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Speaker 1: I don't know if you check it out yet. It's

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Arrow dot net a r r oe dot net, not

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just a podcast. It is twenty different podcasts to choose from.

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Maybe you need a daily inspiration, a shot in the arm,

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an affirmation. You'll find that on the Choice. Yeah, it's

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an opportunity for you to just kind of let your

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hair down and just be you without judgment. The choice

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only on Arrow dot net a r r o e

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dot net. Enjoy your exploration. Hello, and good morning everybody.

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Speaker 2: Good morning. All right, let me get the pronounce it arrow? Yes,

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all right, good to be with you.

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Speaker 1: How did you lean on arrow? Most people go, is

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it a rowie?

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Speaker 2: Is it?

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Speaker 1: Uh?

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Speaker 3: It's a good question, but no, I read it. I

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have kids with funny pronunciations. Their name, my last name Schlosberg,

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which can sometimes be very very amusing.

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Speaker 1: Oh, I see. It's moments like that that I wish

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I had a pen and a sheet of paper and

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sitting in a doctor's office or a dentist office, so

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I can just sit there and watch everybody's reaction when

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they come out there and do that. You're going, God, no,

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will they ever get this right?

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Speaker 2: Yep? Yep, No, it's not.

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Speaker 3: Uh, it's not fun, but uh, I'm glad I landed

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on it, and it's good to be with you.

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Speaker 1: Dude. You got to tell me about this book because

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I grew up in the nineteen seventies as a teenager,

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and this was the kind of story that I couldn't

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get enough of, because I mean, in the nineteen seventies,

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we really did think about the end of the world.

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And I think that's one of the reasons why day one,

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what was it, nineteen eighty or eighty one when it

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came out, I wanted to know what was going on

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afterwards as well. And that's your focus.

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Speaker 3: It will it is, and it was a I took

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a slightly different tact with it because we all see

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what happens in the dystopian societies where the nuclear bomb hits,

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where the meteor hits, and everybody's left, and I've read

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a bunch of books like that, and you know, I

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grew up in the nineties, so I've seen no shortage

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of movies about it. I wanted to take a different tack.

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I wanted to try to figure out what would happened

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when the missile hit, like you see Armageddon, where you know.

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Speaker 2: Everything's okay, the world goes on. Okay, let's let's stay.

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Let's follow that for a second.

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Speaker 3: And I sort of tried to approach it from that angle,

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and the entire time I was really curious to try

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to examine how society would look.

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Speaker 2: And how screwed up things would be.

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Speaker 3: The irony for me from a personal perspective is it

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wound up being an unintentional COVID allegory because I started

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it before COVID but finished it after and realized it was.

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There were there's a lot of parallels in my book. Specifically,

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it's a young adult books, so focuses on a seventeen

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year old protagonist to the book ultimates with the world

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not ending and society trying to get back on track,

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so you have, you know, breakdowns in law and order

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and people trying to get up and running and essentially

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restore civilization.

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Speaker 2: My main character.

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Speaker 3: The book takes place on in a boarding school because

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I wanted to try to create an isolated environment to

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really examine what would happen within this petriot dish. So

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in the scenario highlight out, there's the rise of a

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cult because society broke everybody's miserable society was broken to

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begin with, and it's him trying to fight off this

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cult and get people to engage in the real world

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with real fact, real information and facing their problems head on.

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And again, I wasn't setting out to do COVID, but

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it sort of wound up being a parallel.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, do you think that's because that's all we've

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heard about for decades is that it's gonna happen. It's

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gonna happen, It's gonna happen, and then all of a sudden,

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when it finally does, we're gonna go that's it. Can

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you give me something a little bit stronger next time?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well that's that is a very good way of

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putting it. And that was again kind of what I

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was going for there, try to figure out just how

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bad things would be if the world didn't end, And

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I was just trying to come up with a unique

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angle for dystopian fiction and wound up settling this way.

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Speaker 2: And I hope it's an interesting story. Well far so good, Mike.

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Speaker 1: You you give it a big spin here. This is

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where you really captivated my heart, and that is that

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what about those people that aren't ready to again, who

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the hell takes that kind of a look?

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Speaker 3: But you.

