Robb Pearlman

[00:00:00] This is The Big Sci-Fi Podcast, the biggest sci-fi podcast in the galaxy, a proud part of the Trek Geeks Podcast Network.

[00:00:08] Season 6 was a blast, but Season 7 is going to be even more fun as we continue to go where no podcast has gone before, deep into the sci-fi universe.

[00:00:19] Join Idina, Brian, Chris, and Steve as they explore television, film, and literature for the best sci-fi has to offer.

[00:00:26] Even if you're not a sci-fi fan, you'll love the banter and the epic tangents as these four friends talk about what they love.

[00:00:34] We invite you to sit back and relax because the journey is just beginning on this season of The Big Sci-Fi Podcast.

[00:00:45] Welcome back, listeners of The Big Sci-Fi Podcast.

[00:00:48] Today, my co-hosts and I are beyond excited to introduce a very special guest, the brilliant and witty Robb Pearlman.

[00:00:56] If you're a fan of pop culture, humor, or Star Trek, you are in for a treat.

[00:01:02] Robb is an accomplished author, editor, and all-around pop culture aficionado whose work spans from children's books to hilarious must-read fan guides for adults.

[00:01:12] Now, you might recognize his work from iconic titles like Fun with Kirk and Spock, and Body by Starfleet, or his beloved books about Bob Ross and Peapod the Squirrel.

[00:01:25] Robb's ability to bring a playful yet heartfelt tone to everything he touches has endeared him to fans of all ages and genres.

[00:01:33] His books capture the spirit of nostalgia while keeping things fresh and humorous for today's readers.

[00:01:39] To include, Robb will hopefully tell us about some of his recently released books, to include ones that cover Superboy, I Love Lucy, and Scooby-Doo, and some of his upcoming releases.

[00:01:50] Now, we're going to deep dive into his creative process, his personal love for Star Trek, and get his take on what makes pop culture so universally fun and engaging.

[00:02:00] So, without further ado, let's give a warm welcome to Robb Pearlman.

[00:02:04] Hi, Robb.

[00:02:06] Hello, everyone.

[00:02:07] Thanks for having me.

[00:02:07] The crowd goes wild.

[00:02:09] Ah!

[00:02:10] Whoa!

[00:02:10] Whoa!

[00:02:12] Please, sit down.

[00:02:13] Sit down.

[00:02:14] Embarrassing.

[00:02:15] Okay, good, good, good, good, good.

[00:02:16] Good.

[00:02:17] That's what we, you know, what I like to do with my intros is attempt to, you know, embarrass people, if that's possible.

[00:02:22] But I guess what I really first want to know is what drew you to writing?

[00:02:28] And then we'll talk about the pop culture aspect, you know, because there's writing, and then there's the unique style of writing that you do,

[00:02:35] which I'm dying to hear about how this all came together for you.

[00:02:39] Oh, it's a really good question.

[00:02:42] And I think it all goes back to my parents were always giving me books to read.

[00:02:50] I never remember not having a book around when I was little.

[00:02:55] And then even before school, we would go to the library once a week, and I would just be let loose in the picture book section.

[00:03:05] And I really remember one particular day, and I couldn't have been more than four or five, I think.

[00:03:14] And I remember, like, wandering over to the Hardy Boys books and really wanting to read all of the Hardy Boys books,

[00:03:22] because I liked the way all of the spines looked on the shelf.

[00:03:25] And I thought, oh, well, that's interesting.

[00:03:28] And the librarian took the first one off the shelf, and she was like, if you can read this, you can take it out.

[00:03:33] And I struggled with the word motorcycle.

[00:03:36] Yes, yes.

[00:03:38] And she said, well, maybe these books are more your speed.

[00:03:42] And then she sort of turned me around back into the picture books.

[00:03:44] I was like, oh, yeah, these are good for now.

[00:03:47] So, I mean, every week, I would just come home with a stack of picture books.

[00:03:52] And then eventually it was, you know, it was a little bit older books.

[00:03:56] But books were always around.

[00:03:58] Books were always important and valued.

[00:04:03] Whenever we would go to the mall, I would spend an hour in the bookstore.

[00:04:08] And then my parents would always buy me a book or two.

[00:04:11] So, I just felt like books were important and everybody should have a book.

[00:04:21] And it wasn't until I got a little bit older and was in school when I realized, oh, people write these books.

[00:04:28] What's that about?

[00:04:29] And how do you do that?

[00:04:32] Interesting.

[00:04:33] Did you ever make it back to the Hardy Boys?

[00:04:36] I did in a very weird, circuitous way.

[00:04:40] I worked in publishing for a while.

[00:04:43] And one of my jobs eventually sort of evolved into being the brand manager for Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.

[00:04:50] I'll be darned.

[00:04:51] Wow.

[00:04:51] Oh, my gosh.

[00:04:52] That's cool.

[00:04:53] It was pretty incredible.

[00:04:55] So, I was in charge of when we relaunched all of those books.

[00:05:00] So, working with the editorial and the writers and marketing to figure out, like, who the new Frank and Joe were going to be.

[00:05:08] And what clothes did they wear?

[00:05:10] And what did the new car look like?

[00:05:11] And it was a really oddly strange and satisfying full circle moment.

[00:05:19] Wow, that's neat.

[00:05:20] Did they take the old books and update them?

[00:05:23] Or were these brand new stories and characters and things like that from those?

[00:05:28] These were totally new stories.

[00:05:30] Okay, thank you.

[00:05:31] Yeah.

[00:05:32] Yeah.

[00:05:32] Those books are still out there and still in print.

[00:05:35] But we thought, you know, it was the early aughts, I think.

[00:05:40] And we thought it's time for a little bit of an update to give Nancy and the boys a little bit of a pep.

[00:05:47] Nice.

[00:05:47] The reason I asked that question, why it piqued my interest is I just started reading the first Hardy Boys book to my son.

[00:05:54] We've got five or six of them.

[00:05:58] And I loved them as a kid.

[00:06:00] And you say motorcycle.

[00:06:02] That's why he likes this first story.

[00:06:04] They're riding their motorcycles and they get run off the road, you know.

[00:06:08] And what is that?

[00:06:09] Tower Treasure or something like that.

[00:06:11] And so that's why it piqued my interest.

[00:06:15] I'm like, oh, my gosh.

[00:06:16] Yeah, cool.

[00:06:17] So that's a really neat connection, though.

[00:06:19] It was great.

[00:06:20] It was great.

[00:06:21] Yeah.

[00:06:23] Before I hit Hardy Boys, I did Encyclopedia Brown, though.

[00:06:28] Encyclopedia Brown.

[00:06:29] Yeah.

[00:06:30] I think, yeah, my daughters were into that.

[00:06:34] Boy Detective.

[00:06:36] With Bugs and Uni, he was always the guy who did all the bad stuff.

[00:06:40] So after a while, he kind of figured out it was Bugs.

[00:06:42] Yeah.

[00:06:43] Nice.

[00:06:44] So what was the first thing you wrote or tried writing?

[00:06:47] Yeah.

[00:06:49] Ever?

[00:06:50] Yeah.

[00:06:51] Let's start with ever.

[00:06:52] Go back to Wayback Machine.

[00:06:54] Turn it on the Wayback Machine.

[00:06:56] Exactly.

[00:06:57] There was an assignment in, I want to say, sixth grade, I think, where we had to write our own storybooks.

[00:07:05] And then my class was going to read those books to the younger kids in school.

[00:07:14] And I wrote a story.

[00:07:16] I still have the book about a blueberry named Herbie.

[00:07:21] Oh, that's great.

[00:07:22] And I wrote the story and I designed it.

[00:07:25] And my mom and a neighbor bound the book.

[00:07:29] I don't know how they did it.

[00:07:30] It was magic to me.

[00:07:31] But it looked like a hardcover book.

[00:07:35] Yeah, that was probably the first quote unquote book I ever read.

[00:07:40] And is that said book still alive or is it part of history?

[00:07:46] Oh, no.

[00:07:46] It's right there.

[00:07:48] Oh, that's great.

[00:07:49] That's great.

[00:07:50] Yeah.

[00:07:52] So how did you go from this, like, appreciation or love of reading and thinking about, ooh, writing to actually doing these pop culture, which this is a very unique version of writing.

[00:08:07] You know, there's a lot of short stories, a lot of novelists.

[00:08:09] But then you have these kinds of books, which I don't know what to I don't know what to call them.

[00:08:14] These kinds of books.

[00:08:15] Other than fun.

[00:08:15] Right.

[00:08:16] Well, they're fun.

[00:08:17] But they're so much fun.

[00:08:19] And which is why I have, like, at least a dozen or more of them around my house.

[00:08:22] I pulled out a few just to have here handy.

[00:08:25] But like I said, they're sprinkled around like the house because I have bookshelves all over the house.

[00:08:29] And so I've got one here, one there, one there.

[00:08:31] Yeah.

[00:08:32] Yeah.

[00:08:32] You know, pop culture writing, when you're working with other people's IP, intellectual property, it's a tricky thing because it's not necessarily your creation.

[00:08:47] You're playing in other people's sandboxes.

[00:08:50] So you have to understand the property and you have to understand the readership for it and in some way contribute or expand or hit a note in what you're trying to do that's different from everything else that's out there.

[00:09:09] So when I approach pop culture writing, I'm usually approaching it as a fan.

[00:09:16] To some degree.

[00:09:18] I tend to try to work on stuff that I feel a personal affinity for.

[00:09:25] So when I'm approaching it as a fan, I'm starting off with thinking about all of the things that I love about the thing.

[00:09:32] And then, you know, sometimes it's, well, if I was going to write a story, which I am, what's it going to be about?

[00:09:41] I tend to try to take a little bit of a different look at the thing.

[00:09:47] Um, so like fun with Kirk and Spock and red shirts, little book of doom.

[00:09:52] It's, it's from a slightly skewered view of the Star Trek universe.

[00:09:57] Um, it's not just a straight Star Trek story.

[00:10:01] Um, so I think, you know, the way I approach it is it has to feel like the thing it's trying to expand upon.

[00:10:11] Um, whether it's a Bob Ross story or a Rick and Morty book or, um, or Star Trek, I'm looking at my shelf to see what else I've done or a Scooby-Doo book.

[00:10:23] It has to, it has to make sense.

[00:10:25] There has to be a reason for that book to exist.

[00:10:28] Um, and I, and I think that reasoning is, um, sort of apparent in whatever book I'm doing.

[00:10:35] If it's an original creation, um, I'm always thinking, well, this could be a fun story, but why does this book need to exist?

