June 12, 2025

Monstrilio ft. Gerardo Sámano Córdova

Monstrilio ft. Gerardo Sámano Córdova
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"What if a family had to love a monster?" In this episode of Susto, Ayden talks with author, Gerardo Sámano Córdova about his artistic journey, the cultural influences that shape his storytelling, and the themes of grief, acceptance, and queerness present in his work, particularly in his book 'Monstrilio'.

Enter the Instagram giveaway for your chance to win a signed copy of Montrilio!

ISSUE 81 of American Short Fiction
A Self-Appointed Safekeeper of Beauty

2024 Fall Issue of The Columbia Review
The Smiling Man

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A girlfriends, it's me Adrian or Aiden. Either way, I

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am still your host and you are still listening to Sustal,

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the podcast of paranormal folklore from Latin American and Hispanic cultures.

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Now right off the bat.

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As you may have seen in the title, we have

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a monstrous special guest today that I'm very excited about.

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But before that, if you are a best girlfriend on Patreon,

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then you have the option to watch the video version

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of this episode. And speaking of video, Sustal is now

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available on YouTube and YouTube Music, meaning that it will

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be available as a podcasts, So like every other podcast platform,

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new episodes will be populating on YouTube and all. Though

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video versions of the episodes will remain a Patreon exclusive.

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The audio version of the episodes will be on YouTube

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and YouTube Music. But I will be making videos. It's

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something that I've always enjoyed doing, so you'll see some

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content on there that is public available to everybody. It

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might be Suster related, it might not be. I just

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want to have fun with it, and if you all

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have any ideas for me, please feel free to.

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Send them in.

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You can subscribe by visiting YouTube dot com, slash at

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Soustal Podcasts I am excited to.

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See you there.

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So moving on, I want to let you know that

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my guests today and I are hosting a giveaway, so

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stay tuned for more details on that later in the episode.

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And without further Ado, let me go ahead and introduce them.

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Headaudo Samono Gordova is a writer and artist from Mexico City,

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living in Brooklyn. He's currently writer in residence at Fordham University.

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He got his MFA from the Helenzell Writer's Program at

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the University in Michigan. He has studied at Breadloaf as

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a work study scholar and fellow, and at the Tin

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House Summer Workshop. Hidatado is the author of Monsterilio, which

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is now one of my all time favorite books and

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I have it here. The book published in twenty twenty three,

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in case you haven't had a chance to pick it

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up yet, Monsdrilio is a thought provoking meditation on grief, acceptance,

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and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty. His short

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stories have appeared in Catapult, The Common, Ninth Letter, Passages,

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North Chicago Quarterly Review, and others, and he is currently

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working on a second novel and fun Fact. He's been

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known to draw little creatures. Please Welcome to Susto Hirado

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Samono Gordova, head out of Though.

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Hello, thank you so much for being here today.

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Hello, thank you for having me.

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So in case there is something that I maybe did

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not cover in that intro, is there anything else you

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would like to let the listeners know about yourself, I think.

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You covered a lot.

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Yeah right, yeah, I did my research.

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Yeah yeah, and I love it. Yeah. I don't think

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I have anything to.

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Add perfect, So we'll go ahead and get into the

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questions then before I ask real questions because we will

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be talking about your writing.

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But I'm very.

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Curious about these little creatures that you draw. Can you

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tell me more about that?

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Yeah, I mean I just like drawing, like doodling little creatures.

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I have on Instagram for them. I used to draw

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them more often, but yeah, so it's just like I

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don't I don't think I'm like the best illustrator or

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drawer in the world, but I like doing them.

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Have like well, I can show.

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You like it Toto of a little octopus here that's

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so cute, and I have but but yeah, so, I

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mean I just like silly little creatures.

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I love that did you were you is doodling part

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of your writing process as well? Like for Monster Deelio,

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were you ever like doodling what you thought maybe m

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looked like.

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Well there is if you have the book.

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Well it depends on what version is it is, but

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there's like an illustration I did of like Monsterlia when

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he's like a fury little creature. So yeah, I mean

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it helps me imagine things, so I will or I

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will like doodle maps or you know, like to get

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my to wrap my head around how these things.

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Are gonna look. But especially for Mons Tralia, it.

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Really helped kind of like visualize what the creature is.

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Also because mon Studio kind I evolved throughout the book,

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so it was helpful to have like a more visual

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place for me to go to and kind of like

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go from there and kind of like have an anchor,

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like a visual anchor. I'm a visual person, so it helps.

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To have that.

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I feel like, yeah, I can definitely tell that you're

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a visual person in your writing in the way that

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you describe things. It's so like I could see them

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kind of like being built in my head. I'm a

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very visual person too, so I really really enjoyed not

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only on Stelio, but all of your writing. And I

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also like, I have this version of the book with

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this kind of like color blocking on it, and then yeah,

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little more Stelio peeking out.

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From the bottom. Yeah, I think is adorable.

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Which is funny, right, because this is truly a book

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about or one of the big parts of this book

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is he's this little monster that's kind of like created

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right out of this almost twisted kind of desperation to

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hang on to a loved one. And then I keep

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reading it, I'm like, he's cute. Yeah. But as you know,

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our our culture features storytelling, right, And I'm talking about

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like Latin America and Mexican culture, especially ghost stories. And

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I've heard you talk about these kinds of stories and

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other interviews, So I want to know how much of

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that came up in your upbringing and do you think

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it's contributed to your own storytelling.

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Yeah?

