1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,879
Speaker 1: The name of the podcast network is Aero dot net

2
00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:06,519
a r r oe dot net. Twenty different podcasts to

3
00:00:06,639 --> 00:00:11,359
choose from, one of them being missed opportunity. You know,

4
00:00:11,599 --> 00:00:13,839
of all of the people that I've shared conversations with,

5
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,719
what you've never experienced are my missed opportunities. So I've

6
00:00:17,719 --> 00:00:20,760
gone back and I've re asked the questions, and believe

7
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,320
it or not, those that missed their chance to share

8
00:00:23,359 --> 00:00:28,920
a conversation with me are replying missed opportunity from Aero

9
00:00:29,039 --> 00:00:34,280
dot net a r r oe dot net. Enjoy your exploration. Hello,

10
00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,159
and good morning you too. How are you doing today?

11
00:00:37,119 --> 00:00:38,640
Speaker 2: Okay, great to be with you.

12
00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,960
Speaker 1: For you two to collaborate and bring this story forward,

13
00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,359
My God, to me, this is the kind of stuff

14
00:00:45,399 --> 00:00:46,759
that I would like to see in some sort of

15
00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,679
journalism class or a writing class, creative writing, because to

16
00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,000
bring two thoughts of experience together to create this, to

17
00:00:55,039 --> 00:00:57,200
me is this is where we are right now in

18
00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,439
making stories and novels.

19
00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,479
Speaker 3: Right Well, I think the best work often comes from collaboration.

20
00:01:03,759 --> 00:01:06,680
Speaker 2: I think we could all learn as a society from that.

21
00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,400
Speaker 3: But I think it's you know, as a journalist, I

22
00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:11,680
obviously was very much stuck in my ways of like

23
00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,239
thinking for what, where and when of a story, and

24
00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,640
I think collaborating with Robin really kind of taught me

25
00:01:17,239 --> 00:01:19,719
to break away from that thought process and bring in

26
00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:21,560
the fiction of it all. You know, there was this

27
00:01:21,599 --> 00:01:23,400
moment where Robin was like, you know, you realize you

28
00:01:23,439 --> 00:01:24,640
can make this up.

29
00:01:24,519 --> 00:01:25,040
Speaker 2: If you want.

30
00:01:25,519 --> 00:01:28,480
Speaker 3: And so there were moments where I'd put aside the

31
00:01:28,599 --> 00:01:30,719
notes and the journals that I had kept over the

32
00:01:30,799 --> 00:01:33,040
years and just sort of like lean into that creative

33
00:01:33,079 --> 00:01:33,560
side too.

34
00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:36,719
Speaker 1: Oh my god. There have been many times that I

35
00:01:36,799 --> 00:01:39,920
have as a writer. I'll go, remember, you haven't told

36
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,959
anybody that this is a true story. It might be

37
00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,640
based on a true story, but this gives you legal

38
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:47,599
liberty to do whatever you need to do to make

39
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:52,000
this story a little bit different and exciting exactly.

40
00:01:52,519 --> 00:01:55,200
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, we're so familiar with the

41
00:01:55,239 --> 00:01:58,239
current day British royal family, and so we wanted to

42
00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,319
create this kind of alternate royal youth universe where the

43
00:02:01,359 --> 00:02:04,439
Windsors have never existed and it's a completely different set

44
00:02:04,439 --> 00:02:06,959
of royals. But I still wanted to like throw the

45
00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:11,080
same challenges, the same crises, and when you read the book,

46
00:02:11,159 --> 00:02:15,280
although there are a fictional sets of characters, their experiences,

47
00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,520
the way in which the palace runs, the descriptions of

48
00:02:18,599 --> 00:02:20,800
the rooms at the palace, that is all very much

49
00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:22,680
based on the real life. So you are kind of

50
00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,400
getting this peak behind the curtain and learning how the

51
00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:26,319
cookies made.

52
00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,479
Speaker 1: Did he ever have to be told to put away

53
00:02:29,479 --> 00:02:32,120
the journalism tools and get back to storytelling? Come on,

54
00:02:32,199 --> 00:02:33,800
tell me some dirt on this, dude, Come on, come on,

55
00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:34,199
come on on.

