WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:10.320 Hello, and welcome to Castle Talk, where we talk to 2 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.480 writers and creators of today's genre worlds. I'm your host 3 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:17.239 Jason Henderson, publisher at castle Bridge Media, home of the 4 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:21.920 Castle of Horror anthology series. Tonight, RI chatting with Christopher Michlos, 5 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.000 author of and I love this title, Ticktown, which comes 6 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:29.519 out this month from castle Bridge Media, which full disclosure, 7 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:34.000 I am a publisher at castle Bridge Media, so I 8 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:37.359 am instrumental in this. But I love this book and 9 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:41.079 I love its icky content. It is the kind of 10 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:44.799 paperback from hell I've been wanting to talk about for 11 00:00:44.840 --> 00:00:47.439 a long time. So here's the deal. In the book, 12 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:49.719 I have this right in front of me. When a 13 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:54.439 northern Wisconsin touristtown becomes the feeding ground for a giant 14 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:58.799 band of mutant ticks giant ticks, a young reporter or 15 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:01.759 copbex boyfriend and a newspaper man have to track down 16 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:05.480 and destroy the Queen Tick and her nest before these 17 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:09.400 monsters overrun and slaughter the entire town. It is grody, 18 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:12.239 it is summary, and it is full of giant I 19 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:15.799 can't stress this enough giant ticks. So welcome Christopher. 20 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.239 Hey, thanks so much. Jason, I really appreciate it. You 21 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:18.879 know it's funny. 22 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:21.079 Oh. I just started the last I would say the 23 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:22.200 last couple of weeks. 24 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:26.319 I didn't realize what a perfect summer book it is, 25 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:31.079 because especially here in Wisconsin where I am, there's ticks everywhere. 26 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:34.239 And my daughter was My daughter's been convinced. And maybe 27 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:36.319 it's just because I've had the advanced copies of the book. 28 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:38.799 Later on, she's convinced she had ticks in her hair. 29 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:41.040 We always think we've got ticks on the dog. I 30 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:44.640 mean it's it's the summer brings ticks in Wisconsin, and 31 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.959 so I didn't quite realize what great timing we were 32 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.359 going to have in releasing this book. 33 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:53.239 But these ticks are like the size of They're like 34 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:55.280 when you think of Rob and Batman and Robin when 35 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:57.079 Robin gets eaten by a giant clam. 36 00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:57.599 They're like that. 37 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:02.480 They're like they are they are big, and so they 38 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:05.640 can cleave a person and do cleave a person in half. 39 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:10.280 And I okay, so let me ask you. You you've 40 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.360 said that you had a distinct vision in mind basically 41 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:17.280 that this was your ode to well, probably several things, 42 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:19.199 because I think of like giant bugs, you know, like 43 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.960 like you know James, like, uh, you know, Peter Graves 44 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:27.719 versus the Big Ants, but also the the nineteen seventies 45 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:30.919 Paperbacks from Hell. So talk to me a little bit 46 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:35.199 about about that, that gulash of inspiration. 47 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:39.840 Well sure you actually earlier you used the phrase Paperbacks 48 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:43.840 from Hell, and I read, you know, I would say, 49 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.680 maybe five years ago something like that, the book Paperbacks 50 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:51.879 from Hell, written by Grady Hendrix and will Ericson, which 51 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:57.159 is this survey of seventies and eighties pulp paperbacks, so 52 00:02:57.319 --> 00:02:59.879 paperbacks in general, but a lot of pulp or paper 53 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:05.479 and I had had very little exposure to to that, 54 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:09.240 to those books and tell that. 55 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:11.680 And as I read this book. 56 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:16.800 I was just flabbergast about how wonderfully gonzo and terrific 57 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.759 it all sounded, you know, these these crazy plot lines, 58 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:21.039 these over the top. 59 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.039 You know heroes, and on and on. 60 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.159 And after I finished the book, I started picking up 61 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:29.599 and reading some of these books. One of my first 62 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:34.680 was was Knight of the Crabs by Guyane Smith, and 63 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:38.080 I fell so in love with his his vision of 64 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:43.400 these giant crabs terrorizing the Welsh countryside. And I think 65 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:45.520 in part because it brought me back to the movies 66 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:46.919 I loved when I was a young kid. 67 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:49.400 I grew up on classic. 