Rob Jung (11-22-2024)

00:29:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83-AyLbOIkM

Summary

TLDRThis interview features Rob Young, a Minnesota-based author known for his mystery and thriller novels written under the pen name Rob Young, real name Robert William Young Hance. Educated at Harvard, he is involved in various literary projects and organizations including Minnesota Mystery Night, now a radio show. He collaborates with Midwest Mystery Works on a novel titled "Fivefold." Young incorporates social issues into his fiction to provoke thought without confrontation. His recent trilogy discusses topics like censorship and historical events.

Takeaways

  • 📚 Rob Young is a mystery writer using a pen name to simplify his real name.
  • 📝 He collaborates with other authors to write a thriller novel.
  • 🤝 Active member of literary communities like The Loft and Sisters in Crime.
  • 🎙️ Minnesota Mystery Night transitioned into a radio show.
  • 📖 Incorporates social issues into his writing to stimulate discussion.
  • 🔍 His latest work addresses censorship and historical accuracy.
  • 🎨 Diverse career background, including law and book publishing.
  • 🌍 Uses fiction to discuss important social themes.
  • 🗞️ Publishes a monthly newsletter with a humorous lens on life.
  • 📟 Engages in multimedia storytelling through live events, radio, and planned catalogs.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Calan出版社引入了一种新的商业模式，与作者平等合作，使许多书籍在文学界获奖。Rob Young，真名Robert William Young Hance，是一位受过哈佛教育的律师，他在不同领域非常活跃，包括文学创作和社区活动。他的新书《The Reaper》涉及一个失踪画作的故事，并成为了一个完整的三部曲。

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Rob Young还参与了许多项目，如'Minnesota Mystery Night'。这个活动在一个餐馆关闭后，成功转到另一个地点继续进行。他们在新地点的开幕夜上有两位嘉宾作家，包括节目的主持人。下个月的活动将会有更多的嘉宾作家参演。

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Rob和其他四位作家合作写一本名为《Fivefold》的小说，各自负责一个角色的视角。小说以医疗植入物为中心展开，涉及到企业间谍等题材。共同创作过程中没有出现大的分歧，由发起人Brian进行最终决策。预计小说明年下半年会准备好发布。

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Rob参与许多写作相关活动，包括出版别人和自己的书。他计划将'Minnesota Mystery Night'发展为广播节目，并一直在努力推动独立作者获得更多曝光机会。他也在计划制作一本涵盖240位作者的电子目录，以扩大中西部地区的图书宣传。他还关心书籍审查问题，最近的一本书便是围绕这一主题进行写作。

  • 00:20:00 - 00:29:36

    访谈最后，Rob和主持人讨论了通过小说探讨社会问题的有效性，认为这可以减少读者的抵触情绪。在写作计划方面，Rob正在进行两个超自然惊悚小说以及一个多人合作的小说项目。他还发表观点认为美国当前的政治分歧令人担忧，并表达了对民主和言论自由的关切。主持人对他的来访表示感谢，并希望未来能继续合作。

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Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • Who is Rob Young?

    Rob Young is a pen name for Robert William Young Hance, a Harvard-educated lawyer and author from Minnesota.

  • What is Rob Young's writing style?

    Rob Young writes mystery and thriller novels, often incorporating social issues into his stories.

  • What is Minnesota Mystery Night?

    Minnesota Mystery Night is a live literary event featuring mystery authors, and it has recently transitioned into a radio show.

  • What is the group project Rob Young is involved in?

    Rob Young is collaborating with four other authors from Midwest Mystery Works to write a thriller novel titled "Fivefold."

  • What other roles does Rob Young have in the literary community?

    Rob Young is involved with The Loft Literary Center, produces books, and is a member of the Sisters in Crime organization.

  • What are some themes in Rob Young's books?

    Rob Young often incorporates current social issues into his books, such as water shortages, foreign land ownership, and censorship.

  • What is Rob Young's approach to writing about social issues?

    He uses fiction to discuss social issues, allowing readers to think about these topics without feeling personally threatened.

  • What is Rob Young's latest book about?

    His latest book, part of a trilogy, addresses censorship and book banning, drawing on historical events.

  • What is the view from Middle Spunk Creek?

    It's Rob Young's monthly newsletter offering a humorous take on current events, history, and more.

  • What is Sisters in Crime?

    Sisters in Crime is a national organization of mystery writers and fans, which now includes male members like Rob Young.