56
00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,520
Speaker 4: You know you have come to the wrong person. I

57
00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,360
actually only have lovely things to say about Omen. I mean,

58
00:02:40,759 --> 00:02:42,919
what I loved about working with him is, you know,

59
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:44,759
I've written many books on my own, this is my

60
00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,199
first book. I've everybody, and just being able to talk

61
00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,840
to someone else about the imaginary people that we shared

62
00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,560
in our brains were so nice and we were able

63
00:02:53,599 --> 00:02:55,639
to go back and forth and build a palm what

64
00:02:55,719 --> 00:02:57,759
the other person had, you know, thought of, and if

65
00:02:57,759 --> 00:02:58,599
he had an idea, then.

66
00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:00,159
Speaker 5: I'd be like, yes, and then let's do this, and

67
00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:00,759
let's do that.

68
00:03:01,439 --> 00:03:05,240
Speaker 4: And so I feel like he definitely had a journalistic

69
00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,319
brain in the very beginning. He is incredibly detail oriented.

70
00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,520
I think he caught every single typo in the entire

71
00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:16,120
book on his own, but at the same time, he

72
00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,759
knows how to tell a story as do I, and

73
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:20,879
I think that's where we really met, and that's where

74
00:03:20,879 --> 00:03:22,879
the story, the genesis of the story came from.

75
00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,360
Speaker 1: See I don't mind typos, and the reason why because

76
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,280
it takes me all the way back to Mark Twain

77
00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,840
who said, if you don't use your own writing accent,

78
00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,919
then you are not being true to yourself. So when

79
00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:35,639
I see something like that, or I hear a story,

80
00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,080
I'm going go back to being true make the mistake,

81
00:03:38,159 --> 00:03:39,639
because we do and every day.

82
00:03:39,479 --> 00:03:41,919
Speaker 2: Speak exactly you know.

83
00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:43,560
Speaker 3: I think what was so fun about this was that,

84
00:03:43,639 --> 00:03:47,319
you know, Robin's American, I'm British, and so coming together

85
00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,159
to tell the story of a culture clash. You know.

86
00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:51,039
Speaker 2: The center of our.

87
00:03:50,919 --> 00:03:53,479
Speaker 3: Book is Lauren Morgan, who worked at the White House

88
00:03:53,479 --> 00:03:56,560
Press Office, who is head hunted and drafted into the

89
00:03:56,599 --> 00:03:59,120
Bucking and Panes Press office to kind of take over

90
00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,960
things there and rid the family of the Royal family

91
00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:07,240
of their streak of bad headlines. And so working with

92
00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,800
someone that sees things differently to myself, we were able

93
00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:11,960
to really bring that to our characters, bring in the

94
00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,360
different viewpoints so any moment where we did clash or

95
00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,040
sort of disagree on something actually translated really well on

96
00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:22,079
the page, because that's exactly what these characters are also dealing.

97
00:04:22,519 --> 00:04:24,439
Speaker 1: So now, Robin, let me ask you, cause he's the

98
00:04:24,439 --> 00:04:26,399
one that brought it up saying that he's British and

99
00:04:26,439 --> 00:04:30,160
you're American. Okay, Now I have difficulties sometimes understanding the

100
00:04:30,199 --> 00:04:32,439
British humor. What about you? And did you have to

101
00:04:32,439 --> 00:04:35,199
sit him down and go ahha, we're gonna work on

102
00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:35,800
this together.

103
00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:36,279
Speaker 2: Okay?

104
00:04:37,519 --> 00:04:40,319
Speaker 4: No, No, I actually love the British sense of humor.

105
00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:45,000
I love a good sarcastic joke. So we never had

106
00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,240
any sort of translation issues in regard to the British humor.