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Absolutely, I mean, just like you said, like, our culture

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is steeped and kind of like the supernatural stories, ghost

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stories and just like general superstitions and stuff like that,

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which come up almost always in casual conversations, yeah, with family,

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with friends, and whether you believe them or not, because

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sometimes you're like, oh, that's kind of like impossible. But

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also it's part of the culture, so it's kind of

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like a state of where you accept them as part

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of things that are happening and not happening at the

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same time. So it's kind of like a like a

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system of belief in which you don't have to fully

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commit to being like, yes, there are ghosts, but at

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the same time you're like, yeah, there are ghost you know.

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Like so I love that that there's like a like

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a more porous kind of way of thinking about the

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world in which is not everything is like super black

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and white, and it's like like weird things can happen, right,

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you're not completely shot off from it. And so and

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also like growing up and reading Latin American literature, Latin

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American literature is of course like steeped in magic a

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lot of the times, and so that also contributed to

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like my like how I was formed as a writer thinking.

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I mean, I grew up thinking that literature had to

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be my way. Otherwise it wasn't like the literature literature obviously,

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like I learned later that there's all kinds of literature

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and there's realism and all of those things right.

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But.

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Like in my.

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Like for me, writing always kind of like tends to

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go towards somewhere magical or even if it's not fully magical,

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we're definitely that kind of like tests what the limits

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of what we perceive is, right, and so and I

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also think like it's a fun way. I mean, if

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you're gonna write stories for me, super fun to imagine

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things that probably couldn't happen. So so yeah, I think

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I think culture and also like the Latin American literature

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roots all influenced my right obviously.

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Yeah, I heard you talk about in another interview this

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series of children's books. They're like kind of different, like

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reading levels in Spanish, And there was this one that

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you mentioned about, like this ghost Boy in This Mansion.

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And it made me think.

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Also I talk about this book, my listeners retired of

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hearing about it. But there's this book that I grew

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up reading. And I hadn't heard about the series that

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you mentioned until I heard you talk about it. But

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this book that I grew up with, it's it's called

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Stories that Must Not Die and it's a collection of

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folklore and fables from the Texas Mexico border. And this

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book was read to us in elementary. I have a

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copy of the book from like my second third grade classroom,

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and the stories in there. There's the story of Laona

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of a Latusa, the girl who downs with the devil.

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And it's funny because, like you mentioned, our literature is

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so steeped in that magic, in that kind of paranormal

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world that even at an early age, it's in our

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classrooms along with like you said, when we're with family

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or friends, the conversation just kind of veers that way,

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which is my favorite part of any hangout obviously, is

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when you start telling those stories. Yeah, So in reading

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Mons Dilio, there were a lot of really really cool themes.

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I think, of course upfront, like was mentioned earlier, is

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you know it's that it's a story of like grief,

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acceptance and love and loyalty. And I know that this

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has been brought up in other interviews, but this is

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also a very queer book, which I love because I

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love the way that you write it and the way

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that you talk about it, where you're like, well, yes,

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these people they happen to be queer, and that's just

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like we exist right where we're out here, and so

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I love the way that it's written because it's never

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like and they're gay. It's just it's part. It's part

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of their lives, it's it's it's who they are. It's

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part of who they are. But also I think it's like,

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you do this really cool thing. And I don't know

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if this is how intentional this was. And I want

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to ask you to talk about the parallels between queerness

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and M's instincts slash nature, not only maybe with his

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own sexuality, but just like as a creature, as a being,

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his base instincts, because you've mentioned again in interviews the

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connection being told between your wrong and being a monster

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and queerness, and you even asked what if a family

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had to love a monster? And that was when I

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heard you say that. I was like, WHOA, that's crazy

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to hear because I connected to that, and I connected

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to Monsterilio reading this book like being made to feel

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like a monster or a natural and just like on

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a personal level. And I've spoken about this very publicly before,

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but as someone living with HIV, I been living with

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HIV for over ten years now, I've had literally like

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people's physical reactions. They throw their hands back and they

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and they jumped back, right, So this again, in reading this,

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I was like, well, like I felt like a monster

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in that moment, and so reading this was like so

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basically all of that to ask you kind of your

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take on like being made to feel that way and

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its relationship to queerness.

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Right, absolutely, I mean I think while a lot of

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what you just said is exactly how I was thinking

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about it, those moments, those moments of reaction that come

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from people that are like oh my god, what you know?

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Or you know or even more subtle moments, right, Like

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not everything has to be like h so dramatic, but

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like moments that you feel other or like you don't

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belong and you can't like really speak about who you are,

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right because it's not what people expect or it's or

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it feels like especially when younger, like if you were like, oh,

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but I'm gay or whatever, it's like why do we

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have to deal with this now? Right?

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Like people were like, you.

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Know, like.

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Trying to not engage with it or something, but it's like,

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well but it's who I am, right, It's not nothing

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to be so like reserved or not wanting to engage. So,

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I mean, I think all of those things and I

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think queerdom has always been linked to monsterdom in some way.

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I think like from the idea of like queer people

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really engaging with monsters and kind of like when when

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there's a monster in like a book or a movie,

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like queer people almost always identify with the monster rather

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than like the heroes or whatever, you know, like because

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there's like an innate feeling of how society has like

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made us feel that we don't belong and that's exactly

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how monsters feel right when they come into like the world.

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So I thought being a monster or like Monsterlia actually

236
00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:20.240
being a monster, and actually not, he in my mind,

237
00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:23.519
he doesn't dislike being a monster. He just made to

238
00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:26.799
feel that he should dislike being a monster because if

239
00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:30.480
he shouldn't, you know, eat.

240
00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:36.200
Or whatever, you know. But he himself is not. He's not.

