July 8, 2026
Addam Ledamyen- Storyteller Imagining a Better World
Addam Ledamyen is a multidisciplinary storyteller, writer, actor, and theatre-maker based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Addam is the founder and Artistic Director of For Elenvia: Publications and Productions, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to developing and producing new literature and theatre that imagines a better world. Addam Ledamyen earned an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing from the California Institute of Integral Studies, serves as a teaching artist at the Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts, and is known for writing the fantasy novel The Legend of Leanna Page.
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00.211 --> 00:02.052
[SPEAKER_01]: Listeners of the randomness of nothing podcast.
00:02.072 --> 00:03.353
[SPEAKER_01]: This is your host Rashad Woods.
00:03.713 --> 00:09.396
[SPEAKER_01]: We venture into business, creates creative, create tours, and innovative people across all walks of life.
00:09.497 --> 00:15.820
[SPEAKER_01]: And this person here who I have a chance to interview, I'm very honored to because of the fantasy novels and the playwriting that he does.
00:16.220 --> 00:19.342
[SPEAKER_01]: He's a very good author, actor, and creator Adam Lidhamman.
00:19.622 --> 00:20.323
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much.
00:20.543 --> 00:21.524
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for having me.
00:21.725 --> 00:22.986
[SPEAKER_01]: It's an honor and pleasure.
00:23.026 --> 00:26.010
[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously we met through your very good representative Aaron Flynn.
00:26.030 --> 00:31.137
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to give her a shout out, you know, for allowing us to connect Adam, please tell me about yourself.
00:31.257 --> 00:31.597
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
00:31.617 --> 00:32.038
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
00:32.098 --> 00:33.380
[SPEAKER_00]: So my name is Adam Little Mien.
00:33.540 --> 00:35.042
[SPEAKER_00]: And as he said, I am a
00:35.668 --> 00:46.015
[SPEAKER_00]: an actor, a playwright and a novelist, and I'm the artistic director of four millennia publications and productions with whom we've published our debut, which is also my debut novel.
00:46.236 --> 00:47.657
[SPEAKER_01]: What is that writing process?
00:47.677 --> 00:50.098
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I've talked to several different authors, right?
00:50.158 --> 00:52.960
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think everybody gets to their mind that they can write a book.
00:53.361 --> 00:55.962
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, at least I even have to do a try to think of staff at it.
00:56.403 --> 01:01.386
[SPEAKER_01]: And then when you actually have to start actually like putting pen to paper, man, it's a difficult process.
01:01.406 --> 01:02.327
[SPEAKER_00]: You're like, oh my gosh,
01:03.127 --> 01:03.648
[SPEAKER_00]: absolutely.
01:04.068 --> 01:09.712
[SPEAKER_00]: And I will say also, I came at it through a couple of different stages, right?
01:09.732 --> 01:25.643
[SPEAKER_00]: So I started creatively at the actor, and that translated pretty well into starting to be a play right, because I had some of that, you know, work with dialogue and whatnot, and then taking that leap to novels was definitely hard at their longer.
01:27.999 --> 01:36.561
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just a lot of words, and the biggest thing that ultimately allowed me to finish was just not giving up.
01:36.901 --> 01:43.403
[SPEAKER_00]: I went back and found the very first draft from like, I guess, about six or seven years ago now, and it like, it's bad.
01:43.783 --> 01:45.944
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, crazy, you cringe, right?
01:45.964 --> 01:47.104
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?
01:47.265 --> 01:49.885
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, it's so funny, you know, when I first look at it,
01:58.231 --> 02:00.794
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's it's nerve wracking man.
02:00.854 --> 02:04.860
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the problem is you get tunnel vision because you think what you're doing.
02:04.880 --> 02:13.211
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, man, this has to be good because I, you know, I'm passionate about this and that and then next, you know, you're like, yo man, this is really not good at all.
02:14.656 --> 02:24.926
[SPEAKER_00]: The greatest thing that opened my eyes was, you know, getting out of that tunnel vision a bit and reading other books, and especially the Legend of Leonopege is written in this kind of old classical style.
02:25.767 --> 02:31.212
[SPEAKER_00]: And I started reading books from the time period that I was emulating.
02:32.253 --> 02:36.156
[SPEAKER_00]: And I realized, like, oh, wow, this sounds so much better than my growth.
02:37.297 --> 02:38.538
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I was able to start
02:40.380 --> 02:45.263
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, not copying anything, but learning from their tools and being able to emulate that.
02:45.503 --> 02:52.388
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think it's so fascinating because when you look at like, you know, I mean, out where all anybody who's in fantasy is a child of Tolkien, right?
02:52.428 --> 02:53.868
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there's there's I mean, right?
02:53.909 --> 03:03.955
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, even even the most acclaimed things, you know, your game of thrones or even the legend of Zelda, you can do a completely different story, but just that that
03:04.395 --> 03:28.033
[SPEAKER_01]: encompassing area it's like a sci-fi film is somehow explained is influenced by star wars or by a 2001 space Odyssey even if you didn't you're like hey man I'm in space they're like okay well it's just in a related field so having said all that I think how is it how do you navigate telling a original story without copycating somebody who inspired you yeah the thing that I think is
03:34.161 --> 03:54.304
[SPEAKER_00]: being original, so to say, because especially with working within kind of the realm of legends, the beautiful thing about myths and legends is that there are things that are similar between them, you know, going before even before token or anything, just going to like, you know, the original, you know,
03:55.833 --> 03:58.415
[SPEAKER_00]: myths of any culture or fairy tales.
03:58.455 --> 04:00.716
[SPEAKER_00]: I think all two are exactly right.
04:00.736 --> 04:12.563
[SPEAKER_00]: There are these types of stories and these types of characters that show up, whether people have heard of them or not, there's just something about the human psyche that there's similarities between the stories we tell.
04:13.024 --> 04:22.009
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's really cool and beautiful, so it's, I think it becomes more about not avoiding it, but recognizing when you're doing it and appreciating it.
04:22.846 --> 04:30.052
[SPEAKER_00]: And finding where your specific perspective is going to tell a new layer of the story.
04:30.344 --> 04:34.607
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think it gets, and then, you know, it's like when you play in musical notes, right?
04:34.687 --> 04:42.313
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't play an instrument to say it in my life, but it's like, you can still, I think in music, I hate to get this wrong for people who are musicians, where they're like 12 different notes.
04:42.353 --> 04:46.055
[SPEAKER_01]: There's only like a certain number of given notes in music to play.
04:46.415 --> 04:50.038
[SPEAKER_01]: So inevitably, humans have existed for thousands of years.
04:50.078 --> 04:53.360
[SPEAKER_01]: There's going to be people who play, it's how you play the note, right?
04:53.481 --> 04:57.984
[SPEAKER_01]: It's how, you know, and I think that, you know, the legend of the antipage, which we'll get into some details
04:58.444 --> 05:01.326
[SPEAKER_01]: People are always wanting to explore different avenues.
05:01.486 --> 05:10.250
[SPEAKER_01]: And when as long as it comes across and it resonates with your audience or your reader, I think they can put those preconceptions to the side because toll can pull from people, right?
05:10.270 --> 05:13.432
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you said, there's owed and there's Greek mythology, there's Rome mythology.
05:13.812 --> 05:15.534
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, there's ancient Persian culture.
05:15.554 --> 05:24.182
[SPEAKER_01]: There are things that existed before these books that were in people's libraries that maybe were even passed along and stories that we just have you have to explore to really know about.
05:24.302 --> 05:24.983
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly.
05:25.443 --> 05:26.124
[SPEAKER_01]: That's wonderful.
05:26.204 --> 05:31.149
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you first got it, what made you transition from acting to writing?
05:31.349 --> 05:32.350
[SPEAKER_00]: I had stories to tell.
05:34.583 --> 05:35.504
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really as simple as that.
05:35.524 --> 05:45.075
[SPEAKER_00]: There were, you know, I was always one of those kids that was, you know, doing a lot of a day dreaming or if I was alone, then fully just acting out.
05:45.456 --> 05:49.120
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, a lot of times with the kid, I'd be acting out scenes from movies.
05:49.947 --> 06:06.619
[SPEAKER_00]: or kind of the fanfiction version of that, where I would interact with character or whatever, and then it would go from things like that to acting out stories that didn't have to do with characters from that I'd seen in other things, and eventually there were just things that I needed to write down.
06:07.359 --> 06:13.764
[SPEAKER_00]: And the more that I grew up and realized that that was a cool thing, and that it wasn't just
06:15.315 --> 06:20.097
[SPEAKER_00]: not only stories, but there were ideas that I needed to get into stories I wanted to share with people.
06:20.557 --> 06:23.839
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's, I had to be a writer here.
06:23.859 --> 06:27.060
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like the spark in that fire that's inside of you, right?
06:27.140 --> 06:33.603
[SPEAKER_01]: And then even to a degree, you'll be like, as much as you admire the work or something that you've like, man, they didn't tell this.
06:33.964 --> 06:34.564
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a...
06:35.144 --> 06:50.978
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, in the realm or in the story lining, it's like when I started my show, you know, I listen to podcasts, but I don't overlisten right because I still want to kind of do my own thing so, but I'm like, I think in the space of where people are screaming at each other or there's this and there's that going on, I'm like,
06:51.218 --> 06:53.180
[SPEAKER_01]: And what if I just ask people what they do?
06:53.540 --> 07:01.247
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I like movies, I like martial arts, I like when people say they start at a business or they don't end at this thing that maybe hasn't been explored.
07:01.528 --> 07:05.972
[SPEAKER_01]: Because there are more things available than just what the world has to offer to you.
