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Pay Close Attention To The Clues The Dead Of Summer From Ryan La Sala · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: Oh, there's a reason why we created ARO dot net
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  Speaker 1: a R r OE dot net because I'm a podcast listener.
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  Speaker 1: I know what it's like to be in the front
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  Speaker 1: seat of your car or at work and all of
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  Speaker 1: a sudden, that really cool podcast you've been digging for
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  Speaker 1: the past couple of days. You're going, Eh, I figured
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  Speaker 1: it out. I'm bored. I don't know where to go now. Well,
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  Speaker 1: instead of jumping all over these other platforms searching for
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  Speaker 1: something that's going to entertain you, just stay on ARO
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  Speaker 1: dot net because there are twenty different podcasts to choose
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  Speaker 1: from a R R o e dot net. Enjoy your exploration. Hello, Hello,
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  Speaker 1: and good morning, Ryan. How are you doing today?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing so good? How are you?
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely excited to share a conversation with you? Because you
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  Speaker 1: have become this master at taking my imagination and creating
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  Speaker 1: this element of not only have I escaped the world,
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  Speaker 1: but you've put me in a place, in a different
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  Speaker 1: world where now I can feel different types of emotions
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  Speaker 1: that you would feel in a real world. If you
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  Speaker 1: know what I mean. It's like your words create reality
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  Speaker 1: in that moment.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that's the magic of writing, isn't it. Yes?
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  Speaker 1: How can we teach that, Ryan, because I sit here
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  Speaker 1: every day trying to get people to put their words down.
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  Speaker 1: I don't have any time for it. Where do you
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  Speaker 1: get the time for it?
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  Speaker 2: I don't have time for them? Are you kidding me?
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  Speaker 2: I have to make the time for it. You have
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  Speaker 2: to say in order to say yes to your dreams,
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  Speaker 2: you have to say no to so many other things.
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  Speaker 2: But if you're adamant about it, and if you believe
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  Speaker 2: in yourself, and if you've got something that you're really
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  Speaker 2: passionate about, then I always think it's worth it to
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  Speaker 2: find your own voice and to figure out how to
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  Speaker 2: tell your own type of story.
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  Speaker 1: You've got to be fascinated with the way that a
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  Speaker 1: simple thought will begin inside your imagination. You can't wait
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  Speaker 1: to get it onto that computer screen, and then all
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  Speaker 1: of a sudden, it's becoming a movie. What is that
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  Speaker 1: process like for you as a creative person? Because so
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  Speaker 1: many people they can't even make it past their journals.
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  Speaker 2: I'll tell you it's anything but sudden, something from an
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  Speaker 2: idea all the way to a movie. I wish it
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  Speaker 2: was a snap. But any overnight success that people hear
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  Speaker 2: about actually represents probably years and years of work. And
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  Speaker 2: sleepless nights. But you often don't see that, because it's
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  Speaker 2: honestly more fun to live in the fantasy that you know.
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  Speaker 2: You think of something, you write it down, it's a
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  Speaker 2: huge hit, it goes onto the silver screen, you're famous forever, right,
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  Speaker 2: But the reality of it is so much more nuanced
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  Speaker 2: and detailed, And for me, it just looks like a
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  Speaker 2: lot of hard work and a lot of focus, and
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  Speaker 2: a lot of time spent just with myself and my
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  Speaker 2: own thoughts. And because I write horror, you know, I
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  Speaker 2: sit in a room and I think the most horrific
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  Speaker 2: things I can, and I write them down. So I'm
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  Speaker 2: very lucky that in tandem with writing, I've also got
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  Speaker 2: a very robust life full of friends and family that
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  Speaker 2: I can look to when I'm ready to kind of
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  Speaker 2: take myself out of the work and go live a
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  Speaker 2: normal human life. And I kind of think those two
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  Speaker 2: things work together to kind of get you through the
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  Speaker 2: often very long time that we've decided A son of
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  Speaker 2: a sudden experience.
