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Visiting a Real-Life Book Setting—The Ashland Mystery Festival · Reality Writes

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Reality Rights.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I am author Ellie Alexander and I'm here with the Tech Guy.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: The tech guy.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are going to talk about what it's like to live in a fictional book world.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Whoa, what?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: We are?
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: We're living in a fictional book world.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're living in a fictional book world.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And um any of the darlings listening in or tuning in can also live in this fictional book world come October of this year.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh there's a little little event uh happening that will transport you right into the fictional but real life setting of the Big Shop Mystery Series.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's true.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: We are back with a second annual.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: You can say that now, second annual.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh tell the darlings how irritated you get with first annual.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: There is no such thing as a first annual event.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's just it's the first.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's not, and you could you could call it first, you could call it annual, but it's not the first annual because nothing can happen annually if it happens for the first time.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Are you sure about that?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: I am positive.
• 1:30
  unknown: I know.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't, I learned a lot when I got my degree in journalism uh all those years ago, and that is one of the things that they hammered home.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: It is one of the most frequent mistakes, and it drives me crazy.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, because I'm not giving that up.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's very good.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: So last year when we were promoting the um inaugural Ashland Mystery Fest, that's that's the yes, that's the preferred method of describing something that's happening for the first time.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: But going into 2024, we can say now it is the second annual Ashland Mystery Fest.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: And that's right.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: And you can say that because it will have happened twice, two years in a row.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: So yes, and then and then next year can be the third annual.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: I get to complain about this.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And you're educating, we're educating the the darlings out there.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: Totally.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: You should learn something new every day.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully, hopefully, somebody can out there can check the box.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I would say that like any time in the last you know 20 or 30 years when we see an event, it's always like on a big event banner.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, clearly, somebody spent a lot of money on the banner, you know, for like first annual, and your blood just starts to boil.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: I just want to rip the banner down.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's just it's embarrassing.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: They should be embarrassed.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: They should be embarrassed, but we will not have that problem because um no, no, we won't.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: No, we have we're we will be grammatically correct and mysteriously correct.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to talk a little bit about how the Ashland Mystery Fest came to be.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then um, maybe we could do a little recap of the inaugural event and talk about what's going to happen this year.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we both have some ideas and like some bonus tips for any darlings who are already planning to attend on some of our favorite spots that we feel like they should hit up while they're in town.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we there's so many great things to see and do in Ashland.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we would love to list them out for you.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that's coming too.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: But the way that it started, and actually I feel like we kind of have to go back to the very beginning of um the first bake shop release because since the inception of the series coming out, we've really tried to do things a little bit differently.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: We've never done like the traditional bookstore signing.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Not that there's anything wrong with that, and certainly I've done I I can't even count how many bookstore signings over the years, but for like launching the books, I had this vision that we could kind of create the vibe of Tort, the fictional bake shop that is featured in the series.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so we partnered with a lot of local bakeries in Vancouver, Washington at the time.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And um, we didn't have a lot of money, obviously, to spend.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so we partnered with bakeries who were so kind to bake a special cake in exchange for being there, sharing information about their business.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then we gave away all of those incredible cakes to readers at the end of the night.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it was a great way to showcase local businesses, besides the local independent bookstores that we did too, because we always had somebody there selling your books.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: But um, but it was really it was really a great way to just kind of bring a lot of businesses from the community together and celebrate the release of your book.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: And because it was so big, um, every time the event itself, um, you know, it we'd get a dozen or more vendors, businesses to help out with cakes, pastries, and you know, things.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: We did um a lot of bakeries with a ton of bread for the yeah, we did the whole we did a whole bread market one year.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, where it was like uh like a little vendor fair, like a street fair, and readers got to come in and and purchase bread and um have tasting bites, and yeah, one year we did a chocolate festival for our fucking jury, yeah.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but because these events were so big, we couldn't have we couldn't hold them at local independent bookstores because they're just that none of them had the space.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: So we had to get creative and find different businesses or spaces around town that we could actually, you know, get a lot of room that we could then kind of mold to what we needed for that.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: It was a lot of work, it was a lot of work, and we could not have pulled it off without the help of everyone who helped the dozens of people who helped uh put these things together, but they were super fun.