WEBVTT 1 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:11.599 This is going to be a little bit of a 2 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:15.279 different podcast. I haven't put one up in about six 3 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:18.359 or eight days, I think, but I've been busy on 4 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:22.480 the Steve Lily number twenty that I uploaded last Wednesday 5 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:25.600 or Thursday, I think. And I'm gonna talk about Steve 6 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:29.559 Lily further on in the podcast, and I'm going to 7 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.519 talk about some other things. So if this is one 8 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:34.640 of those podcasts that you hate to hear somebody ramble on, 9 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:37.600 then you can just click away. There are going to 10 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:40.399 be stories. I don't know how long the podcast is 11 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:42.799 going to be, but just hang on. I think this 12 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:45.479 might be interesting. But the first thing I want to 13 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:49.359 share with you is I picked up a book last week. 14 00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:52.920 I have a list of favorite authors that I love 15 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:57.399 to read and seek out authors who may or may 16 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:01.439 not tell stories I'm interested in, but they write really well. 17 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:08.480 One of those authors is Dennis Johnson. D Nis Johnson. 18 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:13.159 You may know that name or you may recognize something 19 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:16.400 he wrote if you have watched a new film on 20 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:21.319 Netflix called Train Dreams. Dennis Johnson wrote that book. It's 21 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:23.920 a short I think if they would call it a novella. 22 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:27.000 It's not a very long book, but I stumbled across 23 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.280 that book about two or three years ago. I think 24 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.159 someone reviewed it. It looked interesting, so I bought it 25 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:36.120 and I read it, and I just love the way 26 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:40.480 this guy writes. He's won all kind of awards, and 27 00:01:40.519 --> 00:01:43.640 he's written six or eight novels. He's a poet. He's 28 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:46.599 got two or three books of poetry out. So I'll 29 00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:49.359 give these authors a read, and then i'll put it down, 30 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:51.599 and i'll write their name down, and then i'll go 31 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:53.480 to another author, and then when I want to come 32 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:56.239 back to them, I'll pick up another book that they wrote. 33 00:01:56.359 --> 00:02:00.079 So I'm reading a book now by Dennis Johnson call 34 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:04.359 it's called Tree of Smoke. Now. I'm only five or 35 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.079 six chapters into it, and it's really good. It's a 36 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:12.960 Vietnam era book. The very first chapter I read a 37 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:17.599 short scene. It's about six or eight paragraphs long, and 38 00:02:17.639 --> 00:02:21.319 I've recorded it. I want you to listen to it. 39 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:26.080 I know this isn't monster content. Listen to this little 40 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:31.800 micro story. Listen to the way he wrote it. Immediately 41 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:34.639 when it's over, I want you to hit the pause 42 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:38.280 button if you'd like to, and comment to me and 43 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:43.439 tell me what your immediate emotion is after hearing this 44 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:47.439 little six or eight paragraph scene at the very beginning 45 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.800 of Tree of Smoke, I'm curious to know what my 46 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.800 listeners can hear and pick up in a good piece 47 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:59.639 of writing. I'm just curious if you had any of 48 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:03.039 the same emotions I had when I stopped. I mean, 49 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:06.280 it's only a couple of pages long, and I read this, 50 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:10.199 and I stopped, and I reflected back on my life 51 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:12.639 at the time, when I was a kid and have 52 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.719 done this, I've done things like this, and how much 53 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:21.039 remorse I had at the time, and how at the 54 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:24.400 age of sixty three, I'll remember something all the way 55 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:27.879 back when I was eight years old. Whenever it crosses 56 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:31.919 my mind, just this wave of heat and embarrassment and 57 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:35.879 remorse comes over me for doing what I did. And 58 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:41.280 it is it is. I don't know how to describe 59 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:44.319 the emotion. But anyway, anyway, I want you to listen 60 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:48.280 to this, pause your video, tap the screen, immediately, make 61 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:51.400 a comment. Let me know the emotion that this evoked 62 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.240 from listening to this. I'm very interested in that. And 63 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:57.879 also let me know if you if you got to 64 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.960 the end of this and you a preated the way 65 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:05.120 he wrote it, to evoke an emotion from you and 66 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:08.919 to give you some kind of a microscope into this 67 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:13.879 boy's life and personality and demeanor. Because I think, as 68 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:16.120 I'm reading this book, it's gonna it's gonna give you 69 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.439 some insight into some of the things he goes through 