Crafting Cliffhangers: Megan Linski & Alicia Rades on Academy of Magical Creatures

WEBVTT

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I don't know about you, but I believe and think

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plan is right for you. Welcome to Crazy Fitness

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by Healthy Living Podcast, where we strive to

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to everything in between that makes up a balanced

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we strive to support the autism community by

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motivating, inspiring, and educating everyone

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about what autism is. Please welcome your host.

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host Jimmy Clare, who is a motivational speaker,

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autism advocate, author, and founder of crazyfitnessguide

00:06:01.420 --> 00:06:05.439
.com. Welcome to another episode of Crazy Fitness

00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:07.100
Guy Health Healing Podcast. That's weekly motivation

00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:10.660
with Crazy Fitness Guy. Today's two guests are

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two USA Today's bestselling authors, Megan Lenski

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and Alicia Rays. And I'm looking forward to talking

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to them because I've been reading their... academy

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of magical creatures book and i am so addicted

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to this series uh let's just say i it's been

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a long time since i've read a series that has

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kept me up until like super late at night and

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yeah uh i wonder why i haven't been in sleep

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because i keep on wondering i want to know what

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happens to the characters and it's it's literally

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torture when i go to bed it's like I need to

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know what happens. And it's just not fair. And

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they leave on so many cliffhangers. But so let's

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welcome today's guest. And I've been like literally

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just counting down the days to get to meet these

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two. And I swear they're like at my top favorite

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authors of all time. So here's Megan and Alicia.

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So, my first question for both of you, well,

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my first question for you is, with these books,

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why do you keep, I'll just say, why do you keep

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messing with the main group for a group of characters?

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It's just so mean. Because it's fun. There's

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no story if the main character doesn't go through

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trials and tribulations. And the best stories

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are where you watch the main character succeed

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at all costs. So that's why we put our characters

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through what we put them through, because we

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want people to know that you can be a hero no

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matter what you're going through. What's your

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answer to that, Alicia? I would just echo what

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you said. I mean, there is no story if they're

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not going through something and learn something

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at the end because of it. Well, so my next question

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for you guys are, how did you come up with this

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amazing story? And did you know it was always

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going to be six books in the series? We did not.

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So when me and Alicia first got together and

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started to co -write, We agreed to write a trilogy

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of three short books. And by the time we were

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about halfway through The Fire Prophecy, which

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is the first book of the Academy of Magical Creatures

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series, we realized that those were not going

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to be short because the first half was the length

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of the book that we wanted to write originally.

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So we decided that we needed to expand it to

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five books. And then after that, we decided that's

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not good enough either. We need to go to five.

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And are sick. Sorry. I'm out, Delia, and I cannot,

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like, I don't do numbers. So Alicia does the

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numbers for me. But anyway, we just kept on writing

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and it kept on getting more and more ideas and

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we just could not put it down. And that's where

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we ended up. Well, it's really impressive, especially

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because I can relate. I found for myself every

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time when I read another chapter in the book

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I can relate to literally all the characters

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at once and I was like I have my smart moments

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and then I have let's just say I have my Liam

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moments where I went through like last three

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weeks I was in a total funk and I was like how

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I was like I really feel very close to Liam right

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now it's like I really just wanted I was at the

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point of just like just throwing everything away

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but then I was like what's the point of that

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Yeah, we all have our Liam moments. I think everybody

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has that time when they get really depressed

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and down on themselves and they don't know how

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to continue forward or what to do. But that's

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part of why we write what we do because we want

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to inspire people to keep going even when they're

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in their darkest moments. And I think Alicia

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can testify to that. Yeah, 100%. You're just

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taking all the words right out of my mouth. I'm

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stealing everything. We are co -writers, so we

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kind of work on the same wavelength anyway. Yeah,

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so we're pretty much the same person and we have

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each other's thoughts all the time and that kind

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of thing. So it's easy for us to co -write together

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because we bounce off of each other all the time.

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So my next question for you is, how did you guys

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come up with the... What was one of the main

00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:50.769
characters? Madame Doya, because she's just a

00:10:50.769 --> 00:10:53.049
pain in the butt, and she reminds me of my 12th

00:10:53.049 --> 00:10:55.850
grade English teacher. What book are you on?

00:10:55.929 --> 00:11:00.210
I'm curious. I'm on the fifth one. Ooh, what

00:11:00.210 --> 00:11:02.850
part of the fifth book are you on? Madame Doya

00:11:02.850 --> 00:11:07.990
comes through quite very well there. I say I'm

00:11:07.990 --> 00:11:11.669
in like 200 pages in at the moment. Okay. You

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haven't gotten to the big reveal yet. Uh -oh.

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I don't know. I think you need to take this question,

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Alicia, because I think that you came up with

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a lot of her character and backstory. I don't

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believe it. Don't really know how to answer that

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because I think she just came through naturally.

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There's not really anything I can pinpoint. But

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I do remember there's a scene in the first book

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where she's really mean to Sophia. And in this

00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:40.639
story, they have elemental power. So Sophia is

00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:43.220
the main character with firepower. And she comes

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into this world not knowing anything about it.

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And Madame Goya is her teacher, sets a candle

00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:50.419
in front of her on the desk and is like, light

00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:53.769
it. i don't know how to do this so she's really

00:11:53.769 --> 00:11:56.009
mean to her that was megan's idea and i think

00:11:56.009 --> 00:11:58.629
from there i'm like okay i understand what this

00:11:58.629 --> 00:12:00.929
character is supposed to be because she is supposed

00:12:00.929 --> 00:12:05.110
to challenge sophia and kind of be almost like

00:12:05.110 --> 00:12:08.269
this duality for her where she's pushing her

00:12:08.269 --> 00:12:11.509
but also like sophia does have the capabilities

00:12:11.509 --> 00:12:14.889
and everything sounds exactly like my english

00:12:14.889 --> 00:12:18.750
teacher in 12th grade she's she she pushed me

00:12:18.750 --> 00:12:22.919
but I don't know why she pushed me so much because

00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:27.679
I was getting straight A's. Madame Goya doesn't

00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.740
have to be as mean as she is. And there are reasons

00:12:30.740 --> 00:12:34.679
behind that that you will learn later in this

00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:37.919
book that you're reading. No one wants to spoil

00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:44.940
me or anything. We don't do spoilers. Oh my goodness.

00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:54.210
My next question for you. Why do you think the

00:12:54.210 --> 00:12:57.289
books have done so well and why is the characters

00:12:57.289 --> 00:13:00.110
are so relatable? I think that's like a two -part

00:13:00.110 --> 00:13:02.690
question. I think our characters are relatable

00:13:02.690 --> 00:13:05.750
just because we try to make them as real as possible.

00:13:06.049 --> 00:13:09.230
When I was writing Liam, I really didn't want

00:13:09.230 --> 00:13:12.870
to put any tropes or personality traits on him

00:13:12.870 --> 00:13:16.440
that are typically in. our genre which is fantasy

00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:18.679
I wanted him to be his own person and I wanted

00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:20.580
him to be really real about how he was feeling

00:13:20.580 --> 00:13:23.460
100 % of the time and I feel like we're like

00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:25.980
that with all of our characters with Jonah Imogen

00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:28.019
and everybody who comes on scene and who is a

00:13:28.019 --> 00:13:30.460
part of our cast we want to make sure that they

00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:33.039
are real authentic people so our readers can

00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:35.340
relate to them because it's no fun relating to

00:13:35.980 --> 00:13:38.580
a superhero who can do all this stuff and never

00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:40.940
has any problems and is infallible it's just

00:13:40.940 --> 00:13:43.039
really it's kind of a boring story to be honest

00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:45.259
we want to tell stories about real people going

00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:47.360
through real problems even if they're in a magical

00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:50.720
setting so that's kind of our goal what do you

00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:53.840
think about that alicia to add to that i think

00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:57.059
that a lot of our characters are kind of like

00:13:57.059 --> 00:14:01.200
pieces of us there are things that are unique

00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:04.269
to them and things that you know we sometimes

00:14:04.269 --> 00:14:06.370
do have to write outside of our experience because

00:14:06.370 --> 00:14:10.830
like I'm not a man I but we do write from a male

00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:12.649
point of view because the characters go back

00:14:12.649 --> 00:14:15.409
and forth in their perspective but there's a

00:14:15.409 --> 00:14:19.389
lot of Liam that comes from Megan because she

00:14:19.389 --> 00:14:22.710
is a disabled author writing a disabled character

00:14:22.710 --> 00:14:26.350
and his disease is fictional but it is based

00:14:26.350 --> 00:14:30.100
on Megan's disease so in that way it's like some

00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:32.000
of our personal experience gets put into those

00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:35.759
characters even though they're not directly um

00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.659
like us i don't know how to say that i think

00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:43.159
like to add on to that like i share this joke

00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:44.940
with alicia all the time i'm like all of our

00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:47.860
characters are neurodivergent because we're neurodivergent

00:14:47.860 --> 00:14:50.720
they just like make neurodivergent choices and

00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.159
it's really funny to see them interact in like

00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:56.309
a world that's against them but then they go

00:14:56.309 --> 00:14:58.470
out and they build a world that's suited for

00:14:58.470 --> 00:15:02.970
them and my personal like illness is common variable

00:15:02.970 --> 00:15:05.870
immune deficiency disorder which is abbreviated

00:15:05.870 --> 00:15:09.029
to cbid and it is a condition basically where

00:15:09.029 --> 00:15:10.970
you are born without an immune system so you

00:15:10.970 --> 00:15:13.470
have to get treated in order to generate the

00:15:13.470 --> 00:15:15.830
antibodies you need to survive so i put that

00:15:15.830 --> 00:15:19.169
experience into my books and i think it's really

00:15:19.169 --> 00:15:21.950
helpful for people to see the spectrum of disability

00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:24.539
Because people think, oh, disability is just

00:15:24.539 --> 00:15:26.860
being in a wheelchair. Well, no, it's not. There

00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:28.919
are all kinds of different disabilities out there

00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:31.559
and your experiences of them are going to vary

00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.639
based on who you are and what your world is like.

