00:00:01
And we're live. >> We're live. >> Should I Should I wait till people arrive? >> Yeah, just give give us a moment.
00:00:09
>> I'll give you several moments if you'd like. >> Oh my god. Look, you're also on
00:00:14
Instagram. Holy crap. >> Let's go live. >> Am I looking into the camera? >> Yes.
00:00:19
>> Okay. >> You look great. >> You look >> Your arm looks very muscular. You look
00:00:24
great. >> Thank you. >> [ __ ] 27 people are already here. >> Olivia, you were here alone for one
00:00:30
second. >> But Olivia, girl, it was you first. >> It's all you, Olivia. >> Elena, I love you.
00:00:36
>> I love you. >> Oh, I'm just waiting for people to get here. So, what's up, guys?
00:00:43
>> We'll start with questions soon. >> Yeah. >> Yes, we will. And have you heard about
00:00:47
this? >> Have you heard about the Butcher Legacy? >> Tell us. I hope you have because you're
00:00:52
here. It's the third book in the trilogy, the Dr. R. smaller series. It's the it's it's the thickest. I would say
00:01:01
she's a thickum and she's got a lot going on. And on the front cover, we have a Patricia Cornwell quote. So, I
00:01:08
think that's pretty cool. And feel free to ask any questions because I don't know how to write.
00:01:14
[laughter] >> What do you guys want to know about the third book? >> Yeah. What do you want to know about the
00:01:19
third book, The Butcher Legacy? >> Maybe you could start us off by telling us where we're coming back to, cuz the
00:01:25
second book left us off. where thank goodness for Ash invited here because I would be dead in the water. Uh, so the
00:01:31
second book took us to Massachusetts. The third book is bringing us back to New Orleans. We might have a little dip
00:01:38
in Massachusetts. We might dip our toes, but we're really rooted in New Orleans,
00:01:42
Louisiana around Halloween. And we're going to have a Halloween party is involved. A Halloween haunted house is
00:01:50
involved. So, we're getting the full French Quarter Halloween feel. >> Well, Red Witch Natkas wants to know,
00:01:59
does it end in a cliffhanger? >> Let's see. It doesn't really end in a cliffhanger, per se,
00:02:06
>> but but does it really end? >> But I I think you're going to be satisfied with the end. I think you're
00:02:13
going to feel good about it. >> What book so far? Um, Dalia May wants to know, "What has been your favorite to
00:02:20
write?" my favorite one to write so far. Dalia May, it might be The Butcher Legacy actually. I think I I've had so
00:02:28
much fun writing all three books. And I think, you know, The Butcher and the Ren
00:02:32
is like my baby, like my my my baby doll. But that and you know that took so long to write and I was doing it while I
00:02:38
was pregnant and while I had like little little tiny twins and that was a blast to write because it was just my first
00:02:44
endeavor writing a book at all and trying to write in long form and then doing the butcher game I'm looking over
00:02:52
there because the books are over there and I feel like I have to talk to them reading but doing the butcher game I was
00:02:57
like oh this is even more fun because I know these characters all of a sudden I feel like they're part of my family I
00:03:03
feel like they're extension of me. I know what they want to do. I know where they want to go. But then the Butcher
00:03:09
Legacy, I'm like in it now. And I feel like the more books you write for anybody who's like wants to write books
00:03:16
or is thinking about writing books, the more books you write and the more editing processes that you go through,
00:03:23
the more you start realizing how a book becomes a book at the end. Because in the beginning, you're going to be really
00:03:30
precious. I know I'm going off of this question completely, but we're here. the like in the beginning the more like you
00:03:36
know people are going to question like an editor is going to be like I think you should chop this paragraph or I
00:03:40
think you should shorten this for pacing or I think you should take this part out
00:03:44
and at first you're going to be like no it's mine and I wrote it and that flowery pros is supposed to be there
00:03:49
like I read the butcher and the ren and I'm like I love that book still but I'm like wow you are just beginning because
00:03:56
you just let it flow at times and then it slowly becomes where you see your own editing like you start editing as you
00:04:04
go. There's been times and I think that's why I love the Butcher Legacy so much is because during the process of
00:04:08
writing it, I started thinking more like an editor and I started understanding, okay, I know I want to describe this
00:04:15
thing for three pages and so I allowed myself to, but then I pulled it back a little bit and I made sure that the
00:04:22
pacing was right and I was I was thinking of the things that my editors have like kind of helped me understand
00:04:27
better. So, I feel like in The Butcher Legacy, I just like feel more confident in this book. I think that I feel the
00:04:35
most confident in this book. Um, so I and I really love the story. I feel like the story goes to a place where I was
00:04:42
really excited to take it. And I really wanted to see Ren and Jeremy have to talk to each other.
00:04:48
>> So, maybe that happens. >> And I think it was it's a fun one to write and it's a fun one to read.
00:04:56
So, uh, how do they order one of these signed editions? >> You want to pre-order? Is that what you
00:05:02
guys want to do? If you want to pre-order it, you if you're on Talk Shop Live right now, you can click the shop
00:05:09
button and you can pre-order it. Remember, these are signed, too. The ones you're going to get are signed. Um,
00:05:13
and I'm signing them here. Like, I promise they're not like a like a repurposed sticker or something like
00:05:18
they're they're on book plates, but I'm signing them. Uh, if you're on Facebook and Instagram, then you are going to
00:05:24
comment shop and then you're going to be sent links to order it to pre-order it.