07:06.312 --> 07:24.093
[SPEAKER_01]: right and you have to go out you have to seek the people that are doing it and then that keeps your mind spinning like when I think of this in the antipage I think of like you know you know lying which in the wardrobe kind of a thing right like when I was a kid and all I had was the book in front of me or even like these older movies like um
07:24.976 --> 07:31.282
[SPEAKER_01]: a never-ending story kind of a thing where your mind can just be transported away from anything else you're thinking about.
07:31.743 --> 07:33.044
[SPEAKER_01]: And like, how did that person make?
07:33.224 --> 07:39.230
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's a really, it's a really exciting thing to be able to have these worlds and to share them with people.
07:39.911 --> 07:41.612
[SPEAKER_00]: This is your first novel if I can ask?
07:41.892 --> 07:42.293
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, it is.
07:42.593 --> 07:51.740
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, um, is it officially released in like what can you give a like a background of the story for the people who are listening this episode about what this this book is all about please.
07:51.920 --> 07:52.400
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
07:52.460 --> 08:02.128
[SPEAKER_00]: So the Legend of the On a page is a, uh, I call it a philosophically grounded fantasy novel, um, that is set in this mythic world called the world within the woods.
08:02.488 --> 08:10.093
[SPEAKER_00]: And it follows this servant girl named Leon a page who has, uh, these kind of mystical powers that make her a threat to the royals that she serves.
08:11.207 --> 08:24.634
[SPEAKER_00]: her parents are two servants from opposite kingdoms, and then in addition to that, she has a very strong relationship with the fairies who live in the woods outside of her world.
08:25.115 --> 08:31.498
[SPEAKER_00]: And because of that, she grows up with this kind of natural understanding that everywhere is home and everyone is
08:35.018 --> 08:57.252
[SPEAKER_00]: She discovers that other people don't feel that way about anything and so the more she grows up and speaks her mind about that and gets into trouble because of that she gets into more and more danger and eventually realizes that she has to kind of step out of her societally defined place in order to try and change the world if she's going to save the people that she loves.
08:57.860 --> 09:20.474
[SPEAKER_01]: That's wonderful, you know, and you know, I think of all the great, you know, fantasy ones that, you know, that, that I even like movies like Willow and I think of, you know, the people that are hiding in the forest, the self doubt, the disbelief, I don't want to give way too much of the book, I haven't read it myself, I can get a copy, you know, does she know about like her lineage or things like that or is there something like
09:20.754 --> 09:25.297
[SPEAKER_01]: that you can tell about her background without spoiling too much about her, but from the book itself.
09:25.477 --> 09:26.158
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely.
09:26.718 --> 09:44.570
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, she knows about her background and specifically, without giving away too much her parents, are each the servants of royalty and so they have some inside knowledge that they're like, you know, they were just kind of in the background or whatnot.
09:45.110 --> 09:48.292
[SPEAKER_00]: And in order to try and standard the radar,
09:48.769 --> 09:52.073
[SPEAKER_00]: her parents asked her to keep that a secret, but she doesn't know all of it.
09:52.333 --> 09:58.341
[SPEAKER_00]: And then what I was particularly interested in with her is that she doesn't have
09:59.795 --> 10:26.968
[SPEAKER_00]: She's not like a secret princess or anything she's interested in writing about this girl who doesn't have any remarkable background hurt her family lineage again there from two different kingdoms, but one is you know has been servants for generations and one was you know merchants for a while and then found their way into.
10:27.642 --> 10:32.084
[SPEAKER_00]: serving in the Capitol, but they're not remarkable people as she chooses to be remarkable later.
10:32.324 --> 10:32.744
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
10:32.784 --> 10:39.666
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you're writing this and you have to have, because I'm always fair, is there are there a vision, is it a standard book without visuals?
10:39.706 --> 10:42.307
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just, I do it or is it just sure writing?
10:42.347 --> 10:43.848
[SPEAKER_01]: I hate to ask you to put your book.
10:43.868 --> 10:45.669
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to say that in a negative way.
10:45.989 --> 10:51.491
[SPEAKER_01]: But is it something you have to picture in your background of where they're at, forest and buildings and things of that nature?
10:51.671 --> 10:53.771
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and there's no, there's no illustrations.
10:55.901 --> 10:57.042
[SPEAKER_01]: How hard is that to write?
10:57.062 --> 11:02.507
[SPEAKER_01]: Because you've got to have all these locations that are in your mind while you're writing, and you're like, man, I've got to really be detailed.
11:02.567 --> 11:04.309
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, how does that process work?
11:04.449 --> 11:06.892
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that was actually something I very specifically practiced at.
11:06.932 --> 11:13.818
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, coming from a playwriting background, my experience is that that's not my job.
11:13.958 --> 11:14.859
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the set of enters.
11:16.020 --> 11:16.921
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you get that out later?
11:16.941 --> 11:20.625
[SPEAKER_00]: So I had to grant myself and be like, no, no, I have to.
11:21.715 --> 11:22.036
[SPEAKER_00]: know that.
11:22.676 --> 11:31.627
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I actually remember I went on a, that's on a hike one time and I brought a notebook with me and I decided to practice making language pictures.
11:31.667 --> 11:32.107
[SPEAKER_00]: I called them.
11:32.648 --> 11:36.893
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just take something that, you know, some moment that I saw on the hike.
11:38.078 --> 11:40.860
[SPEAKER_00]: And instead of taking a picture of it, I would try and describe it in my notebook.
11:41.700 --> 11:42.961
[SPEAKER_01]: That's the process.
11:43.181 --> 11:43.742
[SPEAKER_00]: It was really fun.
11:43.842 --> 12:01.455
[SPEAKER_00]: And so then moving into the fictional world, sometimes I did take, there are some images in language images in the book that are directly describing some particular nature that I've seen from another course I've made up, but that exercise was really helpful for that.
12:01.740 --> 12:12.723
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that was about to say because, you know, I mean, I say this very respectfully like when you're if you're in the woods and you're in nature, that's immediately, you know, a direct correlation to the fantasy portion of a lot of things, right?
12:12.743 --> 12:17.865
[SPEAKER_01]: Because there's a lot of forestry that's out there available and there's a lot of stories and fables that can come with that.
12:18.245 --> 12:22.306
[SPEAKER_01]: So, and it's been like that since the dawn of time, so I'm not, you know, anybody taking shots, stupid.
12:22.326 --> 12:23.666
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, wow, this is out here.
12:24.026 --> 12:26.487
[SPEAKER_01]: This really, really a cool spot where, you know,
12:26.827 --> 12:37.391
[SPEAKER_01]: something dramatic could be happening, something tragic could be happening, or maybe just a quiet moment with herself and her own thoughts because that's what you know, the environment can provide for you.
12:37.531 --> 12:40.452
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you plan on having more than one book about this character?
12:40.472 --> 12:41.212
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, there are.
12:42.213 --> 12:48.655
[SPEAKER_00]: There is a second book already written where in the process of editing, you know, so there will be a volume two at the very least.
12:48.875 --> 12:50.255
[SPEAKER_00]: How's the book been received so far?
12:50.475 --> 12:51.496
[SPEAKER_00]: Really, really nice.
12:51.556 --> 12:53.256
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been really lovely to see.
12:53.276 --> 12:54.497
[SPEAKER_00]: We've been getting excellent reviews.
12:55.822 --> 13:07.240
[SPEAKER_00]: Corkus reviews called it an immersive and exciting adventure tale that well-constructed and we've gotten several five three different five star reviews from reader's favorite reviewers and
13:09.372 --> 13:13.154
[SPEAKER_00]: just a lot of other, you know, reader commentary that's just been really, really lovely.
13:13.194 --> 13:28.123
[SPEAKER_00]: And the most meaningful ones have been, um, we put it up on neck out of the before, uh, in advance of publication, um, and there were, uh, a couple on there that, um, you know, individual readers that were just like really touched by it and, um, really,
13:28.463 --> 13:29.224
[SPEAKER_00]: Really cool to see it.
13:29.464 --> 13:56.205
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's it's always funny like I just what it's funny like when you watch like a movie the critics and I'm not I'm glad you have critical great reviews, but it's like it's about what the fans think it's about like it really is like it really like That's what matters the most that like when you have an individual it's like man I really enjoyed your book because there's a lot of different places people to seek their entertainment and seek their free time and Enjoyment and the fact that they actually that their book your book resonated with them like that's a special thing Yeah
13:56.889 --> 13:57.610
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I felt that too.
13:57.630 --> 13:58.811
[SPEAKER_00]: I was really, really touched by that.
13:59.011 --> 14:01.013
[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
14:01.073 --> 14:04.576
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to boil your head up, but where's the adaptation coming?
14:04.696 --> 14:10.281
[SPEAKER_01]: When's the mini series, the streaming platform, the movie, et cetera?
14:10.421 --> 14:16.005
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no immediate, no nothing planned immediately, but I would certainly love to see that happen.
14:16.386 --> 14:18.267
[SPEAKER_00]: And one of my reasons for
14:19.608 --> 14:38.017
[SPEAKER_00]: writing this as a novel instead of, for example, a play, was, again, because it was this sort of, I wanted it to be this sort of legend, and so many of the legends that we have, you know, have some original text that we look to, to play off of it.
14:38.517 --> 14:42.379
[SPEAKER_00]: And I wanted it to have that original text, which could then be made into anything.
14:43.339 --> 14:46.641
[SPEAKER_00]: And I would be, I would be really excited to, whether,
14:47.908 --> 14:53.732
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, that screenplay or someone else does, I would really love to see it, and all sorts of different forms.
14:53.972 --> 15:01.957
[SPEAKER_01]: Did Leanna Page come from anybody like in your circle, somebody you knew growing up or did you just basically like bring the character from scratch?
15:02.297 --> 15:10.782
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, that if anybody, she's probably, you know, at heart a little bit me, but um, just as far as.