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I mean it truly took a village.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: It was like um my dear friend Erica, who would coordinate all the um vendors for us and help us find space, and then um our entire families and the friends and everybody would be slogging, you know, like books and cakes and pastries.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, it was amazing and it was so magical, and it felt like getting to bring tort to life a little bit.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like for me as a writer, I've because I've shared so many times that I'm not visual at all.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: It was always just such a delight to imagine, like, yes, that's what that's what a jewels cake would look like, or that but there um one of the bread um bakers, bread makers uh made um a skull, made the skull from the yeah, that was awesome.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they scoured it in the sourdough.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: They scored it, not scoured it, they scored it in the sourdough, and yeah.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: We held on to that thing as long as we could.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was a brick by the time it finally went bad, but it was it it was awesome.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, at one point we were like, we should shellac it and like yeah, something else on the wall, but and we're like, what are we gonna do with this giant?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was huge, it was it was a big sourdough, but yeah, but yeah, it was um but hundreds of people came to these things too, hundreds.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was they they were not small events, so they were not your typical, you know, independent bookstore book signing because they they were kind of showcases for a lot of different things.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Your books were the centerpiece, obviously, but then it was just about partnering with everybody and and bringing bringing everyone together for a really fun event that was mystery themed, exactly, and really like um tapping into that whole community spirit because it was all local, independently owned businesses, and like a lot of um the early vendors that we worked with, they were getting their start too, you know.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like Chrissy from Tier, she was just starting out.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: She's like my pastry muse.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, she made my favorite birthday cake ever.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, talk about that.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, ever.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: It was a Christmas tree.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: I know I should, I should, I'll have to we'll have to share that on your social again.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it was a it was in the shape of a Christmas tree.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: So and it was probably, I don't know, 18 or 20 inches tall.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then she handmade all these little, like um maybe quarter-sized, maybe, maybe half dollar sized um faces of various Star Wars characters, like Chewbacca, Princess Leia, you know, C3PO, R2D2, all these, all these little round faces that she stuck like as ornaments all over the tree.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: So not only did it look amazing, but then it was absolutely delicious too.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: It was so good.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I didn't want to cut into it, but then once I tasted it, I didn't feel as bad.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: It was worth it, yeah.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: It was well worth it, and so many layers, like a ridiculous amount of layers and like delicious fillings and all the things.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, that was just such a gift to get to help other, you know, people who were at the start of their careers, candle makers and I mean you name it.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we all kind of like built this community around my book launches, and many of those vendors came back again and again and again, and it really felt like the way that I described the community in Ashland with Jules and Tort.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: So then, fast forward a few years, I drag you and Sky Guy to Ashland.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: We physically moved to Ashland, um, pretty much because of me.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, right.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh by force.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure we had a choice, but no, no, we had a choice.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh we we we all loved Ashland.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think I think the two of us were ready for a change.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um Sky Guy, I'm not so sure.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's always you know, he was like leave leaving all your school friends behind is never never easy.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: So um, but uh, but he made new ones.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So he did, and it's thrived, and it was great.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: And he did thrive.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's an amazing place.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And once we moved there, I was nervous, like, oh, I've built up Ashland in my head in this very fictional way.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, as many of the darlings out there know, there are tons of places in town that inspired the series, and I use as, you know, like the semi-real version, and I just I make it my own a little bit.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I was really concerned, like, what if we move there and it's not at all like it's built it up in my head?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: And the opposite was true.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, literally the first day we were there, neighbors were over and like reading us and giving us pies and all the things.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so once we were living in Ashland, obviously we made connections with a number of the independent and small businesses in town, and um, they all got to learn, like, hey, you're the inspiration mix and Oberons and Paddington Station and all these places.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then the other thing that would happen is that I would often get email from readings from the from darlings, uh, readings, readers, um saying, Hey, I'm coming to Ashland because of the series, like, where should I go?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so I at one point in time put a note together because I was sending those emails so often.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I just wrote a note of like, okay, you have to go to all these places.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then um one fortuitous day, I was at Paddington Station and talking to Pam Heyman, the owner, and I said, you know, it would be super fun at some point in time to host like a little mystery festival in town.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I could show readers all of the places that have inspired the books and we could have a fun little mystery.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And Pam latched onto that idea and was like, oh no, the whole town needs to get on board.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we need to involve the Chamber of Commerce and all the businesses and travel Ashland, and hence Mystery Fest was gone.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: That was my cue.