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YA Authors With A Message Sara Amini The Creator Of Mixed Feelings · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: Aero dot net. It's not just a podcast, it's a
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  Speaker 1: collection of twenty different podcasts, one of them being All
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  Speaker 1: Level Sports. We're talking not just basketball, football, and baseball.
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  Speaker 1: We've included every sport theory is, even if it hasn't
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  Speaker 1: been labeled a sport yet, but it's on its way,
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  Speaker 1: especially those that deserve to be in the Olympics and
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  Speaker 1: they haven't been chosen yet. Oh yeah, we're talking about
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  Speaker 1: it on All Level Sports on aerow dot net, Arrie
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  Speaker 1: dot net. Enjoy the exploration. Hello and good morning Sarah.
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  Speaker 1: How are you doing today?
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  Speaker 2: Good morning hero What a cool way to spell your name.
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  Speaker 2: I love it.
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  Speaker 1: It's one of those things that happened way back in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one. We're gonna give you a history lesson,
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  Speaker 1: huh No, not really, just one of those where you
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  Speaker 1: wanted to be different in radio because we didn't have
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  Speaker 1: social media back then, and you had to do whatever
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  Speaker 1: you could to get people to remember it. And then,
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  Speaker 1: of all things, radio program directors did not like it
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  Speaker 1: because they thought people in the arbitron would write Earl
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  Speaker 1: or Harold or you know. It kind of reminds me
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  Speaker 1: of this book Feelings in the way that I mean
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  Speaker 1: the way that you bring out the stories that everybody
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  Speaker 1: has a different interpretation if they don't know the way
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  Speaker 1: of the book, if you know what I mean.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what you mean. Yeah. It is a
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  Speaker 2: very singular experience that I had growing up being mixed race,
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  Speaker 2: you know, and I looked around and I didn't have
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  Speaker 2: anyone like me when I would watch TV or when
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  Speaker 2: I would read books, and certainly when I was at school,
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  Speaker 2: you know, being half Columbian half Persian navigating life as
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  Speaker 2: a teenager in nineteen ninety nine in Houston, Texas was
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  Speaker 2: a very singular, unique experience.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I totally understand that, because I mean I remember
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  Speaker 1: ten fifteen years ago when I would be talking with
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  Speaker 1: authors that were taking chances on books such as this,
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  Speaker 1: and they said, there's nobody in these books that look
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  Speaker 1: like my readers. And I went, oh my god, what
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  Speaker 1: an eye opening experience. And then so when I see
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  Speaker 1: a book like Mixed Feelings, I'm going, yes, it's happening,
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  Speaker 1: because it's all around us. I don't want to go
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  Speaker 1: to a grocery store sometime and tell me this book
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  Speaker 1: is not really happening.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. I really appreciate you and I
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  Speaker 2: agree with you. You know, I didn't start out writing
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  Speaker 2: this as a graphic memoir, and my target audience was
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  Speaker 2: not teenagers. At the beginning, I had written a collection
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  Speaker 2: of essays just about what it was like to be
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  Speaker 2: mixed race growing up. And it was the suggestion of
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  Speaker 2: my book agent who said, you know, there are more
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  Speaker 2: mixed race kids now than there were ever before, and
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  Speaker 2: there is no book like this out there for them,
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  Speaker 2: and you could really speak to them about your experience,
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  Speaker 2: and you don't have to be specific to being Colombian
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  Speaker 2: and Persian, you know, being a mixed race is there
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  Speaker 2: are so many different combinations out there, right, But the
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  Speaker 2: feeling of not feeling where you belong or not knowing
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  Speaker 2: where you fit in, you know, that sort of confusing
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  Speaker 2: I'm not enough of this, I'm not enough of that
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  Speaker 2: is universal feeling. So it's not even specifically tied to
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  Speaker 2: being mixed either. I mean, that's something that's super relatable
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  Speaker 2: to any middle schooler. Those are really formative years where
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  Speaker 2: you are just trying to find your people and survive
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  Speaker 2: puberty and survive friendships changing. And so for me, I really,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I'm grateful for her suggestion because it ended
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  Speaker 2: up being the best way to tell the story.
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  Speaker 1: Well, there's an invisible star inside these pages, and that
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  Speaker 1: is camaraderie. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't matter who you
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  Speaker 1: are inside this book, they are working together as one.
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  Speaker 1: And I picked up on that immediately because I mean
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  Speaker 1: even in the business world, which I know adults will
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  Speaker 1: pick this up because it is a graphic novel, and
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  Speaker 1: adults will tell you they read graphic novels. It doesn't
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  Speaker 1: matter who is for. And the thing is, though, is
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  Speaker 1: that it teaches everybody you can work together around that
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  Speaker 1: big table.