107
00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:51,199
We definitely you know, one of the things our character

108
00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,120
experiences is very much this fish out of water experience

109
00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,240
of going from the White House to Buckingham Palace, going

110
00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:00,800
to this esteem tradition where they do not look upon

111
00:05:00,959 --> 00:05:03,959
change with any sort of warmth at all. And you know,

112
00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,079
having an American and brit work together, I experienced a

113
00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,199
lot of what Lauren was going through. Olyb would say

114
00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:11,680
she should bring in donuts on her first day, but

115
00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:13,879
no one's gonna like the donuts that I would say,

116
00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,680
who would it like donuts that like seems lovely? Who

117
00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,319
would want to enjoy that? So I feel like that's

118
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,600
really where our culture's clash was on the page.

119
00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,720
Speaker 3: The Brits are suspicious of anything, and I saw that

120
00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:26,480
in the Palace.

121
00:05:26,519 --> 00:05:26,680
Speaker 2: You know.

122
00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,879
Speaker 3: I remember when Harry first started dating Meghan and he

123
00:05:29,959 --> 00:05:32,160
introduced it to all the staff there, and I remember

124
00:05:32,199 --> 00:05:34,360
a couple of the staff members saying to me, oh,

125
00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,759
she seems nice, but she hugs a lot, like as

126
00:05:37,759 --> 00:05:40,600
if it was like a crime. And of course, like

127
00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,319
Megan went in there thinking like she's going to be warm,

128
00:05:43,439 --> 00:05:46,480
I'm a hugger, and that just didn't work in that space.

129
00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,519
And so you can really go in with good intentions,

130
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,279
but it isn't always going to go the way in

131
00:05:51,319 --> 00:05:52,439
which you planned.

132
00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:55,759
Speaker 1: Please tell me that when you turn this into moving pictures,

133
00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:57,759
that that it's going to be more than just a movie.

134
00:05:57,800 --> 00:05:59,879
It's got to be like Emily in Paris, because I mean,

135
00:05:59,879 --> 00:06:03,560
it's got to be like five seasons, twelve episodes per season.

136
00:06:03,639 --> 00:06:05,680
And then with that opportunity for us to say, I

137
00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:07,759
know there's a sixteel in them, come on, give us

138
00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,759
another season, because that's what this story has. It's got

139
00:06:10,759 --> 00:06:13,399
that vibration about it to where I don't want the

140
00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:14,319
story to end.

141
00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:17,600
Speaker 3: Well, I'm so glad you think that way we have.

142
00:06:17,959 --> 00:06:20,639
We are in the process of developing the TV adaptation

143
00:06:20,759 --> 00:06:23,839
of this and building out that exact universe that you

144
00:06:23,879 --> 00:06:26,920
speak about. I think Emily in Paris is a great comparison,

145
00:06:26,959 --> 00:06:28,720
but I also think we really want to lean into

146
00:06:28,759 --> 00:06:30,600
that kind of like West Wing feel of it all.

147
00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,240
Speaker 2: You can you really pull back the curtain.

148
00:06:33,959 --> 00:06:37,720
Speaker 3: Behind kind of a historic institution and get to see

149
00:06:37,759 --> 00:06:40,120
how it works, the people that are never talked about

150
00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,360
in the news coverage but are actually making the headlines happen.

151
00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,920
Speaker 1: I would love to see in real life what an

152
00:06:46,959 --> 00:06:49,600
American going to Buckingham Pallace to work there would be like,

153
00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:51,839
because my first mother in law would be the one

154
00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:53,800
that would bring in all of her dishes from the

155
00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,319
royal family that she got in the National Inquirer. Look

156
00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,920
what I've got. I should be working here. This should

157
00:06:58,959 --> 00:07:00,759
be proof that I should be working here.

158
00:07:02,639 --> 00:07:06,879
Speaker 2: I'm guessing she has a thimble collection. I remember.

159
00:07:09,199 --> 00:07:11,560
Speaker 1: Because I mean that in itself, that is that is

160
00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:13,399
a connection. Because I got to be honest with you.

161
00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:15,600
I I have dreamed what would it be like if

162
00:07:15,639 --> 00:07:18,120
I were there? It would I would I be somebody out?

163
00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,079
Would I be wearing the uniform? Would I be inside

164
00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,560
just mopping the floors? I don't care. I work there,

165
00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,480
And that's what I what I feel in this is

166
00:07:24,519 --> 00:07:26,439
that it's it's one of those moments where we're all

167
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:27,959
invited beyond the doors.