[00:10:43] Um, who is the readership for, and what is it trying to do in the world?

[00:10:49] Um, question with something like fun with Kirk and Spock or any other Star Trek material, since it is copyrighted, protected, and controlled by CBS, Paramount, Godzilla, or whatever they are now.

[00:11:03] Incorporated.

[00:11:04] Could, could be Sky Dancer, whatever they're going to be.

[00:11:07] Um, do you have to run your manuscript by them for copyright approval?

[00:11:14] What is the process of that for clearance in such, such a situation?

[00:11:18] All of my Star Trek books are fully authorized.

[00:11:21] Okay.

[00:11:21] So they see everything for approval.

[00:11:25] So where does that start?

[00:11:26] Do they appreciate your brand of humor?

[00:11:28] They do.

[00:11:29] They do.

[00:11:30] Oh, good, good.

[00:11:30] Um, when I, when the idea of fun with Kirk and Spock first happened, I, I, I talked to my agent about it.

[00:11:38] And then, um, I talked to a publisher just for like a soft read about it and then approached Paramount.

[00:11:45] And the email I got back was LOL.

[00:11:48] Okay.

[00:11:49] Oh, okay.

[00:11:49] I think they get what I'm trying to do here.

[00:11:51] Good.

[00:11:52] All right.

[00:11:52] Thank you.

[00:11:53] Yeah.

[00:11:54] Yeah.

[00:11:54] There, there is a team at the company, um, who make sure that I'm, I'm playing appropriately in the sandbox.

[00:12:02] Okay.

[00:12:03] And that I'm not, not that I would ever do this, but, um, not doing anything to obviously hurt the brand, but, you know, occasionally they'll find an error.

[00:12:13] Um, in, you know, if I'm calling, I think once I, I, um, it was in relation to an illustration that was being,

[00:12:24] drawn and I called them an Orion instead of an Andorian.

[00:12:28] And it was just a, it was just a typo.

[00:12:30] And they're like, you know, better than this.

[00:12:31] I'm like, what did I do?

[00:12:32] Of course.

[00:12:35] Hey, they've got to find something wrong.

[00:12:37] They're auditing the book.

[00:12:38] If we don't find something wrong, we don't have a job.

[00:12:41] So, okay, we'll find something.

[00:12:43] Yeah.

[00:12:43] Yeah.

[00:12:43] Okay.

[00:12:44] So whether, you know, whether I'm writing a Star Trek book or Scooby-Doo book or a Marvel book, um, they see everything every step of the way.

[00:12:51] Good.

[00:12:52] Okay.

[00:12:52] Do you, do you pitch the idea first or do you write the man, like a draft manuscript first?

[00:12:58] Uh, it depends on what it is.

[00:13:01] If it's, if it's a particularly long book, um, and it's going to be very involved, sometimes I'll do maybe a sample chapter or some sample spreads.

[00:13:11] Um, but I really, that's part of just sort of an overall proposal that I'm putting together.

[00:13:16] Um, you know, sometimes if it's a, if it's a book like fun with Kirk and Spock or, um, red shirts, little book of doom.

[00:13:25] Um, if you, if you don't get it within the first few pages, um, if you don't get it within the first few pages, then it's probably a bad idea.

[00:13:55] That sort of makes sense for it.

[00:13:57] Sure.

[00:13:57] Sure.

[00:13:57] Yeah.

[00:13:58] I'm, I have those on my list.

[00:13:59] The, the prodigy middle grade ones.

[00:14:01] I really, I love this one.

[00:14:02] I have, uh, for the folks because we're audio only.

[00:14:05] And so people can't see I'm holding up live like a Vulcan, love, like a Wookiee, laugh, like a Hobbit, which I think is probably one of my favorite ones that I own and have read of yours.

[00:14:16] Cause I don't have all 70 or almost 80.

[00:14:19] I have a lot, but I love this one because it is like just a little, like life less, you know, all the little lessons you get from different pop culture and fandoms.

[00:14:30] It's, it's beautiful.

[00:14:31] I love it.

[00:14:31] So if our listeners were going to buy one, I would recommend this.

[00:14:37] Would you please put one more plug in there for Rob of the book?

[00:14:43] Okay.

[00:14:45] Live like a Vulcan, love, like a Wookiee, laugh, like a Hobbit.

[00:14:50] It's fine.

[00:14:50] That was, that was a really fun and important one for me to write.

[00:14:55] Um, because I was able to pour a lot of the thing, all of the things that I love.

[00:15:00] It's all in here.

[00:15:01] Yeah.

[00:15:02] It's all in there.

[00:15:03] It's all in there.

[00:15:03] Um, and, and even if I didn't love the thing, I appreciated it for, for what it is, um, as a piece of pop culture.

[00:15:11] So, um, yeah, that one, that, that book took a lot out of me.

[00:15:18] I'm intrigued by the love, like a Wookiee portion of the book.

[00:15:22] I, since I have not read it.

[00:15:25] You know, Wookiees, Wookiees love.

[00:15:29] Yeah.

[00:15:29] I love the love.

[00:15:30] Oh yeah, they've got feelings.

[00:15:31] The line is, you don't upset a Wookiee to rip your arm off or something like that.

[00:15:36] You know what I mean?

[00:15:36] It's a little more violent.

[00:15:38] They're very, they're very passionate.

[00:15:40] They're very passionate.

[00:15:41] As much as they can be enraged, they can love just as passionate.

[00:15:45] Indeed.

[00:15:46] I mean, that was one of the impetuses for the book because, you know, from Star Wars, I got Let the Wookiee Win.

[00:15:53] It was a pretty good life lesson.

[00:15:55] Um, the one that I've always really liked and it was going to be the title of the book, but we changed it, was Fly Casual.

[00:16:03] Oh, this is a better title.

[00:16:04] Yeah.

[00:16:05] This is a much better title.

[00:16:06] This is a better title.

[00:16:07] Yeah, totally.

[00:16:08] Totally.

[00:16:09] It was going to be Fly Casual and then we changed it to You're Going to Need a Bigger Boat.

[00:16:15] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:16] So, strangely, not enough people understood where that was from.

[00:16:19] So, that was-

[00:16:19] Oh, you're kidding me.

[00:16:20] Oh, my goodness.

[00:16:20] Yeah, I was shocked.

[00:16:21] I was shocked.

[00:16:22] So, what's really funny is-

[00:16:23] My jaws are hanging open.

[00:16:25] Oh.

[00:16:26] Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

[00:16:27] Sorry.

[00:16:28] Sorry, Brian.

[00:16:29] I was rereading a little bit of this earlier today in preparation for this evening and the, you're going to need a bigger boat.

[00:16:37] I'm, I'm at, the way you wrote about it, I need to use that tomorrow morning in a meeting at work.

[00:16:43] Oh, great.

[00:16:44] To explain to some people that they need to, you know, whatever they're thinking, they need to plan bigger.

[00:16:52] Yeah.

[00:16:54] Never heard of that.

[00:16:55] I have a plan.

[00:16:56] Yep.

[00:16:56] But a bigger plan.

[00:16:58] A bigger plan.

[00:16:59] Plan might be a little chintzy.

[00:17:01] Yeah.

[00:17:01] So, when did you first get into Star Trek?

[00:17:04] Star Trek.

[00:17:05] I have been lucky where I, I have grown up in a world where Star Trek has always existed.

[00:17:11] Hmm.

[00:17:12] So, I remember sitting on Sunday afternoons with my parents and my grandparents watching reruns of Star Trek.

[00:17:23] Um, and it was, you know, I think we all watched the show for different reasons and we're getting different things out of it.

[00:17:32] Um, so, you know, that was original series and it was on syndication.

[00:17:37] So, it was on, it was on a lot.

[00:17:39] Mm-hmm.

[00:17:40] And it was kind of always on in the background.

[00:17:42] So, it sort of seeped into my brain that way, I think.

[00:17:47] And then, you know, pop culturally, I just, I remember Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner and George Takei just sort of like being celebrities around.

[00:17:58] And it was, I was still really, really young.

[00:18:01] So, it took me a minute to realize that the characters weren't the actors necessarily if they came on TV in a different thing.

[00:18:08] Yeah.

[00:18:08] Mm-hmm.

[00:18:09] Um, like I remember seeing Shatner in that Twilight, in the Twilight Zone episodes.

[00:18:15] And like, it took a couple of seconds for me to realize, oh, it's just a, he's an actor.

[00:18:20] He's not the actual character.

[00:18:22] Yeah.

[00:18:23] And then, you know, as I grew up, you know, the books were always around and the merchandise was always around.

[00:18:29] And then, um, I remember when the movie came out.

[00:18:35] And, you know, I'm, I'm a Gen X kid.

[00:18:38] Star Wars was, was a big thing.

[00:18:40] But seeing Star Trek in the theater, for all that could be said about the first movie, it was the first time I had ever seen a TV show that big.

[00:18:53] Yeah.

[00:18:53] Yeah.

[00:18:54] And that's, that's good.

[00:18:55] That was really interesting.

[00:18:57] I'd seen movies on TV, but I'd never seen a TV show on a movie screen like that.

[00:19:04] Good point.

[00:19:04] And that felt important to me, sort of like culturally and personally.

[00:19:11] Oh, this could be these things that are on our little box and in the TV in our living rooms could be blown up and made a lot bigger.

[00:19:20] Yeah.

[00:19:20] Um, and there were no commercials and it was a long story and, you know, lots of glamour shots of the enterprise, which.

[00:19:27] Yeah.

[00:19:28] Uh huh.

[00:19:29] I love it.

[00:19:30] I love it.

[00:19:31] I love it.

[00:19:31] Yeah.

[00:19:32] Um, but it was a different experience and that sort of cemented a little bit more Star Trek into my brain.

[00:19:40] And, um, I remember when, when TNG came out and then, you know, the, the other series, my, I had a roommate after college.

[00:19:48] He was really into Star Trek.

[00:19:50] Um, so then we would go see the movies together and it, it became an event and a cultural thing for us and something to talk about and something to, you know, compare it to other pop culture properties that were out there.

[00:20:03] So it's, I feel really lucky that I've never not had Star Trek, you know, which sounds super corny, but it does, but it doesn't.

[00:20:14] Cause I'm, I am right with you.

[00:20:16] I grew up watching the reruns of the original track with my dad on Saturday evenings.

[00:20:22] And then next gen came out, D space nine void, all that stuff.

[00:20:26] And I've never heard anyone say like you just did.

[00:20:30] I'm lucky to have, I've always known Star Trek, you know?

