Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Capes and Tights podcast right here on Capesandtights.com I'm your host, Justin Soderbergh. This episode is once again brought to you by our friends over at Galactic Comics and collectibles@gitalcomics and collectibles.com we welcome back author Brian McCauley to the program to discuss his upcoming book Breathe In Bleed out from Poison Pen Press. We talked that, we talked a little bit about Curse of the Reaper and its paperback release coming out, but Brian is a WGA screenwriter and author of books such as Curse of the Reaper, Candy Cane Kills, the sequel Candy Cane Kills A Killer, Kills Again, and the upcoming Breathe In Bleed Out. He's also written films like Dismissed or Nanny Cam in an episode of Fuller House on season one. Even so, check out this episode before you do. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Blue sky threads, all those places. You can subscribe, rate, review over on Apple or Spotify or wherever you find your podcast. You can over go over to YouTube and find the video portion of this podcast as well. And as always, you can go to capesentice.com for so much more.
This is screenwriter and author of Breathe in bleed out, Brian McCauley right here on the Capes and Tights podcast. Enjoy everyone.
Welcome back to the podcast, Brian. How are you today?
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me back, Justin. I'm doing all right today. Thanks for asking.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Good. How's the weather in Arizona?
[00:01:20] Speaker B: It is absolute hell, I'm not gonna lie. We had a relatively mild June, July and then August hit and it was like, now it's all the 110plus days are rolling in and it's, it, it wears on you.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: It's a dry heat, Brian though. It's a dry heat.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Can't complain about a dry heat. Although I will say I did go back to Jersey this summer to visit family and I was like, you know that humidity, like not fun. 85 and humid is not as bad as 105 and dry. I'll say.
[00:01:50] Speaker A: It's, it's.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: I mean, it's worse is what I mean.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: I was yesterday, we're driving back from our camp here in Maine and I was telling my wife, I was like, what's funny is I don't remember a summer in Maine where we had multiple weeks, like a week and then a couple weeks off in a week of 95, 98, 100 degree weather. Like weather that felt over 100, like the real feel.
I said, I don't remember that. I was like, I don't. I honestly remember like always saying when I got the 98 degrees, you're like, oh cool. We got this for about a five day stretch and then that's it, we're done. And I think this is the third three day stretch here in Maine that we're like 95 plus. Feels like over a hundred right now. Today is like 97. It feels like over 100 in Maine. And then my living room has the air conditioner on right now and it's like 80.
I just can't keep up. But yeah, so yeah, it's not a fun time right now. But I say, hey, you know what? Maine, we've got like three total weeks, maybe a month of throughout the entire year that suck. Whether it heat, snow, rain, whatever it is, it's like a, like a 30 days over 365 that suck. So I'm gonna take it. I'm okay with this.
[00:02:55] Speaker B: That's the perspective, right? You gotta do the math and count your blessings there.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: I've said it can't more times than not where it's like, oh, this is so nice. So I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna complain too much about it. Plus that's what all the other Mainers do. That's all they do is complain about. They walk into the gas station, they get their donut and coffee in the morning and they're like, oh, it's raining out.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely don't complain to me because you will find zero sympathy for weather related complaints.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: But you know, New England too, you know the Northeast, you know this area. So it's okay. It is what it is.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: But I am excited to do some traveling there for tour in the fall because I'm like, I need that. I need some crisp fall weather. Hopefully it will be crisp. We'll see.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: It's. It's on my notes because I'm going to see you in Framingham. Yeah, Stick. I'm driving down. So like we just made the plans. My, my, my parents live in Connecticut.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: And so we were trying to figure out my wife's actually both days. So Spooktastic fair in, in Framingham, Massachusetts on September 13th and Christopher the, the Haverhill. Christopher Golden's Haverhill, Massachusetts Library. The October scare thing that goes on down there. I'm not. The name is beyond me right now. But that happens on like sometime in the end of October. And both those dates my wife's like, no, I'm busy. I'm like, are you kidding me?
I've got a 4 year old and an 18 month old. I'm like, I got to figure out. And so we worked it out. My mom's going to come up from Connecticut and meet me in Framingham. She's going to take my son and take him back to Connecticut. And it's about an hour ish from Framingham. So I was like, I'll just get out after I'm done with that. I'll drive to Connecticut, hang out with them for the night or two and then come back. So it's going to work out perfectly.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: And I'm so excited. So I'm pumped about it. And I was like. She's like, can you pick one of them? I'm like, no.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I need to do both.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Well, last year, Christopher Golden's thing, the Halloween one, my son got sick like two days prior and was sick the whole. I decided to cancel. And so this year I'm like, no, I'm going. Don't care.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely, I'll bring my sick kid.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: And give it to my mom.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:04:55] Speaker A: But no, it's gonna be fun. It's exciting. That's a guy. And that's the thing is some of them have the same authors that I've met over and over and over again in person. But some of them, obviously you're from the west coast ish of the United States. So it's nice to have you over here in the East Northeast.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: I know, I'm very much looking forward to that. Yeah, it's going to be a great one.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: And you'll be touting your book Breathe In, Bleed Out. Over at Poison, I wanted to start really quickly. How did it land at Poison Pen Press? Because I really like what they're doing and I was really excited to see it land there. So just quickly, for those book nerds like myself, how did that happen?
[00:05:31] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I mean like Curse of the Reaper was my first. My debut in 2022 with Talus Press and that was a one book deal. And then I went and did the two Can King books with Short Wave, the novellas. So when I had a new novel, it was going back out on submission to every publisher. And I'm so glad that it landed at Poison Pen because it just felt like the perfect fit. They've done a lot of thrillers like Freida McFadden and many others, and they're branching more into horror now. And when my now editor read it, she totally understood the place that this book lands, especially as kind of a potential gateway for thriller readers who Might not know. They like horror. I think a slasher is kind of the entryway for some folks. So, yeah, I was thrilled and I got to credit them with. It had a different title at the time. They tested titles, they tested covers, and the title and cover that we landed on are just so phenomenal that that's how I know for sure. I was like, yeah, they get it. They know what they're doing.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: It's funny how Poison Pen to me is like one of those ones where I'm like, oh, I like this book. Like this book. Like this book. And then you look who publishes them all, and you're like, oh, that makes sense. You know, I mean, like, it's every once in a while when you see all these movies that are like horror movies that are like, on shutter, you're like, ah, that under. I understand that now. Or. Or you like a movie and it's directed by the same person or something. So those kind of things where, like, when there's this connection that you don't realize until after you. You, like, finish reading. And I'm like, who published that? And you look at, oh, it's poison. And that makes sense.