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  Speaker 1: Stepping into that room to write the Dead of Summer,
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  Speaker 1: I mean to be able to be in there. I
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  Speaker 1: would love to know what your atmosphere is, because I
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  Speaker 1: know As a writer, I've got to have either a
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  Speaker 1: brilliant force sitting in front of me, or I'm sitting
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  Speaker 1: here in a well lit room because I can't stand
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  Speaker 1: darkness while I write. What are you putting yourself into
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  Speaker 1: it in order to take us into the darkness of
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  Speaker 1: the story?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, for this particular book, because it takes
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  Speaker 2: place in a coastal town with sigrets that is dealing with,
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  Speaker 2: you know, a contagion and with monsters. I actually wrote
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  Speaker 2: this book in the town that I used as inspiration,
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  Speaker 2: which is a town in Cape cost Province, and so
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  Speaker 2: I went there one winter. Yeah, I rented a little cottage.
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  Speaker 2: It was haunted as all heck, I'll tell you that,
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  Speaker 2: And I would spend my evenings walking along these empty,
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  Speaker 2: snowy beaches to really put myself in the mindset of
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  Speaker 2: what it's like to be from a place like this,
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  Speaker 2: what it's like to be local and to not get
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  Speaker 2: to go home at the end of the summer, and
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  Speaker 2: to have to see the winter through in a place
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  Speaker 2: like this.
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  Speaker 1: That's so funny that you bring that up, because in
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  Speaker 1: my last published book, What Happened is a part of
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  Speaker 1: it was written in Charleston, South Carolina, and you can
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  Speaker 1: tell that that something changed while I was in Charleston
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  Speaker 1: versus every place else, and there is when you go
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  Speaker 1: to that area, it really does affect the emotion. I
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  Speaker 1: always say that we're picking up graves along the way
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  Speaker 1: and those spirit guides you're walking with us through that
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  Speaker 1: writing instrument.
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  Speaker 2: I think so too. I think that actually walking in
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  Speaker 2: the footstepths of the subjects that you're writing about, or
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  Speaker 2: as close as you can, is always an elucidating experience.
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  Speaker 2: And when I give writing workshops and I talk to
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  Speaker 2: students and school visits, I tell them that writing does
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  Speaker 2: not have to be a solitary act. Get out of
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  Speaker 2: your desk, Go talk to people who know about what
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  Speaker 2: you're trying to write about. Do expert interviews, really anything
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  Speaker 2: you can to sit yourself in the point of view
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  Speaker 2: that you're writing from so that you can experience what
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  Speaker 2: it's like, because you're going to learn something, I guarantee
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  Speaker 2: within the first like five minutes of getting out there,
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  Speaker 2: and it's going to come in handy, and that's going
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  Speaker 2: to be the shining detail that stands out to someone
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  Speaker 2: you know years away and miles away who reads this
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  Speaker 2: work and thinks Oh my gosh, that is exactly what
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  Speaker 2: it's like. But it's because you took the time to
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  Speaker 2: actually go and embody that role. See be safe about it.
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  Speaker 2: I want to point out, you know, don't if you're
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  Speaker 2: writing horror, don't be like me. Don't put yourself in
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  Speaker 2: danger's way.
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  Speaker 1: Oh there's no way that you're going to move No way,
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  Speaker 1: no way. We still have lots more to go with
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  Speaker 1: Ryan Losala, the name of his book, The Dead of Summer. O. Man,
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  Speaker 1: you got to do this book, okay, because it's got
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  Speaker 1: mysteries in it that you can actively try to solve
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  Speaker 1: before you get to the end of the book. We
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  Speaker 1: are back with author Ryan Losala. Well, one of the
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  Speaker 1: things that a lot of readers don't understand, and slowly
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  Speaker 1: they're they're they're they're understanding the process. But there is
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  Speaker 1: a time period where you've got to become the continuity director.
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  Speaker 1: You've got to make sure that everything is falling into place,
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  Speaker 1: because you know, there's trolls out there that will figure
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  Speaker 1: you out and try to get your path going and
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  Speaker 1: then they'll I'm back saying, man, you said they were
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  Speaker 1: read Tennis Shoes about twelve pages back, and all of
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  Speaker 1: a sudden they became blue. What's the scoop, dude, No.