00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:36.899
And to answer the second part of your question,

00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:39.580
which is why these books have done so well, I

00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:41.980
just think people really like our characters

00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:43.980
and they can relate to our characters because

00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:47.460
there's people out there who haven't experienced

00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.500
their story in a book. And we get people all

00:15:50.500 --> 00:15:52.340
the time who are saying, oh, like, I'm disabled,

00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:56.539
or I have autism, or I have this condition, or

00:15:56.539 --> 00:15:58.440
I have this experience, and nobody ever talks

00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:00.080
about it, and nobody ever writes about it, but

00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.080
you guys do. So that's why I think people really

00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:05.799
like our stuff. Would you agree, Alicia? I do

00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:09.100
agree. And also, I think we just really put our

00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:12.460
heart and soul into this series, because we initially

00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:15.519
were kind of like, We don't care how it sells.

00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.179
Let's just write what we want to write. And so

00:16:19.179 --> 00:16:21.919
we didn't, you know, worry about what kind of

00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:23.539
tropes we were putting in. We were picking the

00:16:23.539 --> 00:16:25.740
ones that we loved and the ones that spoke to

00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:27.940
us and then things that aren't necessarily tropey

00:16:27.940 --> 00:16:31.340
as well. And I think that really shows through

00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:33.919
in our writing how much we really loved the series

00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:37.019
and writing these characters. Well, I definitely

00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:42.740
can relate to Liam a lot, especially not just...

00:16:43.610 --> 00:16:50.409
But with his disability, because I got bullied

00:16:50.409 --> 00:16:53.269
a lot in middle school and elementary school

00:16:53.269 --> 00:16:58.909
and high school for eight years. And I remember

00:16:58.909 --> 00:17:04.309
some people telling me that I'm a freak, basically.

00:17:04.769 --> 00:17:12.289
And I remember a part in the book where I overheard

00:17:12.289 --> 00:17:16.390
everybody saying that he might as well just end

00:17:16.390 --> 00:17:19.710
it right there and there because he's a freak.

00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:21.670
And it's like, oh, these guys are a bunch of

00:17:21.670 --> 00:17:25.630
cult -hunting fools. And it's like, if I was

00:17:25.630 --> 00:17:28.289
him, I would just walk in the room and say, screw

00:17:28.289 --> 00:17:32.890
all of you. I'm really sorry that you had to

00:17:32.890 --> 00:17:35.609
go through that. That wasn't fair to you. Thank

00:17:35.609 --> 00:17:40.170
you. But, you know, to be honest, Because like

00:17:40.170 --> 00:17:43.690
Liam, it's like, I wouldn't really have a story

00:17:43.690 --> 00:17:46.190
if it wasn't for those bullies. And I wouldn't

00:17:46.190 --> 00:17:49.009
be where I am today without them. So even though

00:17:49.009 --> 00:17:52.829
it stinks, but I don't think any motivational

00:17:52.829 --> 00:17:58.069
speaker has a good story without some kind of

00:17:58.069 --> 00:18:00.329
extra challenge, just like the characters in

00:18:00.329 --> 00:18:04.009
the book. I think you're right. Go ahead, Alicia.

00:18:04.289 --> 00:18:09.009
I love that positive outlook on it. Megan and

00:18:09.009 --> 00:18:11.890
I are really into like personal development and

00:18:11.890 --> 00:18:13.549
stuff like that. So we always try to include

00:18:13.549 --> 00:18:17.829
that in our stories and try to find the good

00:18:17.829 --> 00:18:20.869
even in bad thing. Well, I also think that like

00:18:20.869 --> 00:18:23.869
really successful people can sometimes be those

00:18:23.869 --> 00:18:25.690
people who are, you know, victims of bullying.

00:18:25.930 --> 00:18:28.289
I was bullied all throughout elementary school,

00:18:28.329 --> 00:18:30.569
middle school and, you know, high school. I had

00:18:30.569 --> 00:18:33.710
my lunchbox and my stolen food eaten out of it.

00:18:33.750 --> 00:18:36.009
You know, I was, you know, called names and picked

00:18:36.009 --> 00:18:39.299
on. After I got diagnosed, I was told, well,

00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:41.259
your mother should have just aborted you if you

00:18:41.259 --> 00:18:43.299
were going to turn out like this. I don't think

00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:45.059
it's an unusual experience, especially for people

00:18:45.059 --> 00:18:47.400
with disabilities or who have neurodivergence

00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:49.640
to be told they shouldn't be here and they shouldn't

00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:51.880
exist because they don't have the right to exist.

00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:53.859
But that's completely not true. And that's a

00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:57.519
lie. And in my opinion, the people who have these

00:18:57.519 --> 00:18:59.660
kinds of challenges, especially early on, can

00:18:59.660 --> 00:19:02.730
sometimes grow up to be. the most powerful people

00:19:02.730 --> 00:19:04.549
who make the most change because they've been

00:19:04.549 --> 00:19:06.230
through so much early on and they've learned

00:19:06.230 --> 00:19:07.970
how to struggle and how to pursue through it.

00:19:08.289 --> 00:19:14.450
I definitely agree with that 100%. There's just

00:19:14.450 --> 00:19:19.369
some people who, I'll just say, they don't know

00:19:19.369 --> 00:19:22.470
how to treat others like they want to be treated

00:19:22.470 --> 00:19:27.960
as well. I kind of see it time and time again

00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:32.740
in the book with the elders and whatnot. I was

00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:35.960
like, everything that they've done, it's like

00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:38.160
karma's going to come around and bite them in

00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.539
the butt at some point or another. I was like,

00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:43.299
why is this starting to sound so familiar in

00:19:43.299 --> 00:19:49.019
this day and age? It's like, hmm. Stay with us.

00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:52.000
We'll be right back. Thanks to our sponsorship

00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.029
with Deep Stash. You're probably wondering, What

00:19:56.029 --> 00:19:59.390
the heck is Deep Stash? Well, Deep Stash allows

00:19:59.390 --> 00:20:04.890
you to learn new stuff every single day. You

00:20:04.890 --> 00:20:08.029
can become the smartest person in the room with

00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:10.990
unlimited access to 200 ,000 plus powerful ideas

00:20:10.990 --> 00:20:15.150
from top books, podcasts, and more. They have

00:20:15.150 --> 00:20:18.609
a generous free plan. And if you want to check

00:20:18.609 --> 00:20:21.410
them out, click the link below in the podcast

00:20:21.410 --> 00:20:25.710
descriptions. Either or will work. But definitely

00:20:25.710 --> 00:20:29.549
check them out because if you're a daily learner

00:20:29.549 --> 00:20:32.670
like me and like to learn new stuff, I don't

00:20:32.670 --> 00:20:35.990
always have time to read 11 -minute articles

00:20:35.990 --> 00:20:41.970
or 15 -minute articles during the day. So with

00:20:41.970 --> 00:20:45.109
Deep Stash, I can listen to them on the go while

00:20:45.109 --> 00:20:49.829
I'm driving the car or on an airplane, etc. So

00:20:49.829 --> 00:20:52.910
go check out my friends at Deep Stash. You won't

00:20:52.910 --> 00:21:01.509
regret it. I think people who are like that,

00:21:01.529 --> 00:21:03.869
who are the bullies of society, either they haven't

00:21:03.869 --> 00:21:06.589
been through enough themselves to understand

00:21:06.589 --> 00:21:10.509
and respect somebody's struggle, or they have

00:21:10.509 --> 00:21:12.430
been through it, but they chose to go the opposite

00:21:12.430 --> 00:21:15.069
way and become bitter instead of better. Because

00:21:15.069 --> 00:21:16.789
when you go through things, you only have two

00:21:16.789 --> 00:21:19.930
choices. You can either excel or you can basically

00:21:19.930 --> 00:21:22.049
wither. And the people who wither become the

00:21:22.049 --> 00:21:25.509
bullies. My next question for you is, how did

00:21:25.509 --> 00:21:28.990
you guys... come up with all the twists and turns

00:21:28.990 --> 00:21:31.710
because it seems like every single chapter there's

00:21:31.710 --> 00:21:37.089
like uh like my uh my my e -reader like tells

00:21:37.089 --> 00:21:40.130
me like how much like uh is left in the chapter

00:21:40.130 --> 00:21:42.529
like how many minutes left in the chapter and

00:21:42.529 --> 00:21:45.750
it's like it seems like after let's say for instance

00:21:45.750 --> 00:21:48.049
like one chapter i think it said an hour left

00:21:48.049 --> 00:21:50.869
in the chapter it's probably based on my how

00:21:50.869 --> 00:21:55.009
fast i read or have or how many pages I read

00:21:55.009 --> 00:21:58.769
that day. I don't know. But anyway, it seems

00:21:58.769 --> 00:22:02.190
like after that, at the last bit of the chapter,

00:22:02.289 --> 00:22:05.369
it's like, you think you're going to know what

00:22:05.369 --> 00:22:08.430
happens and then all of a sudden you just drop

00:22:08.430 --> 00:22:11.490
it and it's like, and this happens. And I'm like,

00:22:11.569 --> 00:22:14.269
how many twists and turns do you put in one book?