241
00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:41.120
He's not hating that part of himself. And so it's

242
00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:44.519
that part of like being like do I listen to

243
00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:46.919
everybody else and kind of conform to what they want

244
00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:51.120
of me because it's less dangerous obviously, like monsterrealia is

245
00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:55.840
taken to like like an extreme degree, right, But it's

246
00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:59.679
the same idea of like do you lessen yourself to

247
00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:03.320
kind of like not ruffle any feathers and so other

248
00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:08.200
people are comfortable and not you, or do you like

249
00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:11.840
accept that you are who you are, even if other

250
00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.600
people think you're a monster, and you just kind of

251
00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.200
own it and be like, yeah, welcome, Maybe I am

252
00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:19.799
a monster, but I don't care, you know, that type

253
00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:23.360
of thing, and so that I think it's absolutely related

254
00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:28.120
to a queer experience, and so I was very interested

255
00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:30.399
in that. And I was also very interested in that

256
00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:36.399
the characters like their actual like expressions of queerness in

257
00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:41.519
sets and rheumantic relationships and all of that, those are

258
00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:44.600
not challenged because I wanted that part of the world

259
00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:49.080
to be to be just natural and be like, oh,

260
00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:52.159
in this world, that's not an issue or that's not

261
00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:56.039
something that jumps out at anybody. But there's definitely the

262
00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:01.080
link to queerness in how monstream you always perceived in

263
00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:04.320
the world and how he thinks of himself. That kind

264
00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:10.399
of like acceptance for want, like self acceptance. I'm kind

265
00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:14.519
of like just deciding why you want, how you want

266
00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:15.519
to navigate the world.

267
00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:17.440
Right, Yeah, I love that.

268
00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:20.399
I love that you said that he he doesn't dislike

269
00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:22.639
that part of himself, and maybe I am a monster.

270
00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.519
And I feel like that is a point in so

271
00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:29.519
many people's lives, I think, just in general, but especially

272
00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:32.919
for people that I certainly have met that point a

273
00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:34.519
long time ago where I was like, you know what,

274
00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:37.440
Yeah I am I am a monster? Now what like

275
00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:39.759
what are we going to do about it? And so

276
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.000
and I love that part of in this book because,

277
00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:44.879
like you said, said, of course it's in this exaggerated

278
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.720
kind of situation, but it was so cool because I

279
00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:51.919
can see that in his development when we get to

280
00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.000
his kind of point of view and he's talking about

281
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.639
how he like unhinges his jaw and it feels good,

282
00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:00.279
and he does it when he's alone because because it

283
00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:02.759
does feel good, but he's away for you know, I

284
00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:05.880
guess from other people looking at him or judging him.

285
00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.880
And so yeah, I really I love that idea of yes,

286
00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.960
I am a monster, So where do we go now?

287
00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:26.839
Yeah?

288
00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:29.640
And so in reading your work, aside from one Stelio,

289
00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:33.640
I saw recurring themes of like what people would call

290
00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:38.960
body horror or gore death and transformation and sex. And

291
00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:42.920
you seem so connected on what people may describe as

292
00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:46.839
like on a primitive level or primordial or like base

293
00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:52.319
human instincts. However, I also see those things coupled with

294
00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:56.519
love and romance and beauty, And I was talking to

295
00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:01.799
my boyfriend earlier about that and how I feel like, like,

296
00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:05.559
in a issue eighty one of American Short Fiction, you

297
00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:07.680
have a short story in there, a selfle pointed safe

298
00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:10.880
keeper of beauty and the way that you talk about

299
00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:12.720
I'm just going to read a sentence here. It says,

300
00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.079
when I try, I only picture his exposed organs, a

301
00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:20.759
purplish beating heart, his ballooning lungs, bulging eyes, exposed teeth

302
00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.839
perfectly crooked, and the fibers of his muscles wound tight

303
00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:27.920
enough to hold him upright. It just feels like I can,

304
00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:30.359
like again, I see these I see these organs like

305
00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:33.839
popping into my mind building this person. But it feels

306
00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:37.000
like a faberge egg. I don't know, It's like it's

307
00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.839
like nice and pretty and like the way that it's

308
00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:43.400
kind of like structured in your writing. So yeah, I

309
00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.960
wanted to hear you speak about the connection between those things, and.

310
00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.720
Just like, how do you do it?

311
00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:52.640
How are you able to like talk about these things

312
00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:54.960
in honestly truly like a beautiful way?

313
00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:56.880
Oh?

314
00:18:56.920 --> 00:18:59.200
Thank you, and I also thank you for reading A

315
00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:02.680
Self Appointed Safekeeper of Beauty because that's a very recent

316
00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.279
story and I love it.

317
00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:07.920
Thank you.

318
00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.759
So yeah, I mean, I'm very interested obviously in the

319
00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:17.000
physical and so Australia deals a lot with hunger, and

320
00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:21.640
I think hunger in very many different senses, right, like

321
00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.920
literal hunger and like sexual desire and all of that.

322
00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:29.480
And I think, I mean, for me, like the body

323
00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:37.359
is very important, and we as humans are not just exercises,

324
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.839
like intellectual exercises. We come in a body, and a

325
00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:44.920
body is like a lot you know, like both great

326
00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:47.279
and also awful a lot of the times.

327
00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.319
You know, like you have to deal with a lot of.

328
00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:53.559
Stuff, and you can also like get a tremendous amount

329
00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:55.400
of pleasure and joy from your body.

330
00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:57.319
And so.

