What If It Did Work?
Unveiling Mysteries with CJ Toca: A Fusion of Brazilian Culture, Prophecy, and Literary Creation
Embark with us on a literary quest led by CJ Toca, a maestro of mystery fiction with a spiritual twist. In our latest podcast episode, we uncover the essence of his novels "The Secret Heir" and "The Vacancy," where Brazilian vibrancy meets the seductive dance of enigma and prophecy. CJ doesn't just craft stories; he paints experiences, drawing inspiration from his own vibrant encounters with Brazilian communities and his profound connection to the culture. We navigate the complexities of language and culture as CJ shares his forays into the Portuguese and Spanish worlds, enriching the tapestry of his character development.
The allure of the Catholic Church’s mysteries serves as a backdrop to our riveting conversation about "The Vacant Seat," where historical prophecies interlace with modern-day intrigues. We listen to how CJ captures the shadowy corners of Catholicism, weaving the prophecies of St. Malachy and Nostradamus into a narrative that resonates with the intrigue surrounding Pope John Paul I’s death. As we anticipate the continuation of this saga, the discussion takes a contemporary turn, linking tales of the past with the pulse of current global events, and setting the stage for CJ's upcoming masterpieces.
Writers, take note: the journey to authorship is fraught with self-doubt, but CJ Tolka stands as a beacon of self-motivation and creative resilience. He shares the secrets of crafting narratives that not only transcend the page but also echo the personal fulfillment that comes from silencing the inner critic. From leveraging travel as a source of inspiration and potential tax deductible research, to creating characters that breathe authenticity, this episode is a treasure chest of insights for anyone longing to carve their own path in the literary world. Join us as we celebrate CJ's journey and the transformative power of writing with purpose and passion.
Join the What if it Did Work movement on Facebook
Get the Book!
www.omarmedrano.com
www.calendly.com/omarmedrano/15min
Embark with us on a literary quest led by CJ Toca, a maestro of mystery fiction with a spiritual twist. In our latest podcast episode, we uncover the essence of his novels "The Secret Heir" and "The Vacancy," where Brazilian vibrancy meets the seductive dance of enigma and prophecy. CJ doesn't just craft stories; he paints experiences, drawing inspiration from his own vibrant encounters with Brazilian communities and his profound connection to the culture. We navigate the complexities of language and culture as CJ shares his forays into the Portuguese and Spanish worlds, enriching the tapestry of his character development.
The allure of the Catholic Church’s mysteries serves as a backdrop to our riveting conversation about "The Vacant Seat," where historical prophecies interlace with modern-day intrigues. We listen to how CJ captures the shadowy corners of Catholicism, weaving the prophecies of St. Malachy and Nostradamus into a narrative that resonates with the intrigue surrounding Pope John Paul I’s death. As we anticipate the continuation of this saga, the discussion takes a contemporary turn, linking tales of the past with the pulse of current global events, and setting the stage for CJ's upcoming masterpieces.
Writers, take note: the journey to authorship is fraught with self-doubt, but CJ Tolka stands as a beacon of self-motivation and creative resilience. He shares the secrets of crafting narratives that not only transcend the page but also echo the personal fulfillment that comes from silencing the inner critic. From leveraging travel as a source of inspiration and potential tax deductible research, to creating characters that breathe authenticity, this episode is a treasure chest of insights for anyone longing to carve their own path in the literary world. Join us as we celebrate CJ's journey and the transformative power of writing with purpose and passion.
Join the What if it Did Work movement on Facebook
Get the Book!
www.omarmedrano.com
www.calendly.com/omarmedrano/15min
I never told no one that my whole life I've been holding back. Every time I load my gun up so I can shoot for the star, I hear a voice like who do you think you are?
Speaker 2:another day, another dollar, another one of my favorite episodes on my favorite podcast. I'm actually going to enjoy An author, but an author usually it's authors like myself the business development books. But this is something I've always wanted to do and people always wanted me to do fiction, and it's a pretty good fiction. Cj Tolka enjoys writing suspense, mystery fiction with an eye towards spiritual or mystical aspects of life. It should be no surprise that the secret air contained with the spiritual and mystical component, Readers enjoyed that aspect of the book. Toka's next work, the prequel, the Vacancy, is a spiritual mystery setting the stage for the adventures and relationships between Stefania Tomas I can't pronounce that guy's name and Anatoly and others and the Secret Heir. As some reviewers have pointed out, hints abound in the Secret Heir relating their past adventures and relationships and new ones to come in the sequel in the Secret Heir, the last anointing coming in the late 2022, early 2024. It's already out. So, without further ado, CJ, welcome to the show, brother.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Omar. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:Sorry about that. My eyes are actually. I just hit 50 not too long ago and it was the first time. I'm sorry about man. I guess I need my eyes checked. It came out a little blurry, so sorry about that. But yeah, no, I mean congratulations on writing two books okay, thank you very much.