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, was it?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I didn't even know.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't look at that.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: The Ashland Mystery Festival.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Second annual this year.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Second annual this year.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, for any darlings who are listening, he just showed a picture of like the logo.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: It's the logo.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's not you're not missing anything major if you're just listening and it's all good.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: So last year I invited nine author friends because it quickly turned into something much bigger than I had even initially imagined.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, once we had some initial meetings with Travel Ashland and the chamber and some of the business community, I was like, well, yeah, we could do my books, but you know what would be even more fun is what if I invited some other authors and I could invite some similar cozy authors, and we could really make this a fully immersive cozy mystery weekend.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Because Ashland in the fall, especially, is just like your quintessential cozy village, is it not?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, for those who don't uh don't know, uh Ashland is in the it's in part of the Siskiy Mountains down in southern Oregon.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: And in the fall, it looks magical.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: They're just there's all the trees are different colors.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, the weather's usually really nice.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, not too hot, not too cold.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's just beautiful, and uh, it is really kind of a magical place, and it's one of the reasons that we moved there originally.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um I, you know, just uh fell in love with it all the seasons.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: It does get a little hot in the summer.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um smoky, a little smoky now, yeah.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, but yeah, it is just it is it is beautiful, yeah.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, that was kind of our base and our starting point.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: And um the entire plaza and downtown is so walkable.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need a car, you know, you really can walk to all of the places that you may have read about if you've read the bake shop mysteries.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was kind of our starting point.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember crafting the email to um the authors who I wanted to invite.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I was so nervous to send them out.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: I was just like, I had butterflies in my stomach.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, everybody's gonna say no.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be like, I'm not gonna come to Ashland.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I kid you not, within two days, everyone who I invited said yes.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I was just like, this can't be real.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're all yes, they all want to come, we're doing this.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so then we set about putting together kind of um an entire event schedule with the thought in mind that over the years I've traveled to a lot of big book conventions and book conferences.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: And not all of them, but many of them are geared toward the craft of writing.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and almost all of them, actually, all of them, I can't think of anything that I have been to, take place in like a big hotel convention.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: Ballrooms, yeah.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and maybe you're going to a few other little breakout rooms, but you're you're pretty much in the hotel.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then maybe sometimes there are like some special excursions you can do as an aside from that.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: But like you're just inside in a hotel ballroom all weekend long.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I wanted this to be interactive, I wanted this to be really reader-focused, and I wanted who are coming to feel like they are stepping into the pages of the books and they're doing everything, including even solving a mystery that Jules is doing.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that the mystery was fun.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: And in fact, we're working on the one for the second annual mystery festival.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh uh right now, as a matter of fact, the the first one we had, we had a a lot of fun putting that together.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so as part of the mystery festival, we we put together a mystery that involved a series of posters that we needed to put at various businesses and places around town.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: And and you got your you got your starting clue and you had to solve your starting clue to find the first poster.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then the first the first poster, once you found that, it had another clue that would lead you to the second, so on and so forth, until you solved the the uh the overall mystery, and then you headed back to Paddington Station to enter into a drawing for uh a bunch of different prizes.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um that was super fun.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, if we there were a couple of hiccups along the way.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: We wanted the one of the businesses we had dropped the posters off the night before because some of the posters were hidden out around town, and others were actually in businesses around town.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the businesses, we will not name names, they they lost the poster.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: And this this particular business does not open until late in the afternoon each day.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, might give you a clue as to what kind of business it is.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: But um, but uh uh my son and I were running around trying to get in touch with anyone that could get us in, that could unlock the door so we could get the poster and put it up in the window.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, I'm calling the chamber.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I I don't know what to do at this point.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: He saved the day because he actually went on Instagram and DM'd the the account for this business, and the owner responded within seconds um and was like, Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I'll be right down there.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: But when she got down there, she unlocked the door for us and the poster wasn't there.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what happened to it, it just it just disappeared.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: So we were that was really that that was scary because all of a sudden I was like, Oh no, well, um, I thankfully had thought ahead and uh wanting to support Ashland businesses got all the posters printed at one of the print shops in Ashland that I'd used many times when we lived there.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: And they were like, No problem, we'll have it ready in 15 minutes, come on down.