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Speaker 2: That was that was exactly what I was going for it.

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Speaker 3: I appreciate that you've got the crux of the books

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are either you're smart or I did a halfway decent

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joggle explaining it well, But that was that was one

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hundred percent because we already like, let's lay out the

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scenario in my book. Because in my book, there's there's

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a four month period where the asteroid is coming and

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we're all probably going to die, and nobody actually thinks

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we're going to live. In that four months, you would

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have breakdowns the law and order, financial systems, nobody would

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actually show up at work anymore, and you'd have but

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you'd still at the same time, just like during COVID,

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you'd have heroes. You'd have people willing to face it

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and willing to try to fight back, and then you'd

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have everybody else who.

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Speaker 2: Just wanted to live their lives.

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Speaker 3: And we all, if this were to start right now,

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we already know there's no shortage of problems in our society,

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and just like with COVID, everything bad would get magnified,

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Everything problematic would get a trillion times worse, and trying

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to readjust in the aftermass of this massive collective trauma

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that impacted billions of people. I thought it would be

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an interesting story to tell.

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Speaker 1: Well, see, I kept thinking that when when you identify

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the cult, because I went through the COVID lockdown, I

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chose to go to an essential job because I just

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wanted to be with people. So I took a job

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at a grocery store, of all places, because I just

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wanted to be with people. But the one thing when

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I was thinking about your cult was I think it's

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coming from the people of homelessness, because they know how

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to survive, they know how to get through things and

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to help lead people. I'm going, oh my god, this

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is where he's going. This is where he's going. Yeah,

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but you're spot on because people will forget they've got

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their own mind and they would rather give it to

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somebody else to decide for them. I mean, you're spot

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on with this book, dude.

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Speaker 3: I appreciated that, and that that was exactly what I

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was going for. The struggle would be so and the

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way that the cult kind of evolves, it's and this

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is the way cult that thinking works in general. Right,

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you get a group of people who are for one

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reason or the other. They either get great normal people

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can get bringwatching.

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Speaker 2: Into a cult.

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Speaker 3: That happens all the time, but people are who are

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really susceptible to it tend to be the ones who

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have problems, who are predisposed to turn over aspects of

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their life to others. And in the instance of collective trauma,

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I think you'd really like the end of the world,

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or not the end of the world, almost the end

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of the world. I think you'd really see a lot

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of people who were much more interested in letting somebody

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else do the thinking in the heavy lifting form. And

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lord knows, there's never a shortage of Charlatan's in the world.

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Speaker 2: We see it all the time.

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Speaker 1: See. I would love to be that guy that sits

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down with Corey and just talks to him. I just

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just tell me what you're thinking, Corey, because it's like,

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even though he's such a young kid, as far as

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I'm concerned, they're wise. And now that he's gone through this,

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he's even more wise.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, And I also I kind of use Corey

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as a obviously as a huge contrast to everybody else's

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in the cult. But the backstory of the characters. He's

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grew up with a single mom because his dad was

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an abuser, and he almost kill them once and go

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through the collective trauma of that. And it shows how

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some people, and it's absolutely true, to use trauma for

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personal growth and to make themselves better and to orient

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themselves around others, whereas other people go through trauma and

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turn inward and are more likely to either be selfish

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or to just not adjust properly and not care about

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anything else. Toori is the best case scenario of society.

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Other characters in the book are the worst.

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Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Mike Schwasberg coming

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up next, the name of his book, Almost the End

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of the World. We are back with author Mike Swasburg.

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What's really interesting is that everything that's been taking place,

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let's say, in the past five years, is you know

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how this we're going to react. I mean, the fires

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in California with everybody getting out there with their guns

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to protect their property. You've got Gaza, You've got Ukraine,

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which have been ripped apart with this is what the

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world is going to look like. And it's like, Wow,

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You're saying, hey, look, you know what's happened in your life,

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let's look at it this way, and and and so

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you just really invest in our imaginations.

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad you think so.

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Speaker 3: And that's it's there's there's a parallel to it to

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everything going on in the real world right now, and

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it's something and truly the irony. I wasn't going for

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that in the beginning, and then after Covid it became

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clear what was happening and that there were more parallels

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than I anticipated.