15:12.015 --> 15:24.086
[SPEAKER_00]: uh, you know, where I was writing from, but um, but her initial inspiration wasn't, um, wasn't anything, uh, in life that the, it was a kind of more marked whole moment for me.
15:24.126 --> 15:28.630
[SPEAKER_00]: I was, um, I was just, I was reading some other book, uh, I was reading a Dracula by Bram Stoker, which has nothing to do with the legend.
15:28.650 --> 15:28.750
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:28.770 --> 15:28.890
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:28.910 --> 15:29.010
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.030 --> 15:29.130
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.150 --> 15:29.250
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.270 --> 15:29.390
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.410 --> 15:29.511
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.531 --> 15:29.651
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.671 --> 15:29.791
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.811 --> 15:29.911
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.931 --> 15:30.031
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:30.051 --> 15:30.151
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.171 --> 15:30.271
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.291 --> 15:30.391
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.411 --> 15:30.511
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.531 --> 15:30.631
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.652 --> 15:30.752
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:30.772 --> 15:30.872
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:30.892 --> 15:30.992
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.012 --> 15:31.112
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.132 --> 15:31.232
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.252 --> 15:31.352
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.372 --> 15:31.472
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.492 --> 15:31.592
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.612 --> 15:31.712
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.732 --> 15:31.833
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.853 --> 15:31.953
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.973 --> 15:32.073
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.093 --> 15:32.193
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.213 --> 15:32.313
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.333 --> 15:32.433
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.453 --> 15:32.553
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.573 --> 15:32.673
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.693 --> 15:32.793
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.813 --> 15:32.934
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.974 --> 15:33.094
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.114 --> 15:33.214
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.234 --> 15:33.354
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.374 --> 15:33.474
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.494 --> 15:33.594
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:33.614 --> 15:33.714
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:33.734 --> 15:33.834
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:33.854 --> 15:33.954
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.974 --> 15:34.075
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.095 --> 15:34.195
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.215 --> 15:34.315
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.335 --> 15:34.435
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.455 --> 15:34.555
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.575 --> 15:34.675
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.695 --> 15:34.795
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.815 --> 15:34.915
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.935 --> 15:35.035
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.055 --> 15:35.175
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.196 --> 15:35.296
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.316 --> 15:35.436
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.456 --> 15:35.556
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.576 --> 15:35.676
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.696 --> 15:35.836
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.856 --> 15:35.956
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.976 --> 15:36.076
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.096 --> 15:36.196
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.216 --> 15:36.316
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.337 --> 15:36.437
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.457 --> 15:36.557
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.577 --> 15:36.677
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.697 --> 15:36.797
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.817 --> 15:36.897
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah
15:37.097 --> 15:41.061
[SPEAKER_00]: this old story that just kind of reminded one of the characters of the environment she was in.
15:41.301 --> 15:42.482
[SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't know what he was talking about.
15:42.503 --> 15:46.426
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was such a brief illusion and so non-specific.
15:46.727 --> 15:49.910
[SPEAKER_00]: But I just kind of wanted to keep reading, so I tried just kind of context to clue it in my head.
15:51.011 --> 15:53.874
[SPEAKER_00]: And within like a second, I had this whole legend.
15:54.294 --> 15:54.995
[SPEAKER_00]: in my head.
15:55.075 --> 15:58.737
[SPEAKER_00]: And I wasn't, for a moment, I wasn't sure whether I remembered it or made it up.
15:58.797 --> 16:02.139
[SPEAKER_00]: So like a stop reading, I looked up what he was alluding to and it was some other thing.
16:02.159 --> 16:05.482
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, it's nothing like the legend of the on-page.
16:05.502 --> 16:06.222
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:06.722 --> 16:09.684
[SPEAKER_01]: And no vampires in the antipage anytime soon, right?
16:10.505 --> 16:12.867
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, it really, they're not connected.
16:12.887 --> 16:17.990
[SPEAKER_00]: No, but yeah, all of a sudden I was like, oh, cool, I guess I made this thing up.
16:18.290 --> 16:20.212
[SPEAKER_00]: And I have to write it now.
16:20.532 --> 16:22.573
[SPEAKER_00]: And the most central, the most complete,
16:24.655 --> 16:31.541
[SPEAKER_00]: aspect of that initial image that I had was Leanna and her journey and what she's like.
16:32.001 --> 16:37.386
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, listen, inspiration can come from when somebody's just sitting having a cup of coffee and then they have that Emmy.
16:37.426 --> 16:44.051
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you're reading Dracula, obviously something, and you're, you know, a very student of, you know, our history.
16:44.091 --> 16:50.857
[SPEAKER_01]: So all it took was one particular passage in that book to be able to say, okay, this is where this can go in my mind.
16:51.197 --> 16:54.878
[SPEAKER_01]: What fascinates me when I think of like this story of the antipage, right?
16:55.119 --> 16:58.500
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's a certain girl, bands like balancing family and loyalty.
16:59.260 --> 17:03.442
[SPEAKER_01]: It really, you can translate dance those times to modern life, right?
17:03.502 --> 17:11.105
[SPEAKER_01]: Because, you know, it's about somebody who may have something special, who comes from modest means, but there's always the next journey along the way.
17:11.445 --> 17:14.046
[SPEAKER_01]: So, what do you hope your readers take from this story?
17:14.186 --> 17:17.107
[SPEAKER_00]: The most important thing that I want people to come away with
17:20.418 --> 17:23.080
[SPEAKER_00]: about what it takes for someone or something to be good.
17:23.421 --> 17:30.186
[SPEAKER_00]: And what Leonid comes away learning is that in order for that to happen, someone has to believe in them.
17:30.547 --> 17:30.887
[SPEAKER_00]: Someone...
17:33.240 --> 17:40.188
[SPEAKER_00]: and even for yourself in order for someone to be good, other people have to believe that they can.
17:40.909 --> 17:48.178
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that that is applicable on very individual levels, but I also think it's applicable on a much more societal level.
17:48.198 --> 17:49.380
[SPEAKER_00]: I think humanity.
17:50.968 --> 18:11.703
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, in a lot of ways, but if we, yeah, and you know, and I think one of the things is is that when you deal with confidence and self-doubt and disbelief and you know, you know, it can be lonely, it can be artists, but there's also very beautiful things and sometimes
18:12.083 --> 18:28.670
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, by navigating those spaces, you can, you know, whatever the antipages, you know, journey taster, she'll meet people that are her adversaries as well as her friends along the way, and sometimes by navigating that, you just have to go through it, you know what I mean?
18:28.710 --> 18:34.492
[SPEAKER_01]: So like, when I started this podcast, I'm personally me personally, and I don't want to over talk you.
18:35.052 --> 19:01.906
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm a geek right so like you know when you're in those places that are not geeks like the conversation doesn't go very far right but then when you get on this podcast like oh my gosh this is great I get to talk to the no disrespect the nerds all day yeah no disrespect again yeah shout out to my geeks who have interviewed so you know how do you how do you in this era of AI I have to ask this how does that affect a bookwriting playwriting screenwriting you know
19:04.827 --> 19:18.751
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there's two answers on the one hand, it just as you said, it makes it so that anyone can, you know, in 10 seconds put a prompt into something and end up with
19:19.130 --> 19:31.134
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I haven't played with it, so I don't know how complete they are, but I assume that you can put a, you know, 10 second prompt and end up with a whole play or even a bulk out of, you know, I assume that takes a little longer to load or something, but I don't know.
19:31.154 --> 19:37.736
[SPEAKER_01]: But it can be from zero pages to 150, whether the quality is up to snuff or not, it can complete something, right?
19:37.776 --> 19:38.076
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
19:38.296 --> 19:40.917
[SPEAKER_00]: Where I think AI, just
19:41.284 --> 19:50.690
[SPEAKER_00]: can't do anything is when it comes to what we were talking about where we have certain stories in us that we have to write in a particular way or it's just not going to be us.
19:51.571 --> 19:58.276
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think what AI is dangerous for is people who make their living off of art.
19:58.716 --> 19:59.937
[SPEAKER_01]: I was curious about that.
19:59.957 --> 20:00.517
[SPEAKER_01]: I really was.
20:00.757 --> 20:06.161
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, because what it does is, I mean, especially without the guidelines that
20:08.280 --> 20:32.797
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, it's it's basically it's stealing people's work in order to replicate it in different ways and without compensating them and then allowing, you know, different art to take place that in theory, people could pay for instead of paying, you know, so it's all very messy and not good in that sense, um, as far as, you know, human art and humanity's future as artists, I don't think that's ever going to go anywhere.
20:33.117 --> 20:33.998
[SPEAKER_01]: I think no.
20:34.241 --> 20:35.963
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's just too much who we are.
20:36.224 --> 20:43.253
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's enough of a backlash to AI that, you know, people are going in another direction.
20:43.333 --> 20:50.163
[SPEAKER_00]: And whether or not businesses respect that, I, you know, I don't trust enough to say that they will.
20:50.894 --> 20:57.498
[SPEAKER_01]: But, but somehow there's a man around, I think so, I think, and this is just my two cents.
20:57.638 --> 21:03.922
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it could be a great editing tool if you're looking to expand a particular scene of something that particularly in the arts, right?
21:04.163 --> 21:12.288
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's say you have this really great scene and you've been struggling, like, man, I'm trying to navigate how this working is, okay, maybe AI and you're like, okay, that's how I wanted to work it, right?
21:12.628 --> 21:14.669
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, it's no different than somebody had a pen
21:16.090 --> 21:18.931
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, I could just speed up this particular thing or spell check.
21:19.111 --> 21:23.233
[SPEAKER_01]: So, or they've recommended if you type an email and then it words it in a certain way.
21:23.273 --> 21:26.054
[SPEAKER_01]: This is what I meant, but I couldn't word it in the proper context.