168
00:07:29,279 --> 00:07:30,079
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, you know.

169
00:07:30,279 --> 00:07:32,839
Speaker 3: So many films and TV shows about the Royals have

170
00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:35,639
always focused on the front side of the royal family,

171
00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,920
the royal family members themselves, also the front of the palace,

172
00:07:38,959 --> 00:07:42,439
the state rooms, the grand spaces, but actually, just like

173
00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,399
a five star hotel, despite the fancy front, the back

174
00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:48,160
end of it is going to be pretty ugly. It's

175
00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:49,920
going to be a working space, and it's going to

176
00:07:49,959 --> 00:07:52,279
be something that you never as a guest get to see.

177
00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:54,519
And so that's the same in Royal Spin when you're

178
00:07:54,519 --> 00:07:56,920
reading about those kind of like back entrances to the

179
00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,959
palace and the kind of crusty comes office with its

180
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,759
peeling paint on the walls and dripping pipes in the ceiling,

181
00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,879
that's very much based on reality. You know.

182
00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,360
Speaker 2: It is a kind of shoestring budget operation. Holding this

183
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,639
very grand institution together.

184
00:08:11,279 --> 00:08:13,560
Speaker 1: Now, now, Robin, I got to get up close and

185
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,120
personal on this one in the way that because it

186
00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,000
does have places where I can laugh, it does have

187
00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,439
places where I'm heavily entertained. Do you run this by

188
00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,639
the King, mister Charles himself and go, you know what

189
00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,639
I hear's the story? And then do are you modern

190
00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,319
day gestures? In other words, you are entertaining the King.

191
00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,360
Speaker 5: I don't know that it goes that far per se.

192
00:08:35,399 --> 00:08:38,399
Speaker 4: We did not actually run anything past King Charles, as

193
00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,919
you can probably imagine. You know, we just wanted to

194
00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:44,399
put a book together that was really fun, that would

195
00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:46,799
be something that would kind of maybe take people out

196
00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,360
of their current, you know, current event experiences where they

197
00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:53,279
could recharge and enjoy it. I always say that if

198
00:08:53,279 --> 00:08:55,480
I hadn't written this book, I would absolutely take it

199
00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,360
on a plane with me to read on a plane.

200
00:08:57,879 --> 00:08:59,720
That's where a lot of the humor comes from. There's

201
00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:01,399
a lot of love in the book as well. There's

202
00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,159
not just romance. There's the idea of loving your friends,

203
00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,759
of your relationships with your family, and you know, even

204
00:09:06,799 --> 00:09:09,559
your coworkers and those relationships as well. And so we

205
00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,360
just wanted to take a very, very big institution and

206
00:09:12,399 --> 00:09:15,399
sort of peel back the curtains a little bit.

207
00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,279
Speaker 1: I'm so glad that you brought that up about reading

208
00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,240
it on an airplane, because I will go into one

209
00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,039
of those bookstores and go, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope,

210
00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,759
because there's a vibe about an airplane read and this

211
00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,080
You're absolutely right, this one has that vibe.

212
00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:32,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, there are certain movies that you would never watch

213
00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:32,960
on a plane.

214
00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,159
Speaker 3: You want that kind of like fun ninety to one

215
00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,360
hundred minute entertainment that is going to make you feel good.

216
00:09:39,519 --> 00:09:40,559
Speaker 2: You're going to get.

217
00:09:40,399 --> 00:09:43,159
Speaker 3: Some laughs, some emotions, and I think the book really

218
00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:45,840
captures that. You know, although it's not a romance novel,

219
00:09:45,879 --> 00:09:47,679
we do have a love triangle at the center of it,

220
00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,559
and I think, how can you go wrong with that?

221
00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,320
You know, We've got a press officer from the US

222
00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,120
who is torn between a.

223
00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,679
Speaker 2: Royal correspondent and a member of the royal family.