[00:06:59] Speaker B: Yeah, there's like a holistic approach that it's like, okay, now adds together.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: It makes a lot of sense. And I've actually never met read of Frida McFadden, so I don't know if it's good or not, but I've heard that.
[00:07:11] Speaker B: Yeah, they are. They are.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: It's not this.
No.
Breathe in, bleed out. I tell you one thing I don't like. Can I tell you what I don't like about this book?
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Yeah, please.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: God, I love the title. I love the title. Love the title, love the title. I don't like the fact that it hurts your Search engine optimization.
Oh, and I'm only saying that because when you have a comma in your title. Oh, it becomes two keywords. I didn't know. And so, like, when I type in this, like, for this art, this episode, I'll type it in for YouTube and all that stuff and I'll do it. You can't make breathe in, comma, breathe out, breathe lead out one search word. You can in certain ways, and you do things, but like other things like YouTube and the places that it detects, you have to either leave the comma out or it becomes two search words. That's just a geeky, nerdy thing that, you know, it probably doesn't hurt it because if you type it in, it finds it. So it's not like, it's not finding it. I'm just saying, like, to me, it was that, that. And then there's a couple other people who have comic book titles that the same thing. They're like these huge long sentences. It has a comma in the middle. And I'm like, ah, why'd you do that?
[00:08:16] Speaker B: I never, never realized that. That makes sense, though.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: So the review website platform, we use, you type in keywords, obviously, for such an optimization. And so, like, I had to figure out. I don't know if I left the comma out or just used whatever, but, yeah, that's the complaint. Dude, you're good.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: All right, well, it's been a good chat. Thanks.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Five stars.
That's the. You know, for all the things I love about this book. Here's the. Here's this. No, no, I mean, I'm a huge fan of Scream.
I'm actually. I paused to. To. To talk to you. Final Destination, Bloodlines. I hadn't seen it yet, so I'm watching that.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Oh, no, go finish it. We'll take.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: We want to watch right now and do a review episode. No, it's phenomenal. Honestly, I was very surprised at how really good it actually is.
But Scream, Final Destination, those are ones I loved.
The uniqueness of kills that are in Final Destination. I mean, the movies have never been award winning. They're not out there to win awards. It's there to show cool, gruesome, unique kills that you think are going one way and all of a sudden where it doesn't go that way and you're like, oh, they're going to survive. And then slam it, bus hits them.
It's insane. And then I love Scream. So Scream is. Honestly, I have a V VHS right here for those who could see it, signed by Roger Jackson. It. It's. I met him a couple years ago. It's. It's such a great and iconic franchise to me. And so when you can use those two series as a relating, you know, when people are like, it's like this. It's always gonna get me to read it. Then you had, obviously, then you add you in. I'm gonna read anything you write anyway now. But, like, that to me was huge.
I'm guessing you're a huge fan of Scream. I'm guessing that's a given.
But also, does that mean that you were also a fan of Final Destination in that style of movie? And that whole.
I mean, I don't want to give too much away in this movie, but there's some pretty gruesome unique kills in this book.
But, yeah. Are you a fan of those franchises?
[00:10:19] Speaker B: 100%. If I could point to any two influences for this book, especially Scream and Final Destination. And I talk about this a bit in my author's note at the end of how Scream really was the gateway film for me. And it remains just a reference point, both, especially in terms of tone that, like, yes, it's a horror movie and it's scary and it's gruesome, but also it's really funny and really just fun. Just like capital F fun. And to me, Final Destination hits those same notes. I think that it's the suspense of those big, gruesome death scenes. Like, it incites giggles as much as gasps. And I love that balance so much.
And for me, yeah, I don't think I could write just like a slasher where the killer is just stabbing everybody. I would, as a writer, just get super bored. And so for me, it's like, okay, how do I build these kind of cinematic set pieces in a novel that feel like that, give those Final Destination vibes and make them as gruesome as possible and not have to worry about, like, can we do this with practical effects? Are we going to need cgi? Like, the beauty of writing.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it's way cheaper to do those kills. It's when they. When you're. When your book gets adapted into a film, they're like, ah, Brian, what the hell did you do to us?
They're trying to do some of those kills, and someone's like, well, why didn't you do this kill? It's like, well, it wasn't in the budget. We decided not to do that one because it wasn't in the budget. Yeah, you're right, though. You could do it without having to worry about how it's actually done. You just have to explain how the kill happens.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: Yeah, that was when I was writing Candy Cane Kills. There was a moment when I was in revisions, and I extended a death scene to include an exploding car because I realized I was like, wait a second. This is. This isn't a screenplay going to financiers. Like, let's blow some shit up, man.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Have you. Have you seen a velocipaster?
[00:12:08] Speaker B: I have, yes.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: That's. There's a scene at the beginning. I don't want to give away too much because it's at the beginning. So, people, it is what it is. Spoiler alert for that. But there's a scene where they blow up a car, and all it says is, enter a car blowing Up. It was like a picture on it. And when you're watching it, you're like, wait, was that a oops. Like, did we just see not a final cut or they run out of money on the budget. And I'm like, no, it's for them to be like, we're not taking this serious. We don't have the money to do this. We're just going to put this here and you're going to laugh and you're going to move on. And now I'm talking about this movie on a podcast. So, like, there's that aspect of it. But, yeah, you have. You could do what you want in a book, really. You just have to write the words on the page and your editor has to be like, yep, that sounds good. And you're good to go.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And for this book, like that, that's where I started with the concept of Breathe and Bleed out was, you know, the slasher set at a wellness retreat. Because I realized that there were these props and set pieces from. From, you know, saunas to sound baths to yoga studios. And I was like, well, I can build my set pieces around this location and all of these props and make. Turn things into murder weapons that people. That might ruin them forever for people. Which I've gotten some messages from people to that end, which is my. You know, that's my job.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Well, that's your goal. I just finished, actually, last night. I just finished why I Love Horror from Saga Press, the advanced copy there. And it's the essays of all these horror authors who. Who are writing, you know, about how they love or. And how they got into horror and things like that.
But, yeah, it's one of those things that, like, there's. You're there to have. Like, the horror genre is just. There's so many ways you can go about this. And I think that's what Scream always set apart for me is because it never took itself really that seriously like, it did. They made a good movie.