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  • 00:00:06
    [Music]
  • 00:00:14
    [Music]
  • 00:00:19
    calan editions an Eclectic publisher of
  • 00:00:22
    fiction non-fiction in poetry introduced
  • 00:00:25
    a new business model nearly a decade ago
  • 00:00:27
    in which the publisher and author work
  • 00:00:29
    as equal part Partners in a joint
  • 00:00:31
    venture their stable of authors have won
  • 00:00:33
    numerous and prestigious prizes across
  • 00:00:35
    literary forums where traditional
  • 00:00:37
    Publishers fail to see the value in
  • 00:00:38
    projects Calumet cooperates with his
  • 00:00:40
    authors in realizing a book's
  • 00:00:42
    [Music]
  • 00:00:57
    potential welcome to writer's corner
  • 00:01:00
    once again Alan Miller with you and our
  • 00:01:03
    guest today and he's been on the show
  • 00:01:05
    once before but not individually Rob
  • 00:01:09
    young now Rob young is really not Rob
  • 00:01:13
    young that's a pen name it is so why
  • 00:01:16
    don't you tell us that story okay my
  • 00:01:18
    real name is Robert William young Hance
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    and the young Hance is spelled j u n g h
  • 00:01:25
    NS and I always tell people that I
  • 00:01:28
    couldn't spell it until I was 12 so when
  • 00:01:30
    I started writing books I decided to
  • 00:01:32
    shorten it up so it would be uh easier
  • 00:01:34
    to read and now I wish I'd never done
  • 00:01:36
    that now the interesting thing about Rob
  • 00:01:40
    young uh who's also called Bob by some
  • 00:01:43
    people uh is called robt by some people
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    uh there there are other things that I'm
  • 00:01:49
    called by some people too but we'll skip
  • 00:01:51
    those I use the
  • 00:01:53
    Rob he is a Harvard educated
  • 00:01:58
    lawyer uh he was born not in Minnesota
  • 00:02:03
    but in Petaluma
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    California and then moved to moved to
  • 00:02:09
    the Midwest to Minnesota a small town
  • 00:02:11
    wiona
  • 00:02:13
    Minnesota when I was young and didn't
  • 00:02:16
    have the ability to object and then
  • 00:02:19
    ultimately to the University of
  • 00:02:21
    Minnesota no actually I I was a
  • 00:02:24
    newspaper writer and I hopscotched all
  • 00:02:26
    over the state of Minnesota getting my
  • 00:02:28
    undergraduate degree in the process took
  • 00:02:31
    me seven years to get a bachelor's
  • 00:02:33
    degree and then to Harvard Law School
  • 00:02:35
    and then to Harvard Law
  • 00:02:37
    School and now you are the
  • 00:02:40
    entrepreneur of
  • 00:02:42
    of I don't know how many
  • 00:02:45
    things Minnesota mystery night Minnesota
  • 00:02:49
    mystery night yep you are involved with
  • 00:02:51
    the Loft literary Center uh I'm a member
  • 00:02:54
    of The Loft yes have taken classes there
  • 00:02:57
    uh you have a group of five writers who
  • 00:03:02
    are called Midwest mystery Works Midwest
  • 00:03:05
    mystery works and uh in fact I think the
  • 00:03:11
    other four have actually been on this
  • 00:03:13
    show at various times I think they all
  • 00:03:16
    have to as well so and your most recent
  • 00:03:21
    book which is now coming out in an audio
  • 00:03:23
    book is well the the book that's coming
  • 00:03:26
    out in audio about December 10th I think
  • 00:03:29
    is um called The Reaper which is the
  • 00:03:32
    first book of a
  • 00:03:34
    Trilogy and as a matter of fact we have
  • 00:03:36
    all three books of the trilogy we do and
  • 00:03:38
    the and the cover of the reaper I think
  • 00:03:40
    is the one that is facing outward so
  • 00:03:42
    that viewers can see it uh the other two
  • 00:03:45
    you can just see the
  • 00:03:46
    spine but uh the reaper is a story that
  • 00:03:50
    arises out of a missing
  • 00:03:53
    painting um the painting uh is
  • 00:03:56
    technically called or is is called el
  • 00:03:58
    segador which is a Catalin term uh that
  • 00:04:02
    is translates to the reaper or the
  • 00:04:04
    farmer and uh the painting disappeared
  • 00:04:09
    and this is historically accurate and I
  • 00:04:12
    use that as the foundation for a book
  • 00:04:15
    that started out as a standalone and
  • 00:04:17
    ended up being a Trilogy and the trilogy
  • 00:04:20
    is now complete it is the the latest of
  • 00:04:23
    the trilogy was Judgment Day and that
  • 00:04:26
    came out in
  • 00:04:29