Speaker 3:It was uh, it's a, it's a hobby and it's uh enjoyable to do, to do it uh, especially when people like uh what you.
Speaker 2:Now are you from Brazil Because you speak perfect English.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, no, I'm not from Brazil, but both books have a Brazilian component to them, and both books have not been translated into Portuguese, but they've been translated into Spanish, so they're available on Amazon, spanish, spanish Amazon, espn. Yeah Well.
Speaker 2:I could read it in Spanish, but it would probably take me a little while. Just even though I am Hispanic, english is my first language and you know I have to translate everything that I read in Spanish. I have to translate it to English, so I'm perfectly fine with the English version. Why? Why Brazilian? Why? Why was the main character Brazilian?
Speaker 3:I wanted to do something different. I've always been sort of intrigued by Brazil. I met a decent amount of Brazilian folks in New Jersey. There's an area of Newark, new Jersey, called the Ironbound and there's a decent amount of Brazilian folks who live there, great Brazilian restaurants, great Brazilian food. And I said, you know, this would make for a great character for a story Someone who's part Brazilian because I hear all these stories about Brazil anecdotal. I've never been, never been there, and I said you know that that'd be a good uh, a good uh character. Uh, so uh, the the main character, stefania, is half a brazilian. Her mom's side of the family from brazil and her dad's side of the family lives in. It's from Rome, it's from Italy.
Speaker 2:Rome. I know the Vatican aspect because there is a Vatican aspect to it and it's funny, I went to Brazil, but as a teenager, so about 30 years ago. Very beautiful people, very beautiful culture here in South Florida, a lot of brazil, brazilians, a lot of brazilian influence with its food, music, very we're very similar romance language. But usually you, you could upset a brazilian if you start speaking to them in spanish because they want, they want you to know they, they are not want you to know they, they are not Hispanic, they, they, they are Latinos. It's one of those Latin Hispanic and they're from Portugal, so Portuguese. But um, overall, I mean, what inspired you to write books like this? I mean there was a spiritual aspect, it's a mystery adventure, whatnot. It reminded me a lot like the Alchemist Paulo Coelho.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean the Vacancy kind of follows sort of a Ron Brown type of paradigm. But you know, I've gone, I picked sort of things that I've learned through the years and I kind of compartmentalize them. I decide, you know, that would make for a good story. Like I said, interact, interacting with Brazilian folks, made me think that that would be a good character.
Speaker 3:Reading about certain issues and stories In the Vacant Seat, you know, we're treated to a number of prophecies, sort of mysteries, all within sort of the Catholic arena, but not exclusively. And I don't think it compartmentalizes the story. It makes it, I think, more interesting. So you have an English duke and I've always been fascinated by England who gets wrapped up in this and he's devout and he between the both of them, and they engage in this quest and they uncover a lot of historical things that are actually true in the context of history and I kind of weave them in to the story. So you get a story that has historical aspects to it, although it's not historical fiction, it takes place in the present day. But a lot of the aspects of the story that they're talking about you can easily look up on Wikipedia and think about and read about. So I wanted it to have that touch to it. So it wasn't fiction, but you can relate, it can be relatable.
Speaker 2:Are you a fan of Dan Brown?
Speaker 3:I think I said Ron Brown, I meant Dan Brown.
Speaker 2:It could have been his brother who was his publicist. We'll put it that way.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan. I did not read the Da Vinci Code, I did read Angels and Demons, but I like the premise of his books. So it wasn't meant to be a. I wasn't copying his style.
Speaker 2:You weren't paying homage either.
Speaker 3:No, I don't think my style is very similar to his, but the concept for this, the vacant seat kind of mirrors some of his concepts, his notions, his subtexts. The Secret Era is a little different.
