cryptids there. But yeah, it's not necessarily cryptid themed. I remember one year at Crypto.com, at the old Thunderbird when they had it there, in Bloomington, the old Thunderbird Hotel, which is so much like the overlook Hotel to me. It just had that vibe, and it was great for the horror convention when we were there, because not only was the creepy hotel like, their pool was, like, kind of their pool is kind of derelict, like they had. 00;50;23;06 - 00;50;39;18 Unknown It didn't work and it was like all abandoned. They had like plywood up along the around the pool and stuff. So it looked even creepier. It was very much like the perfect horror convention hotel. They tore down the Thunderbird some years ago now, but it was a great time. Yeah. I've ever been to that hotel? Yeah. No, it was, it was. 00;50;39;18 - 00;51;00;08 Unknown They had like, artifacts all over the walls. It was very, very horror esque. Yeah. Very cool. Well, and I have to say, I was very happy that it seemed like the air was working better this year than last year. Yeah. Yeah, it was so hot here. Yes, yes. It was like, even in your room you couldn't get your temp. 00;51;00;08 - 00;51;18;24 Unknown The temperature to go down. So it's like you couldn't escape. It was hot outside, hot inside. And then you got all these things right. It was kind of suffocating. Yeah. And at Crypto.com, it always ends up being hot like that weekend for some reason. It's just like a million degrees and you're like, what's going on? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00;51;18;27 - 00;51;38;02 Unknown But it's such a fun atmosphere. I can't we look forward to it. We didn't get the gold package this year. We were too late and I purchased our tickets in like April I think. And so I'm going to have to make sure I watch earlier because we like to get the gold package to do the celeb dinner and stuff like that. 00;51;38;06 - 00;52;03;14 Unknown That was the only thing we didn't get this year versus last year. But it's just nice. I mean, having the, you know, the different options and the different. There's so much, so much to see, so much to do. And it's so that hotel that they have it at is the Crowne Plaza. There's so many nooks and crannies I every year I'm like, I think, I don't think we saw this person or did we ever. 00;52;03;15 - 00;52;22;25 Unknown And right. Yeah. So I mean there's just so much it's it's kind of like one of those reality expanding like stories where the house, like you measure the house and it's bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside kind of thing. Or it's just like there's so much space on the inside. Yeah. No, it's very like House of leaves kind of vibe to it. 00;52;22;25 - 00;52;42;19 Unknown Yeah. Yes. There was a gentleman that pulled up. We were sitting outside and it was an older gentleman, and he pulled up and he was like, I'm looking for this place. And I'm like, well, you're here. And he's like, well, no, I'm looking for the Crowne Plaza. I'm like, you're here. And he's like, no. But from this picture, because he had a picture from the back side or something. 00;52;42;23 - 00;53;04;17 Unknown And so I was trying to explain to him that it was the right place. But then I'm like, right, I don't think he's here for Crypto.com. He's out, but he's going to have a rude awakening very soon. Yeah, yeah. That's funny. Yeah. No, it's it is confusing. But it suits though. It suits the it suits the feeling for the, for the for the for the convention for sure. 00;53;04;22 - 00;53;26;01 Unknown It really does. But could you imagine being a person who booked a hotel that knowing that was going on and walking into that. Oh I love that. Yes. Yes, I love that. That's my favorite thing about it. I just having like the normal family that's there for like a soccer tournament and they're just like staying there and there's, there's people, you know cosplayed as Michael Myers walking around. 00;53;26;01 - 00;53;53;25 Unknown It's great. Yeah. There's some great cars play. Last year they had the stranger thing. Once the people got engaged there was people that were dressed up in Stranger Things, but elaborate, like the big, huge, head to the head dress and oh my gosh, it's so fun. Anybody if you get a chance, go to go to these cons and check them out because they are so much fun and people watching galore. 00;53;53;27 - 00;54;13;12 Unknown Yeah it is, it is it is great. I love the communities, I love the con communities. They've been just great to me. And they're just it is fun. It is fun. And and if you go to these conventions and you think that, you know, something obscure, like, like a movie that nobody's watched or a TV show or an episode, you will find someone at these conventions who knows what you're talking about. 