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: And we went down there and got it, and then went and taped it up and saved the day.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Only a few people had been to the business, they've been looking for the second poster by the time.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right, that's what I was gonna say.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's like readers got their first clue that morning.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: They could go to Paddington station when it opened and get a clue early to start, and so then we already saw, you know, readers' darlings were out around town, yeah, like boom to all the spots, and yeah, totally.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we were just I I was just doing a a triple quadruple check because I was worried that one of them might have gone missing, and sure enough, it had, but but we figured it out.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully, uh hopefully we can put together something even more fun uh for this year.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um this past year for the mystery that readers had to solve, uh, it involved all of the locations that have been featured in the book.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: So not only did you have to we some readers logged quite a few miles while getting all around town trying to find and solve some of the clues.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: So we felt we were worried, like, oh, we've made this too easy, but um, I don't think I don't think we did.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it's good.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, we tripped tripped a bunch of people up on the last clue.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think because people were so excited, they read this is the final clue, they didn't read the rest of it, and then they ended up at the wrong place, and it was a whole thing, but um, but we but there were a lot of people that solved it too, um including one one couple that said they did it in like 20 minutes, which I still think is suspect, but maybe I don't know, they're super sleuth, they or they know their make shop lore, right?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's true, that is true, and also if you lived in Ashland, you might have like you know, a little bit of a leg up.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: This year's gonna be harder, though.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you definitely have an advantage, but this year's gonna be harder because we're gonna try to work in um a little clue from every author who's attending all of their books, too.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna make it a little trickier, and you're gonna have to do shots to move on to the next phase.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: No, I'm kidding.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: Just kidding, just kidding.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna get in trouble for talking about that on the outside the after party.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yikes.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so last year, in addition to the interactive mystery, we set up a variety of panels that took place at the library.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: We got um the Ashland uh chief of police to come to a panel to oh my goodness, that was so funny.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he was amazing, just amazing.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if you've ever if you've ever seen on TV movies or whatever, the the um the kind of uh jovial but not so jovial uh like competition that goes on between police and the fire department.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this took center stage in in Chief O'Mear's uh his panel, and it was it was incredible.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: People were just laughing out loud.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we really touched on all of the things that as cozy mystery writers, this is me and fellow panelists, other authors, uh, that we, you know, we potentially get really wrong in terms of what actually happens in a police investigation.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, we got some good little tidbits on um, you know, new ways that the police trap criminals like geo um tagging and yeah, all kinds of stuff.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: The panel was especially funny for me, just because I was I was watching it and shooting pictures and video uh of it.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um but it so the Ashland police chief is he's a pretty big guy.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and he's he's very serious looking.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: He is extremely nice and incredible, just an incredible person, but he looks very serious.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: And he was sitting at the end of the table with like what were there four of you?
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think there were four, four, and you were all women, all women authors, all kinds of mystery writers.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: And every question he was just like, you know, it's like, well, what you know, how believable would this be?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: And and he would just be like, huh.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: And just, you know, like you could see that he was in the gears turning his head, like he wanted to be polite, but he also wanted to tell you like there is no way that 99% of what you write on those pages would actually happen.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: If it did, all everyone else involved in the case would be fired, like instantly fired.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like what you A pastry chef just walk around the crime scene.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, sure, no problem.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: Just yeah, great.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: What she solved the crime instead of you, detective so-and-so.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, I know.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: That was it was amazing, though.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: So great that he he participated.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I know.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: We need him back.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we we had panels like that.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: We had um a we had multiple murder mystery dinners.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: So um the Winchester Inn, which is one of the settings for my book, uh a couple of holiday theorists set there.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: They put together an actual murder mystery dinner with actors embedded.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote the mystery for that, and um the Rogue Theater Group acted it out, and there was a full course dinner with that, and like um even a pana cottic skull with a bloody raspberry Kool-Aid over it.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, there was like a pub crawl and just events all weekend long, teas, you name it.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was great.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then it was so fun to be walking all around town in between events and popping in to say hi to readers from all over the United States and around the globe.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: And same thing for for read for writer friends.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, with yeah, yeah.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things that um that I've I thought was interesting, and I've only been to a few of the conferences, like the one, you know, you were the more traditional ones, like you know, your uh left coast crime or your um what's the other one?