Speaker 2:Now, what I love about it is, yes, it's like it's fiction, but there's nonfiction aspects to it, which Dan Brown did in his books and a lot of people actually literally, when they read those books or they watched the movie, they literally took it At 100 percent nonfiction.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the one thing I will say is I didn't, as I said, I didn't read the Da Vinci Code, but I did watch the movie and I had probably been to a number of the churches in Rome that they were, or the churches that they were in in the movie, and the same thing with Angels and Demons. I've been to a lot of those places in Italy that they were in in the movie and the same thing with Angels and Demons. I've been to a lot of those places in Italy. So it struck me as being interesting and in that respect, I liked it. So, yeah, exactly, I don't disagree with your comment.
Speaker 2:No, I love Rome. I've been there a couple of times with my family, took my daughters and the ex-wife there, got to see the pope. Uh, very, one of my degrees is in history, so it I mean very beautiful just to both see the vatican as well as all the chapels throughout italy and rome, and also just to see the. You know the ruins, the ancient ruins of, of rome, so mean you're very well versed in it. Are you Roman Catholic yourself or you just enjoy history?
Speaker 3:No, no, I'm Roman Catholic. I was brought up in the Catholic tradition and I thought that a lot of the aspects of Catholicism are quite mystical and if portrayed in a mystical light I think they're very intriguing. And to a certain extent Ron Brown has did that in his books, or has done that in his books, but the vacant seat was meant to do that. It dragged in a number of prophecies, dragged in the prophecies of St Malachy, the prophecies of Nostradamus, the prophecies of Fatima, the strange death of a relatively obscure pope, the strange death of a relatively obscure pope. So the idea was to sort of weave those into an interesting narrative that would lead to an interesting conclusion and with contemporaneous impact.
Speaker 3:So you know, one of the reviewers was kind of shocked that the book really talked about the Ukraine, would, uh, have a direct correlation to things that are happening today, which is why, naturally, the Russians are, um, are a big, big part of the book, uh, and the Russian characters, um, and would you see more of them in the in the secret air, uh, uh, and then you're going to see more of them in the next book, the lost painting. Maybe Stefania finally gets her revenge on Lana Grishenko in the last book. We'll see.
Speaker 2:Don't you find it fascinating that, 40 years later, Pope John Paul I and his 33 days of being a pope that we keep on? It's been in movies, the Godfather III, all these books and it still fascinates? Not only does it fascinate us Catholics, but you know all the Protestants and even the non-practicing that. You know the mystery behind the shortest papacy out there. I think it was like 33 days, wasn't it?
Speaker 3:it's exactly. I believe you're correct. I think it was like 33 days, wasn't it? It's exactly, I believe you're correct. I believe it's exactly 33 days.
Speaker 2:I was five, but I do remember because right after that was our first, the first Pope. I can remember Pope John Paul II, and it was mind-blowing because it was the first time that we did not have an Italian pope.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, yeah, and of course they attempted to assassinate John Paul II, which is also talked about in the vacancy. Talked about in the Vacancy? Yeah, I think one of the comments on Amazon was someone was very liked the book because they could relate to it, because they lived during the period of the 70s and early 80s when John Paul I was well, john Paul I was Pope in the 70s and then John Paul II, but very few folks remember John Paul I and it was a very it's a very, very interesting papacy and there's a lot you can do with it. And, as you said, it's been the subject of a lot of speculation, a lot of books, and I said you know what, I can use that too and you know, not in a disparaging way, but in a mysterious way, and I don't know that I mentioned him by name, but I might have. But I'm glad you picked it up, because if I mentioned him by name, it might have been once or twice.
Speaker 2:It was not, no, it's because I read your book. And then also the simple fact, just being Catholic, and I always watched all those other movies, you know, the godfather three, and then dan brown you throw, throwing in the mystery behind behind his death and whatnot. Now, being a failed journalist, I mean I can relate to the character Stefania DiMaggio man. Talk about a first assignment too. I mean, if I had an assignment like that, any assignment like that, I think I'd still be a journalist.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the idea was to create some. I mean, I know that one of the things I I like to pride myself in the books is some semblance of realism, and but of course you have to go. It wouldn't be a terribly interesting story if everything was totally realistic. So her first story was interviewing homeless people in in Rome's ghetto. I mean that just so.
Speaker 3:The idea was, is that she, because of her language skills, because she spoke Portuguese fluently, italian, spanish, latin and English, she was perfect for this assignment to go to the Vatican Secret Archives. And I even bought a book on the Vatican Secret Archives, read it for purposes of this book. And, yeah, that's an assignment that I guess any journalist would relish. She didn't. She wasn't religious, she didn't like the subject matter, she really didn't want to do it, she thought it was skull drudgery and it led to this incredible mystery.