68 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:54.280 Old horror, the Universal, Frankenstein and Dracula and Wolfman, all 69 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:58.800 those yes, But I loved, loved, loved the giant creature 70 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:04.000 feature of movies like them. From those were the paperbacks 71 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:09.080 that I started to gravitate towards. And then I so, 72 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:13.080 I'm a filmmaker. A couple of movies last night, small 73 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.680 independent features, but I started to think that I wanted 74 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:21.519 to I wanted to write a novel, and so it 75 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.120 became clear that the kind of novel that I was 76 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:27.199 going to write was going to be a pulpy paperback novel, 77 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:31.639 and I wanted to do something that was somewhat of 78 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:34.399 a mash up between those fifties and sixties sci fi 79 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:38.319 movies and the seventies and eighties pulp horror paperbacks and 80 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:41.560 giant mutated tics in Northern. 81 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:45.000 Wisconsin ended up being the perfect the perfect mix of 82 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:45.240 the two. 83 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.439 So you've actually, you know, you've tried to kind of 84 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:53.040 get people into the spirit of of you know, monsters 85 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:57.680 in the summer, like sort of harkening back to that vision, 86 00:04:58.439 --> 00:04:59.879 like don't you have an event? Were you gonna be 87 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.600 showing like some monster movies. 88 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:03.000 Or something super excited. 89 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:08.079 Yeah, So the book comes out on Tuesday, June twenty 90 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:13.759 fourth in paperback and kindle, and that next weekend on 91 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:18.199 June twenty eighth, Saturday, June twenty eighth, my books launch event. 92 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.120 Is going to be screening. 93 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:25.519 I'm going a host of screening of the nineteen fifty 94 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.720 four movie Them that I referenced at a local theater 95 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:31.639 at Marcus Palace Theater. Have a loan Madison is going 96 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.120 to introduce the movie and say a few words about 97 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.639 the movie. We're going to have a screening, and then 98 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:38.720 afterwards they have a nice lounge with a bar and 99 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:40.480 food and that sort of thing right in the theater, 100 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:42.079 and we're going to go over there and do a 101 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:44.720 book signing and a reception and the lounge. 102 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.600 And what is really. 103 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:53.000 Fun about the event is the screening. The movie screening 104 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:56.600 at four point thirty on Saturday afternoon. Your ticket to 105 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:59.639 the event is going to be a paperback copy of 106 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:03.959 So if you get a paperback copied of Ticktown you 107 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.040 bring it to the event, it's worth two seats to 108 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:11.519 the screening. So I'm going to be doing local media 109 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:15.360 and pr you know, interviews and some other things locally 110 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.319 to promote where here in Madison. There's gonna be several 111 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.759 bookstories that are carrying the paperback of a book when 112 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:25.879 it comes out on June twenty fourth. If people can't 113 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:28.800 get that, you can't get their hands on that, they 114 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:31.959 can always order from Amazon, you know, if they have Prime, 115 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.600 they'll definitely get it by the weekend. And worst case 116 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:40.079 scenario is that we'll have some books for sale at 117 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:41.240 the event that people can get it. 118 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:42.839 But I thought it would be a fun thing. 119 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:44.879 I have a good relationship with the theater because of 120 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:49.319 my film background, and they were just absolutely ecstatic about 121 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.120 the idea, like super supportive. In fact, I'm going over 122 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:56.639 there in the morning tomorrow to test out the movie. 123 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.279 And kind of talk to them about logistics. 124 00:06:58.279 --> 00:07:00.920 So I appreciate you mentioning it because I'm just so 125 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:01.800 excited about it. 126 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:04.439 I really love that though. I mean that that because 127 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:06.519 to me that those are those are memories. Like when 128 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:09.319 I talk to my dad, one of his clearest memories 129 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:12.680 of when he was a kid was going to some 130 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:15.079 event where they were showing creature from the Black Lagoon, 131 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:18.480 and and you know, he just has it, and you know, 132 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:22.319 that just the community, community of Monster kids and the 133 00:07:22.360 --> 00:07:25.319 community of Monster movies is just to me one of 134 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:31.079 those weird American things that that is just always worth celebrating. 