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  Speaker 2: It's true. And I'm very fortunate to have editors that
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  Speaker 2: work at my publisher that are specifically trained in the
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  Speaker 2: mastermind craft, which you know, I could never do this.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not nitpicky enough, I'm not petty enough, I think,
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  Speaker 2: to have the skill set that they are, And I'm
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  Speaker 2: so thankful for them, because by the time you write
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  Speaker 2: a book, you've written the same thing like twenty times
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  Speaker 2: revising it, and so these inconsistencies they're bound to pop up.
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  Speaker 2: And if you depend upon other people, you know, it's
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  Speaker 2: good to be able to kind of trust to these
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  Speaker 2: continuity editors that they're going to be able to catch
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  Speaker 2: these things. But I'll tell you sometimes stuff does slip through,
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  Speaker 2: and you'll be reading the book on pub day and
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  Speaker 2: you'll see something and be like, oh, gosh, I can't
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  Speaker 2: believe this made it. But then it's fun because it
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  Speaker 2: becomes a little bit of like an easter egg for readers. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: as a close reader myself, like I was that pedantic,
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  Speaker 2: you know, teenage reader who would reach out to the
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  Speaker 2: author and be like, by the way the tennis shoes
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  Speaker 2: were red, and I can't imagine how annoying I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I guess I can now amount of how annoying I was,
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  Speaker 2: but I can understand and appreciate what it's like to
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  Speaker 2: read like that closely.
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  Speaker 1: One of the things that I do is I love
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  Speaker 1: looking for areas where people can make money off merch
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  Speaker 1: or just some sort of a way to grow the
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  Speaker 1: book beyond the four pages you know that are sitting there,
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  Speaker 1: and then growing beyond that. Because and one of the
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  Speaker 1: things that you have here that Gracie, you know, comes
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  Speaker 1: up with, never Cry for Fun. I could see that
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  Speaker 1: on T shirts, I could see that on any type
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  Speaker 1: of merch Never Cry for Fun. And then you have
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  Speaker 1: the book title somewhere in there, and it's like, because
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  Speaker 1: you you make a statement there that affects the world,
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  Speaker 1: Never Cry for Fun. That's powerful, dude.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean Gracie as a character, she's always always
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  Speaker 2: the main character. Gracy is this like toxic positivity mom,
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  Speaker 2: and she's sort of like a walking talking, like embroidered
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  Speaker 2: pillow right with her little saying sort of adages. So
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  Speaker 2: Never Cry for Fun is one of my favorites. But
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  Speaker 2: she's also got like deeber ones right that I feel
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  Speaker 2: like would make it on a T shirt or a
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  Speaker 2: pillow or whatever. So like she says, a secret is
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  Speaker 2: a breast that you ask another to hold, and I'm like, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I absolutely would love to see that on like a
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  Speaker 2: book or something like that. So maybe I will make
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  Speaker 2: a little merchandise arrow. You're just giving me a new
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  Speaker 2: business venture to work on.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you gave me another reason to hate water and
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  Speaker 1: to stay away from water because I've always believed that things,
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  Speaker 1: little secrets grow and they rot inside waves. And hey,
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  Speaker 1: obviously Gracie has found out as well.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, the ocean is fascinating. It's as beautiful as
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  Speaker 2: it is terrifying to me. And so that's why the
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  Speaker 2: monsters in this book they are terrifying, right, these people
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  Speaker 2: who are completely overgrown in coral growing through their skin.
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  Speaker 2: But at the same time, there's this like uncanny beauty
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  Speaker 2: to what they're doing and sort of how they work
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  Speaker 2: and how they sting. And I wanted to give that
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  Speaker 2: contradiction to these monsters because it represents kind of all
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  Speaker 2: my fears and all my wonder about the ocean itself.
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  Speaker 1: And you're in so in touch with what's going on
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  Speaker 1: right now because I keep bumping into people that are
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  Speaker 1: finding lost members of family they didn't know they had.
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  Speaker 1: I wish I had the confidence of go looking for
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  Speaker 1: something like that, but I fear that I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: meet people I don't know, And it's like, do I
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  Speaker 1: even have room in my soul to want to know?