70 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.439 in Vietnam, and you'll know who you're reading about. Okay, 71 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:26.120 I'll shut up. Here is the h here's the little 72 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:35.839 excerpt from Tree of Smoke. It was late in the 73 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:40.319 morning and Seemen Apprentice William Houston Jr. Began feeling sober 74 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:44.639 again as he stalked the jungle of Grand Island carrying 75 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.560 a Borrow twenty two rifle. There was supposed to be 76 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:52.839 some wild boars roaming this island military resort, which was 77 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:56.040 all he had seen so far in the Philippines. He 78 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.240 didn't know how he felt about this country. He just 79 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:02.079 wanted to do so hunting in the jungle. There were 80 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:06.360 supposed to be wild bores around here. He stepped carefully, 81 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:09.199 thinking about snakes and trying to be quiet because he 82 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:13.199 wanted to hear any bores before they charged him. He 83 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:17.759 was aware that he was terrifically on edge. From all 84 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:21.600 around came the ten thousand sounds of the jungle, as 85 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.759 well as the cries of gulls and the far off surf, 86 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:27.160 And if he stopped in and listened a minute, he 87 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:30.240 could hear also the pulse snickering of the heat of 88 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.000 his flesh, and the creak of sweat in his ears. 89 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:37.000 If he stayed motionless only another couple of seconds, the 90 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.680 bugs found him and whined around his head. He propped 91 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:44.240 the rifle against the stunted banana plant, and removed his 92 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:46.519 head band and wrung it out, and wiped his face, 93 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:50.120 and stood there a while, waving away mosquitoes with the 94 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:55.759 cloth and itching his crotch absent mindedly. Nearby, a seagull 95 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:59.439 seemed to be carrying on an argument with itself, a 96 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:04.639 series of protesting squeaks interrupted by contradictory, lower pitched cries 97 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:10.360 that sounded like huh huh, huh, And something moving from 98 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:14.920 one tree to another caught Semen Houston's eye. He kept 99 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:17.120 his vision on the spot where he'd seen it among 100 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.720 the branches of a rubber tree, putting his hand out 101 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:23.920 for the rifle without altering the direction of his gaze. 102 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.720 It moved again, and now he saw that it was 103 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:31.399 some sort of monkey, not much bigger than a Chihuahua dog, 104 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.199 not precisely a wild boar, but it presented itself as 105 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:38.519 something to be looked at, clinging by its left hand 106 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:41.240 and both feet to the tree's trunk, digging at the 107 00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:46.480 thin rind with an air of tiny, exasperated haste. Semen 108 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:49.560 Houston took the money's meager back under the rifle sight. 109 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.560 He raised the barrel a few degrees and took the 110 00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:56.240 monkey's head into his sight, and without really thinking about 111 00:06:56.279 --> 00:07:01.160 anything at all, he squeezed the trigger. The monkey flattened 112 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:05.800 itself out against the tree, spreading its arms and legs enthusiastically, 113 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:08.759 and then reaching around with both hands as if trying 114 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:12.120 to scratch its back, and it tumbled down to the ground. 115 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:17.759 Semen Houston was terrified to witness its convulsions. There it 116 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:21.000 hoisted itself, pushing off the ground with one arm, and 117 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:23.720 sat back against the tree trunk with its legs spread 118 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.879 out before it, like somebody resting from a difficult job 119 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:31.759 of labor. Semen Houston took himself a few steps nearer, 120 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:35.519 and from the distance of only a few yards, he 121 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:38.120 saw the monkey's fur was very shiny and held a 122 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:40.879 heena tent, and the shadows and a blond tent, and 123 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:45.120 the light as the leaves moved above it. It looked 124 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:48.879 from side to side, its breath coming in great rapid gulps, 125 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:52.759 its belly expanding tremendously with every breath, like a balloon. 126 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:58.160 The shot had been low, exiting from the abdomen. Semen 127 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:02.439 Houston felt his own stomach terar itself in two Jesus Christ. 