00:22:15.569 --> 00:22:17.730
I'm going to leave that question to Megan because

00:22:17.730 --> 00:22:20.569
it's usually her fault. It is usually my fault

00:22:20.569 --> 00:22:24.109
because I'm evil. I just, It sounds bad, but

00:22:24.109 --> 00:22:25.990
I really get entertained by putting characters

00:22:25.990 --> 00:22:27.789
through the worst circumstances and seeing how

00:22:27.789 --> 00:22:29.829
they're going to come out of them. You know,

00:22:29.869 --> 00:22:31.509
like I said, I think some readers really like

00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:33.630
cozy stories where not much happens and it's

00:22:33.630 --> 00:22:35.329
really comfortable. But I'm not that kind of

00:22:35.329 --> 00:22:37.009
reader. I'm not that kind of author. I want to

00:22:37.009 --> 00:22:39.369
see my characters go through the worst of the

00:22:39.369 --> 00:22:41.150
worst and come out on top because it's like a

00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:42.789
victory for them. And then it becomes like a

00:22:42.789 --> 00:22:46.299
victory for the reader, too. So I really like

00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:48.380
putting in all this crazy stuff that happens

00:22:48.380 --> 00:22:50.880
because it just amps the stakes up and makes

00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:54.099
things more interesting. Yeah, funny thing to

00:22:54.099 --> 00:22:57.839
say about that because, like, to be honest, like,

00:22:57.940 --> 00:23:02.819
I was in the midst of between a few different

00:23:02.819 --> 00:23:05.920
series and I was, like, looking for another book

00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:10.180
to read. And then when I, and then, like, I don't

00:23:10.180 --> 00:23:14.980
always use my Nook. reading app on my uh tablet

00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:20.099
and everything and i i i stumbled across the

00:23:20.099 --> 00:23:23.079
fire prophecy and i was like this looks very

00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:27.400
interesting and i was and at the first few pages

00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:30.140
i got hooked because i was like only looking

00:23:30.140 --> 00:23:34.339
for like maybe a book or like a book just to

00:23:34.339 --> 00:23:37.240
get me through it until another author of mine

00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:40.700
comes along and i was like i'm only gonna get

00:23:41.259 --> 00:23:44.720
The first book, see if I like it or not. And

00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:48.960
then the fifth book, I'm like, this wasn't supposed

00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:52.759
to happen. That's kind of what happened when

00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:56.559
we wrote it, too. We were just going to write

00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:59.279
three short books, and the first book ended up

00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:01.240
being as long as the trilogy we wanted to write.

00:24:01.539 --> 00:24:05.539
So it definitely, it's like the story just took

00:24:05.539 --> 00:24:07.740
a hold of us, and maybe that's why it takes a

00:24:07.740 --> 00:24:09.759
hold of readers, too, because it was meant to

00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:16.700
be told. So my next question for you, which characters

00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:21.519
do you most relate to and why? I relate to Liam

00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:25.960
the most, I would say. I write Liam and Alicia

00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:29.259
writes Cynthia and Liam is my character. I was

00:24:29.259 --> 00:24:31.079
going through a lot in my life at the time that

00:24:31.079 --> 00:24:33.480
I was writing Liam. So a lot of my feelings and

00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:36.579
internal monologue was processed through Liam.

00:24:36.779 --> 00:24:38.420
Because even though I wasn't going through his

00:24:38.420 --> 00:24:42.660
exact same circumstances, I was still reflecting

00:24:42.660 --> 00:24:45.000
myself onto him because I needed to figure out

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.940
what I believed about the world. And I don't

00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:49.980
relate to Liam as much anymore because I think

00:24:49.980 --> 00:24:51.779
I'm grown and turned into a different person

00:24:51.779 --> 00:24:53.859
since that time in my life. But I still think

00:24:53.859 --> 00:24:57.500
that that piece of me is personified in him and

00:24:57.500 --> 00:24:59.960
the person that he's become by the end of book

00:24:59.960 --> 00:25:03.099
six because he goes through his whole arc and

00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:05.660
his... struggles with depression and his struggles

00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:07.720
with his disease and his struggles to figure

00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:10.440
out okay well as am I worthy enough to keep living

00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:13.420
or not and he ultimately finds out yes I am and

00:25:13.420 --> 00:25:15.380
I can provide value to myself and the people

00:25:15.380 --> 00:25:18.640
around me and I think that that is such a powerful

00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:20.880
message that I was able to learn and process

00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:25.420
through him what about you Alicia I think mine

00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:27.779
would probably be Sophia but in the same way

00:25:27.779 --> 00:25:30.980
I do think I've grown a lot since we wrote her

00:25:30.980 --> 00:25:33.900
because we did finish this series like three

00:25:33.900 --> 00:25:37.279
years ago i think um when started writing five

00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:41.779
years ago but at the time like sophia was almost

00:25:41.779 --> 00:25:45.000
um i don't want to say she was me because there's

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.319
a lot about her that is like her own person but

00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:49.640
there are parts of her that are like she would

00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:52.099
react the same way that i would react in a way

00:25:52.099 --> 00:25:55.240
that she's kind of like more meek at the beginning

00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:59.359
um more kind of like a people pleaser um doesn't

00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:02.440
really know how to step into her power and things

00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:04.559
like that Megan would actually have to like push

00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:08.880
me for Sophia to even to like stand up to her

00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:10.460
bully in the book because that's not something

00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:13.339
I would have done like as a person at that time

00:26:13.339 --> 00:26:18.180
and um so yeah she's kind of like almost like

00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:21.200
a part of me has been like immoralized in her

00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:25.519
at that time but at the same time like I have

00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:28.720
grown out of a lot of that as well I think for

00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:33.140
me I kind of feel like I have I kind of relate

00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:36.700
to old floor like I can relate to Jonah as being

00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:40.380
like relaxed and laid back like I don't give

00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:44.779
a gosh darn crud and trying to keep it PG I thought

00:26:44.779 --> 00:26:46.720
of another word but I'm not going to say that

00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:53.500
and then and then Liam There's kind of like different

00:26:53.500 --> 00:26:57.019
personalities of Liam that I can relate to where

00:26:57.019 --> 00:27:01.400
I was in a depressed mood at one point or another

00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:05.140
during the bullying and I just hated every aspect

00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:07.299
of everything. I just had like this huge big

00:27:07.299 --> 00:27:12.539
dark cloud over me. But then there's other times

00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:16.680
where Liam seems like really cool and laid back

00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:21.579
and is like, oh, why can't I be cool? And then

00:27:21.579 --> 00:27:29.299
I can relate to a lot where sometimes I can't

00:27:29.299 --> 00:27:33.880
always handle the word no, depending on certain

00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:38.000
things, like no from a company for certain things.

00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:41.000
I'm not going to give a specific example because

00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:47.819
I'll just go on a rant on that. So sometimes

00:27:47.819 --> 00:27:53.390
it's that. And Imogen, I would say I relate to

00:27:53.390 --> 00:27:56.670
her because I do have some of my genius moments

00:27:56.670 --> 00:27:59.630
and then sometimes I do not have my smart whatsoever.

00:28:01.809 --> 00:28:04.569
I was like, how can this possibly be? I can relate

00:28:04.569 --> 00:28:07.170
to all four characters at the same time. I think

00:28:07.170 --> 00:28:09.369
it's because they're all people of each other.

00:28:09.849 --> 00:28:11.930
I mean, they're all different people, but they're

00:28:11.930 --> 00:28:14.930
all really close friends. And they still reflect

00:28:14.930 --> 00:28:18.549
that love and genuine friendship for each other

00:28:18.549 --> 00:28:21.069
at all times. So even though they can be total

00:28:21.069 --> 00:28:23.990
opposite, they're also identical kind of in a

00:28:23.990 --> 00:28:27.349
way. And I just have to do, before I ask you

00:28:27.349 --> 00:28:31.890
the next question, I have to say that Hayley

00:28:31.890 --> 00:28:37.450
character, she is really just plain evil. She's

00:28:37.450 --> 00:28:41.599
never nice. Has anything ever happened? Does

00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:44.319
something happen to her? Does karma come around

00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:46.960
to bite her in the butt somewhere? Karma will

00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:51.500
always come around to our characters. Karma will

00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:53.859
always come around for the good guys, not the

00:28:53.859 --> 00:28:57.380
ones who just keep beating them up, though. We

00:28:57.380 --> 00:28:59.980
have a saying in Legends world that there will

00:28:59.980 --> 00:29:01.960
always be a happy ending by the end of book six,

00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:04.660
but there's going to be hell to pay for the main

00:29:04.660 --> 00:29:07.910
characters to get to the end of book six. They

00:29:07.910 --> 00:29:10.329
always have a happy ending, but there will be

00:29:10.329 --> 00:29:13.549
a price to pay to get to that happy ending. You

00:29:13.549 --> 00:29:16.549
guys ever see having a book seven? Not in that

00:29:16.549 --> 00:29:19.589
series because Sophie and Liam's story is dumb,

00:29:19.710 --> 00:29:24.089
but they do. A little bit of a spoiler alert.