[00:20:34] Um, and that, I think is a, I think that's an experience that a lot of Star Trek fans have had, but then I love that you're talking about how it felt to see the motion picture.

[00:20:45] Um, cause that film for me, I, it was almost, it was like this cerebral experience for me and it just transcended a lot in my imagination.

[00:21:01] It just really took me to another place.

[00:21:04] And I loved all the extra shots of the ship.

[00:21:06] I loved seeing it fly through V'ger and the music was breathtaking.

[00:21:11] And so in my opinion, one of the best scores for any science fiction film period ever.

[00:21:18] And, uh, just the, how you, how you describe your experience is really beautiful.

[00:21:24] Um, I think a lot of Star Trek fans feel the same way, but I've never heard anyone say I'm, I've been lucky to know just as Star Trek's always been a part of my life.

[00:21:34] That's, that's a really neat way to put it.

[00:21:36] Thanks.

[00:21:36] And the beauty of the movie was, is that we were so used to watching cardboard cutout sets with light bulbs and things like that.

[00:21:45] And you had full blown budget.

[00:21:49] Yeah.

[00:21:50] Yeah.

[00:21:50] They, they could just do what they could never do in the past.

[00:21:54] And that was the most amazing.

[00:21:56] I just said, just a giant scale.

[00:21:59] There's still some shots in that film, even the original footage.

[00:22:02] I know they've redone it.

[00:22:03] Um, and it looks fantastic.

[00:22:05] You know, they changed up some of the special effects, updated it a little bit, but, uh, even some of the original shots of that ship, I think just still make me go, wow.

[00:22:17] That is beautiful.

[00:22:18] Like they did a really good job, uh, with that.

[00:22:22] A lot of those exterior shots.

[00:22:24] They did.

[00:22:24] And considering what the technology was at the time.

[00:22:27] Yeah.

[00:22:28] Yeah.

[00:22:29] Absolutely.

[00:22:30] Yeah.

[00:22:30] It's interesting because the number of guests we've had on the show, sometimes they say their first experience of a Star Trek movie was Wrath of Khan.

[00:22:39] Oh.

[00:22:40] And that carried them.

[00:22:41] Interesting.

[00:22:41] Yeah.

[00:22:41] And without even having watched the original series and not knowing that, I think we waited one gentleman on who did not, had not seen Space Seed.

[00:22:50] So he did not know any, cause you know, that where this was all originating from, but you watch the original series in reruns before you had a chance to watch the movies.

[00:23:02] And we were, you know, we're not, you know, you were immersed in the Star Trek world and universe before you watched the movie.

[00:23:11] Yeah.

[00:23:12] You know, I, admittedly, I don't think I was as, um, as much of a Trek-spert as I, as I am now back then.

[00:23:19] You know, I knew who everybody was and I, you know, I, I could appreciate it for what it was, but I do remember when Khan came out, seeing that in the movie theater and being like, wait a minute.

[00:23:30] Now it's a sequel to a TV episode on the big screen.

[00:23:36] Which you just said how you were so amazed to see TV on the big screen.

[00:23:41] Yeah.

[00:23:41] And now you're seeing extension of TV to the big screen from one story to the next.

[00:23:47] Hold on, man.

[00:23:48] Did you ever imagine that you would get to write in that universe?

[00:23:54] Um, I never imagined I'd be able to write in any universe.

[00:23:58] Hmm.

[00:23:58] Really.

[00:23:58] I, I always say if, you know, 10 year old Bobby could look back and, and see what he's doing now, his brains would just explode.

[00:24:07] Um, and that's pretty cool, man.

[00:24:10] I was a huge Smurf kid.

[00:24:12] Um, and I still have a Smurf right on my desk.

[00:24:15] It's right here.

[00:24:16] Uh-huh.

[00:24:17] For those who can't see, I'm holding up a Smurf right now.

[00:24:20] Um, and I got to write a Smurf book.

[00:24:23] Um, which was amazing.

[00:24:25] And then I got to write a Skeletor book.

[00:24:27] And I was like, did you collect the little Smurfs?

[00:24:29] The little, like...

[00:24:30] Adina, I had so many Smurfs.

[00:24:33] The guy in the stationery store who sold me the Smurfs gave me the spinner rack.

[00:24:38] Oh my gosh.

[00:24:40] Which I still have.

[00:24:41] It's in our basement.

[00:24:42] That's awesome.

[00:24:43] That's awesome.

[00:24:44] I had a handful.

[00:24:45] And I had the village and I had the big mushrooms.

[00:24:46] And oh my God.

[00:24:47] Oh, I was a Smurf kid.

[00:24:49] Wow.

[00:24:49] I had a bunch.

[00:24:50] And my cousin had more.

[00:24:53] And, oh, yes.

[00:24:54] That was great.

[00:24:55] Oh man.

[00:24:55] Smurfberry crunch every morning for breakfast.

[00:24:57] Oh no.

[00:24:59] Didn't that turn your tongue blue or something like that?

[00:25:02] I can't remember.

[00:25:03] I remember that.

[00:25:04] Uh, it turned everything blue.

[00:25:05] Yeah.

[00:25:06] It turned everything blue.

[00:25:08] Folks, Brian, you usually always say,

[00:25:11] this is the first time on the Big Sci-Fi Podcast.

[00:25:14] So I'm going to say,

[00:25:15] this is the first time on the Big Sci-Fi Podcast.

[00:25:17] We've talked about the Smurfs.

[00:25:19] Hey.

[00:25:21] That, I think, is true.

[00:25:22] Yes.

[00:25:23] Oh man.

[00:25:24] I'm glad to have broken the street.

[00:25:28] We'll put it on our checklist of things we've talked about.

[00:25:32] Yes.

[00:25:33] Yeah.

[00:25:33] Yeah.

[00:25:34] It's, um,

[00:25:35] I often just have to sort of look around and, um,

[00:25:39] remind myself,

[00:25:41] um,

[00:25:42] that how incredibly fortunate I am to be doing what I'm doing,

[00:25:46] to,

[00:25:47] to have all of these brands trust me enough with their properties to,

[00:25:53] to write about them and have some fun with it.

[00:25:55] It's,

[00:25:56] um,

[00:25:56] it's pretty amazing.

[00:25:58] It's pretty,

[00:25:58] I'm never not grateful.

[00:26:00] Yeah.

[00:26:01] That's,

[00:26:02] you know,

[00:26:02] I've thought about that actually.

[00:26:03] Um,

[00:26:04] we've had other guests authors on that they're right for track and stuff,

[00:26:08] but it's,

[00:26:09] it's gotta be a pretty amazing,

[00:26:12] uh,

[00:26:13] compliment as a writer,

[00:26:15] as an author to have,

[00:26:17] uh,

[00:26:17] have a genre,

[00:26:19] you know,

[00:26:20] have skeletal,

[00:26:22] the skeletal people say,

[00:26:24] we trust you with this,

[00:26:25] you know,

[00:26:25] or give you a shot at it,

[00:26:27] have,

[00:26:27] uh,

[00:26:27] you know,

[00:26:28] Star Trek.

[00:26:28] Like,

[00:26:29] I mean,

[00:26:29] for crying out loud,

[00:26:30] like to say,

[00:26:31] Hey,

[00:26:31] we let your,

[00:26:32] we think that you can do this.

[00:26:33] Well,

[00:26:34] it's gotta be feel really good.

[00:26:37] Uh,

[00:26:38] it's,

[00:26:39] um,

[00:26:40] it's sometimes it's an indescribable feeling,

[00:26:43] especially when you have that deep of a personal connection to it.

[00:26:49] Um,

[00:26:50] uh,

[00:26:51] you know,

[00:26:51] I don't,

[00:26:52] I'm not the kind of author who,

[00:26:54] um,

[00:26:56] doesn't appreciate an opportunity.

[00:26:58] And I don't think,

[00:27:02] I think because I'm a,

[00:27:04] I'm a fan and I'm a reader.

[00:27:06] I,

[00:27:06] I sort of,

[00:27:06] and as,

[00:27:07] as we were talking about this beginning,

[00:27:09] like I value the book.

[00:27:11] And I think now,

[00:27:13] um,

[00:27:14] you know,

[00:27:15] budgets being what they are,

[00:27:16] if people,

[00:27:17] if you're asking people to spend $20 on a book,

[00:27:20] you need to make it worth their while.

[00:27:23] You need to reward that experience.

[00:27:26] You need to honor them.

[00:27:27] As much as the property.

[00:27:29] Um,

[00:27:30] and I'm always trying,

[00:27:32] especially when it's with a licensed property,

[00:27:35] trying to hit all of those notes,

[00:27:37] um,

[00:27:38] as best,

[00:27:39] as best as I can.

[00:27:40] So I'm just,

[00:27:41] I'm always really,

[00:27:42] I'm grateful for,

[00:27:43] for the publishers and the IP owners.

[00:27:46] Um,

[00:27:46] but I'm just as grateful for the people who are actually buying the book.

[00:27:50] Um,

[00:27:51] and trusting me with their hard-earned,

[00:27:53] hard-earned dollars and time.

[00:27:56] Really?

[00:27:57] Um,

[00:27:57] especially if they're buying it as a gift for a kid or,

[00:28:00] or another fan.

[00:28:01] Like,

[00:28:02] you know,

[00:28:02] that's,

[00:28:03] um,

[00:28:03] that's a huge responsibility.

[00:28:04] And I,

[00:28:05] I don't take that lightly.

[00:28:07] Yeah.

[00:28:08] You,

[00:28:09] you,

[00:28:09] you seem,

[00:28:10] I'm going to say,

[00:28:11] Rob,

[00:28:11] you seem very humbled by all of this.

[00:28:13] You don't,

[00:28:15] you don't come like,

[00:28:16] like,

[00:28:16] you know,

[00:28:16] with proviso,

[00:28:17] like,

[00:28:17] Hey,

[00:28:17] I read all these books,

[00:28:18] blah,

[00:28:19] blah,

[00:28:19] blah.

[00:28:19] No,

[00:28:20] it seems like this really,

[00:28:22] like every time you write a book,

[00:28:24] you feel like you've,

[00:28:25] you've extended it or you've,

[00:28:27] you've shared something special that you show your love of that particular

[00:28:32] genre or book storyline or,

[00:28:34] or stories or collections,

[00:28:36] whatever.

[00:28:37] Um,

[00:28:37] it just,

[00:28:38] it just,

[00:28:38] from the tone of your voice,

[00:28:39] it's,

[00:28:40] it sounds like you really are appreciative of what you've done.