224
00:09:56,759 --> 00:09:59,360
Speaker 3: And I think that in itself is sort of like

225
00:09:59,399 --> 00:10:03,519
something that a lot of people have probably fantasized being

226
00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,600
in the middle of at some point maybe I.

227
00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:06,919
Speaker 5: Haven't actually experienced.

228
00:10:06,919 --> 00:10:10,360
Speaker 1: Though, Please do not move there's more with Ohmed and

229
00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:16,440
Robin coming up next. The name of the book Royal Spin.

230
00:10:16,879 --> 00:10:19,360
We are back with the authors oh mids, Goobie and

231
00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:24,279
Robin Binway Now, in reality, couldn't Lauren be a guy

232
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,360
or a girl? And that them would make that open

233
00:10:26,399 --> 00:10:28,799
the door for guys to read this as well. If

234
00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,000
they just see themselves in Lauren, they'll sit there and go.

235
00:10:32,159 --> 00:10:34,120
I guess I have been thinking about this my entire

236
00:10:34,159 --> 00:10:36,679
life because the Royal family has been in front of

237
00:10:36,759 --> 00:10:38,360
us the entire way.

238
00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,879
Speaker 4: Yes, I firmly believe that books have no gender. I

239
00:10:42,919 --> 00:10:45,679
think anybody can read the book that they would like

240
00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:46,120
to read.

241
00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:49,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, so what was the best part of writing? Because

242
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,240
I mean, if you're collaborating and your sharing ideas, you

243
00:10:52,399 --> 00:10:54,519
had to have had a Beatles moment where you go,

244
00:10:54,759 --> 00:10:57,200
you know, John, that's not really what I was looking.

245
00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:02,440
Speaker 5: For that you would compare our experience to the Beadles.

246
00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:04,559
First of all, it wasn't quite like that.

247
00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:06,519
Speaker 2: However, you know.

248
00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,039
Speaker 3: The author John Patterson says that collaboration is kind of

249
00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:16,480
like the way in which the world could move around beautifully.

250
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:18,759
And I think that Robin and I coming together bringing

251
00:11:18,799 --> 00:11:21,600
the kind of bests of our crafts has created a

252
00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:23,879
book that I don't think could have happened when written

253
00:11:23,919 --> 00:11:26,840
by one person. It needed to be grounded in the

254
00:11:26,879 --> 00:11:30,000
real experiences that I brought to the forefront, but also

255
00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:34,840
needed a master of you know, Robin, who brings the

256
00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,960
characters to life in a way that I think very

257
00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,559
few authors that I've read in recent years. Do you know,

258
00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:42,399
it's not just the main characters in this book that

259
00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,080
jump out, it's those on the peripheral. And as you say, yes,

260
00:11:46,159 --> 00:11:48,279
we do have a female protagonist, but this is very

261
00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:52,000
much like a workplace comedy drama. You know. It is

262
00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,200
the people in that space, the other characters, the friendships

263
00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,159
happening there, the politics between all of them.

264
00:11:58,279 --> 00:11:59,960
Speaker 2: That's what makes this really special.

265
00:12:00,759 --> 00:12:02,519
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I mean there are times where I sit

266
00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:04,840
there and because as a radio guy, I know what

267
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,039
we do when we have teams together, who's going to

268
00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,120
be the one that's going to speak underneath their breath?

269
00:12:09,159 --> 00:12:10,919
And I feel like that there's a lot that goes

270
00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,399
on inside this story where it's somebody who's holding their composure,

271
00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,399
but underneath their breath they're they're thinking things. And it's like,

272
00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:19,559
that's what I love about this book. It's got that

273
00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:21,919
realm of reality to it that it is like, oh,

274
00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:23,559
you just said that underneath your breath.

275
00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:27,879
Speaker 2: I know you did to me.

276
00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,960
Speaker 4: That is my favorite kind of fiction to read. Definitely fiction,

277
00:12:31,159 --> 00:12:34,039
definitely a parallel universe, but so rooted in reality. I

278
00:12:34,039 --> 00:12:36,879
read a quote recently that said, the more personal the story,

279
00:12:36,919 --> 00:12:39,679
the more relatable it is, and I think that's very true.

