From folklore to fiction with horror author Ryan Winter

In this episode, I sit down with Ryan Winter, a French Cajun author whose writing is deeply influenced by his rich cultural heritage and the vibrant history of South Louisiana. His historical fiction, Wake the Devil, is inspired by the notorious X-Men murders of 1918 in New Orleans.

Join us as Ryan shares his journey to finding his unique voice, transitioning from imitating literary giants to crafting his own compelling stories.

We delve into what sets horror apart, exploring how it uniquely exposes our deepest fears and vulnerabilities.

We'll also take a nostalgic trip back to the 80s, recounting the spine-chilling films by directors like Wes Craven and John Carpenter that haunted our childhoods and solidified our fascination with the genre.

Don't miss this episode, which will ignite your creativity and give you a deeper appreciation for the genre of horror fiction.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

And I wish somebody had told me this earlier Be bold, Be brave, Do it. Don't let anyone tell you that it's wrong or that it's silly or anything like that. This is your dream, you know, this is what you want to write, Write about it, and it goes back to what you know this accountant had told me. He says man look, we always feel we're not up to it or we're not talented enough or we're not. No, anything can be, learned.

Speaker 1: 0:28

That's fine. Practice makes perfect. It's as simple as that, you know. And when I started out, I, you know, I worked with, I would copy styles of like King, and all that just to get the rhythm going until I discovered my own. And you will, you will. It's not impossible, it's not impossible.

Speaker 2: 0:46

Hi friends, this is Read and Write with Natasha podcast. My name is Natasha Tynes and I'm an author and a journalist. In this channel I talk about the writing life, review books and interview authors. Hope you enjoy the journey. Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Read and Write with Natasha. Today I have with me author Ryan Winter, who's a French-Casian author based in Louisiana. His recently published novel Wake the Devil is historical fiction based upon the story of the grisly X-Men murders of 1918 in New Orleans. Wow. So, ryan, how are you doing? Thank you for joining me today.

Speaker 1: 1:40

Great Thanks for having me. Natasha, Glad to be here.

Speaker 2: 1:43

Yeah, of course. So you're French Cajun. What is that exactly, If you can tell us? You know I'm not familiar with French Cajun, so maybe we can start with this. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:54

It's funny because when I travel different places and I kind of I guess I don't think about it because I'm from here and everybody around me knows it, you know, in South Louisiana being it's sort of the little bubble culture here, and I go and I mentioned something about our food which is famous, you know, gumbo and jumla, and they're like wait what? And I'm thinking, oh yeah, yeah, you know, it's like thinking, you know it's just a normal thing for me but it's basically historically the historic answer for that is there Canadian rebels back in the late 1700s that escaped Canada, french Canadians that escaped Canada when, you know, british came over and invaded Canada and they basically got kicked out and they went as far as they could, you know, coming around the United States, around Florida, and wound up in Louisiana, of all places, and the Gulf Coast around the area. So it's not technically, it's centralized in South Louisiana, but you can find some in, you know, mississippi and Texas, but essentially it's basically rebellious French Canadians that were thrown out and settled here in the swamps of Louisiana and kind of made a life, and you know, culture for itself. So you know it's interesting.

Speaker 1: 2:58

Oh yeah, it usually gets confused with Creoles because people think you know New Orleans must be Cajun and it's really not. And you know, creole is a little bit of a different mix. It's sort of like Indian and Spanish, it's sort of like African and French it's, you know, it's a very big mix, whereas Cajun is just basically French, canadian. So very slight differences in the food. You can tell if you go into the city and you come down to the, you know, the delta. It's a little different.

Speaker 2: 3:25

But oh cool. Yeah, I need to visit soon. So how did your background influence your writing?

Speaker 1: 3:33

you know, being from from this background, this unique background oh, it's funny because you know, I guess as a kid you don't think about it and being being in Louisiana, louisiana has a very colorful history. I took a couple of courses throughout school where we take it in high school and you're allowed to take it in college, of course, which I did and you really start to, I guess, appreciate your history when you're older. When you're a kid you don't really pay attention so much and you go, gosh man, we really come from an interesting place with stories of piracy and vagrants and murder and voodoo and all these really things that you don't really think about until you really get older and start looking at it. And I have three radically different books but they all have that one thing in common is that they're centered around New Orleans and South Louisiana, where I'm from and you know I come from a very tight knit family.