21:26.394 --> 21:28.875
[SPEAKER_01]: And then, I think you hit the nail on the head though, right?
21:29.295 --> 21:30.955
[SPEAKER_01]: So, people don't want to see.
21:30.975 --> 21:36.437
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes when things entertain us, we don't think of it as theft when we actually duplicate it, right?
21:36.457 --> 21:43.300
[SPEAKER_01]: You're like, nobody's gonna go out and, you know, mimic a Microsoft platform because they don't, you know, because they're like, oh, that's proprietary software.
21:43.580 --> 21:49.361
[SPEAKER_01]: but sometimes with something entertained you, you think you have a right to it and the person doesn't have the right to be compensated for their work.
21:49.421 --> 21:50.802
[SPEAKER_01]: It's really strange how that works.
21:51.122 --> 22:07.306
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and it's tricky because there is a strong history of, again, not exact replication, but, you know, taking inspiration from other artists and putting your Twitter on it and then, and that is perfectly fair use and celebrated art.
22:09.465 --> 22:10.945
[SPEAKER_00]: and stealing is different.
22:11.306 --> 22:21.168
[SPEAKER_00]: It stealing is different and with AI, there's a particular type of disrespected, I think, in, and it's saying that.
22:21.408 --> 22:22.408
[SPEAKER_01]: What you did didn't matter.
22:22.689 --> 22:24.949
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that work you did didn't matter, right?
22:25.089 --> 22:27.810
[SPEAKER_01]: And like to, you know, I kind of get what you're going, cause you're like, you know,
22:28.170 --> 22:39.842
[SPEAKER_01]: You give because it's a two way street and I don't want to get, you know, I don't want to derail the topic, but for people who want to get into particular things, they're like, man, I really like, okay, it may help when that creative output.
22:39.882 --> 22:42.044
[SPEAKER_01]: I've always, you know, they can say, hey, man, my schedule's full.
22:42.344 --> 22:47.289
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to toy around with this because maybe it'll get me, you know, to be the next Adam let me, right?
22:47.629 --> 22:51.113
[SPEAKER_01]: But there's nothing that's going to replicate walking in that forest.
22:51.733 --> 22:57.940
[SPEAKER_01]: seeing the outdoors, you know, walking that trail, reading Dracula, and then really putting your stamp on things.
22:58.060 --> 23:01.624
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the reason you got the reception from your audiences is because you put that work.
23:01.824 --> 23:02.084
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
23:02.224 --> 23:10.093
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think there's something to be said about, you know, if someone is struggling with how to phrase a sentence or something like that,
23:10.849 --> 23:13.351
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, there's two ways you can go about resolving that.
23:13.371 --> 23:23.737
[SPEAKER_00]: You can, um, nowadays, you can ask AI to work on it for you or with you, but, you know, um, or you can take the harder route, which is, um, you know,
23:33.783 --> 23:41.928
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's the difference between isolation and community and computers just can't hide that community no matter how fast they think.
23:42.689 --> 23:51.474
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think just on a just kind of on a ethical level, I think it's it's worth it to take the harder route to say like no word.
23:51.881 --> 23:56.885
[SPEAKER_00]: we're making art because we want to connect with people and we should and that should be present in how we make that art as well.
23:57.045 --> 23:59.767
[SPEAKER_01]: There's your playwright and actor and I'm sure you've been stageworked.
23:59.787 --> 24:02.649
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing AI can do to replicate that performance on stage.
24:02.689 --> 24:03.090
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
24:03.430 --> 24:16.980
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing there's nobody that can chat GPT when you have to get on there and you have to have the actor in front of you and maybe somebody's fumbling with a line like you know there's no chat box that's good to save you on stage so to speak, right?
24:18.661 --> 24:29.832
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the beauty of it, you know, that's why it, you know, that's why an amazing performance is amazing is because we know it could have been less, if those people had been had practiced less, or had been less trained.
24:30.632 --> 24:34.796
[SPEAKER_00]: But we respect art because of how much work went into it.
24:35.177 --> 24:39.080
[SPEAKER_00]: And if we take that level of it out, you know, it can still be entertaining,
24:42.083 --> 25:03.088
[SPEAKER_01]: Right, and then, you know, it's also, you know, with all respect to AI, like, you know, when you see screenwriter credit, you know that that person had sheets of paper or their type like that, and then they kept, you know, making this three-dimensional character like you do, like the other future writers will, you know, and then, you know, that's some point the bill is going to come due because maybe you just submitted a draft and you never really looked at it.
25:03.148 --> 25:04.728
[SPEAKER_01]: Your AI draft, you know, like, hey, man.
25:05.352 --> 25:11.216
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I can clearly tell a computer type to self because this character is just kind of like high by high by so to speak, right?
25:11.496 --> 25:12.216
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly.
25:12.436 --> 25:12.897
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?
25:12.937 --> 25:15.418
[SPEAKER_01]: So again, like I said, I don't want to derail the conversation.
25:15.778 --> 25:18.280
[SPEAKER_01]: Where can people find Adam Letamine?
25:19.141 --> 25:24.664
[SPEAKER_01]: The story of the Legend of the Anapage and all the wonderful things that you are doing and will continue to do.
25:24.845 --> 25:32.490
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the main place to connect is at Fortlandview's website, at the Publisher's website, Fortlandview.org.
25:32.510 --> 25:36.513
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's F-O-R-E-L-E-N-V-I-A.org.
25:37.014 --> 25:43.038
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is where you can see the Legend of Leonipage is available to be bought on any of the various online retailers.
25:43.298 --> 25:49.022
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, bookshop.org, if you want to support your Indies, or you know, Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or any of them.
25:49.762 --> 25:49.883
[SPEAKER_00]: And
25:51.592 --> 26:09.231
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's there, go by the book, and then the other things that you can find on ForlandVia.org in addition to any of the emails as the artistic director and any of those emails on the website or the contact forms that you're going to access me, so you can contact me there.
26:09.591 --> 26:12.554
[SPEAKER_00]: But we're also, as we're talking about ways of
26:13.315 --> 26:17.457
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, making this art in community and things like that, that's what Forilenvia wants to do.
26:17.617 --> 26:26.782
[SPEAKER_00]: The our first work is publishing my book, but our intention is to publish all sorts of peoples work.
26:26.822 --> 26:33.406
[SPEAKER_00]: We are as Forilenvia publications and productions where part of literary publishing company and part theater production company.
26:33.426 --> 26:38.269
[SPEAKER_00]: So we want to produce plays and publish books all of
26:43.010 --> 26:44.951
[SPEAKER_00]: that can help us imagine a better world.
26:45.151 --> 27:01.399
[SPEAKER_00]: What I was speaking before about believing that humanity can do better in order to really give us a chance of doing so, that's what we want to use stories to try and do to flip the narrative a little bit away from the dystopian trend that we're more used to nowadays.
27:02.018 --> 27:10.623
[SPEAKER_00]: and think of, you know, how, what could we do to be better and using our fictional works to advance that particular thought.
27:11.324 --> 27:16.367
[SPEAKER_00]: And doing that in, and as large a community as we can, is really our goal.
27:16.447 --> 27:19.769
[SPEAKER_00]: So, for Alenvia.org, you can join that journey.
27:19.989 --> 27:22.651
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever seen Pan's Labyrinth?
27:22.851 --> 27:25.753
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I think I'm confusing it with Labyrinth, of which is different.
27:26.013 --> 27:27.574
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I know I've heard of a lot.
27:28.578 --> 27:47.708
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so when you get a chance when you talk about like a young lady who's transporting her, so I haven't much to move in a very very long time But I remember how much a stuck out in me was directed by Cameroa, the autoro on the Mexican director who's also done some wonderful work Since he first came out back in the mid-90s to get a chance to watch pans lab run, and you know, I think that you'll Refining appreciation as story.
27:47.748 --> 27:50.930
[SPEAKER_01]: It's basically like an adult house in Wonderland, kind of boy
27:51.390 --> 27:51.751
[SPEAKER_01]: Wonderful.
27:51.951 --> 27:56.854
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it was crazy like and it was Spanish, but you don't care if something subtitle one is beautiful, right?
27:57.195 --> 28:02.159
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it really like you're like in fact you pay attention more because like I don't speak Spanish So I really need to be focused.
28:02.179 --> 28:15.289
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't go grab the dishes or you know anything else like I got to be laser focused on this So I think that would be a very good movie free to watch based on the fantasy novel in the world that you're creating and I see an Apple TV series out of this So you know
28:16.029 --> 28:23.773
[SPEAKER_01]: I could see Leonopage definitely doing some damage when it comes to an audience that resonates and I'm looking forward to you reaching the height of your highest heights of your career.
28:23.914 --> 28:24.834
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, thank you very much.
28:25.074 --> 28:25.955
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you deserve it.
28:26.115 --> 28:27.676
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is Adam Letterman.
28:28.016 --> 28:32.218
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm probably butcher that for the third time on the randomness of nothing podcast.
28:32.238 --> 28:33.419
[SPEAKER_01]: This is your house for shot woods.
28:33.759 --> 28:35.440
[SPEAKER_01]: Please make sure you subscribe.
28:35.540 --> 28:39.102
[SPEAKER_01]: Also check out his book and all the wonderful works that he's doing that will continue to do.
28:39.262 --> 28:40.083
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much, Richard.
28:40.283 --> 28:41.523
[SPEAKER_01]: This has been an honor and a pleasure, man.
28:41.583 --> 28:43.945
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm even picturing this place in my mind while you're talking to me right now.
28:44.743 --> 28:46.026
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I hope you get a copy to the book.
28:46.207 --> 28:46.628
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
28:46.808 --> 28:47.590
[SPEAKER_01]: I can absolutely send you one.
28:48.031 --> 28:48.332
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks, man.