    March I believe of this
  • 00:04:32
    year but writing is not the only thing
  • 00:04:35
    you do you are a rack on tour you are a
  • 00:04:42
    a wine of
  • 00:04:43
    Fado you are a grandfather and a
  • 00:04:47
    great-grandfather I am all of that you
  • 00:04:49
    are so many different
  • 00:04:52
    things uh well i' I've I've been blessed
  • 00:04:55
    to lead a very interesting and and eclec
  • 00:04:59
    life you're also a book producer uh yes
  • 00:05:02
    I did I've published uh other people's
  • 00:05:05
    books and uh I've written my own and uh
  • 00:05:09
    and the latest project that is almost
  • 00:05:13
    there now as we've taken uh Minnesota
  • 00:05:16
    mystery night which is a live monthly
  • 00:05:18
    event and we have parlayed it into a
  • 00:05:22
    radio show I realize that's the wrong
  • 00:05:24
    media for what we're for today but uh I
  • 00:05:28
    think uh all things being equal we will
  • 00:05:31
    have our first radio
  • 00:05:33
    broadcast uh in uh January of the next
  • 00:05:37
    year now actually Minnesota mystery
  • 00:05:40
    night has been going for about three
  • 00:05:41
    years yeah we're we're into our third
  • 00:05:44
    year yeah it was held at Axel restaurant
  • 00:05:48
    in Mendota and suddenly without notice
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    Axel closed yes U we got notice of that
  • 00:05:56
    we'd gone we'd been there for two years
  • 00:05:57
    very successful 2-year run
  • 00:06:00
    and we were quite happy there and then
  • 00:06:02
    one day I got an email from a friend
  • 00:06:04
    some person who comes to Minnesota my
  • 00:06:07
    night regularly that said do you know
  • 00:06:09
    that axles is closing and I did not know
  • 00:06:12
    that axles was closing nobody had
  • 00:06:14
    notified me of that and uh
  • 00:06:17
    and within two weeks they were closed
  • 00:06:19
    and uh we were out of a place to hold
  • 00:06:22
    Minnesota mystery
  • 00:06:24
    night so you sced around like crazy and
  • 00:06:28
    I I know this because I was part of it
  • 00:06:31
    for uh really over a month yeah we
  • 00:06:34
    scrambled looking for and you only
  • 00:06:36
    missed one show that's true and then you
  • 00:06:40
    opened again we opened U last November
  • 00:06:45
    18th uh at luy's 13 Pub in Mota you
  • 00:06:52
    could practically throw stones from
  • 00:06:54
    luy's 13 to where axles was located it's
  • 00:06:57
    about a football field length distance
  • 00:07:00
    between the two places and uh if not for
  • 00:07:03
    my wife we probably would have never
  • 00:07:05
    have gone there but we were
  • 00:07:07
    leaving um axles
  • 00:07:10
    after on the day they they actually
  • 00:07:13
    closed pck because we had to pick some
  • 00:07:15
    stuff up that we had there and as we
  • 00:07:17
    drove out she said why don't we stop
  • 00:07:19
    here and look and I had stuck my head in
  • 00:07:23
    there once before um when we first were
  • 00:07:26
    looking for space and it didn't seem
  • 00:07:27
    like a place that would fit
  • 00:07:30
    uh but we did I we stopped and lo and
  • 00:07:33
    behold it turned out to be a great spot
  • 00:07:36
    and uh and we were really happy with it
  • 00:07:38
    and you kicked off this past Monday
  • 00:07:40
    night this past Monday night with really
  • 00:07:43
    really good guest authors oh that's
  • 00:07:45
    right you were one one out of two anyway
  • 00:07:47
    one out of two anyway
  • 00:07:50
    was you
  • 00:07:52
    Andel very good author we uh we
  • 00:07:56
    weich I was there for comic relief no
  • 00:07:59
    well you you who knew you were such a
  • 00:08:01
    comedian alen it was a great it was a
  • 00:08:03
    great night all the way around my my uh
  • 00:08:06
    earlier life well the I think the thing
  • 00:08:10
    that that astounded me most of the whole
  • 00:08:13
    evening was to realize that Michael
  • 00:08:15
    Pharisee has written 81 books
  • 00:08:18
    unbelievable how do you do that unb you
  • 00:08:20
    know that's one one book for every one
  • 00:08:22
    of the years I've here been here okay
  • 00:08:25
    next month one of our two guests in
  • 00:08:28
    addition to uh
  • 00:08:29
    I'm trying to think but Allan eskins M
  • 00:08:33
    he's written a fleet of books Allan is
  • 00:08:37
    probably on his he's about a dozen I
  • 00:08:39
    think somewhere in there easily yeah
  • 00:08:42
    easily he's he's going to be here next
  • 00:08:44
    month with Brian ludman oh great Brian
