WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:08.919 Hudson River Radio dot com. It beats listening to nothing. Being Frank. 2 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:16.199 We're the only way to be is Frank Blow And welcome to Being Frank. 3 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:20.000 We're the only way to be is of course, Frank. I'm your host, 4 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:23.120 Franklin Bono. We'd like to thank you for joining us here on what 5 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:27.920 we'd like to call the Intelligent Conversation Podcast. We know that your time is 6 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.399 valuable in competition is fierce lot, It's a podcasts out there, but we 7 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.359 like to think of ourselves as an alternative to all that noise, so we 8 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.439 really appreciate you sharing some of your day with Being Frank. 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We think it's the intelligent thing to do. 24 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:49.040 And again, for some context, we are going live to tape here 25 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:56.840 the last day of August thirty first, a mathematical genius, a formula that 26 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:02.040 speeds up space travel called Shortcut. His loving wife. When Laura Max disappears 27 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:07.120 after an attack that leaves Jason Max in the hospital, his only goal is 28 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:09.879 to find her and bring her back. Then he gets a message from Voyager 29 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:15.400 one Laura is alive in space. To get her back, He'll do whatever 30 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:19.719 it takes, even taking on government agents who might try to stop him. 31 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:23.240 Racing against the clock to perfect the formula in the system that relies on it, 32 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:28.719 and find a suitable craft to take him out there. Jason finds he 33 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:35.319 needs more than math to succeed this time and then forgettable near future hard science 34 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.840 fiction thriller from the producer of Donnie Darko and A Time to Kill and the 35 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:46.280 number one bestselling author and first editor of Eddie Wears The Martian Shortcut will have 36 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:50.240 you on the edge of your seats, joining us now to discuss his book, 37 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:55.120 Shortcut, a Jason Mass thriller, the movie, and so much more. 38 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.719 Bryan Thomas Schmidt, excuse me, Jason, I asked Jason Max probably, 39 00:03:00.759 --> 00:03:04.599 and thank you so much for joining us here this evening. Pleasure to 40 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:09.520 have him. Thank you for having me. It's before we get into Shortcut, 41 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:14.919 your latest novel of many, by the way, you author of many 42 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.080 novels, you're an editor. We're going to talk a little bit about that 43 00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:23.159 write in many different genres. But let's talk a little bit about you and 44 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:25.800 how you got into writing in the first place. Where you always into it 45 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:29.800 as a kid? Did you find yourself writing? Did you come to it 46 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:34.520 later? Tell us a little bit about that. Well, my mom says, 47 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.240 I never played with a toy the same way twice, and I used 48 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:40.000 to get frustrated when it wouldn't do all the things I can imagine. So 49 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:43.840 I guess I'm kind of a natural storyteller, because even in you know, 50 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.800 my play pen, I was trying to tell little stories with my stuff, 51 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:49.400 you know, So I think I came to it that way, and then 52 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:58.280 as time went on, I went into it and developed the craft and learned 53 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:00.520 to start telling stories. But it's always something that kind of leaned toward. 54 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:05.360 Started out like most people do, writing fan fick of my favorite children's books 55 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:10.039 with like friends in grade school and that kind of thing, and eventually I 56 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:14.560 would write TV scripts to my favorite shows as I watched and stuff, and 57 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:18.279 then kind of moved into more other things as time went on. So it's 58 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.279 interesting. And as I mentioned, you do quite a bit of editing. 59 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:25.240 Is in addition n to your own work, you editing others. I didn't 60 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:29.600 get it from all different genres, but you seem to gravitate mostly not exclusively, 61 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:34.079 but mostly towards science fiction sci fi. Why why does that that mode 62 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:39.199 seem to grab you more than the others. Well, I'm doing more. 63 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:43.519 I'm actually moving towards thrillers primarily, and this is a science fiction thriller. 64 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:47.120 My last three novels have all been thrillers, including and this is the fourth, 65 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:50.720 so I can say that I'm doing more thriller and mystery. That's my 66 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:57.399 next book is a mainstream mystery. But the reason sci fi started out is 67 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.399 because I am of the generation that Star Wars made us want to be storytellers. 68 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:04.120 When Star Wars and New Hope came out and seventy seven, my cousins 69 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:06.360 said, let's go see this movie called Star Wars, And I thought, 70 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:10.319 what a dumb name for a movie. You think they can come up with 71 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:13.360 something more sophisticated, right, So then I go to this movie. My 72 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:15.959 cousin's already seen it like seventeen times. He goes, trust me, you're 73 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:18.439 gonna love it. So I go and I was blown away. And I 74 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:23.639 fell in love with robots because there were these two amazing robots called Are two 75 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:28.360 D two and See three po And you know, the whole story was so 76 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:31.040 fantasy it just made you. I mean it was you know, I'd seen 77 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:34.040 all the different things before that. I've seen some episodes of Star Trek, 78 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:38.519 I'd seen Doctor Who which back then was kind of like, hey, look 79 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:41.800 at cabbage wrapped in tinfoil right away, right away, you know, soo. 80 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.839 But Star Wars took it to a whole new level with the special effects 81 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:49.800 and the realism of it. That just really made me excited about the stories 82 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:55.279 and stimulated my creativity. So start starts. You know, science fiction is 83 00:05:55.399 --> 00:06:00.199 kind of the first love where I started, and that's kind of why I 84 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.839 started there. Ironically, the first book I wrote was not science fiction. 85 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.920 It was actually a love story, kind of like the Nicholas Sparks And that 86 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:09.639 book has actually been rewritten, is done, and we'll be out at some 87 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:15.399 point. But actually before that, I wrote a non fiction book to him 88 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:16.240 to think of it. I forgot about that one. But anyway, the 89 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.199 point is, yeah, I took kind of a circuitous path. But science 90 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:25.680 fiction is very much a passion of mine, and I like science and I 91 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:29.959 like to explore. You know, the central central theme of most science fiction 92 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:34.079 and fantasy too is what if? And so I like that central question what 93 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:41.040 if? The you know, positive different possibilities is a fun thing to explore. 