Speaker 1: 4:29

We everybody live near each other and so a lot of those guys, they really they're very colorful, they love to laugh real loud, they love to eat, they love to drink. You know it's just, you know, real fun environment to grow up in. So I think you know the fact that I do horror is that's a whole nother thing altogether. But, uh, you know, I definitely have a support system. You know to to be as freaky as possible, I guess, when you're writing I love it, so okay.

Speaker 2: 5:00

So, ryan, so you identify as a horror author, right, I mean? I mean, that's like your main genre.

Speaker 1: 5:07

I can work with that.

Speaker 2: 5:08

Yeah, Okay, cool. So what is horror in fiction? Define horror? Is it steampunking horror or does it go beyond that? I mean, how do you define horror in fiction or in literature and how do?

Speaker 1: 5:24

you define horror in fiction or in literature, I think you know. Of all the genres, I think it's the one that really tells you how vulnerable we are as a person, as a human, you know, and how that can be taken away so quickly. I think to me, generally, you know that's what horror is. It's the fear like, oh my God, I can be alive one minute and then gone the next.

Speaker 1: 5:44

And there's so many different types of sub genres over the years and it's my two books that I have being. They're horror, but one of them is sort of a dark fantasy, erotica, and the other one is a true crime, paranormal, so you can go in different corners, but they all say the same thing, like at any moment it's all over, you know, and that to me that's scary, you know.

Speaker 2: 6:06

So what's the difference between, like, a murder mystery and horror? You know? Do they cross genre? Because when you read a murder mystery book, it's people die, it's terrifying, but it's it still has a different genre. Like you would put it on the shelf as horror and this one is like crime or murder mystery. So what, what is the difference in your opinion?

Speaker 1: 6:28

I think in a lot of horror books there's a lot of fantastical elements that are added. I think in crime and fiction we're looking at, you know people against people and I think in horror you can kind of extend that to. You know the boogeyman and you know the creepy crawlies in the dark and it lends to a different fantasy. That's just fiction period. There are no vampires and all that. But we can create that and use those elements mixed with the realism that we see every day as people knowing that those things can kill us too if they were real. I think that I think that's for me that's the main difference. You know, and I love that about horror ever since I was a kid and I feel like it's me.

Speaker 1: 7:10

Honestly, I always love the spooky stuff, I love the ghost stuff and being from New Orleans, I mean you hear about it all the time and it's a very haunted city and you know, in Cajun folklore, in the area where I'm at now, which is about an hour south of New Orleans I'm not too far from it, it's you know we have our own folklore. You know the Cajun werewolf and you know the sort of the granny that steals children the night if you're bad, you know so and again. Folklore has never been proven, but it's still scary nevertheless. So you know, you kind of grow up with all these elements and you start to really see, you know, like wow, horror has a very wide field.

Speaker 2: 7:51

So who influenced you when you're growing up reading, who was your main influence?

Speaker 1: 7:56

You know, natasha the first, and I have a great long. My short term memory is terrible, but my long term memory is pretty good. I can remember as a kid and I'm talking two, three years old my first movie that I can remember watching was a horror film and it was called Creepshow, which is based off Stephen King's stories, and I think it kind of snowballed from there as I got older and realized, like you know, wow, this is the guy who also wrote this other horror film I saw and I'm like, wow, he has this gamut of all these great books and all that. So I think a lot of horror writers you know, especially new ones like me, and really give credit to him because he really did open the field for a mainstream audience.

Speaker 1: 8:37

You know before that it was sort of like Dracula and Frankenstein and Shirley Hill and House on Haunted Hill and Shirley Jackson I'm sorry with House on Haunted Hill and so but then he said you know, now it can be, you know, the thing in the drain in your bathtub, you know and he sort of opened it up to a different kind of way of looking at horror and so he was absolutely influential growing up, because one he was also everywhere. I mean, there wasn't a year where there wasn't a King movie or a book coming out, so he produced so much, so he was there and eventually I discovered people like Anne Rice, who I found out was from New Orleans as well, and you know she's very famous.

Speaker 2: 9:15

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Oh.