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Speaker 1: So, now was that a wineglass moment? Because I always

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bring that up in the way that there's strange things

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happen when you go back in to do an edit

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and all of a sudden you have a glass of

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wine or you've got something besides you. You go, I'm

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just going to take a chance. I've got the courage

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to take a chance.

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Speaker 3: So, like many many other writers, Covid unintentionally gave me

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the clarity on this one. Absolutely it reshaped the book.

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And I will say, I am so my day job

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is I'm actually a politician. That's what I do for

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a living. So I'm a state representative in Pennsylvania. And yeah,

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it's a it's a weird contrast but it put me

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in a position really to see the best and the

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worst of COVID. But because I'm a politician, I can

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sometimes get a little bit too esoteric. And the book

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originally was kind of going in a different direction where

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it was talking about how the students and how the

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students reacted with the school administration.

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Speaker 2: And then I was like, Jesus, nobody cares about this.

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Speaker 3: So I did wind up changing the book from that

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direction and hopefully hitting themes that appeal a little bit Bader.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well it does, and that's it, and that's why

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it's it's going to be so fun to sit there

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and look at the books that that that that these

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young adults are going to be carrying in their book bags,

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or you just or if they come through that grocery

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store and go, what are you reading man? The day

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that they say almost the end of the world. I'm

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gonna let me tell you right now what's going on here,

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because it's that kind of story, because it's got mystique.

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It's got if you really see down and think about

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it and you let your imagination grow. I see the

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animation happening, I see everything that's going on, which would

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attract that younger reader. But but at the same time, I

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also see the adults tapping into this because you ya,

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writers have got a language right now that every age

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group is listening to.

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Speaker 3: Yes and that is that's say that it's that is

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exactly the point. And I will absolutely say that Hya

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is read by more than just young kid.

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Speaker 2: I think of Y is read by adults absolutely.

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Speaker 1: Because it's safe. You allow us to have that imagination.

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You put us in places that we're thinking about or ooh,

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I never thought about that. I mean it's because you

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guys take chances. And that's why I've always wondered, what

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does it play out like on on that on that

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flat screen of your computer, because it's just they're just

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words until you step in there and put yourself into

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that thought process.

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Speaker 3: So it's funny that you say that because I am

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in a constant struggle. Like I said, I'm a politician,

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I'm naturally self centered. It's an occupational hazard, but I

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it's really you don't want.

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Speaker 2: The main character to be completely you. You've got to

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try to separate yourself from it.

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Speaker 3: And I like to think that Corey is also my

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best case scenario who in a dream world I would

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have been when I was a seventeen year old, he

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d But you've got to You've got to try to

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grab other heroes and mix them up. Otherwise you wind

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up writing the same thing over and over again, and

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we're about the same person over and over again, and

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nobody wants that.

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Speaker 1: So then who did you study to make these characters

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so authentic? Because were you out of Starbucks? Did you

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walk through a Target store? Where were you? Because these

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guys look so real.

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Speaker 2: I'm glad you think so. And you know, there's a

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lot of influences.

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Speaker 3: There's no doubt that the main female character, Page is

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unquestionably a rip on, and she's a riff on my wife.

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There's a more distilled version. Let's go with that one.

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The other characters, there's a lot of connections, I think

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with there's there's definitely influence with my kids and my

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kids friends. But there's also you draw upon your real

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world experience. I'm lucky enough that I get to interact

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with people all the time, and I will absolutely have

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conversations with folks, see what they're doing and be like, oh,

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that's a really, really good thing. And you kind of

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twisted and manipulated into something that works for a manuscript.

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Speaker 1: What are you going to do when something that's in

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this book becomes a subject you're going to be talking

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about doing your political thing. You're going to I mean,

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there's somewhere inside your head you're going to go. You know,

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I did some research on this. This is what I

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found so handidly.

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Speaker 3: There is an overlap with the way that people think

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and with the way that some let's say, bolt like

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thinking can sometimes overwhelm people's normal political beliefs. And I

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want to be careful and respectful of political viewers of

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all partisan persuasions at this point, so let's just talk

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about this broadly.

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Speaker 2: It can get really really easy.