135 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.480 Especially I mean, I know I'm hitting the summer really hard, 136 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.360 but it's so true, like in the summer, I think, 137 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.240 at least since in my lifetime, at least since Jaws 138 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.000 came out, summer is the time for monsters, you know, 139 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:46.639 And and so I just love that you've sort of 140 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:48.920 gone after that talk to me a little bit about 141 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.720 like that's fantastic, But getting down to the nitty gritty 142 00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:58.519 of your process, how did you knock yourself into getting 143 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:00.759 a book done? Like, how did it? How did it? 144 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:04.000 How did it come together? Did you like have to say, well, Chris, 145 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.480 I'm gonna have to sit down and knock out five 146 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:08.079 hundred words a day, or I'm going to get this 147 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.199 done by labor day, or or how did it come 148 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:10.759 together for you? 149 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:14.399 That's actually an interesting question because I wasn't really thinking 150 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:17.480 of it in those in those terms. Even though I 151 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:22.160 hadn't written a novel before, I've written several screenplays, and 152 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:24.800 so the process for me of writing down and writing 153 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:28.240 a screenplay is, you know, just kind of sitting down 154 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.639 kind of you know, really roughly plotting it out and 155 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:34.679 then just banging through it. I have a I have 156 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:39.440 a daughter who's now eleven, and so during during the 157 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:42.480 school year, I try to get up, you know, five 158 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:44.639 o'clock five thirty because I worked best in the morning, 159 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:46.120 try and knock out, you know, as much as I 160 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.600 can for a few hours before I you know, get 161 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:52.279 it ready for school. Then a couple hours after I 162 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:54.759 get her off to school, and it was just a 163 00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:58.000 matter of trying to uh, you know, try to do 164 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:02.200 it as as efficiently as I can. I was actually 165 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:04.879 I started writing the novel because I was writing the 166 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:09.360 screenplay that I was extremely excited about. I won't tell 167 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:10.480 you too much about it. I want to tell you what 168 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.879 it's about, but it's called Jingle Bell Chop, and it 169 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:16.399 was I was. I was just loving writing. 170 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:19.840 It was kind of a horror comedy, of holiday horror comedy. 171 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.879 And I literally got to the halfway point and I 172 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:25.600 just froze and I could not figure out where to 173 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:26.120 go with it. 174 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:26.440 Next. 175 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:29.519 I plotted it out, but it just seems so suddenly static, 176 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:31.360 and so I thought, oh my god, I've got to 177 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:32.679 put this aside. 178 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.399 You know, I can't go any further right now. 179 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:36.879 I thought, maybe this will be a good time to 180 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:40.600 start writing a novel, so I threw myself into Ticktown. 181 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:43.480 It had been, you know, it had been germinating in my. 182 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.799 Head up to that point, but I decided that that 183 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:48.600 was going to be my focus. I would say I 184 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:54.879 probably started in you know, February ish of or maybe 185 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.000 maybe a little later March or April of twenty twenty three. 186 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:00.440 I think it was done by the end of the year. 187 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.360 Just in terms of the you know, the book itself. 188 00:10:04.360 --> 00:10:04.639 I go. 189 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:07.639 I went through a couple of drafts, a few drafts, 190 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.480 and then, you know what I'm really bad at is 191 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:12.799 letting people read my stuff. But I had this book 192 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.279 that had gone through several drafts. I took it to 193 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:18.200 my best buddy, Jay, who reads my He's always my 194 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:20.799 first reader with short fiction, and he's not that. 195 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:22.919 Into horror at all. He's my code director on my 196 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:25.080 horror movies, but he doesn't read horror. 197 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:27.159 And I gave it to him and I said, you know, 198 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:28.720 I don't know if you're gonna like this at all, 199 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:31.159 because it's not what you read. I don't know if 200 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.279 it's any good. You know, the writing may suck. I 201 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:35.519 have no idea. But I realized when I was done 202 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:36.840 with it and when I was giving it to him, 203 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:39.879 and I told him, I said, all that doesn't matter, 204 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:42.600 because I realized that it was exactly. 