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  Speaker 2: I agree with you one hundred percent. You know, I
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  Speaker 2: was very fortunate to grown up in such an incredibly
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  Speaker 2: diverse community in a Leaf, which is a suburb in
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  Speaker 2: Texas and Alia's at one point the school district was
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  Speaker 2: the most culturally diverse school district in the nation. So
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  Speaker 2: if you can imagine a shopping center, it would have
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  Speaker 2: a Nigerian hair salon next to a Salvadorian bakery, next
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  Speaker 2: to my dad, who was, you know, a Persian immigrant,
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  Speaker 2: and he had a television and electronics repair shop next
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  Speaker 2: to you know, Vietnamese market And that really was my upbringing. So,
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  Speaker 2: you know, community coming together and being supportive of each other,
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  Speaker 2: is what I know, and it really is what got
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  Speaker 2: me through those horrible, mortifying middle school years, was leaning
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  Speaker 2: on various forms of community. For Sarah's finding drama club,
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  Speaker 2: it's friendships, you know, it's for parents, you know, pillars
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  Speaker 2: of support that really help her along the way sort
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  Speaker 2: of accept herself. Well.
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  Speaker 1: As a broadcaster, I need this for my community because
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  Speaker 1: my community has got to come together as one. And
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  Speaker 1: just because I'm on a radio station, let's say that
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  Speaker 1: plays adult contempor for twenty five to forty nine year
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  Speaker 1: old women. You know what. You can't say that, Oh,
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  Speaker 1: only white women are going to listen to this. Hell, no,
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  Speaker 1: that's not true. It's mixed feelings coming to life right
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  Speaker 1: there on that microphone for me, and it allows me
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  Speaker 1: to understand who my listening audience could be. And with
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  Speaker 1: me reading this book, it helps me see them as
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  Speaker 1: I deliver different thoughts through a speaker.
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  Speaker 2: Oh that's amazing. Yeah, that that actually is a really
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  Speaker 2: valid point. And to your point, you know, like you
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  Speaker 2: said earlier, this isn't necessarily for eight to thirteen, right,
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  Speaker 2: I wrote this as a thirty eight year old woman,
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  Speaker 2: you know, so there's a lot of pop culture references
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  Speaker 2: in here that will speak to millennials and will speak
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  Speaker 2: to your demographic and it could be a really fun trip,
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  Speaker 2: you know, down memory lane, you know, to sort of
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  Speaker 2: relive those mortifying, hilarious and tough experiences of middle school.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think this is this is partial to young kids.
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  Speaker 2: I think it really is speaks to a lot of people.
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  Speaker 1: Please do not move. Will be right back with Sarah
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  Speaker 1: Amini coming up next. The name of the book Mixed Feelings.
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  Speaker 1: We are back with ya, author Sarahmini. And one of
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  Speaker 1: the things that I really really cherish inside this book
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  Speaker 1: is that, yes, when things go wrong that first day
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  Speaker 1: of the sixth grade, but how many of the older
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  Speaker 1: readers are going to be looking at this going, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to my first job today. Oh my god,
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  Speaker 1: I've got Harry Leggs, where's my bff? What's going on?
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  Speaker 1: We all go through this, and what you're doing is
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  Speaker 1: you're reminding us that you've been through this before. It
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  Speaker 1: was in the sixth grade, you probably went through it
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  Speaker 1: also during the first grade. And that's what I love
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  Speaker 1: about this is that you're so bravely honest in it.
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  Speaker 1: And the thing about it is is that you also
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  Speaker 1: teach our eyes be aware of who can be your BFF.
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  Speaker 1: There are no rules, make up your own path and
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  Speaker 1: be a community.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're making me emotional, but yes, it's very true.
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  Speaker 2: You know, this is a completely universal thing. You don't
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  Speaker 2: have to be a mixed race to understand story, and
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  Speaker 2: you don't have to be thirteen to understand the story.
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  Speaker 2: You know, people understand what it's like to be a
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  Speaker 2: jock and a brainiac at the same time and navigating
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  Speaker 2: those different spaces and being like I want to fit
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  Speaker 2: into both groups? Do I fit into both groups? You know,
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  Speaker 2: it's not specific to race, and that feeling of feeling like,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I need community, I need to rely on people.
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  Speaker 2: You know, my friend isn't my friend anymore. That's not
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  Speaker 2: something that's to childhood. You know, that's something that happened
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  Speaker 2: to me in my twenties, it to me in my
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  Speaker 2: thirty That's a recurring thing, you know, navigating female friendships.