Speaker 2: 9:19

I love it. I love Anne Rice.

Speaker 1: 9:20

She's very, very different from King. King is a very casual writer, whereas I think Anne Rice is a little more philosophical. She kind of goes back to the old dark house, dark castle type thing. No, that's interesting, and she was the other one I recognized and I think that's where it really broadened my mind. You know, like, wow, there are all these different types and they don't write the same and they don't write the same subjects. You know things like that. So I think those two of all of them you know, and of course I watched horror films when I was a kid. You know, movies of Wes Craven. I love Wes Craven, john Carpenter. So I grew up in the 80s. I was born in the 70s, I'm a 70s baby, but my childhood belonged to the 80s. Same here. It was the most interesting time to grow up. You had some of the most creative movies and so you know. So it was a lot of influences. But I definitely have to say King is like my literary godfather. I think he's more writing than any of them.

Speaker 2: 10:23

So yeah, what about, like new contemporary authors these days that you're reading? Was it his name? Um sugar riley? Is he horror or like? Who? Are these new authors now up and coming that that maybe stephen king's son? He's going out like yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, you know Anyone else?

Speaker 1: 10:45

The last book I read that was really good. It was called Sorrowland by River Solomon and that was a good book. There's so many different types because now, with the onset of self-publishing, so many more writers have come through and I love that, I absolutely love that I'm one of them, you know, because I mean that heard of you know in our time. You know they didn't have internet and you know self-publishing was kind of like a man nobody's doing that. You know it's very rudimentary and all that. So there's a lot of great authors right now. There's no one in particular. I can think of that because I've been reading so many different types, you know. Know, and there's a lot of debuts that have come out in the last few years. You know, I think of more of those than anything. It's like all these debut novels, all these debut, you know, one, one, one, one, back and forth. So you know there's a lot to look out for. I'm really curious to see how it's all going to turn out so they usually like horror and erotica.

Speaker 2: 11:39

they kind of go hand in hand. These days I've seen them lump together. Do you know what's the relationship? You know like erotica is a well-respected genre and it's doing really well these days especially, so why do they put them together?

Speaker 1: 11:54

I'm just curious, I think you know, in erotica in America especially, it seems, when it comes to sex, there's so many things that we still consider taboo. You know, and I'm sure people in europe and all that are like leagues ahead of us. You know they've been doing this. You know we still have this sort of like held back, conservative, yeah, and it's.

Speaker 1: 12:14

You know, and I think that really needs to break out and and to mix horror and that, to those, um, those two genres in particular, it's almost like, oh, no, no, no, you know, it's almost. Yeah, yeah, I will. You know, to me it's almost like, um, there there is a, and it's just going to be really strange, I'm sure, but for me, horror and sex seem to go together because there's a weird, um, erotic element about being scared. You know, I always thought so and I, you know it's again something I realized later on as a kid like it's almost like getting off, you know, to get that next scare, and I think, yeah, and I think that's what it is, it's almost the same. I think the same euphoric feeling.

Speaker 1: 12:55

Okay, you know, being in set, you know doing, you know, having sex and watching horror films, is that, I guess, that thrill. And to see them together it just makes it more interesting, it almost makes sense. You know, and I certainly didn't mean to do them together, it was not something I ever planned to do. But you know, people like Anne Rice, who I'm, you know, was very good at doing things like that, mixing those taboos, she makes religion with horror and you know, I really loved her. I think she's very underrated as far as pushing you know what was a big no-no, especially in the seventies. You know the seventies and eighties, you know when, when you know AIDS and all this came out and all that. So it was kind of scary. You know, and I think that's also what it's tied to that, that the scariness of it. What can come of it? So many things can come of the um, the act of, you know, having sex and things like that. So that's, um, yeah, it's, it's, there's a lot there Interesting.

Speaker 2: 13:52

Yeah, that's, that's a. That's an interesting way of looking at it. So let's talk publishing. You mentioned something which is now horror, fantasy and erotica. They're doing really well self-publishing or Kindle or Kindle Unlimited. And why is that and how did you go about publishing your stuff?

Speaker 1: 14:14

In the beginning, the first book I did. It was traditionally published through Pelican Publishing, which is a very popular and lucrative company in the region. In New Orleans they published children's books for years and all that and what was the first book?