  • 00:08:47
    is one of the members of the of the
  • 00:08:49
    Midwest mystery works right and he and I
  • 00:08:52
    and the other three members are
  • 00:08:54
    writing cooperatively writing a single
  • 00:08:57
    book which has really been an adventure
  • 00:08:59
    Venture and a lot of fun it certainly
  • 00:09:01
    has to be and uh the name of the book
  • 00:09:03
    for working purposes is called
  • 00:09:06
    fivefold um and I should
  • 00:09:09
    explain if you'll allow me the uh the
  • 00:09:14
    the rather oddl looking uh bookends that
  • 00:09:16
    I have right here
  • 00:09:20
    um
  • 00:09:22
    this as you can tell I think is a high
  • 00:09:25
    heel um and U I happen to be in Galina
  • 00:09:30
    Illinois a few weeks ago researching a a
  • 00:09:34
    book
  • 00:09:36
    and uh ran across these at a thrift
  • 00:09:39
    store that's another story but I bought
  • 00:09:42
    them because the first line of the book
  • 00:09:44
    that we are jointly doing together this
  • 00:09:46
    five-fold book is who in the hell wears
  • 00:09:49
    5in spikes in a
  • 00:09:51
    snowstorm who is the five there's the 5
  • 00:09:54
    in spikes so I thought fortunately we
  • 00:09:56
    don't have a snowstorm at the moment
  • 00:09:58
    thank gosh thank goodness for that yes
  • 00:10:01
    indeed well how do five people get
  • 00:10:05
    together to write a
  • 00:10:07
    book um Brian uh it was his
  • 00:10:12
    idea uh and he is uh the the ultimate
  • 00:10:17
    decider uh when if there's ever a
  • 00:10:19
    dispute remarkably we're almost done
  • 00:10:22
    with the first draft we've been working
  • 00:10:23
    on it for roughly a year um and
  • 00:10:28
    remarkably there there have been really
  • 00:10:30
    no ego
  • 00:10:31
    issues uh among any of the five writers
  • 00:10:34
    I think I can safely say that and uh uh
  • 00:10:38
    if there is some sort of debate about uh
  • 00:10:41
    a plot point or the direction of a port
  • 00:10:44
    of the story or where a scene should fit
  • 00:10:47
    or something like that uh ultimately we
  • 00:10:50
    have all agreed that Brian has the final
  • 00:10:52
    say is it a mystery a thriller what is
  • 00:10:54
    it it it is a uh it is a
  • 00:10:58
    thriller um
  • 00:10:59
    very it it revolves
  • 00:11:03
    around
  • 00:11:05
    um medical implants and the ability to
  • 00:11:10
    manipulate them
  • 00:11:12
    remotely um and that's kind of the the
  • 00:11:15
    the thread that runs through this and uh
  • 00:11:19
    Sharon are you
  • 00:11:22
    listening yeah if you have an implant
  • 00:11:24
    this book may not uh allow you to sleep
  • 00:11:28
    for a few nights but that's that's the
  • 00:11:30
    thread and it's it's it has to do with
  • 00:11:33
    corporate Espionage and and uh blackmail
  • 00:11:36
    and uh other Sury things that uh people
  • 00:11:41
    who who want greed and or have are
  • 00:11:44
    greedy and want power so you came up
  • 00:11:46
    with a concept MH and also required a
  • 00:11:49
    lot of research MH who did the research
  • 00:11:52
    well luckily uh John bar Rogers one of
  • 00:11:54
    the other uh uh of the five of us
  • 00:11:59
    is a a uh techie
  • 00:12:03
    um by occupation own several uh
  • 00:12:08
    technological companies and has a great
  • 00:12:11
    deal of in of uh knowledge about it and
  • 00:12:15
    as does Julie
  • 00:12:17
    Holmes um she has uh not because she was
  • 00:12:21
    she was a techie in the sense that Julie
  • 00:12:24
    uh before she became an author was an
  • 00:12:25
    airline mechanic one of the few female
  • 00:12:28
    Airline mechanics in the country uh and
  • 00:12:31
    knows a lot about electronics and things
  • 00:12:33
    like that so I didn't have to do hardly
  • 00:12:36
    any research at all we each took a
  • 00:12:38
    character from one of our other books or
  • 00:12:40
    a series of our other books and
  • 00:12:42
    Incorporated them into this so five we
  • 00:12:45
    have five characters one from each
  • 00:12:48
    author who collaborate on this thing and
  • 00:12:50
    I have the only villain you have the
  • 00:12:52
    only villain I am the only villain so
  • 00:12:55
    the the other the other people wrote
  • 00:12:57
    Good People now are you writing
  • 00:12:59
    individual chapters are you coordinating
  • 00:13:02
    on the chapters how does that work um
  • 00:13:05
    we're writing individual
  • 00:13:07
    scenes and then they are they are sort
  • 00:13:10