280
00:12:40,039 --> 00:12:42,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, But to get it relatable though, I mean, you're

281
00:12:42,279 --> 00:12:45,440
pulling from OHMD, who's actually been inside and and I'm

282
00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,440
sure O Mid, you've had to be the prim the proper.

283
00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:49,519
You've got to be dressed well, you've got to address well,

284
00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:52,039
and now you've got to share it with Robin here.

285
00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,559
It's like, oh, you become the coach, Ohmid.

286
00:12:55,759 --> 00:12:58,159
Speaker 2: I've also been the one that gets it wrong, oh wrong.

287
00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:02,080
Speaker 3: When I joined the Royal Beat and it was like

288
00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:05,519
twenty eleven, I was a younger journalist with a different

289
00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,320
journalistic background to the others in the press pack, and

290
00:13:08,639 --> 00:13:11,039
I did things differently. I had a different outlook, I

291
00:13:11,159 --> 00:13:14,519
dressed differently to the others, and so I remember that

292
00:13:14,639 --> 00:13:17,399
feeling of being an outsider and wanting to try and

293
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,480
stick to who I was throughout it. Despite the pressures

294
00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,879
to conform throughout and as a journalist, you obviously want

295
00:13:23,919 --> 00:13:26,679
to tell the best story, not the story that Palace

296
00:13:26,759 --> 00:13:29,279
want you to tell, or that the other journalists are doing,

297
00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,080
and so standing out going ain against the grain is

298
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,720
always really difficult, and we see Lauren kind of experience

299
00:13:36,799 --> 00:13:39,679
that throughout the book, moments where she feels pressure to

300
00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:42,440
conform to the way things are done, but also to

301
00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,720
stick true to what she believes best and what will

302
00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,559
make her not only stand out as the comms officer

303
00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,320
at Buckingham Palace, but will also do good for the

304
00:13:50,399 --> 00:13:51,639
royal family in the future.

305
00:13:52,159 --> 00:13:54,320
Speaker 1: Are you thinking about follow up stories to turn this

306
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,080
into a series, because I mean, I could see this

307
00:13:56,159 --> 00:13:58,320
go the next time around you flip flop, but you

308
00:13:58,399 --> 00:14:00,360
come to the stage, or you go to Canada. Because

309
00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:02,399
it would be interesting to see a story like this

310
00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:06,080
inside the local government of Victoria, British Columbia, and just

311
00:14:06,639 --> 00:14:08,559
so that you can see the different angles in the

312
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:10,480
comparisons of all these characters.

313
00:14:12,039 --> 00:14:14,360
Speaker 4: We definitely would love we have characters in this book

314
00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:16,679
that we would love to explore further and further story.

315
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:18,879
We were at lunch recently together and you know, I

316
00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:20,480
just said to Ahmed, you know, it would be great

317
00:14:20,519 --> 00:14:23,759
if this happens, and so we're always thinking forward. We

318
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,519
definitely want to keep it rooted in Buckingham Palace just

319
00:14:26,559 --> 00:14:29,120
because the stories are never ending there and you know,

320
00:14:29,279 --> 00:14:32,639
fodder for future books as well. But yeah, we I

321
00:14:32,639 --> 00:14:34,240
think at the end of the day, we truly love

322
00:14:34,279 --> 00:14:36,080
the story and we love these characters and we just

323
00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:37,679
want to see what happens to them next.

324
00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,279
Speaker 1: So that is it like keeping a journal, then, omad,

325
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,679
because I mean, because there are experiences in here that

326
00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,720
I that I just have this feeling that you went through,

327
00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:46,440
but you had to put it into what I call

328
00:14:46,559 --> 00:14:48,679
hidden speak. You had to write it in a creative

329
00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,879
way that didn't identify that you actually lived it, but

330
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:52,440
you did.

331
00:14:53,519 --> 00:14:56,759
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I wouldn't say that this necessarily secrets. I'm

332
00:14:56,799 --> 00:14:59,519
always really open about kind of the way things have worked,

333
00:14:59,559 --> 00:15:02,360
and that's some of my own experiences. But it was

334
00:15:02,399 --> 00:15:05,159
really fun to apply those to the characters in this book.