It's quality, it's well produced. It's obviously Wes Craven, you know, fingers on it, and all that stuff, but it's like one of those things that, like, we're gonna have fun with this. Like, this is not gonna matter. And I feel like horror is like one of those few genres that can do that. And I just. I wrote in my review of it, it's published later on this week, that. That it's like, you can do a heist horror, you can do a comedy horror, you can do horror drama, you can do. You Know, horror, superhero, you can do all that stuff. It's really hard to do a romance superhero movie or a romance heist movie or, you know, like, nothing against romance novels. They're really, really, really popular. People like them. So I don't want to crap all over them. But there's something about that. And I think that Scream to me is different than your Halloweens in your Elm Streets in, in those ones because of the fact that it has this, I said this, this, this almost arrogance to it that we're, we're just going to make this fun movie and it's going to be, you know, horrifying at times and whatever. And, and I felt that the second I started reading this book I was like, this is something I like because it's different than your other books that are on the market right now are going to be on the market right now. September is busy, by the way. I don't know if you know that.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: It's insanity.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: I just reminded that September when this book comes out was the September 2nd. I was like, wait. And then September 9th is this. And there's like three books coming out on September 9th and there's two books coming on September 2nd.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: I know, like Clay, Eric, Rachel, I forget who. It's just, it's jam packed.
But yeah. And I think the thing that for Scream, another takeaway for me is just like loving all of the characters in it. And that's another kind of way that I feel like I always want to approach a slasher is like making sure that it's not just about the final girl, but about all of those secondary characters like having kind of fully realized identities and making them fun as well and playing with character dynamics. Like that's part of the fun of a slasher is those group dynamics that, that are at play. Um, yeah.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: And I've always felt like from the first time I ever watched something like Scream or read this book, for example, it's like you always want you, you don't want any of them to be the killer, but you also have like a handful of people. You want to be the killer at the same time. Like somehow you want them all to be innocent. All of a sudden I know where you're like, haha, you didn't know about this guy sitting on the top of the mountain shooting people? Like yeah. Or you want like this group of people. So there's like, there is a handful of people. I'm like, if Brian makes this guy the killer, I'm gonna be so happy right now this guy's kind of an asshole. But I like the fact that it's like Negan walking Dead. You're like, you like to hate him. And so yeah, there's like this likableness to all the characters. But in the same sense you're like, yeah, if that guy turns out to be the. Or that girl turns out to be the killer, I'm okay with that because they're kind of a dick.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's, you know, I think that that was also the fun of writing this compared to my previous books was this was my first time doing the proper murder mystery which, you know, slashers like Freddy, Jason, Michael. Like, you know who the killer is. You're not waiting for Michael Myers to be unmasked. And like, it was you. Like, it's Michael Myers.
But like what I love about Scream and then, you know, I know what you did last summer, Urban Legend Valentine, which I just rewatched last week and still stand by.
I love those murder mystery red herring filled stories because they're just, again, it's just pure fun. It's like a whole. It's a game, it's a puzzle.
And you're looking with these characters at these characters with scrutiny in a way that increases engagement, I think.
[00:17:05] Speaker A: And then setting it in something like a wellness retreat too, is that juxtaposition of like people like trying to find themselves and become better people turn out to be, you know, slaughtered.
That is perfect too. I love that part too. It's similar to if anybody's read Candy Cane Kills, like the murdering happening in a church kind of thing where it's like you're, you're, you're expected a different outcome when you go to church.
You expect a different outcome when you go to a wellness retreat, in my opinion.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I would think, I would hope you're not expecting a bloodbath. But that, that definitely was, you know, another thing that for me, that conceptually I was like, I have a lot that I want to say or dig into about wellness culture and spirituality and the idea of like characters trying to kind of heal themselves while they're.
Is someone or something trying to do the opposite felt like a nice, nice juxtaposition for kind of the dramatic irony of it all too.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: And there's real life horrors in that too, because there's reasons why some of these people are where they are, why the people that are at this retreat are going there. You know, like you and I might just be like, I just need. Life's overwhelming. I just need to get out there. And do stuff, but there's other people that are there. Like, my life is not going the way I need it to go. Things are going crazy. I need to go there to set myself straight, you know, set myself on the right course or so on and so forth. I talked to Philip for Costi about the Autumn Springs Nursing Home retirement home massacre. I always get that one wrong. It's retirement home. About how that same similar idea, having a place that you're not expecting for a serial or a slasher, you know, story to take place in a retirement home in that same part. But there's also real life horrors in that retirement home. Just like there is, you know, these people that are going to this thing. There's real life, you know, trauma and stuff like that that comes with it. But, yeah, going to this place, I'm expecting to get sauna, sit in the tent, you know, maybe smoke something that, you know, some. Some stuff out from the woods somewhere. But, yeah, it doesn't go the way they hoped it would go when they're there. Has this story been percolating for a while and then you finally were able to get this, or was this one that you came up with more recently? I mean, that seems like a dumb question a lot of times, but, like, is this something you've been wanting to tell for a long time, this. This specific story?
[00:19:15] Speaker B: No, it's a good question because it has. It has been percolating for a long time. I mean, I live in Arizona now.
I have for the last two years, but I lived in LA for a decade before that. So that's where, like, my encounters with a lot of the wellness culture happened and where I was starting to figure out, like, okay, how do I do a horror story about this world?
And I started. I did a version of this right after Curse of the Reaper, but I hadn't quite cracked it yet. And I put it down to go do the Candy Cane books and came back to it with the clear perspective of how to kind of see this through to the end.
So it's definitely been percolating for a while. And kind of like you were talking about with Philip's book, which I loved, you know, the setting is so key and also the idea that, like, the draw, the character drama should be enough of a story without the murders. Right. And that.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Those are.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: Those are my favorite stories where you're like, yeah, there's plenty going on here. And also people are dying. Like, someone's on a protagonist character arc and all. And there's.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: Yeah, when that's that connection to Final Destination. You obviously wrote this book between before Bloodlines came out. But watching this movie, you know, no spoilers here, but like they're dealing with family drama and people leaving and their mom not being around and all that stuff too. Like that story alone of this recluse grandmother in the middle of nowhere and the mom disappearing at 10 years old and just leaving is enough of a horror story or a traumatic event story in a life. Then you add in people randomly dying. Yeah, I can see that. So, yeah, it's a. Well, obviously you didn't. They took it from you, right? That the idea behind doing that.
[00:20:51] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. The lawsuit is underway and I'm not asking for money. I'm just asking. Asking to make the next Final Destination movie.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: So there you go, man. There you go. I'll take it. No, I'm hoping now after this movie, I'm saying, like, they need to make another one at this point. I always thought they were done. I thought final Final Destination 5 was like, okay, we're going to move on. But no, this is.
[00:21:11] Speaker B: It was just announced that one of the co. The co writers of Bloodlines is writing seven now. So let's go.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: Let's do it. Let's do it.
No, but yeah, it's, it's a. Do you get to write off trips to the sauna and massages and all that stuff as a, you know, research for this?
[00:21:29] Speaker B: Totally. I, you know, the beauty of being a writer is that the tax write offs are very flexible when it comes to research.