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: Malice Malice, that's the other one I was thinking of.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um and those are, I mean, they're they're big and they're but they are all in one place.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so one of the one of the coolest things that you thought of that I thought worked really well was reader or excuse me, authors were doing pop-up signings like all around town at different venues.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, you might have somebody like um uh somebody who's writing a mystery about uh you know ice cream, uh, you know, a cozy mystery series that's themed around ice cream might be at Zoe's ice cream in Ashland, which is amazing, by the way.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: If you come to Mystery Festival, you have to get ice cream at least once, but probably five times at Zoe's ice cream.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's just uh it's a tech guy, official tech guy endorsement.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um non-paid endorsement.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: Non-paid, yeah, exactly.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: We don't get kickbacks for any of this.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: We don't get paid for mystery fest either.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like this is just because we want to do this and love this.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, authors did pop-ups all around town.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it was just I same thing when I sent out the requests to authors, I was worried that I would get a no.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then when we, you know, like announced that it was happening, I was like, oh, you know, maybe a few people would come, but no, Starlings came from all over, and um, we just have such an incredible bookish community.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, as you know, I'm a hugger, and so I spent the whole weekend just basically hugging and kissing everyone's face.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, and I mean, we should talk about that though, because you weren't the only one that was, I mean, you you were nervous because you put so much work into uh, you know, with along with everybody at the um uh travel ashland and uh and all the business owners like Pam.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: You already mentioned her, but but all the others that helped put this on.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um but there were those that didn't think that many people would show up.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: And it was just it was so fun to kind of see people like, you know, I I don't have my bleep key here, so I can't use what to say, but they were like, whoa, you know, that was uh that was a lot.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was a lot of people that came.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, for a town that is 20,000 people, 20,000 residents, and um uh, you know, is used to getting big tourism numbers because of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which is world famous, but after the pandemic is just struggled, right?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so to see business owners come up to you, you know, and just thank you for such a successful event.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and to see the attendees, like the readers and everybody who came come up to you and be like, that was super fun.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: I like you know, I had an amazing time.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: That that was awesome.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was really great to see.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was amazing, and we learned so much.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so this year it's back and it's better than ever.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um we have 14 authors coming this year.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh how many did we have last year?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: We had 10.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: 10.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: So wow.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this year we have 14.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we have expanded the event list.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: We've expanded the event, so it's kicking off on Thursday.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: Last year it kicked off Friday night and ended Sunday morning.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: This year it's kicking off Thursday night and ending Sunday morning, and we're we're um bookending it.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So we have a kickoff reception and then we have a goodbye literary brunch on Sunday.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there are gonna be haunted walking tours, as we mentioned.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: We're writing a new mystery, so many panels.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: The teaser back.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so there'll be teas at Lovejoys.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're also doing actual tort test kitchens.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um so readers will actually have a chance to bake with me or other authors who are coming and get those recipes and get to taste them.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: What else?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, an Agatha Christie themed dinner on Friday night where readers will dine with an author and um can come in Agatha-inspired attire if you're so inclined.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the showpiece panel that afternoon is that there's a group of authors that is going to build a story together with readers that afternoon.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then at the dinner, that story will be presented, shall we say?
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's great.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh oh, I guess Mystery Fest adjacent is the uh uh the Oregon Cabaret Theater is showing uh Sherlock Holmes a study in Scarlet, and I think that's playing Friday and Saturday night.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: So if if people are so inclined, that is definitely something you should get tickets for ahead of time because they will sell out.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: But that is a fantastic.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't seen a study in Scarlet, but I've seen many, many shows as the at the Oregon uh cabaret theater, and they are always, always just a lot of fun.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you will have you're like, and actually they're doing a show on Thursday night and a Sunday afternoon that May, too.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow, okay, so even more chances.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and this year for the first time, we're partnering with the Varsity Theater, which is the historic movie theater downtown, and we're gonna do a screening of Knives Out, and Esme Addison is gonna do a little chat before the movie and introduce it.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, lots of fun stuff.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: When the Winchester is gonna do two mystery dinner, so we'll have the murder themed diners on Friday and Saturday night.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sounds great.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: So, what should people do when they're not attending a mystery fest uh um event or sighting or panel?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's so much to explore, not only in Ashland, but at all of Jackson County.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we thought we would give you a few of our favorite things that we think you should check out.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um and for me, I want you to um check out Eliana Winery, which is the vineyard that UVA is.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: I can't even say inspired by because I've told the story already.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I had already written UVA into the series, and then we moved to Ashland, and my dear friend Wendy was like, Hey, I know, I know exactly what UVA is, and I'm like, no, no, no, no, it's it was in my head.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: I made it up, and she was so insistent, and she was like, No, I will take you there.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: And lo and behold, she took me to Eliana, and it is exactly what I wrote, which still to this day, I don't know.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: I it's something bizarre with how creative energy flows, I guess.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: But um, yes.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have a chance to check out Eliana wines, go do that.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um is it my turn?