    of put together like a jigsaw puzzle um
  • 00:13:14
    and uh so there any given chapter there
  • 00:13:18
    might be uh scenes from all five of
  • 00:13:22
    us
  • 00:13:24
    hypothetically uh or more than likely
  • 00:13:28
    maybe there will be
  • 00:13:29
    uh the scene will have uh writings by
  • 00:13:32
    three different authors in it and it
  • 00:13:35
    will have three you know we'll switch
  • 00:13:36
    points of view in the in the course of
  • 00:13:38
    the scene so it's been quite interesting
  • 00:13:42
    I always think about it we don't you
  • 00:13:43
    know nobody knows how it's going to end
  • 00:13:45
    up in terms of what it's going to feel
  • 00:13:48
    like when you read the final product
  • 00:13:51
    when do you think that's going to be uh
  • 00:13:53
    realistically I would think the book
  • 00:13:55
    would be ready to you know be made
  • 00:13:59
    public
  • 00:14:01
    sometime middle to the 3/4 Mark of next
  • 00:14:05
    year know when we'll get the first draft
  • 00:14:07
    done we'll do a thorough critique and
  • 00:14:10
    rewrite of that and that probably will
  • 00:14:12
    take us into the spring and then we'll
  • 00:14:14
    turn it over to an editor and have them
  • 00:14:17
    tell us how badly we have to rewrite it
  • 00:14:19
    again but I keep thinking remember Ellen
  • 00:14:22
    when they had the uh years ago they used
  • 00:14:25
    to take the the the prettiest nose and
  • 00:14:27
    the prettiest eyes and the you know the
  • 00:14:29
    shape of the face and they they take all
  • 00:14:31
    those and put them all together and the
  • 00:14:33
    result was somebody that was really ugly
  • 00:14:36
    I I have a fear that that's what this
  • 00:14:37
    book is going to be we're going to take
  • 00:14:39
    all these really neat things that we
  • 00:14:40
    have and we're going to put them all
  • 00:14:42
    together but as a conglomerate they
  • 00:14:44
    don't fit really well so I don't know
  • 00:14:46
    you got five really accomplished
  • 00:14:48
    writers uh and uh I don't see that
  • 00:14:51
    that's what's going to happen we hope
  • 00:14:53
    not we certainly hope not that that's
  • 00:14:55
    always been running through my brain
  • 00:14:57
    that that sometimes the five the five
  • 00:14:59
    prettiest things together don't always
  • 00:15:01
    make the prettiest result and are you
  • 00:15:03
    going to publish it you going to be the
  • 00:15:05
    publisher um I don't think so um I think
  • 00:15:08
    that we are going to go out and uh and
  • 00:15:11
    find another publisher um and we don't
  • 00:15:15
    know who that is yet have some ideas but
  • 00:15:18
    nobody we haven't had a consensus on
  • 00:15:20
    where we're going to go with it every
  • 00:15:21
    each of us do our own publishing or have
  • 00:15:24
    our own publisher and and uh so we'll
  • 00:15:27
    see we're we're a little premature on
  • 00:15:29
    that decision yet so interesting though
  • 00:15:32
    it's certainly an ambitious undertak
  • 00:15:35
    well it was it was uh it was a lot of
  • 00:15:37
    fun I mean is a lot of fun uh uh you
  • 00:15:40
    know but like anything in our lives uh
  • 00:15:43
    trying to carve out enough time to to uh
  • 00:15:47
    to focus on it and do a good job espe
  • 00:15:49
    especially your life you also put out a
  • 00:15:52
    monthly newsletter oh yeah yeah um a
  • 00:15:55
    monthly newsletter I really enjoy
  • 00:15:57
    putting out it's called the view from
  • 00:15:59
    middle spunk Creek it's my sort of
  • 00:16:01
    tongue and cheek look at the world and
  • 00:16:04
    what's going on and some of its a little
  • 00:16:06
    Nostalgia and some of it's uh oh every
  • 00:16:09
    once in a while I'll throw in a recipe
  • 00:16:10
    because I'm also a gourmet cook and uh
  • 00:16:13
    or something comedic something I try to
  • 00:16:16
    look for something comedic always I I
  • 00:16:19
    think like you um I think it would one
  • 00:16:25
    of the things that helps you get through
  • 00:16:27
    life is to to look at it in a comedic
  • 00:16:31
    from a comedic Viewpoint because
  • 00:16:34
    sometimes if you don't look at it that
  • 00:16:36
    way you you'll end up in tears that's
  • 00:16:38
    true that's true so true I try to I try
  • 00:16:41
    to find the humor in most things
  • 00:16:45
    so now you're also a member of sisters
  • 00:16:48
    in crime that's true yep they are one of
  • 00:16:52
    our sponsors National Organization and
  • 00:16:55
