Latest / Naughty But Nice with Rob Shuter / SPECIAL EPISODE: MISS D INTERVIEWS ROB ABOUT HIS NEW NOVEL “IT STARTED WITH A WHISPER”

Transcript

SPECIAL EPISODE: MISS D INTERVIEWS ROB ABOUT HIS NEW NOVEL “IT STARTED WITH A WHISPER” · Naughty But Nice with Rob Shuter

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Scannable advice, sugar and spice, It's nice.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Hello, Hello, Hello, It's Delana Dixon and I'm bringing you
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: a very special episode of Naughty but Nice with mister
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Rob Shooter because we have him here today. And why
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: are we bringing you this special episode, of course, to
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: talk about his new book. It started with a whisper. Okay, guys,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: it is not a month away. It is not a
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: week away. It is literally days April twenty. First, now,
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: I gotta give Rob his flowers here. You know, he
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: started off as a publicist. He work with people like
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Jennifer Lopez and John bon Jovi, and he even worked
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: with the British royal family. And then he's got into
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: celebrity gossip, a little bit of this, a little bit
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: of that, being a celebrity journalist. And now he is
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: putting out his first debut novel. It's starting with a whisper, Rob,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: I gotta let you talk. What is this book about?
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Everybody's been talking about it's climbing the charts.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Great question, But first let me say thank you mister.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: There is nobody I would rather be doing this special
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: bonus edition of the Naughty but Nice Show with than you.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: You've been my dear friend, my best friend for over
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: a decade. Now I'm so excited, you know, I am.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: I've been talking about this book, but literally it feels
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: like two three months.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Now it is out.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: It is out on Monday, so it's just the weekend
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: and then this book is gonna be everywhere I hope.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: I'm so so thrilled about it. But let me tell
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: you a little bit about what this book is about.
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: So this book, it follows this novel. It follows four
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: entertainment insiders who land their own morning show on a
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: shady cable network. So five days a week they dish
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: about celebrities and scandals and secrets. But it doesn't take
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: them very long to realize that the biggest stories it's
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: not about Hollywood stars, It's about themselves. And yes, every
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: one of those stories started with a whisper. And each
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: of the four of these entertainment insiders all have their
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: own secret.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: I love that. Hmm, you were on a show about
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: celebrity gossip with some other reporters. Now why do I
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: know a little thing about that? I think I was
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: one of those people sitting with you at the table,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: So you know, I mean obviously that inspired it, But
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: what else inspired you to finally take all these stories
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: and all these things that you know we've experienced in
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: this business and put it in a book.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: I did an interview a couple of days ago with
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: Good Day Philly, the morning show in Philly, and while
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: I was talking, they brought up some footage from the
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: Gossip Table, which was a show that we were on together.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: We sat next to each other on that table five.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Days a week.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: It was such joy. When I saw the b role
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: playing while I was talking, I giggle all that I smiled.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: I put it up on my Instagram. So if you
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: want to check out the Gossip Table clip, we are there, Misty,
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: Mary Ann Chloe and myself and we sat around that
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: table for I think three four seasons and really gave
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: great entertainment gossip. But really I think the real story
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: was behind the scenes. Now let me just say it's fiction,
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: so anybody out there, I don't want you to think
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: that this is only one person. Once again, let me
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: say it so, it is fiction, but of course it
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: is inspired by reality. I've been incredibly lucky to have
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: worked in television and entertainment at the highest level and
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: I've seen a lot. This book pulls back the curtain
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: on what it's really like behind the scenes, the alliances,
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: the joys, the betrayals, the pressure and the chaos that
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: you never get to see on screen. So once again,
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: it is fiction, but of course it is based on
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: these incredible lives that you and I, Misty are really
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: privileged to live. Let me be clear here, this was
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: not a given for me. I'm a working class kid
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: from Birmingham, England. I grew up in a rough part
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: of town and so at my school, mystery people didn't
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: read books. They weren't part of our daily routine. So
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: the fact this kid from Birmingham, England with a big
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: nose and a broken arm is now an author, it's
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: not lost on me. I wish I could tell that
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: little boy, that little disabled boy in Birmingham, England. You're
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: gonna be okay. It's the thrill of a lifetime. It
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: is fiction, but once again, it obviously is based on
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: my life and other people's lives who I've met. But
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: you shouldn't take it for granted. A lot of people
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: are going to think that this is the gossip table.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: It's not. There are many people I've met on TV.