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: Do I get that's my first?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's your first.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we'll we'll alternate.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um uh so I guess first I I got I have to put Scout at the top of the list.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Scout is a uh restaurant uh slash pub.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's right across the street from the entrance to Lithia Park.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um and it has Ashland Creek actually flows right behind it.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's amazing.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: The food is amazing.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: They have a ton of different kinds of beers on top, mixed drinks, uh, non-alcoholic drinks.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's just great.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's just great atmosphere and stuff.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: So, Scout.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: If you need to take like a 30 to 60 to 90 minute break, um go to Scout and just you can bring a new book, you'll grab a book from one of the authors, right?
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you can just go cozy up at Scout.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: You grab one of the picnic tables outside or one of the Adirondack chairs next to the uh fire pits and um just high relax.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, my next uh pro tip is, and this is for anyone who might be coming who has access to a vehicle.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need a car if you're coming.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: You really can, you know, like fly into Medford, Uber into Ashland, and not need a car for the entire weekend because everything is concentrated in the plaza.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, it's super walkable.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: But if you have a car or you have a book friend who's coming who has a car and you want to take a little day trip, you can head up to Mount A.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: Mount A has been in a lot of the series, and I just I definitely think it's worth a visit because, first of all, it's only a 30-minute drive from Ashland, like to the summit.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's a gorgeous drive.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: And once you get up there, especially in October, the most stunning sweeping views of all of the Siskiws and Mount Shasta, and you can see the lodge.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if you wanted to, you could take a little hike around the rim out to like the warming hut and back.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I just feel like it gives you the true southern Oregon mountain experience.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a good one.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I guess I'm gonna stick with outdoor themes then, and and I I I might be stealing one of yours, but you can talk about other parts.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's gonna be Lithia Park.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um you got to see Lithia Park, but you have to go on a walk through Lithia Park.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: So now I will caveat that by saying if you have mobility, you know, challenges and you're um you can still walk through Lithia Park.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: There is there are um paved uh paths and the road that goes up through Lithia Park, but it is hilly.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: It is yeah, you get some elevation.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: You're already gonna be at elevation, yeah.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_02: You're already gonna be at 2,000-ish feet.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then in Lithia Park, it just kind of goes like you know, uphill.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but in the fall, uh when when we'll be there, if you want to see the local wildlife um and just the the beautiful scenery and everything, uh Lithia Park is amazing.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, it's there are just there, I I can't remember how many miles of trails there are through Lithia Park, but um you'll see you'll probably see deer.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you'll definitely see deer, you'll probably see turkeys.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um hopefully you don't see bears or mountain lions.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah you'll see warning signs telling you that other people have seen bears and mountain lions recently in the area, always.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um uh uh because they are common.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um pay attention to the signs, do follow the instructions.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: But I I am gonna I am going to say one thing about the deer because I witnessed this multiple times during the inaugural mystery fest.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: Please don't try to feed the deer.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: No, don't stay away from the deer.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: They look they look really cute, they are adorable.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_02: They will mess you up in seconds.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: You won't even know what's happening, and you'll be on the ground, and they will they will take you out.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it is especially dangerous around uh the does when there are fawns nearby and you won't see them.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: You just so don't, please don't.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: I saw people trying to feed leaves to deer and they'll just stand there because they're they're very used to humans, but they do not want to be pet.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: No matter how much they look like they want to be pet, they don't want to be pet.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: So just look from afar, take pictures from afar.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: Don't try to get close, turn your back and do a selfie because the next thing you know, you'll have a 300-pound deer on your back, uh, pushing you to the ground.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, um, but you will see deer.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's that's my caveat.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: Just don't feed the deer.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so many times early on in the series, I would always use the phrasing the wild, tame deer in Lithia Park.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: And every time my editor would take it out because she would be like, There's no such thing, like you're you're contradicting yourself.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm like, but that's really what they are.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: They're very tame, they they amble all through town.