Speaker 1: 14:34

if you can tell the audience what was the first book, oh, it was a children's picture book, believe it or not, it was called New Orleans Mother Goose. And as a horror writer, I collect. Well, just as a reader, as a fiction reader, I collect a variety of books. I have Roald Dahl next to, you know, clyde Barker and Dr Seuss, next to Anais Nin, who wrote, you know it was a doctor who wrote Erotica. So, and my, my fans, you know, my my friends, would always laugh at me Like this is the weirdest shelf of books. It's like how does somebody who write, you know, reads erotica, reads Dr Seuss? But I'm like, you know, it's, it's, it's all fiction, it's all you know, it's all. The same discussion got toward. Well, I don't think horror writers can do children's books, and of course they can. You know, I'm just like Roald Dahl is a great example. He wrote Really Wonka, but then he also wrote horror fiction and erotica. He wrote cookbooks. You know this man can do everything. Yeah, and even my partner, you know who you know, wrote Hellraiser, you know, did the Hellraiser movies and wrote these great books over different genres. He wrote great kids books.

Speaker 1: 15:49

So I kind of I took that as a dare and I wound up trying to figure out what I would write as a children's author. And you know I was coming up with ideas. I said maybe I could do nursery rhymes. I mean, the basics of all our childhood starts with nursery rhymes. And so I said, well, if I can do some nursery rhymes, I think that would be kind of cool.

Speaker 1: 16:07

So basically, I was walking around the French Quarter, I was living in downtown New Orleans, I was living in the French Quarter and you know I would go around and sort of look at all the iconology and I kept applying it to the rhymes and I kept saying, you know, I was changing the lyrics to, you know, nursery rhymes. You know, instead of Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, I kept thinking Little Cher Marnier sat on her derriere, you know, and started thinking of these crazy little rhymes. And I was killing myself laughing. And of course I always have a pen on me. I'm a writer, you always got to have a pen on you.

Speaker 1: 16:37

I had this and was sneaking into all the little bars as I was going, trying to steal napkins so I can write these rhymes down. By the end of the day I had a pocket full of napkins and I said, oh well, here it is. You know I threw it down and one of my friends I said look at this, this is going to be my next you know book. And they were what? And I'm like, oh yeah, oh yeah, and sure enough, it got published, you know, much to my amusement and relief, thank God. But it was never something I was meant to do.

Speaker 2: 17:04

Did you find an agent?

Speaker 1: 17:06

No, no, no, I turned it in just as well, if anything. I'm looking now because it was never meant to be that way. Like I said, at that time too, I was also working in film in New Orleans, so that was also a riding avenue. I was trying to go more toward, so it kind of fell in my lap in a weird way. Yeah, and uh, I see, yeah it was. It was a very strange ride and you know, eventually I, I, um, I pieced together wake the devil, which would have been my first book. Um, it's actually a rewrite that I republished. Um, the original idea was supposed to be a script as well, and uh, this was back in 2004. And you know, I shopped it around. I shopped it around and it was like, year after year after year, and I'm like, okay, I can't. You know, I'm going to be 80 by the time this damn thing comes out.

Speaker 1: 18:01

I know the feeling know, make this a crazy presentation. I just want this book published. You know I was very excited about it's a great story. I'm like, come on, and when you have all your people, all your people that read your things especially, I have a, like I said, I have a great fan base with friends, family and all that and they're all like, oh, when's this next story gonna come out? I guess I got tired of hearing when's this gonna come out. I'm like I don't know. Um, when, when a friend of mine from you know, a, a fellow author, I was doing signings for New Orleans, mother Goose out throughout Louisiana, I would go to schools and talk and all that, and I had a good time doing it, and you know a lot of them. We'd get on the subject of that of publishing and they said, well, try self-publishing this time. And I never gave it a chance.

Speaker 1: 18:46

I never thought about it. I said, well it no, no, no, if you really want to see your book out there, you have control of it. But you know, I hired an editor, I hired someone to do the cover and all that. And you know, and that's something you have to do, which I learned as I went, you know, and you know I tried to send the book out and it kept. It was.