128 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:05.279 He shouted at the monkey, as if it might do 129 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:09.600 something about its embarrassing and hateful condition. He thought his 130 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.000 head would explode if the forenoon kept burning into the 131 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:17.000 jungle all around him, and the gulls kept screaming, and 132 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:21.160 the monkey kept regarding its surroundings, carefully moving its head 133 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:24.519 and black eyes from side to side, like someone following 134 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:28.759 the progress of some kind of conversation, some kind of debate, 135 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:32.759 some kind of struggle that the jungle the morning the moment, 136 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:37.759 was having with itself. Semen Houston walked over to the monkey, 137 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:41.120 laid the rifle down beside it, lifted the animal up 138 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:44.480 with his two hands and holding its buttocks in one 139 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:49.240 and cradling its head in the other. With fascination and 140 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:54.279 then revulsion, he realized that the monkey was crying. Its 141 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:58.000 breath came out in sobs, and tears welled out its eyes. 142 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:01.720 When it blinked, it looked here and there, appearing no 143 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:04.960 more interested in him than in anything else it might 144 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:10.000 be seen, Hey, Houston said, But the monkey didn't seem 145 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:13.679 to hear. As he held the animal in his hands, 146 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:17.000 its heart stopped beating. He gave it a shake, but 147 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:20.799 he knew it was useless. He felt as if everything 148 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.240 was all his fault, and with no one around to 149 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.519 know about it, he let himself cry like a child. 150 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:33.440 He was eighteen years old. All right, thank you for 151 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:36.759 your comments. If you haven't comment it, hit the pause 152 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:41.159 button on the video or the podcast. And I don't 153 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:44.000 know how to comment on these podcast apps, but I'm 154 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:47.200 assuming you can. The whole point of this exercise is 155 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:50.200 not for me to get comments. Comments do help the channel, 156 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:53.480 but that's not what I'm doing. I'm trying to demonstrate 157 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:58.320 for you how good writing can actually move a reader 158 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:02.080 to almost tears. If you want to listen to that 159 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:03.879 whole book on or if you want to read it, 160 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:09.159 just search for Dennis Johnson on Amazon and you can 161 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:11.519 buy the book or any of his books. I've only 162 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:15.720 read one book, Train Dreams, but if you want to search, 163 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:18.679 he's got six or eight novels out and I'm sure 164 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:22.919 they're all written extremely well. May not be the subject 165 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:25.399 matter you're interested in, but if you're like me, if 166 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:29.559 you just appreciate exceptional writing, Dennis Johnson is one of 167 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:32.679 those guys. Now, and let me say this, if you 168 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.600 want to listen to it on audible, Will Patten is 169 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:39.519 the narrator. He is the king of all narrators. He 170 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:42.679 did so much better with that little scene than I did. 171 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.639 If you listen to it, you'll hear it. You'll hear it. 172 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:49.200 You'll feel even more emotional when you hear Will Patten 173 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.759 when you hear Will Patten read it. But I just 174 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:54.960 wanted to share it with my audience, so I read it. 175 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.279 I couldn't grab Will Patten's audio and let you hear 176 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:02.159 it because it would have been a copyright. So anyway, 177 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:05.559 all that said, speaking of writing, let's talk about Steve Lily. 178 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:09.000 I don't have any notes here, and I don't know 179 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:12.440 exactly how to say what I'm about to say. And 180 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:15.080 it's not bad news. I'm going to keep writing Steve Lily, 181 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.320 but this for the last I think I've been writing 182 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:22.320 those for three four years now. And the first one, 183 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.000 just so you know, the first one that I put out, 184 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:29.440 I actually put it out on this podcast. I had 185 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:32.879 some free time and I just spent about three hours 186 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:35.600 and I just wrote this real quick story. And I'll 187 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:37.879 tell you why I wrote it is because all of 188 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.679 these Bigfoot stories they kind of run together, and they're 189 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:45.240 all basically the same. If you watch a Bigfoot movie, 190 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:50.120 the Bigfoot is always the terror in the woods, and 191 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:53.840 Bigfoot is the focus of all those films and all 192 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:57.480 of these stories. And I wanted to at that moment 193 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:00.440 when I wrote Steve Lily Number one, which would later 194 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:04.200 become I didn't plan it on being a series. I 195 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:06.279 just thought, you know, i've got an afternoon free, I'm 196 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:08.480 going to write something different. I'm going to turn the 197 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:12.320 tables and make the Bigfoot story about the people who, 198 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:15.399 in this case are hunting Bigfoot. And I kind of 199 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:18.919 ran through several scenarios of how this guy could get 200 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:23.240 roped into hunting Bigfoot by the government and just be 201 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:26.320 a