00:05:29
If you're on YouTube, you can click on the description and you can pre-order it there. So remember, talk shop live, hit
00:05:34
the shop button. Facebook and Instagram comment shop. YouTube, hit the description, the button in the
00:05:40
description. And if you pre-order the butcher legacy, this is just kind of fun. If you pre-order it and you uh you
00:05:47
can enter a giveaway that we're doing. You can be entered for a chance to win and it's the link is in my bio on
00:05:54
Instagram. If you look at my bio link tree, it's going to be in there to enter to possibly win one of these really cool
00:06:02
books. I'm coming closer to you because these bookmarks are really cool. >> Oh, it's like um QVC. It's like QVC a
00:06:10
little bit. >> The glare is there. Okay. I'm being like an influencer right now. We'll share
00:06:14
pictures on our Instagram as well. It's really cool. It looks like it's dripping.
00:06:18
>> Oh, put it in the book, too. >> Oh, yeah. You got to see how it lines up with the book.
00:06:21
>> It's actually the sickest thing ever. >> So, say, you know, I'm just out here
00:06:24
reading the book and I said, "Oh, I got to go swim." Okay, I'm just going to put
00:06:27
it in the book. And if you line it up, can you see it? >> They can see it. >> The blood drip. How good is that?
00:06:33
>> Follows the blood drip in the book. >> It's so cute. >> I love it so much. Okay, you can be entered to win one of
00:06:41
these if you send in proof of your pre-order in the link in my bio. >> This is a really good question, I think,
00:06:47
especially for this installment. I love that >> um of the Butcher series. Alice uh wants
00:06:53
to know, tell us more about Philillip. I want to know what his true intentions are.
00:06:59
>> Well, I'm not going to give you everything about Philip, but I think Philillip is definitely not who
00:07:05
Philillip seems. Or maybe he is who he seems. Maybe you're sitting there being like, "Wait a minute. I I think I got
00:07:11
some vibes from Philip." Um, Phillip is actually like a really interesting character and he's going to become even
00:07:18
more interesting in the Butcher Legacy. Um, he him and Jeremy have a complicated
00:07:25
relationship and you're going to find out about it in this. They there's more to them than you probably know and
00:07:32
they're maybe they have a little more in common than you think. Who knows? Can't
00:07:36
be sure. I think you'll have to read it maybe. [laughter] >> So, Ugly Voodoo asked, "Do you
00:07:47
[laughter] >> do you have a new favorite um added character to this book?" >> You know, I there's there's a few good
00:07:56
characters in this. I added a few people to this book that I think you're really
00:07:59
going to like. I think you're really going to like a new um police officer. That's what I was just thinking.
00:08:06
>> Maya Rodriguez, I think you're really gonna like her. She's a fun character and I I love like I like when I can
00:08:13
write a character that I'm like, damn, I want to hang out with her. Like I was like, [ __ ] I want to hang out with
00:08:18
Maya. Uh I think you're really going to like her. Um I think you're also going to like a character uh named Sister
00:08:26
Maro, who I think is going to surprise you a little bit. Um and there's a few other characters that I'm really excited
00:08:32
about that I added to this one. And there's a few that I kind of kind of not break, too.
00:08:37
>> All right. I love it. Laura Ann wants to know if this leaves room for a fourth
00:08:42
potentially [laughter] a fourth book in the series. >> Ann, that's a great question. Uh, I
00:08:48
think I will never say that this is completely over. I would say this these three books are a trilogy for sure, but
00:08:59
the Dr. Ren Muller series does not necessarily have to be over and I think there's definitely room to explore
00:09:08
in particular one story that comes out of the butcher legacy a little further and I intend to at some point but these
00:09:16
three definitely stand alone as a trilogy. So this is going to conclude a lot of what you're looking to conclude.
00:09:22
>> Awesome. So, uh, Valyriia G asked, "How was writing this one compared to the others?"
00:09:29
>> Valyriia G, thank you. Well, it was like I was talking about before, it's I feel
00:09:34
like with the Butcher Legacy, I like start you I feel like I became more aware of of my writing and how I write.