Speaker 3:And she ends up teaming up with Thomas, who she meets at the archives and at first he's into the mystery for his own, uh interests, because his aunt was a nun at the vatican during the papacy of john paul I and she, uh, and he wanted to get this information out of her and the only way he was able to get the information out of her was because stefania uh spoke ital and he brought her up there to Scotland where she was on her deathbed and that was sort of the great reveal in the early part of the book. So that's one of my best favorite scenes actually in the book is the scene in Scotland.
Speaker 2:Well, being a Generation X or two. I love how the Russiansussians are involved because you know, growing up, the cold war, uh no, I I can't pronounce that name because I I butchered it already trying to introduce you so but but you know it, it just, you have that built-in audience already with the baby boomers, the Gen Xers, with oh my gosh, russians, russian intelligence. That put a little smirk on me because it intrigued me more, just because I remember the Rocky IVs and I remember all the propaganda that we went through throughout the years growing up until the Gorbachev bring down the wall.
Speaker 3:The idea was to wrap in this Cold War operation into it, because eventually I think I want to do a prequel to the prequel as to how the operation actually came about and how it went. But Lana Grishenko is her name and she's sort of a semi-opposite of Stefania, but not really. I mean, they're both very strong women. But Grishenko inherits this operation upon acceding to a very high position in Russian foreign intelligence, the successor to the first directorate of KGB, and she really doesn't want anything to do with it. And then she's saddled with patching up all these holes that develop, because it's all it's come to life.
Speaker 3:It's been dormant for all these years and because of the Fania and Thomas's investigation, this is all starting to bubble to the top and, um, yeah, it does bring a cold war aspect to it and, uh, I kind of like I've got a lot of people say they really like the Svetlana character. They want me to do more with her. The next book unfortunately she's in it, but it's again centered on Stefania, a lost painting being the next book. The book following the Vacancy was the Secret Heir, and Svetlana and Stefania are very well featured in both books.
Speaker 2:Now, did you always plan on having a trilogy, or it just happened that way?
Speaker 3:No, no, I always plan on having a trilogy. I really like the characters. I'll probably do as many books as I can with these characters. There's friction between Svetlana and Stefania. There is a failed love interest between Stefania and Thomas that develops over time and that's friction there. And then there's Anatoly, who kind of pops in and out, and I think that I can do a lot with them, as well as other characters in the books who are going to come in and out of the next book.
Speaker 3:So people, folks who've read either one of these two books, will recognize some additional, uh, some references to characters from those books in the new, the new, the new book that's in process. So, uh, yeah, I didn't. I don't think it may not be a trilogy. It may be there may be four or five using these same characters. I really like the characters, I have to say so. We'll see. And, like I said, one person strongly, several persons strongly recommended I do something solely with Svetlana or develop her character much more. So maybe there'll be a prequel to the prequel which really does it from Svetlana's point of view. The Vacant Seat was written from four points of view. The Secret Heir was just written from Stefania's point of view. So writing from different points of view is a little challenging. Now this is the question do only podcasts? No video, no video.
Speaker 2:So, oh, you don't have to worry about that. I, I know the publicist said that and I'm like haven't you, haven't you checked out all of my? It's a, it's all audio.
Speaker 3:So I listened to your. I listened to your podcast.
Speaker 2:You, just want to keep both, both your, both lives separate. Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Bye for Kate. You're both lives separate, yes, absolutely Bifurcate. It makes, it frankly, easier. That way from a mindset I can bifurcate myself, separate myself into my real life and my CJ Toka life, because when I get in the zone of writing I really can get moving and I've kind of put myself in a different place. So kind of helps in that regard.
Speaker 2:Now in your other life? Do they know?
Speaker 3:Does anybody know that you are a two time author, soon to to be three-time author, or they have zero no, nobody in my professional life knows it, only my uh, only my wife uh and some of my close friends and family members. Matter of fact, the vacancy was dedicated to my grandmother and my secret air is dedicated to my brother, who was who's a great guy. Obviously I love him and he gives me a lot of feedback on my material and very, very helpful in a sense. That sort of helps some of those creative juices get going.
Speaker 2:Did you ever see yourself as a two-time, soon to be three-time, author?