Yeah. And, and all of the, all of my trips to, to yoga retreats and.
[00:21:44] Speaker A: Yeah, all that stuff I'll include. Well, it was funny because Christopher Goldman I invited. I had Christopher golden up here in Maine to do an event there. I did a beer with him and we did an event up here and he was talking about a lot of his ideas come to him in the shower. And I was like, when you renovate your shower, does that mean you get to write that off too? As a whole? You know, you measure the square footage.
[00:22:02] Speaker B: For the office space.
[00:22:03] Speaker A: Yeah, but it's true. It's one of those things. I mean, I'm guessing you didn't go. I mean, you must have had to do some research on this stuff. I'm sure you're not like, you know, you don't sign off of hearing you're going to some sort of wellness place right now. Like, you obviously had to learn some more about wellness retreats and what you mentioned, like the inventory of what's there. You Must have had to do some research on that.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think the majority of it happened before I started writing again, just from living in la, being a member of a yoga gym, like going to these storefronts that are kind of turning spiritual journeys into capitalistic pursuits.
And then Joshua Tree. Like, I've been to Joshua Tree for various reasons on different occasions and kind of absorbed like that location.
But the big things that helped this story research wise were researching like the indigenous history there of the Chimaevi and then also the gold mining history which came relatively late in the story development which provided this slasher figure of Waylon Barlow. Once I realized, like, oh, there's all these abandoned gold mines all over Joshua Tree and.
And it's. I was just like that. That was kind of a missing piece that really brought everything together and.
Yeah.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: Did you, you mentioned the inventory and things like that? Did you have like a list of things where you're like, okay, when I need to kill someone, I need to put this. Like, did you like, pull from like. I mean, so I've always thought about this too. It's like you made me think about it even more when you mentioned the beginning about this inventory, this saunas, the what's there on the site of this wellness retreat is setting up and making sure you're not losing your place or where you are, where things are. But like, just like I probably think of the Final Destination writers room being more like, you know, having to be like, oh, this, let's do this and seeing if you can. That is an epic kill. Let's see if we can fit that in there. Did you have both of that? Like, okay, this is. I need to kill this character this way, but I also have a way I want to kill it, so I have to write it in. Or do you. I mean, how did that, how does that work a little bit for you?
[00:24:09] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a good question. Like, I think for this book especially, like, I worked backwards from those death set pieces, so I like to work with a cork board and index cards. And so like, you know, I don't think it's a spoiler to say that somebody dies in a yoga studio in this book.
We'll say that much.
So I was like, okay, like, death by yoga is on the board. It's just a question of where it's going to happen and who it's going to happen to. And then part of that too, I think was once I had those set piece kills, they helped me kind of reverse engineer the characters because that's another thing that I love in my favorite types of slashers are when the kills feel connected to the characters and not just random.
Like, I think Freddy Krueger does a great job of that.
He's like, he targets people and what their, like, worst fears are and twists that into a nightmare that kills them.
And that for me, helped me figure out who are these characters because I know how I want to kill them. So let me figure out who they are so that it feels even worse when we get there.
[00:25:14] Speaker A: That's when someone comes to your apartment, is like, we need to call the police. They don't know you're a writer. You're like, what's this corkboard about how he wants to kill people? I don't know.
This is kind of crazy right now. I don't know, man. Something about a sauna and a toilet.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: Yeah. His tax write offs include acid and shovels and.
[00:25:31] Speaker A: Well, you got to learn from Dexter. You got to buy other things when you do it. Because if you buy other things when you do it, that people aren't, you know, like, what do you need that cooler for? Like, I see if I just buy a shovel and some plastic wrap, someone's going to question it. But if you buy, you know, some bubble gum, no one's going to question.
[00:25:46] Speaker B: It couldn't possibly be killing people.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: That's the, that's a suspension of belief. Sometimes I've just. I just rewatched the whole Dexter seasons and I was like, there's some times where I'm like, how did people not know he was the killer?
Like, it's just like, okay, I gotta suspend the belief on that and move on. But yeah, that's the thing. So I feel like if you're a scream fan, then you could. It's not just, okay, you're a fan of Ghostface. Like, if you're, if you're a scream fan, because you're a fan of Ghostface and you're a fan of the characters that are specifically in that, you know, series of films, then obviously it doesn't mean one equals one. You're gonna like this book. But if you like the way that it goes about things and the. Some of the comedy that goes into it as well, and some, some, you know, perfectly timed humor in places. But also the, the craziness of something and the mystery and the who done it and all that stuff. That's where I think you'd like this book. If you, like, you know, the Final destination kills to a point, then you're going to like this book in that sense too. What else draws people into this book, in your opinion? Like, what else? What's your sales pitch for people who want to read this book? Outside of those two things, is there other things that you want to tell people about this book that drop people in?
[00:26:52] Speaker B: Great question.
I think, as I mentioned earlier, if you're listening and you're wary of slashers and gory horror, again, I would reiterate that it has that murder mystery thriller plot and pacing. So I've seen a lot of readers in their early reviews say, I don't normally need read. I've never read a slasher or I don't read horror books. But the COVID got me and I actually loved it.
And that's my favorite. I mean, I love getting reviews from slasher fans who are like, I know every reference in this. This is so my fucking jam.
But I also love the new readers who are like, I think this might be a genre I want to read more of. So that. And then I would also say, like, Midsommar was a reference point in kind of the sales pitch because there is this kind of element of going to this remote location and this kind of like cultural whiplash of how people process grief through different kind of rituals.
So there is, if you like that kind of a 24 tinged grief horror, but maybe a little bit less heavy and more of a fun spin on the Midsomer kind of situation.
[00:28:07] Speaker A: Yeah, it's unique in that sense. But it's also, like I said, I like a book that's 100% unique. It's, oh my gosh, I can't believe this person's just like groundbreaking breaking. But I also like the one that has that enough comparisons to it. And I've been, I've said multiple times on this podcast or in reviews or to friends or whatever that there's sometimes some people go, oh, Midsummer meets, you know, Scream. And you're like, I don't, I guess like I, you know, you're reaching there, or whatever, you know, so on and so forth.
But. But there's certain ones and I feel like there's certain times where I'm like, I get it. You know, it's just, you know, I've always said Tony Fleece and Trish Forstner has a. Has a graphic novel called Stray Dogs. And it looks like All Dogs go to Heaven animation, but it's like they say it's silence the lands means all dogs go to heaven. And to me, I was like, that is so perfect. I love that so this does fit that. I'm glad it does because sometimes I'm just like, don't do that. Like, come on. The comparisons there are not there, whatever. But I think that's there. And I think that has that, that, that appeal to it. And I think that you need to draw some people in. Again, I'm a big fan if some of a cover sells things. I mean, I make beer labels for. For. For beer. So if a beer label makes you buy a beer, who cares? Contents of the beer is like, if I. If I got you to buy it, you know. But there is something about that on this too. And it has this, like, what error would you think that. What kind of style artwork is that?