331
00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:03.079
In my stories, I like or like in my writing,

332
00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.440
it just comes naturally to kind of like see the

333
00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:12.440
body and kind of like feel present, like flesh presence,

334
00:20:12.519 --> 00:20:18.240
I guess. And I also think sometimes with mons Tralia,

335
00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:20.480
I'll read like a review or something it's like, oh,

336
00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:23.200
it's great, but they didn't need to have sex in

337
00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:26.920
it or never, which is like yeah, I did you know.

338
00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:30.160
It's like talking about all these things about desires and

339
00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:34.720
hungers and like things that you want for yourself, and

340
00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:38.079
sex is a big part of that for a lot

341
00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:41.680
of people, and so and I think for my characters

342
00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:46.640
it is in different ways. But that expression of body

343
00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:51.359
is very important. And also because a core thing for

344
00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:55.799
Monsterlio the character is his body changing, right, and so

345
00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:02.359
for other people, so people comments on it, you know,

346
00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:09.799
directly or indirectly. There's a lot that people want to

347
00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:14.799
do to his body, good and bad. And so it's like,

348
00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.200
but it's my own and what does that mean, right,

349
00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:23.440
and how do I express that? And also his instincts

350
00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:26.680
and his desires are in his body, right, and so

351
00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:31.039
it's not separate. And so for me writing about bodies

352
00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:34.799
and about physicality and what you call like primordial things,

353
00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:39.079
it's very important. I love thinking about like what makes

354
00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:43.240
us human, like beyond like reason and all of that,

355
00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:48.519
like more like the more biological and animalistic things that

356
00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:53.720
we have, and how we build upon that, like beliefs

357
00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:59.519
and structures and systems that help us and sometimes or

358
00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:04.559
many times hinder us from experiencing the world. But it

359
00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:08.200
all starts in being like creatures of flesh and blood,

360
00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:13.880
and you know, and so I think for me it's

361
00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:17.599
super interesting to think about bodies and what we hold

362
00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:22.920
before we start making stories or like reasoning about them.

363
00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:27.319
And then that just the position into what we like

364
00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:30.240
maybe leave or not believe, and what we can create

365
00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:35.599
or not create. And so yeah, I think it's super interesting.

366
00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:38.640
And obviously, as I said in Montsreela, it was super

367
00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:40.799
interested in hunger, and hunger is one of those like

368
00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:44.480
primary or primorial things that we all have, right and

369
00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:51.720
as in society or like in our societies, we're taught

370
00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.480
to kind of like always mitigate hunger or control it, right,

371
00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:00.920
literal hunger, like don't need that much, like you know

372
00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.680
what you eat. You know, like there's a whole industry

373
00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:08.640
and like sayd Collier around like eating. But also sex,

374
00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:13.720
obviously sex is super controlled and super it's like such

375
00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:19.519
a topic for humans, which is super interesting, right, And

376
00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:24.279
so those things for me are super really really interesting

377
00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:30.640
and something that I that I explore often in my writing.

378
00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:32.960
Yeah, I love it.

379
00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:35.680
I also want to give a shout out to another

380
00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.960
of your short stories, The Smiling Man, which was in

381
00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:41.880
the twenty twenty four Fall issue of The Columbia Review.

382
00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:45.880
God that story was just so good, and again just

383
00:23:46.039 --> 00:23:50.200
mention of like hunger and the Flesh, and I kind

384
00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:52.480
of like, I wrote my notes here, and so I'm

385
00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.440
curious about your your idea on this, because this is

386
00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:57.480
something that everyone can read right now, and I highly

387
00:23:57.559 --> 00:24:00.880
encourage it. But I wrote here that there's this thing,

388
00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:04.519
this monster that takes pieces of you, and not everyone

389
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.480
can see it, and even if it starts to take

390
00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.200
pieces of them, they cannot always see it. And sometimes

391
00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:13.880
it rids you of them entirely, and you try to

392
00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:16.839
tell people about it, but then they don't understand, so

393
00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:19.960
then you keep it to yourself, and then someone finally

394
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.200
can see it and they can help you fight it.

395
00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:25.720
And I honestly I got teary eyed when I read

396
00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:29.240
it because I was like, this is a beautiful romance story.

397
00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:32.640
This is a rolling story. And I think maybe on

398
00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:34.839
like the surface, someone would see some of the words

399
00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.039
and hear some of the descriptions or what's happening, they'd

400
00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:40.160
be like, no, this is a scary story. And I mean,

401
00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:42.440
I think it can be both. But I thought it

402
00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:45.559
was just such a beautiful story about love. When I

403
00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:46.960
got to the end of it, and I was like

404
00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:51.039
holding back tears because it was so so good. So

405
00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:52.880
I don't know, I would just like to see if

406
00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:55.440
you would like to say anything about The Smiling Man.

407
00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:58.720
Yeah, oh well, thank you again for reading it. And

408
00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:01.960
I love that story a sorry. I wrote a long

409
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:05.119
time ago and it has gone through like many revisions,

410
00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:10.160
but I really like it, and you're absolutely right. It

411
00:25:10.279 --> 00:25:12.759
is to me also like a romance story. It's a

412
00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:17.160
love story, right, and I wrote it that way, and

413
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:20.400
it's it's like a or you could say it's like

414
00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:26.359
a horror story with a happy ending like that. So yeah,

415
00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:32.319
I mean, and I think it's all about physicality. I

416
00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:36.119
think that that's one of those stories that I wrote,

417
00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:39.839
and I was really really thinking about bodies and like

418
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:47.160
consuming and what it means and also why you owe

419
00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:52.680
yourself or what you owe to somebody else, right, And

420
00:25:53.960 --> 00:26:00.440
also I think so the Smiling Man like that idea.