335
00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:08,840
It wasn't any specific person. I think what felt right

336
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,320
in each scene was just to kind of bring what

337
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,399
I felt was would actually happen. And having been through

338
00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,559
you know, listen, I've been in with the royals. I've

339
00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:18,960
been on the outside the royals. I've been favored by

340
00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:21,600
the Press Office, I've been loathed by the Press Office.

341
00:15:21,759 --> 00:15:24,080
And so I have seen all sides of it. And

342
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,039
so that really helped in terms of like the spectrum

343
00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,120
of experiences that are in the book.

344
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:31,639
Speaker 1: All right, now, how did you handle this then, Robin,

345
00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:36,320
in the way of that, the book clearly states duty, loyalty, success,

346
00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:41,279
and happiness. Happiness is number four. You're from America, Robin, happen.

347
00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:43,039
It should be up there like in the top two.

348
00:15:44,879 --> 00:15:45,600
Speaker 2: You know it is.

349
00:15:45,919 --> 00:15:48,399
Speaker 4: That is definitely one of the culture clashes that Omad

350
00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:50,600
and I had was, you know, not that we clash,

351
00:15:50,679 --> 00:15:53,720
but just this idea of a brit Or, especially somebody

352
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,440
who's working for the palace. It is duty above all else.

353
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,480
I think we've seen that in other forms of media,

354
00:15:58,519 --> 00:16:02,279
like the c for example. But that is where the

355
00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,399
initial tension is with our heroine is she is from America.

356
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,399
She is very ambitious, she is aggressive. She you know,

357
00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,159
we are taught the you know, life, liberty in the

358
00:16:11,159 --> 00:16:13,200
pursuit of happiness, at least here in America.

359
00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,120
Speaker 5: And so I feel like having that.

360
00:16:17,679 --> 00:16:20,080
Speaker 4: List of things be inverted for Lauren is something that

361
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,039
she really has to understand and start to figure out

362
00:16:24,039 --> 00:16:25,039
from a new perspective.

363
00:16:25,159 --> 00:16:27,200
Speaker 1: God, I would love to see your guys as emails

364
00:16:27,279 --> 00:16:29,919
and everything else that's attached to social media, because I

365
00:16:29,919 --> 00:16:31,919
know how many people are going to think of themselves

366
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,200
as being in this book, And because you present it

367
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,600
that way, you open the door for us to say, yeah,

368
00:16:37,639 --> 00:16:40,120
I could do this, I could do it. That's me.

369
00:16:41,639 --> 00:16:42,960
Speaker 2: Well, and that's the fun of it. You know.

370
00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:44,840
Speaker 3: When I covered the Royals, I was always thinking like,

371
00:16:44,919 --> 00:16:48,320
what if what if they think differently? Like what if

372
00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,240
they didn't say no comment? What if they actually admitted it?

373
00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:52,879
Or what if they actually put out a statement that

374
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,919
addressed whatever claims or concerns were being called upon by

375
00:16:56,919 --> 00:16:59,399
the public or the press. And so it was fun

376
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:01,720
to be able to throw that in this book and

377
00:17:01,799 --> 00:17:03,240
see the other side of it.

378
00:17:03,279 --> 00:17:03,440
Speaker 4: You know.

379
00:17:03,519 --> 00:17:05,920
Speaker 3: One of our fun characters in the book is Joy.

380
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,920
The Diversities Are Though, which is a title that the

381
00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,119
Palace came up with, but it was something that they

382
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,440
had teased around the time of the Harry and Meghan

383
00:17:13,559 --> 00:17:17,640
race scandals, and they said, oh, we're going to hire

384
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,200
a Diversities Are and we're going to, you know, bring

385
00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,319
the palace into the modern age, and then it never happened.

386
00:17:23,559 --> 00:17:25,640
Speaker 2: So in the book, I'm like, okay, well, let's hire one.

387
00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:26,960
Let's see what that might do.