Speaker 3:No, I basically just enjoy that. I'm doing it because, as I said, I have another full-time gig and this is just a hobby at this point, which is kind of why the next book is kind of taking so long. I thought I'd have it out by now, but it's taking longer than expected. I thought I'd have it out by now, but it's taking longer than expected, but I don't know that. I ever saw myself doing this. I was told at a young age that I, you can't write, you're not going to be able to do anything involving writing. And then I went to, I went to college and I took a creative writing class and I really enjoyed it and I think I got an a in it. And I turns out I could write now. That was 40 years ago. I don't remember if would have been for about 40 years ago, uh, but um, I decided I'd just pick it up again and took a lot of work, but I published a couple of books. So we'll see. We'll get to hopefully get the third one under the bridge.
Speaker 2:And, speaking as an entrepreneur, now, all those trips you can write off when you go to Rome and you go to Europe, because, I mean, you have proof to the IRS that you know. You do need to know what you write about and you are an author and you are selling these books are an author and you are selling these books.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm not going to opine as to tax policy, but certainly in both books there are places that I've been to and, as I previously mentioned, and in the Secret Air kind of starts in New Jersey and you're right, I think you've mentioned or not, or maybe mentioned in our private talk. It's not exactly a romantic location.
Speaker 2:That was before You're really I was going to mention. I was just going to mention some of the, some of the locations, but but, but yes, when it comes to movies and when it comes to like books. I just had a speaking gig about beautiful airport, but you know nothing very romantic about the actual, actual city of Newark, except for the fact that you know, within the distance, is everybody's dream of the five boroughs of the NYC, new York City.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I mean, I've been to Newark all my life, or not all my life for the last 30 years or so, 40 years.
Speaker 3:There are some great places in the Ironbound section to eat Some of the best Spanish and Portuguese food you'll find in the Northeast, in my opinion. So if you ever get there we talk offline I can give you some names of some great places, great places to eat some great food. But yeah, no, new Jersey isn't the place that comes to mind when you're thinking of excitement or even romance. And so the book the Secret Air brings you from a remote area of New Jersey in the Delaware Water Gap National Wildlife Refuge all the way down to, you know, west New York, which is just across the Hudson from New York, and you know to be realistic. I mean, there's a very large Cuban population in that area. There's some very good Cuban restaurants in that area, so they end up in a Cuban restaurant. So I try to make it realistic in that respect. But yeah, no, new Jersey is not the most romantic and stunning place, I think, to have a story.
Speaker 2:But it works really. Writes about malta. Everybody just knows it's a huge island uh out in europe and rural arizona. Now did you go to rural scotland and arizona or you just used it from?
Speaker 3:I have. I have never been to rural scotland, I will admit I'd love to go there. But I've been to rural Arizona and I've been to the places that are in the book and I the idea was, and what is what my brother pointed out to me, which was a little on the scary side, is, after the October raid in southern Israel where there was an attack on an outdoor concert, a music festival, in the secret air there is a planned attack on an outdoor music festival in the desert of Arizona and it's foiled by our troop of heroes, so to speak, or not really heroes, but by our troop of folks. But I have, yeah, I've been to the areas in Arizona that are written about there in the book and I thought it would be a great place. I said, you know, outside of Westerns it's kind of seldom, seldom featured and it's really a beautiful part of the country. It's absolutely gorgeous and the border region in Arizona with Mexico is absolutely stunning.
Speaker 3:I was, I've been there many, many. I've been many, many times and um stayed in the hotel that's mentioned in the book. Gave the gave the um gave the manager actually a copy of the of the book. Uh and uh, I figured you know this and I figured you know this would be a good setting for a part of the book. So yeah, I've been to rural Arizona. I haven't been to rural Scotland yet.
Speaker 2:I'll get there. You'll get there, I know you will. Now you told me about the many moons ago you took that creative writing class and you proved the naysayer wrong, but clearly that didn't motivate you to to write these books. What, what was your inspiration? What was it your wife that said you know, CJ, I'm calling you that because you know that's. I know she wouldn't be calling you CJ.