personable guy that you could begin to know and like, 202 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.919 and then put some of his friends with him and 203 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:33.360 you begin to like them. I'm an old fashioned story 204 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.399 kind of person. I like the good guy versus the 205 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:39.440 bad guy, and there's a conflict and there's a resolution, 206 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:42.919 and there's an ending and the good guy comes out 207 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:45.879 on top. I may not write all the Steve Lilly 208 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:50.720 stories that way, but and then I got to thinking, well, 209 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:53.720 let me back up. So the first one so many 210 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.080 people liked it, I thought, well, okay, I'll write another one. 211 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.480 So I just kind of dreamed up another story, and 212 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:00.720 I put out number two. And I don't even remember 213 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:05.000 what I wrote in like two through I kind of 214 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:09.960 remember a three part series, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. I don't know. 215 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.799 I've got one that's two parts and one that's three parts, 216 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.120 and then I've got nineteen, and then I've got twenty. 217 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:19.639 But what is going on with the Steve Lilly thing? People? 218 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:24.320 I've had complaints about Steve Lilly. I've had these mostly 219 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:28.320 ninety nine percent people seem to really enjoy Steve Lily, 220 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:32.200 and thank you so much for the encouraging comments. This 221 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:35.440 is the best audience on the planet. But there is 222 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.240 a certain group of people that expect every story to 223 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:43.240 be like Steve Lily, maybe like one through ten but 224 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:46.120 you have to understand I didn't know how to write. 225 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:49.799 I had never written much of anything. I've always wanted 226 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:52.159 to write, but I've never had time to. You know, 227 00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:54.600 to write, you have to sit down and think, and 228 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.080 you have to write and then go back and edit 229 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.960 it and clean it up and make it more legible. 230 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:04.399 And it's kind of a process that I didn't expect 231 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:06.039 that I would have to go through, but that is 232 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:09.519 the process. And you want to write something different, something, 233 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:14.440 you know, a story people can relate to. And anyway, 234 00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:17.720 every guy in the Steve Lily, every person in the 235 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:21.559 Steve Lilly series is someone I know, even Steve Leary 236 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:25.120 Steve Lily, He's sort of a composite of several iron 237 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:28.080 workers I've known through the years in my business. But 238 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:31.960 here's what I'm trying to get across to you. I'm 239 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.960 teaching myself how to write. And around episode nine or ten, 240 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:39.759 I decided, you know what I need to I owe 241 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:44.720 this audience a better story, a better written story. And 242 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:47.320 I want to even though it's a silly, kind of 243 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:51.720 slapstick jamble of stories that really go nowhere, they're just 244 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:55.600 episodes of They're just little ideas I come up with 245 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:58.159 all these stories are kind of built off of some 246 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:02.039 little funny EPs I have in my mind. So for 247 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:06.759 instance nineteen where they go to help out Charlie with 248 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.919 the bigfoot that he dug up or the Bigfoot clan 249 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:13.039 that comes after him because he dug up a bigfoot skeleton. 250 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:17.559 That started out with a vision for some reason, it 251 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:20.080 just popped in my head a bigfoot sitting on a 252 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:23.840 tractor driving a tractor. I have no idea why that 253 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:27.759 popped in my head. Well, it wound up being a skeleton, 254 00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:30.679 but it was some method that they used to draw 255 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:35.639 these bigfoots out and kill them, like that whole open 256 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.120 Door story. And I'll admit I went too far in 257 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:42.279 that story. That story was dealt with portals and hundreds 258 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.840 of bigfoots pouring out of the portals, and it was 259 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:48.879 kind of silly, and I don't really go into the 260 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:52.919 woo stuff. I guess I just felt like righting that 261 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:56.519 kind of story at that time. And then twenty was 262 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.000 about I had a vision of a baby big Foot 263 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:03.519 and a woman bringing it back to camping and attacking everybody, 264 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.360 So that whole story was built around that. So you 265 00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:09.320 got to have a bad guy good guy gotta have 266 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:13.559 annoying characters. I like putting in annoying characters. Now, I 267 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:15.159 told you all I was going to ramble on in 268 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.159 this podcast, so hang with me. If you're still with me, 269 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:20.519 I just want you to know that I'm trying to 270 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:24.720 teach myself how to write, and I feel like that 271 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:29.679 you cannot become a good writer unless you're a prolific reader, 272 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.960 which I am. I read as much as I can 273 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:38.600 possibly read fiction nonfiction. I just finished a book, well 274 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:42.440 it's on my nightstand, but it's a nonfiction book by 275 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:47.840 Buddy Levy about a polar expedition into the toward the 276 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:51.480 North Pole, and it's a harrowing thing. I love good history. 