[00:28:43] I am.

[00:28:44] I am.

[00:28:45] It's,

[00:28:45] it's very hard.

[00:28:46] Um,

[00:28:47] you know,

[00:28:47] a Dean has seen me at some conventions and I'll be at my booth selling my

[00:28:52] books.

[00:28:52] And it's,

[00:28:53] um,

[00:28:54] I usually sit there with my face down because I,

[00:28:57] I'm afraid and I'm too shy to sort of tap myself.

[00:29:02] Um,

[00:29:03] but you know,

[00:29:04] once I actually get to,

[00:29:05] once I get over that and I'm talking to the people about the books and

[00:29:08] their experience with the properties and our,

[00:29:11] our share connections that I can sort of come out of my shell a little bit

[00:29:14] and be like,

[00:29:15] well,

[00:29:15] maybe you'll like this book.

[00:29:18] Um,

[00:29:18] don't feel obligated to buy it.

[00:29:19] It's okay.

[00:29:20] It's okay.

[00:29:21] I don't want to offend you.

[00:29:22] It's,

[00:29:22] it's okay.

[00:29:23] Take it.

[00:29:24] Don't,

[00:29:24] don't,

[00:29:25] don't,

[00:29:25] no,

[00:29:26] no.

[00:29:26] Um,

[00:29:27] so what's been some of your,

[00:29:28] your convention experiences?

[00:29:29] Like any,

[00:29:30] anything really like weird or strange or,

[00:29:34] uh,

[00:29:34] surprising?

[00:29:36] I mean,

[00:29:36] you've been to a convention.

[00:29:37] It's mostly weird and strange.

[00:29:40] That's fair.

[00:29:41] That's fair.

[00:29:43] Um,

[00:29:44] yeah,

[00:29:45] it's,

[00:29:46] I,

[00:29:46] I love them.

[00:29:47] Um,

[00:29:49] you know,

[00:29:49] I go to San Diego comic-con and New York comic-con and regional cons,

[00:29:54] um,

[00:29:55] all the time.

[00:29:56] Each one sort of has their own personality about it.

[00:29:59] That's true.

[00:29:59] Um,

[00:30:00] Las Vegas for a while,

[00:30:02] for a really long time,

[00:30:03] for like 10 years,

[00:30:04] I think.

[00:30:05] Um,

[00:30:06] and,

[00:30:07] you know,

[00:30:08] in that kind of community,

[00:30:09] you're,

[00:30:09] you're seeing a lot of the same people over and over again.

[00:30:12] And,

[00:30:13] um,

[00:30:13] I'm not going to name names,

[00:30:14] but there was a dad and his son who I met at,

[00:30:19] I think one of my first Star Trek conventions.

[00:30:21] Um,

[00:30:22] and he was this little kid.

[00:30:23] He was,

[00:30:24] you know,

[00:30:24] three or four.

[00:30:25] And he came up to me with a copy of fun with Kirk and Spock.

[00:30:29] And it was his favorite book.

[00:30:30] And he made his dad every night at bedtime.

[00:30:33] And I just saw them again at Star Trek,

[00:30:37] Long Island.

[00:30:37] I mean,

[00:30:38] I haven't seen them in a few years.

[00:30:39] And this kid is taller than I am now,

[00:30:42] which isn't that hard to do,

[00:30:44] but he's totally shooting up.

[00:30:47] He's 14.

[00:30:48] Like it was,

[00:30:50] it was great.

[00:30:51] It was great.

[00:30:51] And I remembered him and he remembered me.

[00:30:53] And,

[00:30:53] um,

[00:30:54] wonderful.

[00:30:55] That,

[00:30:55] that was a really terrific kind of thing.

[00:30:58] Just to have that,

[00:30:58] that sort of experience too.

[00:31:00] That's that special connection you look forward to,

[00:31:02] or no,

[00:31:03] you're surprised when it happens and then it confirms that you did touch

[00:31:08] someone.

[00:31:08] Yeah.

[00:31:09] With what you've written.

[00:31:10] Yeah.

[00:31:10] I,

[00:31:11] that's,

[00:31:11] you know,

[00:31:12] I was like,

[00:31:12] yeah,

[00:31:12] that's,

[00:31:13] that's why I do it.

[00:31:13] Cause this kid,

[00:31:15] this kid enjoyed what I did for a little bit.

[00:31:17] Yeah.

[00:31:18] Yeah.

[00:31:18] That was really sweet.

[00:31:20] So,

[00:31:20] um,

[00:31:20] what's your writing routine?

[00:31:23] Like,

[00:31:23] like you get up in the morning,

[00:31:24] you say,

[00:31:24] well,

[00:31:24] I'm going to have a bowl of Smurf cereal and then I'm going to hit,

[00:31:30] hit the word processor.

[00:31:31] I mean,

[00:31:32] what's your,

[00:31:33] what's your writing daylight?

[00:31:34] Cause this is your full-time job,

[00:31:36] right?

[00:31:36] It is now.

[00:31:37] Yeah.

[00:31:37] Yeah.

[00:31:38] Yeah.

[00:31:38] You're not writing.

[00:31:39] Um,

[00:31:41] I,

[00:31:41] I've been doing it for long enough to know that I'm not that productive before about 10

[00:31:48] or 10 30.

[00:31:49] Um,

[00:31:50] I need the coffee to kick in.

[00:31:52] I need to go through my email and make sure all that's,

[00:31:55] that's sort of squared away.

[00:31:57] And then I just,

[00:31:59] I sit there for a while.

[00:32:01] Um,

[00:32:01] some days are harder than others and some days are easier than others.

[00:32:05] I've,

[00:32:05] I've learned not to necessarily push myself.

[00:32:08] If something's not working or my brain isn't working,

[00:32:12] I'll go for a walk or do some laundry or,

[00:32:15] or do whatever.

[00:32:15] Well,

[00:32:16] my husband usually does the laundry,

[00:32:17] but maybe not in the kitchen,

[00:32:19] um,

[00:32:19] but I'll do some sort of task in the house just to sort of clear the cobwebs a little

[00:32:23] bit.

[00:32:24] And then I'll go back.

[00:32:26] Um,

[00:32:27] what I have noticed is once I get into zone,

[00:32:33] I completely lose track of time,

[00:32:35] which I heard about and I was like,

[00:32:37] Oh yeah,

[00:32:37] fine.

[00:32:38] That's whatever.

[00:32:38] But it's starting about two or three years ago.

[00:32:41] Um,

[00:32:42] I was like,

[00:32:43] all right,

[00:32:43] it's,

[00:32:43] you know,

[00:32:44] four o'clock on a Saturday.

[00:32:46] I'm going to go up and I'll just,

[00:32:47] I'll write for a little bit.

[00:32:48] And then I looked up and it was eight o'clock.

[00:32:51] Wow.

[00:32:51] And I hadn't,

[00:32:52] I literally no idea that that had happened.

[00:32:55] Um,

[00:32:55] and when that happens,

[00:32:57] that's like,

[00:32:58] Oh,

[00:32:58] the adrenaline is flowing and I feel really,

[00:33:01] really good about it.

[00:33:02] So yeah,

[00:33:03] some days are definitely harder than others.

[00:33:05] Um,

[00:33:06] but the,

[00:33:07] once it hits one,

[00:33:08] the,

[00:33:09] once that dam breaks a little bit,

[00:33:10] it's pretty,

[00:33:11] it could be really exhilarating.

[00:33:13] And then the,

[00:33:15] you know,

[00:33:15] hours of self doubts and editing.

[00:33:19] Yeah.

[00:33:20] Brian,

[00:33:21] I think you're going to say Tuesday.

[00:33:23] Yeah.

[00:33:23] I was going to say a similar experience when it comes to napping,

[00:33:26] I'll be like,

[00:33:26] yeah,

[00:33:26] it's,

[00:33:27] I'm going to go up and sleep for an hour.

[00:33:28] And before I know it,

[00:33:29] you know,

[00:33:29] three hours.

[00:33:31] No,

[00:33:31] but I have a question.

[00:33:33] I'm,

[00:33:33] I'm a music guy and I'm also a writer.

[00:33:37] I dab a little bit,

[00:33:38] but I just,

[00:33:38] I love listening to music and it's,

[00:33:42] uh,

[00:33:43] no singing though,

[00:33:44] just background music,

[00:33:46] instrumental music.

[00:33:47] When I write,

[00:33:47] do you,

[00:33:47] do you gain any,

[00:33:49] any inspiration like that?

[00:33:50] Or are you,

[00:33:50] do you just like to sit there in the silence and daydream and think and create

[00:33:55] just out of your mind?

[00:33:57] Do you need it to be silent or do you have any music you'd like to listen to

[00:34:01] while you do that?

[00:34:02] I,

[00:34:02] I usually like it to be silent.

[00:34:05] Um,

[00:34:05] I find that I think to your point where music with words is very distracting.

[00:34:11] Yes.

[00:34:11] Yeah.

[00:34:12] Yeah.

[00:34:12] Um,

[00:34:14] I,

[00:34:14] when I was going to coffee shops and writing in public,

[00:34:17] I would put my headphones on and I would,

[00:34:19] I would listen usually to soundtracks.

[00:34:24] Um,

[00:34:24] right.

[00:34:24] Um,

[00:34:25] because that sort of felt and feels to me a little bit of like when you're,

[00:34:31] when we've got the TV on in the background,

[00:34:33] like you've seen that episode 14 times,

[00:34:34] you know what's going to happen.

[00:34:36] It's really just sort of company for your ears a little bit.

[00:34:39] Um,

[00:34:40] when I'm writing a star Trek book,

[00:34:42] I will often play a couple of soundtracks.

[00:34:45] Excellent.

[00:34:47] I also,

[00:34:47] I found this YouTube channel that's,

[00:34:49] um,

[00:34:50] sound effects and there,

[00:34:52] there's like enter,

[00:34:53] there's like bridge noises and you can like raise and lower some of them.

[00:34:58] So sometimes I'll have that on.

[00:35:00] Nice.

[00:35:00] Um,

[00:35:01] if I really need to,

[00:35:02] to zone out.

[00:35:03] Um,

[00:35:04] but it's,

[00:35:05] yeah,

[00:35:05] it's usually quiet.

[00:35:07] It's usually quiet.

[00:35:09] Sometimes I'll be writing something and I need to watch an episode.

[00:35:12] For reference.

[00:35:14] So I could be going back and forth or watching the episode and,

[00:35:18] and taking notes.