00:00.211 --> 00:02.052
[SPEAKER_01]: Listeners of the randomness of nothing podcast.
00:02.072 --> 00:03.353
[SPEAKER_01]: This is your host Rashad Woods.
00:03.713 --> 00:09.396
[SPEAKER_01]: We venture into business, creates creative, create tours, and innovative people across all walks of life.
00:09.497 --> 00:15.820
[SPEAKER_01]: And this person here who I have a chance to interview, I'm very honored to because of the fantasy novels and the playwriting that he does.
00:16.220 --> 00:19.342
[SPEAKER_01]: He's a very good author, actor, and creator Adam Lidhamman.
00:19.622 --> 00:20.323
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much.
00:20.543 --> 00:21.524
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for having me.
00:21.725 --> 00:22.986
[SPEAKER_01]: It's an honor and pleasure.
00:23.026 --> 00:26.010
[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously we met through your very good representative Aaron Flynn.
00:26.030 --> 00:31.137
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to give her a shout out, you know, for allowing us to connect Adam, please tell me about yourself.
00:31.257 --> 00:31.597
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
00:31.617 --> 00:32.038
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
00:32.098 --> 00:33.380
[SPEAKER_00]: So my name is Adam Little Mien.
00:33.540 --> 00:35.042
[SPEAKER_00]: And as he said, I am a
00:35.668 --> 00:46.015
[SPEAKER_00]: an actor, a playwright and a novelist, and I'm the artistic director of four millennia publications and productions with whom we've published our debut, which is also my debut novel.
00:46.236 --> 00:47.657
[SPEAKER_01]: What is that writing process?
00:47.677 --> 00:50.098
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I've talked to several different authors, right?
00:50.158 --> 00:52.960
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think everybody gets to their mind that they can write a book.
00:53.361 --> 00:55.962
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, at least I even have to do a try to think of staff at it.
00:56.403 --> 01:01.386
[SPEAKER_01]: And then when you actually have to start actually like putting pen to paper, man, it's a difficult process.
01:01.406 --> 01:02.327
[SPEAKER_00]: You're like, oh my gosh,
01:03.127 --> 01:03.648
[SPEAKER_00]: absolutely.
01:04.068 --> 01:09.712
[SPEAKER_00]: And I will say also, I came at it through a couple of different stages, right?
01:09.732 --> 01:25.643
[SPEAKER_00]: So I started creatively at the actor, and that translated pretty well into starting to be a play right, because I had some of that, you know, work with dialogue and whatnot, and then taking that leap to novels was definitely hard at their longer.
01:27.999 --> 01:36.561
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just a lot of words, and the biggest thing that ultimately allowed me to finish was just not giving up.
01:36.901 --> 01:43.403
[SPEAKER_00]: I went back and found the very first draft from like, I guess, about six or seven years ago now, and it like, it's bad.
01:43.783 --> 01:45.944
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, crazy, you cringe, right?
01:45.964 --> 01:47.104
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?
01:47.265 --> 01:49.885
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, it's so funny, you know, when I first look at it,
01:58.231 --> 02:00.794
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's it's nerve wracking man.
02:00.854 --> 02:04.860
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the problem is you get tunnel vision because you think what you're doing.
02:04.880 --> 02:13.211
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, man, this has to be good because I, you know, I'm passionate about this and that and then next, you know, you're like, yo man, this is really not good at all.
02:14.656 --> 02:24.926
[SPEAKER_00]: The greatest thing that opened my eyes was, you know, getting out of that tunnel vision a bit and reading other books, and especially the Legend of Leonopege is written in this kind of old classical style.
02:25.767 --> 02:31.212
[SPEAKER_00]: And I started reading books from the time period that I was emulating.
02:32.253 --> 02:36.156
[SPEAKER_00]: And I realized, like, oh, wow, this sounds so much better than my growth.
02:37.297 --> 02:38.538
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I was able to start
02:40.380 --> 02:45.263
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, not copying anything, but learning from their tools and being able to emulate that.
02:45.503 --> 02:52.388
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think it's so fascinating because when you look at like, you know, I mean, out where all anybody who's in fantasy is a child of Tolkien, right?
02:52.428 --> 02:53.868
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there's there's I mean, right?
02:53.909 --> 03:03.955
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, even even the most acclaimed things, you know, your game of thrones or even the legend of Zelda, you can do a completely different story, but just that that
03:04.395 --> 03:28.033
[SPEAKER_01]: encompassing area it's like a sci-fi film is somehow explained is influenced by star wars or by a 2001 space Odyssey even if you didn't you're like hey man I'm in space they're like okay well it's just in a related field so having said all that I think how is it how do you navigate telling a original story without copycating somebody who inspired you yeah the thing that I think is
03:34.161 --> 03:54.304
[SPEAKER_00]: being original, so to say, because especially with working within kind of the realm of legends, the beautiful thing about myths and legends is that there are things that are similar between them, you know, going before even before token or anything, just going to like, you know, the original, you know,
03:55.833 --> 03:58.415
[SPEAKER_00]: myths of any culture or fairy tales.
03:58.455 --> 04:00.716
[SPEAKER_00]: I think all two are exactly right.
04:00.736 --> 04:12.563
[SPEAKER_00]: There are these types of stories and these types of characters that show up, whether people have heard of them or not, there's just something about the human psyche that there's similarities between the stories we tell.
04:13.024 --> 04:22.009
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's really cool and beautiful, so it's, I think it becomes more about not avoiding it, but recognizing when you're doing it and appreciating it.
04:22.846 --> 04:30.052
[SPEAKER_00]: And finding where your specific perspective is going to tell a new layer of the story.
04:30.344 --> 04:34.607
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think it gets, and then, you know, it's like when you play in musical notes, right?
04:34.687 --> 04:42.313
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't play an instrument to say it in my life, but it's like, you can still, I think in music, I hate to get this wrong for people who are musicians, where they're like 12 different notes.
04:42.353 --> 04:46.055
[SPEAKER_01]: There's only like a certain number of given notes in music to play.
04:46.415 --> 04:50.038
[SPEAKER_01]: So inevitably, humans have existed for thousands of years.
04:50.078 --> 04:53.360
[SPEAKER_01]: There's going to be people who play, it's how you play the note, right?
04:53.481 --> 04:57.984
[SPEAKER_01]: It's how, you know, and I think that, you know, the legend of the antipage, which we'll get into some details
04:58.444 --> 05:01.326
[SPEAKER_01]: People are always wanting to explore different avenues.
05:01.486 --> 05:10.250
[SPEAKER_01]: And when as long as it comes across and it resonates with your audience or your reader, I think they can put those preconceptions to the side because toll can pull from people, right?
05:10.270 --> 05:13.432
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you said, there's owed and there's Greek mythology, there's Rome mythology.
05:13.812 --> 05:15.534
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, there's ancient Persian culture.
05:15.554 --> 05:24.182
[SPEAKER_01]: There are things that existed before these books that were in people's libraries that maybe were even passed along and stories that we just have you have to explore to really know about.
05:24.302 --> 05:24.983
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly.
05:25.443 --> 05:26.124
[SPEAKER_01]: That's wonderful.
05:26.204 --> 05:31.149
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you first got it, what made you transition from acting to writing?
05:31.349 --> 05:32.350
[SPEAKER_00]: I had stories to tell.
05:34.583 --> 05:35.504
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really as simple as that.
05:35.524 --> 05:45.075
[SPEAKER_00]: There were, you know, I was always one of those kids that was, you know, doing a lot of a day dreaming or if I was alone, then fully just acting out.
05:45.456 --> 05:49.120
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, a lot of times with the kid, I'd be acting out scenes from movies.
05:49.947 --> 06:06.619
[SPEAKER_00]: or kind of the fanfiction version of that, where I would interact with character or whatever, and then it would go from things like that to acting out stories that didn't have to do with characters from that I'd seen in other things, and eventually there were just things that I needed to write down.
06:07.359 --> 06:13.764
[SPEAKER_00]: And the more that I grew up and realized that that was a cool thing, and that it wasn't just
06:15.315 --> 06:20.097
[SPEAKER_00]: not only stories, but there were ideas that I needed to get into stories I wanted to share with people.
06:20.557 --> 06:23.839
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's, I had to be a writer here.
06:23.859 --> 06:27.060
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like the spark in that fire that's inside of you, right?
06:27.140 --> 06:33.603
[SPEAKER_01]: And then even to a degree, you'll be like, as much as you admire the work or something that you've like, man, they didn't tell this.
06:33.964 --> 06:34.564
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a...
06:35.144 --> 06:50.978
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, in the realm or in the story lining, it's like when I started my show, you know, I listen to podcasts, but I don't overlisten right because I still want to kind of do my own thing so, but I'm like, I think in the space of where people are screaming at each other or there's this and there's that going on, I'm like,
06:51.218 --> 06:53.180
[SPEAKER_01]: And what if I just ask people what they do?
06:53.540 --> 07:01.247
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I like movies, I like martial arts, I like when people say they start at a business or they don't end at this thing that maybe hasn't been explored.
07:01.528 --> 07:05.972
[SPEAKER_01]: Because there are more things available than just what the world has to offer to you.
07:06.312 --> 07:24.093
[SPEAKER_01]: right and you have to go out you have to seek the people that are doing it and then that keeps your mind spinning like when I think of this in the antipage I think of like you know you know lying which in the wardrobe kind of a thing right like when I was a kid and all I had was the book in front of me or even like these older movies like um
07:24.976 --> 07:31.282
[SPEAKER_01]: a never-ending story kind of a thing where your mind can just be transported away from anything else you're thinking about.
07:31.743 --> 07:33.044
[SPEAKER_01]: And like, how did that person make?
07:33.224 --> 07:39.230
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's a really, it's a really exciting thing to be able to have these worlds and to share them with people.