205 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:43.679 The book that I wanted to write. 206 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:47.759 The tone, the pacne, the just kind of the approach 207 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.159 of it, how it kind of read like one of 208 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.879 these seventies eighties pulp horror things. It was just exactly 209 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:54.360 what I had meant to write. So I told him, 210 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:56.639 you take it. You know, I want on his feedback, 211 00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:00.879 but honestly, it's it's what I want. So that's good enough. 212 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:02.639 You know, it was what I wanted it to be, 213 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:05.799 and that was well good enough. But he was very encouraging. 214 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:07.600 He said he had a great time reading it, and 215 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:09.639 so that gave me a lot of a lot of 216 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:15.000 confidence to pitch it to agents and eventually to publishers, 217 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:17.120 and it was a it. 218 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:17.919 Was a great process. 219 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:21.320 I just you know, I was very lucky to find 220 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:23.720 an agent pretty quickly. I was very lucky to get 221 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:27.360 offers from people at castle Bridge Media. And I don't 222 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:31.200 I don't I don't overlook or miss the fact of 223 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:33.200 how lucky I am. You hit the right people at 224 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:35.159 the right time, and good things can happen. 225 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:39.240 Well, I I just sort of think it's it's when 226 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:44.000 it's difficult because speaking as a publisher, it is exactly 227 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:46.639 what it is intended to be. It is a celebration 228 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:49.039 of this kind of story that I don't get to 229 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:52.559 see enough of. Actually, let me ask you a question 230 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:56.559 about that. Why do you think we gravitate to you know, 231 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.320 because right now, everybody's worried about tariffs, and they're worried 232 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:01.440 about the worried about the Middle East, and they're worried 233 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:04.159 about they're worried about the four oh one K. Why 234 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.120 does somebody go all right, I want to sit down 235 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:10.039 and read a story about ticks eating people like like 236 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:12.320 and some and a couple of good guys trying to 237 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:16.519 stop them, Like, like, why why does that keep? Why 238 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.519 are we like that? Why is this so interesting to us? 239 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:22.360 I think I'd be extremely wealthy if I had an 240 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:24.159 answer to that question, And to be honest with you, 241 00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:28.240 I will say that, you know, for me, it's just 242 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:32.000 it's very nostalgic. Like I said, I I love these 243 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.559 old horror movies. When I was a kid, I used to. 244 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:38.240 I used to spend a lot of time with my grandparents. 245 00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:40.759 You know, my parents would love to go out on 246 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.360 the weekends, and I'd go spend a night or two 247 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:44.840 with my grandparents, and my grandmother always let me stay 248 00:12:44.919 --> 00:12:48.200 up with her and watch, you know, the local superstation 249 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:50.879 that was showing you know, I don't even remember who 250 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:52.720 the horror host was, but you know, one of those 251 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:56.360 one of those goofy, undead horror hosts, and they'd play 252 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:59.000 a lot of these movies and I have very fond, 253 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.879 warm memories of watching those with my grandma. And it's 254 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:05.159 a very nostalgic thing. And you know, I'm not I'm 255 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:08.559 a new author, but I'm not a young kid, and 256 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:12.399 I think that there is definitely something about that kind 257 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.519 of nostalgic take you back to. 258 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:16.279 When you were young, and when you were kind of 259 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:16.960 you know. 260 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:19.919 Free spirited and and all those things that made you 261 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.879 happy in a much simpler time. 262 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.000 I'm, you know, someone. 