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  Speaker 3: Have been the guests on the Today Show, I've been
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: a guest on Wendy Williams, I've been a guest on
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: Good Morning America. And so all these different experiences are
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: in the book.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, that must have been a little bit challenging
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: taking all these different experiences and kind of bringing it
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: down to one novel. So kind of what was your
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: process to get it done.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: I kept a diary when we were doing the Gossip
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: Table together, I kept a diary. I knew I'd been
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: on television a lot. I'd had a late night show
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: on Mark Cuban's, but I'd never done morning TV. And
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: a lot of strains and pressure come with morning TV
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: that is nowhere else. That's why those morning shows are
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: so so competitive. Plus you're all sleep deprived. We were
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: getting up at four o'clock in the morning, mistique, it's
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: still dark out, and we got to the studio and
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: it literally was dark out. It was crazy what we do,
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: and then we worked our tails off. I was exhausted.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: I was constantly exhausted for three years. So morning TV
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: comes with a lot of challenges, but it also comes
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: with a lot of joys. So when I started to
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: go through my diaries and I did this just as
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: a fun thing to do. I love writing stories, Dad.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: I came across these funny little little tales, funny little
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: stuff that we had done. I remember we sold out
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: the ninety second Street why and nobody thought they would.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: And there is a similar scenario in my novel where
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: the four people on the fictional morning show get an
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: opportunity to do a lecture, a talk at a prestigious institution,
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: and how they go about it. So there's a lot
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: of stories in real life that I have used. But
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: the way I sat down mistake and I thought about
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: these four characters. I knew celebrity and gossip, it's throughout
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: the entire book. That's my life. But I knew I
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: needed four compelling characters, very much like Sex in the
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: City or any of those other TV shows that you love.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: You have to love the characters.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: And so I.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: Knew who the tall guy was with a big nose
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: and a broken arm.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: I knew him very well.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: But then I had to figure out who are the
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: other three people in the show, and I started to
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: write profiles. I started to write her favorite band, her
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: favorite musical, her favorite color, and so for about six
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: months I just lived with these four characters, and then
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: I realized if I put them into a situation like
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: a morning TV show, it was going to be delicious.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: It was going to be explosive. The story would write
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: itself because we've got the stories missing, we've got the tales, we.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Know the truth, we got the receipts.
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  Speaker 3: What I needed is four compelling characters, four leads. And
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: that's once I cracked that. Then the book didn't take
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: that long at all.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: I love that. And I just have to say about
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: that ninety second Street, why that we went I remember,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: I think I took a little nip before I went on.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Stayed just a little one.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: But I had to be ready.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: My nerves were a little uneasy, which was kind of
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  Speaker 2: crazy because my mama, Miss D, the original Miss D
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: was saying in the front row, I don't think she
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: knows that. So she knows it, ye know. So why
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  Speaker 2: do you think this was the right time for this
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: story to come out and be told?
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  Speaker 3: We are fascinated by stories set within newsrooms. I think
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: about the Morning Show Jennifer and Reese, it's a great show.
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  Speaker 3: I think about Mary Tyler Moore. I used to love
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: the Mary Tyler Moore shows set in a newsroom. I
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: think about thirty Rock set in a TV show. So
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: I think the environment of TV shows are really exciting,
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: and so that was one of the reasons that I
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: did it.
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  Speaker 1: The other reason was that the media.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: Has changed and now everybody is so much more exposed.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: We expose ourselves on Instagram, on social media, and the
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: world's works moves much faster than it did, So it
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: feels like an honest moment to talk about the media,
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: to talk about what goes on in the media, to
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: talk about what's the lead story of the day. Every night,
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: the nightly news is thirty minutes long. Now what you
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: might think, is this thirty minutes of news every day, No,
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: there isn't. Some days two hours of news. Some days
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: there's ten minutes of news. But you have to make
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: a broadcast every day for thirty minutes. So some days
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: you have to stretch the story, you have to in
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: bareish the story, you have to go out there and
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: find a story. I think that's so interesting with what's
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: going on today. And it's not a political book, there's
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: no politics in it at all. But with fake news,
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: with the media under attack, I think it's a really
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: lovely time to show four people they're very flawed. My
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: four characters, including the one that's based on something, are
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: really flawed, but they want to do their best. They
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: want to relay stories that are accurate. They really really
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: have a passion about reporting, and so I wanted to
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: show it from the journalist's point of view. And there's
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: a lot of love for the work there. This is
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: a love letter to gossip, to the business of gossip,
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: which we're in.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: I love that. And so what's a really interesting your
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: book is being compared to another little book that's having
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: a little bit a resurgence right now, Devil Wears Prada.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: We know it's got a movie coming out part two.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, how does it feel to be compared to
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: that book.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: It's such a compliment.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: Let's just say it. It's a compliment to hear my
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: book in the same sentence as that book. I loved
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: that book. I read the book, I bought the book
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: before it was turned into a movie. I'm such a
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: fan of the movie too, And so it is a compliment.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: And like the Devil Wears Prada, this story, my story.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: It's about ambition, it's about friendship, and it's about navigating
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: a boss from hell, and all of this is set
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: against the job that looks really glamorous on the outside,
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: fashion gossip. It looks so glamorous, but it is anything
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: but on the inside, and so I think that's why
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: the comparisons are happening. Once again, it is so flattering.