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  Speaker 1: But you make me want to get to know them.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that is a personal endeavor. But I'm with
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  Speaker 2: you where I'm like, my family's crazy enough. If anymore
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  Speaker 2: Zallas pop up, I'm gonna have to make I'm gonna
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  Speaker 2: have to make a run for the border.
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  Speaker 1: But I mean, how do you deal though, when when
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  Speaker 1: you write with horror like that, and because when you
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  Speaker 1: put down that writing, extra be it, you know, I
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  Speaker 1: always like with a nib first and then I'll go
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  Speaker 1: to the computer. I'm so old fashioned. But when you
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  Speaker 1: put it onto the onto the platform to write, how
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  Speaker 1: do you step away from that and get back into
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  Speaker 1: the real world. I don't. I just feel that you
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  Speaker 1: got to take a walk, or you've got to disconnect
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  Speaker 1: from the writing in order to become you again.
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  Speaker 2: Ryan Oh, I have a hard time stopping and it's
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  Speaker 2: it's definitely a challenge, especially when you're writing into the
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  Speaker 2: darkness and so I'll say a few years ago I
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  Speaker 2: got a cat. I got a cat because I needed
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  Speaker 2: something alive and like living yep in my apartment with me.
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  Speaker 2: And now she'll, you know, she'll come because she wants
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  Speaker 2: she doesn't know that I'm working. She just thinks, oh,
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  Speaker 2: he's looking at that weird glowing box again, and she
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  Speaker 2: wants attention her food or something like that too. So
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  Speaker 2: it's nice to have something else to focus on and
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  Speaker 2: something else to prioritize because to my cat, I'm not
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  Speaker 2: a horror author. I'm just the person that you know
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  Speaker 2: takes care of her and she doesn't care that I'm
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  Speaker 2: you know, working or what have you. And so I
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  Speaker 2: have that, I've got good support, I've got good friends.
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  Speaker 2: But I'll say anytime I read a book, I'm a
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  Speaker 2: little weirder after for like a month or two that
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  Speaker 2: I you know, after having written something. And luckily the
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  Speaker 2: people in my world are very patient with that.
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  Speaker 1: Well, there's there's a line here that I want. I
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  Speaker 1: hate to use that word conclude with, but I really do,
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  Speaker 1: because I wanted to be the crescendo of why people
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  Speaker 1: need to have this book, and that is Gracie says
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  Speaker 1: a secret is a breath that you want someone to hold.
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  Speaker 1: This book was once a secret, it is now the
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  Speaker 1: physical act of you putting your hand on it. And
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  Speaker 1: and I think that Gracie's words will guide people to
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  Speaker 1: the dead of summer because it is the book to
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  Speaker 1: put into your hands. And I don't know about anybody else,
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  Speaker 1: but I like screwing around with the paper. I like
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  Speaker 1: putting it between my fingers and ruvete and that's it.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't know what it is, but you give
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  Speaker 1: me that thrill as a reader to be able to
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  Speaker 1: do that.
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  Speaker 2: That's I'm so happy to hear that. I mean, the
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  Speaker 2: physical book is a work of beauty in and of
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  Speaker 2: a belt, and it full of mixed media and like
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  Speaker 2: footage and transcripts and stuff like that too. So it's
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  Speaker 2: very cool to be able to hold it and experience
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  Speaker 2: it like a bit of a scavenger hunt as a reader.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm really excited for people to get their hands
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  Speaker 2: on it. And I'm kind of curious if anyone's going
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  Speaker 2: to put the clues together and guess the ending before
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  Speaker 2: they get there. So far, no one has.
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  Speaker 1: Oh they will, They will give them a chance. It's
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  Speaker 1: just coming out right now where can people go to
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  Speaker 1: find out more about what you're doing, Ryan, because I
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  Speaker 1: love your work of art.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. If you're my reader, If you're
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  Speaker 2: new to me, you can find me on most social
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  Speaker 2: media as Ryan List. My website's Ryan LaSala dot com.
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  Speaker 1: Well bye, god dude, you know the rules. You can
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  Speaker 1: come back at any given time, anytime. That door is
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: always going to be open for you and I expect
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  Speaker 1: to hear from you again, sir.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. It's always a joy chatting with you.
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  Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, you too,