Episode 228
#228 - Interview with writer M.T Bass
I sat down with M.T. Bass, a prolific author. Who's written twelve novels, two novellas, and a book of songs. With no signs of slowing down. M.T. brings a lifetime of experiences into his writing.
From flying planes and working in the aerospace industry. To crafting mysteries, techno-thrillers, and satirical stories rooted in real emotion, and depth. We dove into the fascinating ways his aviation background, and love of storytelling shape his books. plus how walking, and unplugging from the noise helps fuel his creativity.
We also talk about the realness behind his sci-fi series Murder by Munchausen. The challenges of writing from different perspectives, and directions. Seeing why staying true to your passions matters more than chasing trends. If you want to explore more of M.T. Bass’s work, and the other series he's worked on, check out his website:
And of course, you can find all the links for L.I.T.G, and where to listen at:
Transcript
Mudcat
And it, you know, was an interesting story about a murder mystery that he solves in the 50s. And um so, you know, that interests me from the the ah flying part of it.
::Mudcat
a You know, other stuff is that I've written in the black is a it's a catch 22 type book that I wrote because that's that's my my personal favorite book.
::Mudcat
So I wrote that about the 60s, just being a satire of that. Right. you know
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I love that. But i read I really love that idea also like with aviation because you know i I've had a love and passion for cars.
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
like I'm currently in school to be in auto tech. And when you like have something that you know how to do, you know because like not everybody knows how to fly plane, let's be real.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Most people know to crash a plane.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
They don't know how to fly a plane. i But to be able to like get into that mindset where you can start writing and then you can actually kind of explain things realistically from that viewpoint, um that definitely is an upper hand.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And like I'm not saying that you have to be an expert, but you can tell when you're reading a story if the person that's writing it actually knows about what they're talking about.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
like Like as experience, yeah.
::Mudcat
Right. Yeah. And that's pretty cool.
::Mudcat
That's the old joke is. I teach takeoffs for free. I'm a ah flight instructor too. So I teach takeoffs for free, but landings are very expensive. So, but yeah, that's, I mean, that's part of it is to get into the ah nitty gritties of the flying and not, not to be in an instructional type of thing, but to kind of put it in a context of flying.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Hmm.
::Mudcat
And then that whole series is the idea is and there's three books in this series now and And each book is a ah different adventure in aviation as time goes on.
::Mudcat
So the first one, he was a ah movie stunt pilot in the 50s working with Paul Mance. And the second one, he's actually a mercenary pilot in the Congo during the Civil War in the 60s.
::Mudcat
And the third one, focuses on the revival of air racing in the early 60s as it came back from the you know It reached a peak in the in the Cleveland airshows through the 40s, and then it died off, and then it came back into the Reno airshow. Each story is like a little episode of aviation history.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, people really don't understand, like when you talk about stunt production, like we're talking about like even in the nineteen forty s a lot of these people got severely like crippled.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, there there were some people that came out of that and they'd make a movie and there was like 13 people severely injured and like permanently like, can't walk anymore, can't go anywhere.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Um, that you gotta be ah a different type of person. You gotta be very resilient. You've gotta be a very strong type of person to put yourself in those predicaments.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You're working with a very strong character from the get-go, right? Like that's the idea.
::Mudcat
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. and And while you're talking about those, I mean, Flight of the Phoenix, that was a movie production. They didn't have CGI or anything like that to create that stuff.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
no, no.
::Mudcat
So they had had to do it for real.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
no
::Mudcat
And the end of that, you know, the end of that whole story is the plane crashed and killed the stunt pilot. You know, so talk about it going beyond being injured.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, sometimes it leads to death, you know?
::Mudcat
You know. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
They don't even make it to the credit sequence because they got them before the credit sequence. Oh my gosh.
::Mudcat
if yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
So you you've written adventure stories. You've written about like your own experience with aviation. But you ventured out to like different things to write about as well, like different things that have interested you along the way.
::Mudcat
fi series in the near future,: ::Mudcat
And the idea is that, and well well, it sounds nice, but
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Sounds nice. Yeah.
::Mudcat
in in this story, hackers are able to take take them over and reprogram them to become hitmen.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oof.
::Mudcat
And then this story follows the police unit that tracks them down and goes after them. So it's murder, mystery, crime, techno, techno thriller kind of thing.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Wow.
::Mudcat
So that was an interesting.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's the kind of thing the that's the kind of book that you stay up late. You know, it's like you can't you can't stop reading because you want to find out what's on the next page.
::Mudcat
Uh huh. Uh huh.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. So. and it And it goes into a whole, like the first three books is all about tracking down this one cyberpunk hacker who is really recreating serial killers through different different androids.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
it. Because the distance from: ::Mudcat
Oh, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
We're closer to: ::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah Like, you know, and we have very similar problems like existing now. Like people don't realize this, like even with... Automotive vehicles today onboard computers, they communicate wirelessly.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, you think about that just from one standpoint. Imagine now also people have those technologies in their home. You know, and then you're talking about a future where not only now it's like not even in appliances, it's like in an actual humanoid droid.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That you can not only hack, but like program as if like it's a drone program, you know, flying into building. Like this is a soldier you can build. to Just no feelings, no emotions, nothing.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Mudcat
Well, I mean, if you just look at, yeah well, just look at the news.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's insane.
::Mudcat
, I think, I think, are is it: ::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah No, but I honestly, I love those type of sci-fi stories because I love fantasy, but you know when you look at some of the greatest theories and some of the ones that are like more of on the underground scene, what makes them so successful is how they perceive the future. it's like People complain on how Star Trek is like, oh, they don't show any computers.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Well, it's because the computers are all baked inside. They don't need to have physical little screens and keyboards. You know, the idea of like alien communication being solely through telekinesis, which has been so told through stories before. Like that is a very real idea. Like the same idea here, too, is where we look at our future and be like,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
What if we have that ability where you have not only a different form of human beings, but a new way of totalitarianism and war and havoc that you can, contract like, forget about nuclear.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, like, I get it's a big topic, but, like, there's that other path of history that we can go down to as well.