[00:29:31] Speaker B: I mean, I call. I think it's like pulp. Pulp?
[00:29:33] Speaker A: Yeah, Pulp.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: It also, like, to me, like, and this is another thing I mentioned in the author's note that I wrote before I even saw the COVID which was like the Giallo influence, which was like the. The. The horror films, the murder mysteries from Italy and like the 70s that were based on these yellow cover pulp fiction books. And they had that. That kind of crime pop art.
And so when I saw this cover, I was like, oh, this tonally, like, really nails what it is. And it's hard to. Like you're saying with comps, right, of X meets. Yeah, it's hard because then it's like, well, what element of Scream is. Are you referencing? Is it the tone? Is it the pacing? Is it the. Like, there's so many different ways.
Yeah, but.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: Yeah, and then people get upset with you because they're like, this is nothing like Scream. This book sucks. And it's like, well, that's not, you know, again, to relate to the beer world. It's like someone's like, I don't like this beer. I don't like IPAs. Well, like. Well, then you don't like IP, then you're not going to like this, right?
[00:30:34] Speaker B: You were never going to like it.
[00:30:35] Speaker A: Never gonna like the Spears. I don't like this. So there is that comparison. There is that possibility. You can run into that as well by making comparisons to other things.
Or Brian McCauley is the new XYZ author. It's like, well, they're nothing like XYZ. I don't know why people are comparing in that way. And then they could ruin everything going forward.
But I see it and I say I can see it in a way that fits so that you can find those people that are in that genre. I also love that you're a screenwriter and a professor. You know, you teach screenwriting and you teach stuff around screenwriting. And then all of the comparisons are movies.
Yeah, that also is funny to me because I'm like, there wasn't like a. Oh, it's Scream meets this book. It was like, it's this movie meets this movie. And I'm like, okay, I can see where that comes from too. Is this something that you would love to see a screenplay, obviously, financially and to see it continue and all that stuff that. But, like, going into it. Do you think about that nowadays as someone who's a screenwriter as well?
[00:31:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I innately have accepted and I used to, like, worry about this and now I don't because I just recognize, like, that's, you know, four deep, four books deep. I'm like, this is just part of my voice as an author is that I write cinematic books. And that's. That's not a bad thing that readers enjoy that and that there's certainly a lot more depth in the book than you could get out of a screenplay, which is why I prefer to write them now.
But certainly pacing wise, I plot my stories for books the same way I would a screenplay. So that's part of where I think a lot of reviewers note that this felt like I was watching a movie.
And a lot of readers saying, I read this in one or two sittings. And that's very intentional for me, craft wise, to be like, I want to make sure when you get to the end of a chapter, I'm going to put a little hook there to. To make you turn that page. Because I love that as a reader and I love that as a viewer, and that's kind of what I lean into.
[00:32:32] Speaker A: I read just literally today, this morning, read someone who was like, oh, I read it in one sitting. I'm like, first of all, good for you. But second of all, I'm like, there's no. I don't care how good the book is. There's no way I'm reading this book in one sitting.
I am the kind of person where I sometimes balance between reading super fast and I get to a chapter. I'm like, ah, God damn it. I don't know what I just read and have to go back or. Or reading too slow. And then I'm like, this book is taking me six years to read, but I'm trying to take everything in and I'm trying to find that balance sometimes. But one sitting, to me, I'm sorry, I don't have enough patience in the first place. I don't care how. That could be the best book I've ever read in my entire life, and I'm not reading it all in one sitting.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, there are days in my process with a book where I'm like, today is the day that I need to read the whole thing front to back in one day. Because as a.
I need to catch things that I might forget if I go to sleep and wake up. And I need to make sure the setups and payoffs and all of that, and those are hard days. And that's my own ass book to read it all in one day.
But I'm grateful to those who find the time to do it.
[00:33:38] Speaker A: I can watch your movies in one day. How about that?
I can probably watch all of your movies in one day, to be honest with you.
[00:33:44] Speaker B: But no terrible marathon. I'll send you some.
[00:33:48] Speaker A: Two of them that I know of have nannies in it. So I don't know how they might get nanny now. I don't know.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: It was supposed to be a sequel, actually, and then it got changed. Yep.
[00:33:56] Speaker A: Well, it's TV movie, so that's. That's probably where they're like, ah, whatever, just get it out on the tv. Yeah, but. Yeah, no, it's a. It's a.
I don't know. I just. There's a. There's a review version of me reading. There's a. There's a. I don't know. And I'm excited because what I'll end up doing is I read this for a while back now.
I tend to sometimes read it too early. And then I'm like, oh, I want to have the author on as we get closer to the release date. And I'm like, crap, I read this two months ago and I'm driving about it. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, I remember that. I remember some of it, but I'm like, wait a second, do I remember all? And I read so much that it's like things start to mold together. I'm like, wait, at the end, she ends up at a retirement home, Right. And there's a serial killer there, too. Is that. Wait, that's Phillips book.
I'd see a crossover between that. No, but the.
Yeah, so there's this, like, behind this. But I'll probably end up. What I'll end up doing is, like, on August or September 3rd, I'll read the. Listen to the audiobook and get entirely different experience from what this is. And I did that. I just recently had Paul Tremblay on. And I did the same thing. I read horror movie over again, but an audiobook format. And it was like, cool because the audio. His. That audiobook was pretty cool too, because they added some things in there. As a screenwriter, you'll appreciate this too. They added like mess ups on reading the screenplay on purpose.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: Oh, yes.
[00:35:05] Speaker A: So they repeated the line over again. And he got so many messages from people like, hey, you know, there's a mistake in there. He's like, no, that's on purpose. It's what would really happen. If they're like reading through the script. They'd be reading, oh, crap, I didn't get that line correctly. And they'd say it over again. And I was like, that See, that is an entirely different experience. Which is pretty cool.
And so hopefully, like I say, hopefully someone hearing people say people's names or their accents or whatever, however the voice inflection or anything like that on an audiobook is really cool to do that too. That's why I loved reading Candy Cane Kills Number one on audiobook, but where's number two? Let's go.
[00:35:36] Speaker B: Gotta get it.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: We'll see.
[00:35:39] Speaker B: But yeah, there's definitely going to be an audiobook for this one, I think on release day. And I'm excited, I got to listen to some samples of potential narrators. And it's helpful as an author to listen to those. Just to hear your own words spoken by somebody else.