94 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:44.279 Well, you know, I did some reading of your work and I 95 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:46.680 didn't notice that there is quite a bit of science, actual science, real 96 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:51.160 science, if you will, uh, and and math in your work. 97 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:57.000 That seems to be an important element. Is that fair? Is fair statement 98 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.839 to make that that's one of the things that you you like to include it. 99 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:05.480 I would say it's a fair statement about Shortcut particularly, there's a lot 100 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:10.160 of real math and science there because the story required it. Now, when 101 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:12.920 it comes to the John Simon thrillers, which are the three books I wrote 102 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.720 before this, and there'll be another one coming, those are more procedural, 103 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:19.240 and yeah, I was. I was. I went along on real ride 104 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:23.759 alongs, and I studied real technology and real trends, and I really wanted 105 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:29.920 it to be more you know, kind of near future and and and you 106 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:32.959 know, as close to accurate of what believable in that sense I say, 107 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.600 I'd say, I'd go for believability. So I really want things to be 108 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:41.600 as close. My original first story was kind of a Star Wars like space 109 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:43.920 opera, and that was a little more off the deep end. But this 110 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:47.160 what I'm gravitating towards now is more of real stories because to me, they 111 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:51.279 speak to me more in the real world. So stories that at least could 112 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:55.920 be plausible, you know. So that's where the science and math tends to 113 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.319 come in, is working with technology and things that are familiar, maybe taking 114 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.480 them to the next level, but not that far beyond what we can imagine 115 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.439 as possible. Because to me, that really makes me feel more connected, 116 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:09.000 and I think it makes readers feel more connected in some ways. Well, 117 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.399 it's a perfect segue to my next question, and he said, well, 118 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:16.800 what motivates you to write? Then? Is there any particular thing that you 119 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:20.319 mentioned Star Wars as a particular epiphany? There are other things that you hear 120 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:24.920 or city that will motivate you to write. What do you use for your 121 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:28.839 motivation? Well, I mean there's a lot of big questions I'm always looking 122 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.399 for answers for I was the geeky kid. I was the kid who got 123 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.440 bullied a lot, got picked on. I was also the kid who kind 124 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.200 of felt like the black sheep and my family so I kind of felt alone 125 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:41.440 a lot of it. So there was a lot of the questions of who 126 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:45.679 am I and what makes me valuable as a person, what makes you know? 127 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.919 What makes you a man? What's important? That's those are I mean, 128 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:56.240 those are important questions for anybody, but that is something that in particular 129 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:00.840 resonates with me. My dad was a farm boy. He he became a 130 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:05.240 doctor. He's very much into the working outside, getting sweaty thing. I 131 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:09.039 never found appeal in that. So that definition of manhood was always kind of 132 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:11.480 like that's what a man was to him because he grew up with that. 133 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.440 So for me, I always felt like maybe I wasn't a man, you 134 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:18.960 know, not that my dad ever specifically called me not a man. Okay, 135 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.480 I want to be clear about that. I'm just saying that there was 136 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:24.039 just that feeling that I was letting him down, you know, because I 137 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.320 was different, And so all of those are kind of questions that are part 138 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:31.320 of it. The coming of age into your own was a big part of 139 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:33.519 that for me, so figuring out, Okay, who am I, what 140 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:37.039 do I want to be? And can I be that and be okay? 141 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:39.679 So there's lots of those kind of questions that come in with my characters too, 142 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:43.840 and then there's bigger questions, you know, spending time as a loaner, 143 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:48.480 being picked on, kind of feeling outside. Uh, you know, 144 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.519 there's a there's a theme. We'll talk about it later more with short kept, 145 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:54.120 but there's a theme a lot in my work of learning that you're not 146 00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:58.320 necessarily alone, and you don't necessarily need everybody, but you do need somebody, 147 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:01.440 and that you're part of a larger community, and it's okay to contribute 148 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:07.000 to that even if you don't get anything back. That's probably a common theme 149 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:09.960 for me. Why would you get use some of your ideas? I mean, 150 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:13.440 I know sometimes when I'm walking I'll see or hear something it will motivate 151 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:18.240 me. Right, you know, I do blog as well. Well. 152 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:22.320 I grew up. I grew up Evangelical Christian. I'm kind of more of 153 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:26.039 the middle ground these days than I was. But the first stories I wrote 154 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:31.039 the Dobby read were actually the Moses story, set in like a Star Wars 155 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.879 setting. Then told us an epic space opera, and that was a lot 156 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.200 of fun. But you know, everybody knows the Moses story. So as 157 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:41.000 I started actually writing, I thought it up when I was fifteen and followed 158 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:45.360 the Moses story like straight through. But when I got to actually writing it, 159 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:48.399 like twenty five years later or whatever, I said, I got to 160 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.799 make up some stuff so people don't know what's going to happen every five seconds. 161 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.200 You know, I had to kind of figure it out. So that's 162 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:56.480 what kind of made me kind of play off of things. So I play 163 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:01.080 off a lot of that with a lot of it is my sense of humor. 164 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:03.720 I'm always wanting to put people in awkward situations where I can evoke humor. 165 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:09.679 So John Simon is a is a technophobic old school cop in Kansas City, 166 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:16.120 and he is his partner is kidnapped and murdered his pregnant partner, and 167 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:20.799 uh, the only witness is an android or humanoid android. So he has 168 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:24.120 to work with this guy and they end up becoming partners and android joins the 169 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:26.200 force and that's a whole different thing and the other stories. But at first 170 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:30.440 he's like he's working with a with an f and robot. He doesn't want 171 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.759 to work with a robot. Man, you know, there's a stupid robot 172 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:37.360 that you know, he doesn't believe in, right, so he uh, 173 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:41.080 you know that that that clash, and then the robot, of course, 174 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:43.759 is trying to be more accepted, to be more human. So the robot 175 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:48.080 starts quoting you know, the cop movies and and and doesn't but doesn't know 176 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:52.360 the right context. So he's saying things but at the inappropriate times and different 177 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:54.799 stuff. So there's a lot of comedy. That's that's how I milked that. 178 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.639 You know, that series was. It's kind of kind a mix of 179 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.960 I call it. It's it's like Asimov's Caves of Steel, which was about 180 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:07.039 a noir story about a cop and a robot partner, mixed with Bosh, 181 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:11.639 which is one of the greatest procedural series ever made, and it's based on 182 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:16.440 Michael Gonnolly's books and that's on Amazon, and then mixed with Lethal Weapon with 183 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.360 that sense of humor of the Buddy Cup thing and lots of action. So 184 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.399 that's kind of what how I described. So that's that's where the ideas came 185 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:26.600 from. Those three things. How do I combine them into a story and 186 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:31.679 tell a story? That's one exam So, you know, idea just come 187 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:35.519 from things I see are here. I just got an idea for a story 188 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:39.200 I'm gonna write next from working with my audiobook narrators and I you know, 189 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:43.320 I want to do a story about audiobook mirrors that are stocked for their voice, 190 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:48.519 you know, crazy fan. Hey you're the guy. Oh you're the 191 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:50.080 other guy. I hate you, that kind of thing, and I think 192 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:58.720 that'll be interesting because you know lots of possibilities. I haven't seen necessarily seen 193 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:01.679 all of them before. I want to get in a moment or two. 194 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:05.279 I want to get because you mentioned robotics and robots, et cetera, and 195 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:11.000 of course that conjures up images today of AI artificial intelligence. I'm gonna get 196 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.960 your thoughts on that in just a minute, but before that, to wrap 197 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:18.519 up, would you say you have a writing process. For example, Kirouac 198 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:24.840 used to go and live clean for totally a week and sleep and be healthy 199 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:28.759 so he could spend days and days on ends drinking, drugging and just writing. 