421
00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:04.960
So when I was very young, well young it like

422
00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:08.079
I don't know, maybe like eight or nine or something,

423
00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:13.680
I got like a really nasty like stomach virus or something,

424
00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:17.039
and so I was I had like a really high

425
00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:22.640
fever and I was delirious for a while, and my

426
00:26:22.759 --> 00:26:25.880
mom says, I said, like I was seeing like a

427
00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:32.079
man with a hat in the room. I can't I

428
00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:36.000
can't really remember that because I was sick, I guess,

429
00:26:36.279 --> 00:26:40.599
but but that stuck with me, right, And so in

430
00:26:40.680 --> 00:26:43.119
that story, there's like a man with a hat in

431
00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:46.839
a room, and that's the Smiling Man. So that's where

432
00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:51.480
that comes from. And also obviously it reminds me of

433
00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:54.839
like the Babba Duke or you know, other creatures like that.

434
00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:59.039
Or I said, no.

435
00:26:59.079 --> 00:27:05.319
Name from Spread It Away, No Face, no face. Yeah,

436
00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:10.359
So like creatures like that it reminds me of. And

437
00:27:10.440 --> 00:27:14.720
so it's like a very mysterious presence that you don't

438
00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:18.160
know if it's good or evil, or if it's going

439
00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:21.799
to help you some or like really like destroy you.

440
00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:25.200
And so I was like really interested in that. And

441
00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:28.480
as you know we talked about I love creatures, and

442
00:27:28.519 --> 00:27:31.319
so I love thinking about what they can do or

443
00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:33.160
not do or what they mean.

444
00:27:35.559 --> 00:27:37.559
Oh my god, yeah, I just I was. I love

445
00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:40.839
that story so much. It's so so good, and I'll

446
00:27:40.839 --> 00:27:44.680
be linking these things also in like the episode descriptions

447
00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:49.240
so people can go read them because yeah, so speaking

448
00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:51.839
of the Smiling Man. In another interview that you did,

449
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.519
you told a story and I thought that at first

450
00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:56.880
that they were related, but I'm hearing out that they're not.

451
00:27:57.160 --> 00:27:59.440
But you told a story of when you were with

452
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:03.240
your family living in San Luis, Potosi, that your sister

453
00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:06.960
claimed to see a man in her room, and so

454
00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:11.240
I was wondering if that had inspired this story at

455
00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:13.960
all in the story of the Smiling Man. But it's

456
00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:17.839
a different, i think, equally horrifying story you're seeing this man.

457
00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:21.359
But I mean for the listeners, if you could tell

458
00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:23.359
that story about what your sister saw, and if you

459
00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:28.319
have any other scary stories or encounters with the paranormal,

460
00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:29.839
we would love to hear them.

461
00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:31.319
Right, So.

462
00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:35.920
Maybe it did actually, like maybe in one part of

463
00:28:35.960 --> 00:28:39.640
my mind that also inspired those Smiling Man, you know,

464
00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:43.200
like it's like a collection of things that inspire you,

465
00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:47.000
and like you never know exactly who are you're pulling from,

466
00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:48.839
but probably like that's there.

467
00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:50.880
So we were living in Sandy, Potosi.

468
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:53.559
We only lived there for a year, and for those

469
00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:57.640
people that don't know, it's like a city more towards

470
00:28:57.640 --> 00:29:03.440
the north of Mexico, and we lived a little bit

471
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:06.319
away from like the actual city. We lived like in

472
00:29:06.359 --> 00:29:11.319
an other part that it's it's called a Florida, and

473
00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:14.920
it's kind of like a little bit secluded, and it

474
00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:18.680
was it's very like there's a lot of trees in

475
00:29:18.839 --> 00:29:21.680
like a state that is more deserted. So it was

476
00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:25.480
like nice, and we lived in a big house, but

477
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:29.039
most of the time, because my dad had to be

478
00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:33.759
working away during that year, it was mostly my mom,

479
00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:41.279
my sister, and I living there, and so it just

480
00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:46.319
felt as kids, it just felt like it was haunted

481
00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:47.119
or something.

482
00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:47.759
I don't know.

483
00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:52.119
It just like like everything felt like very solitary in

484
00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:56.440
a where And I think my sister, she's older, and

485
00:29:56.519 --> 00:30:00.400
I think she like lived like she was more in

486
00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:02.599
tune to those things. I don't know, but like there

487
00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:07.279
was one night that she started screaming in the middle

488
00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:08.759
of the night and she's like, oh, there's a man

489
00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:11.160
in my room. And so we all came to her

490
00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:16.519
room and we brought like the dog in and everything,

491
00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:20.359
and so like just because like we didn't know if

492
00:30:20.440 --> 00:30:24.519
like there was actually wasn't man or like because when

493
00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:26.200
we got to her room there was no one, but

494
00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:29.279
we didn't know if like maybe he had escaped. There's

495
00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:31.119
I mean, we had no idea what was going on,

496
00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:33.799
And so we brought the dog in and we were

497
00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:36.960
like through the household together with the dog, and when

498
00:30:37.480 --> 00:30:39.720
we got to her room, he started barking at the

499
00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:43.960
closet and we were like, oh my god, you know,

500
00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:48.240
like Jesus, like they must be there or whatever. But

501
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:50.039
we opened it and there was nothing, but like the

502
00:30:50.119 --> 00:30:53.319
dog kept barking. And so well that night we alls

503
00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:59.519
like slept together, and you know, but yeah, like my

504
00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:02.599
sister my mother like said they saw like, you know,

505
00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:05.599
in Mexico, like they say like bruques, which is those

506
00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:11.039
like balls of light that like shoot around. They saw

507
00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:15.839
a bunch of those in that house. I don't remember

508
00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:19.359
seeing like anything myself, but it definitely was a scary.