Speaker 1: 19:06

It was very long, you know, it was well over 130,000 words and they kept wanting to cut it back, cut it back. And I said, why, why are you cutting so much? And I kept getting bombarded with this rule that because I was new, it had to be under certain words. And to me that's so unfair. I mean, I get it if it's excess long and you're just talking, I get that. But you know, especially when it was essential and they were cutting out these great scenes I really loved and I'm like, hold on it's. You know you're messing with the story. And when they were, I mean, you know a couple of publishers wanted to get rid of, you know, 100,000 words. I'm like, are you in that mood where it's like, okay, that's it, I'm self-publishing? It's something I want to kind of get away from. You know, because I find you know you're doing all the marketing, you're doing all you know, dealing with the editors and all that.

Speaker 1: 20:02

I always felt I didn't have time to write. You know, I was constantly working the back end of, you know, producing a book and that's not something I really wanted to do. You know, I don't come from a marketing background. I don't really know about those things. I mean, in the 80s we didn't have any of that. You know, we were my. My favorite authors didn't deal with any of that, so I had no clue. You know, I had no clue. This was what it's going to be and you know, natasha, it changes every year, so you never know what the process is going to be next year, you know.

Speaker 2: 20:40

Yeah, yeah, I guess I'm.

Speaker 1: 20:40

Yeah, now we have TikTok. Like everyone is marketing on TikTok A few years ago there was no TikTok.

Speaker 2: 20:43

Yeah, I know. Now, like the author marketing this, you go to bars and novel and then you find like TikTok corners where they like highlight book talks it is. It is crazy. So how did you publish? Did you use Amazon, kdp or how did you do the self-publishing?

Speaker 1: 21:02

The first one was Vanity Press and I know what they say about it and I knew the story behind it and how it works and all that. But you know, I went through Lulu Press and they were very kind to me. But you know, in the process of doing all that, you're dumping so much money into it and there's just no guarantee here, and you know I, you know I was, you know working, you know to make ends meet.

Speaker 1: 21:28

So all this money was going to this book. That just wasn't going anywhere. And again, I don't know where to mark I'm. I don't have a background in book marketing and you know selling I'll go out there and I'll sell and I love it. I love talking to people and all that, but I mean, as far as like, the bare bones of marketing in general and trying to find its niche and things like that in the internet, again, it was always evolving, it was always something new and it was oh, do it on facebook. Now it's like, do it on instagram. Oh, now do it on tiktok.

Speaker 1: 21:53

I'm like, ah, you know you can't keep. You got, I got like a thousand, yeah, yeah, I'm looking toward now, um, especially for the next few that I'm writing, um, to go more traditional route. It's just what I know. You know, and I I feel it's better. You know, because I think I think a lot of people self-publish because they just want that book out. You know, they have this book they wrote and they love it and they just want it out. Make a couple bucks and then that's it. But you know I want to go further with it. You know, for me.

Speaker 2: 22:20

Okay, okay, but what I've been reading is self-published, especially on Kindle, especially Erotica Fantasy. They're doing actually a lot of money because they have a very supportive fan and a very loyal fan base and for them traditional publishing does not make any financial sense. Because the more especially on Kindle, because they can immediately go to the next one and can immediately order the next release. So would you consider going that route now? And how is your book doing? You know what was the feedback, how was the fan base, All of that.

Speaker 1: 23:02

Well, see, that's the other thing I'm sort of I'm finding where to actually market it at, because Ravish, which is my dark erotica, was published right before COVID and yeah, it was like the worst timing on the planet, especially for a book like that, and I had just left the city and moved to the outer burbs and I was taking care of my mother at the time. She wound up with cancer, so I literally had to put all of that on hold. You know, all of a sudden, and wham, here comes the pandemic, and so it's like, okay, nobody gets to do nothing. And that you know, all of a sudden, and wham, here comes the pandemic, and so it's like, okay, no, it's do nothing and that you know this went on for like two or three years.

Speaker 1: 23:37

So now I'm sort of getting back to it now that's, I think it's sort of like a pause for about two, two and a half years. I finally have time to go back and do it. So right now I'm actually trying to explore those avenues to see where it can belong and and I'm totally for that, you know. Know, as long as people are reading it, you know that's great. But where that fan base is and all that I would love to know. You know, if there's anybody out there knows where I could put this, you know, to make it better. But and yeah, erotica was always a hard sell, like I said, in America. It's just one of those last taboo.