07:39.911 --> 07:41.612
[SPEAKER_00]: This is your first novel if I can ask?
07:41.892 --> 07:42.293
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, it is.
07:42.593 --> 07:51.740
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, um, is it officially released in like what can you give a like a background of the story for the people who are listening this episode about what this this book is all about please.
07:51.920 --> 07:52.400
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
07:52.460 --> 08:02.128
[SPEAKER_00]: So the Legend of the On a page is a, uh, I call it a philosophically grounded fantasy novel, um, that is set in this mythic world called the world within the woods.
08:02.488 --> 08:10.093
[SPEAKER_00]: And it follows this servant girl named Leon a page who has, uh, these kind of mystical powers that make her a threat to the royals that she serves.
08:11.207 --> 08:24.634
[SPEAKER_00]: her parents are two servants from opposite kingdoms, and then in addition to that, she has a very strong relationship with the fairies who live in the woods outside of her world.
08:25.115 --> 08:31.498
[SPEAKER_00]: And because of that, she grows up with this kind of natural understanding that everywhere is home and everyone is
08:35.018 --> 08:57.252
[SPEAKER_00]: She discovers that other people don't feel that way about anything and so the more she grows up and speaks her mind about that and gets into trouble because of that she gets into more and more danger and eventually realizes that she has to kind of step out of her societally defined place in order to try and change the world if she's going to save the people that she loves.
08:57.860 --> 09:20.474
[SPEAKER_01]: That's wonderful, you know, and you know, I think of all the great, you know, fantasy ones that, you know, that, that I even like movies like Willow and I think of, you know, the people that are hiding in the forest, the self doubt, the disbelief, I don't want to give way too much of the book, I haven't read it myself, I can get a copy, you know, does she know about like her lineage or things like that or is there something like
09:20.754 --> 09:25.297
[SPEAKER_01]: that you can tell about her background without spoiling too much about her, but from the book itself.
09:25.477 --> 09:26.158
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely.
09:26.718 --> 09:44.570
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, she knows about her background and specifically, without giving away too much her parents, are each the servants of royalty and so they have some inside knowledge that they're like, you know, they were just kind of in the background or whatnot.
09:45.110 --> 09:48.292
[SPEAKER_00]: And in order to try and standard the radar,
09:48.769 --> 09:52.073
[SPEAKER_00]: her parents asked her to keep that a secret, but she doesn't know all of it.
09:52.333 --> 09:58.341
[SPEAKER_00]: And then what I was particularly interested in with her is that she doesn't have
09:59.795 --> 10:26.968
[SPEAKER_00]: She's not like a secret princess or anything she's interested in writing about this girl who doesn't have any remarkable background hurt her family lineage again there from two different kingdoms, but one is you know has been servants for generations and one was you know merchants for a while and then found their way into.
10:27.642 --> 10:32.084
[SPEAKER_00]: serving in the Capitol, but they're not remarkable people as she chooses to be remarkable later.
10:32.324 --> 10:32.744
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
10:32.784 --> 10:39.666
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you're writing this and you have to have, because I'm always fair, is there are there a vision, is it a standard book without visuals?
10:39.706 --> 10:42.307
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just, I do it or is it just sure writing?
10:42.347 --> 10:43.848
[SPEAKER_01]: I hate to ask you to put your book.
10:43.868 --> 10:45.669
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to say that in a negative way.
10:45.989 --> 10:51.491
[SPEAKER_01]: But is it something you have to picture in your background of where they're at, forest and buildings and things of that nature?
10:51.671 --> 10:53.771
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and there's no, there's no illustrations.
10:55.901 --> 10:57.042
[SPEAKER_01]: How hard is that to write?
10:57.062 --> 11:02.507
[SPEAKER_01]: Because you've got to have all these locations that are in your mind while you're writing, and you're like, man, I've got to really be detailed.
11:02.567 --> 11:04.309
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, how does that process work?
11:04.449 --> 11:06.892
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that was actually something I very specifically practiced at.
11:06.932 --> 11:13.818
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, coming from a playwriting background, my experience is that that's not my job.
11:13.958 --> 11:14.859
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the set of enters.
11:16.020 --> 11:16.921
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you get that out later?
11:16.941 --> 11:20.625
[SPEAKER_00]: So I had to grant myself and be like, no, no, I have to.
11:21.715 --> 11:22.036
[SPEAKER_00]: know that.
11:22.676 --> 11:31.627
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I actually remember I went on a, that's on a hike one time and I brought a notebook with me and I decided to practice making language pictures.
11:31.667 --> 11:32.107
[SPEAKER_00]: I called them.
11:32.648 --> 11:36.893
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just take something that, you know, some moment that I saw on the hike.
11:38.078 --> 11:40.860
[SPEAKER_00]: And instead of taking a picture of it, I would try and describe it in my notebook.
11:41.700 --> 11:42.961
[SPEAKER_01]: That's the process.
11:43.181 --> 11:43.742
[SPEAKER_00]: It was really fun.
11:43.842 --> 12:01.455
[SPEAKER_00]: And so then moving into the fictional world, sometimes I did take, there are some images in language images in the book that are directly describing some particular nature that I've seen from another course I've made up, but that exercise was really helpful for that.
12:01.740 --> 12:12.723
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that was about to say because, you know, I mean, I say this very respectfully like when you're if you're in the woods and you're in nature, that's immediately, you know, a direct correlation to the fantasy portion of a lot of things, right?
12:12.743 --> 12:17.865
[SPEAKER_01]: Because there's a lot of forestry that's out there available and there's a lot of stories and fables that can come with that.
12:18.245 --> 12:22.306
[SPEAKER_01]: So, and it's been like that since the dawn of time, so I'm not, you know, anybody taking shots, stupid.
12:22.326 --> 12:23.666
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, wow, this is out here.
12:24.026 --> 12:26.487
[SPEAKER_01]: This really, really a cool spot where, you know,
12:26.827 --> 12:37.391
[SPEAKER_01]: something dramatic could be happening, something tragic could be happening, or maybe just a quiet moment with herself and her own thoughts because that's what you know, the environment can provide for you.
12:37.531 --> 12:40.452
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you plan on having more than one book about this character?
12:40.472 --> 12:41.212
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, there are.
12:42.213 --> 12:48.655
[SPEAKER_00]: There is a second book already written where in the process of editing, you know, so there will be a volume two at the very least.
12:48.875 --> 12:50.255
[SPEAKER_00]: How's the book been received so far?
12:50.475 --> 12:51.496
[SPEAKER_00]: Really, really nice.
12:51.556 --> 12:53.256
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been really lovely to see.
12:53.276 --> 12:54.497
[SPEAKER_00]: We've been getting excellent reviews.
12:55.822 --> 13:07.240
[SPEAKER_00]: Corkus reviews called it an immersive and exciting adventure tale that well-constructed and we've gotten several five three different five star reviews from reader's favorite reviewers and
13:09.372 --> 13:13.154
[SPEAKER_00]: just a lot of other, you know, reader commentary that's just been really, really lovely.
13:13.194 --> 13:28.123
[SPEAKER_00]: And the most meaningful ones have been, um, we put it up on neck out of the before, uh, in advance of publication, um, and there were, uh, a couple on there that, um, you know, individual readers that were just like really touched by it and, um, really,
13:28.463 --> 13:29.224
[SPEAKER_00]: Really cool to see it.
13:29.464 --> 13:56.205
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's it's always funny like I just what it's funny like when you watch like a movie the critics and I'm not I'm glad you have critical great reviews, but it's like it's about what the fans think it's about like it really is like it really like That's what matters the most that like when you have an individual it's like man I really enjoyed your book because there's a lot of different places people to seek their entertainment and seek their free time and Enjoyment and the fact that they actually that their book your book resonated with them like that's a special thing Yeah
13:56.889 --> 13:57.610
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I felt that too.
13:57.630 --> 13:58.811
[SPEAKER_00]: I was really, really touched by that.
13:59.011 --> 14:01.013
[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
14:01.073 --> 14:04.576
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to boil your head up, but where's the adaptation coming?
14:04.696 --> 14:10.281
[SPEAKER_01]: When's the mini series, the streaming platform, the movie, et cetera?
14:10.421 --> 14:16.005
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no immediate, no nothing planned immediately, but I would certainly love to see that happen.
14:16.386 --> 14:18.267
[SPEAKER_00]: And one of my reasons for
14:19.608 --> 14:38.017
[SPEAKER_00]: writing this as a novel instead of, for example, a play, was, again, because it was this sort of, I wanted it to be this sort of legend, and so many of the legends that we have, you know, have some original text that we look to, to play off of it.
14:38.517 --> 14:42.379
[SPEAKER_00]: And I wanted it to have that original text, which could then be made into anything.
14:43.339 --> 14:46.641
[SPEAKER_00]: And I would be, I would be really excited to, whether,
14:47.908 --> 14:53.732
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, that screenplay or someone else does, I would really love to see it, and all sorts of different forms.
14:53.972 --> 15:01.957
[SPEAKER_01]: Did Leanna Page come from anybody like in your circle, somebody you knew growing up or did you just basically like bring the character from scratch?
15:02.297 --> 15:10.782
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, that if anybody, she's probably, you know, at heart a little bit me, but um, just as far as.
15:12.015 --> 15:24.086
[SPEAKER_00]: uh, you know, where I was writing from, but um, but her initial inspiration wasn't, um, wasn't anything, uh, in life that the, it was a kind of more marked whole moment for me.
15:24.126 --> 15:28.630
[SPEAKER_00]: I was, um, I was just, I was reading some other book, uh, I was reading a Dracula by Bram Stoker, which has nothing to do with the legend.