00;54;13;12 - 00;54;30;29 Unknown So you will find someone who is like, oh yeah, I remember that X-Files episode. That one character said that, of course. Yeah, yeah, that was and that. People ahead. Oh, yeah. People just you think you're alone in your fandoms and your geek DMs and stuff, but you're not. There are people out there who will who will partake with you, for sure. 00;54;30;29 - 00;54;51;24 Unknown And just the sense of community. And it's, you know, you walk into a target and you got people that are scowling and oh, yeah, I was, you know, on a mission or whatever. But when you're there, it's just so there's not a worry in the world, right? Right. People are enjoying it and stuff. Yeah, absolutely. They're all, you know, being themselves. 00;54;51;24 - 00;55;14;27 Unknown And there's so much to encounter. But. Right. All right. Well, enough of, crypto con I could rant on about that forever. I love how much I love it too. Yeah. So in my research, I came across something called doll 39 or doll 39. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So that was a story. There was a Kindle book that I released. 00;55;15;00 - 00;55;34;26 Unknown It was going to be, Amazon had for their self-publishing platform. They had serialized stories, and you people could subscribe to you as an author. And you, you'd publish serialized stories and they'd pay money to get the new serialized, you know, story. Like, in sequence. And, doll 39 was my attempt to try to do that. But I never really stuck with it. 00;55;34;28 - 00;55;54;12 Unknown I wrote a couple segments for it, and then actually it was, called Amazon Villa, I believe was the program. They put it serialized stories. They they shut it down, I think, two years ago now. So it's not even active anymore. But yeah, doll 39 was a story about, it takes place in like a dystopian, apocalyptic future. 00;55;54;12 - 00;56;18;13 Unknown And there's these creatures called dolls, which are like these weird life forms that they stimulate a growth in an area like botanical growth or like you, basically, if you have one in your backyard, you'll have, like crops, you'll have like, like resources happen, but they're also like vampiric. They'll eat people and stuff like that. So society at this point has formed some sort of truce with them. 00;56;18;13 - 00;56;33;02 Unknown And they keep these creatures nearby so they can have crops and they can have resources, but they also have to feed people to the creatures. And so they have a treaty with them and stuff. And I wrote it. I wrote the first few segments, but then I just I think my kids were young and they were like, what, 2 or 3 at the time? 00;56;33;02 - 00;56;56;00 Unknown And that was that. I couldn't keep up with it. So yeah, that's doll 39. That's a blast from the past. Yeah. And with, Greenland Diaries. Are you going to continue the volumes with that or is that. Yeah. I mean, I've got six books. Yeah, I've got six books in the main narrative. I got one left to complete one year because the story, the story takes place over a year through 365 days. 00;56;56;00 - 00;57;11;26 Unknown The last book will will end the year. And I have plans for the next book already. I don't have a release or anything. I haven't written it yet, but I will do it. And I do plan to continue the story a little bit more. After that, with some with a, with a sequel series of sorts. 00;57;11;26 - 00;57;33;03 Unknown That'll just be a few books. But right now on my blog that I publish stuff on weekly or daily, almost, I am writing stories from the Greenland Diaries on there that you can't get anywhere else but on the blog, and those stories take place after that. You know, the main mechanism in the Greenland Diaries is to draw like the sound that brings these creatures to life every night. 00;57;33;06 - 00;57;50;17 Unknown And it's not a it's not a spoiler or anything because it's told in the very first page of the Greenland Diaries, but the drum does get destroyed at some point with a monster stick around. So like they lose the mechanism to be violent. Basically this drumming sound. So the monsters are still in our world, and human beings have to learn how to coexist with these creatures. 00;57;50;17 - 00;58;14;01 Unknown And the sequel book series will be more about that. Like what happens after the drum is destroyed, where the diaries cover the drum being destroyed itself. Okay. And it's it's no secrets, no spoiler for anyone that this happens. I talk about it often and like I said in the very first page, but yeah, I do plan to flush out the universe, make sure the audience gets enough exposition, understand what's going on to a point. 00;58;14;01 - 00;58;36;04 Unknown And, yeah, I do plan to, to to finish that up in the next 2 or 3 years here. Very cool. I'm so excited to read it. I've just got, this time of year is so hard to take time to sit down and read for us. But sure, you know, the hard winters come in. Yeah, yeah. No, like the the environment itself will be more conducive to it, where it'll be like you're stuck in place. 00;58;36;04 - 00;58;59;03 Unknown Read a book. Yeah, yeah. It's cozy up, you know. You know, a coffee or hot chocolate and just dive into a different world. Definitely. So definitely. Have you ever considered adapting your stories for film, TV or audio drama like you did with the Hidden Oaks podcast? Oh yeah, I have considered it. I would love to do it if you know that someone came along and was like, hey, let's make this a movie. 