[00:35:55] Speaker A: But yeah, you're like, wait a second, that's not the right way to say that person's name.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: I don't even know when I put it on the page.
[00:36:03] Speaker A: But I guess, well, to me it's always the best thing because there's times where I've read a book and I've seen a word and it's definitely don't know how to say that word. And I looked it up online. I still don't know how to say that word. So I make up how it sounds. And the rest of the time I read that book, I'm like, that's how that word is said. That's how the town in New York is said. That's how, you know, like, whatever it may be is how it is. Listening to an audiobook, you're like. And then you listen later in audiobook, like, oh, I was way off. That's not anywhere.
But yeah, it's.
[00:36:29] Speaker B: It's a. I thought it was Worcester.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: I was way off. See, I had this problem. I just read. I just actually finished it this morning on audiobook. Paul Dwarin writes these books. Called. They're the Mike Bowditch Mysteries, and they're based in Maine. There's like 14 of them. And it's this one game warden based in Maine, and it's his exploits of saving the, you know, the state of Maine from. From murders and animals and all this stuff. And there's. Sometimes they do say the names, like, Bangor, Maine, which is my name, like the town next to me where Stephen King is from Banger. And I'm like, dude, the guy is from Maine. You don't think that there's.
But then I'm like, wait, was it on purpose because the person's not from here? Or, you know, like. So then I'm trying to figure out whether or not that was on purpose. But, like, it's the same. The same narrator for all 14 books. So at some point, someone would have had to tell him, that's not how you say it. You got to say it, right? But, you know, it's the same thing with Stephen King's book. Every once in a while, they'll say things, and I'm like, wait a second. Did anybody look at this sounding. This is not how you say that. Come on.
But, yeah, so to me, audiobook is one of those things that you're going to get more readers, obviously, off of audiobooks, too, because you're going to get the person who. Who doesn't want to read the book, doesn't have time, and so on and so forth. So I've done that recently. Someone's been like, hey, can I send you an arc? I'm like, I don't have time. If you have an audiobook version of it, I'll listen to that, because I do have time for that, but I don't have time to physically sit there and read it. And so that's. And that's what? Sarah Gailey's new book. I'm doing that with Spread Me. I just got the Net Gallia approval. Have you read it?
[00:37:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I got a print ARC at Stoker Con, and I loved that one.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: See, I was like, I saw it come up on NetGalley. I'm like, oh, we get this. And I got approved this morning, so I'll listen to that. But I'm reading other books, so I just can't physically read more than one book at a time. It's not me.
[00:38:06] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, totally.
[00:38:07] Speaker A: And I can't read all in one day. Sorry. It's not me.
But so you teach. So you have this book coming out. You've been working on it for a while. You've been promoting it for a little while now. You're right around the corner here. September 2nd is right around the corner.
Breathe In, Bleed out from Poison Pen Press. It's worth getting. If you're listening to this, this will be a week or so before.
Go pre order it still, because that's worth the, you know, every. It's weight and gold. Go pre order it, get people to buy it, get your friends to buy it, buy a copy, tell your local library that you need it at your local library. All that stuff you also have. I'm super pumped about Curse of the Reaper coming out in paperback in October, which is perfect timing pretty much obviously too. If you're looking for like a nice Halloween, spooky, like, horror book to read, I think it's October 21st. It comes out.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: It's actually September. September.
[00:38:54] Speaker A: Is it now?
[00:38:55] Speaker B: Well, it's September 30th. I'm looking at my calendar. One, two, three.
[00:38:59] Speaker A: I kind of saw it. I just said this morning. It said it was.
[00:39:02] Speaker B: I think the hardcover came out in October last year, October 4th. But yeah, September 30th. So literally four weeks after breathe and Bleed Out.
Yeah. And that was a 2022 book, so it's taken three years.
But I just approved of the updated back of COVID and interior praise pages and things like that. And I'm so grateful. I think the delay in getting a paperback worked out in my favor to a degree because I think Breathe and Bleed out is going to reach a lot more readers. And then if they like it, then four weeks later they've got a new book from me. If they haven't read me before and.
[00:39:41] Speaker A: Your name is a little bit more now they think that Short Wave and Alan doing the whole killing Candy Cane kills with you and then having basically two and now three books come out in between the two, the hardcover, the paperback, it's actually pretty cool on that side too. So you have that ability to be like someone who fell in love with you, you know, between those books, now has something to read, you know, and some people wait for the. The cheaper and the, you know, whatever. To me, I'm like, for sure you gotta get hardcover when there is a hardcover, because your other books are hardcover.
But. But Curse the Reapers on the wall over there on a bracket. So it doesn't really matter because that's on the wall over there. And then your Candy Cane Kills ones are all over there next to my Goosebumps books. Because they all got to go in order to.
Yes.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: Yeah. It's wild the whole hardcover thing, it's like. Because once they're gone, they're gone. So I have some left here that I'll sell at events. But I'm like, at what point do I keep a certain amount of those? Because then it'll just be the paperback and audio available.
But yeah, Breathe and Bleed out is paperback only, which I do also like to. Because that it's $18 instead of $80. Yeah.
And that accessibility I think is helpful.
But yeah, I'm excited to have the reaper paperback finally. And I've not gotten a chance to see.
To hold it yet. But Yeah, I think September 30th, that. And then right in the middle of that, I'm in an anthology with Death by TBR books, Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night. So I have a flash fiction Halloween story in there and that'll. Yeah, I'll be coming out while I'm. While I'm torn all over the place.
[00:41:19] Speaker A: And then you'll be no books for like 14 months.
Yeah.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: I'm going to go on a wellness retreat for.
For a full year and come back.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: I think it was, was it last year? I think when Pay the Piper came out for. For Daniel Krause, it was like Pay the Piper came out on like the Tuesday and the following Tuesday the whale fall paperback came out. And so it was like all those people, I'm like, you know, we're all on a budget here. People like, you know, and I said, well, I'm always think this, this, this Bleed in, breathe in, bleed out paperback is that it is helpful because the September is so loaded that having an $18 paperback and that's the only option at the time. It's. It's perfect because then I can. If they have to spend the money on something else, they'll go spend the money on something else. But then this is exactly $18 and have to, you know. You know, and maybe if you have some copies, I'll just buy one from you.
[00:42:08] Speaker B: Yeah, well, they, they, they will be on sale when I'm at Spooktastic.
[00:42:13] Speaker A: Yes.
Yeah, let me go. That's even better because then I buy from you. So that my local bookstore getting the money.
[00:42:21] Speaker B: No, I think it actually is through Copper Dog Books, I want to say is doing all the book sales. Yeah.