00:09:42
I realized that I [laughter] which I'm not going to totally like take away. I'm not going to like strip away
00:09:47
what I think like my particular writing style is, but I really like flowery pros
00:09:53
and I love long descriptions. I love texture. I love smells and like everything that you can I want you to be
00:10:02
in the scene like fully and I will still continue doing that. But I've learned where it adds to a scene and where it
00:10:12
takes away or where it can, especially in a thriller or in something that's supposed to be scary and like high
00:10:17
tension, where it can slow down the pace and take you a little bit out of that moment and be like, "Okay, well, I don't
00:10:23
feel as stressed anymore." So, I've learned a little bit through writing and through working with editors and like
00:10:29
seeing how they do their job. Like editors are I don't know how they do that job, man. But I think I've just
00:10:36
learned better. It was So, it was a good learning process to write this book because I think I've become more
00:10:41
confident with writing. And I think I've realized how to make the process a little more streamlined for myself
00:10:47
because I'm not leaving it to the editor to tell me that they need to, you know,
00:10:52
like cut out a chunk of of just really descriptive stuff in a scene. I can know to do that already. And I think also
00:11:00
introducing new characters in this book was really fun because when you're working with the same characters, you
00:11:07
know them in and out like you know everything. You start to like know everything about them. Like you start to
00:11:12
feel like you are them or they're just extensions of your brain and which is great. But when you add new characters,
00:11:18
it's almost like hanging out with a new group of friends that you really like and you like get to know them better and
00:11:23
you start seeing the things that you like in them and that you don't like in them and you start um like I brought
00:11:29
this with me so you guys can see it because one of the things is my handy dandy notebook and I fully recommend
00:11:36
that anybody writing a book get themselves like a good notebook that they can just like beat up. They can add
00:11:43
little inserts, too. Like this one has like several little notebooks in it. It has inserts. And this is where I write
00:11:50
all my random like ramblings of things. So, if I'm introducing a new character, I'll just start writing everything about
00:11:58
that character. And I started doing that more with this book. Uh, which was really fun because I think it's helped
00:12:03
me like figure out characters more because like when you get to the third book, you want to make sure that your
00:12:09
characters are like the same characters. You know what I mean? Like Ren can't suddenly have all these new ticks that
00:12:16
she does or new like quirks that she has that she didn't have in the first two books. It's like you want to make sure
00:12:21
you're writing down, okay, this is what she does when she's nervous. This is what she does when she's happy. This is
00:12:26
how she acts when she's sad. She really likes her coffee this way. she moves this way. So if you I started writing
00:12:32
those down and it became so much easier. I think I just like organized myself better with this book. I just everything
00:12:39
about this book's process I think I streamlined a little bit which was nice and that's why I love it so much. I love
00:12:46
her. >> I love her too and I think that everybody else is going to How did they order a signed version of this book?
00:12:54
Elena, >> I love Mikey's way of doing that. So to order a signed version of this, the
00:13:00
butcher legacy, if you're on talk shop live, click the shop button. If you're on Facebook or Instagram, I want you to
00:13:06
comment shop for a link to order. If you're on YouTube, you can click the link in the description. All of those
00:13:12
are ways that you can get a signed copy of The Butcher Legacy. You'll pre-order it. It's coming out August 11th. I'm so
00:13:19
excited. We're like really close, guys. >> Hell yeah, brother. >> Halloween. Let's go.
00:13:23
>> Ashley G made a very good point. Ashley G, what up? >> You just did a Scream Tik Tok. Do the
00:13:29
rules of this new book actually follow those of Scream. >> What's crazy is that that particular uh
00:13:37
Randy Tik Tok, which was so Ash's little like jumping in and saying trilogy, it was so good. Uh, I was shocked at how
00:13:47
like I started the re the way that I came up with that was the other night John and I were sitting on the couch and
00:13:53
we were like flicking through, you know, like one of the streaming services and I
00:13:57
saw a screen too actually and I was like and I think it was just like playing a preview of Randy doing the sequel rules
00:14:05
and I was like, "Oh, I love that." And then I was like, "Wait, he does that in for Scream 3?" Like, wait a minute. I
00:14:11
was like, "He does a trilogy one, right?" So, we put it on. And I went to the part and I'm listening to it and I
00:14:17
looked at John and I'm like this is actually kind of true because it's like the killer is basically superhuman. You
00:14:23
got to cryogenically freeze him, decapitate him or blow him up. Uh any anybody can die. Anyone's fair game,
00:14:31
including Sydney Prescott. Uh the past is going to come back to bite you in the ass. And that's you're going to learn
00:14:37
something in a trilogy in the third installment of a trilogy. maybe you're going to learn something that you
00:14:43
thought was true in the beginning that ends up not being true. And I said, "Oh [ __ ] yeah, that does follow that."
00:14:49
Especially the learning something that you thought was true that isn't true. That's definitely true for this. So, I
00:14:55
would say it does follow those rules. Actually, >> that was a good question. It really was.
00:15:01
Let's look for another one. Let's look for another question. >> Oh, this is just a funny one. And I
00:15:06
actually have the same question. So, thank you, Jessica Van. Jessica Ban, >> should I get therapy for loving Jeremy?