200 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:33.960 That was his process for continuous uh. And there are many other people 201 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.200 that have somewhat eccentric writing processes, and I'm not suggesting that yours is. 202 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:45.039 But do you have a particular process for when you write? Is or a 203 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:48.080 place some people I forget who it was at his own writing cabin in his 204 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:52.840 back jar Martin has to have that. That's one of the guys I know. 205 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:56.159 I know George, and that's that's the thing he's really struggled with. 206 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:58.279 This happened to be in a certain place to be able to write, and 207 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:01.039 he's got a cabin he off and goes off to but he also writes at 208 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:05.559 home. You know, for me, I don't have anything quite I mean, 209 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:11.279 yeah, well, I I sit down at my computer and I reread 210 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.600 the previous day's stuff and tweak it, and then that gets me in the 211 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.840 mode, and then I started writing it. And I usually outline little TV 212 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:20.679 guide outlines of a few scenes ahead of where I am, and I have 213 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:24.399 the basic structure of the three acts story in my head, because I tend 214 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:28.799 to follow the classic three acts said fields paradigm structure in most of what I 215 00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:35.120 write, and so that's kind of my process. But as I get ideas, 216 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:39.320 Like my latest book I'm writing is all about Will Dunlap, mystery about 217 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:43.840 a former missionary kid whose father was murdered in the Philippines. So he left 218 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:48.759 and he went home and he kind of abandoned his mother there and his mother 219 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.559 and his sister. Years later, he's a PI in Kansas City and somebody 220 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:56.200 there comes and pays him money to go back and investigate, you know, 221 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:01.039 a murder that ends up involving the grandfather of his girlfriend. Then his ex 222 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.559 girlfriend's dead, and so he's trying to figure out what's going on. So 223 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:07.559 it's all set in the Philippines. All of that, there was a whole 224 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:09.600 lot of research I've had to do, not only from language but culture. 225 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.720 I happen to have a fiance who's from the Philippines, so that helped. 226 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.240 But I spent time with the police there. I have a police consultant. 227 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:20.720 I have a former council member of the city council that's a kind of a 228 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:24.600 member one of my consultants. And I spent a lot of time reading books 229 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:30.279 about the area and history and all that. So it's a very research heavy. 230 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:33.159 So it really depends if there's a real research heavy thing. Like jork 231 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:37.080 Gut was very research heavy. There's a different process for a different book, 232 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:39.679 but generally, like I said, I write in Scrivener my first draft. 233 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:45.120 Scrivener is a writing software that's twenty five bucks thirty five bucks that everybody can 234 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:50.360 get and I can save everything it's drop box and then access at both on 235 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:52.519 my laptop, my phone, or my iPad. So it's awesome. Wherever 236 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:56.360 I go, I can write, so I'm not one of those guys that 237 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:58.639 has to sit in particular places I can. I can write in the dentist 238 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:02.399 office, I've written a scene for like few minutes and done it. I'm 239 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:07.000 lucky that way, but I just need to be able to shut things off 240 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:11.799 into focus for a little bit. Well, you mentioned robots, robotics, 241 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:17.039 and obviously for any sci fi right, and of course going forward to any 242 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:22.840 kind of thriller might include AI because obviously the potential for harm done by it. 243 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:26.559 But I don't want to put words into your mouth. That's that's never 244 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:32.320 our point here. First of all, what are your feelings in general about 245 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:36.960 artificial intelligence? As a writer? Now we know there are writing programs that 246 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:41.120 can write for you, so somewhat sometimes it takes the human element out of 247 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.960 it. And then, of course within a sci fi thriller or a thriller 248 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:51.240 again like how the robot in two thousand and one, the Terminator series, 249 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:56.960 et cetera, the malevolent artificial intelligence. First, what are your feelings in 250 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:00.519 general about AI? Do you think it's could be a positive thing? And 251 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:03.400 then as a writer and then incorporating that into your work, But first, 252 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:07.079 what are your general feelings about artificial intelligence? Good thing, bad thing, 253 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:12.119 neutral thing. Well, I've always found technology fascinated in general, so I 254 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:17.279 do find artificial technology fascinating of course, going back to my love of robots, 255 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:21.519 which I mentioned earlier. But the thing about this is these are tools. 256 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:25.079 Now you can, yeah, you can get an AI to write you 257 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:27.200 a book, but it's not gonna have the soul and the heart of a 258 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:32.200 human written book because there is no soul at heart behind it. There's a 259 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:37.000 certain element that you cannot recreate. And you know, so in general, 260 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:41.279 people people who think of them as a lazy tool that they can use to 261 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:45.599 get by their own laziness, Well, that's that's misuse of technology. That's 262 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:51.519 not what it really is suited for. And and you know, also you're 263 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:56.720 stealing if you use certain things that have been programmed by certain people's other you 264 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.960 know, data, without their permission. That's a copyright violation. But it's 265 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:06.039 also intellectual property. It's not your own. So you know the problem is 266 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:11.519 you get this book that maybe an amalgamation of all these different writers Stephen King 267 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:17.440 and Peter Klein's and Jonathan Mayberry and who you know, whoever's Jim Butcher, 268 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:21.960 whoever's been programmed in there. The problem is it'll sound kind of like all 269 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:23.880 those but it doesn't really sound like one person. And then when you start 270 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.920 talking to describe your book, it's not going to sound like you either, 271 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:30.759 because you are. It's not your voice. It's some fake voice that an 272 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:34.880 AI created. So I think people have to be very careful. Anybody who 273 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:38.000 thinks that's the way to write a book doesn't really understand the creative process of 274 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:42.279 the role it takes. Even if you did have them AI helped draft a 275 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:45.640 book, you would have to do a lot of work on it to make 276 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.400 it the kind of thing that would hold up with soul and spirit to somebody 277 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:53.160 else. That would be something that would really be your own thing in the 278 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:56.920 sense that people would know, oh, yeah, there's no way this guy 279 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.359 wrote this book when you're having a conversation because