    there's a local affiliate here in
  • 00:16:56
    Minnesota I'm a actually I'm I am a uh
  • 00:17:00
    member of two local uh part uh sisters
  • 00:17:05
    and crime Affiliates one here in uh
  • 00:17:09
    Minnesota and one in the Hudson uh
  • 00:17:12
    Valley Hudson River Valley in New York
  • 00:17:15
    which is an interesting story in itself
  • 00:17:17
    of itself well um so I got a bunch of
  • 00:17:20
    books returned from publisher and I made
  • 00:17:24
    them available through my newsletter to
  • 00:17:25
    book
  • 00:17:26
    clubs and uh I just said I'll give you
  • 00:17:29
    I'll send you 10 free books for your
  • 00:17:30
    book clubs if you want to feature this
  • 00:17:32
    book it was The Reaper actually and I
  • 00:17:36
    how they got my got a cold in my
  • 00:17:38
    newsletter I have no idea but somebody
  • 00:17:40
    from uh a book club called the mavens of
  • 00:17:45
    Mayhem I think they're called uh got in
  • 00:17:48
    touch with me and said yeah we'd like to
  • 00:17:49
    do it and they're all made up of of
  • 00:17:52
    members of that sisters and crime
  • 00:17:54
    chapter out in the Hudson River Valley
  • 00:17:56
    so I became a member and
  • 00:17:59
    now explain how you are a member of
  • 00:18:01
    sisters in crime oh well sisters in
  • 00:18:04
    crime originally was uh an all female
  • 00:18:07
    organization um disclosure I am also a
  • 00:18:10
    member yeah uh and yeah now it is now
  • 00:18:13
    it's co-ed and I don't know the history
  • 00:18:16
    behind why they they finally let us in
  • 00:18:20
    um and uh whether they regret it or
  • 00:18:23
    whether they don't but it's it is while
  • 00:18:25
    it's called sisters in crime it is no
  • 00:18:27
    longer just just sisters it is brothers
  • 00:18:30
    and sisters in CR now and it's a very
  • 00:18:33
    active writing organization it is it's
  • 00:18:36
    an organization of both writers and fans
  • 00:18:39
    um so some people that are members of
  • 00:18:41
    that are just readers of mysteries um
  • 00:18:46
    and uh well we meet monthly and uh we
  • 00:18:49
    did it by Zoom during Co um we do it
  • 00:18:53
    hybrid now um where you can attend
  • 00:18:57
    either in person or
  • 00:18:59
    through uh through uh
  • 00:19:02
    Zoom um and we have a featured author
  • 00:19:05
    and we bring in a featured speaker and
  • 00:19:06
    there's a lot of trading of ideas and
  • 00:19:10
    and um you know you know what it's like
  • 00:19:12
    it's been there but it's a it's an
  • 00:19:13
    interesting organization these are ideas
  • 00:19:16
    that just take off yeah and and it's
  • 00:19:18
    good as is writer's Corner sure it was a
  • 00:19:22
    an idea really brought about because of
  • 00:19:26
    my association with you
  • 00:19:29
    and Minnesota mystery night and uh here
  • 00:19:33
    we are yeah almost two years later I
  • 00:19:36
    think it's been a great synergistic
  • 00:19:39
    concept that that has worked on in many
  • 00:19:42
    formats and we've had great
  • 00:19:44
    feedback went from live to TV or you
  • 00:19:47
    know live event to television now to
  • 00:19:51
    radio um and I've been questioned about
  • 00:19:54
    podcasts and my reaction to that is
  • 00:19:59
    that's really a very nice idea but I've
  • 00:20:01
    been to two seminars about podcasts and
  • 00:20:03
    walked out of both of them at the ends
  • 00:20:05
    thinking they're way too much work so I
  • 00:20:08
    don't know if I'll ever do one or not
  • 00:20:10
    well the trick is to get a good crew
  • 00:20:14
    which is what we have here MH a good
  • 00:20:17
    location state-ofthe-art I mean just
  • 00:20:21
    look at the books we've accumulated yep
  • 00:20:23
    and uh yeah well there you go maybe
  • 00:20:28
    maybe someday but that's off in the
  • 00:20:30
    future my next project is to try to get
  • 00:20:32
    independent authors a little better
  • 00:20:35
    exposure that's actually the reason that
  • 00:20:37
    Minnesota mystery night came about the
  • 00:20:38
    whole idea was be behind it was to to uh
  • 00:20:43
    give a venue for Minnesota mystery
  • 00:20:47
    authors and now it's become Midwest
  • 00:20:49
    mystery authors um
  • 00:20:53
    to introduce themselves and their work
  • 00:20:56
    to more people um that's why the radio
  • 00:20:59
    thing is rolling out but I'm in the Pro
  • 00:21:03
    I had a because of axles closing and and
  • 00:21:06
    that took a bunch of time I had to put
  • 00:21:08
    it on the back burner for now but my