277 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:55.159 But you can read good history and good contemporary narrative 278 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:57.840 history and you can get great ideas of how to write, 279 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:01.919 and you if those things teach you how to write, 280 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:06.359 and you also get ideas for stories. Now I'm reading 281 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:11.440 some other stuff by some non best selling authors, some 282 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:14.480 guys I actually met this weekend. Two of those guys 283 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:17.519 handed me their books, and I'm gonna I'm going to 284 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:21.640 try to do their audio books on the podcast, maybe 285 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:25.440 sooner than later, because they're they're kind of they're they're 286 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:28.599 real interesting to me. So anyway, all that to say, 287 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:31.759 if you're disappointed in Steve Lily or if you're happy 288 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:34.519 with Steve Lily, I want you to know that I'm 289 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:38.480 teaching myself to write how to write, and you're kind of, 290 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:41.480 whether you know it or not, you're kind of following 291 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.240 along the evolution of a man in his sixties who 292 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:49.640 has found a passion late in life. And I'm teaching 293 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:53.359 myself to write. And I am trying to teach myself 294 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:58.559 that by reading great authors like Dennis Johnson. I've read 295 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:02.720 several passages from several books. I've even read short stories 296 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:08.160 by really good authors, Tom Franklin, Michael Ferris Smith, Larry Brown, 297 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:11.599 and there are Jeff Crawford is a good author I've read. 298 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.400 I just put up a whole audio book on my 299 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:18.519 podcast network that he wrote. And I feel like the 300 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:21.480 more I read, the more I learned to write. And 301 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:25.920 you're getting not getting don't feel like you're I don't 302 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:28.920 think you're privileged to do this, but you're kind of 303 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.599 coming along with me on that road. And So I 304 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:36.720 had started a Steve Lilly novel two years ago, and 305 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:40.640 every time I read another book I think about what 306 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.119 I've written, and I go back and change it because 307 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:46.160 I think, damn, I can do that better, and so 308 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.359 I'll try to do it better. And so I hope 309 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:51.599 to get a Steve Lilly novel out, maybe by the 310 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:53.680 end of the summer. I don't know, and I'm going 311 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.960 to record the audiobook and put it out. Maybe we 312 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:59.240 can do a series. I have other stories in my 313 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:01.519 head I want to write that have nothing to do 314 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:06.000 with Bigfoot or they're just normal stories. So I wanted 315 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:10.039 to read that to you to tell you that good 316 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:14.119 writing will provoke these emotions from you. And that is 317 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:17.920 what I tried to do in Steve Lily twenty, specifically 318 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:21.319 that sorry couple on the side of the road, leaving 319 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:24.319 those dogs behind them. The goal was to get you 320 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:28.519 to hate them, and based on the comments I've got 321 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:32.119 on Steve Lily twenty, accomplished my mission. I've got so 322 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:34.880 many emails. There's a lot of people pissed off about that. 323 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:37.279 Matter of fact, I got about a half a dozen 324 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:41.240 comments and emails from people saying they're unsubscribing because I 325 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.720 wrote that scene in that story. It's fiction, it's not real, 326 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.160 but you know, those things do happen. I mean, there 327 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:50.720 are plenty of people who just leave dogs on the 328 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:53.839 side of the highway, and that is a part of reality. 329 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:57.599 But if it made you hate that couple that was 330 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:01.240 in the car, then I accomplished my mission. So I 331 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:04.200 consider that one of the best things I've written. Even 332 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:06.920 though it may have made you mad, it evoked this 333 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.480 emotion from you that was I want to use the 334 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.200 word visceral, but I don't really know what the word 335 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:17.759 visceral means, but it seems appropriate, like this visceral, obvious 336 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:22.240 type emotion from people. And so I learned a little 337 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:25.200 bit about how to develop characters and make you like them, 338 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.839 make you hate them, all those kind of things, and 339 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:30.920 I was just trying to do that in this story. Anyway. 