you don't it's the phrases or 280 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.440 any of the words, or you don't you know what I mean. I 281 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:06.680 mean, it's like, you know, anybody could use the AI to write 282 00:19:06.680 --> 00:19:10.160 a book, but can they really you know, can they really you know, 283 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:14.279 claim ownership? That's that's the question. So I think ethics is an 284 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.000 issue here. I think it's important that any tool we get there needs to 285 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:21.519 be some kind of understanding of ethics and rules for it. And since this 286 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:26.000 is a technology that is, unlike many others in the past, actually capable 287 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:32.880 of replacing human beings artists in particular. We especially have to be very careful 288 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:34.200 in how we deal with it, because you know, I don't want somebody 289 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:37.559 writing a book but I'm dead in my name and claiming it will use the 290 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:41.400 eye for it and saying it's a Brian Thomas Shimitt book because it won't be. 291 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:45.400 It won't be. And it's the same way if you could recreate Harrison 292 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:48.920 Ford in the context of Indiana Jones and dage him for thirty years, well 293 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:53.319 that's pretty cool when you watch Diala Destiny, But he sure as hell doesn't 294 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:56.960 want a robot doing his all his acting for him by making up images. 295 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:02.680 You know, that's a whole different ball game. And I think so that's 296 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:04.920 but that's a proper use of technology, taking years of footage of him and 297 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.839 used it to help dage him for scenes in a movie so they could tell 298 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.920 a story that goes back in time. That's pretty cool, and that's great 299 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.440 use of it, replacing an actor and just you know, saying we don't 300 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:21.039 have to pay him his multimillion dollars salary. We could just make a Harrison 301 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:22.319 Ford movie. That would be a different ball game, I think, right. 302 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:26.759 I think even with you know, there's people that for example, when 303 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:30.160 they put Carrie Fisher in one of the Star Wars films, and there's some 304 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:33.160 other things too where they've done it with a couple other people I don't remember 305 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:37.519 the names. It's always been a real actor actually acting on the scene with 306 00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:41.680 the other actors, and then they kind of modified the voice and the face 307 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:48.279 and embody a little bit with the technology. So there's still a human involved 308 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:52.119 to give it the inflection and all of that. So I think it's important 309 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:56.880 to remember that the successful incarnations of it still involved human beings very much. 310 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:00.480 Well, you know. Again, before we go to the break, one 311 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:04.440 more thing I want to deal with a little bit is the process of editing. 312 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:11.000 Uh and uh, you know, because it's also part of the reality 313 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.480 of things boiling down to their essential. And I know that's an important process 314 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:18.640 for you because you're not only write, you edit as well, and quite 315 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:26.119 a bit anthologies and other people's works. Why why is editing important and in 316 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:30.039 particular for you, What I think people need to understand editing is more than 317 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:36.799 just shortening something. It's it's funny, but please, why didn't you explain 318 00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:42.480 no nose just to lead you into that question? Please do it? Yeah? 319 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:45.880 Well, I you know, for me, first of all, the 320 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:48.720 reason I got into editing is because I like helping other people be successful, 321 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:53.480 and I saw an opportunity for me to work alongside some of my heroes and 322 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:56.960 anthologies and some of the writing people that I admire, like Robert Silverberg, 323 00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:00.680 who I just go edit to Robots anthology, who's a grand master in a 324 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:04.400 legend, And you know, Kevin j Anderson, Jonathan Maybe There's a whole 325 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:08.880 long list of people that I've worked with. I worked with Let's see who 326 00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:12.279 else, Robin Hobb, a bunch of different people. Anyway, the point 327 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:15.640 is the chance to work with these great people and learn from him at the 328 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:21.039 same time contributing by helping them clean things up a little bit, but also 329 00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:27.759 examining story and helping them tell new stories and help young writers who haven't had 330 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:32.440 that kind of exposure get big exposure, but also be able to have bragging 331 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:34.279 rights to say that I was in a book with you know, I don't 332 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:38.039 know, Orson, Scott Carter, Jonathan Mayberry, whoever, George R. 333 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:41.920 Martin, whoever it is they admire. That was pretty cool, and that 334 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:45.160 was helping people. So that audience from all those big name people bleeds in 335 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:48.880 and reads the stories by the people who are lesser known, and those people 336 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:52.720 start building a fan base of their own. So that's where I got into 337 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:56.680 editing. Okay, so first, the first thing about editing is true. 338 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:04.119 Editing at its heart is helping other people to express themselves better, helping them 339 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.960 tell whatever they're doing, to write whatever they're doing in the best possible way. 340 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.759 So that's the philosophy behind it. I think. I think the thing 341 00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:15.640 about you have to learn. I'm a lot of people, especially starting out, 342 00:23:15.079 --> 00:23:21.400 will rewrite instead of edit. There's a big difference, and that's where 343 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:25.480 you start walking on somebody's voice and you start changing thing. I will do 344 00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:27.359 some of that when I need to show somebody a concept, but I always 345 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:30.200 say, look, if this doesn't sound like you, take it and make 346 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.519 it your own, rewrite it, make it in your voice. But this 347 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:37.839 is the kind of thing I'm trying to do. It's very important to have 348 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:41.440 that sensitivity and make that clear to your clients as well, so that you 349 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:45.599 know they know that you know. Sometimes you just can't explain it without showing, 350 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:48.400 you know. It's the same thing with show versus tell, which is 351 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:52.519 one of the classic things that people talk about in writing craft. Sometimes you 352 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:56.720 have to demonstrate it for somebody right there, for them to really grasp what 353 00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:00.559 you're talking about, rather than just telling them about out it. So you 354 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:03.799 have to have use good judgment about when to do that and when not too. 355 00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:07.759 So there's all of these kind of questions, a lot of nuance to 356 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:12.279 the editing that I think is involved too. My guest is best selling author 357 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:19.160 Brian Thomas Schmidt is new work shortcut adjacent Max Thriller. We're going to continue 358 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:26.079 speaking with Brian. Here a little bit an audio clip from the book, 359 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:30.279 which is in the process of being made into a film. So we have 360 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:32.960 so much more of that. On being Frank, We're the only way to 361 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.440 be is Frank. I'm your host. Frank Labono will be back with so 362 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:40.079 much more right after these brief commercial messages. Don't go away yet. This 363 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:44.839 is a great show. Stay with us Hudson River Radio dot com. Bring 364 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.720 a dash of Green into your life. Check out The Many Shades of Green 365 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:53.240 with Maxine, Margot Reuben, and Malcolm Berman. Get informed about environmental issues 366 00:24:53.319 --> 00:24:57.680 and current events that affect us all. Pick a shade