::Mudcat
Right, right. Yeah, and and and this a, you know, this is ah obviously a deviation on the whole, you know, robotic thing who that, you know, they've basically hijacked hijacked them to turn them into hitmen, right?
::Mudcat
So, of and so once you do that, then you got to follow the follow the logic. Then you got have cops that can chase them down and go after the robots go after the hackers you know all the way into that
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's a deep network. I mean, because if you think about how we advance within technology, you know, you have people in Nigeria, you know, or people in India,
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
that live thousands of miles away from the coast of the United States. And they have these complex cyber network where they have contacts in the United States.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
They have ways of accessing computers and programs. And i it's just a matter of time. And it's like being in that environment where you have so many of these obstacles to be able to stop this.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, because it's so hard. It's so hard when you think about that as time progresses, we lose less and less of our so own security and our safety.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
As a price for advancement of technology.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That's what it. Yeah, that's what it is.
::Mudcat
ah You know, and just, I mean, even just think about just, you know, like Windows, you know, if you, you know, there are ways for people to in India or, you know, wherever their customer service is that can take control of your computer, you know, halfway around the world. and And if you allow them, yeah, just, you know, but so it's, it's,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's crazy.
::Mudcat
pretty much out of control if you let it. if you let it
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It is. i Honestly, like um creating series seems like an easy concept. It's something that I've noticed earlier. like You've already mentioned two series you've worked on.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
they They're built on elements where you have these really strong characters, these really strong roles, and just progressing the story from there. You know, sometimes what happens is you create a really great story, right?
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
and it's hard to continue from it because it either it ends at a point where it's kind of over. You know, there's no really way of continuing it or it it's too abrupt where now it has to be even bigger than what it what it is before.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Having that balance, I think is, I'm not a writer, you know, you're the expert in this, but I'm sure it's definitely something that's that's harder to deal with, with that type of writing.
::Mudcat
Yeah,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Mudcat
yeah it is. I mean, and and in I've got four books in that series and the first three are are pretty well interconnected, you know, in terms of, you know, building from, you know, a hacker, you know,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Right.
::Mudcat
murdering a divorcee's husband, you know, from that evolving into a serial killer and then evolving, you know, to to come to a resolution of that.
::Mudcat
And the nice thing about the first three of those is, you know one thing I did was i started the first book, first person from a male detective, right?
::Mudcat
So it's it's the male detective talking.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah. Oh, that's, that's very smart. Okay.
::Mudcat
And then the second one, I switched to the first person from his former partner, a female detective. So that was first person from her perspective. And then the third one was was third person.
::Mudcat
So that that I felt that kind of helped kind of switch things up and move things along into the end. All
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That's bad. Honestly, that's first off, like first person is not easy, you know, because you you have to, like, focus the whole entire story on like that person's perspective.
::Mudcat
right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Right. And that shift to now dealing with, you know, a deputy, somebody like, again, sees the world completely the different way. That is a great way to continue this story. And you get that a lot of the times with like psychological thrillers.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Well, they'll do that first person. And it's done so elegant. like It's just done so well. you know you like You feel like you're in the seat with that person.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. And it's limiting in a way because it's that person's perspective, you know, so you as a writer, you can't, you can't jump in and and explain stuff, you know, that he doesn't know about because it's all from, from his point of view.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Right. Right. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Nope.
::Mudcat
So, and then that was nice again, switching from a ah male cop to a female cop, you know, and just that, that difference was a was a great jump. So it was a lot of fun.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There's definitely also that element of like um almost remorse, because I do feel that when you're dealing with female and male cops, like male cops have to be, you know, very like disciplined, very structured, very much in the space. Female cops have to go through that too as well, but like there's also that almost emotional aspect to it.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Because sometimes you have where the female cops are mothers, you know, um or they have older kids, you know, or, you know, they're just recently related.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It could be just a lot of different things, but there's that more emotional part to it. And being able to get that through the story also is
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
What's the word? um it It's capturing. It does. It captures everything together.
::Mudcat
Yeah. yeah Well, and it's kind of difficult to go, you know, to switch to a female perspective because they have a,
::Mudcat
like you said, they have a different orientation, you know, in their emotions and their reactions and, and you know, how they perceive things.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
How do they respond to situations? Yeah, yeah,
::Mudcat
Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. So, that you know, that's that's a challenge. and i I thought I did a pretty good job and I got some feedback from some female beta readers. So help me out. So that worked out.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Sometimes you get inspiration from others. You know, i i feel like I um i write lyrics. and And one thing I've realized with lyrics all the time when you get caught between a page, you know, you you get caught between words. Sometimes you just need to get that inspiration.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, um i can't think off the back of my head. I know that there were some writers that the way that they used to be able to write was going on a long walk. you know, or sitting in a coffee or I don't know, sitting in ah room that you're very comfortable with and just just getting into that um environment.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It i maybe if ah maybe I'm wrong, but sometimes like the story doesn't always come at once. You kind of have to figure out the story as you go through it.
::Mudcat
what Well, that's exactly, that's that's kind of my my approach to things.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, yeah.
::Mudcat
i you know therere You know, there are people who will outline everything and lay it all out. And I've tried that and it just, it just doesn't work for me.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
hard. It's hard...................
::Mudcat
Well, well, yeah I, yeah in that, in that, in the black book, the catch 22 book, I had so many characters and I had so many plots going on all at once that I thought, well, geez, I gotta, I gotta, you know, chart all this out and lay it out and figure out what's going to happen here, what's going to happen there.