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Speaker 3: To be overwhelmed by the way that somebody thinks, or

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by what somebody tells you, and it can allow you

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to ignore your own facts, to ignore what's in front

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of your own mind. And there's really overlap there. And

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again that wasn't explicitly what I was a set eighting

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out to do, but it wound up becoming an anthem

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for this environment in which we live. And you know,

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a couple of times in the book I touch on

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social media. I have viral kiktoks that are you know,

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based on fake news, as the term goes. And that

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was intentional because that's the real world, and that's the

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way a lot of people, including any adults, get their information.

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Speaker 1: Do you find yourself putting together a series of some

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sort because every one of these this is three part

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because I got that vibe because and I think it's

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because I'm a binge watcher, and so therefore I've got

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to have more than just a two hour movie. I

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better have something here that's gonna give me at least

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fifteen episodes.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and there was this is a three part Yeah.

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Book book number twos with the editor. Book three is

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an outline stage. I enjoyed this way too much, and

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I like as as a writer, like you write for

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a lot of reasons.

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Speaker 2: I write for my own sanity.

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Speaker 3: I write so I can build a world that reminds

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me that there could really be a lot of reasons

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to be hopeful, which is so hard to find us,

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especially now.

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Speaker 1: How many books are sitting in that computer that you

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haven't even tested out here for the rest of us.

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Speaker 2: More more than a few I had I wrote.

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Speaker 3: I wrote a sci fi young adult mental health trilogy,

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and I only got got the first book, Out the Door,

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and there was a lot. That's a complicated story. I

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had another book, a young adult book.

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Speaker 2: And it's I find myself going, how do.

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Speaker 3: I keep writing in adult books? And the answer because

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it's kind of a weird saying to an exempt, but

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the answer.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot of answers.

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Speaker 3: I think the primary one that I've settled on is

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I think young adult books. I think they are that

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period of young adult is a really really interesting moment

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because you can explore so much. It's so easy to

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question and to find out who you are. But there's

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also so many parallels with themes that we still face

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as as adults, and I think that that overlap can

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make for really interesting stories.

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, I can just hear the people that

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you work with inside that that building of law and

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that is they're going to say, you know that Mike,

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he's he's in touch with those young voters. We need

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to get in to see what what is his studies?

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What can we learn from Mike? So I mean, I

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I totally see them reaching into your heart.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that would that would that would be lovely if

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that's actually the case, and trying to get you know,

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you know, what though, Like again, that was kind of

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a theme of the book, that you have to care

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about the world around you, that the only way we

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survive is together, except for a privileged few who have

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the resources and the expertise to kind of put themselves

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on that'stians Island and go away. That's that's something I

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really I don't ever want to lose track of that

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in government and in politics.

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Speaker 1: Wow, where can people go to find out more about you? Mike?

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Because I want him to jump onto this train here.

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Speaker 3: I really appreciate that. In my website Mike Schlossburg author

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dot com. The book will be out in June, but

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I have more information on that and we'll have a

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pre order up shortly and take it from there.

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Speaker 1: All right, So where can people Is there something that

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they can read right now? Because I mean, I realized

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June's going to be here in the blink of an eye.

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But there's a drive about you that's just saying I

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need something now.

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Speaker 3: So the first book of my mental health sci fi trilogy,

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which is the hell of a combination, but Here we Are,

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is absolutely available.

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Speaker 2: You can find that on my website as well. Mike P.

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Schlosphgalthor dot com.

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Speaker 3: You can bite on Kindle to buy it on audible,

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or I can shift you a signed copy.

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Speaker 1: Listen to you, man, boy, you're really eying that game.

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Shake your hand. Here's those babies. Man, You've got that now.

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Speaker 2: Really well, look, I'm a politician. I'm really good at

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marketing myself.

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Speaker 1: Well, you got to come back to this show anytime

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in the future. In fact, as you get closer to

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that that June date, you got to come back on

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here so we can rejuvenate the listeners to get you

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to that page.

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Speaker 3: I am more than happy to and thank you very

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much for having me.

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Speaker 2: Thank you everybody who's listening. I'm looking forward to talking

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more in the future.

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Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today?

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Speaker 2: Okay, mister Mike, likewise, Zaro, thank you, sir,