of green and raise 367 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:04.079 your eco consciousness with the many shades of green available on Apple Podcasts, iHeart, 368 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:11.000 Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You ought to be in movies, 369 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:17.160 well, at least you should watch movies. The silver Screen Podcast talks 370 00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:22.640 about all aspects of film and entertainment, current films, old films, how 371 00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:27.519 movies are made, and interviews with moviemakers, authors and musicians too. Check 372 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:33.960 out the silver Screen Podcast at Hudson River Radio dot com or wherever you get 373 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:49.559 your podcasts and go watch a movie Hudson River Radio dot com. An epic 374 00:25:49.680 --> 00:26:00.720 love story taken across space and time. Can he find her? He'll do 375 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:11.640 anything to get her back, even across the stars. Shortcut an adventure You'll 376 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:23.559 never forget. Well, that was a bit of an audio clip from Shortcut, 377 00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:29.839 a Jason Max thriller from our guest tonight, best selling author Brian Thomas 378 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:33.119 Schmidt. Welcome back, Ryan, Welcome back to everyone. This is being 379 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:36.759 Frank. I'm your host, Frank Lebono, and we're discussing Shortcut, or 380 00:26:36.759 --> 00:26:40.319 we're about to in some detail. Now we learned a little bit more about 381 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:44.200 its author, Brian Thomas Schmidt. Now let's learn a little bit more about 382 00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:48.480 Shortcut its characters. It's plot, et cetera. Okay, this makes my 383 00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:53.039 job easy. Tell us about at our Shortcut. It reminds me of the 384 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:56.079 old I don't know if you remember if you were a fan of the old 385 00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:04.559 odd couple thing. And when what's his name? The sloppy guy was had 386 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:08.039 to play himself as a reporter, and he puts his leg up and says, 387 00:27:08.279 --> 00:27:11.839 so tell us about your career, Slugger, And that's how the interview 388 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:15.799 begins. So tell us about your career, Slugger. So tell us about 389 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:19.039 Shortcut? What what? What? What is the plot? We got some 390 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:22.599 of it from the trailer, but give us a little bit more detail. 391 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:29.400 What can people expect from Shortcut? Originated and the original character was Jason Finale. 392 00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:32.960 I asked him to change the name because I thought final was kind of 393 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:36.880 a strange name for a character. Jason Max sounded a little bit cooler with 394 00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:41.960 two exes, you know, just for just for kicks. But Hunt Lowry, 395 00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:44.640 who is a producer in Hollywood. He's done a lot of movies. 396 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:48.079 A walk to remember he's done A Time to Kill, he's done Donnie Darko 397 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:53.839 and he's done you know, worked with Bruce Willis Yahya the movie Ya Sisterhood 398 00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:57.240 that was out. He did. He's done a lot of cool stuff. 399 00:27:57.319 --> 00:28:03.400 And Hut had an idea for a story about a mathematician who's married to an 400 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:07.400 astronaut and they're like, you know, perfect partners, lifelong beloved, and 401 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:14.000 he comes up with a theory, a math equation for how do use space 402 00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:22.480 travel in shorter go shorter increments and come across the galaxy to much faster like 403 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:26.200 in our own solar system, changing the time frames right now, going to 404 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:29.759 Mars, they're talking about years, all right, what if you could get 405 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:33.000 there in a few hours, Well if you could get there in minutes. 406 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.960 So that was kind of the idea. And something happens to his wife and 407 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.440 he doesn't know what, but he believes she's still alive, and he sets 408 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:47.160 out to perfect his formula and find a way to get her and bring her 409 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:52.839 back wherever she is, whatever it takes. That's the basic premise. So 410 00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:57.359 we brought in a science guy who I call my personal Sheldon. His name 411 00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:03.200 is Jonathan Mdashi, and he works some kind of a major secret technology place. 412 00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:07.680 I don't know if it's a defense contractor I honestly don't know because he's 413 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:10.559 not allowed to tell me. But anyway, he's a very smart, very 414 00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:15.440 nice kid, probably in his late twenties when I met him, and we 415 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:18.519 spent months working together, and he would write me these scientific papers every day 416 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:22.759 and start with real science and say, here's the here's the problem you posed 417 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:26.720 in the plot, Here's here's where the real science is. Here's where I'm 418 00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:30.599 going to posit possibilities for the future. And we ended up with his help 419 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:36.839 and the help of a guy that Hunt had hired who actually works at cal 420 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.480 Tech, I believe, and he is the author of some books. He's 421 00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:44.880 worked with people like Carl Sagan. I'm trying to look up his name because 422 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.480 I'm forgetting what his name is. It's in the book. But Lewis Friedman, 423 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:53.519 Lewis Friedman said, why don't you look at polaritons. Polaritons are microparticles, 424 00:29:53.960 --> 00:29:57.519 and there's a lot of research with polariton lasers. And basically the concept 425 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:02.519 is you'll actually see a drawing in the book of what it looks like. 426 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:06.599 There's the scene breaks are all these little things. But basically you take two 427 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:11.839 particles and you can move displace matter and move an object across space. So 428 00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:18.119 basically, if you find a blank area of space, you take that blank 429 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:21.759 matter of the same amount and you move the ship and all of its contents 430 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:25.720 to replace that and put that back where the ship came from. And that's 431 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:30.640 what a shortcut is. And it's basically kind of a difference between the usual 432 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:37.160 hyperspace travel that you see, or even the travel of things like the Transporter 433 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:42.000 and Star Trek that we've seen that everybody loves, whereas in this case literally 434 00:30:42.039 --> 00:30:45.920 I mean so in seconds you can move from boom boom. It's like almost 435 00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:49.960 like a hyper jump, but in order to get to long distances they have 436 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:56.319 to execute a series of jumps to get there. And so you were you 437 00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:59.160 were you mentioned to be when we were first talking before I came on the 438 00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:02.519 show about the AI in the book. The part of the AI is part 439 00:31:02.519 --> 00:31:11.960 of that technology and shortcut, where there's a rapid response system that basically r 440 00:31:12.119 --> 00:31:18.240 RCS Rapid reaction control system I believe is what it's called. Anyway, the 441 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:22.920 point is because of the fact that you're having to do these calculations, which 442 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:27.920 are math calculations and jump to all these different places even though they're pre planned 443 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:33.200 for, Like NASA. Jason Max works with NASA even though there's a bit 444 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:37.799 of pre planning on it. You need a ship that can immediately react even 445 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:42.519 faster than humans can to changes in data, to what if there's a solar 446 00:31:42.519 --> 00:31:45.200 storm there, there's any number of issues and they have to reroute or they 447 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:49.599 have to move the ship quickly or whatever. And so that's AI does that 448 00:31:49.640 --> 00:31:53.000 to help, you know, help and the humans can of course take control 449 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:56.920 at anytime and can countermand the moves and whatever, but the AI is there 450 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.039 to kind of help, you know, them avoid of idiot problems before they 451 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:04.000 even realize they have a problem, that kind of thing. So there's that's 452 00:32:04.039 --> 00:32:08.079 the concept of shortcut that the book is based on. And basically we start 453 00:32:08.119 --> 00:32:14.200 out with Jason and NASA is doing its first test of shortcut with human beings 454 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:17.519 and there's some kind of issue that comes up. So he's feeling defeated because 455 