::Mudcat
And so I, don't know, I spent, a long time doing that. And when I got done, I started writing it. None of the characters wanted to do what I wanted them to do. You know, because they got, they got to be real, kind of real people, right?
::Mudcat
So trying to follow the outline, the characters wanted to go off in different directions, do different things. I finally just gave up and followed them, let them do what they wanted to do.
::Mudcat
But you were saying, you know, and that's another thing that I, you know,
::Mudcat
taking a long walk, I, I, I walk every day, right? and that's a huge a bonus for writing because you just just get into a groove and you're not thinking about it, but you're thinking about it right? So it's all percolating underneath as you're walking.
::Mudcat
And it's, you know, a great way to move things forward if you need to.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It helps really balance your mind. think a lot of the times we are in situations where we just have so much going on.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And we have a difficult time being able to balance. It's because we're not taking a minute to breathe.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, we we we tend to forget that we are very much biological.
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
We are organic, just like the trees, the the grass and the rivers and lakes and what happens, like everything around us.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
We are living things.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And being able to connect to nature, just being able to just get out and just
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I think it's more important than we think it is. You know, we're just like, ah you know, I'm just going to No, it's I think it's really good for your health. Just relax whenever you can.
::Mudcat
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah
::Mudcat
Well, you're relaxing, you're exercising, you're moving about, you're, you know, you're involved with your environment, just kind of taking it all in, you know, and then I don't know every time. And I'm not thinking about writing, right.
::Mudcat
But things are percolating underneath, you know, and that's sometimes you just need to let it simmer and and move along and then it then you get an answer for what you need to do for your next plot twist or the next character's action.
::Mudcat
So that's...
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And yeah the wildest part is the flip side of all of this. You have like one author comes to mind is like Stephen King. Where he writes a bunch of books in the 80s and doesn't even remember writing them.
::Mudcat
Well, yeah, how many books has he written? Holy cow.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah yeah Right. Like, you know, and i've I've spoken to other writers before and I'm like. Have you had this happen before? And i had one writer that told me he had once a book where he wrote and he completely forgot.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
He didn't remember how he wrote it. what And I think just what happens sometimes maybe is like it's not that you're forgetting it. It's like it's still there. It's just you can't access it.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I think the same thing when you're like writing and it's like you get that writer's block. It's just you got the wrong keys for the door. You know what I mean?
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, I pretty much remember, you know, I mean the details, you know, if I go back and read a book, it's like, Oh yeah, now I remember this. Now I remember that, you know, I, I know the basics of it, but a lot of the details kind of slide back because it's, you know, you're going through life and you're moving on, right.
::Mudcat
You know, so that's a chapter in your life. You've done it and you're moving on to the next book or, you know, and, and it just kind of, fades in your memory just like life events, right?
::Mudcat
So, but I don't know if I'd forget all the books I've written.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
we don't know We don't always remember things. Yeah.
::Mudcat
course, like I said, how many has Stephen King written? So, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I don't know. You know what? Now I'm actually curious. Let me see. How many how many books has this man actually written? could i think I remember reading a while ago.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um oh God. the The guy that started Scientology is considered like the most... Like writ like has written the most amount of books or something crazy like that.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I don't even know how that's like possible but yeah I Think I think it's I think so I think it's L.
::Mudcat
Wow.
::Mudcat
So who's that? Is that L. Ron Hubbard? Is that the guy for Scientology? Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Ron Hubbard Um
::Mudcat
Is asking sir
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Now I'm trying to see if this is on 65
::Mudcat
Siri? 65 books? Yeah, that's a lot of books.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That's a lot of books.
::Mudcat
That's a ton of books.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Jesus.
::Mudcat
So, but
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But you know what, though? like it It all comes down, honestly, to the artist. Right? Because some artists are in incredible and they just write five books. Or...
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
They can write, you know, like 20 poems and two novels or something like that. I don't think it has to do with the quantity of writing. I think what it has to do is with like the quality of what you're making.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, you you represent what you're making.
::Mudcat
right yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
So you could make 200 books, but they could all be absolute horseshit, you know, or you could just make five and they're absolutely fantastic.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you know what i mean Like that there is that balance that comes in between.
::Mudcat
Right, right. Yeah, you gotta, well, quality is always, for me, most important. I just can't, you know, can't just churn out genre books, you know, just churn out the same thing over and over and over again.
::Mudcat
You know, I'm trying different things, trying different ideas, you know, trying different characters, so.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Experimenting, figuring out different things, yeah.
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. so Yeah. that's another kind of whole thing where people just do genre writing, like romance and horror and things like that. And they just kind of churn out this replications of the previous book.
::Mudcat
It's not too interesting to me. So...
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
No. You know, and a lot of the times it's it's a good idea to close a chapter on something and try something completely new.
::Mudcat
Mm-hmm.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know? i actually checked up... Okay, you ready for this?
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Elon Hubbard has 235 works of fiction published.
::Mudcat
Yeah. 235. White
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
two hundred and thirty five
::Mudcat
mackerel.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah um
::Mudcat
and And he created a religion out of it too, right?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
god
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
i i I don't want to know what his pill combination was every single morning.
::Mudcat
so Scientology.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I really don't.
::Mudcat
ah yeah yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's probably very heavy. But oh but but i like honestly, like even to that point, too, is is a like when we were talking about even how you've structured and making your series.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um What's the longest series have you written so far?
::Mudcat
um well that that that the murder by munchausen series which is the android series has four books in it uh the White Hawk Aviation Series has three.