00:15:12
>> Here's the thing. You're my kind of person because no, don't think you need to. He's It's okay. He's fictional and I
00:15:21
get it. We love a fictionally gray, morally gray character. I get it. I love Spike. You know, we all Eric North on
00:15:30
True Blood. What can we do? You know, that's we don't need therapy. We're We're doing it correctly. We're We're
00:15:36
getting it in our fictional men. Okay. So, don't worry about it. Jeremy is charming and attractive. So,
00:15:45
>> yeah. >> So, Laura Ann asked, "How do you come up with how do you come up with the
00:15:51
important side characters personalities? Are they based on people you know?" >> That's a good question. So sometimes
00:15:59
they're based I wouldn't say anyone's like fully based on people that I know except maybe Richard. Uh I think that
00:16:09
and that just kind of happened very organically. Um but most of the time I infuse little traits of people that I
00:16:18
know into characters and then I kind of mold them to become their own thing. Because the cool thing with side
00:16:25
characters is they're like they're It sounds super cliche, but they really are like moldable clay. It's like the more
00:16:34
you play with them and the more you mold them, the more they become what they're
00:16:38
going to become, like something that you don't you didn't realize in the beginning that you were making kind of
00:16:42
thing. So, you start out, at least this is how I do I just start out with kind of like a barebones like scaffolding of
00:16:49
a person and I think of maybe one trait that I need them to have to fit into this world and that I need them to have
00:16:55
to fit in with the rest of these people and then I kind of like build out around
00:17:01
that trait. And a lot of times they become something completely different. Like there was a couple of characters in
00:17:07
the Butcher Legacy that started out as something and then I started tweaking them and they just kind of became their
00:17:12
own thing. And side characters should be like cool. Like you you don't want side
00:17:18
characters to be these like forgettable characters, which is really easy to have
00:17:22
happen because they're not going to maybe be in the whole story or they're going to be kind of periphery, but you
00:17:27
really don't want them to be these forgettable characters that people are like, "Oh, I don't really care what
00:17:31
happens to that person." Or that worse, they don't remember that they were even there in the first place or they forget
00:17:37
about them halfway through the book. So, you want to make sure they have stuff that makes you go, "Oh, like I love that
00:17:44
person." Or, "Fuck, I hate that person." You want these like really intense reactions even to your side characters.
00:17:52
So, I think as long as you start with one little little piece and maybe it's something from someone that you know and
00:17:58
you just start building on that, you're going to make really cool side characters. And that's basically what I
00:18:02
do. >> I love that. >> Thanks. Uh, EJ Lavy wants to know, "I've been listening to the audio and the
00:18:08
narrators are amazing." Shout out to Sophie and Joe. >> Sophie and Joe. >> What was it like to hear the embodiment
00:18:14
of your characters? And maybe I would give a little tease. >> Yeah, maybe. So, EJ, that's amazing. And
00:18:20
I love that you love the narrator. Sophie and Joe are phenomenal. When I first got to hear
00:18:27
people reading the lines that I wrote and like embodying characters that I made, it's the most surreal thing you
00:18:36
will ever experience. It's so far it's never gotten to the point where I'm like, "Oh yeah, just
00:18:42
like read Ren's lines to me." Like, and when I get the line reads, it's And Sophie has the most perfect Ren voice.
00:18:50
Jeremy nailed is nailed by Joe. like it's everyone loves to hear their voices and I think they really killed them. And
00:18:57
then I have to say maybe those won't be the only two voices >> in the next one. I don't know.
00:19:05
>> Who can be sure? Maybe there's another character that deserves a voice and maybe we found a perfect voice for it. I
00:19:12
don't know who who could be sure. Like that's maybe I'm just saying things. I don't. But yeah, it's cool to hear their
00:19:19
voices. [laughter] Well, Allison M asks, "What's the weirdest rabbit hole you fell into while
00:19:26
researching the third book?" >> Because we know you fall into weird rabbit holes. Yeah. Okay. So, there's
00:19:32
there's a couple. Um, one of them was the angel's trumpet flower. That was a wild rabbit hole. Uh, finding out that
00:19:41
that's like a hallucinogenic I think it's or like it has some kind of like hallucinogenic qualities to it. Uh, it's
00:19:48
not great when ingested. Uh, and I also fell down this rabbit hole of um red wolves in Louisiana and where when they
00:19:59
were in Louisiana and when they weren't and if there are any possible like remnants of the red wolves now. Um, I
00:20:07
also fell down I'm trying to think of all the different rabbit holes without giving too much. Those are two big ones.
00:20:15
Um, I fell down a Latin rabbit rabbit hole. Like it like phrases in Latin. Um, I f I fell down a ra a lot of Bible
00:20:29
rabbit holes. >> Oh, preachers. You l you watched a lot of preacher videos. >> I watched a lot of preacher like lots of
00:20:38
sermons. Um, lots of different denominations of sermons. Uh that was an experience that was a big one. I fell
00:20:47
into a lot of religious rabbit holes with this one. Just studying different parts of different religions and
00:20:53
different pieces of it. >> Well, in between the rabbit holes people might be going down right now, if they
00:20:59
do want to buy your book and they are watching here, where can they get this book?
00:21:04
>> This book? You mean the Butcher Legacy? >> That's the one. >> I knew it. Uh, if you're on talk shop
00:21:08
live, you can click the shop button to pre-order a signed version of the Butcher Legacy. I thought there was a
00:21:13
spider on me and I thought we were going to have a meltdown, but it was my hair.
00:21:17
Uh, Facebook or Instagram, if you're on there, you can comment shop for links to
00:21:22
order. They'll be sent to you. Um, on YouTube, you can click the link in the description and you'll be pre-ordering.