Speaker 3:But let's actually a lot of people call me anyway, but that's fine Really. Oh yeah, yeah. But my motivation really was a self motivation. Motivation really was a self-motivation. I was bantering around these ideas for years and I would talk to my brother occasionally and I said you know what? I'm just going to finally write a book. I was talking to a friend of mine who wrote a screenplay or a book or a screenplay and he kind of gave me some tips, introduced me to a copy editor, um, ran the book through the copy editor a few times. She kind of taught me how to write for lack of a better word fiction and um, so it was really self-motivation. It's not something that I just said. You know what? I've always wanted to do it and it's easier now, of course. I mean 35 years ago I would have been on an IBM Selectric or 40 years ago typing out pages, correcting them, retyping them, doing whatever. Probably easier to get published because there weren't that many people doing it.
Speaker 3:But now you have all of the world of electronics that you're at your beck and call. So it's easier to do, to produce product and to read. It's much easier to research it, although, like I said for the pink and see, I bought a book on the Vatican secret archives and read it, and I bought a book on intelligent Russian intelligence archives and read it, and I bought a book on intelligent Russian intelligence practices and read it. But you know, a lot of the research you can just do on your, you can do on your laptop.
Speaker 2:Well, CJ, I'm used to the Dewey decimal system. I graduated college without ever owning a computer or or typing a paper on a paper on a computer. Don't you find that fascinating, though, that we have so much technology at our disposal, but yet people really don't use it as a tool? Instead, they use it to check out on social media or streaming movies or videos, but yet they can't find any answers, even though they don't have to go, drive down to their local library and spend hours looking up information.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I agree with you. Um, uh, the, the ability to use these tools creatively is extraordinary. And, um, a lot of folks, you folks, just use them in a passive fashion and and I'm going to segue that back to a certain extent the books, because the in her life so, or she, she was missing. So, so, so we have all this stuff at Artists, but don't we, don't? We need more. So, yes, I'm using this in a creative way, but I think there's more to life than just streaming something, I guess, or using social media in a passive way or even in an interactive way, that's destructive. Active way, that's destructive. I really see a lot of social media as very negative, and when you have negative vibes all around you, it's just not good. I don't think.
Speaker 2:Oh, definitely not, definitely not. I mean, I always saw it as a tool. Being a business owner for 20 years, I wish I would have had social media way back then, instead of print and instead of praying that any marketing worked. People don't use it as a tool. If anything, it's to use to communicate, to see people that you haven't seen, meet people that you thought was never a possibility. But people instead turn it around and they want to use it as their soapbox.
Speaker 2:And I'm right, you're wrong. Or you know, oh my gosh, these two guys are Catholic. They're not real Christians. Oh my, I see so many hate on every religion. It's like I'm right, you're wrong, and I sit there looking at people and I'm like so you post? You have all this passion towards posting your political views or your candidate. Imagine if you use that passion towards writing a book. Don't worry, it took me 46 years to write my first book, so I get it, but it could literally be a tool that you can use to write a book faster. Look, the two of us are self-published, but instead people want to use it either to get their dopamine fix, but usually it's really to either feel superior or to completely check out and just numb themselves of an existence that they have complete control. We're we're all writers of our own story. People just don't want to be the hero of their story.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I, I. I just it just seems to me that there's so much negativity, negativity and not nearly enough constructive interaction, and it's so. I for the lack of a better word tune it out. I mean, I have a, I have a robust website, um, that I'm pretty proud of, that's professionally managed, but I have a negligible social media presence, and I just wanted it that way, because I just get so disgusted sometimes on all the negativity.
Speaker 3:I mean, you know, my mother used to say if you don't have something nice to say about someone, don't say it. I just don't see where that gets you when you're hiding behind a keyboard, typing in expletives or really just degrading things about people where you, because you don't have that faith, you don't have that interaction. You can hide behind a keyboard, and I'm not being critical of everybody who does it. I mean I enjoy certain aspects of social media. As a sports fan, for example, I like watching critiques of college basketball, it's one of my big things. But it can be let's put it this way it can be tedious, I think now, do you ever see yourself what happens if these books blow up?
Speaker 2:what happens if someone picks up either book or the third book? It becomes a massive hit, becomes published, and they find out. It's really you. Yeah, go ahead, I'm sorry. No, that's a great problem to have, though wouldn't you say, yeah, it is.
Speaker 3:It wouldn't really. I don't know if it would affect my life very much, but I would be terrific. Like I said, right now I'm'm doing this as a sort of a hobby and you know, when I have time I read, time I write, but it would be great. You know, one of the somebody once said to me you know this book I think they were talking about the vacancy. This one reads like a screenplay. I'm like, yeah, that would be nice. So, but who? Knows.