[00:35:19] So,

[00:35:19] um,

[00:35:20] that's sort of the noise.

[00:35:22] That's different.

[00:35:22] That sounds more like a researchy mode as opposed,

[00:35:25] you know,

[00:35:25] if you're doing that.

[00:35:27] Yeah.

[00:35:27] When I was writing my,

[00:35:29] uh,

[00:35:30] my golden girls book,

[00:35:32] that was the one time I kept the episodes running in the background.

[00:35:37] Because I liked,

[00:35:39] um,

[00:35:40] I liked hearing the voices.

[00:35:41] Yeah.

[00:35:42] I liked hearing the rhythm of everything.

[00:35:45] And I,

[00:35:46] I thought that might help inform the way I was pacing that book in particular.

[00:35:51] So that was the one time there was sort of,

[00:35:53] there were voices in the background.

[00:35:55] Um,

[00:35:56] looking at your,

[00:35:57] at your website.

[00:35:59] And did I catch it right?

[00:36:00] That you wrote a,

[00:36:01] a Bob's burger book as well.

[00:36:03] I wrote a Bob's burgers mini kit.

[00:36:07] Um,

[00:36:08] I wrote two of those actually.

[00:36:10] Um,

[00:36:10] so one of them has a talking burger in it.

[00:36:13] Um,

[00:36:14] and then the book is,

[00:36:15] um,

[00:36:16] the book is about the TV show.

[00:36:17] And then there was another one with little magnets.

[00:36:21] Interesting.

[00:36:21] I wrote the book that,

[00:36:22] that accompanied that as well.

[00:36:24] Okay.

[00:36:24] Yeah.

[00:36:25] Yeah.

[00:36:25] So one of my favorite shows on TV and I love it.

[00:36:28] That's when I caught that,

[00:36:29] just had to ask you about it.

[00:36:30] That's great.

[00:36:30] Yeah.

[00:36:30] When I was working in publishing,

[00:36:32] I published the Bob's burger burger book.

[00:36:34] Right.

[00:36:35] Okay.

[00:36:36] That's what it was.

[00:36:36] Okay.

[00:36:37] Okay.

[00:36:37] Thank you.

[00:36:38] So,

[00:36:38] so what's it like to,

[00:36:41] cause to write or create something like the Bob's burger burger things,

[00:36:47] because like,

[00:36:47] what,

[00:36:48] what do you,

[00:36:49] cause again,

[00:36:50] it's not just,

[00:36:52] here's a bunch of words.

[00:36:53] Here's a bunch of sentences.

[00:36:54] Here's a bunch of paragraphs.

[00:36:55] It's,

[00:36:55] it's something different.

[00:36:56] So how do you,

[00:36:57] how does that come together and how do you work with illustrators?

[00:37:02] And I'm trying to imagine the process of that coming together.

[00:37:07] Um,

[00:37:07] it,

[00:37:08] it depends on what the book is.

[00:37:11] If it's an original story,

[00:37:13] I,

[00:37:13] the entire manuscript is written.

[00:37:15] Um,

[00:37:16] and then the publisher usually finds the illustrator.

[00:37:20] And then I work with the illustrator.

[00:37:21] I provide all the art notes.

[00:37:23] Um,

[00:37:24] so I sort of,

[00:37:25] if it's a picture book,

[00:37:26] I break the picture book down into pages and spreads.

[00:37:30] And I put in little art notes,

[00:37:32] like I'm imagining this kind of thing here.

[00:37:36] Um,

[00:37:36] for like fun with Kirk and Spock,

[00:37:38] I was,

[00:37:39] you know,

[00:37:40] because there were some,

[00:37:41] some of them were based on episodes.

[00:37:44] I'd be like,

[00:37:44] all right,

[00:37:44] Baylock is here and he's doing this.

[00:37:47] Um,

[00:37:47] or,

[00:37:48] you know,

[00:37:49] Spock,

[00:37:50] Amanda,

[00:37:50] and Sarek should be positioned like a Sears portrait studio family portrait.

[00:37:55] Um,

[00:37:56] um,

[00:37:57] so usually if it's an original book,

[00:38:01] I write the manuscript with the art notes.

[00:38:03] And then I work with the illustrator.

[00:38:05] Um,

[00:38:06] not,

[00:38:06] not usually directly,

[00:38:07] usually the publishers in the middle of that.

[00:38:10] Um,

[00:38:10] so they're in the loop as well.

[00:38:12] If it's a book,

[00:38:14] um,

[00:38:14] like the Bob's burgers book books,

[00:38:17] those were kind of style guide art and screen grabs from it.

[00:38:22] So what,

[00:38:23] what I needed to do for those is identify the episodes and the scenes that the,

[00:38:30] the book was referring to,

[00:38:32] um,

[00:38:33] or that could be repurposed for the book.

[00:38:35] Um,

[00:38:35] and then sometimes when I was doing the,

[00:38:39] um,

[00:38:40] the Skeletor book,

[00:38:43] I would have to,

[00:38:45] because the,

[00:38:46] um,

[00:38:47] the,

[00:38:47] there were no DVDs or something.

[00:38:49] There was something in the way visually.

[00:38:52] So I would have to watch the episode,

[00:38:55] take a photo of my TV screen with my phone,

[00:39:01] put that screen grab into a spreadsheet and then make reference to it in the

[00:39:07] manuscript.

[00:39:07] So the illustrator and the property owners knew what,

[00:39:10] what scene I was talking about.

[00:39:13] So sometimes it's a little bit more complicated than others,

[00:39:16] but you get your point across.

[00:39:17] That's the important thing of what you want to have in the book.

[00:39:20] So yeah,

[00:39:20] it's good.

[00:39:21] Yeah.

[00:39:21] At least you have that source material to work from to supply them.

[00:39:25] Yeah.

[00:39:26] Yeah.

[00:39:26] And,

[00:39:26] and if you're lucky and I've been very lucky,

[00:39:28] I work with really great editors and really great illustrators and really

[00:39:33] great,

[00:39:34] um,

[00:39:34] publishers and it's a collaboration.

[00:39:37] Um,

[00:39:38] and sometimes the illustrator will come up with an idea that is so much

[00:39:43] better than anything I could have imagined and just elevates the whole

[00:39:46] thing.

[00:39:47] Um,

[00:39:47] sometimes the illustration isn't quite what I was thinking,

[00:39:50] but it really works.

[00:39:51] So I'll change the text to mix,

[00:39:54] to be like,

[00:39:55] Oh yeah,

[00:39:55] that's really good.

[00:39:56] I'm going to change that word to do it.

[00:39:58] Oh,

[00:39:58] there's a,

[00:39:59] there's a pony in this illustration,

[00:40:00] but I talked about a lizard in the text.

[00:40:03] So I'm going to change that there.

[00:40:05] Um,

[00:40:05] so it is a,

[00:40:06] it's,

[00:40:06] it's always a collaboration being a,

[00:40:08] you know,

[00:40:09] publishing a book is,

[00:40:10] it does take a village.

[00:40:12] Um,

[00:40:12] and it takes a really long time.

[00:40:14] Sometimes it could be a year or two years.

[00:40:17] Until a book actually hits shelves.

[00:40:20] Um,

[00:40:20] so it depends on the book,

[00:40:23] but it's,

[00:40:23] um,

[00:40:24] it's usually a really good experience.

[00:40:27] So I got for Christmas,

[00:40:28] uh,

[00:40:30] one of yours was a gift search for Spock.

[00:40:32] Oh yeah.

[00:40:33] So for people who haven't seen it,

[00:40:35] it's like a,

[00:40:36] a,

[00:40:36] uh,

[00:40:36] where's Waldo,

[00:40:37] but you're searching for Spock.

[00:40:39] It's a lot of fun.

[00:40:41] So,

[00:40:41] so what you're doing,

[00:40:42] this process where you're describing,

[00:40:43] where you're writing the text and making notes about the scene.

[00:40:46] Is that how that book like that came together?

[00:40:49] Yeah.

[00:40:50] Um,

[00:40:50] the funny thing about that book is there's very little text in it.

[00:40:55] Um,

[00:40:56] the art notes,

[00:40:58] I think it was like 20 times the amount of art notes than there was actual text in the book because I needed to communicate with the illustrator.

[00:41:07] All of the elements that needed to be in this really,

[00:41:10] really crowded scene.

[00:41:11] So here,

[00:41:12] here's the list of villains that I'm imagining being in here.

[00:41:16] Here's what they're doing.

[00:41:17] Here's who they're talking to.

[00:41:20] Um,

[00:41:21] and you know,

[00:41:22] hide Spock over here.

[00:41:24] Maybe if you can do that.

[00:41:26] Um,

[00:41:27] yeah.

[00:41:27] So that was,

[00:41:29] that was a really challenging book because the,

[00:41:32] the text was there.

[00:41:33] Like you can sort of see the text,

[00:41:35] but until the art came in,

[00:41:36] it was all just sort of this amorphous blob in my head,

[00:41:40] just crowded space.

[00:41:42] And maybe there's a man,

[00:41:42] you know,

[00:41:43] do you ever sketch out actually make sketches to help?

[00:41:47] Or are you purely describing it to people in words?

[00:41:51] I,

[00:41:51] I really try to describe it in words.

[00:41:54] Um,

[00:41:55] I am not a good sketcher at all.

[00:41:58] Um,

[00:41:58] there was one instance,

[00:42:00] and this was totally my fault when we were doing fun with Kirk and Spock.

[00:42:03] I was just,

[00:42:04] for some reason,

[00:42:06] I was unable to articulate what I was imagining for the scene.

[00:42:10] Um,

[00:42:10] and so I had to draw it,

[00:42:12] um,

[00:42:13] really,

[00:42:13] really badly,

[00:42:14] but the illustrator somehow knew what I was talking about.

[00:42:18] And I was like,

[00:42:18] yeah,

[00:42:19] it's great.

[00:42:22] Have you always written from source material or how much,

[00:42:27] how much,

[00:42:27] what have you written that is just off the top of your own cranium?

[00:42:32] Yeah,

[00:42:32] I've written a bunch of original stuff.

[00:42:34] So live like a Vulcan is completely original.

[00:42:38] Um,

[00:42:39] I wrote a book called Groundhog's Day Off.

[00:42:41] It's a picture book that was original.

[00:42:43] Um,

[00:42:44] pink is for boys.

[00:42:45] Dolls and trucks are for everyone.

[00:42:47] Right.

[00:42:48] Um,

[00:42:48] yeah,

[00:42:49] I've done,

[00:42:49] uh,

[00:42:49] I wrote Nerd Haiku and spoiler alerts.