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:21.599 you know, he thought he had everything perfected. He doesn't know what's going 456 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:25.880 on, but he ends up retreating. He gets in conflict with some of 457 00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:30.680 the NASA people about it, and and they suggest that he go off and 458 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:34.680 work at Caltech for a while with some old friends of his and try to 459 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:37.200 figure out the problem. So he goes to Caltech, moves his family from 460 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:45.880 Houston across the country to Pasadena, and a few days months I don't remember 461 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:49.480 the time frame off the top of my head, but at some point after 462 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:52.799 the move I think it's a few months, he's with his wife out on 463 00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:57.960 a date night. They're in the park and there's a there's a group of 464 00:32:58.759 --> 00:33:01.680 people there that maybe gang members. They don't know, but they kind of 465 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:07.960 have similar outfits, and they end up getting an argument, and then his 466 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:10.759 wife just like disappears. There's a flash of light and she's gone. Doesn't 467 00:33:10.839 --> 00:33:15.519 know what's going on, and he's knocked unconscious right about the same time from 468 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:20.160 the fighting, so she's disappeared. He doesn't know exactly what happened to her, 469 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:22.759 but when he wakes up in the hospital a couple of weeks later, 470 00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:24.920 he's determined to find her. I got to find her, you know, 471 00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:29.319 she's a love of my life. I would know if she's dead, and 472 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:31.720 I can feel her. She's alive somewhere. How do we find her. 473 00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:38.359 So there's this whole police investigation going on about you know, okay, he 474 00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:43.240 did the gang people kidnap or did these people kidnap? What's going on? 475 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:47.119 And then Jason's doing his own thing, trying to figure out with forensic evidence 476 00:33:47.160 --> 00:33:53.039 and other things, what happened to his wife and get Laura and bring her 477 00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:57.400 back. Laura Max as his wife. She's a former astronaut. She was 478 00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:01.119 a Space Shuttle astronaut. Now she's teaching and training new astronauts at NASA. 479 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:07.200 She's also a laser expert, so she helped him perfect the original Polerton laser 480 00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:12.159 experiment that got him shortcut and made it work. And so he's, you 481 00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:14.719 know, in the meantime, he's trying to take care of their daughter, 482 00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:19.440 Heather, and figure all this out and you know, coming up, whatever 483 00:34:19.480 --> 00:34:24.119 it takes, he's going to do it. So and you know, if 484 00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:29.000 you're trying to make anything move fast, you're run into a lot of issues 485 00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:32.559 when it comes to space travel and also just the whole there's a whole government 486 00:34:32.599 --> 00:34:35.760 oversight and all this stuff you have to deal well. So he has to 487 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:38.599 struggle against all of that and try to, you know, get people to 488 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:43.679 understand the urgency for him, and that's what the story is about, and 489 00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:49.239 it's it's it's basically about one man who's not perfect trying to figure out how 490 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:53.480 to save the most important person in his life, and along the way he 491 00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:58.840 realizes he can't do it alone. That's what I want to bring up. 492 00:34:58.840 --> 00:35:02.440 That's kind of on this surface, obviously, But what would just say is 493 00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:08.000 if people would read between the lines, there are some more of a subliminal 494 00:35:08.039 --> 00:35:15.320 message. Obviously there's antagonist protagonist, but often authors like to put something a 495 00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:21.679 little message between what's obvious. Is there such a thing there? And well 496 00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:23.440 that I just gave you that Actually at the end of what I was saying 497 00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:27.960 that that's what I was hitting at was the message. The message is that 498 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:30.679 Jason is kind of a he's a genius, he's a leader. He's used 499 00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:34.360 to pushing the boundaries, so he's used to kind of going out on his 500 00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:42.000 own and doing all of these things. Jason basically is used to kind of 501 00:35:42.039 --> 00:35:45.199 just having people. He's the genius. He tells you what to do and 502 00:35:45.239 --> 00:35:50.199 you do it. And he finds that to accomplish the mission of getting Laura 503 00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:52.000 back, he's got to rely on a whole lot of people, and that's 504 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:55.679 not easy for him, and so that's a source of conflict him with other 505 00:35:55.719 --> 00:36:00.000 people and different things. But along the way, a whole team comes to 506 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.079 surround him of people, and by the end of the book he realizes that, 507 00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:06.239 you know what, I got her back, but I didn't get her 508 00:36:06.280 --> 00:36:07.519 back alone. I got her back because of all of you, and we 509 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:12.559 are all part of humanity. And there's a lot of things that happen in 510 00:36:12.599 --> 00:36:16.679 the story that point to a higher importance and higher mission and so you know, 511 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:21.320 all of it ends up, you know, being about more than just 512 00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:24.360 Jason and Laura. It's about something else. So there's there's there's a lot 513 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:30.440 of elements to that, and they end up encountering there's a first encounter element 514 00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:31.480 to the story. I don't want to give too much away, but there's 515 00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:36.559 the first encounter element to the story and some different things, and he does 516 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:39.119 go into space. I always tell people it is kind of like The Martian 517 00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:44.840 a little bit in reverse, because most of the story takes place on Earth 518 00:36:45.719 --> 00:36:49.360 before we actually go into space, and then in the end we actually do 519 00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:54.920 go into space and end up, you know, with him rescuing her. 520 00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:59.800 The whole third act is basically in space, so before that is a lot 521 00:36:59.800 --> 00:37:01.360 of wrapped them figuring it out and all that, and that's where the math 522 00:37:01.400 --> 00:37:07.760 comes in. There's there's real math in the story. There's only really three 523 00:37:07.960 --> 00:37:10.679 three pages in the entire is four hundred sixty six page book that have equations, 524 00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:14.639 but that scares people out. It's written in such a way that the 525 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:16.039 math is there. So if you know math and you enjoy math, you 526 00:37:16.039 --> 00:37:20.320 can use the math and read the math and nippo the math, but the 527 00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:23.039 math is not essential to your understanding of the story. So hopefully people can 528 00:37:23.320 --> 00:37:28.119 see the math and the science and it's it's it's part of it and it's 529 00:37:28.239 --> 00:37:30.559 real, but it's it's written in such a way that you can understand and 530 00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:34.920 and and grasp what's going on. At the same time that was gonna be 531 00:37:34.920 --> 00:37:37.559 my mess. My next question. You don't necessarily have to be a math 532 00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:42.280 geech, if you will give the term. But to be able to appreciate 533 00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:45.400 the novel, you don't have to be a tech head, et cetera. 534 00:37:45.719 --> 00:37:50.320 Obviously there are other people can find things that it beyond just the strength of 535 00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:52.280 the technology. Well, I hope, I hope so, I mean, 536 00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:57.760 I was the first editor for Andy Weir, like twenty thirteen when he was 537 00:37:57.800 --> 00:38:00.519 recommended from a friend of his that I was his editor for The Martian. 538 00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:06.679 And the number one thing that was good for me to edit it is because 539 00:38:06.679 --> 00:38:08.760 I don't have the science and math knowledge that Andy does, and he's very, 540 00:38:08.840 --> 00:38:13.000 very smart about these things. He's he's kind of a computer tech guy 541 00:38:13.840 --> 00:38:19.800 and very much a space enthusiast, and so Andy understood all that stuff. 