509
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:25.640
It definitely felt haunted, you know. And so yeah, I

510
00:31:25.640 --> 00:31:31.039
mean like, uh yeah it was. It was definitely that

511
00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:35.359
house that had some sort of procence or energy or

512
00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:36.200
whatever it was.

513
00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:38.400
But it definitely was something.

514
00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:42.440
And so yeah, I mean, and so it's what like

515
00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:45.599
we were saying at the beginning, like you believe and

516
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:48.440
you not believe, but you kind of like believe, you know,

517
00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:51.200
because it's like, well you felt it and you know,

518
00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:56.640
and there's something right, and so those experiences kind of

519
00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:00.519
like stay with you. And also living in stat we're

520
00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:06.079
supposed to see, which is like an older city. Well

521
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:09.279
Mexico City is sold too, but like there's more diversity,

522
00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:16.400
but like it just felt more rooted, maybe in ghosts something.

523
00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:21.680
Yeah, did you all did your family build that house

524
00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:23.680
or did you like it was already there and you

525
00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:26.200
moved into it, Like do you know any history of it?

526
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:27.440
I don't know.

527
00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:33.839
Now, my parents built that house, uh, and we were

528
00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:36.960
supposed to move there fully, but it just didn't work

529
00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:38.759
out and we had to move away from Saint Louis.

530
00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:43.839
But but yeah, but like that area I think more

531
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:49.240
I mean, like I think someone in my family said

532
00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:53.000
like it had to be built, like it was built

533
00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:53.960
on top of like a.

534
00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:55.839
Burial site or like.

535
00:32:58.200 --> 00:33:00.960
But I don't know if that just like what they

536
00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:05.680
feel or if there's any truth in that, but it

537
00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:13.119
feels that area that had so I can't so like

538
00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:16.960
La Florida, that area where we lived, it was built

539
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:20.680
by I can't remember exactly who, but it was like

540
00:33:20.680 --> 00:33:23.359
a family that that came and they kind of like

541
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.680
wanted to have like a more like foresty type place,

542
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:31.839
so they kind of like made it like artificially in

543
00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:34.720
a way made it. But it kind of like grew

544
00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:38.039
and it had like these huge beautiful trees that had

545
00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:41.720
been living there for years and years. So so it

546
00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:44.799
was kind of like an oasis where maybe there shouldn't

547
00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:45.599
be an oasis.

548
00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:48.119
I don't know. So it had like.

549
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:53.400
From its inception, it had like an artificiality that it's

550
00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:56.559
very interesting. But by the time we moved there, it

551
00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:59.039
was like an old time and like all the trees

552
00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:01.400
had taken root and it's like a very beautiful thing.

553
00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:04.200
But it was also like different from the rest of

554
00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:08.280
the state. I'm kind of like made up in a way.

555
00:34:08.360 --> 00:34:10.280
So that's interesting, I think.

556
00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:11.159
So I don't know.

557
00:34:11.880 --> 00:34:15.280
Yeah, maybe like this, this disturbance to the land, you know,

558
00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:18.960
CAUs something to show up and retaliate.

559
00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:21.599
Yeah.

560
00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:25.679
So, as was mentioned in your bio earlier, you are

561
00:34:25.719 --> 00:34:30.519
working on your next novel. Can you share anything about

562
00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:31.320
your next novel.

563
00:34:34.679 --> 00:34:39.679
It's it's almost there, it's not yet completed, but hopefully

564
00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:48.159
very soon. So yeah, I mean I think, I don't know,

565
00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:55.719
it's it's weird. I think it kind of I don't

566
00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:58.920
think like monstre La is like full on horror horror,

567
00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:04.760
you know, but he definitely has horror elements, and I

568
00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:11.800
think this new novel does. I mean it also kind

569
00:35:11.800 --> 00:35:17.039
of like takes on like elements of the supernatural or

570
00:35:17.079 --> 00:35:19.000
what it means to be like a different creature and

571
00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:23.679
things like that, but it's not. But it's also not

572
00:35:23.920 --> 00:35:29.920
horror horror, and so yeah, I mean it's also family

573
00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:34.360
in a different way. So like, yeah, I mean I'm

574
00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:40.679
excited about I don't know, I haven't said anything very specific, but.

575
00:35:39.800 --> 00:35:43.320
But yeah, no, no, I'm into it. I'm into the mystery.

576
00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:46.400
And also I think you gave us just enough. I'm

577
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:50.440
also very excited about it. I just thought of something too,

578
00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:52.679
and I wanted to ask you to speak to the

579
00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:55.519
listeners about it in another interview.

580
00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:56.960
I did a lot of research, by the way, for

581
00:35:57.000 --> 00:35:57.440
this game.

582
00:35:57.679 --> 00:35:59.360
Yes, I can see. I love it.

583
00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:01.360
Thank you so of course.

584
00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:03.000
And I mean also just I love hearing you talk

585
00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:05.800
about your process and your writing and and so you

586
00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:08.199
part of that process you spoke about in writing once

587
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:11.679
to Leo that you spoke to I think people, or

588
00:36:11.719 --> 00:36:15.599
you listened to shows or podcasts or I'm not exactly,

589
00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:20.519
but you consumed something about like grief. Because the way

590
00:36:20.519 --> 00:36:22.639
that you talk about grief in this book is it's

591
00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:25.559
so good and I feel like a lot of horror

592
00:36:26.199 --> 00:36:30.679
uses grief or uh yeah, a lot of people that

593
00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:32.960
write about grief they use horror basically as like the

594
00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:36.440
vehicle or the analogy. And I've had the other interviews

595
00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:39.039
on here that have done something similar, but it's so

596
00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:42.280
interesting to see how everyone does it, and especially in

597
00:36:42.360 --> 00:36:45.199
once Cdelio, I think it was an amazing take on grief,

598
00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:48.440
and so I wanted to ask if you could share

599
00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:51.320
your process on like the research that you did to

600
00:36:51.400 --> 00:36:52.119
write about that.