263 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:26.039 Who's very interested in the terrif issue, and he is 264 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:31.200 very politically motivated. My background is political communication. I spent 265 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:34.120 twenty years as a partner in a political media firm, 266 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:38.399 do an advocacy and political media and working for candidates 267 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.000 and organizations and all that. So that stuff is very 268 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:45.159 important to me, but it ain't fun at all. And 269 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:47.840 so sometimes you just want to have fun and you 270 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:49.919 want to, you know, you want to just kind of 271 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.279 put that stuff in the background and kind of indulge 272 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:57.240 something that just makes you happy. A close friend we 273 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.559 had some friends over for a dinner who we don't 274 00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:02.759 see very off and several weeks ago, and she was 275 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.720 asking me about the book and she said, well, what's 276 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:08.879 the what's the political you know what, you know, what's 277 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:11.440 the political message of the book or you know, is 278 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:13.799 it global warming or is it? And I was like, 279 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:19.080 there's not any political message to this book. It is sheer, propulsive, 280 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:20.639 nostalgic fun. 281 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:21.440 That's all it is. 282 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.960 It's so that's so funny. There's real joy that comes 283 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:26.840 across in it. That's the funny thing Like that just 284 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:31.519 sort of gonzo uh uh. You know, bedlam of the 285 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:35.480 of of the book comes across as a real joy 286 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:37.879 and it reminds me, you know, like Stephen King talked 287 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.480 about Horror of Party Beach, basically where monsters are created. 288 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:46.159 So because some dufices drop like some nuclear waste into 289 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.919 this into the near the beach, and it makes monsters 290 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:53.000 and they eat they eat bikini girls. And like those 291 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.000 guys were not interested in nuclear power like that is 292 00:14:56.039 --> 00:15:01.399 not the creators of that movie didn't really care about 293 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:04.480 nuclear waste. It was just it was just a handwavy 294 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:08.840 thing to say, monsters, Right, So I love it. I 295 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:11.919 think that's okay. Before we go, I want you to 296 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:13.960 tell us a little bit about your main characters because 297 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.519 people want to know, all right, giant ticks, So who 298 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:21.000 is tell us about about who the characters are that 299 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:24.559 people can come to know as they're as they're bound. 300 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:24.879 Sure. 301 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:30.600 So the story takes place in a fictional town in 302 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:33.799 northern Wisconsin, a small tourist town, kind of tucked in 303 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:34.200 the woods. 304 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:35.879 It's called Tomahawk Hollow. 305 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:40.399 It doesn't exist, but it is, you know, very much 306 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:44.240 the kind of town I imagine is that is all 307 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.720 over the country, but it's definitely very much a Midway. 308 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:49.320 A lot of people in the Midwest will recognize this town. 309 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:53.759 A small population, you know, rural nestled in the woods. 310 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.240 You know, you drive through them in Wisconsin all the time. 311 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:01.600 There's usually a church, a bar, a school, and sometimes 312 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:05.039 that's about it. Tomahawk coll is a little more developed 313 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:10.279 than that. But the uh, the the story. The central 314 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:14.360 characters in the story are Jackson and Emmeline. He's the 315 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:18.080 publisher of a of a small town newspaper, and Emmeline 316 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:21.440 is his cub reporter. She's a Native American, a young 317 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:24.559 Native American woman who's been working for him, you know, 318 00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:27.559 for for a short period of time. Honestly, when I 319 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:32.200 started to write Ticktown, I I I meant to make 320 00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:36.399 it kind of a somewhat of a commentary on the 321 00:16:36.600 --> 00:16:40.360 you know, the dying out of of local media like that. 322 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:42.879 You know, you don't find these small town newspapers that 323 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:43.600 much anymore. 324 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.399 They used to be a big deal. They're not anymore. 325 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:50.639 And I thought the idea of of of big media conglomerates, 326 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.840 you know, swallowing up and you know, uh evolving and 327 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:57.440 destroying the you know, the the smaller would be an 328 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:01.559 interesting theme to you know, uh, to go along with 329 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:04.640 giant ticks who have evolved, you know, to gobble up 330 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:07.279 you know, local So there's a little bit of that 331 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:09.160 in there, But I didn't go too far with it 332 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:12.119 because I lost interest in that and started having fun 333 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:16.759 with cleaving people in half. But Jackson and them line 334 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:22.319 are they you know, they start hearing about local local 335 