542 00:38:19.880 --> 00:38:22.239 Well, I was like, Okay, what does this mean. Well, 543 00:38:22.280 --> 00:38:24.599 everybody knows what that means. I'm like, well, to me, this 544 00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:29.000 means this and this and this. Well, no, that's not what it 545 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:30.400 means. These are scientific terms. I'm like, yeah, but you want 546 00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:32.760 to appeal to a bigger audience, you got to make it accessible. So 547 00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:36.840 I spent a lot of time working with him on that, and that was 548 00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:40.119 part of the lesson that I took writing Shortcut. We spent a lot of 549 00:38:40.119 --> 00:38:45.519 extra time making sure that it was accessible. Hunt and Patty, who worked 550 00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:49.519 with me at Rose Rock Films, don't really have that background either, so 551 00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:52.519 if they couldn't understand it, it had to be written. So there was 552 00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:54.599 a lot of that, and so that's why I worked with Jonathan. He 553 00:38:54.599 --> 00:38:58.000 would give it to me in science and I try to explain it, and 554 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:00.880 if I mis explained it, he would help me fix it. There was 555 00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:02.920 a lot of that work into it. So hopefully, yeah, hopefully, 556 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:06.559 like you said, it pays off and people don't have to have that science 557 00:39:06.599 --> 00:39:08.719 background and can really enjoy it. I think the uh, they'll enjoy the 558 00:39:08.760 --> 00:39:13.440 fact that it feels more real because it's there, but it doesn't get in 559 00:39:13.480 --> 00:39:17.000 the way of enjoying the story. Hey, no, it's the possibility of 560 00:39:17.320 --> 00:39:24.760 it being made into a film that that given a little extra to you. 561 00:39:25.199 --> 00:39:30.280 The fact that it's it's being optioned for a film. That does that change 562 00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:34.559 your attitude towards the Pick book? Will it always be a novel? First? 563 00:39:34.599 --> 00:39:38.360 For you? If you see Driving when Hunt? When Hunt created it, 564 00:39:38.440 --> 00:39:43.239 he created several characters that are kind of the two main characters Heather and 565 00:39:43.920 --> 00:39:46.960 I mean, excuse me, Laura and Jason, and a few supporting characters. 566 00:39:47.400 --> 00:39:51.880 And he really had the first half of what would be a movie or 567 00:39:51.920 --> 00:39:55.039 a novel. He had kind of Act one and part of act two. 568 00:39:55.440 --> 00:39:58.960 The rest of it, he had no idea what was going to happen, 569 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:04.599 so and I came in. I ended up figuring out most of Act three 570 00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:07.920 myself, but we kind of worked together to figure out the rest of it, 571 00:40:09.079 --> 00:40:15.360 at least Act two, and and I of course created supporting characters and 572 00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:20.079 all that. But his original intention was to make a movie, but he 573 00:40:20.119 --> 00:40:23.360 wanted to develop the property first, and for whatever reason, felt that book 574 00:40:23.360 --> 00:40:28.000 properties are easier to sell. So he wanted to have a book that he 575 00:40:28.039 --> 00:40:30.840 could point to to the studio and say, look, it's worth making because 576 00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:35.480 the story works. So he brought me in through my agent because I had 577 00:40:35.599 --> 00:40:39.000 edited the Martian U probably thinking I was some kind of math or science genius, 578 00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:45.079 but he got a surprise and U. And then we did a lot 579 00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:47.159 of meetings, you know, a lot of zoom meetings, a lot of 580 00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:52.480 phone calls, and then eventually I went out to la and met in the 581 00:40:52.519 --> 00:40:55.760 Warner Brothers studios where he has offices and different things and all of that. 582 00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:00.360 And I, you know, I also went out there because one part of 583 00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:04.000 my process, he asked me about my process earlier, especially with Near Future, 584 00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:07.360 is I actually go to as many locations as I can so I can 585 00:41:07.599 --> 00:41:10.840 represent it well. And then I sit there and I take pick lots of 586 00:41:10.840 --> 00:41:15.199 pictures and a little recording, and I make note of all the things I 587 00:41:15.239 --> 00:41:19.760 see here, taste, touch, feel, all of that, so that 588 00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:22.679 I can use that so that when when I write about a location like cal 589 00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:28.639 Tech or Johnson Space Center, both both of which I visited, but in 590 00:41:28.760 --> 00:41:32.599 writing this book, I can actually evoke a sense of being there because I've 591 00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:37.079 actually been there, as opposed to just manufacturing what it might be like. 592 00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:40.679 So that was a big part of my process as well that we did. 593 00:41:40.760 --> 00:41:45.360 And then you know, we actually worked on this story for two or three 594 00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:50.719 years before COVID, and unfortunately, for various issues, it sat all during 595 00:41:50.800 --> 00:41:54.559 COVID. So I came back to it after COVID and spent some time just 596 00:41:54.599 --> 00:41:58.159 bringing it up to date and all of that. And now here we are, 597 00:41:58.400 --> 00:42:01.159 and so hopefully it's going to get made into a movie. Everything's on 598 00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:05.719 hold because of the strike right now, which you know we know in large 599 00:42:05.719 --> 00:42:08.880 parties about AI among other things. So once that gets resolved, they'll be 600 00:42:08.920 --> 00:42:14.639 able to make some decisions. But you know, hopefully by then the book 601 00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:16.400 will be successful. We're hoping. We're having a lot of good buzz about 602 00:42:16.440 --> 00:42:20.400 the book, and a lot of people excited about it. So hopefully by 603 00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:22.960 the time it actually comes, you know, comes to that point, he'll 604 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:28.400 have real you know, real buzz to take to the studio and it'll get 605 00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:30.960 made. But if it doesn't, I own all the publishing rights, he 606 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:35.599 owns all the film rights, and uh and you know, even though we 607 00:42:35.639 --> 00:42:37.239 both get kind of a cut if it gets made into a film, the 608 00:42:37.280 --> 00:42:43.039 fact is that that's his problem. This is my problem. I don't know. 609 00:42:43.119 --> 00:42:45.239 I don't mean to. I mean, I consult with Hunt a lot 610 00:42:45.360 --> 00:42:49.639 about what I'm doing and let him know. It's not like I shut him 611 00:42:49.639 --> 00:42:52.960 out, but this is what this is my area of expertise, that's his. 612 00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:55.760 So he kind of does that and I do this. Now you mentioned 613 00:42:55.760 --> 00:43:01.679 the Martian kind of offbeat. It's a strangely successful film, and I think 614 00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:07.960 it was more successful than people had anticipated it would be. H yeah, 615 00:43:07.039 --> 00:43:09.920 about a man's strang People always asked me, people always ask me, you 616 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:13.119 bet it to the Martian? Did you know it was genius? And I'm 617 00:43:13.159 --> 00:43:15.679 like, no, I thought it was a pretty decent first novel, but 618 00:43:15.719 --> 00:43:19.519 there were problems with it and it didn't blow. It didn't make me say 619 00:43:19.559 --> 00:43:22.360 it was that. You know, this I didn't know it's gonna be international 620 00:43:22.360 --> 00:43:24.400 phenomenon by any means. I thought it might be okay, people, some 621 00:43:24.440 --> 00:43:28.519 people will really get into this, but boy, it really took off. 622 00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:30.119 I mean it just was the right time, the right thing at the right 623 00:43:30.159 --> 00:43:37.719 time, so, you know, and honestly, honestly there the reason they 624 00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:39.880 hired me was because they figured I had knowledge how to use real science and 625 00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:45.119 real math and tell a good story. It wasn't it wasn't necessarily trying to 626 00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:49.360 be a sequel to The Martian or The Martian or anything like that, but 627 00:43:49.559 --> 00:43:52.400 it just happens to tie in well with that audience, I think. So 628 00:43:52.440 --> 00:43:54.880 it's it's that's good in one way. Well, what do you think was 629 00:43:54.920 --> 00:44:00.599 the key to making The Martian is success? And it was it was critical 630 00:44:00.639 --> 00:44:06.880 success and some box office and we lived again on what success did you see 631 00:44:06.920 --> 00:44:09.639 there that you hope you can find it in a shortcut as well. Well. 632 00:44:09.760 --> 00:44:14.599 One thing that was really cool is that he made science and math cool, 633 00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:16.400 yes, which I hope we do too. I mean, you know, 634 00:44:17.400 --> 00:44:21.880 Mark Wattony would say, I'm going to science the blank out of it, 635 00:44:22.199 --> 00:44:23.320 and that's what I'm going to solve the problem, right, and he 636 00:44:23.360 --> 00:44:27.480 would, but he would do all these really cool things that a lot of 637 00:44:27.519 --> 00:44:30.800 times you'd think. I didn't realize science could do that. And I think 638 00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:34.480 what we're doing with our story is we're showing you things math can do that 639 00:44:34.519 --> 00:44:37.119 you might never know. I mean, math really is, as Jason says 640 00:44:37.159 --> 00:44:40.039 at one point, the you know, it's the language of the universe, 641 00:44:40.400 --> 00:44:46.039 and he likes being part of the dialogue that writes the universe. It can 642 00:44:46.119 --> 00:44:51.800 literally solve any problem that you come up with. There's a mathematical element to 643 00:44:51.840 --> 00:44:55.280 the solution. And so we're going to show you some things about math that 644 00:44:55.320 --> 00:44:58.960 maybe you didn't know before that are pretty cool. And I think that's kind 645 00:44:58.960 --> 00:45:01.199 of what we're doing. I hope people like that as much as they liked 646 00:45:01.320 --> 00:45:05.320 in The Martian. But the other thing is there's a great sense of humor 647 00:45:05.519 --> 00:45:07.599 in that character. One of the things I struggled with in this was to 648 00:45:07.880 --> 00:45:13.519 find a sense of humor in Jason, and I think we got I think 649 00:45:13.559 --> 00:45:15.280 we got it to some degree, but not it's not nearly as much. 650 00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:21.880 You know, Mark Wattony was a natural smart ass. Jason could be that 651 00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:23.960 because he needed other people so much and he had to work with other people, 652 00:45:24.400 --> 00:45:28.840 