00:29:24.410 --> 00:29:28.109
They will come back in another series of the

00:29:28.109 --> 00:29:30.210
Prison for Supernatural Offenders series. You

00:29:30.210 --> 00:29:33.650
will see them after their journey in the Academy

00:29:33.650 --> 00:29:36.200
of Magical Creatures series. It follows some

00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:39.460
other characters in this world, but they kind

00:29:39.460 --> 00:29:42.720
of make some cameos. So in total, how many books

00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:46.720
have you guys written so far? Together or apart?

00:29:47.079 --> 00:29:51.400
Together. Together we have... Because everything

00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:53.359
kind of connects anyway, even if we only do it.

00:29:53.559 --> 00:29:56.680
So together we have six in the Academy of Magical

00:29:56.680 --> 00:29:59.680
Creatures series and five in the Prison for Supernatural

00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:01.599
Offenders series. They're set in the same world.

00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:04.220
Some of the same characters cross over. And then

00:30:04.220 --> 00:30:07.279
Megan has six in the University of Sorcery series.

00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:09.700
So she wrote that on her own, but it still is

00:30:09.700 --> 00:30:12.180
in the same world. And then I have five right

00:30:12.180 --> 00:30:14.599
now in the College of Witchcraft series, which

00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:18.200
is also in that same world. Jeez. Don't you ever

00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:22.380
guys get tired of writing? We get tired, but

00:30:22.380 --> 00:30:25.240
not tired of writing. We'll keep writing till

00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:30.079
we die, I think. Yeah. I co -authored a book

00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:33.900
with like 300... 65 other authors in the book

00:30:33.900 --> 00:30:37.859
and it was just like a kind of like a daily quote

00:30:37.859 --> 00:30:43.119
book and I'm I'm contemplating of writing my

00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:47.380
own book uh just about myself and my what I went

00:30:47.380 --> 00:30:51.880
through and somebody said to me it's like you're

00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:54.859
not that interesting at first and it's like interesting

00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:57.079
well I was like I wouldn't say I'm Tony Robbins

00:30:57.079 --> 00:31:00.759
interesting but I was like I sure as heck uh

00:31:01.820 --> 00:31:05.960
I would find it interesting if I was my own reader.

00:31:07.259 --> 00:31:10.339
Interesting enough. Well, I think everybody has

00:31:10.339 --> 00:31:12.319
a story to tell, and if you want to write a book,

00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:14.720
then write a book. It doesn't matter how many

00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:16.420
times you can do it or you can't do it. People

00:31:16.420 --> 00:31:19.400
told me I couldn't write books. And, like, look

00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.859
where I am now. I'm writing books. I was literally

00:31:22.859 --> 00:31:26.230
going to say the same thing. Being on the same

00:31:26.230 --> 00:31:28.730
wavelength. I was going to say everyone has a

00:31:28.730 --> 00:31:31.470
story to tell, and I am sure that yours is amazing.

00:31:32.349 --> 00:31:37.309
Well, I mean, one thing I really appreciate about

00:31:37.309 --> 00:31:42.670
the books is that it doesn't reach at the reader,

00:31:42.829 --> 00:31:47.089
because I've read a lot of books in my life,

00:31:47.190 --> 00:31:51.029
and I'll just say there's some books that doesn't

00:31:51.029 --> 00:31:54.099
just take you on a journey. like preach at you

00:31:54.099 --> 00:31:58.420
it's like hey this is this uh you're doing this

00:31:58.420 --> 00:32:03.140
wrong uh everybody's wrong at this and i like

00:32:03.140 --> 00:32:06.539
books that take you on a journey i'll be kind

00:32:06.539 --> 00:32:11.240
of escaped from uh i'm gonna say escape i mean

00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:14.859
entertaining because i just feel like in this

00:32:14.859 --> 00:32:16.779
day and age it's just so many things are just

00:32:16.779 --> 00:32:19.619
like kind of like a better reference black and

00:32:19.619 --> 00:32:23.410
white so to speak It's funny that you say that,

00:32:23.509 --> 00:32:25.529
like, we're not preaching because we'll get reviews

00:32:25.529 --> 00:32:27.890
that are like they're preaching their woke agenda.

00:32:28.150 --> 00:32:30.690
And I'm like, OK, if having disabled characters

00:32:30.690 --> 00:32:34.769
makes us woke, I guess we're woke. I'll take

00:32:34.769 --> 00:32:40.309
that with pride. Stay with us. We'll be right

00:32:40.309 --> 00:32:43.630
back. Did you know Crazy Fitness Guy is not backed

00:32:43.630 --> 00:32:48.089
by any corporate company and is just a one person

00:32:48.089 --> 00:32:51.809
show? Well. There's this term around the podcasting

00:32:51.809 --> 00:32:56.470
community called indie podcasters. I'm an independent

00:32:56.470 --> 00:33:00.529
podcast creator, so because I'm not backed by

00:33:00.529 --> 00:33:04.130
a huge big corporate company, well, if I run

00:33:04.130 --> 00:33:07.910
out of money and everything else, Crazy Fitness

00:33:07.910 --> 00:33:12.049
Guy would no longer exist. No website, no podcast,

00:33:12.430 --> 00:33:15.200
no nothing. If you want to help support the show

00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:18.599
and keep our lights on, consider becoming a premium

00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:21.660
podcast member of Crazy Fitness Guys Premium

00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:24.220
Podcast. You get behind -the -scenes access,

00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:27.720
early access to shows, private Discord server,

00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:31.079
and premium Discord roles, and exclusive behind

00:33:31.079 --> 00:33:34.700
-the -scenes access. Plans start at $399 a month

00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:43.970
or $30 a year. Honestly, like... Honestly, I

00:33:43.970 --> 00:33:48.990
don't really see that because like, and it's

00:33:48.990 --> 00:33:52.750
from my point of view, just because like, I can,

00:33:52.930 --> 00:33:57.009
because like, for someone being disabled and

00:33:57.009 --> 00:33:59.930
whatnot, and something from me being autistic,

00:34:00.170 --> 00:34:02.829
I was like, no, I can relate to a lot of this.

00:34:02.890 --> 00:34:05.769
And I appreciate that these characters have their

00:34:05.769 --> 00:34:09.650
own challenges. And there's people on the reviews.

00:34:09.750 --> 00:34:12.409
I think there's, I think a lot of people, I just

00:34:12.409 --> 00:34:14.369
troll these things, especially on the internet.

00:34:14.750 --> 00:34:16.570
Well, I can relate to what you said about a lot

00:34:16.570 --> 00:34:18.389
of issues being black and white, because I do

00:34:18.389 --> 00:34:21.210
think our world is very polarized today. I think

00:34:21.210 --> 00:34:23.170
it's very hard for a lot of people to see from

00:34:23.170 --> 00:34:25.869
other people's points of view. And we do put

00:34:25.869 --> 00:34:27.969
lessons into our novels. But the thing about

00:34:27.969 --> 00:34:30.730
our lessons is that the characters will learn

00:34:30.730 --> 00:34:32.849
something about themselves. And then it's like

00:34:32.849 --> 00:34:35.070
the next chapter that what they learned is turned

00:34:35.070 --> 00:34:36.570
on their head and they have to learn all over

00:34:36.570 --> 00:34:39.909
again. And I don't think it's polarizing or offensive

00:34:39.909 --> 00:34:44.650
or woke. To put a disabled person into your book

00:34:44.650 --> 00:34:47.769
or any kind of person, really, because these

00:34:47.769 --> 00:34:51.650
people exist. The world isn't split up into this

00:34:51.650 --> 00:34:53.530
kind of people and that kind of people. And this

00:34:53.530 --> 00:34:54.949
kind of people is the only kind of people that

00:34:54.949 --> 00:34:58.510
are allowed to be in stories. The world is diverse

00:34:58.510 --> 00:35:00.869
and wide. And if that person exists somewhere

00:35:00.869 --> 00:35:03.329
in the world, they can be in a fantasy novel.

00:35:03.550 --> 00:35:06.909
And it's not weird and it's not offensive. I

00:35:06.909 --> 00:35:10.409
think I get offensive when people say that. It's

00:35:10.409 --> 00:35:17.659
like, These people are not normal. What is normal

00:35:17.659 --> 00:35:22.619
in any sense of anything anymore? How much thing

00:35:22.619 --> 00:35:25.820
is normal? The only thing I think is normal is

00:35:25.820 --> 00:35:28.539
the normal setting on my washing machine, and

00:35:28.539 --> 00:35:30.619
that's it. And even that, I don't even know what

00:35:30.619 --> 00:35:34.079
normal does on the washing machine. It still

00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:38.699
brings my clothes anyway, so what the heck. Don't

00:35:38.699 --> 00:35:40.579
touch that button. It will self -destruct or

00:35:40.579 --> 00:35:43.760
something. I don't know. So my next question

00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:48.619
for you is, what makes you keep writing books

00:35:48.619 --> 00:35:54.400
even though sometimes you get mixed reviews on

00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:57.039
them? We don't listen to the reviews. Yeah, I

00:35:57.039 --> 00:36:00.019
don't like that. Every now and then we'll see

00:36:00.019 --> 00:36:03.400
a review. you know, not on purpose or whatever.