  • 00:21:10
    2025 project is to develop a uh an
  • 00:21:13
    electronic catalog I'm going to start
  • 00:21:16
    with 240 authors that will be featured
  • 00:21:19
    the authors in their books will be
  • 00:21:21
    featured in the catalog and they will be
  • 00:21:23
    distributed to the 325 independent
  • 00:21:26
    bookstores in the Midwest and the 7,000
  • 00:21:29
    libraries in the midwest which is a big
  • 00:21:32
    undertaking yeah they get it in front of
  • 00:21:35
    you know 7500 book buyers who then buy
  • 00:21:40
    so that the book readers can people are
  • 00:21:42
    reading books again I think so really I
  • 00:21:46
    think it's picked up and uh
  • 00:21:51
    also there is a movement out there a
  • 00:21:54
    large national movement to censor our
  • 00:21:58
    books the ban our books yeah where's
  • 00:22:00
    your where's your most recent one that
  • 00:22:03
    just was released actually at Minnesota
  • 00:22:05
    Myster night on Monday um if if if that
  • 00:22:09
    hasn't been uh mentioned before on your
  • 00:22:11
    show it needs to it's called firefight
  • 00:22:13
    and Shelter Rock actually it hasn't been
  • 00:22:15
    mentioned on the show before well Allen
  • 00:22:18
    Allen we're going to do a a show on it
  • 00:22:21
    yeah but at this the the thread of the
  • 00:22:23
    whole story is about censorship and book
  • 00:22:26
    Banning um and it is a really
  • 00:22:30
    sensitive uh Hot Topic uh and it's one
  • 00:22:34
    that seems to recur about
  • 00:22:36
    every what three four decades and you
  • 00:22:40
    know it's fictionalized real events yeah
  • 00:22:44
    and it took a lot of research but the
  • 00:22:47
    fact of the matter is the sad fact of
  • 00:22:50
    the matter is that everything in there
  • 00:22:52
    is based on something that has happened
  • 00:22:54
    in this nation uh as people try to take
  • 00:22:58
    our choices of what we read or what our
  • 00:23:03
    children Avail themselves of yeah and
  • 00:23:07
    censor it based on their particular
  • 00:23:11
    prejudices bigotry or whatever yeah and
  • 00:23:16
    it's of great concern to me which is
  • 00:23:19
    what
  • 00:23:20
    stimulated that book I think it's an
  • 00:23:23
    awesome uh subject matter and I think
  • 00:23:25
    anybody who has any con concern or
  • 00:23:29
    thoughts about that should pick up your
  • 00:23:30
    book and read it I think it's uh it is
  • 00:23:34
    it is a thought-provoking and thought in
  • 00:23:38
    inspiring uh book and it it just it's a
  • 00:23:41
    subject matter that needs to be uh
  • 00:23:44
    brought out in the open brings up a
  • 00:23:45
    really interesting point I think Ellen
  • 00:23:48
    and you and I have chatted about before
  • 00:23:49
    on other occasions
  • 00:23:52
    um using
  • 00:23:55
    fiction to talk about
  • 00:23:58
    social
  • 00:23:59
    issues is very effective way to get
  • 00:24:03
    people to think about them without
  • 00:24:07
    making people
  • 00:24:09
    defensive because it's a fictionalized
  • 00:24:11
    version so they're not personally
  • 00:24:13
    threatened um but I found um my books
  • 00:24:18
    all have some sort of social current
  • 00:24:21
    social thread in them I think that's so
  • 00:24:24
    important each of my three and I started
  • 00:24:27
    out only planning to write one as part
  • 00:24:30
    of my you know something I wanted to do
  • 00:24:34
    uh on my bucket list we we've now had
  • 00:24:37
    the
  • 00:24:38
    trilogy uh whether there'll be a fourth
  • 00:24:41
    or not I don't know I'm compiling a lot
  • 00:24:43
    of research and information now and
  • 00:24:46
    we'll see where that goes but you know
  • 00:24:49
    people for instance the first one was
  • 00:24:52
    involved in the water
  • 00:24:54
    shortage and I I published it a year
  • 00:24:58
    before before the news really hit the
  • 00:25:01
    second one was about foreigners buying
  • 00:25:04
    up um base basically Native American
  • 00:25:08
    lands in this country and also that's
  • 00:25:12
    something that legislators have dropped
  • 00:25:15
    uh jumped in and tried to stop and of
  • 00:25:18
    course this one on book Banning so I I
  • 00:25:20
    think it's really important and I think
  • 00:25:23
    people will read a novel about a social
  • 00:25:27
    issue much faster than they will read
  • 00:25:30
    documentary material well I think
  • 00:25:33
    they'll not only read it faster but I
  • 00:25:34
    think they'll discuss it more openly I