Speaker 2: 24:06

Is that I mean now? I think it's very popular. I mean, I see erotica authors all over the place. Oh now yeah. Oh yeah, now, now, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:16

Especially, like you said, self-publishing, and you know there definitely is a fan base. But yeah, I guess I'm still trying to find mine. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:24

Well, from what I read, it's middle-aged women are the ones who are reading isn't that something?

Speaker 2: 24:32

yeah, I've heard that yeah, from, yeah, middle-aged, bored suburban woman. It's. Basically, I think it's maybe started with 50 shades of gray and it kind of opened the door for this and it made it a bit mainstream and I think it's it took from there. So, like now there's, I don't think there is any like taboo anymore as it used to be. You know, and I see people on goodreads all the time they read erotica. It's fine, I mean it's. I don't think it's, it's as as as a taboo as it was it used to be, I think thanks to 50 states I'm totally for it because, I mean, the subject matter for Ravish is pretty extreme, you know.

Speaker 1: 25:17

So I'm curious about it. But yeah, it's, you know. I think finally, you know that really kicked down the door and said, look, this is what we like to read. And I'm not going to be ashamed and I love that. That's fantastic. And I think that you know you have to thank the internet for having that reach, you know, for having things readily available Kindle and, you know, ebook and things like that and I love that. You know people can find more stuff, they can express themselves more, and people are, you know, on all these social apps. They're finally saying, okay, this is what I like, that's it. You know, I love that. So it's always even anything to do with the LGBT. I mean, growing up was, oh no, no, don't talk about that. Now it's like, oh yeah, I'm tired of it, I'm tired of being in the closet, I'm tired of, you know, being ashamed of that, and I love it. It's a great time to be an erotic writer.

Speaker 2: 26:07

It's a great time, yeah, and there's, you know, lots of diversity now, which is great. So did you get any negative feedback? You know, because we authors, we get both positive and negative and sometimes we have that negativity bias where we like latch on to negative feedback and it can like ruin our days. It just happens to me like I would get 10 positive ones and one negative one and I, like you know I won't be able to sleep. So what was the negative that you got and how did you deal with that?

Speaker 1: 26:41

You know it's funny. I was just telling a friend of mine about this because we were talking something about similar and I said you know, I've been getting this since the beginning. I remember in high school, even, believe it or not. In high school I had I've always been writing. I've been writing since I was in the third grade and when I wanted to write horror you know, I think it was it started something like one of my teachers in high school over, just so happened to overlook my, over my shoulder and said you can't write things like that. And I'm like I can't. You know, like that's very strange. It's like you know what did you read exactly? And you know she said I don't understand why you would write something so gross or something so hideous or something spooky Like why would you write something beautiful? I said well, to me that is beautiful. I like you know I love the creepy crawlies and I love the boogeyman. You know it's crazy and you know I went to.

Speaker 1: 27:34

At that time I was very into wanting to break into screenplay writing and all that. And I was a huge fan of Jurassic Park when the original came out and after seeing that as the first movie I've seen in the theater more than once I said, oh, that's it, I want to do this. This is, this is great, this is a wonder. You know so much fun. And you know I went to my student counselor and I said I want to go into UCLA and he kind of chuckled at me and he said why? And I said what do you mean? Why? I said, well, it's one of the great film schools. He said you're not going to get in that. And it was just a blow, like what? And he said so supportive, this is the school council counselor, your guidance. And I'm like, wow.

Speaker 1: 28:19

And you know I had around that same time I was sneaking out to the city on, you know, skipping school, but for a noble cause. Don't skip school, but for no cause. Go see productions being made. I had a friend that worked in it and he would always get me on set and I was floored. I learned so much just watching. And of course I got caught, you know. And you know the principal. He pulled me and my mom in the office and he looked right at me. He said you know, there's no future, that's not a future, you know, that's just a fantasy. And I was like, are you kidding me. And he says I hear you're writing all these little stories and all that. He said that's not good, son, that's not good. So from the beginning, from people that were supposed to encourage me were knocking me down and telling me. So I think that really put a dent. It really puts a dent in a young teenager's view.