[00:42:26] Speaker A: Nice. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:42:27] Speaker B: So everybody wins.
[00:42:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Something but yeah. So. So you have this books coming out of that. Are you still. Are you mentioned doing books over that you're teaching.
So obviously having a balance. You're teaching classes and also trying to write Books and obviously doing promotion and taking the time to podcasts and things like that, coming out to the northeast to do to an event and so on and so forth.
Are you still, I mean, I know you have a passion for screenwriting. Are you still, like, dabbling in screenwriting? Are you still trying to get things purchased or are you just focusing on teaching and writing novels?
[00:43:00] Speaker B: I mean, basically at this point, I wrote a script adaptation of the first Candy Cane Kills book and actually just had a call with a. A potential director this week on that one.
But at this point, I'm not writing spec scripts or trying to go out for open writing assignments or TV staffing jobs.
For me, the writing is focusing on books and short stories and then figuring out what the best route for adaptation is. So, like Curse of the Reaper, I optioned to another writer director to run with it. Candy Cane. I was like, this is almost too easy to give the job to someone else. I'm just going to write the script and then we shop that breathe and bleed out. We're shopping the book around, and it will just be individual conversations around, like, am I going to really demand to adapt it or am I cool with collaborating or giving it to somebody?
So that's where I'm at on the screenwriting front is just more that I want to create the IP and then find the collaborators and the, the, the kind of the puzzle pieces fitting in different ways depending on the project.
But yeah, and then teaching full time, it's going to be a busy fall with traveling on top of that.
[00:44:09] Speaker A: Well, yeah, it sucked. And things happen, too. So it's like, oh, we're staying. I'll see you in September. But, you know, speaking of Daniel, Daniel Krause got Covid at San Diego Comic Con, had to cancel half of his tour. So, you know, it's one of those things that comes up. And I got. My kid got sick last year when I was trying to come to Massachusetts, and so things happen. But, yeah, it's crazy. But, yeah. So your passions right now are really.
And your time. You know, obviously we have to manage our time. Plus, you need to have free time to do. To do your life as well. This is not where, you know, selfishly, we all want you just to be sitting at a computer all day, typing away. But yeah, you have to live your life, too. But so, yeah, so teaching and getting these novels, you know, write some new novels and writing these novels and getting some stuff out, it also gives you the ability, if you end up writing something like a novel to then say, I don't have time to write this script, so I want someone else to do that. And so. Which is kind of cool too. Yeah, it's, it's a, it's a thing. And I think that it's. Not that it's easier, but with your name now and having you have a deal, is it a multiple book deal at Poison Pen or is this a single book?
[00:45:06] Speaker B: This was just a one book. So they're reading the next one now.
So I already wrote another book. And then while I'm waiting, because I don't really do good with waiting, I'm now like 50,000 words into the book after that because I just can't stop. And I had an idea that I was like, all right, I don't want it to get cold on me, so let's just keep writing the next thing. And that's always kind of where I'm at with it, is just like, what's the next story that I'm just burning to tell?
[00:45:36] Speaker A: And that's the thing is, I think what I like is talking to people like yourself is that obviously selling these books and getting paid is to pay bills and things like that is important. But a lot of these stories are in your mind. You want people to read them. You want these out there. You want people to see this. So, yeah, getting this, you know, on paper and getting it out there and so on and so forth. So that if, say, Poison Friend or someone else decides to buy your next book, you're not just like, okay, cool, I'll give you. Give me a couple months to write it and then I'll get to you. Like, there's this, you know, now you have this potential schedule to be yearly or 16, 18 months, that kind of thing, which is good.
[00:46:09] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's, you know, part of it too is my teaching schedule is like, I. It just so happened that I was able to, you know, finish a book right before summer started. And I was like, okay, cool, so I'm going to take summer off. Right, right. Brian. To myself. And then after like one week, I was going so stir crazy, I was like, who do I think I am? Like, of course I need something to work on. So just. I talked to my agent. I was like, I think I'm just gonna. He's like, yeah, obviously you are like, go, go write it.
[00:46:36] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's. Well, that's awesome. I think it's. To me, I was like, to me, it's the same thing. Like, we got the candy cane kills of it all. The two Novellas in the middle of it. But like, I mean, ever since I dove into Curse of the Reaper the first time, I'm like, brian, get off your ass and write another novel. Because I wanted that thing. And so it's selfishly a lot of us fans of authors and one of the things I wrote about in my review, again, that will be published later this week about why I love horror, it's like, you guys are so passionate in the horror industry and the horror horror genre, whether it be movies or whatever, books, magazines, comics, whatever it may be, is like, they're so passionate. There's a community there that you all want. And all of us don't care who writes the next great novel in the horror genre. We just want that novel. So if someone's never heard of you, but they hear about this book, they don't care that you wrote it, they want that book. And then they may fall in love with you and want more books and things like that. To me, I'm like, I'll see a book and someone's like, you should read this book. And I have no idea who the author is, but I got like three recommendations and okay, I'll give it a read. And then I'm like, cool. This person is now in my list of when their books come out. And so the horror genre is like that. And, huh, we're haunted in here. Hellboy just fell off the wall. Christopher.
Oh, no. Christopher Golden's Hellboy.
[00:47:54] Speaker B: Oh, that's beautiful.
[00:47:56] Speaker A: Yeah. You don't have one up there because half your stuff is nice.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: I don't think. I don't think there's physical media.
[00:48:02] Speaker A: No. You want to have. You might have coming in the mail, and I'm gonna have to send it up to you to get signed. Or when I see you in September, I'll get it signed. Is this first season of Fuller House?
[00:48:10] Speaker B: No way.
[00:48:11] Speaker A: Yeah, so I got that. I got that on DVD coming. And then I'll bring it to you and you know, you're dismissed.
It's like $65 on Amazon right now, and there's like $150 copy of it on ebay.
[00:48:25] Speaker B: See, it's just that good of a move. No.
[00:48:27] Speaker A: Do you have any copies of it? I do not.
[00:48:29] Speaker B: I don't even have a copy of that. I did look at.
[00:48:31] Speaker A: I thought maybe it was you selling it on ebay.
[00:48:33] Speaker B: Yeah, right. That would be. No, at one point I should have done. When they first had the Blu Rays, I should have just gotten one, but I didn't. It just Was not thinking ahead. And I. I'll use. You know, it's. It's streaming free on Amazon prime right now for anybody who wants to check it out. But I'll use that for. If I'm teaching a lesson in class and I want to use my own work as a reference point to talk about my process. I just hop on Amazon and I'm like, we're screening this scene, but yeah, I do not even have a physical copy of that one.