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:26.839 livestock being slaughtered, they go to investigate it, and and 336 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:30.279 you know, they discover, you know, that that there's not 337 00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:32.240 only giant ticks in the woods that but that it 338 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:36.920 may be tied to a shady overseas organization that that 339 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:42.039 owned the local pesticides plant. I learned very quickly and write, 340 00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:45.160 in reading the pulp horror stuff of the seventies and eighties, 341 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:48.400 you gotta have vaguely Nazi characters involved in this. You know, 342 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:50.799 there's got to be some sort of you know, nastiness 343 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:56.079 out there. I'm there's Jaws in the DNA because there's 344 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.559 kind of a corrupt mayor in Ticktown, which was who 345 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.559 was a ton of fun to write, Mayor Cankerby, who 346 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:02.119 is kind. 347 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:05.119 Of a uh he's a. 348 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.759 Cross between Mayor Vaughan from Jaws and Boss Hog from 349 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:10.400 The Dukes of Hazzard. You know, that's kind of how 350 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:12.240 I thought of him. But he was he was a 351 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.119 ton of fun to write. 352 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:16.119 Uh So, so those are the main characters. 353 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:21.640 There's also a cop, the local chief of police, who, 354 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:22.440 as he says at. 355 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.240 One point in in the uh in the book. 356 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.440 That it's a kind of a uh, it's kind of 357 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:30.880 an uh, just an honorary title that goes to the 358 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.039 only cop in town. He becomes the chief of police, 359 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.920 so he's he's on his own, and he's got to 360 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:38.119 figure out what's going on, not just these tics, but 361 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:41.319 with this foreign company and these people who've come into 362 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.519 the town. And this is all of course happening in 363 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:49.319 amid the amidh the preparations for the big Fall festival, 364 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:54.799 the Harvest Moon Jubilee, so you know, it's all very 365 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:58.279 people will find it very familiar. The characters are very familiar. 366 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:00.559 I interesting. 367 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:02.880 This is my first book, so I don't know, I 368 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:06.119 never knew what to expect from arc readers, but my 369 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:09.480 ARC readers have been extremely enthusiastic. And what I hear 370 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:13.799 a lot from the ARC reviews has been, you know, 371 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.759 very tropy, but with an original twist. You're going to 372 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:21.279 recognize the characters, but you're going to love the characters. 373 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:21.519 You know. 374 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:23.720 I think, kind of getting to what we talked about 375 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:27.160 earlier about this nostalgic factor. I've heard a lot of 376 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:30.519 that in the ARC reviews and in the traditional reviews. 377 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:34.680 You know, people have have reacted to this idea that boy, 378 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:37.519 this is all very familiar, but it's it's updated and 379 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:40.160 it's more modern, and it's got its own twist to it. 380 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:42.880 I mean, I think I think people have and will 381 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:46.799 like that kind of combination of nostalgic fun, you know, 382 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:50.000 characters they recognize, but that are you know, that have 383 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:52.200 cell phones, you know, and so on and so forth. 384 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:56.799 So, uh, yeah, I that's what I think. That's I 385 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.000 loved the characters and I felt like they were really 386 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:01.920 well drawn. I mean, you know, I like the bad 387 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:04.200 guys checking in at the hotel and everything. 388 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:08.920 There's just wonderful details. And I did recognize this town. 389 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:11.599 This is like this is like a dark shadow of 390 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:15.319 a Hallmark movie, really, where you've got everybody knows one another, 391 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:19.240 but they are ticks seating people. I just really love that. 392 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:20.680 All right. 393 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:25.319 So I've been talking to Christopher Miklos. Tell us again 394 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:29.039 about the date of your event and the release. The 395 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:32.720 release is tuesday, but yeah, give us your dates and 396 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:33.720 where can people find it? 397 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:35.640 Sure? So the. 398 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:40.599 Release date is Tuesday, June twenty fourth. My event is 399 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:44.680 on the book launch event is on Saturday, June twenty eighth. 400 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:49.240 My website is Christophermichlos dot com. It's my name, and 401 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:51.519