Speaker 3:I suppose it would be great, it would be a nice problem to have, it would be a nice dilemma to be in Omar, absolutely, but I'm not counting my chickens.
Speaker 2:I don't know. You know what, though? You put it out there so many people what, if, what if it won't work? It won't work, god. I mean. So many years for me I never wanted to write because I wanted to write fiction, and to me I'm like I can't write as good as Stephen King, or I can't write as good as Chuck Palahniuk, the guy that wrote Fight Club. Those guys are. And then it dawned on me well, the world already has one of each. You know, the world needs the best version of CJ Toka, the world needs the best version of Omar Medrano. And just do it being published. At the end of the day, you fulfilled something that most people just wish, wish, wish, just like they wish somebody would hand them their copy. It's funny, because there's all these buy my program and AI can write your book. Well, I haven't seen an influx of books. People just wish, wish, wish instead of just doing, doing, doing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree with you, Although we didn't talk a lot about Dan Brown. Although we didn't talk a lot about Dan Brown, my intention is to be CJ Toka. Oh, I know. Yeah, the books are my books, my views, not my views, but my stamp of my personality on them. But, yeah, it took a lot of time and effort to put these together and I'm glad I did it, because I guess what I can say is that on my deathbed I can say I published hopefully three, hopefully more, hopefully more, and I think the vacancy. It won an award, a runner's up award, for, I think, religious fiction. It also did very well on the Kindle subscription service for a while and it's also been it's, on Audible. So it's a yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm going to give you a compliment, cj. I've never read Dan Brown's books. I know he's sold Buku books. I remember seeing everybody having a copy and I'm a reader and at the time I only read fiction. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I saw the movies only because Tom Hanks was in them, and then I smirked and I realized, just like when the Blair Witch came out, all these people are going to actually think this is nonfiction. And.
Speaker 2:I was right, everybody. So, yeah, no, I've read your book, I haven't read his. So to me, hey, I put you at a higher place than Dan Brown.
Speaker 3:Well, I appreciate it when you're at a time in your life and you're going to want some time back. Are you going to want the time back?
Speaker 2:that you spent watching the Blair Witch Project oh, I only watch that because I've got a degree in marketing and communications and people were screaming at me that this was true, this was true, oh, oh oh, I got it, I get it, and I saw the whole thing.
Speaker 2:The whole thing's edited. You can tell it's acting and any found footage. It wouldn't be completely edited. And at the end they run credits. They literally run the credits.
Speaker 2:And people were arguing with me. I'm like, are you serious? All these three people are alive that the only part this was only a 100 marketing. And the person that I felt sorry for I think the guy only got five thousand dollars who wrote the script? Yeah, the guy that wrote the script and produced it. It was something minimal that he sold to the, to the major studio, but it was great marketing with horrible movie.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely, you and I could have written a better script, but it was just funny that people were led to believe because people are so naive. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's like all these prequels and sequels to exorcist, yes, people. The first one was based on on a true story, but not all these other ones. But people watch them because they're like, oh well, let's see what, what really is happening. No, and people don't realize. If something's based on a true story, 90 of it is embellished. Oh yeah, even Rudy. Everybody even says, yes, that was the Hollywoodized version of what happened to the kid in Notre Dame. But overall, yes, congratulations. He graduated and he went there and he played one play or two plays. That's a beautiful story, but, yeah, people are going to read your book. That's why I had well here any of your characters people based on who you know or is that 100% creative?
Speaker 3:Some of the characters are based are maybe combinations of character traits of people that I know, but I, I, I prefer not to mention who they are.
Speaker 2:Of course not, because you know you're incognito, you're in this. You don't want, you don't want people to know that, that you're, so you're multi-talented.
Speaker 2:But the answer is yes, they're based on various people, various aspects of people, personality traits, you know because everybody's personality, of all your characters are are pretty intriguing and it's not like you're a lot of books, a lot of fiction books. I haven't read one besides yours in a while but it's just cliches, cliches on the inspector. Or you know the Alex Cross books. All those characters in any of those books it's like you know you can tell yours very descriptive and their personalities and they all have personality traits. That's that's why I had to ask are you super creative or are these based on people in?
Speaker 3:your life. Yeah, so, like I said, some of them are based on people, combinations of people, but uh, there is a there I I don't know about but you, but in my family background I have a lot of very, very strong women and and there is a. Stefania says something to the effect that in one in one of her, in one of the books, I'm half brazilian, half italian and that's a thousand years of genetics. Uh, gives me a backbone of steel, or something like that.