00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:05.820
Like we have our audio books up on YouTube. So

00:36:05.820 --> 00:36:07.420
every now and then we do have to go check those

00:36:07.420 --> 00:36:09.940
comments, make sure that people are asking questions

00:36:09.940 --> 00:36:12.880
so that we can respond to them. So we do see

00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:17.179
some of the not so nice reviews there, but we've

00:36:17.179 --> 00:36:19.500
done a lot of work to not let it get to us and

00:36:19.500 --> 00:36:21.900
just feel like, you know what, if they don't

00:36:21.900 --> 00:36:24.139
like this book, it's not for them or that's okay

00:36:24.139 --> 00:36:26.340
because there are people like you who really

00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:28.679
appreciate our work and we're writing for you

00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:31.380
and not for them. Yeah, I don't care what anybody

00:36:31.380 --> 00:36:33.059
thinks. I'm going to write what I'm going to

00:36:33.059 --> 00:36:35.840
write, and if you don't like it, that's too tough

00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:38.699
for you, but I'm going to continue to do what

00:36:38.699 --> 00:36:40.219
I was born to do and what I was born on this

00:36:40.219 --> 00:36:43.159
planet to do, and that's write books. And a lot

00:36:43.159 --> 00:36:45.039
of these silly reviews, I do think they're trolls,

00:36:45.219 --> 00:36:46.440
and I do think they're people who don't know

00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:48.159
what they're talking about. I got a review on

00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:51.199
my University of Sorcery series one time where

00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:52.900
my main character has the same exact disability

00:36:52.900 --> 00:36:56.519
that I have, and she treats herself using...

00:36:56.969 --> 00:37:00.010
The subcutaneous injections that she has to get

00:37:00.010 --> 00:37:02.889
every week and she has to use like syringes in

00:37:02.889 --> 00:37:04.889
order to do it. Well, I got a very big, long

00:37:04.889 --> 00:37:07.510
review. This person complaining that people with

00:37:07.510 --> 00:37:09.670
my disease can't use syringes. And I obviously

00:37:09.670 --> 00:37:11.369
didn't do my research and I didn't know what

00:37:11.369 --> 00:37:13.969
I was talking about. And I had to reply to this

00:37:13.969 --> 00:37:16.630
person being like, I have this disease. This

00:37:16.630 --> 00:37:18.829
is something that I go through on a daily basis.

00:37:18.889 --> 00:37:21.170
And yes, I do take these. And this person, of

00:37:21.170 --> 00:37:22.690
course, deleted their review because it made

00:37:22.690 --> 00:37:24.809
them look like they were not eligible instead

00:37:24.809 --> 00:37:27.719
of me. And a lot of the one stars, sometimes

00:37:27.719 --> 00:37:30.300
you'll go through them and you'll be like, well,

00:37:30.420 --> 00:37:32.159
this is wrong, this is wrong, and this is wrong.

00:37:32.219 --> 00:37:34.340
You didn't read the book. You just wanted to

00:37:34.340 --> 00:37:37.219
complain about it. So I really don't care if

00:37:37.219 --> 00:37:40.059
people have a bad opinion of my book or a bad

00:37:40.059 --> 00:37:42.480
opinion of anything that I write about because

00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:44.940
this is my story and this is Alicia's story and

00:37:44.940 --> 00:37:47.440
we write for the people who need our stuff. We

00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:49.980
don't write for every Tom, Dick, and Harry that's

00:37:49.980 --> 00:37:53.760
out there. I like that you said that because,

00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:57.900
you know, For my podcast, I know who my audience

00:37:57.900 --> 00:38:02.880
is. I have a specific target. I don't like the

00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:06.059
word target audience, but my specific niche audience,

00:38:06.360 --> 00:38:11.699
I'm going to rephrase that. But I do cater to

00:38:11.699 --> 00:38:15.639
as many people as possible, but not to every

00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:20.400
single person because maybe somebody likes politics.

00:38:20.539 --> 00:38:26.750
I hate politics. All about religion. I don't

00:38:26.750 --> 00:38:30.110
go over religion. But my point being is that

00:38:30.110 --> 00:38:33.550
I felt bad for this podcaster I came across in

00:38:33.550 --> 00:38:36.949
one of the podcast groups I'm a part of. He only

00:38:36.949 --> 00:38:40.449
started his very first episode the other day,

00:38:40.570 --> 00:38:43.670
and he had so many one -star reviews on, and

00:38:43.670 --> 00:38:48.230
it was because he was approaching on this competitive

00:38:48.230 --> 00:38:52.590
niche. And I was like, oh, they must feel threatened

00:38:52.590 --> 00:38:55.039
by you if you don't want to. And I was like,

00:38:55.179 --> 00:38:57.360
what the heck? And they're a bunch of trolls.

00:38:57.559 --> 00:39:00.980
And I said to them, technically, I would report

00:39:00.980 --> 00:39:04.659
them to Apple and Spotify. I'm going to be shocked

00:39:04.659 --> 00:39:06.960
if they have something in their policy about

00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:09.639
fake reviews and being trolls. And it's like,

00:39:09.719 --> 00:39:12.079
go report them. Maybe they'll take them off for

00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:17.239
you. Because Apple's so strict. I think, too,

00:39:17.340 --> 00:39:21.119
that it doesn't matter how much you try to please

00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:23.099
everyone, you're not going to, because someone's

00:39:23.099 --> 00:39:25.070
going to be upset. Someone's going to be like,

00:39:25.150 --> 00:39:28.250
oh, she's trying too hard or she's not authentic

00:39:28.250 --> 00:39:30.650
enough or whatever it is. Trying to please everyone

00:39:30.650 --> 00:39:33.489
is never going to work so might as well be yourself

00:39:33.489 --> 00:39:38.650
and be the best at being you. Literally, if I

00:39:38.650 --> 00:39:42.050
try and make every single podcast perfect, I

00:39:42.050 --> 00:39:45.469
don't think I could ever maintain it or keep

00:39:45.469 --> 00:39:49.369
doing it because I'd literally get rid of every

00:39:49.369 --> 00:39:52.230
single arm or I'd get rid of every single...

00:39:52.949 --> 00:39:57.329
pause or every single connectivity hiccup and

00:39:57.329 --> 00:40:01.050
then i can't i can't do it that's being literally

00:40:01.050 --> 00:40:03.570
impossible i was like i can only control for

00:40:03.570 --> 00:40:06.989
my internet i can control for everyone else No,

00:40:06.989 --> 00:40:09.869
we are really perfectionists. We really try to

00:40:09.869 --> 00:40:11.969
not lead errors in our books, but there are some

00:40:11.969 --> 00:40:14.650
errors. It doesn't matter if we had a team of

00:40:14.650 --> 00:40:16.230
100 people, we're never going to be able to catch

00:40:16.230 --> 00:40:18.550
every single thing that's there. There's always

00:40:18.550 --> 00:40:19.909
going to be something that slips through, and

00:40:19.909 --> 00:40:22.070
that's okay because art is meant to be abandoned,

00:40:22.090 --> 00:40:24.949
not perfected. As long as you're creating it,

00:40:24.969 --> 00:40:26.469
that's the important thing, and that you don't

00:40:26.469 --> 00:40:29.929
quit, you don't stop. What I was really shocked

00:40:29.929 --> 00:40:35.199
about in the series is when they... where it

00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:41.440
said that one side doesn't leave art has any

00:40:41.440 --> 00:40:45.639
merit to schools and whatnot. I'm like, how can

00:40:45.639 --> 00:40:47.360
that possibly be? It's like, if I didn't have

00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:50.199
art, I was like, who knows where I'd be today?

00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:56.300
My art was my escape from the bullying. Actually,

00:40:56.360 --> 00:41:00.420
during in this school days, I was like, well,

00:41:00.440 --> 00:41:03.059
if I didn't have art class, I was like, I don't

00:41:03.059 --> 00:41:07.500
know if I've, still be here. Yeah. So my next

00:41:07.500 --> 00:41:11.719
question for you is whose idea was it to create

00:41:11.719 --> 00:41:16.480
Hayley and the way she is? I think we both kind

00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:19.500
of had a hand in Hayley to be honest. I think

00:41:19.500 --> 00:41:22.920
Hayley is kind of one of those tropes that you're

00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:26.119
always going to kind of throw in because she's

00:41:26.119 --> 00:41:29.239
the bully of the series and you you need someone

00:41:29.239 --> 00:41:32.239
like characters there to challenge the main characters

00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:36.139
so we can be like hey haley is being mean let's

00:41:36.139 --> 00:41:38.820
let's do something about this and then it challenges

00:41:38.820 --> 00:41:41.619
the characters to come up with unique solutions

00:41:41.619 --> 00:41:46.039
and um kind of even sometimes question things

00:41:46.039 --> 00:41:48.900
about themselves and make improvements for themselves

00:41:48.900 --> 00:41:54.539
i think one of the hard parts of reading the

00:41:54.539 --> 00:41:58.619
series is when uh Stuff always happens to the

00:41:58.619 --> 00:42:06.280
good guys, especially with just the magical creatures

00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:11.739
getting hurt or not to give a spoiler or anything,

00:42:11.920 --> 00:42:14.880
but something happens to Imogen that you just

00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:18.079
like, let's just say, almost got rid of her.

00:42:19.840 --> 00:42:22.480
I think that's reflected in real life because

00:42:22.480 --> 00:42:24.650
of what's happening to the good guys now. The

00:42:24.650 --> 00:42:26.829
good guys always have some sort of opposition.