601
00:36:53.920 --> 00:36:54.199
Yeah.

602
00:36:54.320 --> 00:36:58.679
I mean, I think grief comes up comes up a

603
00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:02.519
lot in horror just because horrific itself. Yeah, you know,

604
00:37:02.599 --> 00:37:05.320
so it makes sense. It's like they go hand in hand.

605
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:07.000
And I think.

606
00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:11.519
So personally, I haven't suffered like a loss is big,

607
00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:14.079
you know, like losing a child, and I don't have

608
00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:19.960
kids or anything, so like, I don't know the experience personally,

609
00:37:20.239 --> 00:37:27.360
but I did. I listened to two testimonials from people

610
00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:30.280
that have lost children, and I think what you get

611
00:37:30.280 --> 00:37:35.960
from those is that everybody kind of like lives it

612
00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:39.880
in very different ways. And I think that's what also

613
00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:45.199
like led me to think of different voices in the

614
00:37:46.119 --> 00:37:48.719
in the in the book, just because everybody kind of

615
00:37:48.760 --> 00:37:54.480
has like their own way of dealing with such a horrific.

616
00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:56.880
Event, and then.

617
00:37:58.400 --> 00:38:02.239
You pull on your other like your own personal experiences

618
00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:06.639
with grief, right, Like, maybe it's not exactly that, but

619
00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:10.639
in a way, in different ways, we all have dealt

620
00:38:10.679 --> 00:38:15.800
with grief and so just kind of like tapping into

621
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:20.800
those feelings. I'm kind of like it was very interesting

622
00:38:20.840 --> 00:38:25.360
to explore from different point of views, just because it

623
00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:35.159
allowed for grief to take different forms and to to

624
00:38:35.559 --> 00:38:37.960
kind of like understand that there's no right.

625
00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:42.920
Or wrong way to do it. And also for Maggos,

626
00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:43.599
I think.

627
00:38:45.079 --> 00:38:48.519
I love Maggos. I know, like not everybody loves Magos,

628
00:38:48.639 --> 00:38:52.960
but I do. And she takes She's the most active

629
00:38:53.199 --> 00:38:56.360
I think of all the characters in the book, and

630
00:38:56.440 --> 00:38:59.559
she kind of like takes maybe not the best way,

631
00:38:59.559 --> 00:39:01.880
but she takes the reins of life, you know, like

632
00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:06.119
she's not gonna let anything like come in between her

633
00:39:06.159 --> 00:39:07.960
and what she wants or what she thinks she wants

634
00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:09.760
or what she thinks.

635
00:39:09.599 --> 00:39:10.679
It's supposed to happen.

636
00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:15.960
So she she does a lot to kind of reshape

637
00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:20.039
her world, and that to me is super interesting. And

638
00:39:20.119 --> 00:39:23.400
I think whereas Joseph is more passive in his grief,

639
00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:25.679
in the way. It's like he's just kind of like

640
00:39:25.840 --> 00:39:28.440
letting it like go through him and kind of like

641
00:39:31.800 --> 00:39:37.239
letting it take its course, maybe not a more traditional way.

642
00:39:37.239 --> 00:39:40.800
I don't know if that even is the thing, but

643
00:39:40.800 --> 00:39:42.320
but that was very interesting to me.

644
00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:46.920
Also, like that justaposition of people understanding.

645
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:52.199
And also for Monsterdio, there's a grief in because Monstudio

646
00:39:52.280 --> 00:39:55.679
is not Santiago, but he feels.

647
00:39:55.280 --> 00:39:59.679
Like there's there's.

648
00:39:58.840 --> 00:40:01.880
A process that he has to go through, which to

649
00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:04.559
me felt a little bit like grief of like letting

650
00:40:04.639 --> 00:40:08.039
go either he had to let go of him being

651
00:40:08.039 --> 00:40:11.639
a monster, like hiding that for or letting go of

652
00:40:11.960 --> 00:40:14.639
his family in a way, and just like their expectations

653
00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:16.320
and all of that, and that it's also kind of

654
00:40:16.360 --> 00:40:18.880
like a loss.

655
00:40:18.920 --> 00:40:21.519
And so yeah, I mean I think.

656
00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:28.079
And grief is such a Poachent engine right for for

657
00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:35.039
a narrative, So yeah, I mean, it's it's not something

658
00:40:35.320 --> 00:40:40.719
I would always want to do, like because it's a lot,

659
00:40:40.880 --> 00:40:45.760
but I also tried for the book to have levity

660
00:40:45.880 --> 00:40:49.679
because I think grief is also not all suffering, right,

661
00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:56.639
Like there's moments it's weird and layered. Yeah, And also

662
00:40:56.920 --> 00:41:01.159
grief is a lot about love, right, that's where it

663
00:41:01.199 --> 00:41:05.199
stems from. Because if we didn't love things or people,

664
00:41:05.840 --> 00:41:10.239
we wouldn't grieve for them. So I wanted it to

665
00:41:10.280 --> 00:41:12.159
be really about love.