388
00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:30,599
Speaker 3: Will it make any change? And even today with the

389
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,039
stuff going on with Andrew, you know, as a result

390
00:17:33,079 --> 00:17:36,000
of years of sweeping things under the rug and saying

391
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,240
no comment to press or turning a blind eye to

392
00:17:38,279 --> 00:17:41,920
things we've seen in the most recent revelations like how

393
00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,920
bad things actually were, and also how much people knew

394
00:17:45,079 --> 00:17:45,960
behind the scenes.

395
00:17:46,319 --> 00:17:47,960
Speaker 2: And so of course that creates.

396
00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:49,960
Speaker 3: Distrust from the public who think, okay, well you never

397
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,119
were open about this in the first place, you never

398
00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,200
did anything about it, even behind closed doors. And so

399
00:17:55,319 --> 00:17:57,680
again I think with Lauren, she really brings a lot

400
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,400
of stuff from the dark out into the light that's

401
00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:05,960
really uncomfortable for this old, staid institution that would like

402
00:18:06,079 --> 00:18:08,279
to never complain, never explain.

403
00:18:08,599 --> 00:18:10,000
Speaker 1: Now, you know, the next time that you and I

404
00:18:10,079 --> 00:18:12,200
share a conversation about your books, oh mate, I'm going

405
00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,400
to sit here and say, now, did you build this

406
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:16,720
story or is this actual? I mean, because I need

407
00:18:16,759 --> 00:18:19,440
to know, because I read the novel. I got to

408
00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,039
figure out if you're spot on here. So now you've

409
00:18:22,079 --> 00:18:23,640
retrained my thinking, sir.

410
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,200
Speaker 3: Well, listen, anything you ever want to know about the book,

411
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:28,359
I'm always happy to go on, sir.

412
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:30,240
Speaker 2: But I think it's fun.

413
00:18:30,279 --> 00:18:32,039
Speaker 3: You know when people read this, of course, like people

414
00:18:32,079 --> 00:18:34,119
are going to try and figure out like what is

415
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,200
real what isn't. But I will say that, like when

416
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,119
you are reading the descriptions of these spaces in the

417
00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,799
Palace that no one has ever really written about before,

418
00:18:42,079 --> 00:18:43,200
it is from experience.

419
00:18:43,279 --> 00:18:44,960
Speaker 2: These are places that I've spent time in.

420
00:18:45,319 --> 00:18:47,240
Speaker 3: I think we've got a great scene in the palace

421
00:18:47,279 --> 00:18:50,319
staff cafeteria, and I remember the first time seeing that

422
00:18:50,319 --> 00:18:53,079
that someone describing to me the cliques at every table

423
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,559
just like American high school. You know, you had the

424
00:18:55,599 --> 00:18:58,920
popular ones on one table. You had the gossipy garden

425
00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,799
party organizer ladies. You had the Queen's bagpiper in the

426
00:19:02,839 --> 00:19:05,640
corner sulking because he never likes to sit next to anyone.

427
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,599
You had the royal historians like that wore capes and

428
00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,480
had like twiry mustaches, and it was like straight out

429
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,440
of Central Casting. And these are the fun things that

430
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:16,440
I think no one ever gets to see about the Palace.

431
00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,759
And so we really had a great time putting it

432
00:19:18,759 --> 00:19:19,640
in the book. Wow.

433
00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,400
Speaker 4: As you can imagine, that cafeteria scene lit my fiction

434
00:19:22,519 --> 00:19:23,359
brain on fire.

435
00:19:24,839 --> 00:19:26,559
Speaker 5: I could not wait to write that scene.

436
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,160
Speaker 1: Oh there's gonna be more coming from you.

437
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:28,480
Speaker 2: Guys.

438
00:19:28,559 --> 00:19:31,079
Speaker 1: Please come back to this show anytime in the future.

439
00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:33,240
The door is always going to be open for you.

440
00:19:34,279 --> 00:19:35,599
Speaker 2: Thank you Sarah much.

441
00:19:35,839 --> 00:19:37,519
Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today you too?

442
00:19:38,519 --> 00:19:41,920
Speaker 2: Thanks enjoyed great Thank you, thanks having us