  • 00:25:39
    think they'll discuss it because at
  • 00:25:40
    least this is my perspective is is that
  • 00:25:44
    it we write fiction and so they're not
  • 00:25:47
    threatened by the characters as if if
  • 00:25:50
    you and I got into assuming we were on
  • 00:25:53
    opposite sides of a political issue um
  • 00:25:56
    and you and I got into a face-to-face de
  • 00:25:58
    debate at least in today's society the
  • 00:26:00
    first thing that happens is the hackles
  • 00:26:01
    come up and you know it's you know it
  • 00:26:04
    becomes ugly pretty quickly usually you
  • 00:26:07
    can talk about the same issue in a
  • 00:26:10
    fictional setting by discussing what's
  • 00:26:12
    in a book and discussing the issues in
  • 00:26:13
    it without that same sort of tension
  • 00:26:17
    that conflict between people and uh and
  • 00:26:20
    hopefully it'll help resolve some of
  • 00:26:23
    those conflicts well I think anytime you
  • 00:26:25
    can get some discussion on them it's
  • 00:26:27
    it's a good thing you know and anytime
  • 00:26:29
    we can sit down and talk with people who
  • 00:26:31
    have different Viewpoint than we do and
  • 00:26:34
    talk about it without it becoming
  • 00:26:36
    hostile um I think is uh is is the as
  • 00:26:41
    the way we're going to fix this uh
  • 00:26:44
    dichotomy that we're in right now in
  • 00:26:47
    this country that seems to be so uh so
  • 00:26:50
    so concise and so drastic we become so
  • 00:26:54
    partisan it's really uh yeah it's it
  • 00:26:57
    worries me I look back at history and I
  • 00:27:00
    like you I'm a student of history and I
  • 00:27:02
    look back and the only other time I can
  • 00:27:05
    other than the very beginning of the
  • 00:27:06
    country but the only other time I can
  • 00:27:08
    see uh this country being as partisan as
  • 00:27:11
    it is now is just before the Civil War I
  • 00:27:14
    I just wrote an article which I think is
  • 00:27:16
    going to be out next month for a uh a
  • 00:27:19
    local publication called it's not the
  • 00:27:22
    economy it's the Democracy stupid yeah
  • 00:27:26
    and really that's what really worries me
  • 00:27:29
    what's worried me about this last
  • 00:27:31
    election and uh yes the economy is a
  • 00:27:35
    problem and obviously the economy I
  • 00:27:37
    think is what turned this last election
  • 00:27:40
    but the attack on our
  • 00:27:43
    democracy and the foundations and our
  • 00:27:46
    founding and our Constitution and the
  • 00:27:48
    Bill of Rights and Free
  • 00:27:51
    Speech really frightened
  • 00:27:55
    me yeah you're preaching to the choir
  • 00:27:57
    yeah
  • 00:27:59
    I feel the same way it's now we only
  • 00:28:01
    have a minute left so what are you
  • 00:28:03
    working on for the next book other than
  • 00:28:06
    the five authors uh next book um I've
  • 00:28:09
    got I've got pieces of three that I'm
  • 00:28:12
    working on the one I went to uh two of
  • 00:28:14
    them are are paranormal Thrillers um my
  • 00:28:18
    very first book was a paranormal
  • 00:28:20
    Thriller it was called the uh Cloud
  • 00:28:22
    Warriors I'm working on this book in
  • 00:28:25
    Galina uh that Galina illino has an
  • 00:28:28
    interesting place it was ulyses S
  • 00:28:30
    Grant's home and uh it U had nine
  • 00:28:35
    generals for the Union Army in the civil
  • 00:28:37
    war came out of Galina of town of about
  • 00:28:39
    at that time maybe 6,000 people um and
  • 00:28:42
    that's a paranormal it's a paranormal
  • 00:28:44
    one because we're really running down on
  • 00:28:46
    our time so so it's either that one or
  • 00:28:49
    another paranormal one that's set in
  • 00:28:50
    Ireland um and we're talking with Rob
  • 00:28:53
    young uh we could go on forever and ever
  • 00:28:58
    but
  • 00:28:59
    unfortunately time does not permit Rob
  • 00:29:02
    thank you so much for coming in
  • 00:29:03
    especially as an emergency guest at the
  • 00:29:06
    last minute
  • 00:29:07
    here Alan I will always make sure that I
  • 00:29:10
    can move anything on my calendar if you
  • 00:29:12
    need need need me to uh come and have a
  • 00:29:17
    chat with you because it's so delightful
  • 00:29:19
    thank you so much thank you
  • 00:29:35
    [Music]
Tags
  • Rob Young
  • Minnesota Mystery Night
  • Midwest Mystery Works
  • Sisters in Crime
  • social issues
  • censorship
  • thriller
  • author interview
  • literary collaboration
  • fiction writing