00:42:26.829 --> 00:42:29.010
And in fact, they usually have the most opposition

00:42:29.010 --> 00:42:31.869
because they're doing the right thing when everybody

00:42:31.869 --> 00:42:34.630
else wants to do the easy thing or the thing

00:42:34.630 --> 00:42:36.409
that everyone else is doing or the thing that's

00:42:36.409 --> 00:42:38.670
popular. And so standing up and being like, no,

00:42:38.789 --> 00:42:41.309
this is what's right. Because I think when you're

00:42:41.309 --> 00:42:44.090
a good guy and you speak up on what you believe

00:42:44.090 --> 00:42:46.190
and you're going to get opposition from people.

00:42:46.710 --> 00:42:48.349
Not even people who disagree with you. There's

00:42:48.349 --> 00:42:49.909
going to be people who come in and really don't

00:42:49.909 --> 00:42:52.170
rock the boat. And those don't rock the boat

00:42:52.170 --> 00:42:54.550
people can be a bigger obstacle than the people

00:42:54.550 --> 00:42:56.929
who are actually against you because they want

00:42:56.929 --> 00:42:58.730
to maintain the status quo. But that's not what

00:42:58.730 --> 00:43:01.949
a hero does. A hero fights for change. I definitely

00:43:01.949 --> 00:43:06.110
agree with that 100%. I'm more of a person who

00:43:06.110 --> 00:43:08.889
likes to rock the boat on many different things.

00:43:10.050 --> 00:43:14.550
I mean, I kitchened up. I've been saying on this

00:43:14.550 --> 00:43:18.960
show for many, years that there needs to be more

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:22.619
fitness programs for people with extra challenges

00:43:22.619 --> 00:43:27.719
and the other day I found out my workout platform

00:43:27.719 --> 00:43:32.840
that I use at home started having a trainer who's

00:43:32.840 --> 00:43:35.500
in a wheelchair and I was like oh that's pretty

00:43:35.500 --> 00:43:38.079
cool it's like this is like ground level stuff

00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:40.780
because I haven't seen anybody else done and

00:43:40.780 --> 00:43:44.159
and I admitted on social media it's like I could

00:43:44.159 --> 00:43:46.300
be wrong that there's maybe something else I've

00:43:46.300 --> 00:43:48.960
done before, but I haven't seen many of them.

00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:51.920
I know there's a guy on Instagram who does workouts

00:43:51.920 --> 00:43:54.420
for people with cystic fibrosis, but that's the

00:43:54.420 --> 00:43:56.480
only thing that I've heard of. Because people,

00:43:56.599 --> 00:43:58.260
I think they automatically assume, oh, you're

00:43:58.260 --> 00:44:01.420
disabled, so you don't work out, which is not

00:44:01.420 --> 00:44:03.980
true, because I grew up as an athlete. I go to

00:44:03.980 --> 00:44:06.420
the gym all the time. I'm literally in the gym.

00:44:06.519 --> 00:44:09.199
I'm literally working out like six days a week.

00:44:10.139 --> 00:44:15.119
It was the time in my life I... But I was like,

00:44:15.239 --> 00:44:19.940
why? Why am I torturing myself? I don't know.

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:22.320
I thought maybe it was cool at times. And my

00:44:22.320 --> 00:44:25.900
lucky number is nine, actually. It took me nine

00:44:25.900 --> 00:44:28.599
times to start a business. And my birthday is

00:44:28.599 --> 00:44:31.159
on October 9th. And I had nine year surgeries.

00:44:32.639 --> 00:44:37.500
So my next question for you is, do you ever see

00:44:37.500 --> 00:44:42.440
yourself having Like, bringing the four characters

00:44:42.440 --> 00:44:45.579
back from the book into, like, another series

00:44:45.579 --> 00:44:50.119
at some point down the road. Maybe, like, an

00:44:50.119 --> 00:44:53.599
aftermath of everything. Yeah, we definitely

00:44:53.599 --> 00:44:55.739
do that in Prison for Supernatural Offenders.

00:44:56.219 --> 00:45:00.179
They're actually in most of the books in that

00:45:00.179 --> 00:45:03.639
series. Like, Liam, Sophia, Jonah, and Imogen

00:45:03.639 --> 00:45:05.599
are constantly coming back there. And there's

00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:07.280
a reason for that, but we can't tell you because

00:45:07.280 --> 00:45:11.469
of the spoiler. And they also make some cameos.

00:45:11.570 --> 00:45:16.610
I know Sophia makes a cameo in mine, College

00:45:16.610 --> 00:45:18.570
of Witchcraft. I don't remember if she shows

00:45:18.570 --> 00:45:21.110
up in University, but you do have these other

00:45:21.110 --> 00:45:24.050
characters. Oh, yes, Jonah. Jonah comes back

00:45:24.050 --> 00:45:27.590
in University of Sorcery. Interesting. I'm definitely

00:45:27.590 --> 00:45:32.349
going to read them all because I like the characters.

00:45:34.030 --> 00:45:38.510
For me, If I don't have a good book, it's hard

00:45:38.510 --> 00:45:43.130
for me to keep reading. And I've made myself

00:45:43.130 --> 00:45:47.550
a list of authors who I literally follow, seeing

00:45:47.550 --> 00:45:50.349
when they come out with new books and whatnot.

00:45:50.789 --> 00:45:53.690
And I was like, okay, when this author has a

00:45:53.690 --> 00:45:55.510
book, I'm going to go get that book. And then

00:45:55.510 --> 00:45:57.909
if that author doesn't have a book, I'm going

00:45:57.909 --> 00:46:03.090
to go find this other author. Like James Patterson,

00:46:03.230 --> 00:46:06.420
even though I... really, really like James Patterson.

00:46:06.699 --> 00:46:09.780
I wouldn't say I'm tired of his books, but sometimes

00:46:09.780 --> 00:46:13.739
I get tired of everything wrapped up with a perfect

00:46:13.739 --> 00:46:21.300
bow on it. It's like, Alex Cross has completed

00:46:21.300 --> 00:46:24.280
another case. I'm like, oh, come on. Do you think

00:46:24.280 --> 00:46:29.079
that's how detectives can wrap up a case that

00:46:29.079 --> 00:46:33.539
quick? I don't think so. And there's never cliffhangers.

00:46:34.519 --> 00:46:37.300
I like books with cliffhangers, apparently. We

00:46:37.300 --> 00:46:39.380
love cliffhangers. They're in all of our books.

00:46:40.420 --> 00:46:48.059
One of the authors who followed me, my very first

00:46:48.059 --> 00:46:50.599
followers on Twitter, his name is Luke Murphy.

00:46:51.119 --> 00:46:56.440
He's written Charlene Taylor. He's also written

00:46:56.440 --> 00:47:00.659
a couple other books. I've read pretty much all

00:47:00.659 --> 00:47:04.920
of his books except for one so far. You had a

00:47:04.920 --> 00:47:09.199
lot of Western terms until I read your series.

00:47:09.599 --> 00:47:13.780
It was like, it literally keeps me on my toes.

00:47:13.920 --> 00:47:17.199
It's like, did I read that right? Often this

00:47:17.199 --> 00:47:20.139
person, and like, this is hard to keep track

00:47:20.139 --> 00:47:24.940
of. It's like on one page, this person's alive,

00:47:25.019 --> 00:47:31.250
and this other one's dead. We like to do that.

00:47:31.289 --> 00:47:33.130
We like to keep our readers on their toes. We

00:47:33.130 --> 00:47:34.730
don't like our readers to guess what's happening

00:47:34.730 --> 00:47:36.909
next. We only want to surprise them. Honestly,

00:47:37.030 --> 00:47:39.510
the only thing that I got right so far in the

00:47:39.510 --> 00:47:44.690
book was the, I think it was the third book that

00:47:44.690 --> 00:47:46.849
it happened, or was it the fourth? I think it

00:47:46.849 --> 00:47:50.610
was the third, or the, I don't want to say it.

00:47:51.329 --> 00:47:55.710
Let's just say Liam Safia's case. I think it

00:47:55.710 --> 00:47:57.829
was the third one, I believe. Yeah, it was the

00:47:57.829 --> 00:48:02.769
third one. Yeah. And I only predicted that because

00:48:02.769 --> 00:48:06.730
it was only the next logical thing that could

00:48:06.730 --> 00:48:14.070
happen. But then after that, I was like, I was

00:48:14.070 --> 00:48:17.449
not expecting this either. We like writing court

00:48:17.449 --> 00:48:19.630
cases, too. I feel like there's a court case

00:48:19.630 --> 00:48:21.610
in every Hidden Legends series. They're just

00:48:21.610 --> 00:48:25.269
fun. And sometimes Megan is like, you know what?

00:48:25.329 --> 00:48:27.570
Readers are going to know the outcome, whether

00:48:27.570 --> 00:48:30.190
they win or lose their case. They're going to

00:48:30.190 --> 00:48:32.550
know that they win, obviously, because they're

00:48:32.550 --> 00:48:35.050
the good guys or whatever. But it's the experience

00:48:35.050 --> 00:48:38.250
of going through it that's the part. I think

00:48:38.250 --> 00:48:47.250
one thing that keeps me hooked on the books is

00:48:47.250 --> 00:48:52.150
that just to keep reading and everything is that

00:48:53.480 --> 00:48:56.480
let's just say that you never know what's going

00:48:56.480 --> 00:48:59.079
to happen. And then what I really find interesting

00:48:59.079 --> 00:49:01.920
is that when you think that those characters

00:49:01.920 --> 00:49:05.800
are gone, then they just somehow magically back

00:49:05.800 --> 00:49:09.619
into the picture. And it's like, oh, that's not

00:49:09.619 --> 00:49:14.039
fair. That was rude when they come back up. Yeah.