15:28.650 --> 15:28.750
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:28.770 --> 15:28.890
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:28.910 --> 15:29.010
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.030 --> 15:29.130
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.150 --> 15:29.250
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.270 --> 15:29.390
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.410 --> 15:29.511
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.531 --> 15:29.651
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.671 --> 15:29.791
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.811 --> 15:29.911
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:29.931 --> 15:30.031
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:30.051 --> 15:30.151
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.171 --> 15:30.271
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.291 --> 15:30.391
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.411 --> 15:30.511
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.531 --> 15:30.631
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:30.652 --> 15:30.752
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:30.772 --> 15:30.872
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:30.892 --> 15:30.992
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.012 --> 15:31.112
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.132 --> 15:31.232
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.252 --> 15:31.352
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.372 --> 15:31.472
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.492 --> 15:31.592
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.612 --> 15:31.712
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.732 --> 15:31.833
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.853 --> 15:31.953
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:31.973 --> 15:32.073
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.093 --> 15:32.193
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.213 --> 15:32.313
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.333 --> 15:32.433
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.453 --> 15:32.553
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.573 --> 15:32.673
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.693 --> 15:32.793
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.813 --> 15:32.934
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:32.974 --> 15:33.094
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.114 --> 15:33.214
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.234 --> 15:33.354
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.374 --> 15:33.474
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.494 --> 15:33.594
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:33.614 --> 15:33.714
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:33.734 --> 15:33.834
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
15:33.854 --> 15:33.954
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:33.974 --> 15:34.075
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.095 --> 15:34.195
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.215 --> 15:34.315
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.335 --> 15:34.435
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.455 --> 15:34.555
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.575 --> 15:34.675
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.695 --> 15:34.795
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.815 --> 15:34.915
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:34.935 --> 15:35.035
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.055 --> 15:35.175
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.196 --> 15:35.296
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.316 --> 15:35.436
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.456 --> 15:35.556
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.576 --> 15:35.676
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.696 --> 15:35.836
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.856 --> 15:35.956
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:35.976 --> 15:36.076
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.096 --> 15:36.196
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.216 --> 15:36.316
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.337 --> 15:36.437
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.457 --> 15:36.557
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.577 --> 15:36.677
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.697 --> 15:36.797
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:36.817 --> 15:36.897
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah
15:37.097 --> 15:41.061
[SPEAKER_00]: this old story that just kind of reminded one of the characters of the environment she was in.
15:41.301 --> 15:42.482
[SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't know what he was talking about.
15:42.503 --> 15:46.426
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was such a brief illusion and so non-specific.
15:46.727 --> 15:49.910
[SPEAKER_00]: But I just kind of wanted to keep reading, so I tried just kind of context to clue it in my head.
15:51.011 --> 15:53.874
[SPEAKER_00]: And within like a second, I had this whole legend.
15:54.294 --> 15:54.995
[SPEAKER_00]: in my head.
15:55.075 --> 15:58.737
[SPEAKER_00]: And I wasn't, for a moment, I wasn't sure whether I remembered it or made it up.
15:58.797 --> 16:02.139
[SPEAKER_00]: So like a stop reading, I looked up what he was alluding to and it was some other thing.
16:02.159 --> 16:05.482
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, it's nothing like the legend of the on-page.
16:05.502 --> 16:06.222
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:06.722 --> 16:09.684
[SPEAKER_01]: And no vampires in the antipage anytime soon, right?
16:10.505 --> 16:12.867
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, it really, they're not connected.
16:12.887 --> 16:17.990
[SPEAKER_00]: No, but yeah, all of a sudden I was like, oh, cool, I guess I made this thing up.
16:18.290 --> 16:20.212
[SPEAKER_00]: And I have to write it now.
16:20.532 --> 16:22.573
[SPEAKER_00]: And the most central, the most complete,
16:24.655 --> 16:31.541
[SPEAKER_00]: aspect of that initial image that I had was Leanna and her journey and what she's like.
16:32.001 --> 16:37.386
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, listen, inspiration can come from when somebody's just sitting having a cup of coffee and then they have that Emmy.
16:37.426 --> 16:44.051
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you're reading Dracula, obviously something, and you're, you know, a very student of, you know, our history.
16:44.091 --> 16:50.857
[SPEAKER_01]: So all it took was one particular passage in that book to be able to say, okay, this is where this can go in my mind.
16:51.197 --> 16:54.878
[SPEAKER_01]: What fascinates me when I think of like this story of the antipage, right?
16:55.119 --> 16:58.500
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's a certain girl, bands like balancing family and loyalty.
16:59.260 --> 17:03.442
[SPEAKER_01]: It really, you can translate dance those times to modern life, right?
17:03.502 --> 17:11.105
[SPEAKER_01]: Because, you know, it's about somebody who may have something special, who comes from modest means, but there's always the next journey along the way.
17:11.445 --> 17:14.046
[SPEAKER_01]: So, what do you hope your readers take from this story?
17:14.186 --> 17:17.107
[SPEAKER_00]: The most important thing that I want people to come away with
17:20.418 --> 17:23.080
[SPEAKER_00]: about what it takes for someone or something to be good.
17:23.421 --> 17:30.186
[SPEAKER_00]: And what Leonid comes away learning is that in order for that to happen, someone has to believe in them.
17:30.547 --> 17:30.887
[SPEAKER_00]: Someone...
17:33.240 --> 17:40.188
[SPEAKER_00]: and even for yourself in order for someone to be good, other people have to believe that they can.
17:40.909 --> 17:48.178
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that that is applicable on very individual levels, but I also think it's applicable on a much more societal level.
17:48.198 --> 17:49.380
[SPEAKER_00]: I think humanity.
17:50.968 --> 18:11.703
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, in a lot of ways, but if we, yeah, and you know, and I think one of the things is is that when you deal with confidence and self-doubt and disbelief and you know, you know, it can be lonely, it can be artists, but there's also very beautiful things and sometimes
18:12.083 --> 18:28.670
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, by navigating those spaces, you can, you know, whatever the antipages, you know, journey taster, she'll meet people that are her adversaries as well as her friends along the way, and sometimes by navigating that, you just have to go through it, you know what I mean?
18:28.710 --> 18:34.492
[SPEAKER_01]: So like, when I started this podcast, I'm personally me personally, and I don't want to over talk you.
18:35.052 --> 19:01.906
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm a geek right so like you know when you're in those places that are not geeks like the conversation doesn't go very far right but then when you get on this podcast like oh my gosh this is great I get to talk to the no disrespect the nerds all day yeah no disrespect again yeah shout out to my geeks who have interviewed so you know how do you how do you in this era of AI I have to ask this how does that affect a bookwriting playwriting screenwriting you know
19:04.827 --> 19:18.751
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there's two answers on the one hand, it just as you said, it makes it so that anyone can, you know, in 10 seconds put a prompt into something and end up with
19:19.130 --> 19:31.134
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I haven't played with it, so I don't know how complete they are, but I assume that you can put a, you know, 10 second prompt and end up with a whole play or even a bulk out of, you know, I assume that takes a little longer to load or something, but I don't know.
19:31.154 --> 19:37.736
[SPEAKER_01]: But it can be from zero pages to 150, whether the quality is up to snuff or not, it can complete something, right?
19:37.776 --> 19:38.076
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
19:38.296 --> 19:40.917
[SPEAKER_00]: Where I think AI, just
19:41.284 --> 19:50.690
[SPEAKER_00]: can't do anything is when it comes to what we were talking about where we have certain stories in us that we have to write in a particular way or it's just not going to be us.
19:51.571 --> 19:58.276
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think what AI is dangerous for is people who make their living off of art.
19:58.716 --> 19:59.937
[SPEAKER_01]: I was curious about that.
19:59.957 --> 20:00.517
[SPEAKER_01]: I really was.
20:00.757 --> 20:06.161
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, because what it does is, I mean, especially without the guidelines that
20:08.280 --> 20:32.797
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, it's it's basically it's stealing people's work in order to replicate it in different ways and without compensating them and then allowing, you know, different art to take place that in theory, people could pay for instead of paying, you know, so it's all very messy and not good in that sense, um, as far as, you know, human art and humanity's future as artists, I don't think that's ever going to go anywhere.
20:33.117 --> 20:33.998
[SPEAKER_01]: I think no.
20:34.241 --> 20:35.963
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's just too much who we are.
20:36.224 --> 20:43.253
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's enough of a backlash to AI that, you know, people are going in another direction.
20:43.333 --> 20:50.163
[SPEAKER_00]: And whether or not businesses respect that, I, you know, I don't trust enough to say that they will.
20:50.894 --> 20:57.498
[SPEAKER_01]: But, but somehow there's a man around, I think so, I think, and this is just my two cents.
20:57.638 --> 21:03.922
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it could be a great editing tool if you're looking to expand a particular scene of something that particularly in the arts, right?
21:04.163 --> 21:12.288
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's say you have this really great scene and you've been struggling, like, man, I'm trying to navigate how this working is, okay, maybe AI and you're like, okay, that's how I wanted to work it, right?
21:12.628 --> 21:14.669
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, it's no different than somebody had a pen
21:16.090 --> 21:18.931
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, I could just speed up this particular thing or spell check.
21:19.111 --> 21:23.233
[SPEAKER_01]: So, or they've recommended if you type an email and then it words it in a certain way.
21:23.273 --> 21:26.054
[SPEAKER_01]: This is what I meant, but I couldn't word it in the proper context.
21:26.394 --> 21:28.875
[SPEAKER_01]: And then, I think you hit the nail on the head though, right?
21:29.295 --> 21:30.955
[SPEAKER_01]: So, people don't want to see.
21:30.975 --> 21:36.437
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes when things entertain us, we don't think of it as theft when we actually duplicate it, right?
21:36.457 --> 21:43.300
[SPEAKER_01]: You're like, nobody's gonna go out and, you know, mimic a Microsoft platform because they don't, you know, because they're like, oh, that's proprietary software.