::Mudcat
so then i've got you know And then I've got a bunch of other standalone books that I've done.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, but I mean, in your own account, right? these These series, these stories that you've put work towards, they only needed three, they only needed four.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you know what I'm saying? Right? Or they could, it honestly, or it could be more, you know, but...
::Mudcat
Yeah,
::Mudcat
it could be more.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But in the end of the day, like it doesn't have to be where you had to have made 12 books in order to complete the entire series. That's what I'm trying to get at.
::Mudcat
No.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's like you don't need to just continue pushing and pushing and pushing. That's why like the idea of trying something else or perceiving another character or trying a different direction might actually be a good thing sometimes.
::Mudcat
Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And it's kind it's you know it's kind of like, you know, the stories tell themselves. So when you get to, you know, when you get done with the story, you know, whether it's
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
They do.
::Mudcat
50,000 words or 100,000 words, that's the end of the story. And it's kind of the same thing with the series. is you know When you get to the end of the series, you'll kind of know it. And then you know move on onto to something different. There's um always something to write about. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There is. i mean, there's always something new that... I always i always love those stories, like again, like pertaining to sci-fi, especially those where look in the past and they perceive the future very differently in how society saw the future.
::Mudcat
All
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
know Because go back 40 years ago, you know they felt like, this is the utopian era. But there were those stories that were completely... did like Just one coming straight out of my head is like Tron.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Tron is probably one of the earliest stories that I can think of where we have that. It's called virtual reality.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
and But nobody was really thinking of virtual reality in those terms back then. Maybe like very hypothetical and very deep conversations, but that is a very thought-provoking idea.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Still keeping within the element, you don't know what's going to happen. It's it's fiction, right? It's not really based on anything that but it has that real element to that.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There's something about those stories that are fiction, but there's a real element to it. We're like, oh, we have something like that in reality.
::Mudcat
Right. Right. Even like Star Wars, it's like it was so far in the future, but it's so grounded in human behavior and and activities and, you know, and greed and the bar scenes and, you know, you it was so far in the future that it came right back to where we are right now anyway.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Greed. Yeah.
::Mudcat
So, and that's, i think that's an important element to, you know, to keep engagement.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It is also being able to stay cohesive. You know something that happens sometimes is where you get stuck and you don't want to be able to progress.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, sticking with the old ideas, the the old ways of doing things instead of trying new ways of progressing and trying new things that might be able to help you.
::Mudcat
All right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um i It's not necessarily about finding a balance. I really think it's about being able to Realize your strengths and what you want to do.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Right. You know, if you want to be a good writer, you can't just sit in that rut.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You can't just be that person that doesn't take that leap of faith. um Because to be honest, you know, like you could make the greatest story in the world, but if it's not coming from you, then where the hell is it coming from?
::Mudcat
Right. Right. Yeah. It's got to come, you know, from what you know, like we talked about before, but also what you're interested in and, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
What you're passionate about, too. you You could see that in the pages.
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. That's what you've got to go after because otherwise it's just, ah again, it's more like kind of rope writing, right? I'm just writing this rote lady because that's,
::Mudcat
These are the tropes in the drama. These are the things I need to write about and have to fit into the ah genre world. so and And that's successful for some people, but you've got to look at the new things. You've got to look at things differently if you can.
::Mudcat
that's the That's the hardest thing.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It is. You know, ah feel when you have life experience and you pour that into your work, I think people relate to that as well.
::Mudcat
you
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, i think an idea of like your audience is not necessarily about like fans. It's about people that relate to what you're doing, because any type of artist or any type of
::Mudcat
Right. Huh?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
In a way, like you're kind of you're like your own missionary, even though you're not on like your own path of like Christian faith. Some people are, some people aren't, but it is It's kind of like you're of getting on that horse and kind of riding around, you know, the the countryside and finding the people that you can connect with.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um And I'll be honest, like even in my own life, sometimes the people that you connect with are the people that you interact with every single day. You know, you bump into them and you tell them what you're doing. and They're like, oh, can you tell me more?
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah you're like, oh, so well, you just get you get a little startled. You're like, oh, really? You're youre like, yeah, I'd love to talk about this. It you just don't realize. But in many ways, you kind of surround yourself sometimes with people.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That see that artistic journey, they see the storytelling, they they want to be inspired, they want to be able to. have something different, you know? like come on, life is sometimes boring as it is It's nice to have a little something interesting going on.
::Mudcat
Yeah, yeah, take a different tack here, a tack there, and talk to them about that.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Mudcat
Yeah, yeah, that's, you know, and sometimes you never know who those people are, right? You know, they just kind of come out of the woodwork at you sometimes, and that's good.
::Mudcat
That's good.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Like ghosts.
::Mudcat
Gosh. So what kind oh, what kind of lyrics did you write? I'm just kind of curious.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
writing lyrics, I think, like: ::Lost in the Groove Podcast
So instead of all of the stuff that's going on in my mind, i take that and i I put that down into... um into Lyrics and I've written stories about cars specific cars and how they drive um I've written stories about alien abductions You know I try to get very like creative or like to i like Me I like to paint scenes and characters.
::Mudcat
okay
::Mudcat
Okay.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That's my thing is paint scenes and characters and
::Mudcat
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. so what's what kind of experimental music is it? Uh-huh.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um I like to describe it as very 70s and 80s with a twang of 90s. There's a little bit of rock, grunge, and pop.
::Mudcat
so So do you play or create the music yourself or?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
i Well, I play guitar. I don't play guitar very well, but I'm i'm a self-taught um artist where I do all of my music on GarageBand.
::Mudcat
Oh yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah Sometimes it takes me two years to make a song. Sometimes it takes me three weeks.
::Mudcat
Yeah, well, I, yeah, I'm a guitar player too. So kicked around in bands for forever. So.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
People just do not understand that a guitar is not an easy instrument. OK, it's not something that makes your fingers happy. okay
::Mudcat
Mm-hmm.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
like you got respect guitar players, all right, because we got bloody fingers.