00:49:15.199 --> 00:49:17.659
Like, we grieved for you, and now you're back.

00:49:17.860 --> 00:49:21.780
What the heck? Exactly how I feel. I mean, Imogen

00:49:21.780 --> 00:49:25.539
Shields in book five, I was like, okay, now I

00:49:25.539 --> 00:49:29.079
know how she's feeling. It's like, this character's

00:49:29.079 --> 00:49:33.840
gone and now they're just back. Just the audacity.

00:49:36.380 --> 00:49:42.360
How dare you. You know, literally after the fourth

00:49:42.360 --> 00:49:46.239
book, I knew I had to reach out to the two of

00:49:46.239 --> 00:49:49.619
you because I was like, I need them on my show

00:49:49.619 --> 00:49:53.000
because these books are just too good to pass

00:49:53.000 --> 00:49:56.800
up. And if people don't read them, that's their

00:49:56.800 --> 00:50:03.119
own problem. And I'm just amazed that you guys

00:50:03.119 --> 00:50:07.059
write this. To have a character you get to be

00:50:07.059 --> 00:50:10.420
off and then come back on and then you find out

00:50:10.420 --> 00:50:13.340
why it happened. And it's like... This is like

00:50:13.340 --> 00:50:17.780
a great TV show. That was a delicious idea, I

00:50:17.780 --> 00:50:21.440
will say. That was not mine. She says I can look

00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:24.019
at all the evil stuff, but she's guilty of some

00:50:24.019 --> 00:50:26.820
stuff too. It's not all me. I'll still blame

00:50:26.820 --> 00:50:31.500
you for it. Yeah, you will. You guys have like

00:50:31.500 --> 00:50:34.260
a board of like, okay, let's go kill this character

00:50:34.260 --> 00:50:36.340
off and kill this character off and then come

00:50:36.340 --> 00:50:38.639
back around. No, they're not really dead anymore.

00:50:39.279 --> 00:50:41.380
We have outlines, which are kind of the same

00:50:41.380 --> 00:50:43.099
thing. And the last outline we did for a book

00:50:43.099 --> 00:50:46.099
was over 20 pages long. And the next one's probably

00:50:46.099 --> 00:50:49.219
going to be just as long because we talk about

00:50:49.219 --> 00:50:50.940
like what we're going to do in a series before

00:50:50.940 --> 00:50:53.099
we even start writing. So we know the ending

00:50:53.099 --> 00:50:55.019
of book six before we even start writing book

00:50:55.019 --> 00:50:57.239
one. That's something we do every single time.

00:50:58.300 --> 00:51:00.219
And I think it really helps us because we always

00:51:00.219 --> 00:51:01.860
know where the story is going. We're never sitting

00:51:01.860 --> 00:51:03.460
here wondering, okay, well, what do we do next?

00:51:03.500 --> 00:51:04.719
Because we always know what we're going to do

00:51:04.719 --> 00:51:08.190
next. That sounds tiring. Sometimes there are

00:51:08.190 --> 00:51:12.610
surprises. Because it's like, sometimes it's

00:51:12.610 --> 00:51:14.230
just, it comes out of nowhere. And it's like,

00:51:14.250 --> 00:51:18.090
this is a really fun thing for readers to experience.

00:51:18.170 --> 00:51:20.670
But then sometimes it's like, hold on, we had

00:51:20.670 --> 00:51:24.230
this thing in book two. We don't, we didn't have

00:51:24.230 --> 00:51:26.210
like any connection anymore. Now we get to connect

00:51:26.210 --> 00:51:28.429
that in book five. And we didn't know about that

00:51:28.429 --> 00:51:30.449
when we initially wrote it. So that's really

00:51:30.449 --> 00:51:32.690
fun too. Because if we're surprised, you guys

00:51:32.690 --> 00:51:35.389
are going to be surprised. So my next question

00:51:35.389 --> 00:51:40.769
for you is, have you ever guys thought of making

00:51:40.769 --> 00:51:46.670
into a movie or a TV show? And if so, who would

00:51:46.670 --> 00:51:52.130
you cast as each of the characters? We're definitely

00:51:52.130 --> 00:51:55.690
interested in film. We can't really say that

00:51:55.690 --> 00:51:59.750
there's anything happening right now, but we

00:51:59.750 --> 00:52:03.170
talked about it and I would love to put our stuff

00:52:03.170 --> 00:52:05.650
into film. I don't know who I would cast because

00:52:05.650 --> 00:52:07.929
we've talked about doing animation and live action.

00:52:08.630 --> 00:52:12.030
So we're not sure what route we want to go with

00:52:12.030 --> 00:52:13.849
that. There are so many different opportunities

00:52:13.849 --> 00:52:16.570
that we can go. And I think by the time that

00:52:16.570 --> 00:52:19.630
we were ready to put something into film, the

00:52:19.630 --> 00:52:21.250
actors that we would choose now are not going

00:52:21.250 --> 00:52:25.070
to be the actors that we would pick. I was going

00:52:25.070 --> 00:52:28.250
to say when we initially wrote this series five,

00:52:28.409 --> 00:52:31.570
six years ago, we did have our dream cast in

00:52:31.570 --> 00:52:37.469
mind. They're too old. I would kind of say, if

00:52:37.469 --> 00:52:42.909
you don't mind me sharing, I would like to see

00:52:42.909 --> 00:52:47.289
it as a kind of anime a little bit. And the reason

00:52:47.289 --> 00:52:50.010
why I say that is because maybe you've heard

00:52:50.010 --> 00:52:52.590
of the show Stranger Things on Netflix. Yeah.

00:52:52.829 --> 00:52:57.150
Where you can see where a lot of time lapse and

00:52:57.150 --> 00:53:00.429
characters who's supposed to be young now is...

00:53:00.829 --> 00:53:04.590
very older like and it's not i wouldn't say it's

00:53:04.590 --> 00:53:08.650
a problem with some series where uh where that

00:53:08.650 --> 00:53:12.130
can happen but something something around like

00:53:12.130 --> 00:53:15.230
let's just say there's a series called uh alex

00:53:15.230 --> 00:53:19.349
rider um named uh written by anthony horowitz

00:53:19.349 --> 00:53:24.250
and it's like by a 14 year old kid spy but they

00:53:24.250 --> 00:53:30.550
made a tv show off uh on uh used to be indb But

00:53:30.550 --> 00:53:34.969
now it's freebie. And it's only like three seasons.

00:53:35.130 --> 00:53:40.670
And basically for like 14 plus books condensed

00:53:40.670 --> 00:53:44.170
into three seasons. And because the actor is

00:53:44.170 --> 00:53:48.329
now too old to play the 14 -year -old spy, I

00:53:48.329 --> 00:53:50.949
was like, should have went with anime. Because

00:53:50.949 --> 00:53:53.949
at least the person's voice, even if they got

00:53:53.949 --> 00:53:57.070
deeper, it's like, okay, well, anybody's voice

00:53:57.070 --> 00:54:03.869
can change. I could have kept with it. For instance,

00:54:03.949 --> 00:54:06.449
there's this other show called The Dragon Prince

00:54:06.449 --> 00:54:09.670
on Netflix. I've watched The Dragon Prince. And

00:54:09.670 --> 00:54:15.090
there's this one of the main actors who voiced

00:54:15.090 --> 00:54:23.190
Sokka in Avatar The Last Airbender. I think he's

00:54:23.190 --> 00:54:26.690
like 30s or 40s or something. Yeah, he's pretty

00:54:26.690 --> 00:54:31.000
old. He plays a young kid. But his voice doesn't

00:54:31.000 --> 00:54:35.300
change, or if it does, he's one of those lucky

00:54:35.300 --> 00:54:39.000
ones who can... But because it's anime, who really

00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:42.420
cares if somebody's playing horrible or old?

00:54:42.579 --> 00:54:46.760
But again, that's just my opinion. I think we're

00:54:46.760 --> 00:54:48.760
kind of away with a little bit more because they're

00:54:48.760 --> 00:54:51.719
college kids, so they look older anyway. But

00:54:51.719 --> 00:54:53.699
I think when the time comes, we really have to

00:54:53.699 --> 00:54:57.199
sit down and consider what we wanted to do. I

00:54:57.199 --> 00:55:01.210
just want... I know my opinion doesn't give a

00:55:01.210 --> 00:55:04.530
who, but... You're a fan, and we take our fan

00:55:04.530 --> 00:55:06.829
considerations into perspective when we do anything.

00:55:07.329 --> 00:55:09.449
You know, we're always in our fan group asking

00:55:09.449 --> 00:55:11.050
our fans what they want and what they want to

00:55:11.050 --> 00:55:16.030
see. But I just wanted to share because I was

00:55:16.030 --> 00:55:18.489
just kind of pretty bummed that the Alex Reyes

00:55:18.489 --> 00:55:21.989
series overran three seasons. So you condensed

00:55:21.989 --> 00:55:26.280
14 books and didn't even get to the... the real

00:55:26.280 --> 00:55:29.719
enemy of the whole book. And I was like, okay.

00:55:29.760 --> 00:55:32.320
Oh, that was the last one in the series. And

00:55:32.320 --> 00:55:35.340
I was like, I'm going to finish it up. But I

00:55:35.340 --> 00:55:37.300
was like, okay, they really should have went

00:55:37.300 --> 00:55:39.619
anime on this thing. And I was like, because

00:55:39.619 --> 00:55:43.639
I could, it was a great show, but I don't know.