340 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:33.400 That's kind of what's going on with Steve Lilly. Now 341 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.319 I want to read you a story I got from 342 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:39.160 This is actually an email I got. It's a story 343 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:44.279 a published author has written specifically for this podcast. I'm 344 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:47.359 sure he's published in other places, but it is his 345 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:51.079 struggle with depression. This guy went down a road that 346 00:20:51.319 --> 00:20:57.759 was terrible, terrible, terrible, and he's just listening to the story. 347 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.920 But it's a happy ending. We won't drop off on 348 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.880 this podcast with a gloomy kind of mood. But I 349 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:07.920 think you're really gonna like this and you're gonna appreciate it, 350 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:12.279 and it ought to provoke an emotion from you that is, 351 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:15.599 I'll use the word again, visceral. You will. You'll actually 352 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:19.200 be moved by the story. So again, this is a 353 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:21.519 different podcast. It's just something I've been wanting to do 354 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:24.720 for a while. Talk about writing, talk about Steve Lilly, 355 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:28.759 talk about good writing, talk about emotional writing and how 356 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:32.000 it can move you. And here is one of those 357 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:34.400 stories that will do that. And then I'll sign off 358 00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:38.160 at the end. But listen into the story, and when 359 00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:40.519 you get to the end of it, even if you've 360 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:44.440 commented before, push the pause button and let me know 361 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:47.880 how this story makes you feel. It's going to take 362 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:51.920 you deep into the recesses of the human mind that 363 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:55.039 makes some of us want to do things that we 364 00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:58.599 probably that are dangerous for us. So listen to it, 365 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:03.119 leave a comment and I'll talk to you at the end. Thanks. 366 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:08.599 This email is from Greg ball And Greg Ballin is 367 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:13.119 a published author. A published author, it's several books out 368 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:17.279 on Amazon. Greg Ballin, GR E, G. B. A L. 369 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:19.839 L A N. You can look him up. I've done 370 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:23.759 a couple of his creature stories on this podcast, one 371 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:26.400 being that I remember is called The War of the Species, 372 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:30.559 really good story he wrote. This is a personal story 373 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:32.880 that he sent to me. I called Greg, I said, 374 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:35.839 can I attach your name to this email? He said yes, 375 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:39.480 so let's read the email. Thank you so much for 376 00:22:39.559 --> 00:22:43.599 reading the many of my stories. I'm extremely humbled and grateful. 377 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:47.200 This is a tale about a real experience I had 378 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:51.839 in September of nineteen ninety eight. I was experiencing an 379 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:55.759 incredibly bad depression. I had never been at such a 380 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:59.240 low point in my life. I've been through hard times before, 381 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:01.440 but nothing like what I was in during that late 382 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:05.119 summer and fall. I can no longer take the pain, 383 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:08.880 and I decided to end my life. I called in 384 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:11.279 sick to work on a cloudy Wednesday and went to 385 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:15.920 the gun range intent on suicide. The attached is the 386 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:19.720 true tale of my experience and how a strange old 387 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:25.359 man saved me from making a horrible, horrible choice. Five 388 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:28.240 years later, my best friend and hunting buddy took his 389 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:32.519 own life. Often wonder why I was fortunate enough to 390 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:36.680 escape my fate, and he wasn't. I witnessed the pain 391 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:39.559 his death caused his sons and daughter, at the horrible 392 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:43.359 months of tears and the questions that followed his passing. 393 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:46.920 I can only imagine what my young wife and small 394 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.640 children would have gone through. My death would have ended 395 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:55.559 my pain, but permanently scarred my children. My friend's children 396 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:58.160 have been scarred for life. And even today, twenty one 397 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:01.200 years later, I still miss my friend and long for 398 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.920 the times we had spent together in the woods and 399 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:08.200 at his dinner table, talking and laughing. I hope you 400 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:11.839 find merit in this true story. It is not as 401 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:15.079