::Mudcat
Yep.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That is a real thing.
::Mudcat
Well, it was at first. Hopefully, ill I'll never give those calluses up. so
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
oh And it's um it's a lot of memory.
::Mudcat
Mm-hmm.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
The thing about guitar playing is it's not just the chords. You have to remember to be able to remember the percussions, remember moving your fingers around. i yeah ah wish I was better, but you know...
::Mudcat
ah We all do. I mean, and and you listen to all the all the great players out there. It's so like, I'm just always blown away. you know, Barry Carlton, Joe Bonamassa, all these guys.
::Mudcat
It's just like Clapton, of course.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan,
::Mudcat
Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's just like McArom.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Jimi Hendrix. How can we forget?
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. but But, yeah, I mean, but that's that's another another great outlet for doing things. So, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Writing is very much storytelling storytelling. I mean, it's told in different forms. It's told through music. It's told through novels. It's told through poems. It's told through many different avenues, like almost different types of voices.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And feel that um if you hold yourself back, you were saying this earlier, and it's kind of true. It's it's still in your mind.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's still playing in there like you can hear it. And... as to As time keeps going on, you you want to do something with it. This is driving you crazy. It's in your head. It's like, I got to get this thing out.
::Mudcat
Oh, yeah. Well, you know, and and I think you're right about, you know, I think the best lyrics are stories, you know, that really it's kind of a poetic short story, really.
::Mudcat
I like those best. Yeah, Springsteen has some good stuff. And, you know, it's just a lot of lot of going down that path. So it's kind of an and extension of being a fiction writer, I think.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
i think the best I think the best duo, and honestly, I think Paul Simon is the best at this, was Simon and Garfunkel.
::Mudcat
right right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
They really—it's not just folk music. They're stories. They're almost like short stories written in musical format.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And people think, oh, that's easy. It's not easy. Most artists even now cannot do that.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
it's You're talking about a time before they had digital formats and, you know, like Logic Pro and all of these different tools. They had to physically use the tapes, like, you know, a tape and this giant freaking room.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That is incredible.
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
that That is talent in and itself.
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You only get one!
::Mudcat
Yeah, well they can overdub stuff, but it's like it was a whole different world with, you know, a two inch tape doing it the old fashion way.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
was raw. Mm-hmm. Yeah, there was no, there was no, let's go, let's re-warn and re-do the, no, there was no re-rewarn and re-do this. The tape has already been cut, like, you want me to re-tape it back? Like, you gotta tell me now, otherwise I'm throwing this out.
::Mudcat
so Yeah, yeah, it's it's crazy stuff.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Mudcat
But yeah, yeah, I mean, Paul Simon has some great, great lyrics, you know, in a lot of his songs, The Boxer and Mrs. Robinson and all that stuff. So it's like, you know, he's another good one.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
America is another one that comes to mind, which is it's so strange because a lot of the times when you. When you read um particularly not even lyrics, when you read even stories from these periods.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
in incredibly popular in the: ::Mudcat
I think it the early 60s, I think.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
s, like: ::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Just read the story. you know you you You see what kind of society people are dealing with. um Sometimes books can be almost like a portal.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
to a different time. Like almost, like, in a way, it's kind of a form of time travel.
::Mudcat
yeah Yeah. Well, you know, there's that one. Huckleberry Finn's another you know, time shifting kind of thing you get into.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
h, wow. Yeah, be alive in the: ::Mudcat
and
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Woof!
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Good luck.
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. Or, you know, Catch-22, you know, that takes you back to the World War puts you right there, you know.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Which yeah, World War II, World War II books are in, World War II movies are a whole other story.
::Mudcat
I
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
World War II books are different. Because World War II books, you've got to visualize all that stuff in your mind.
::Mudcat
don't know.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And most of us have never been to a battle scene. Most of us have never, so you've got to picture all of that. And then somebody came along and was like, let's make war movies.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
So now you actually have like some reference in the back of your head and then you're reading this book and then like this.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's insane. It's just like people actually went through this.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Mudcat
Oh, yeah. Like Saving Private Ryan or Masters of the Air, you know, from the World War II bomber pilots.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, my God. I'm looking glorious. Basper bastards, which is hilarious.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Mudcat
But yeah, I mean, you're you know you're moving in and out of books. You're time traveling, know? Sure.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And those stories, again, like they're being just to imagine being person alive and experiencing that um isn and is not only hard, but mentally has so much strain on the person.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's hard to think straight. It's hard to you know to be able to keep yourself stable in certain environments. you can You get triggered by things. you know
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You go from a period of war-torn terror, bombs being thrown out of you, soldiers trying to shoot at you, and you're sitting there like a good little boy waiting for the doctor you know for your appointment, you hear the ticking of the clock.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I can imagine for that person, that's traumatizing. It's like... A year ago I was blowing up people and now I'm sitting in this office waiting for this doctor.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Like...
::Mudcat
Right.
::Mudcat
Yeah, that's good.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That... It's crazy.
::Mudcat
Yeah, I mean, just just think about the beginning of Saving Pride at Ryan, you know, where they're storming the beaches. Holy mackerel, that's like, you know, just overload on terms of how how they how they dealt with that, got through all that.
::Mudcat
then, like you said, that at the end of the war they're on a ship and sent back home and you know going to a regular job and
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's.
::Mudcat
it's mind bending really.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It really is. my i I, you know, I had. I had a veteran on this podcast. He fought in um Afghanistan.
::Mudcat
Okay.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And he said. The struck. And he like. I told him. I told him honestly. Like before the podcast. as I said. I'm going to be honest with you. Because like we spoke this before. He had some pretty gruesome stories.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
we We had to like.