00:55:44.059 --> 00:55:49.920
I don't know. 14 year old spy, actor got old,

00:55:50.139 --> 00:55:53.199
should have just went anime. I don't know. That's

00:55:53.199 --> 00:55:57.019
just my opinion. My last few questions for you

00:55:57.019 --> 00:56:01.280
are, who's your favorite podcaster and why? And

00:56:01.280 --> 00:56:03.780
feel free not to say me. Favorite podcaster.

00:56:03.780 --> 00:56:06.519
Do you have an answer for that one, Alicia? I

00:56:06.519 --> 00:56:09.860
love Catherine Zanchina of the Manifestation

00:56:09.860 --> 00:56:12.159
Babe podcast. I've listened to pretty much all

00:56:12.159 --> 00:56:16.059
of hers. So it's a bit woo, but I'm into that.

00:56:16.199 --> 00:56:19.960
I write paranormal books, not a spy. And then

00:56:19.960 --> 00:56:23.960
I've really... been into james men wedmore of

00:56:23.960 --> 00:56:26.880
mind your business podcast um so he talks about

00:56:26.880 --> 00:56:30.179
like business stuff mindset and um yeah i love

00:56:30.179 --> 00:56:33.659
both of them i have to look at the name of my

00:56:33.659 --> 00:56:37.079
favorite podcaster because i don't i don't remember

00:56:37.079 --> 00:56:41.440
the name but i listened to so many episodes what's

00:56:41.440 --> 00:56:44.159
the name of the podcast oh this thing i don't

00:56:44.159 --> 00:56:48.639
know the name of the podcast oh no i think we

00:56:48.639 --> 00:56:53.010
lost alicia I think your thing might have went

00:56:53.010 --> 00:56:56.409
out. I'm back. Oh, yay, you're back. I thought

00:56:56.409 --> 00:57:02.530
you were gone. Technology's evil. Okay, I can't

00:57:02.530 --> 00:57:04.150
find the name of the podcast, but I will tell

00:57:04.150 --> 00:57:08.829
you, I really like any girl in my age group.

00:57:08.889 --> 00:57:11.570
I like listening to murder mystery podcasts,

00:57:12.030 --> 00:57:15.489
and I also really like listening to podcasts

00:57:15.489 --> 00:57:17.909
about cults and things like that. I'm like a

00:57:17.909 --> 00:57:21.280
crime junkie. So that's my thing. That's probably

00:57:21.280 --> 00:57:24.300
also why some of my ideas are so twisted, just

00:57:24.300 --> 00:57:28.440
because I am really into that kind of crime aspect

00:57:28.440 --> 00:57:30.860
of stuff. So that's where I'm at with podcasting.

00:57:32.639 --> 00:57:36.920
My mom watches a lot of NCIS and all the Murder

00:57:36.920 --> 00:57:40.300
Mysteries TV shows, and it's like, we really

00:57:40.300 --> 00:57:43.679
need to have a therapist to talk to you about.

00:57:44.289 --> 00:57:46.769
I had to back off on it because I think if you

00:57:46.769 --> 00:57:48.590
listen to it too much, it kind of affects your

00:57:48.590 --> 00:57:51.250
mental state. So I don't let myself listen to

00:57:51.250 --> 00:57:53.309
too much of it. But every now and then I will,

00:57:53.309 --> 00:57:55.289
you know, allow myself to listen to an episode

00:57:55.289 --> 00:57:58.909
or two. I love murder mysteries as well. And

00:57:58.909 --> 00:58:01.550
I always kind of try to put some in my books.

00:58:02.530 --> 00:58:05.090
But yeah, I tried to watch Criminal Minds and

00:58:05.090 --> 00:58:08.230
it's a great show. But I started having really

00:58:08.230 --> 00:58:15.239
weird dreams. I'm like, I don't know if I can

00:58:15.239 --> 00:58:20.179
keep watching this show. Yeah, I used to watch

00:58:20.179 --> 00:58:26.119
Criminal Minds and I got to a point where I couldn't

00:58:26.119 --> 00:58:30.719
sleep at night anymore. And I was like, because

00:58:30.719 --> 00:58:34.239
I noticed from my brain being autistic, it's

00:58:34.239 --> 00:58:37.460
like a replay in your mind that goes over and

00:58:37.460 --> 00:58:43.150
over and over again. Oh, crap. I was like, it's

00:58:43.150 --> 00:58:45.070
a good thing that I can remember lines of TV

00:58:45.070 --> 00:58:47.730
shows and movies and whatnot. I find that's cool.

00:58:48.170 --> 00:58:50.769
But I was like, at the same time, they can also,

00:58:50.889 --> 00:58:55.409
depending on how gruesome the scenes are in the

00:58:55.409 --> 00:58:58.369
book, it's like, nothing. I did find the name

00:58:58.369 --> 00:59:00.309
of that podcast, by the way. It's called Leaving

00:59:00.309 --> 00:59:03.670
Eden. And the hosts are Sadie and Gabi. And I

00:59:03.670 --> 00:59:06.420
just, I really like their content. It focuses

00:59:06.420 --> 00:59:08.780
on cults and things like that, and it's very

00:59:08.780 --> 00:59:11.699
interesting to me. I haven't listened to an episode

00:59:11.699 --> 00:59:13.420
in a while just because I've been so busy because

00:59:13.420 --> 00:59:15.860
we're producing a lot of audiobooks right now.

00:59:16.639 --> 00:59:18.980
I think I've released 30 audiobooks this year

00:59:18.980 --> 00:59:22.559
at least, but when I finally have time, I'm looking

00:59:22.559 --> 00:59:25.900
to get back into it. You make it sound so easy.

00:59:26.900 --> 00:59:29.820
It is and it isn't because I just feel like this

00:59:29.820 --> 00:59:32.380
is what I was born to do, and this is what I

00:59:32.380 --> 00:59:35.280
do naturally, and this is what I do best. I don't

00:59:35.280 --> 00:59:38.079
think it's difficult to do what you love. I think

00:59:38.079 --> 00:59:40.440
what's difficult is continuing to do it despite

00:59:40.440 --> 00:59:43.739
the obstacles that are in your way. And my last

00:59:43.739 --> 00:59:46.340
question for you is where can people follow you,

00:59:46.400 --> 00:59:49.139
find you? Where can they find your books? Are

00:59:49.139 --> 00:59:52.360
they all over the place? So you can find me at

00:59:52.360 --> 00:59:55.539
MeganLinsky .com and I'm on Facebook as well.

00:59:56.030 --> 01:00:00.530
And you can find Alicia and me together at HiddenLegendsBooks

01:00:00.530 --> 01:00:03.309
.com. And our Facebook group is Arenda Academy

01:00:03.309 --> 01:00:06.010
of Magical Creatures. That's where all our friends

01:00:06.010 --> 01:00:09.030
hang out. And that's where everybody likes to

01:00:09.030 --> 01:00:12.150
like discuss fan theories and chill and, you

01:00:12.150 --> 01:00:14.969
know, be who they are. And Alicia, you want to

01:00:14.969 --> 01:00:19.469
get your website on top of that? Yes, I am AliciaRadisAuthor

01:00:19.469 --> 01:00:22.449
.com. As far as where you can find our books,

01:00:22.550 --> 01:00:25.469
we're pretty much... anywhere ebooks are sold

01:00:25.469 --> 01:00:29.269
anywhere audiobooks are sold and then um online

01:00:29.269 --> 01:00:31.730
you can order our print books and most bookstores

01:00:31.730 --> 01:00:34.909
and order them to the store as well awesome and

01:00:34.909 --> 01:00:37.289
uh i'll leave all this stuff in the show notes

01:00:37.289 --> 01:00:42.050
uh and uh i uh definitely look forward to reading

01:00:42.050 --> 01:00:45.849
more of your books uh i see i literally got myself

01:00:45.849 --> 01:00:49.650
into trouble with a few some few of my uh colleagues

01:00:49.650 --> 01:00:52.010
and it's like you didn't read my books yet it's

01:00:52.010 --> 01:00:55.610
like I'm stuck on reading on this series at the

01:00:55.610 --> 01:01:00.789
moment. Brenna and Megan and Alicia, that's my

01:01:00.789 --> 01:01:04.150
fault. You need to read this and you'll understand

01:01:04.150 --> 01:01:10.230
why I'm so addicted. Yeah, since I have a big

01:01:10.230 --> 01:01:17.210
pile up on my reading app that I keep track of

01:01:17.210 --> 01:01:20.420
all my books. Oh, some people are going to get

01:01:20.420 --> 01:01:22.099
annoyed at me. It's like, why haven't you read

01:01:22.099 --> 01:01:25.679
my book yet? Because I'm reading this. I'm reading

01:01:25.679 --> 01:01:29.320
this. Not my fault. I'm reading it too because

01:01:29.320 --> 01:01:34.920
it's crazy. Thank you for that. I really appreciate

01:01:34.920 --> 01:01:38.280
that and we really appreciate you and asking

01:01:38.280 --> 01:01:40.739
us to be on the podcast with you and sharing

01:01:40.739 --> 01:01:44.539
this wonderful hour together. Thanks for tuning

01:01:44.539 --> 01:01:46.860
into Crazy Fitness Guy Healthy Living Podcast.

01:01:47.320 --> 01:01:49.579
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us

01:01:49.579 --> 01:01:51.940
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01:02:19.809 --> 01:02:22.969
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