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: They literally use the crosswalk.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like we've got so many instances of the deer just crossing perfectly in the crosswalk, but they are wild animals, so yeah, that's that's good advice.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, the other um side trip that I think you should take if you have access to a car or you want to, you know, like grab an Uber and go explore for the day is to head to Jacksonville, uh, which is again like another just 30-minute drive away.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it is an old historic downtown, like your true old Oregon, like mining town.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's just delightful shops and little restaurants, again, super walkable.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's definitely worth a day trip if if you want another excursion.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that that is totally true.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_02: There's some great places out there.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I guess for my next one, I'm gonna say uh this is a little, this will be kind of a hidden spot because I don't know if a lot of mystery fest people will be wandering down this way, but because it's not it's not on the main plaza or the main street or anything, but that there's a little place um kind of down uh a few blocks off the plaza called uh Gill's.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_02: And Gill's and its its sister business next door, Ruby's, um, are fantastic spots if you want to grab lunch or get a beer and sit in just a nice little uh you know neighborhood uh outdoor uh restaurant.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um uh there are a couple of tables inside it each, but I'd recommend sitting outside on the patios.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um again, a couple blocks off the uh off the plaza.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really yeah, if you want to, if you want to meet or see a lot of locals, then go to like Gills and Rubies because that's the the kind of neighborhood hangouts um uh down that way.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's perfect.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: Mine is um mine is great for a little morning special treat.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it's right across the street from the library.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, if you're going to one of the morning panels at the library, you could pop in here first and grab a coffee.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if they have them, they're lemon-filled jelly brioche donuts at Hither.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Hither is this very sweet coffee, and it has a lot of like wine during the pandemic.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: They were doing these like pasta nights where you could go and you would get like homemade spaghetti and meatballs and a bottle of wine and salad for like, I don't remember, but like$25 or something.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: Super reasonable.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so it is not the it's not the inspiration for tort.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: That is mix, um, which will be definitely involved in the weekend.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but over the years of living in Ashland, a lot of little spaces like Hither have kind of like worked their way into tort too.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: But um that brioche jelly-filled donuts are next level.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, that that is that is so true.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um uh I actually I without describing it, I'm I uh I'm just gonna give um listeners the darlings a challenge.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_02: Anybody coming to the mystery fest.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_02: I want to see if anybody can find the comic shop in Ashland.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, that's there's there's a comic shop in Ashland.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: It is not the easiest store to find.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um but but if you if you're into that sort of thing or or graphic novels or anything, see if you can find the comic shop and let me know.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so if you're thinking about coming to Mystery Fest, uh you absolute absolutely should.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is your sign to come.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: It starts October 17th, um, that Thursday and goes through Sunday, and you can find all of the information about it at um Travel Ashland, and we'll share links too, of course.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's not too late to sign up.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: And we didn't, I I think we purposely didn't mention some of the or get into detail about uh some of the showcase stops, uh, which would be like Mix, Paddington Station.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_02: There are there are events over ons.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: There are events at at a lot of these places.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um and you will recognize them uh from the books.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: But um, but yeah, you should uh just if you have time, just walk around the plaza area of Ashland and you will not be disappointed.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you might even have a tech guy sighting while you're in town, yeah.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_02: Well, if you go to Scout, Growler Guys, or Gills, you'll probably find me if one of them.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: You heard it here first, darlings.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe I'll have a tech guy event.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, okay.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_02: The dude behind the scenes beers with the tech guy beers, something like that.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: Count me in.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, on that note, we hope that we will see you in Ashland for the second annual, the second annual Ashland Mystery Fest this fall.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: What was that URL again?
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's Travel Ashland.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think it's travelashland.org and then it's backslash mystery fest.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: But if you just go to travelashland.org, you'll be able to do that.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: You go to travel ashland, you'll see it.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_02: We can put it in the put it in the description.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's uh hope to see everybody there.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a fun time.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um uh again, still working on the mystery, but uh it's gonna be it's gonna be great.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right, on that note, until next time.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time.