666
00:41:12.960 --> 00:41:17.440
Yeah. Wow, thank you so so much, and thank you

667
00:41:17.599 --> 00:41:19.079
for your time today.

668
00:41:19.239 --> 00:41:22.360
I really appreciate it absolutely. Yeahs.

669
00:41:22.400 --> 00:41:26.119
As mentioned earlier, we are doing a giveaway together, which

670
00:41:26.119 --> 00:41:29.440
I'm very excited about. So if y'all are interested in

671
00:41:29.559 --> 00:41:33.440
winning a signed copy of Monstiglio, you can do so

672
00:41:33.559 --> 00:41:38.639
by following both head Out at at Hello dot Samanito

673
00:41:39.119 --> 00:41:41.840
and myself on Instagram. I will make a post and

674
00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:43.360
I will tag head Out of the on there so

675
00:41:43.360 --> 00:41:45.679
you can follow both of us of course, like the

676
00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:48.360
post and tag one of your girl friends in the

677
00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:51.119
comments so that we can choose a winner from there.

678
00:41:52.239 --> 00:41:54.760
And if you all cannot wait to win a copy,

679
00:41:54.840 --> 00:41:57.519
I highly suggest running out and picking one up if

680
00:41:57.519 --> 00:42:00.920
you haven't yet. It is an amazing, amazing book. I

681
00:42:00.960 --> 00:42:04.760
truly enjoyed it, and I truly truly enjoy all your

682
00:42:04.760 --> 00:42:07.039
other writing as well, which again I'll be linking in

683
00:42:07.079 --> 00:42:11.039
the description so that people can read that before we go.

684
00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:13.079
Can you please let people know where they can find

685
00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:14.360
you and your work?

686
00:42:15.840 --> 00:42:20.800
Yeah, so you can follow me on Instagram at Hello

687
00:42:20.920 --> 00:42:25.159
dot somni too, or you can visit my website which

688
00:42:25.239 --> 00:42:29.280
is dot com and I have like links to my

689
00:42:29.400 --> 00:42:34.400
stories and two upcoming events even though I don't have

690
00:42:34.519 --> 00:42:37.280
any right now, but like there will be.

691
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:38.079
Some hopefully.

692
00:42:39.159 --> 00:42:42.119
And so yeah, and other interviews I've done and things

693
00:42:42.119 --> 00:42:43.639
like that, so you can check that.

694
00:42:43.679 --> 00:42:45.039
Out, all right.

695
00:42:45.159 --> 00:42:48.320
Thank you again so much for your time today. Thank

696
00:42:48.360 --> 00:43:05.880
you for having me of course, of course anytime. Welcome back,

697
00:43:05.920 --> 00:43:08.599
girl friends. Thank you so much for joining us for

698
00:43:08.719 --> 00:43:11.800
today's episode. Again, if you have not had a chance

699
00:43:11.840 --> 00:43:14.159
to go and pick up a copy of Monsterlio, I

700
00:43:14.280 --> 00:43:17.119
highly highly cannot recommend it enough. It is such a

701
00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:18.920
good book I didn't even show on camera earlier. You

702
00:43:18.920 --> 00:43:20.559
can see my little tabs here if you're watching the

703
00:43:20.599 --> 00:43:23.199
video so you can check out more of his short stories.

704
00:43:23.280 --> 00:43:25.360
I'm linking the two that we spoke about in the

705
00:43:25.559 --> 00:43:28.039
episode description. And again, if you would like to answer

706
00:43:28.119 --> 00:43:30.039
the giveaway, you need to follow both of our accounts

707
00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:32.840
on Instagram, like the post and then tag a girlfriend

708
00:43:32.840 --> 00:43:35.280
in the comments. And we are giving away a signed

709
00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:39.199
copy of Montsterdelio. So very excited about that. Again, please

710
00:43:39.280 --> 00:43:43.679
subscribe to Sustal's YouTube. That's YouTube dot com slash at

711
00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:47.000
sustal podcast, which is the handle for every social media

712
00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:49.119
platform for Sustal, where you can follow for any and

713
00:43:49.159 --> 00:43:52.679
all updates on the shows and giveaways. And as always,

714
00:43:52.719 --> 00:43:55.360
if you would like to hear your own story on

715
00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:58.760
a Letters from the Beyond episode, please visit the link

716
00:43:58.880 --> 00:44:02.239
at my link tree that linktr dot ee slash susto

717
00:44:02.440 --> 00:44:04.679
and you can submit your story there or by visiting

718
00:44:04.679 --> 00:44:07.719
sustal podcast dot com. As always, if you would like

719
00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:10.000
to support the show, the easiest way to do so

720
00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:14.199
is by engaging wherever you are listening, liking, subscribing, leaving

721
00:44:14.239 --> 00:44:18.159
positive ratings and reviews, leaving comments, sharing with your own

722
00:44:18.320 --> 00:44:20.880
girl friends, and if you would like to support with

723
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money dollars, by signing up to be a Patreon where

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you can listen to episodes early and ad free, and

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depending on your tier, you can get the video versions

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of the episodes. You can do so by visiting Patreon

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dot com slash Sustal podcast. A big shout out to

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this episode's patrons. You are Liza, Sadie Rachel, Alejandra Luth, April, Djosette,

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Sam Mandy Jules Laurigenie, Monica desire c Ashes, Nedesa, Rachel Asusena,

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Marlene Chata, Laney desire A, Carla Archergado, Vanessa, Mariza Nieves, Manormal, Iris, Mad,

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Floored and Selina. Thank you all so so much or

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your support you keep this little on cityle all going

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and thank you to everybody for listening. I will talk

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to you in the next one and until then not hostas. Bye.