00:21:28
It's coming out August 11th. They will be signed by me. Um, and also if you want after you pre-order, you can go to
00:21:37
the link in my bio and you can um send in for like a receipt for your pre-order, like proof of your pre-order,
00:21:43
and you will be entered into a chance to win some pretty cool prizes. And one of
00:21:48
those prizes, just one of them, is this cool bookmark. >> It's bleeding. >> It is bleeding. It's so fun. I hope the
00:21:56
glare is not >> No, you can see it. It looks good. [laughter] And again, in case you didn't see it the
00:22:02
first time, if you happen to be reading The Butcher Legacy, which you should, especially if you pre-order it and you
00:22:09
want to, you have something to do and you're like, I got to put this down for a second. You put your bookmark in
00:22:13
there. Look at that. It looks like it's just bleeding off the page. >> Iconic. Like, that's cool. And they're
00:22:19
shiny. They're also They're very thick. They're a nice thick bookmark. I I love these things. So, you'll be entered into
00:22:27
a chance to win this and maybe something else. Who knows? >> Uh, so it's worth it. Face reorder.
00:22:34
>> So, Hannah asked, "The Butcher Legacy picks up after the events of the Butcher
00:22:38
Game. What was the biggest challenge in bringing Ren back after everything she's
00:22:43
been through?" >> That is a great question. Uh, Hannah, right? Okay. I want to make sure I said
00:22:49
the same name. Um, Hannah, that's a really good question because a lot happened in the butcher game. And one of
00:22:54
the things that was difficult but also important to get through is that Ren couldn't just come back from those
00:23:05
events months later and just go straight back into Ren mode. Like she had to she
00:23:12
had to have changed after the events of the Butcher Game. There had to have been
00:23:15
some kind of significant change to how she was acting, how her regular routine was going. uh without giving too many
00:23:22
spoilers. Um and that was the thing that I I found the most difficult but also like almost therapeutic to write was
00:23:31
like her becoming Ren but Ren dealing with what she's dealing with. And then I needed Ren to be able to confront
00:23:40
everything that scared her and everything that traumatized her. And I wanted her to have that moment of being
00:23:47
able to like be badass Ren. And I think you'll definitely see that in the butcher legacy.
00:23:53
>> Love. >> Love. >> Chris wants to know, "Who would you have star in this trilogy if the books were
00:23:58
made into movies?" This is always such a hard question. >> I feel like I mean, is this too I mean,
00:24:08
>> shoot for the moon. >> I'm coming. So, >> Alexander Scarsgard could play Jeremy. I feel uh that's
00:24:16
that's always been my feeling on that one. And Ren is always the part the one that's difficult cuz I see her as like
00:24:26
an Amy Adamsish kind of gal. Um but I don't know that she's a hard one to pin down I think. Um and I kind of see
00:24:37
John Laroo and again I'm shooting for the stars here. I see John Laroo as Ida Silva. Oh, I see that 100%.
00:24:45
>> Just see him like that. And I think he would be amazing. So, like if you guys
00:24:49
are free, let me know because you guys are obviously on this live. >> Scarcely. [laughter]
00:24:58
Uh, girl in Ohio wants to know if you could hold all three books side by side because they really want to see them
00:25:03
together. Oh, >> I'd love that. >> They're also behind Elena. These are so these there's two soft covers here.
00:25:20
>> See if I can actually hold them. >> No, >> it has tiny hands. >> Oh, no. >> Oh. Oh, this is like British American.
00:25:28
>> Oh, sorry. >> Isn't that cool? >> That's British peperio. >> Peperio. Um, oh, and also I don't know if there's
00:25:37
there's probably no UK people here. There's something cool coming with that. So,
00:25:42
hold on to that. Thank you, Mikey. Um, so one of them is paper, but let's see. Am I in the shot? Yes, you
00:25:55
look great. >> Look at that. They look pretty good, right? And again, this is a paperback. That's why it's
00:26:01
slightly off size. But I think they look kind of nice together. And one of the things that I
00:26:08
love about The Butcher Game or The Butcher Legacy, I love The Butcher Game as well. Um, is I'm obsessed with this
00:26:15
cover. [laughter and snorts] This cover was the easiest cover process to go through because I loved it
00:26:22
immediately. Like it was the easiest collaboration ever. Um, and again, Patricia Cornwall's on so
00:26:30
>> casual casual casual >> humble brag. [laughter] It's just >> so T-Rex asks, "Did you have the ending
00:26:38
of the book in mind when writing the first book?" >> I had So, I definitely had the ending of
00:26:46
each book in mind as I went to the book. I didn't have the full ending of the trilogy in mind when I started the first
00:26:54
book. Um cuz to be honest, I had no idea that it was going to be a trilogy. I knew there would be more, but I just
00:27:00
didn't know what that would look like. Um, but when when I began the second book, I knew how I wanted this one to
00:27:07
end, if that makes sense. And it got a little tweaked as I went, which I think is important. Be open to that if you're
00:27:16
writing that like sometimes it's just not going to make sense or it's just or you're going to get to that point and
00:27:21
you're going to be like, you know what, I don't want it to end that way. So, you
00:27:23
can it's okay to tweak it, you know? So, that's kind of what happened here and I'm very happy I did. Nice. Uh, Lisa J.