[00:42:53] I'm looking at myself because I'm really bad at remembering when I did,

[00:42:57] um,

[00:42:57] Passover is here.

[00:42:58] So yeah,

[00:42:59] there's a lot of,

[00:42:59] there's a lot of original.

[00:43:00] Passover is here.

[00:43:02] Yeah.

[00:43:03] Like a vault.

[00:43:04] Yes.

[00:43:04] Yeah.

[00:43:05] Yeah.

[00:43:06] I was like,

[00:43:06] why isn't there a book about finding like a lift,

[00:43:08] the flat book to find the Afi Komen.

[00:43:11] That's great.

[00:43:13] I might as well write one.

[00:43:14] And I did.

[00:43:15] I love it.

[00:43:16] That is genius.

[00:43:18] That is genius.

[00:43:19] Thank you.

[00:43:20] I found the Afi Komen so many years in a row.

[00:43:23] They told me to stop and let the other kids find it.

[00:43:26] Oh,

[00:43:26] yeah.

[00:43:28] Yeah.

[00:43:30] We,

[00:43:30] we,

[00:43:31] we,

[00:43:31] uh,

[00:43:31] we held my grandfather.

[00:43:33] He,

[00:43:33] he said one time,

[00:43:34] he says,

[00:43:34] well,

[00:43:34] you guys find the Afi Komen.

[00:43:35] You can have a dog.

[00:43:37] We found that Afi Komen.

[00:43:40] My parents were very upset.

[00:43:42] We ended up getting a little beagle and his name was Alfie.

[00:43:45] Oh,

[00:43:46] that's great.

[00:43:49] So I,

[00:43:50] I,

[00:43:51] Rob,

[00:43:51] looking at your room there around you,

[00:43:54] I love.

[00:43:55] Just to describe to our listeners.

[00:43:58] Um,

[00:43:59] there's something in particular I love about your room.

[00:44:02] Um,

[00:44:02] and cause we've talked about this before on the podcast with other guests,

[00:44:06] you have,

[00:44:07] it looks like a picture of Spock on your door.

[00:44:11] Um,

[00:44:12] and you've got some other,

[00:44:14] you've got a star Wars poster back there,

[00:44:17] which is a really cool classic poster there.

[00:44:20] We got the Thor's hammer thingy.

[00:44:23] So I'm not a big Thor fan,

[00:44:25] so I don't know what it's actually called,

[00:44:26] but,

[00:44:27] um,

[00:44:27] and what I love about that is that it's,

[00:44:30] you're really living out how you can have fandoms in different universes and

[00:44:36] you can even like star Wars and star check.

[00:44:38] And it's cool,

[00:44:39] man.

[00:44:40] Like what's the big deal?

[00:44:42] You know,

[00:44:42] we all should get along.

[00:44:43] Come on.

[00:44:44] Yeah.

[00:44:45] That's interesting,

[00:44:46] Brian.

[00:44:47] Cause I was going to say the same thing because here he is wearing his

[00:44:51] star Trek shirt,

[00:44:52] drinking from an R2 D2 mug.

[00:44:55] And that just says like,

[00:44:57] you know,

[00:44:57] it is,

[00:44:59] we all can coexist in all the various different genres and storylines and

[00:45:04] enjoy them all.

[00:45:05] We don't have to,

[00:45:07] you know,

[00:45:07] I'm a star Wars fan.

[00:45:09] Don't even talk to me about star Trek.

[00:45:11] That is boring.

[00:45:13] It's a soteric.

[00:45:14] It doesn't have good care,

[00:45:15] you know?

[00:45:15] And then the same thing.

[00:45:16] Oh,

[00:45:17] well,

[00:45:17] I'm a star Trek fan because you're all in this fantasy world.

[00:45:20] It's a long time ago in a galaxy far,

[00:45:23] far away.

[00:45:23] You can do anything.

[00:45:24] It's nice to be able to say you enjoy it all and you've written about it all,

[00:45:29] which is even better.

[00:45:30] Yeah.

[00:45:30] Yeah.

[00:45:31] I don't subscribe to the theory that in order to like one thing,

[00:45:35] you have to hate another thing.

[00:45:36] Yes.

[00:45:37] Thank you.

[00:45:38] I don't quite understand that.

[00:45:40] That just,

[00:45:40] that seems exhausting.

[00:45:42] Mm hmm.

[00:45:43] You know,

[00:45:44] some things aren't my thing,

[00:45:46] but I'm like,

[00:45:47] all right,

[00:45:47] you enjoy it.

[00:45:48] Yeah.

[00:45:48] Right.

[00:45:49] It doesn't work for me,

[00:45:50] but you go and,

[00:45:51] you know,

[00:45:53] it doesn't have to be tribal.

[00:45:55] It doesn't have to be.

[00:45:56] It doesn't always brain cells on it for crying out loud.

[00:45:58] We're all nerds here.

[00:45:59] It's all good.

[00:46:00] It's fun.

[00:46:01] That's good.

[00:46:01] You can find something in all of it.

[00:46:03] It's all enjoyable.

[00:46:05] It's,

[00:46:05] it's,

[00:46:06] it's adventure.

[00:46:07] It's,

[00:46:08] it's fiction.

[00:46:09] It's fun.

[00:46:10] And yeah,

[00:46:11] I,

[00:46:11] I think that's great.

[00:46:13] I also,

[00:46:13] I think not to get too philosophical about it,

[00:46:16] but I think that if part of,

[00:46:19] if you're loving something means that you have to hate something,

[00:46:23] I don't think you actually really love the thing you're saying.

[00:46:26] You're like,

[00:46:27] that's so deep.

[00:46:27] That's a good way to put it.

[00:46:28] That's really good.

[00:46:30] I think for some reason you've attached to this and you feel a weird sense of

[00:46:34] ownership over it.

[00:46:39] And making other people feel bad about the thing that they love.

[00:46:43] Yeah.

[00:46:44] Doesn't make your thing better.

[00:46:46] It makes you look kind of weird.

[00:46:48] Yeah.

[00:46:50] There's everybody.

[00:46:51] Everybody.

[00:46:52] And that's the thing.

[00:46:53] There should be no joy in denigration.

[00:46:55] There should,

[00:46:56] there should be joy in,

[00:46:59] in pointing out the similarities or the likes of it.

[00:47:04] Yeah.

[00:47:05] And the things that,

[00:47:06] why you like it.

[00:47:07] And then you'll hear what they tell you and you go,

[00:47:09] Oh yeah,

[00:47:09] that's,

[00:47:10] you know,

[00:47:10] I never thought of it.

[00:47:11] Keep the open mind.

[00:47:13] And,

[00:47:13] and that's great what you do with that.

[00:47:15] Yeah.

[00:47:15] I mean,

[00:47:16] especially when I'm at a con,

[00:47:18] whether it's a big con or a little con,

[00:47:20] I love seeing what other people love.

[00:47:24] And I love hearing them tell me about all the reasons that they love it.

[00:47:29] Yes.

[00:47:29] Yeah.

[00:47:30] Yeah.

[00:47:30] Yeah.

[00:47:31] Um,

[00:47:31] it's,

[00:47:32] you know,

[00:47:32] it should be this big welcoming thing and,

[00:47:36] you know,

[00:47:36] and then I'll try to,

[00:47:37] you know,

[00:47:38] I,

[00:47:38] I like being part of the pop culture conversation and sometimes I'll watch a

[00:47:42] show and I'll binge the whole thing and be like,

[00:47:44] yeah,

[00:47:44] that's for me.

[00:47:45] Sometimes I'll watch an episode and be like,

[00:47:47] Nope.

[00:47:48] Like I get it.

[00:47:49] Yeah.

[00:47:49] Yeah.

[00:47:49] Now I can have a conversation.

[00:47:51] If someone's like,

[00:47:52] Oh,

[00:47:52] do you like this thing?

[00:47:52] I'm like,

[00:47:53] you know what?

[00:47:53] I watched one episode.

[00:47:54] Wasn't,

[00:47:55] didn't quite hit me the right way.

[00:47:57] And,

[00:47:58] and,

[00:47:58] and they shouldn't go,

[00:47:59] well,

[00:47:59] why what's wrong with you?

[00:48:00] I don't get it.

[00:48:01] You know,

[00:48:02] they should say,

[00:48:02] well,

[00:48:03] that's fine.

[00:48:03] You know,

[00:48:04] if you don't,

[00:48:05] what about this?

[00:48:06] And you go,

[00:48:06] Oh,

[00:48:06] I do like that.

[00:48:07] Oh,

[00:48:07] great.

[00:48:08] Let's talk about that.

[00:48:09] You know,

[00:48:09] you can find,

[00:48:10] you can have a great conversation with things you agree upon,

[00:48:13] but you can also learn from other people on things you don't agree upon.

[00:48:18] Exactly.

[00:48:18] Yeah.

[00:48:20] So speaking of,

[00:48:21] of which are there,

[00:48:23] are there fandoms or shows that you've watched that you haven't yet written about and want to still?

[00:48:29] Good question.

[00:48:30] Ooh.

[00:48:31] Hey,

[00:48:31] uh,

[00:48:32] you know,

[00:48:32] as we,

[00:48:33] as we've discussed,

[00:48:34] uh,

[00:48:34] you know,

[00:48:35] my Gen X are,

[00:48:36] so Star Wars would be really great.

[00:48:38] That's what I was going to ask.

[00:48:39] DC,

[00:48:39] Marvel,

[00:48:40] and Trek.

[00:48:40] Wait,

[00:48:41] have you not done Star Wars?

[00:48:42] Wow.

[00:48:48] That's not an authorized,

[00:48:49] right,

[00:48:50] right.

[00:48:50] You know,

[00:48:50] playing in their world.

[00:48:51] You know how people get an EGOT?

[00:48:53] I mean,

[00:48:54] Oscar,

[00:48:55] Tony,

[00:48:55] I want a dimwit.

[00:48:57] I want to see Marvel Wars and Trek.

[00:49:02] And I'm just like,

[00:49:03] don't be away from a dimwit.

[00:49:10] Have you,

[00:49:10] have you pitched,

[00:49:12] have you pitched ideas?

[00:49:14] Uh,

[00:49:15] I have.

[00:49:16] Yeah.

[00:49:16] Okay.

[00:49:17] Okay.

[00:49:17] Yeah.

[00:49:18] Not all,

[00:49:18] not all ideas are good ideas.

[00:49:20] No,

[00:49:20] no,

[00:49:21] that's fair.