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  Speaker 2: And also you know bodily changes, you know, being harry,
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  Speaker 2: having acne, you know, adult acne is also a thing.
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  Speaker 2: So it is These are things that, like you said,
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  Speaker 2: get revisited over and over again, and you went through
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  Speaker 2: them once you survived, once you can do it again.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'm convinced you've been called to write these books,
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  Speaker 1: and of course you know as an author myself, I
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  Speaker 1: want to sit here and try to figure out how
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  Speaker 1: do you prep yourself for this? Because an ideal will
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  Speaker 1: come to you when you least expect it. You could
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  Speaker 1: be on a path in a park, or you could
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  Speaker 1: be in a mall and all of a sudden, it's
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  Speaker 1: now got to become a part of your story. How
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  Speaker 1: do you put that into the story? And is it
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  Speaker 1: easy to work it in?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, because I was at a Chase Bank with this idea.
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  Speaker 1: Really really, readers and listeners don't hear that story, So
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  Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that.
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  Speaker 2: No, honestly, I was at a Chase Bank waiting to
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  Speaker 2: get a positive check when the idea came to me.
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  Speaker 2: And sometimes, you know, these ideas come to me and
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  Speaker 2: then I don't act on them, and then they're fleeting,
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  Speaker 2: they're gone, and sometimes they just stick with me and
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  Speaker 2: they're incredibly persistent, and I go, Okay, I've got to
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  Speaker 2: really sit down with this. And so you know, I
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  Speaker 2: took time over the years to crash the story and
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  Speaker 2: because it's semi autobiographical. You know, I took from my life.
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  Speaker 2: These are real people because my real family, my real friends.
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  Speaker 2: But at the same time, it was also a lot
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  Speaker 2: of makeup, you know, a lot of make believe in
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  Speaker 2: figuring out a very satisfying story that talks about my
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  Speaker 2: perspective and my experience. That's both fact and fiction. So honestly,
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  Speaker 2: if you get an idea, just take it and run
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  Speaker 2: with it, is what I always say, because you just
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  Speaker 2: never know. And like I don't know if I mentioned
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  Speaker 2: this earlier, but this is the collection of essays and
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  Speaker 2: originally that became a graphic novel. So by other piece
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  Speaker 2: of advice is don't be so tied to the medium
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  Speaker 2: of how you're going to tell it. I certainly didn't
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  Speaker 2: know anything about graphic novels before I started writing one,
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  Speaker 2: so you know, and now as I'm holding it in
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  Speaker 2: my hands, I go, oh, yeah, this is exactly the
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  Speaker 2: way that it was supposed to come out. It just
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  Speaker 2: took me ten years to.
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  Speaker 1: Realize that is mind Meld one, two three a real
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  Speaker 1: game because if not, it needs to be, because I
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  Speaker 1: think what it does is it plays off improv and
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  Speaker 1: ad lib and it will strengthening strengthen the power of
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  Speaker 1: conversation because I'm a believer in stream thinking and I
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  Speaker 1: I believe that mine Meld one two three is a
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  Speaker 1: stream thinking game.
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  Speaker 2: You are an incredible interviewer. This is a great specific question.
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  Speaker 2: Mind meld is a real thing. What is something that
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  Speaker 2: I played as an improviser. I was at Second City
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  Speaker 2: here in LA and it was one of the very
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  Speaker 2: first improv games that you learn.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm not wrong, then, Oh my god, so it
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  Speaker 1: is game? Yes, okay, yeah, that.
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  Speaker 2: It's an improv game and it's sort of you know you.