::Mudcat
Uh-huh.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Tone it down just a little bit. But.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
By the time he was finished, by the end of the last story, said to him, how did he how did you manage in the real like life? And he's like, to be honest, it was very, very hard.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And you find different ways of being able to balance it. You know like some people find fitness, Krav Maga, Jiu-Jitsu. Sometimes people go out to the gun range and they find that way to be able to. like There's different people different ways. People figure out different ways of speaking to different therapists or coaches or different things.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But that in itself is a story. It's a real story that actually happened. And it it's so fictional, even though it's real. You know, like, you have somebody sitting right in front of you that can tell you the horrors that he saw in four years of being somewhere else.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Mudcat
And then how do you integrate that back into your regular life?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I... I know.
::Mudcat
That's, you know, There are so many different kind of stories like that from you know all through the years, you know World War I, World War two Korea, Vietnam. just
::Mudcat
It's hard to believe that what they went through. so i was i was never in the service, so I didn't see any of that, but it's like incredible.
::Mudcat
And then to come back and integrate into a regular I'm nine to five job. Right,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah. I mean, but to your point, like there are other stories. It's not just, you know, veterans. I mean, you know, we're talking about, you know, we could talk about aviation pilots, for example. Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There was a period where there was a lot of hijacking, you know, and there was a lot of planes that were crashing.
::Mudcat
right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah It's rare, but then you got yourself an aviation pilot that's been traumatized.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Because they got to land this plane with 232 passengers.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
if they fail, 232 people die because of that. So now they got to reintegrate with society. and it's just, you're right. There's so many different stories like this of people that go through these traumatic experiences and have to like reintegrate to normal life.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Like it never happened before. Like it's just a ghost in the past.
::Mudcat
Right. Yeah. A lot of those guys like, um you know, like Sully from the the landing in the Hudson, you know, just amazing that he pulled it off.
::Mudcat
No. And then what was it? I can't remember the other the captain from the United crash in Iowa. Remember that from. That was.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
What year was it?
::Mudcat
that was
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It United. it was United Airlines, right?
::Mudcat
yeah it was a DC-10 that lost the hydraulics. And I can't remember the captain's name, but amazingly brought it in, you know.
::Mudcat
And then I think about half the people died on the aircraft. But he saved he saved the other half. And those guys had amazing stories to tell.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
oh yeah. Okay, it took place, um... Sure was Iowa? It says here was, um... you United Airlines flight 232?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
232? yeah, Sioux City, Iowa.
::Mudcat
Oh, Sioux City.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
two three two
::Mudcat
yeah Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
two three two
::Mudcat
that's what Yeah, you mentioned that. It was Sioux City, I think, is where they crashed, right?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah yeah sioux city iowa
::Mudcat
you want you know and and Just think about think about what they were going through on the plane. you know Him and his crew and trying to resolve all the issues and it's literally life or death.
::Mudcat
know They're in a wounded airplane trying to bring it down safely.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
i I find it so fascinating, particularly when you're dealing with stories with these types of characters, because it's not just a character. It's a person that has been traumatized, that has been through real-life havoc, and has to now navigate life in a somewhat normal setting.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And... there're always you know Those people are always perceived as being people that have to cope and manage you know and figure out ways of handling like reality. And
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
the thing is, none of us ever want to be that person.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
that that is That's the thing, right? We never want to be in that situation, but yet we gravitate so heavy to those stories. even though we would never want that to happen to us.
::Mudcat
Yeah, no. no But we we but we want to be looking we want to be looking over their shoulder and seeing you know as if we were that person.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Right? Yeah.
::Mudcat
you know And that's...
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Exactly. Yeah.
::Mudcat
Yep. yeahp And then, and the thing that's most amazing, especially out of World War II, like, you know, we were talking about Saving Private Ryan or the Pacific and all that stuff they went through.
::Mudcat
Those guys came back and pretty much they kept to themselves. You know, they kept that all bottled up as they integrated back into life.
::Mudcat
So that's, it makes you wonder how they slept at night. or if they did sleep at night after everything they had gone through.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah it's um It's a different way of being able to cope and handle. You know, I... In my own personal experience, meeting somebody that is a Vietnam veteran and taylor compared to a World War II veteran is like night and day.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, yes, the World War II veterans, a lot of them are obviously a lot older, but the ones that I've been around... They are, they're very disciplined, they're very straight, they're nice, but they stay pose, in pose hes say in position.
::Mudcat
Right. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
like there's no It's sad, a lot of Vietnam like vietnam veterans, they're really messed and messed up. They have a lot of mental issues, they struggle hard.
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
like It's hard on a lot of families. And again, like what we're talking about is like when you talk even about war predicaments, like from one war to the other, you can see the effects on those people.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's like even as traumatizing it was on D-Day and dealing with the Nazis, it seems like the World War II veterans, the they figured out a way to cope better.
::Mudcat
Yeah, I,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I don't know what it was. Maybe they just bottled up. I don't know. It's just interesting.
::Mudcat
yeah, yeah. Well, they, you know, and not only that, but they came back and in the fifties, it was like, you know, super productive, super, you know, they just poured themselves into creating a better life for themselves, you know, and then just, you know, moving forward.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Work. Yeah.
::Mudcat
And that's the main thing. You just, you know, just ah You're always moving forward. and
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I think that's one one important life lesson is always to is to move forward. you know Even when things get difficult, and again, for some people, it's extremely traumatizing situations, you have your whole life ahead of you.
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you know You can use that period of your life as way of holding you back and i'm not um allowing yourself to achieve more than you can. Or you can say to yourself, wow, I am strong enough that a person I'm standing here now strong, that I want to be able to push myself forward, that I never have to deal with that situation ever again.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
falls in the hands of the person which direction you want to go.