[00:49:21] And it's gotta,

[00:49:22] you know,

[00:49:23] I definitely believe that sometimes,

[00:49:24] you know,

[00:49:24] it's gotta hit the right person,

[00:49:26] the right day and the right time.

[00:49:28] You know,

[00:49:29] it's that whole combination of things to make something happen.

[00:49:33] Yeah.

[00:49:33] No,

[00:49:34] it's,

[00:49:34] it's interesting.

[00:49:35] This,

[00:49:35] the gentleman who wrote the,

[00:49:36] you know,

[00:49:37] uh,

[00:49:37] Darth Vader's daughter,

[00:49:39] Darth Vader's son,

[00:49:40] those little small children's books.

[00:49:42] And he did it for fun.

[00:49:44] And the people at star Wars said,

[00:49:47] we love it.

[00:49:48] Let's publish it.

[00:49:49] He was more afraid he was going to get in trouble for it.

[00:49:51] And it turned out to being these wonderful little books about that are

[00:49:55] relatable to people who have daughters and sons and so on.

[00:49:59] So,

[00:49:59] you know,

[00:50:00] you,

[00:50:00] you can have fun with it and hopefully they would want you to have fun with

[00:50:04] it.

[00:50:04] Yeah.

[00:50:05] You know what I love though,

[00:50:06] Rob,

[00:50:06] about what you said is you pitched and you tried and you'll probably pitch

[00:50:11] again,

[00:50:11] I assume.

[00:50:12] And you'll try again.

[00:50:14] And you're,

[00:50:16] you're doing it like,

[00:50:18] like you've,

[00:50:18] you've experienced your share of disappointments,

[00:50:21] I'm sure in your career,

[00:50:23] but also great success.

[00:50:24] And you can't have the great success unless you're willing to get told no

[00:50:28] every now and then for crying out loud.

[00:50:30] Yeah.

[00:50:31] Absolutely.

[00:50:33] Yeah.

[00:50:33] My ego isn't big enough to realize that,

[00:50:36] um,

[00:50:36] every idea I have is going to be the right idea.

[00:50:39] And I think,

[00:50:40] you know,

[00:50:41] working in publishing for as long as I have it,

[00:50:44] it's,

[00:50:45] it's impossible to have every idea published.

[00:50:49] Um,

[00:50:50] you know,

[00:50:51] I,

[00:50:51] it's a little bit of diminishing returns,

[00:50:53] but,

[00:50:54] um,

[00:50:56] you know,

[00:50:56] that's part of the collaborative process.

[00:50:59] Like,

[00:50:59] you know,

[00:50:59] sitting in my room,

[00:51:00] I was like,

[00:51:00] this is a fantastic idea.

[00:51:02] Of course,

[00:51:03] everyone is going to love this.

[00:51:05] And then,

[00:51:06] you know,

[00:51:06] you pitch an idea,

[00:51:07] whether it's an original idea or,

[00:51:09] or something,

[00:51:10] you know,

[00:51:11] using someone else's intellectual property.

[00:51:13] And it's like,

[00:51:14] well,

[00:51:15] no,

[00:51:16] it's always helpful to me as a,

[00:51:17] as a creative person.

[00:51:20] And as a writer to understand why it's a no,

[00:51:25] if it's a no,

[00:51:26] that's kind of frustrating because,

[00:51:29] all right,

[00:51:29] well,

[00:51:29] give me something to go on.

[00:51:31] Is it just,

[00:51:32] people aren't talking about this thing or nobody cares about it,

[00:51:35] or this is just a terrible take.

[00:51:38] I remember sitting,

[00:51:40] this was just a few months ago,

[00:51:41] I guess,

[00:51:41] no,

[00:51:42] time is a construct.

[00:51:43] So I guess it was about a year ago.

[00:51:44] Okay.

[00:51:45] But I thought of an idea for,

[00:51:48] um,

[00:51:49] to sort of modernize a,

[00:51:50] uh,

[00:51:51] an animated character.

[00:51:53] And I thought this was just the bee's knees.

[00:51:55] And I thought this is just fantastic.

[00:51:58] And then,

[00:51:59] the,

[00:52:00] the IP owner came back with,

[00:52:02] a really thoughtful rationale.

[00:52:05] Why this here,

[00:52:06] the six reasons is just not going to work.

[00:52:08] And it wasn't,

[00:52:09] but we just don't want to do this.

[00:52:10] It was,

[00:52:11] yeah,

[00:52:12] here's why it's not going to work.

[00:52:13] And I was like,

[00:52:13] you know what?

[00:52:14] Totally valid.

[00:52:14] Yes,

[00:52:15] of course.

[00:52:16] Um,

[00:52:17] and,

[00:52:17] and you need that,

[00:52:18] you know,

[00:52:18] I'm really lucky.

[00:52:19] I've got a really good agent who's very honest with me.

[00:52:22] And sometimes I'll pitch an idea and she'll be like,

[00:52:24] you can do better than this.

[00:52:26] And sometimes I can't,

[00:52:27] I just throw it away.

[00:52:29] Move on to the next idea.

[00:52:31] And I move on.

[00:52:31] And I move on,

[00:52:32] but sometimes like a year will pass and I'll go back to a manuscript and I'll tweak it a little bit.

[00:52:37] Um,

[00:52:38] and sometimes it's better and sometimes it still won't sell.

[00:52:40] Yeah.

[00:52:41] Yeah.

[00:52:41] That's interesting.

[00:52:43] That's an,

[00:52:43] I'm sorry.

[00:52:44] Identity.

[00:52:44] That's interesting too.

[00:52:46] As a,

[00:52:46] as a songwriter,

[00:52:48] I almost never throw away lyrics.

[00:52:51] Even if at one point I said,

[00:52:53] this is total garbage.

[00:52:55] I always throw it in a folder because you never know that idea that you didn't like at the time might come back.

[00:53:02] You might have a different perspective or way of looking at it,

[00:53:05] or you might say,

[00:53:05] Hey,

[00:53:05] this fits here with this piece.

[00:53:07] Um,

[00:53:08] yeah.

[00:53:08] And that's just,

[00:53:09] that's what's so cool about the creative processes.

[00:53:12] Um,

[00:53:13] sometimes it doesn't click at this time,

[00:53:15] but it might help with this over here.

[00:53:17] And so to keep those things kind of in your back pocket for those moments,

[00:53:22] you know,

[00:53:22] it can really stir the creative juices.

[00:53:24] Yeah.

[00:53:25] I have one folder that's like,

[00:53:27] you know,

[00:53:27] writing and ideas and that's sort of where I,

[00:53:29] I keep the manuscripts that I'm working on or that have sold.

[00:53:34] And then I've got a completely separate folder called ideas to revisit.

[00:53:39] And those are the manuscripts that had like maybe something in it that I'll go back to eventually.

[00:53:45] Um,

[00:53:46] or,

[00:53:47] you know,

[00:53:47] something will happen and it'll spark an idea and I can go in and then work on the manuscript a little bit.

[00:53:52] So I really try to corner that off.

[00:53:55] In my brain,

[00:53:56] but also in my workspace.

[00:53:57] In,

[00:53:58] in one of,

[00:53:58] in some of my writing folders,

[00:53:59] I actually,

[00:54:00] I have,

[00:54:01] um,

[00:54:02] stuff from 20 years ago and I was recently looking at it and there's whole like paragraphs and pages.

[00:54:09] I don't remember writing.

[00:54:11] Wow.

[00:54:11] I wrote it,

[00:54:12] but I,

[00:54:12] I don't have,

[00:54:13] I've,

[00:54:13] and I don't know if it's just the fact that so much time has passed and those particular things didn't,

[00:54:18] you know,

[00:54:18] weren't obviously didn't speak to me as much as other ideas,

[00:54:21] but I'm like,

[00:54:22] this is my document.

[00:54:23] This is my computer.

[00:54:25] I have no memory of writing there.

[00:54:27] Yeah.

[00:54:28] I don't know if that happens to other people.

[00:54:30] Um,

[00:54:30] so I have a funny story about that,

[00:54:33] which is totally embarrassing,

[00:54:34] but we're all friends here.

[00:54:35] I can tell you.

[00:54:36] Thank you.

[00:54:38] Thank you.

[00:54:38] You know,

[00:54:39] publishers.

[00:54:39] You know,

[00:54:39] it's always a thrill when you get a gigantic box from your publisher and you open up the box and it's the book that you've written.

[00:54:45] It's the first time you're really seeing the physical object.

[00:54:48] And you just,

[00:54:49] you sit there right on the floor and you just thumb through it and you kind of smell the book and you,

[00:54:53] you know,

[00:54:54] you just,

[00:54:54] it never gets old.

[00:54:56] It absolutely never gets old.

[00:54:59] About a year ago,

[00:55:00] this box comes from my publisher and I open it up and I look at the thing,

[00:55:05] the book.

[00:55:06] And I looked at my husband and I said,

[00:55:08] I think they sent me someone else's book.

[00:55:11] Oh,

[00:55:11] wow.

[00:55:12] And he was like,

[00:55:13] what do you mean?

[00:55:14] And I'm like,

[00:55:15] look,

[00:55:15] and I picked it up and I showed it to him.

[00:55:17] And I was like,

[00:55:18] I don't,

[00:55:18] I don't know what to do.

[00:55:21] And I was like,

[00:55:22] this is really weird.

[00:55:23] Like,

[00:55:24] you know,

[00:55:24] I'll of course send it back to them,

[00:55:26] but it's kind of weird.

[00:55:28] So I was writing an email to my editor and I had to search in my email for something else.

[00:55:36] And I realized I had written that book.

[00:55:39] I had just done it about two years earlier.

[00:55:42] And because I'd been on a completely different thing,

[00:55:45] my brain just completely shut it off.

[00:55:47] And I was like,

[00:55:47] oh wait,

[00:55:48] no,

[00:55:48] I didn't do this.

[00:55:50] I mean,

[00:55:51] so the box that they sent you had,

[00:55:53] I mean,

[00:55:53] it had your,

[00:55:54] the book had your name on it and everything too.

[00:55:57] Yeah,

[00:55:57] but I didn't look that hard.

[00:55:58] I just looked at the cover and then the back cover.

[00:56:01] I didn't bother looking.

[00:56:02] I didn't open it up or like,

[00:56:04] look at the spine.

[00:56:05] I just,

[00:56:06] I don't know.

[00:56:07] I don't know what happened.

[00:56:09] Which book was this?

[00:56:11] I will never say.

[00:56:15] It was not a Star Trek book.