00:27:30
Straight wants to know, "What do you do to get out of your head after a particularly dark or heavy writing
00:27:35
session?" >> That's a great question. Um, I think honestly it's it's probably easier for
00:27:42
me because I have three young children that I think especially like my youngest is an absolute cook and she's like a
00:27:51
comedian. So, I can't stay in that mode for very long. even when I emerge from a
00:27:56
writing hole, like she's doing something insane that's going to make me laugh and
00:28:00
it's like immediately I'm out of it and I'm just in mom mode. And I think that's
00:28:05
helped me a lot. I just immediately go back into parent mode. And I think also like the writing sessions, they can be
00:28:10
like really heavy. Um like especially writing The Butcher Game was there was some rough rough moments during that,
00:28:18
but I think it's therapeutic to write it out. So I think I it's almost a catharsis to write it out. So then when
00:28:26
I come out of the writing hole, it almost feels like I went through a therapy session. So I feel a little like
00:28:31
renewed coming out of it. Because sometimes like these ideas will come into my head and I'll write them in my
00:28:38
trusty notebook. And that's when it will kind of sit and feel a little heavy is when it's not flushed out yet and when I
00:28:45
haven't let it breathe yet. So, I feel like once I get it down and once it's like in the scene, it almost feels like
00:28:52
it's gone. It's out of my head now, if that makes sense. >> So, Finn's fan asked, "Where do they
00:28:59
send the receipt for those special pre-order uh opportunities?" >> I love that you're asking that because
00:29:05
again, this bookmark is pretty cool. So, there's a link in my bio on Instagram. It's in the link tree. Um, and you will
00:29:14
see in the link tree it'll say, um, I think it says, in fact, I'll look it up right now to make sure I can give you
00:29:20
the exact wording that it says. Um, because there's other cool things. There might be some other fun little things
00:29:26
with that. Um, see, so it's the bottom link in my link tree and it says bookmark gift giveaway. If
00:29:36
you click that link and you will be able to upload your proof that you pre-order
00:29:40
the book and then you will be automatically entered to possibly win a bookmark and maybe something else.
00:29:48
>> But what if they haven't pre-ordered their book? Where can they do that right
00:29:52
this moment? >> That's such a good question. Where can you pre-order the Butcher Legacy right
00:29:58
at this moment? So, if you're on Talk Shop Live, you can click the shop button. If you're on Facebook and
00:30:04
Instagram, you can comment shop and you'll get links sent to you to pre-order. If you're on YouTube, you can
00:30:10
click the link in the description. You're pre-ordering the Butcher Legacy. It's going to be signed by me. Um, so,
00:30:18
so go ahead and pre-order. It's coming out August 11th because it's slasher summer, y'all. Let's get on it.
00:30:23
>> Period. >> Period. Lauren wants to know, "As an autopsy technician, how do you decide
00:30:29
what forensic details to include and what to leave out?" That's a great question actually. Um, so there's a lot
00:30:36
of details during an autopsy or during like this kind of investigation that would are very interesting in life like
00:30:45
when you are actually in it and like seeing it. Um, but I don't know if they would translate to written word cuz
00:30:54
sometimes things are very very interesting when you're there because you can look at it, you can see it, you
00:30:59
can touch it, you can smell it, you can do all those things, but if you're reading it on the page, it might not
00:31:04
translate the same way and it might not give the same kind of impact that you're
00:31:09
going to get. That was really if I wrote if something was part of the autopsy that I felt like, you know what, this is
00:31:16
kind of slowing it down and I don't think people are really going to be even able to picture this in their head
00:31:20
because that was the other thing. I didn't want people to feel like they had to keep Googling things or like just
00:31:25
being like, I can't picture this. I don't know what that is. That kind of takes you out of it. So, I wanted to
00:31:30
make sure it was things that felt really interesting and felt really dynamic, like all those parts, you know, and
00:31:37
obviously I kept some of the more mundane parts, but I think it it I wanted to stay with more of like the
00:31:44
dynamic things that you could really visualize in your mind. And actually, during an autopsy scene in The Witcher
00:31:50
Legacy, there's a really um and I can tell you this because it's just a name um but it was a funny backstory with it.
00:31:57
I was trying to name someone in an autopsy scene and in my head I could I could not come up with a name. I it was
00:32:07
like I was like why am I not coming up with a name for this person? So I looked at John and I said hey like can you help
00:32:14
me with a name for this person in this scene? And he sat there for a second and in my head all of the sudden I said
00:32:22
Cheyenne. And John looked at me and goes, "Sheyenne, Cheyenne." Like, where did that pop?
00:32:30
Like in my head I said Cheyenne. And then John just comes out and says Cheyenne. And I was like, "Where did you
00:32:36
come up with that?" And he's like, "I don't know." It just popped in my head. And I was like, "Well, that's the name
00:32:40
of the character now." Like there was no denying that. Weirdest thing to happen in the entire world. I still have no no
00:32:47
idea how that happened. like no idea how because I don't know why it popped into
00:32:52
my head either, but John apparently we were linked in that moment. It was weird.
00:32:58
>> So, Trend Whezezy asks, "Do you think you'll always write horror or explore other genres as you continue writing?"