00;58;59;03 - 00;59;20;14 Unknown I mean, of course, yeah, I do it. It's just I've never really I've always been in the process of writing the stories, the poems, the books, and I've never really pivoted to do screenplays and stuff. I have written screenplays and I've written for film, but I it's never been something I've ardently pursued, though. I mean, I've had people tell me I make a good film and I've talked to a few people. 00;59;20;15 - 00;59;38;02 Unknown You know, from, from Cryptoquant who are who have connections and stuff to the film industry about some of my stories. But yeah, I, I've considered it. Hidden Oaks was a really good experience for me, writing audio drama that that story, just a quick to give, a quick summary of it is about a, park in in Minnesota called Hidden Notes, which you can go to. 00;59;38;02 - 00;59;56;05 Unknown And inside the park there is a monster sleeping. And one day the monster starts to wriggle free because there's a man who lives in the neighborhood and his job to do a ritual to keep the monster in place. But one day he has a heart attack and he can't do it. And of course, it times up with the ritual when it needs to happen. 00;59;56;05 - 01;00;13;21 Unknown So the monster starts to wriggle loose and it affects the surrounding community and neighborhood. And I had a really great experience writing that, I was, I was, I was, I was the main writer for I wrote I created the monster for it. It was it was really fun. And I got to work with people and collaborate with people, which is not something I've done a lot in my career. 01;00;13;24 - 01;00;27;07 Unknown And that taught me new things about myself, new things about my writing. It was, I thought about it and I would love to do more of it as time goes on here. It's just I've always been just kind of in the product process of releasing a new book or releasing a new Paul or new short story, kind of like that. 01;00;27;07 - 01;00;53;03 Unknown So it would I'll eventually pivot to those mediums. But yeah, it's definitely something I've thought about. But I would definitely watch and I am going to go back and listen to that. The Hidden Oaks, I just came across that literally today when I was writing up the questions and stuff, and I was like, wait, what is this? And then I clicked on it and I started listening to one of the episodes, and I was like, yeah, I'm definitely going back and checking this out. 01;00;53;06 - 01;01;07;27 Unknown Yeah, like there's some horror. It's a great story. There's a lot of comedy in it too. It's very heavy in the first season, the second season has some more, funnier parts to it, but all the stuff I wrote was very heavy for it. I tend to be the dark, the dark writer, the dark subject matter. 01;01;07;27 - 01;01;30;25 Unknown But but some of my colleagues, they wrote funnier arcs for it and stuff, which was great. And, it was just it was, it was it was a lot of great experience doing that. That's awesome. So for our readers, which book or story should they start with to get the best taste of your world? You know, at the at the risk of just kind of beating the same drum, it would be, the Greenland Diaries. 01;01;31;01 - 01;01;51;09 Unknown I think that that does have the most allure for the majority of people, I think, be where the else is also a good selection, but that's much more niche. And like, I said, it's a an acquired taste to read that. But people that finish it are always like, oh my God, that book, they've it's like a it's an experience for them and it is an experience to read it. 01;01;51;16 - 01;02;11;16 Unknown But the Greenland Diaries, if you like a good monster like and a really good monster and like if you watch something, you're like, well, what's the deal with this monster? Like if you want to see what the monster looks like, if you have any curiosity about that, the Greenland Diaries fulfills that, that that feeling for you is so, drawn out. 01;02;11;16 - 01;02;40;12 Unknown And the monster is very much the main character of the story. Like there's human characters, but the monsters just they develop, they change their unique, the individualistic, their characters. And it I think the audience can't find that really in much media where like, the monster is the main character for multiple books, right? Definitely. Check it out. We've got the first two and we're going to have to get the other ones, because I know I'm going to love them. 01;02;40;14 - 01;03;01;00 Unknown So where can fans follow your work, buy your books, or catch you at events? Or do you have any of, other than the one you mentioned? Yeah, like the 10-K brewing October 28th at seven, but I'll be at Twin Cities Con I'm selling my books there. I'm, I'm planning a brewery event in December as well. I don't all have, but you can go on my website. 01;03;01;00 - 01;03;23;04 Unknown I update my website Patrick W marsh.com or just Google Patrick W Marsh and you'll find me or Google the Greenland Diaries like it's all connected. Of course, that's the easiest place to find me is my website, but I'm on. I'm all on all sorts of social media. Patrick Marsh or Patrick Marsh, writer. You'll be able to find me pretty easily, and I do post stuff on my blog 4 to 5 times a week, including new content. 