[00:56:17] It was absolutely not a Star Trek book.

[00:56:19] Oh man,

[00:56:19] see,

[00:56:19] I'm going to look at your books.

[00:56:20] I'm just,

[00:56:21] I'm going to try to get my head.

[00:56:22] Just guess.

[00:56:24] Don't torture yourself.

[00:56:27] Well,

[00:56:27] what's interesting,

[00:56:29] Rob,

[00:56:29] as you said,

[00:56:29] you sent it in two years ago.

[00:56:31] Yeah.

[00:56:32] So it's easy to have dismissed it as another one of those books that was not accepted.

[00:56:37] Or,

[00:56:38] you know,

[00:56:38] if the rejection letter never got to you or whatever the case may be.

[00:56:41] And so not having,

[00:56:43] you know,

[00:56:43] two years go by,

[00:56:44] the creative process has moved on to the things.

[00:56:47] So when it arrived,

[00:56:48] you're like,

[00:56:49] yeah,

[00:56:50] you,

[00:56:50] you,

[00:56:50] you didn't know what it was.

[00:56:52] You're like,

[00:56:52] what is this?

[00:56:53] And oh my gosh.

[00:56:54] And then to find out afterwards,

[00:56:56] it was such a brain blip.

[00:56:58] I,

[00:56:59] I,

[00:57:03] it's like saying,

[00:57:05] you know,

[00:57:05] having,

[00:57:05] haven't seen someone in 10 years ago,

[00:57:07] you've grown so much.

[00:57:09] I can't believe that's you.

[00:57:10] You look so different.

[00:57:13] Have you ever had the experience?

[00:57:15] And this is for not,

[00:57:16] not just Rob,

[00:57:17] for all of us.

[00:57:17] You ever had the experience where someone comes up to you and they know you and it's obvious they know you,

[00:57:23] but you don't have a clue who they are.

[00:57:26] No,

[00:57:27] just me.

[00:57:27] Okay.

[00:57:29] That's why they invented the words buddy and dude and friend.

[00:57:33] Hey buddy,

[00:57:33] how you been?

[00:57:34] Dude,

[00:57:34] it's been so long.

[00:57:36] I have no idea what I'm talking to right now.

[00:57:38] My go-to's brother.

[00:57:39] Hey brother,

[00:57:40] how's it going?

[00:57:41] You know?

[00:57:42] So.

[00:57:43] I mean,

[00:57:44] in Star Trek world,

[00:57:45] I've had experience where Pete,

[00:57:47] you know,

[00:57:48] Dr. Mohamed Noor.

[00:57:49] Oh yeah.

[00:57:51] He's a great guy.

[00:57:52] Right.

[00:57:52] The sweetest man on the face of the earth.

[00:57:54] People will often think I'm him.

[00:57:57] Oh wow.

[00:57:58] And they will come over to me and they will ask me about biology.

[00:58:02] And I'll just be like,

[00:58:03] you've got the wrong guy.

[00:58:04] And they're like,

[00:58:05] no,

[00:58:05] no,

[00:58:05] no.

[00:58:06] It's totally you.

[00:58:07] I'm like,

[00:58:07] you think I'm Muhammad.

[00:58:08] Don't you?

[00:58:10] You guys should team up on a book.

[00:58:12] Oh,

[00:58:13] that would be fantastic.

[00:58:14] Oh yeah.

[00:58:15] Star Trek something.

[00:58:16] That will make this even more complex.

[00:58:19] Case of mistaken identity.

[00:58:21] The last time we were together,

[00:58:23] the last time we were together,

[00:58:24] I wore a shirt that said,

[00:58:26] I'm a writer,

[00:58:26] not a doctor.

[00:58:28] Oh,

[00:58:28] that's good.

[00:58:29] I like that.

[00:58:30] Well,

[00:58:30] see,

[00:58:30] no,

[00:58:31] see,

[00:58:31] you need to,

[00:58:31] you rear that.

[00:58:33] Mohamed,

[00:58:33] he wears,

[00:58:34] I'm a doctor,

[00:58:35] not a writer,

[00:58:36] but you guys have to team up on a book.

[00:58:38] Like the case of the mistaken alien plant or something.

[00:58:42] That'd be great.

[00:58:43] Yes.

[00:58:43] Cool.

[00:58:44] You get a dime,

[00:58:45] you get a dime for every book that sold Adina since you came up with.

[00:58:48] No,

[00:58:48] I just want,

[00:58:49] I just want,

[00:58:50] I'm happy for just a signed copy,

[00:58:52] you know.

[00:58:55] So speaking of upcoming books.

[00:58:56] That's more than I'm going to get.

[00:58:57] Are you kidding?

[00:59:00] So speaking of upcoming books,

[00:59:02] what can we expect?

[00:59:03] What's coming out on the horizon for you?

[00:59:05] What's next?

[00:59:07] Well,

[00:59:08] the,

[00:59:08] as you mentioned that my super boy book just came out and my Lucy book just

[00:59:12] came out.

[00:59:13] I have a book out just that I think this past week or two called the little

[00:59:18] book for introverts.

[00:59:20] Oh,

[00:59:20] how sweet.

[00:59:21] Yeah.

[00:59:22] It was sort of a passion project of mine and the good folks at Ritzville

[00:59:26] universe understood what I was trying to do with it.

[00:59:28] So it's filled with like,

[00:59:30] you know,

[00:59:31] introvert tips and tricks and recipes and places to like listen to

[00:59:35] all the books that you're reading and games that you're watching,

[00:59:39] movies that you're watching and games that you're playing.

[00:59:42] The I love Lucy picture book just came out.

[00:59:46] And then in the next few weeks,

[00:59:48] I did this big Loki mega kit,

[00:59:52] which has a light up scepter of his in it.

[00:59:57] I've,

[00:59:57] you can see that behind me.

[00:59:58] It's over there.

[00:59:59] Yes.

[00:59:59] It's not lit up at the moment.

[01:00:01] I'm conserving the battery.

[01:00:03] And then I've got the,

[01:00:04] the mighty Marvel dictionary coming out.

[01:00:07] Oh,

[01:00:07] wow.

[01:00:07] And I think next month I sort of lose track on everything,

[01:00:11] but that's covering all the Marvel characters or specific ones or.

[01:00:16] Yeah.

[01:00:16] No,

[01:00:17] all the entire Marvel.

[01:00:18] Oh my God.

[01:00:19] Universe.

[01:00:21] My gosh.

[01:00:22] Yeah.

[01:00:22] So I've got a lot out and then I've got some stuff coming up next year

[01:00:26] that I can't talk about,

[01:00:27] but we're excited about it.

[01:00:30] That's great.

[01:00:31] Well,

[01:00:31] then we'll have to talk about that all next year.

[01:00:35] Yeah.

[01:00:35] So,

[01:00:36] uh,

[01:00:36] Brian,

[01:00:37] Steve,

[01:00:37] do I,

[01:00:37] do you guys have any last questions?

[01:00:39] No,

[01:00:39] I am.

[01:00:40] Oh,

[01:00:40] go ahead.

[01:00:41] No,

[01:00:41] no,

[01:00:41] no.

[01:00:41] You go ahead,

[01:00:42] Brian.

[01:00:42] Go ahead.

[01:00:43] Okay.

[01:00:43] We're so polite to each other.

[01:00:45] Isn't this wonderful?

[01:00:46] You're a nice guy.

[01:00:49] So I'm,

[01:00:50] I am very fascinated by this.

[01:00:52] I love Lucy picture book.

[01:00:54] My kids are huge fans.

[01:00:56] We,

[01:00:57] they will often choose not to watch Saturday morning cartoons for.

[01:01:02] I love Lucy.

[01:01:03] Oh,

[01:01:03] and it's hilarious because sometimes my son will come home from school,

[01:01:07] open the door and declare Lucy.

[01:01:11] I'm home.

[01:01:12] Oh my gosh.

[01:01:13] but so,

[01:01:15] uh,

[01:01:15] I might be picking up.

[01:01:16] I love Lucy here.

[01:01:17] Um,

[01:01:18] my kids would love it.

[01:01:20] My kids would love it.

[01:01:21] That's great.

[01:01:22] Yeah.

[01:01:22] No,

[01:01:22] I just want to write in a book like that too.

[01:01:25] Excellent.

[01:01:25] Oh,

[01:01:25] thank you for saying that.

[01:01:27] Thank you.

[01:01:27] That was a lot of fun.

[01:01:29] No,

[01:01:29] I just,

[01:01:29] I want to thank you for being on the show,

[01:01:31] Rob.

[01:01:31] You,

[01:01:32] you have,

[01:01:33] um,

[01:01:34] you've informed us,

[01:01:35] you've been told us,

[01:01:37] you've shared with us.

[01:01:38] I mean,

[01:01:39] that's what we look for when we interview someone.

[01:01:41] We want to learn who you are.

[01:01:43] And boy,

[01:01:43] I think we've got really an idea that you are truly the most human.

[01:01:51] No,

[01:01:52] no,

[01:01:52] no,

[01:01:52] no.

[01:01:52] I really have been,

[01:01:54] you've been really a pleasure to talk to you.

[01:01:56] Thank you so much.

[01:01:57] Oh,

[01:01:57] that's very kind of you.

[01:01:58] Thank you.

[01:01:59] Yes.

[01:01:59] Thank you.

[01:02:00] So everybody that is going to wrap up another one of our fantastic episodes of the big sci-fi podcast.

[01:02:05] So a huge thank you also again to Rob Pearlman for joining us today and sharing his incredible insights into the world of pop culture and including Star Trek and more.

[01:02:17] We,

[01:02:17] I think we,

[01:02:18] I say for,

[01:02:18] for all of us that we've had a blast diving into his creative mind and learning about what goes into making some of the magic happen with these books.

[01:02:27] As always,

[01:02:28] thank you listeners for tuning in.

[01:02:30] Don't forget to check out Rob's work if you haven't already.

[01:02:32] We promise you're in for a fun and nostalgic ride.

[01:02:36] And of course,

[01:02:37] we'd love to hear your thoughts.

[01:02:38] You can find us on our Facebook group or drop us a line at the big sci-fi podcast at gmail.com with any thoughts or questions you might have.

[01:02:47] Everyone keep exploring the universe and stay curious.

[01:02:51] Live long and prosper.

[01:02:52] Be kind to each other.

[01:02:54] And we'll see you on the next time on the big sci-fi podcast.

[01:02:59] Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the big sci-fi podcast.

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[01:03:29] who has here?

[01:03:30] I'll see you next time.