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. That's, you know, it's like that, you know, kind of across the board, you know, whether we're dealing with, you know, soldiers and their experiences or, you know, dealing with writing, you know, it's just like, I got to keep moving forward.
::Mudcat
I got to move on to the next thing, you know, even if it's in a series or maybe the series has come to an end, then I got to hop and, you know, look forward and and figure out the next thing to work on.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It is. And i
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I feel that if you spend so much time worrying and not being able to be able to just write or just be able to hear those stories, be able to create those ideas, and literally, you know, if you want to physically put it on a piece of paper, you can.
::Mudcat
you
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
but
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I've said this before. you are your worst enemy. You get to decide if you it's like I fail.
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Well, did you decide that you wanted to fail? Because sometimes that that's how it is, is that you really don't want this. You really want something else. You know, you want to be able to put your energy towards something you want to do, not something that you don't want to do.
::Mudcat
Right. So I'm trying to just read that. I just read a thing about Henry Ford said something about if you think you can do it, you can do it.
::Mudcat
If you think you can't, you're right again. You know, so it's just kind of like you lock. It's you and how you react that you lock yourself in into your own future.
::Mudcat
So if you think you can't do it, you'll be right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And, you know, it's okay to fail at certain points. You know, sometimes things don't always work out the way that you want them to. And that can either frustrate you to the point where you say you give up or you can figure out ah different route. I'll tell you right now, as a person that deals with cars Sometimes that bolt doesn't want to come out.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Okay, no matter what you got to do Sometimes you need that mechanic with the smaller fingers. I kid you not, you know You run into all different types of situations and scenarios, but it's What you create as a writer what you create as a musician or what you create as a storyteller Regardless of all those things
::Mudcat
right Right. Well, and, you know, failure is part of the mix, right? It's, you know, you got to try things, you know, sometimes they don't work out and you got to move on, but you can't let any single failure or, know, like Thomas said, how many failures did Thomas Edison have?
::Mudcat
Thousands and thousands until he invented the phonograph, invented the light bulb, you know, so... You got take them as they come, you know, take your lessons. And then like we're talking about, you got to move on. Keep, keep, keep plowing forward.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I think think one thing that sometimes gets lost in translation also is being able to allow yourself life.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, a lot of the times you get soaked and absorbed in what you're passionate, what you're creating. And sometimes you need to be able to connect with the world around you. You know, i I found that, you know, i've I've seen artists that I really deeply care about, but they spend so much of their time working and so much of their time doing what they love and care about, which is great.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But a lot of times that you end up putting yourself as into is where you burn out.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And then you got to restart, rejuvenate yourself, get yourself back on your feet. I don't know how many times that's going to work. You know, you got to decide you got to be able to have said this before.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
we We talked about this before at the very beginning. It's like being able to create that balance. If you don't have that balance.
::Mudcat
right
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um Good luck.
::Mudcat
Yeah. I mean, you can spiral into a, you know, into a hole and just keep digging, know, and then lose lose track of everything else that's going on around you.
::Mudcat
You know, it's like we were talking about, know, just going for a walk, you know, just, you know, getting out, exercising, being part of the environment. You know, you got yeah gotta, you gotta be able to achieve that balance, find other ways of reacting.
::Mudcat
And then like, for me, the funny thing is when you do that stuff, it pays off, you know, You know, like ah like I said, I'm not thinking about writing. I'm not thinking about solving this character's problems or doing that.
::Mudcat
But, you know, go for a few walks and pretty soon like got the idea. And I like it's just, you know, it's just, you know working in the background, you know, churning away. But, you know, you're out cruising around.
::Mudcat
So get that balance going.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ted writing that song in like: ::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And i was talking with her and like just something just like just snapped in my head and I got off the phone call and I was able to finish the song that I've been trying to finish for three years You know The problem was is I wasn't getting out of my head You know, we're talking about like going out for that walk, you know, maybe just going to the coffee shop or just going for that drive All you're doing is just getting out of your head sometimes not thinking about it not worrying about it
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
is What you need it's weird our brains are we're getting at is our brains are weird, but That is a that is a way of being able to function being able to Be the best storyteller that you can be
::Mudcat
but
::Mudcat
right Well, you know, there's the, you know, actually writing stuff down is easy, right? But coming up
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, yeah, very easy yeah
::Mudcat
but coming up with the right ideas to put down on paper. That's, that's the challenge, you know, and, and it come, like you said, it comes from different places, comes from different folks.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Mm-hmm.
::Mudcat
You know, you have, you know, people tell you a story about this person and it triggers that to, you know, and then all of a sudden you, the idea you had finally becomes a real story.
::Mudcat
I had a, I had a story about, Let's see. It was about
::Mudcat
took place in a liberal Kansas where they trained bomber pilots. And I had a vague idea for years and years and years about putting some story together.
::Mudcat
and then, you know, my my girlfriend had knew a woman who was 100 years old and she read books about everything. And she was actually reading the biography of Keith Richards.
::Mudcat
She's a hundred years old and reading the biography of Keith Richards.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh my that's hilarious.
::Mudcat
and then that And then that just snapped things for me with the story. And then all of a sudden it just kind of laid out, you know, that I finally had what I needed to progress. So just from that odd little thing, you know, like you were saying, you connected.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
and That 100 year old lady, yeah.
::Mudcat
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she's pretty funny though, so.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
o That... Oh my god, I mean, you know what though? She seems like a pretty cool 100 year old lady.
::Mudcat
oh Oh, yeah, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, like...
::Mudcat
Yeah, she said, yes. should Oh, that ah Keith Richards, he he was a good boy. He loved his mom and stuff. like sorry yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you
::Mudcat
the
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I wonder if she went through the biography of Iggy Pop that would...