01;03;23;04 - 01;03;49;00 Unknown I post the Greenland Diaries and snippets and beware the URLs and snippets I share a lot of my work. Yeah, that's like Twin Cities. Khan is my next convention though, and that's in November. So are you going to be approaching Brendan Fraser to star in one of your movies? Yeah, that'd be great. That'd be great. I, you know, the celebrities are, they they're a little bit harder to come up to walk up to a Twin Cities con because there's so many people out those ones. 01;03;49;05 - 01;04;11;12 Unknown But I would love to have a conversation with, I, you know, I'm a big fan of his and many of the, the celebrities there. I, I've enjoyed their work. So. But yeah, I'm doing cars. What's that? Oh go ahead, play for it. I'm going to do some Demon Slayer cosplay because I'm a big anime fan. So yeah, I'll be dressing as a no skater from Demon Slayer. 01;04;11;12 - 01;04;28;18 Unknown So I have a boar's head on my head and stuff like that, so that'll be kind of different. Yeah. And I am hosting a panel at, Twin Cities Con on Friday nights at 940 is a 945 or 845. It's late, but, that's called monsters. Monsters everywhere. And I'll be talking about monsters and stuff, too. 01;04;28;18 - 01;04;46;03 Unknown So, so I'm, I'm all over the place. Yeah, yeah, I was just going to say, I think, celebs, the majority of the bigger celebs are from. What is it, the mummy. Mummy? Yeah. The mummy. Yeah that is it. The mum. Just the mummy. Is that the name of the movie. Is The Mummy the first one. Yeah. Yeah yeah. 01;04;46;03 - 01;05;05;17 Unknown So we were, we talked about going to that one. That anime is not something that I have ever really gotten into yet, but I know a lot of people really, really love it. And there's a lot of comics stuff. And yeah, so yeah, we haven't been to that one yet, but I would love to check it out. I was looking at who was I'll be there. 01;05;05;18 - 01;05;22;20 Unknown Yeah, it's big. It's a big event. And I've table there for 3 or 4 years now and it's been it's been a great experience. It's, it's it's a lot of people and yeah I've never there's really good cosplay at it. My god the cosplay is incredible at it. So I'm looking forward to that. So it's a great time. 01;05;22;22 - 01;05;39;04 Unknown Yeah. We might have to just get a day pass just to kind of check it out. Yeah. We're always missing out on all the big events. Yeah, well, and there's more of them now than there used to be. Yeah. You know, some conventions don't make it very long and some stick around in Twin Cities cards. Been around for a little while now. 01;05;39;06 - 01;06;03;25 Unknown Yeah, I definitely want to check it out. And we'll probably end up wanting to do a whole weekend there next time too. So one day just never seem to be enough, right? Right. I agree, so yes, everyone definitely go check out his website, follow him on Instagram, come to Twin Cities con to see his panels. Is cosplay. But well Patrick, thank you for so much for joining us. 01;06;03;27 - 01;06;28;07 Unknown And it's been it was great to meet you at Crypto.com. It's been great to get to know you to hear more about your books and everything. Thank you right up the alley of our listeners. So you guys definitely check them out. Show your support like follow subscribe, all the things and yeah, grab the Greenland Diaries and dive into a world where fear as a heartbeat. 01;06;28;09 - 01;06;47;14 Unknown Yeah, really. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Yeah. Yes. Well, we'll definitely once you, get some new work going and stuff, we'll definitely have to have you back because we want to keep. That'd be great. Keep hearing about your journey and your fellow Minnesotan, too. So. Yeah. Yep. And the Greenland Diaries takes place all in Minnesota. 01;06;47;14 - 01;07;04;08 Unknown So it's it's a local story. Love that. Very cool. Well, thank you so much and continue to, thank you for listening and like I said, check out his work and keep on keeping on without, you know, 01;07;04;08 - 01;07;25;05 Unknown Thanks for hanging out with us here at Total Conundrum. Please make sure to check out our website and blog at Turtle conundrum.com for news, upcoming events, merch, bloopers, and additional hysteria. You never know or pop up, so be sure to follow along if you want to show your support for Total Conundrum and gain access to all of our bonus content. 01;07;25;12 - 01;07;55;07 Unknown Please visit our Patreon page. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The links are available in our show notes. If you have any questions, comments, recommendations or stories to share, please email us at contact at. Total conundrum.com. Episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. If you liked the show, please rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. 01;07;55;10 - 01;08;03;04 Unknown We appreciate the love. Keep on keepin on, mothercluckers. 01;08;03;06 - 01;08;09;14 Unknown You. 01;08;09;16 - 01;08;13;20 Unknown And. 01;08;13;23 - 01;08;34;19 Unknown Now it's time to have.