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: I love a story about ambitious people. I love a
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: story about friendship, and I love a story about a
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: boss from hell because we've all had a difficult book.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: So if you've ever had a mean boss, a difficult boss,
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: a troublesome boss, then you're gonna love this story. And
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: once again, it is said against the really glamorous backdrop
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: of television. You see the studio, you see the lights
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: behind those cameras, though it's not quite as glamorous. And
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: I think mister at its heart, my book and The
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: Devil Wears Prada above love letters to this.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Business that we love. It is smart, it is.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Juicy, it's full of irresistible gossip. And also do I
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: have a lot of fashion. So I'm flattered by the comparisons.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: I really really am thank you.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: You know. I don't know if people know this rob
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: But you were my boss for a little bit of time,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: so I'm gonna let you know what kind of boss
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: he was. He was a fabulous boss. And you want
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: to know why because he actually saw something that I
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: didn't see in myself, and so he got a little
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: demanding because he knew I had it in me and
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: wanted he wanted to pull out. But he was fabulous.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: He was like, you ladies are fabulous. There were three
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: of us in the little trio that he loved. So
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: I just think about that moment. So obviously, you know,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: everybody can't wait to get their hands on this book
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: and read all the juicy parts. But you know, what
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: do you think will surprise reader's most Maybe you can
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: give them a little like yeah, yeah.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: As you read the book, it starts with a bang.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: It starts on the set of the TV show and
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: we count down five, four three two, boom, the.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Cameras are on.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: And so this novel starts off at the height of
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: the glamor of the passion of really the celebrity, four
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: people behind a table. But as the book goes on
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: and each chapter after that, chapters two, three, four, and
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: five is basically a solar chapter on each of the characters.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: And so as we go through the book and you
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: get to like these characters, to know these characters, maybe even.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: To love these characters a little bit. I think what's
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: going to.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: Surprise the And my friends who have already read the
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: book tell me how emotional it is. It's not just gossip.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: It's also about loneliness and pressure and the real human
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: cost that comes with success. It's not a boohoo story.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: I do not feel sorry for multimillionaires and Taylor Swift.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: This is part of the deal. When you sign up
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: to be on a morning show, when you sign up
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: to be on camera, you are putting your life out there.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: You are stepping up, you are stepping out. And so
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: this book is very emotional. I think that's God's going
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: to surprise people. I think folks know if they've listened
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: to our show, this podcast. I like myself a good laugh,
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: I love and so there's lots of fun, funny stories
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: in it.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of humor.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: My friend, our friend Mary Anne, who was on the
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: Gossip Table as she's read the book and she said
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: she laughed out lad she loved it. But I think
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: I think what's going to surprise people is how emotional
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: they're going to get.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Wow. So you know, we consider ourselves a bit of intellect.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: I mean we do.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: We've had some heady conversations before, So I'm wondering, do
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: you smart people really gossip more? I think that was
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: brought out in a study or something.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: Yes, that's I know why you're talking about this. There's
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: a there's a recent study saying that people with higher
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: iques gossip more. I completely believe Oscar Wilde who said
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: the only thing worse than being talked about is not
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: being talked about. Now, remember, gossip does not have to
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: be cruel. It can be fun and insightful and even bonding.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: I love it, and honestly, I'm on every person listen,
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: every single person listening to this to gossip about me
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: and my book with their friends tonight. Gossip can be
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: a great thing. I think over the years, gossip has
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: got a really bad rap. We think of it as
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: mean and destructed. I know some of the best opportunities
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: I've had in my life have come from gossip, have
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: come from people being curious. Take the word gossip out
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: of the same and put the word curious in instead.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: I'm curious. I really get annoyed.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: When I go for drinks with somebody and they don't
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: ask me any questions. I always try to ask people questions.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: I'm curious about your life because I care about you.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: And so my experience is my friends that gossip the
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: most are the ones that care about me the most.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: They're the ones that ask all the questions. How many
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: times have you been out with some selfish person, maybe
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: even a friend, and you sit there all night they
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: don't ask you one single question about you or your life,
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: or how your feeling, or what's going on right now
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: at your job.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: And so I.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: Really think we need to reconsider gossip. And that's what
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: this book does. The themes of the book, as well
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: as being friendship and bosses and high profile jobs and
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: lots of pressure in the workplace, one of the themes
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: of the book is is gossip good? And some people
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: think it is, some people don't think it is. I'm
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: not trying to convince you with away, but it is
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: running throughout the novel.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: That is such a smart thing. Yes, you always tell
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: me when we go out that we need to just