00:33:06
>> So, I love horror and I love thriller. That's like my genre of choice. And I do
00:33:12
want to write more thrillers, but I really want to write some horror books, like straight up horror. Um, I have
00:33:20
something in mind right now. And I also though I have this like I feel like I want to someday dabble into like like
00:33:31
fantasy like like dark fantasy kind of thing. I love fantasy. I love fantasy worlds. I love world building and all
00:33:40
that, but I've always been like really intimidated by the idea of building like a magic system or like building like a
00:33:47
whole world. So, it's so intimidating to me, but I really want to someday. And I
00:33:52
feel like someday I'm going to try it. I'm going to try it someday. But right now, I'm very very focused on like
00:33:59
horror next. I really want to go fully into a horror for sure. >> She's a very spooky girl.
00:34:08
Uh, Colorado Wallace wants to know, "What inspired you to write the book or the series?"
00:34:14
>> So, that's a good question. I was pregnant at the time with twins and I was having the craziest vivid dreams in
00:34:23
the entire world. Um, this is before the butcher and the run and uh, one of them
00:34:28
and I used to have this like pad of paper next to my uh, bed because I would tell John in the morning like, "Oh, I
00:34:34
had this crazy dream." And then I just kind of like forget what it was and I was like, "It was so vivid though and I
00:34:39
can't remember it." And he was like, "H, I want to know." So I started like when
00:34:43
I could. It wasn't like every night I could sit there and write down what I was dreaming. But if I woke up and I had
00:34:48
the wherewithal, I'd be like, "Oh." And I'd like quickly write like a word just so it would like jog my memory in the
00:34:54
morning. And one night I had a weird, very disjointed dream of like running away from some guy who was chasing me. I
00:35:03
felt like I was running through like really thick sand or something. It felt like marshy and swampy and gross. And it
00:35:10
was dark and I didn't know why I was running from him, but I was like, I'm gonna keep running. And there was like
00:35:15
music blasting in the background, which I don't know now. I'm Whenever I tell this story, I'm like, I wonder if that
00:35:21
was my alarm. And I just don't remember. It might have been my alarm that was blasting music, but it's it fit the vibe
00:35:27
in the dream. And when I woke up, I like wrote it, you know, little bits and pieces of it down. I have the the little
00:35:34
piece of paper somewhere. And I told John about it and he was like, "That's gross and horrifying." And I was like,
00:35:40
"Yeah, it is." And I really wanted to know more. I was like, "That was scary." And like that would be a scary story to
00:35:48
tell. So I was like, "I wonder who that guy was. Like why was I even running from him? Like who was he?" And I was
00:35:53
like, "I'm going to start writing who he is." And that's kind of where it began.
00:35:57
I was like, "I'm just going to write a short story just to like get this out of my head." And then it turned into not a
00:36:02
short story. >> And that was it. That was the beginning. And then I just I've always loved
00:36:06
writing. So it just took off from there. >> Now it's three books. >> And now it's three books. [laughter] The
00:36:12
third book being The Butcher Legacy that you can pre-order. >> Well, how do they do that?
00:36:16
>> And the way you can pre-order is if you're on Topshop Live, you can click that shop button. Remember, they're
00:36:21
going to be signed. You're pre-ordering signed copies. And on Facebook and Instagram, you can comment shop and a
00:36:27
link will be sent to you to pre-order a signed copy of The Butcher Legacy. If you are on YouTube, you can click the
00:36:32
link in the description and you can pre-order a signed copy of The Butcher Legacy that's out August 11th.
00:36:38
>> Period. >> Period. >> Let's go. All right. So, Marlo 383, um, speaking about what you just spoke about
00:36:47
short stories becoming longer stories. >> Um, she wants they want to know if you
00:36:52
have any advice for aspiring writers. I love writing and have some short stories.
00:36:57
>> Yes. Okay. So, first of all, take those short stories and see what you can expand in them. You might surprise
00:37:05
yourself and be like, "Oh, this has legs." And and you'll just start running with it. And also the like I say to any
00:37:12
aspiring writer, read as much as you possibly can, especially in the genre that you want to read in. not to get
00:37:19
obviously ideas from other writers or anything like that, but to when I read a good like I read, you know, um, Chasing
00:37:28
the Boogeyman by Richard Chismar while I was writing, I believe, The Butcher Game
00:37:34
and I love that book. I love Richard Chismar. He's a great author if you're looking for a great thriller author
00:37:40
author. And um I was so because that book was so well written and because the way he wrote it was so unique. It was a
00:37:49
very unique way to write a thriller book where it felt almost like you were watching a true crime documentary kind
00:37:54
of. Um I was so inspired just to write my own thing and to make it better. Like it's again you're not like being like oh
00:38:02
I'm going to write it like that. You're like no that's just so good that now I want to make mine even better than what
00:38:08
it was. So definitely read in your genre that you want to write in. Um, and I think find the things that get like
00:38:18
anytime you're alone, be thinking about the book and thinking about the world. Anytime you're taking a walk, be
00:38:24
thinking about it. What you can pull from certain things. And the other thing, like I've said it a couple times
00:38:30
on here, having a notebook that you will keep because I know like sometimes we get notebooks, we all do it and we use
00:38:37
it for like a second and then it's just gone. The get a notebook and if you can get like a good notebook like this is
00:38:46
like, you know, it's it's sturdy. It can hold a lot of stuff. It allows me to like have a little insert for like pens
00:38:53
and, you know, pencils and different things that I want to stick in here. And it has different inserts of notebooks
00:39:00
where I can do different ideas. So like because you you're never going to remember the thing that you thought of
00:39:07
like, oh, this would be a good idea for a story or this would be a good idea to put in my story. I've done that a
00:39:12
million times before where I've been like, oh, I got to remember that. And then I don't I go to write it and I'm
00:39:16
like, what was that thing that I was thinking of? But if you have something like this that you can carry with you, I
00:39:22
stick it in my purse everywhere I go. Like Ash and Mikey could tell you this thing comes with me everywhere.