[00:49:02] Speaker A: See, I've got Santa Pause 2 over here, which was the song, and that was written by Philip Fricassi. So that's over here. So that's.
[00:49:09] Speaker B: Yeah, Philip and I have a lot of funny things in common in that regard, writing these TV movies.
[00:49:14] Speaker A: Well, it's funny because, like, you go to his website and it says he's written. You know, he's like, writing credits for Disney and a bunch of other things. I'm like, but there's no name of the movies that he's written.
[00:49:22] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:49:23] Speaker A: And I was like, what? The house? I went to his IMDb. And I'm like, wait a second. I didn't even know there was A Santa pause 1.
Santa pause 2. And he's like, yeah, there's a song that we created for this movie. So I got a writing credit on and all that stuff. I'm like, cool, there you go.
[00:49:37] Speaker B: That was. There's actually a song in my episode of Fuller House that I get. Get, like, music royalties on as a songwriter.
[00:49:45] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:49:46] Speaker B: Which is like, yeah, I forget that sometimes.
[00:49:49] Speaker A: By the way, if anybody hasn't seen this, Santa Pause too. It's dark.
No, seriously, if you get a chance to read this, it is that Phillips. Like, yeah. People sometimes are like, wow, man. Like, that's. That's a kids movie. Like, there's moments in there you're just like, whoa, they went there. And yeah, it's like deaths of some things. And there's. Yeah, it's.
[00:50:10] Speaker B: All dogs go to the North Pole instead of heaven.
[00:50:13] Speaker A: But yeah, so I have, like, a custom movies. I got Wings signed by David Goodman, comic book writer. And so, yeah, we got all kinds of stuff back here, but Goosebumps signed by Tim Jacobus, the author, the COVID artist of Goosebumps. But, yeah, so Breathe In, Bleed out comes out September 2nd. Bookstore is everywhere. So just tell your local bookstore whether they normally carry Poison Pen Press or not, just tell them you want it. They'll be able to get it.
I always say, you know, go local. Then there's bookshop.org if you want to do it online or still supports local Libro fm if they have it available on there, I'm not sure yet. When their audiobook comes out, do that. However, the number one thing is that I want you. I love this book. So I want you to buy the book. If you have to buy it on the big Amazon website, then buy it on Amazon.
Don't buy it because of this, or if you can't afford it or whatever, just tell your local library, hey, I want to read this book. And they'll get a copy in for you. So you can take it out of the library. Because that's huge too, because there's a number of libraries in this country that could use this book.
[00:51:20] Speaker B: Yes. And librarians have been really wonderfully supportive of this book.
When does this episode come out?
[00:51:28] Speaker A: Either the 20th or the 27th. I haven't figured that out yet.
[00:51:30] Speaker B: Okay, I'm gonna keep my mouth shut.
[00:51:34] Speaker A: But what's also cool, and if anybody wants to listen to next week, Next week, the next podcast episode on this one, so Brian, you can figure that out too, is I'm talking to Ashley Cullens, who wrote your favorite scary movie, which is awesome. Dissection and discussion and interview with people about the Scream franchise. So I think it's perfect. That wasn't on purpose, by the way. That wasn't like a. But it works out really well in that sense that this book has in the same realm of fandom. And so that's pretty cool. On the next episode, we'll be also talking about this and I'll probably bring this book up. How about that? Would that be great, too?
[00:52:07] Speaker B: Oh, my God, look at that synergy. Love it.
[00:52:10] Speaker A: Did you hear who's reading? Narrating the audiobook?
[00:52:14] Speaker B: No.
[00:52:14] Speaker A: Is it Roger?
[00:52:15] Speaker B: I knew it. Oh, my God.
[00:52:18] Speaker A: I'm like, are you kidding me?
[00:52:20] Speaker B: Is it going to be just with like his normal voice or as Ghostface?
It would be too much as a whole book as Ghostface.
[00:52:27] Speaker A: Well, I think he's interviewed. Now that I think about it, he's interviewed in the book. So maybe he does Ghostface for the whole book. Except for when he talks about himself and his normal voice.
Now Roger Jackson has to say. And he just speaks in his normal voice. No, maybe he'll do one of his other voice acting things like his. You know, it's this wide catalog of voice acting. I'll just do that voice for the whole thing. Like, wait a second, what's going on here right now? But yeah, so this book comes out breathing, bleed out, comes out September 2nd. Your bookstores also coming out in September. We mentioned Christian the Reaper paperback. Grab that, listen to Candy Cane or buy Candy Cane Kills from Short Wave. Go right to their website to buy that. There's the number one. Number two. And I just got the long, low whistle in my email this morning, so I'm starting to read that tonight.
[00:53:13] Speaker B: I'm so excited. She's killer.
[00:53:16] Speaker A: VHS is awesome. I mean, I literally haven't read anything from Short Wave that I haven't been like, this is amazing. So we're good. If it's a Short Wave publisher, something now, Alan's great. I'm going to. I'm going to read it anyway. But, yeah, enough, you know, promoting other people's books. Breathe In, Bleed Out, Curse of the Reaper, do it all. Go watch Dismissed on Amazon prime or Sorry, Prime. They actually emailed an advertisement once. Or like a, hey, promote this book, this movie. And like, cool. And it says, make sure you just say prime, not Amazon Prime. So go watch Dismiss on Prime.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: Stand corrected.
[00:53:50] Speaker A: Yeah, hbo. Max. Max, whatever the hell. You know, it's one of those things.
But yeah, I appreciate it, Brian, taking the time out and talking to me. I'll see you in September. If Anybody's in Massachusetts, September 13th at the Spooktastic Book Fair over at Framingham Public Library. It's gonna be a blast. Brian's join with a bunch of other people. Guest of honor is Haley Piper, who's gonna be phenomenal. So do that, you know, listen to that, too. Go there and visit and say hi and all that stuff too. Plus a number of other creators and things like that there, too. So that's pretty cool. But, yeah, I'm hot in here now. The air conditioner is not on, so I gotta turn the air conditioner on, Brian. But I do appreciate, yeah, I do appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to come on here and chat with us about Breathe In, Bleed out and so much more.
We'll have to have you on again in the future for sure.
[00:54:37] Speaker B: I would love that. Thanks so much for taking the time. Justin and I will see you at Spooktastic.
[00:54:41] Speaker A: Oh, and we'll finish off. Hey, thank you for putting me in the acknowledgments in the back of this book or capes. And thanks watching for podcast. Thank you. Appreciate it. Absolutely.
[00:54:48] Speaker B: Of course.
[00:54:49] Speaker A: Thanks, buddy. See you.
[00:54:50] Speaker B: Take care.