Speaker 1: 29:05

I bet and it carried me for a long time Like what was I doing wrong? And looking back, I'm like I wasn't doing anything wrong. You just didn't understand, you know. And so you have to take rejection and it's it's. I'm constantly have been getting rejections for short stories or screenplays. I mean, I got a folder full. I keep a little folder with a big frowny face on the cover of it and that's like it's bigger than my book, but it's something that you have to deal with, so I've always had it from the beginning.

Speaker 1: 29:38

The thing is, there's always going to be someone that's going to tell you something oh, I don't like it. Oh, it's short. Oh well, you know what? I don't care. In fact, around that same time, I had brought a script I wrote and I needed to take it to a lawyer. And I, sure enough, I walked into this accountant's office and I can't even imagine what this guy thought, with this little 13 year old with two scripts under his arms walking into his office to ask him this question and the secretary, I guess, was kind of amused and he, you know, he gave me some of the most interesting advice and he was willing to hear what I had to say, and I love that you know. He said you know, ryan, you can write about anything and someone's going to hate it. He says, but I guarantee you there's going to be someone out there who's going to love it. Always stayed with me. He says you can write about anything. You can write about making pies.

Speaker 1: 30:27

Anything you'd write about making pies it doesn't matter, someone's gonna read it, you know. But there's also.

Speaker 2: 30:31

There's also gonna be someone that says oh, I hate pies yeah, that's true, that's true.

Speaker 1: 30:33

I mean, you have to have the skin for it. I've talked to a lot of younger writers that starting out and they're like, oh well, I don't know if anybody's gonna like it. I'm like you know who cares? There's gonna be 10 000 that hate it, but then there's gonna be 10 000. So you know, you have to kind of, you know, rejection, you know, I think that's some of my earliest as far as that. Of course, I still get that kind of negativity like, oh, this is stupid, oh this is too long, oh, this is, you know, doesn't make sense.

Speaker 2: 31:01

Yeah, so what does the future hold for you? What are the future hold for you? What are your future plans?

Speaker 1: 31:06

I definitely want to move away from self-publishing. I'm definitely going toward looking for literary agents and just so I can get my. Like I said, I really have no background for it. You know, it's not what I know and I feel, and I don't mind doing a little marketing here and there. I certainly love to go out and do book signings and stuff like that, but to me I feel like it intrudes on writing time. So I really want to go that route and there's nothing wrong with self-publishing I'm not saying that whatsoever it's just not something I want to do anymore. I did it and it was great and I learned a lot. But I'm ready to go on to something a little different. I have three new books that I want to work on right now. I'm halfway through the new one and the other one, uh, and they're the other one I started. So there's one, two, three, there's four, there's four that I'm working on. Oh yes, there's a lot more coming from ryan winter, and then you're gonna laugh, natasha.

Speaker 2: 31:55

They're all in different genres no, I'm not gonna laugh, but that's fun. What, what genre?

Speaker 1: 32:02

um, one of them is um, it's sort of um, sci-fi. I I never, you know, ravish was I never meant to write gay characters. It's something I never wanted to. I am, you know, I am part of the community, but I never thought I'd be writing those characters, particularly in horror. But, you know, I kept thinking I'm like it's time now, it's time to you know, to do things like that Gay lit, because to me, gay, gay lit I've always read, which is kind of the, these dopey melodramas and this one trying to get this one kind of very um, bodice ripper type. You know, stuff that I'm not to me, it's a little silly for me. But, um, you know, I wanted to do something that's serious, that had something to say.

Speaker 1: 32:41

And this next book is like that, with the. It's talking about the toxicity of, of dating on apps and things like that, but it has a sci-fi bend to it. So it's it's a little bit of a dark satire, I guess I would describe it. And then the book that is sort of a, um, it's sort of a young adult type book based in mythology. So there's different things that I'm doing, a sequel to Ravish as well. It's going to be a trilogy, so, if you like it, there's more coming. Get ready Cool.

Speaker 2: 33:09

So, before we conclude, what are your top tips for upcoming authors, and especially if they want to specialize in the horror and fantasy erotica genres?

Speaker 1: 33:23

To me and I wish somebody had told me this earlier be bold, be brave, do it. Don't let anyone tell you that it's wrong or that it's silly or anything like that. This is your dream, you know. This is what you want to write, write about it and it's just. It goes back to what you know this accountant had told me. He says man look, we always feel we're not up to it or we're not talented enough or we're not. No, anything can be learned. That's fine. Practice makes perfect. It's as simple as that, you know.