21:43.580 --> 21:49.361
[SPEAKER_01]: but sometimes with something entertained you, you think you have a right to it and the person doesn't have the right to be compensated for their work.
21:49.421 --> 21:50.802
[SPEAKER_01]: It's really strange how that works.
21:51.122 --> 22:07.306
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and it's tricky because there is a strong history of, again, not exact replication, but, you know, taking inspiration from other artists and putting your Twitter on it and then, and that is perfectly fair use and celebrated art.
22:09.465 --> 22:10.945
[SPEAKER_00]: and stealing is different.
22:11.306 --> 22:21.168
[SPEAKER_00]: It stealing is different and with AI, there's a particular type of disrespected, I think, in, and it's saying that.
22:21.408 --> 22:22.408
[SPEAKER_01]: What you did didn't matter.
22:22.689 --> 22:24.949
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that work you did didn't matter, right?
22:25.089 --> 22:27.810
[SPEAKER_01]: And like to, you know, I kind of get what you're going, cause you're like, you know,
22:28.170 --> 22:39.842
[SPEAKER_01]: You give because it's a two way street and I don't want to get, you know, I don't want to derail the topic, but for people who want to get into particular things, they're like, man, I really like, okay, it may help when that creative output.
22:39.882 --> 22:42.044
[SPEAKER_01]: I've always, you know, they can say, hey, man, my schedule's full.
22:42.344 --> 22:47.289
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to toy around with this because maybe it'll get me, you know, to be the next Adam let me, right?
22:47.629 --> 22:51.113
[SPEAKER_01]: But there's nothing that's going to replicate walking in that forest.
22:51.733 --> 22:57.940
[SPEAKER_01]: seeing the outdoors, you know, walking that trail, reading Dracula, and then really putting your stamp on things.
22:58.060 --> 23:01.624
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the reason you got the reception from your audiences is because you put that work.
23:01.824 --> 23:02.084
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
23:02.224 --> 23:10.093
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think there's something to be said about, you know, if someone is struggling with how to phrase a sentence or something like that,
23:10.849 --> 23:13.351
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, there's two ways you can go about resolving that.
23:13.371 --> 23:23.737
[SPEAKER_00]: You can, um, nowadays, you can ask AI to work on it for you or with you, but, you know, um, or you can take the harder route, which is, um, you know,
23:33.783 --> 23:41.928
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's the difference between isolation and community and computers just can't hide that community no matter how fast they think.
23:42.689 --> 23:51.474
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think just on a just kind of on a ethical level, I think it's it's worth it to take the harder route to say like no word.
23:51.881 --> 23:56.885
[SPEAKER_00]: we're making art because we want to connect with people and we should and that should be present in how we make that art as well.
23:57.045 --> 23:59.767
[SPEAKER_01]: There's your playwright and actor and I'm sure you've been stageworked.
23:59.787 --> 24:02.649
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing AI can do to replicate that performance on stage.
24:02.689 --> 24:03.090
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
24:03.430 --> 24:16.980
[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing there's nobody that can chat GPT when you have to get on there and you have to have the actor in front of you and maybe somebody's fumbling with a line like you know there's no chat box that's good to save you on stage so to speak, right?
24:18.661 --> 24:29.832
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the beauty of it, you know, that's why it, you know, that's why an amazing performance is amazing is because we know it could have been less, if those people had been had practiced less, or had been less trained.
24:30.632 --> 24:34.796
[SPEAKER_00]: But we respect art because of how much work went into it.
24:35.177 --> 24:39.080
[SPEAKER_00]: And if we take that level of it out, you know, it can still be entertaining,
24:42.083 --> 25:03.088
[SPEAKER_01]: Right, and then, you know, it's also, you know, with all respect to AI, like, you know, when you see screenwriter credit, you know that that person had sheets of paper or their type like that, and then they kept, you know, making this three-dimensional character like you do, like the other future writers will, you know, and then, you know, that's some point the bill is going to come due because maybe you just submitted a draft and you never really looked at it.
25:03.148 --> 25:04.728
[SPEAKER_01]: Your AI draft, you know, like, hey, man.
25:05.352 --> 25:11.216
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I can clearly tell a computer type to self because this character is just kind of like high by high by so to speak, right?
25:11.496 --> 25:12.216
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly.
25:12.436 --> 25:12.897
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?
25:12.937 --> 25:15.418
[SPEAKER_01]: So again, like I said, I don't want to derail the conversation.
25:15.778 --> 25:18.280
[SPEAKER_01]: Where can people find Adam Letamine?
25:19.141 --> 25:24.664
[SPEAKER_01]: The story of the Legend of the Anapage and all the wonderful things that you are doing and will continue to do.
25:24.845 --> 25:32.490
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the main place to connect is at Fortlandview's website, at the Publisher's website, Fortlandview.org.
25:32.510 --> 25:36.513
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's F-O-R-E-L-E-N-V-I-A.org.
25:37.014 --> 25:43.038
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is where you can see the Legend of Leonipage is available to be bought on any of the various online retailers.
25:43.298 --> 25:49.022
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, bookshop.org, if you want to support your Indies, or you know, Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or any of them.
25:49.762 --> 25:49.883
[SPEAKER_00]: And
25:51.592 --> 26:09.231
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's there, go by the book, and then the other things that you can find on ForlandVia.org in addition to any of the emails as the artistic director and any of those emails on the website or the contact forms that you're going to access me, so you can contact me there.
26:09.591 --> 26:12.554
[SPEAKER_00]: But we're also, as we're talking about ways of
26:13.315 --> 26:17.457
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, making this art in community and things like that, that's what Forilenvia wants to do.
26:17.617 --> 26:26.782
[SPEAKER_00]: The our first work is publishing my book, but our intention is to publish all sorts of peoples work.
26:26.822 --> 26:33.406
[SPEAKER_00]: We are as Forilenvia publications and productions where part of literary publishing company and part theater production company.
26:33.426 --> 26:38.269
[SPEAKER_00]: So we want to produce plays and publish books all of
26:43.010 --> 26:44.951
[SPEAKER_00]: that can help us imagine a better world.
26:45.151 --> 27:01.399
[SPEAKER_00]: What I was speaking before about believing that humanity can do better in order to really give us a chance of doing so, that's what we want to use stories to try and do to flip the narrative a little bit away from the dystopian trend that we're more used to nowadays.
27:02.018 --> 27:10.623
[SPEAKER_00]: and think of, you know, how, what could we do to be better and using our fictional works to advance that particular thought.
27:11.324 --> 27:16.367
[SPEAKER_00]: And doing that in, and as large a community as we can, is really our goal.
27:16.447 --> 27:19.769
[SPEAKER_00]: So, for Alenvia.org, you can join that journey.
27:19.989 --> 27:22.651
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever seen Pan's Labyrinth?
27:22.851 --> 27:25.753
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I think I'm confusing it with Labyrinth, of which is different.
27:26.013 --> 27:27.574
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I know I've heard of a lot.
27:28.578 --> 27:47.708
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so when you get a chance when you talk about like a young lady who's transporting her, so I haven't much to move in a very very long time But I remember how much a stuck out in me was directed by Cameroa, the autoro on the Mexican director who's also done some wonderful work Since he first came out back in the mid-90s to get a chance to watch pans lab run, and you know, I think that you'll Refining appreciation as story.
27:47.748 --> 27:50.930
[SPEAKER_01]: It's basically like an adult house in Wonderland, kind of boy
27:51.390 --> 27:51.751
[SPEAKER_01]: Wonderful.
27:51.951 --> 27:56.854
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it was crazy like and it was Spanish, but you don't care if something subtitle one is beautiful, right?
27:57.195 --> 28:02.159
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it really like you're like in fact you pay attention more because like I don't speak Spanish So I really need to be focused.
28:02.179 --> 28:15.289
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't go grab the dishes or you know anything else like I got to be laser focused on this So I think that would be a very good movie free to watch based on the fantasy novel in the world that you're creating and I see an Apple TV series out of this So you know
28:16.029 --> 28:23.773
[SPEAKER_01]: I could see Leonopage definitely doing some damage when it comes to an audience that resonates and I'm looking forward to you reaching the height of your highest heights of your career.
28:23.914 --> 28:24.834
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, thank you very much.
28:25.074 --> 28:25.955
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you deserve it.
28:26.115 --> 28:27.676
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is Adam Letterman.
28:28.016 --> 28:32.218
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm probably butcher that for the third time on the randomness of nothing podcast.
28:32.238 --> 28:33.419
[SPEAKER_01]: This is your house for shot woods.
28:33.759 --> 28:35.440
[SPEAKER_01]: Please make sure you subscribe.
28:35.540 --> 28:39.102
[SPEAKER_01]: Also check out his book and all the wonderful works that he's doing that will continue to do.
28:39.262 --> 28:40.083
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much, Richard.
28:40.283 --> 28:41.523
[SPEAKER_01]: This has been an honor and a pleasure, man.
28:41.583 --> 28:43.945
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm even picturing this place in my mind while you're talking to me right now.
28:44.743 --> 28:46.026
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I hope you get a copy to the book.
28:46.207 --> 28:46.628
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
28:46.808 --> 28:47.590
[SPEAKER_01]: I can absolutely send you one.
28:48.031 --> 28:48.332
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks, man.
Prolific storyteller & author
Addam Ledamyen is a multidisciplinary storyteller, writer, actor, and theatre-maker based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Addam is the founder and Artistic Director of For Elenvia: Publications and Productions, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to developing and producing new literature and theatre that imagines a better world. Addam Ledamyen earned an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing from the California Institute of Integral Studies, serves as a teaching artist at the Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts, and is known for writing the fantasy novel The Legend of Leanna Page.