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: listen to a little saying. And you know what, I
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: love about this book is that it takes us behind
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: the scenes. And look, I've actually been behind the scenes.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: A lot of these moments in this book felt very familiar.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: But why do you think people who are on the
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: outside are just so interested on what goes on? Yea,
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: not the goss of itself, that's what's happening behind the
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: gass of being built, sir.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: I think we're obsessed with behind the scenes because we're
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: not invited there. I think you're invited backstage at a concert.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: It's really exciting. Should get to see what it's really like.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: And let's be honest, because that's where the truth is. Mistake,
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: the polished version, that's just the performance. What's real is
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: what happens behind the scenes. And so I've always been curious.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: I love to know what's going on behind closes doors,
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: what's going on behind the scenes. So I think it's
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: a too prong thing. I think one of it is
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: that's where the truth is. And I also think too,
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: it's not a place we are invited. If we didn't
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: do this for a living, misty, we wouldn't know anything
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: about this. When I talk about my life to my
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: sister Christine in Britain, my dear sister Christine. She's really
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: excited by it because she's a teacher and she has
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: a very different day to day job than me. And
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: so that's why I think people want to know about
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: behind the scenes, and that's why these sort of novels,
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: these books do really well.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Yep. But sometimes even when you go behind the scenes
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: m hm, and you see what it looks like back there,
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: you're like, close the door, put me back on the
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: other side. Grass was breathing.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: You see you see what do you see?
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: Okay? Are you scared of anything by releasing this book?
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: What I'm scared about is being this vulnerable I can't
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: hide once it's out there. For the last couple of months,
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: we've been talking about this book, and it's been delicious
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: because nobody's read it, and so I do feel vulnerable.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: And fiction can be very personal too, and so are's
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: part of me. Mister.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: I want people to like it.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: I'm not embarrassed to admit that I wanted to be
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: a success and I want people to buy this book
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: and laugh and enjoy it. And if they don't, I'll
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: feel really disappointed. I did not grow up being comfortable
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: around money because we didn't never had any, and so
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: to ask people who I care about, to ask people
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: who have supported me and you, mistery, to hand over
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: twenty bucks. They're hard earned money and not like it
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: would upset me, and so I feel a little vulnerable.
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: It's the eve of the book. It comes out literally
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: on Monday, and it feels like the night before Christmas.
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: I'm really excited, but I'm also a little bit nervous
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: that maybe I've been a bad boy and Santa's not
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: coming to my house.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I think he will. I think I'm going to be okay.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: We've talked about this a lot.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Mystery.
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: People that put themselves out there get bit. They get
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: a lot of praise and a lot of reward, but
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: you also get bit. I remember when I dragged you
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: to the Wendy Williams show and one person on Twitter
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: made fun of you, and it really hurt. It really
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: Forget the hundred people who said you were great, and
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: forget Wendy Williams and the producers.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Who loved you.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: The only one you remembered was the one negative. I'm
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: not going to let that happen to me this time.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: I'm not gonna look for the bad I'm gonna look
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: for the good.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: You have to look for the good, Okay, all right.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: The question that everybody knows or wants to know, you know,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: is that you. You've kind of said that that the main
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: character is based on you, and obviously we don't want
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: to give too much away, but is there anybody else.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: That we should be looking for?
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: You know, there's pieces of me in every single one
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: of these characters. There's a little bit of mean all
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: of these characters. However, there was one character, the lead
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: character called James. He's British, he has a broken arm,
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: he's married to a songwriter.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I think you're gonna.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: Figure that out pretty pretty fast. And maybe there's somebody
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: on this on this podcast who you might figure out
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: who's not me. I'm not gonna say anymore. And so, yes,
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: it is based on people I've met, but it's not
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: a carbon copy. And I didn't do that just it's
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: more fun to get rid of any restrictions of reality.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: It's a novel. It's not a documentary. It is a novel.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: Anything can happen in a novel. In fact, the characters
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: are as big or as small as my imagination. And
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: I've got a big imagination. So yes, you will recognize me.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: You might recognize the few other people, but I think
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: overall you might even recognize yourself in some.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Of these characters.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: I love that well. It has been a pleasure talking
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: with you about this. I can't wait for other people
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: to have the opportunity to read it. It is such
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: a great read. It's fun, it's juicy, it's messy. It's
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: pretty much what we are on. We do are ardi
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: but nice podcast, fun and a little bit messy. But
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: I just want to thank you for joining us and
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: as we always and least show if.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: You're going to beyond naughty.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: Thank you for doing this mystery, Thank you for listening.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Don't bye, Michael, it's not even nice with bro.