00:39:27
>> Can confirm. >> Can confirm. Then I can just bust it out really quick and write down something.
00:39:32
Uh and then you have it all in one place. So when you go to sit down and write, you can open your crazy ass
00:39:38
notebook and all your crazy ramblings are in here. I like I'll glue like um pictures in here that inspire me. That's
00:39:46
a really big thing that's helped me. Um, I've written down like little, you know,
00:39:52
uh, world maps in here. It's just a notebook, I think, is one of the best things that you can have to organize
00:39:58
yourself, especially if you're more, and I think a lot of writers are, I think, at heart more like analog based people.
00:40:06
Even though you have to write on like, you know, computers and use technology, I don't do well with like organizing my
00:40:15
stuff on a computer. I have to have it with me all the time. So, I think this is one of my biggest things that I've
00:40:22
learned has helped is having my book and having my worlds and my ideas and my research and my inspiration with me all
00:40:32
the time. So, that's a big one for sure. And just do it. You can do it. >> Just do it.
00:40:37
>> Just do it. That's the biggest piece of advice is just do it. You'll do it. You're going to write You're going to
00:40:42
write a book. >> Congratulations. You're going to write a book. Well, Estee Lee0415
00:40:48
wants to know, "Do you have any ideas in your notebook that you've already planned on expanding into a book?"
00:40:54
>> Yes, I have two ideas in here that one is is already on its way. She she's she's moving and grooving. Um, in fact,
00:41:08
it's in this one in this piece part of the notebook is where the the really the big one is. Uh, and then is it this
00:41:18
one? Yep. And then this little little notebook right here has another one. Um, so those two are already already in
00:41:25
there. And again, this is really cool because you can add different inserts of notebooks so I can have as many story
00:41:29
ideas as possible. But yeah, right now there's two pretty fleshy ones in there, which I'm excited about. And they are
00:41:37
very horror tilted. >> Twin Whezzey says, "Two ideas." Oh, mama. [laughter] >> All right.
00:41:44
>> Excited for them. >> Before we ask our very last question of the night, Miss Big Red yourself, where
00:41:51
can the people buy your creations? So, you can get a pre-order signed copy of The Butcher Legacy, which I'm telling
00:41:59
you, she's a thicky and she's great. I love her. She's probably I I feel weird saying it, but she might be my favorite.
00:42:07
She might be I hate to say it because they're all my babies, but like this really right now it's my favorite. Um,
00:42:12
if you're on Talk Shop Live, you can click the shop button. If you're on Facebook and Instagram, comment shop and
00:42:18
we will send you a link so you can pre-order a signed copy. on YouTube, you can click the link in the description to
00:42:24
pre-order a signed copy of The Butcher Legacy, which is out August 11th. And again, if you pre-order, you can go to
00:42:31
the link in my bio on Instagram, my link tree. on the bottom, you're going to see
00:42:35
a bookmark giveaway. And if you um upload your proof that you pre-ordered the book, The L, The Butcher Legacy,
00:42:44
then you can be entered for a chance to win this really cool bookmark, which is like she's a picky. Uh and she's really
00:42:51
cool. She goes with the book and um you might be pre you might be able to get some other cool stuff. So, and look,
00:42:58
again, I will never get over that it just continues bleeding. So that's really cool. So do it.
00:43:06
>> Okay. Ashke Kell from Massachusetts wants to know, "If you could leave us with one thing to urge us to order this
00:43:14
book, what would it be? What one part or one thing that happens that you can kind
00:43:20
of give us some info on?" >> That's a great one. Ashkell out there. >> Yeah, she sounds cool.
00:43:26
>> She does. She sounds She sounds gorgeous. >> It's funny. I don't know. [laughter] But
00:43:31
dear Ashtell, uh I would say the one thing that I will leave you with is maybe maybe finally we're going to see Ren and
00:43:47
Jeremy face to face and maybe we're going to finally see a lot more of who they were before they were this. So
00:43:58
>> maybe >> Ashel looks forward to that. >> All right, >> you did it. >> I think we reached we reached the end of
00:44:07
our live. So guys, this was really fun and you guys are awesome and thank you so much for all the great questions and
00:44:15
it's always fun hanging out with you guys. I will do this whenever I can because this is just a blast and you
00:44:20
guys are so great. Um, and pre-order the Butcher Legacy. I promise you're I really think you're going to like it.
00:44:26
I'm very proud of this one. I feel really good about this one and I think it has a lot of stuff that's gonna
00:44:31
really get you going. So, pre-order The Butcher Legacy. It's out August. >> Huzzah.
00:44:37
>> Huzzah. >> I do this first. I think >> I think off yet, but just keeping >> Good job.
00:44:56
I bet