so there's a slightly different personality to him. But yeah, Mark Watton, 653 00:45:28.840 --> 00:45:30.599 he was always making smart ass remarks and and there was a lot of 654 00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:34.840 fun to that. And uh, you know when he examines all the belongings 655 00:45:34.840 --> 00:45:37.639 of his companions, who are who are gone? You know, and it's 656 00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:39.440 funny, like, how the hell is so and so listened to this music, 657 00:45:39.920 --> 00:45:44.440 but she's got a whole bunch of begs or something? What is this? 658 00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:47.920 You know? Yeah, yeah, there was a wid about it, 659 00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:53.960 and he became yeah, yeah, exactly. You just rooted for him. 660 00:45:53.960 --> 00:45:57.280 But I think, you know, everybody tells me that Jason is somebody really 661 00:45:57.320 --> 00:46:01.679 root for to all the characters and and and that's good too, and I 662 00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:07.320 think that so I guess I'm kind of wandering around here. But the reality 663 00:46:07.400 --> 00:46:09.480 is, to answer your question, it's complicated. But at the at the 664 00:46:09.519 --> 00:46:14.960 fundamental basis level, he created a character that you wanted to see when and 665 00:46:15.079 --> 00:46:19.199 that's what made that story work. You like spending time with Mark Wattney, 666 00:46:19.440 --> 00:46:22.599 You liked being in a room with him, and you cared about what he 667 00:46:22.679 --> 00:46:27.280 cared about because he was a normal, seemingly normal, decent guy who had 668 00:46:27.320 --> 00:46:30.599 problems that you can relate to. That's what made the martial work and that's 669 00:46:30.599 --> 00:46:32.119 what I'm hoping we'll work with Jason, even though he's the math genius and 670 00:46:32.159 --> 00:46:36.079 he has some other skills, is that people see at the same time, 671 00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:38.800 he's a guy who loves his wife, who needs his wife, who loves 672 00:46:38.800 --> 00:46:43.079 his kid, and he'll do anything to keep his family safe. And I 673 00:46:43.119 --> 00:46:49.159 think everybody can relate to that. The book shortcut of Jason Max Thriller with 674 00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:53.239 his author Brian Thomas Schmidt. Where can people I know it's out on Amazon's 675 00:46:53.320 --> 00:46:58.239 available now? Can you get to see information? Where can people get the 676 00:46:58.280 --> 00:47:01.880 book? Well, you can order it through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, 677 00:47:02.519 --> 00:47:07.039 Kendall, even your local bookstore. You can order it because it's it's widely 678 00:47:07.119 --> 00:47:13.000 distributed through that. Also, it's out on audiobook a month later. It 679 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:15.840 comes out September fifteenth, it's actual the release date, so right now it's 680 00:47:15.840 --> 00:47:19.760 on pre orders, but it'll be out in a couple of weeks from now. 681 00:47:20.199 --> 00:47:22.559 You can actually get your copies and then if you want to order the 682 00:47:22.599 --> 00:47:24.519 audio book, you can pre order, but that's not actually released until the 683 00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:30.360 seventeenth because we just finished recording it like yesterday. So Stefan rod Nikki is 684 00:47:30.400 --> 00:47:34.480 going to do that. Yeah, he's he's a really great narrator who's won 685 00:47:34.559 --> 00:47:38.239 a lot of Audies and Golden Voice and Hugos for his audio book work. 686 00:47:38.280 --> 00:47:43.119 And he's been doing this since like since we didn't even know their audiobooks like 687 00:47:43.159 --> 00:47:45.880 in the eighties. I mean he's he's been doing this forever. He's a 688 00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:50.960 pioneer in the field, and so so audios. Also, the pre orders 689 00:47:50.960 --> 00:47:53.480 are now available for that as well. So I think it'll be any format 690 00:47:53.519 --> 00:47:57.280 you want, anywhere you want to get it. You can find it, 691 00:47:57.559 --> 00:47:59.920 and I hope you'll go out just look, go out, look literally for 692 00:48:00.480 --> 00:48:05.679 shortcut a Jason Max two X thriller, and you can find it anywhere. 693 00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:08.079 What do you hear about the film? And he talk about it and he 694 00:48:09.239 --> 00:48:14.199 anybody cast yet for Jason or Laura any word on? No, No, 695 00:48:14.239 --> 00:48:17.920 it's too it's too early for all that. Uh. When when the strike 696 00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:21.880 is over, they'll try to attach people. I mean we we we batted 697 00:48:21.920 --> 00:48:25.159 some names around. I tell you who would you like to see and you 698 00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:30.800 created the characters. There's someone in mind that you think would be best suited 699 00:48:30.840 --> 00:48:35.679 to play that character well for me. When I wrote it, I was 700 00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:37.920 picturing, Oh now, why am I blanking on his last name? The 701 00:48:38.000 --> 00:48:45.480 guy in Barbie? Ryan, Uh Gosh Gosling? Ryan, Yes, sorry, 702 00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:47.039 sorry, Ryan, I remember, I remember from Barbie. Didn't see 703 00:48:47.039 --> 00:48:50.079 the movie, but I remember, yes, well, I like I like 704 00:48:50.280 --> 00:48:52.320 Ryan Gosling from the Notebook. I've liked him from the Notebook and a lot 705 00:48:52.320 --> 00:48:55.840 of other things, and the Notebook as well my favorite romantic movies. But 706 00:48:55.920 --> 00:49:00.840 he was in he was great, and and Laura in The Real Girl, 707 00:49:00.960 --> 00:49:04.480 which is a really unique, fun little story, And he's been done a 708 00:49:04.480 --> 00:49:07.960 lot of stuff, and I've always thought Ryan Gosling was kind of the He 709 00:49:08.039 --> 00:49:12.599 had the perfect combination of geek and macho that he could play somebody like Jason 710 00:49:12.679 --> 00:49:15.440 really well. But also my old an old friend of mine I worked with 711 00:49:15.519 --> 00:49:17.480 name. He's probably a little old for it made me. But Gerard Butler 712 00:49:17.519 --> 00:49:21.119 would be really good in this role too. He's got that element of it. 713 00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:24.320 Uh So, I don't know. I mean, whoever they get, 714 00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:28.440 obviously, I'm sure will be great at it. They might come up with 715 00:49:28.440 --> 00:49:30.440 somebody that we you know, it's new and up and coming, that we've 716 00:49:30.440 --> 00:49:36.679 never heard of. Who knows. For the Jason's Maid sidekick is a guy 717 00:49:36.760 --> 00:49:38.559 named Peter Etz, and he's a character I created that works with him in 718 00:49:38.719 --> 00:49:45.360 Nasson Caltech. Peter Ets to me has always been always been Sheldon, So 719 00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:50.440 he's always been you know, Jim. Why am I blanking on all my 720 00:49:50.480 --> 00:49:54.480 Hollywood names tonight, UK? Anyway, you know Jim Parsons, Jim Parsons, 721 00:49:54.519 --> 00:49:58.760 I'm sorry, Jim Parsons. Yes. And the funny thing is the 722 00:49:58.840 --> 00:50:02.000 really cool thing actually I call I told you guys. I called my scientific 723 00:50:02.079 --> 00:50:08.280 consultant personal Sheldon as a reward. He'd never been to a TV show taping, 724 00:50:08.679 --> 00:50:12.960 and so at Warner Brothers when we were there, they took him on 725 00:50:13.039 --> 00:50:15.199 a tour of the studio and they got us tickets to one of the last 726 00:50:15.280 --> 00:50:19.360 episodes taping of The Big Bang Theory, so we actually got to see that. 727 00:50:19.440 --> 00:50:22.400 So that was a pretty cool, like sympatical thing. So anyway, 728 00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:25.559 very cool. That's where you can get it. Go find it, and 729 00:50:25.960 --> 00:50:29.360 you know, check out the book trailer two. It's out on YouTube and 730 00:50:29.480 --> 00:50:32.559 you can find it on my Facebook and everywhere and you know social media. 731 00:50:32.800 --> 00:50:37.400 The book is shortcut a Jason Max thriller. We'd like to thank our guests 732 00:50:37.760 --> 00:50:43.679 Brian Thomas Smith for his most intelligent conversation, and of course we give to 733 00:50:43.760 --> 00:50:45.559 our listeners who take the time to give us a voice in their lives. 734 00:50:45.880 --> 00:50:50.400 Remember we offer a fresh topic every week. Check us out on the Hudson 735 00:50:50.480 --> 00:50:54.159 River Radio Facebook page. Leave us a comment too. We'd also like that 736 00:50:54.199 --> 00:50:59.599 you like you to consider sharing Being Franklin others. Of course, at the 737 00:50:59.679 --> 00:51:02.440 end of I'd like to leave you a couple of last nuggets, one of 738 00:51:02.440 --> 00:51:07.199 them that I'm sure Brian will appreciate from Dorothy Parker. I share it with 739 00:51:07.239 --> 00:51:12.400 my students all the time. And Fordham when she said I hate writing, 740 00:51:12.679 --> 00:51:16.840 I love having written writing his heart folks, believe me. I think Brian 741 00:51:17.159 --> 00:51:21.440 would agree with that. We like afterwards you like to say I'm a writer 742 00:51:21.519 --> 00:51:24.679 of a boy. It's pretty hard to do because we've got to some music 743 00:51:24.800 --> 00:51:30.280 from Joe Derso from his new album Thurman, A tribute to Thurman Munson. 744 00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:35.320 So long as Taken by Storm, you've been watching Being Frank, We're the 745 00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:38.920 only way to me is Frank. We'd like to call it intelligent conversation. 746 00:51:39.320 --> 00:51:43.920 We hope you think so too. We hope to see you next Thursday. 747 00:51:43.920 --> 00:51:46.880 I'm your host, Frank Lagono. This has been being prank. Next time 748 00:52:08.800 --> 00:52:19.440 you barn in the midst of the summer storm, the heavens open wide with 749 00:52:19.639 --> 00:52:30.159 thunder. Tee you were born. I held you moments after you saw light. 750 00:52:31.519 --> 00:52:37.039 If you look like a brother, board and angel and your own rise, 751 00:52:38.960 --> 00:52:47.119 let the skies something, let the rains fall down. On the morning 752 00:52:47.239 --> 00:52:58.639 you were born, we were taking by store, taking by store. Tell 753 00:52:58.800 --> 00:53:07.480 you walk through the trouser of light. The sun shines on you mis days 754 00:53:08.440 --> 00:53:17.719 and I'm on me, and you love like it's meant to be done. 755 00:53:21.079 --> 00:53:30.159 No dark side or the moon girl, your old sun. Let the skys, 756 00:53:31.039 --> 00:53:37.320 Let the bree bone down. On the day that you were down. 757 00:53:37.400 --> 00:54:21.880 We were taking by stores, taking by stones, and still let the stone 758 00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:29.800 down. On the morning you will take the clowns and the phone. We 759 00:54:29.920 --> 00:54:40.480 would take a pistol, the tea in by store, tea in perstor tea 760 00:54:40.639 --> 00:55:22.280 in my store. This is Hudson River Radio dot com.