::Mudcat
I didn't hear about that one, but.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I'm a little scared to pick it up, to be honest. I know what's in there. I just, I don't want to visualize it. That's my problem.
::Mudcat
uh huh yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, look there. I respect a lot of artists. There's some artists that you know what? I'm just going to read the book. You know, i don't want to know.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
i don't want to know anything else, you know, because some of it's just it's just the work that they did that matters.
::Mudcat
well it's like
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's like. Yeah, it's OK.
::Mudcat
Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's OK.
::Mudcat
It's like going to a Chinese restaurant, you know, I want to enjoy the food. I don't want to know what's going on in the kitchen.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I don't want to know.
::Mudcat
Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
i I don't want to understand what they're saying in Chinese like please no no
::Mudcat
nice Yeah. Yeah. No, yeah. Just, just, just bring me my Szechuan and let me enjoy it. Let's.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I've been meaning to ask is we've been talking about your books the entire episode on You do other things besides writing books.
::Mudcat
let's
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yes.
::Mudcat
Yeah, yeah. A couple things. that you know I play guitar. We still jam with some folks twice a week. you know and do something Like you, I do some recording and things like that.
::Mudcat
I play out a couple, three times a month just for fun. So do that. ah Pilot. i mean
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Which is kind of cool, I'm not gonna lie. Yeah.
::Mudcat
Oh, yeah. It's like It's like the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's like, yeah, I'll be there in 30 minutes. What do you mean? You live like two hours away. Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll be there in 30 minutes.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Mudcat
that's And that's that's just it. you know And and it's a it's it's actually an incredible amount of freedom that you can you know go down to the airport, get in a plane, and go anywhere in this country you want to.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
and they' These are not like your commercial airline planes ladies and gentlemen.
::Mudcat
And it's just... No, no, no. Yeah, well, these single engine, yeah, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
No, the these are single prop. Yeah
::Mudcat
So, and
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Some of them still have carburetors in them don't they?
::Mudcat
what's that?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Some of them still have carburetors in them don't they?
::Mudcat
Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, the older Cessnas definitely have carburetors in them. lot of them are fuel injected now. So,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Really? It's crazy
::Mudcat
yeah, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
No, because like whenever i think of um because whenever I think of single prop, like I think of like that distinct sound. Because there's when they're on the ground and they're hovering, they they sound like there's something that's definitely not going to take off.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But they always take off. It's amazing.
::Mudcat
Yeah, yeah, it is.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah
::Mudcat
It's incredible. And it's like I said, it's a heck of a lot of fun.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah it's but like Do you ever do... I'm going to be one of those people that i ask. you ever do tricks in the planes? you know like Do the loops or the swirls or the turnarounds or you just a straight flyer?
::Mudcat
Pretty much, I mean, just normal maneuvers that you do, you know, nothing crazy, done some rolls, but, you know, Most airplanes aren't um really certified for all of that.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
no No, no, of course not.
::Mudcat
You've got to be aerobatic or utility service. But, you know, it's just fun.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It is. i mean, is it's it's interesting because when you're up in the plane, right, you're looking down, everything kind of feels like it's almost like a Monopoly board.
::Mudcat
but
::Mudcat
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it does if you're up high enough. But what i what I would like to do, i ah lived in Denver, you know, for a while. And we... What I like to do is I used to just like follow I-70 back and forth at like 200 or 300 feet, just fly along passing cars like crazy and just seeing where you are by looking at the road signs, looking at the water towers.
::Mudcat
it's And life is going by a whole lot faster than when you're up at altitude. So just lot of fun.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's the it's little things in life. You know, it's it's so weird because it's almost where you're having the bird's eye view. and
::Mudcat
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And you're kind of looking down at the world. You know, you're you're kind of almost... in a poetic way you're kind of playing god know looking down at at the humans um but it it it is interesting because it is something that we we've only had for a very short period in our history i mean planes have only been around 120 years and just now like the ability that
::Mudcat
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Majority majority people could afford a plane, you know, like I wouldn't say like Everybody could afford a plane but compared to what it was over a hundred years ago a lot of people could just have that experience, you know like that being able to just Soar through the skies literally
::Mudcat
yeah
::Mudcat
Right. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah
::Mudcat
Lots of fun.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Um, MT, I was going to ask you this. um I have your website over here. I know that you have your socials. i Do you want to give that out to the um but folks out here?
::Mudcat
For, there's
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Your website and your socials.
::Mudcat
ah Website is www.mtbass.net, not.com.net. um i'm I'm on Twitter at Owlworks, at O-W-L-W-O-R-K-S.
::Mudcat
And on Facebook, it's my author page. It's under that, too, Owlworks, as well.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
okay
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
What I'm gonna do to make it easier I'm gonna put your website and then um I'll put your Twitter handle I'm in the description box below Because I um, yeah and your website like I've told you the very beginning is amazing you can find All of your writings your books your interviews.
::Mudcat
Okay. Okay.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's like a one-stop shop.
::Mudcat
ye
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's amazing.
::Mudcat
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just keep pilot them on. We'll put the podcast in there too. So yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Awesome. Love that. Well, listen, MT, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on. I mean, from what we've talked about, you are an M-Depth writer.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah You fly planes, which is really cool.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And um again, I really appreciate you coming on and just laying on the the writing process, the characters, the series.
::Mudcat
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Love it.
::Mudcat
Thanks. and Thanks for having me. It's ah it's been great. You know, John, which you talk and stuff over lot of fun.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
My pleasure, my man. Well, listen, to anybody out there, if you want to check out more of the podcast, you can find us at Lost in the Groove pod.
::Mudcat
you
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
With that, we'll catch you all on the next one. All right. Peace out.