Speaker 1: 33:49

And when I started out, I, you know, I worked with, I would copy styles of like King and all that just to get the rhythm going until I discovered my own. And you will, you will. It's not impossible whatsoever. And if anything, research, read. You know. I was in a creative writing class and they were asking us why we wanted to be writers and what we were reading. And I remember this one lady in the back. She says, oh, I don't read. And I was like wow. And I'm like wow, yeah, I can see who's not going to make this class. And to me that was just really like you don't love stories, but you're writing stories like what? It was just like a doctor that hated hospitals or blood. I'm like what?

Speaker 2: 34:31

You probably you're in the wrong field.

Speaker 1: 34:34

I mean be brazen, be bold, go there, go there. Never feel like, oh, I don't think people are going to get it. No, it doesn't matter, someone will. Someone will you get it. It's your story. Right your story. Write your story. There's going to be negativity. It's going to happen. Just prepare for it. It's what you want to write. Writing's an old art man and it's beautiful. It's going in different directions. Don't let life you need to quit. I get told that all the time you need to quit, you know it's not paying off. I'm like it always pays off. When I finish that book and I sit back, it has paid off when I sit back and I look at it and I look back and go, wow, that's pretty good, it paid off, you know.

Speaker 2: 35:18

Well, remember, I always remind myself, those who criticize you do less than you. So those people who are criticizing you, they've never published a book. Probably they don't know what it takes like the tenacity, the discipline, all of that. I mean it takes a certain character, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:39

And you know there's a lot of mentality and a lot of work that goes into it. But just because I'm not throwing down a hammer or you know, or putting on a uniform, doesn't mean that I'm not working. And to me that bugs me the most. When people said, oh well, you're not really working, I'm like wow, boy, you don't know anything, do you?

Speaker 1: 35:55

It's a lot of work, so don't let nobody tell you that your work is not worth it. That's alone. I don't buy that. If you have a book, I'm going to read it.

Speaker 2: 36:04

So, ryan, where can people find your books On your website On Amazon? How can they contact you? For anyone who's listening or watching, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 36:13

They're definitely on Amazon, all three of them. I have a Facebook page. It's Ryan Winter Fan Page. I prefer that one because I can interact with people a lot easier.

Speaker 1: 36:25

I post all my podcasts and right now I'm writing a blog about the history of Wake the Devil, which is based upon the Axeman murders of 1918. So what I'm doing right now is I'm going through the book and list and showing and explaining the real characters that have that, what was going on, the victims of the Axeman, who he was, who they thought he was. So if you read the book and you're wondering what the locales and the victims look like, I'm posting pictures as I go. Every couple of weeks I post another piece of it. So that's probably the best way to find me if you want to contact me there and also have an Instagram, of course, at Ryan Winter Author. So I've been working on my website but, like I said, with the time and all, it's like if I can get somewhere to do that for me, it would be so much easier. You know, having to worry about that and having to go back and work again, but, um, yeah, that the the ryan wincher fan page on facebook is probably the best way cool.

Speaker 2: 37:19

Well, uh, thank you very much, ryan. This has been amazing. Um, now you're inspiring me to write horror, so I actually might write. I'm going to maybe write a horror set in my hometown where I was born, in Amman Jordan.

Speaker 1: 37:35

I think that would be an interesting perspective, because people don't know much about it if you're really trying to figure out an idea for horror, you always go back to your childhood and think about god. What scared the crap out of me? And that's where a lot of that comes from.

Speaker 2: 37:50

You know the ax man I actually I I remember a story, uh, that everyone was talking about. I might kind of turn it into one. Well, yeah, thank you, you just inspired me do it.

Speaker 1: 38:01

I want to read it sure.

Speaker 2: 38:04

Well, thank you very much, ryan, for joining us and for anyone who's listening or watching. Thank you very much for joining us today and until we meet again, natasha Times. If today's episode inspired you in any way, please take the time to review the podcast. Remember to subscribe and share this podcast with fellow book lovers. Until next time. Happy reading, happy writing, thank you.