Speaker 2:So well to me both, both italian women and brazilian women very fiery. So you, you, you got that aspect correct. No, my mom, single mom, raised me. So, yeah, no, strong women. My ex-wife, super strong women. My two daughters, so yeah, yeah, your book, definitely. There's no damsel in distress. There's no woman needs to be saved. Every woman character in this book is like a cross between, like Jodie Foster and like maybe, joan Jett or Pat Benatar.
Speaker 3:Pat Benatar. Pat Benatar, yeah, I mean those are your, you and I must. I mean I, I don't. Yeah, you said you're, I don't remember.
Speaker 2:I'll be 51.
Speaker 3:All right, so more or less of the same gender, same similar generation, but the. The one thing that I did want to do, though, with the Stefania character is make her give her a little bit of a. So she does have a little bit of a soft side, and I've heard criticisms of some of the female, some female characters in books being too hard, so I tried to give Stefania, while a strong woman, she has a soft side to her.
Speaker 2:Well, those strong women have that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, real strong women. And in the third book she turns it on, turns it off.
Speaker 2:So we'll see how how that comes out well, cj, I can talk to you on and on because we're like minded people. We enjoy great music. Clearly we're about the same age, we're both highly educated, we both love fiction. But we live in a TikTok society that anything over an hour everybody tunes out because God only knows they need to watch those 30-second reels, 90-second reels. So I have to ask you some questions. How do we find your book? So I have to ask you some questions. How do we find your book? I know how to find it because, but how does the audience find your book? And do you advertise anyway with your? Cj Toka, you said you have no social media. Do you have a website to promote the?
Speaker 3:website is wwwcjtokacom. In on the website is a list of where the books are available. They're all available on amazon, barnes and noble, uh and other booksellers online. Uh. Also on the website of the podcasts that I've appeared on Um and folks can listen to that. The books are also available. Uh, well, the vacant seats available on audio, on audible. It was narrated by a British actor, christian Neal Um, and uh. They're all available in all, and the website also has a Spanish section and both books have been translated and published in Spanish as El Asiento Vacante and El Jaretero Secreto. So I've been toying with having them translated into Portuguese and I just really haven't gotten around to it.
Speaker 2:You're going to laugh at reading everything. Reading your promotional material, I thought I'd be talking to somebody from Brazil, sao Paulo or, yeah, the Copacabana or Rio. So one final question now I have to ask you what words of wisdom would you have to that person that I can't write my book? What if nobody reads it? How about if nobody likes it? How about if I only sell two copies to my family members? What words of wisdom do you have to that person?
Speaker 3:I'd say you should do it because you like doing it, not because you want everybody to like it. You want everybody to like it. It's, in my view, it's a burden of love, but it's a you've got to enjoy it. Why do something if you I mean we all have our jobs. A lot of people love their jobs. A lot of people don't like their jobs. A lot of people love their jobs. A lot of people don't like their jobs. A lot of people float through their jobs. But why do something like writing if you don't love it? So if you love it, write it. And if nobody likes it too bad.
Speaker 3:And there's many, many ways you can improve your writing. In today's day and age, there are copy editors, there are websites, there are books, there are self-help. But do it. But don't be discouraged, because all you got to do is improve it. You don't have to, you don't have to change what you've done. You can just make it better. But don't not do it because you're afraid someone's not going to like it, because who cares? I don't care, I like. I occasionally certainly in advance of some of these podcasts I reread my books. But if you like your writing, do it, and that's what you should be concerned about. Don't worry about if other people like it. Just try to make it the best you can do. That's my advice.
Speaker 2:Amazing words of wisdom. Cj, thank you for your time. Sorry about having to reschedule and you rescheduling. You know what. Everything happens for a reason. We made an amazing episode. I've got to say people look up CJ Toka, buy the books, read them. Now I have an Audible account. So I'm going to have to listen to this English actor. Congratulations on your book. I know the third one's going to be amazing. And thank you for spending an hour with me. I really appreciate it, thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Omar. I really appreciate you taking the time. It was a great conversation To that negative voice no more.
Speaker 1:The hardest prison to escape is our own mind. I was trapped inside that prison all for a long time. To make it happen, you gotta take action. Just imagine what if it did work.