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  Speaker 2: Improv is so great because it is about community, it's
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  Speaker 2: about you know, the term yes and which is just
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  Speaker 2: taking an idea and running with it, you know, collaborating
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  Speaker 2: with the theme partner, getting out of your head. For me,
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  Speaker 2: that was a very hard thing to do, and you
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  Speaker 2: see it in the book where Sarah's in her head
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  Speaker 2: a lot. And so improv was a great experience for
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  Speaker 2: me in my early twenties to sort of get out
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  Speaker 2: of my head and just be very present. And mind
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  Speaker 2: Meld is a great way to sort of break the
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  Speaker 2: ice in that regard.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you also introduced the Festival of Fire. I had
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  Speaker 1: no clue. And I think the reason why is because
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  Speaker 1: there's so much on every one of our Google calendars
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  Speaker 1: that every festival that comes through, we're just going to
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  Speaker 1: sit there and say, I don't know, and because I'll
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  Speaker 1: choose this one instead. But at least you put it
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  Speaker 1: in print inside the book, and you give us that
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  Speaker 1: idea of go do some research, go find out what
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  Speaker 1: the Festival of Fire really is.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's an incredible festival. It happens just a few
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  Speaker 2: days before Persian New Year, which is the first spring,
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  Speaker 2: so it just happened actually, and you know, it's Jumping
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  Speaker 2: over fire is something that's super symbolic and Persian culture
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  Speaker 2: about sort of leaving the past year behind and jumping
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  Speaker 2: into a new year, sort of with a rebirth and
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  Speaker 2: with a renewed sense of growth and perspective. And so
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  Speaker 2: I wanted to include it in the book because it
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  Speaker 2: felt like it made sense for Sarah. She had this
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  Speaker 2: sort of tumultuous sixth grade year, and at the very end,
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  Speaker 2: she's jumping over fire, looking forward to the future. She's
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  Speaker 2: made new friends, she's now a community, she stood up
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  Speaker 2: to her bully, and so very symbolic for me, and
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  Speaker 2: I just didn't have a four month old son, so
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  Speaker 2: I just had him sort of like jump over a
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  Speaker 2: small candle. So we're continuing the tradition at all Over
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  Speaker 2: here too.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, And we keep talking about the sixth grade, and
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  Speaker 1: my heart is flooded with my sixth grade at Ponderosa
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  Speaker 1: Elementary School in Billings, Montana. And all I can remember
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  Speaker 1: most about it is how mister Barone, the science teacher,
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  Speaker 1: would made us write dictionary pages. And do you realize
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  Speaker 1: that even today I will look up words, I look
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  Speaker 1: up research everything. You should see my journals. And I
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  Speaker 1: do believe it's because of mister Barone in the sixth grade.
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  Speaker 2: Wow, that's incredible. Got teachers are everything, aren't they?
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  Speaker 1: They are? But boy, they're sure taking a big knock though,
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  Speaker 1: Oh my god, they'll take a big and they keep
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  Speaker 1: They're like a weebel. They weel, they wibble, but they
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  Speaker 1: don't fall down.
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  Speaker 2: It's true, It's true. It is incredibly inspiring. I have
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  Speaker 2: so many friends who are teachers. I'm just an awe
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  Speaker 2: of them daily.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you do something inside the book which is a
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  Speaker 1: total casey case a moment, and you just being barely
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  Speaker 1: into your thirties, you probably don't know who Casey Casem is,
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  Speaker 1: but you do something I have never seen, and that
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  Speaker 1: is that you give us. You give us three different
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  Speaker 1: ways to say the name of the chapter. That's three
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  Speaker 1: different languages on one page. My god, I you are
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  Speaker 1: blessed to do that because you you know, you can
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  Speaker 1: have a graphic that looks like me. But when you
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  Speaker 1: start putting my language in there, now you have my attention,
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  Speaker 1: and now I trust you.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's very it's very true. It's very gratifying. I
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  Speaker 2: had I gave an advanced copy to a friend of
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  Speaker 2: mine who's got twin girls, and you know, she texted
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  Speaker 2: me the other day and she said, you know, my
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  Speaker 2: girls have a teacher who is ill Aunian, and she
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  Speaker 2: was amazed that the girls were speaking Farsty to her.
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  Speaker 2: She couldn't believe that. She was like, oh my god,
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  Speaker 2: I just don't hear my language. You know, it's sort
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  Speaker 2: of American mainstream culture. And so for me, that's that's
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  Speaker 2: that's very gratified, because you know, language is a great connector,
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  Speaker 2: food is a great connector, and so you know, we
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  Speaker 2: realize that we're so much more life than we are different.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, where can people go to find out more about you,
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  Speaker 1: to find out more about all of your books and
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  Speaker 1: everything growing forward, because I mean you're tapping into something
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  Speaker 1: here that is going to have a beautiful fruit at
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  Speaker 1: the end of your vine.
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  Speaker 2: Oh thank you so much. Anybody can find me at
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  Speaker 2: It's Sarah Amini on my Instagram. That's where I post
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  Speaker 2: the majority of my acting work and updates. And then
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  Speaker 2: sarahmini dot com is when I met my website where
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  Speaker 2: it's more book related stuff. And the second book comes
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  Speaker 2: out in October, and the last book in the series
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  Speaker 2: comes out next summer.
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  Speaker 1: And we're going to be talking again throughout those books.
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  Speaker 2: Oh please, you ask the best questions.
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  Speaker 1: Then we've got to do it. Then. Okay, so I
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  Speaker 1: planted it. Now we've got to grow it.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, sounds good.
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  Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, thank you so much. Ero, I really really really
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  Speaker 2: have sherished this interview. Thank you, Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: M