This is a conversation transcript & audio archive with Aura Marquez, a Chicana author encountered on Instagram.
They’re also a supporter of the “Real Motherfuckers Podcast” hosted by (stephaniejucarcooley)
(a past guest of the Whiz Pill Podcast).
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Transcript
00:00
The machine. But yeah, so we're formally launching into this. This conversation features Laura Marquez. Is that the correct pronunciation? Yeah, definitely. My Spanish is Aura. Aura Marquez. But yeah, no, you said it good. Aura Marquez. Okay.
00:29
Got it. And yeah, this will be featured on the Wispy Alarical number 62. Should be linked on my sub stack. And everything about you post publishing will be in there, including the transcript and a basic summary of the conversation and the kind of beats we've gone through while we discussed what we're discussing.
00:52
Um, yeah, like, typically I have people proceed to introduce themselves as, you know, who they are, what they're from, what they do. So, thank you.
01:06
Okay, so my name is Aura Marquez and I am an author. I came out with my debut novel last year entitled V. I am autistic, queer, and Chicana. And my whole life I loved sci-fi, vampires, fantasy, and I just...
01:35
never saw myself in my favorite genre. So I decided, hey, I'm going to try writing my own book. I live in Southern California. Writing does not pay the bills, does not even come close. So I'm actually a teacher, but I'm doing everything I can to get my book out there.
02:05
What I'd overlap, would you say, the career of a teacher versus being the career of writing?
02:18
I mean, there's so much and I'm an English teacher. So, you know, it's what is really hard is, you know, I don't bring my book into the classroom because I don't know, people are weird and, you know, I kind of keep that separate. But whenever I'm teaching writing, I mean, I'm so passionate about literature and reading and writing and I've been like this. I'm.
02:45
diagnosed autistic. And it's definitely one of my special interests. I since I was five years old, I loved reading and writing. And, you know, I am so passionate about it. And I bring that into the classroom. And I wish so much I could be like, Yeah, and I wrote my own book, but I can't do that. But I so much of what I talk about in the classroom.
03:15
different social justice issues, the what I'm trying, like, you know, I feel like teaching needs to be so much more than I'm going to teach you how to write a paragraph or the way I see it is the future leaders of our world are in my classroom, and I hope that they take life lessons from my class. And that's really how I also approach my book.
03:45
whoever reads it to really get my autistic perspective, what it's like being Chicana. And so even though it is a vampire book and, you know, people may think sci-fi or fantasy is kind of silly, I go into it just putting my whole heart into it and the messages that I hope people will take from it. And I very much view teaching the same way.
04:20
Going into a big question, why would you say is autism exactly? Because this is a term.
04:30
of late I've heard being thrown quite a lot especially on social media such as TikTok but doesn't really seem that everyone agrees on what even the term means so if you could and a few sentences you know elaborating on what exactly that entails for you and pros and cons if you will in terms of that condition I mean Queenbana go from there.
04:56
Yeah, definitely. So my journey with it started when I've been a teacher for 15 years. I've had numerous autistic students in my classroom. And when I had my son, by the time he was two, I started noticing a lot of autistic traits. And it took a very long time to get him diagnosed. But it finally did at the age of seven. And as he was getting diagnosed,
05:26
I realized that I had all these same traits. And so I started researching, which is gonna go into your question. And autism kind of became a special interest of mine where I just, I was looking up every article that I could find. What is it? How does it happen? What, you know, what is it involved? Just like you were asking. And so what I have discovered through all my research is autism is a neuro-type.
05:57
So an autistic person's brain is formed a certain way. And the way that our brains are formed, if you were to take an MRI scan and ask me questions, the way that my brain would interact and the receptors that are going off, it's gonna look different than if you were to do that to a neuro-typical person. And because my brain is
06:26
formed like an autistic brain because the way that the different. And there's even different I talked to my my son psychiatrist and my psychiatrist about this. There is even research where that explains certain autistic traits and the neurons within our brain when they've looked at an autistic person's brain and a neurotypical person's brain. The neurons are different.
06:56
So there is actual scientific proof and explanation to why we do the things that we do. And so for me, my autistic traits are, I mean, I stim. I don't make eye contact. I had to kind of go really far back because people meet me and they're like, oh, well, I haven't seen you do that.
07:26
When I was a kid, I did all of these things. I was, you would have looked at me and been like, well, that kid's kind of different, you know, but that was the nineties and we, no one was diagnosing and talking about any of this. So I used to just, you know, I was like six years old and I would just sit for like hours, like three hours. I would just sit, I wouldn't move. I wouldn't make a sound. My babysitters used to forget I was there. And I used to just love to observe people.
07:55
Um, because the way that other people do things just doesn't really make sense to me. Um, a lot of the time I'm very straightforward and blunt and honest, uh, which is part of my traits and. The way that neurotypical people interact or, um, express themselves can be pretty confusing to me because I just don't. Um, that's not how.
08:23
I do it and so I would just watch people and try to figure out why they were acting that way. And I think it's also why I loved books so much because I was able to get to see how other people did things and thought and I was able to take it apart and kind of teach myself to behave the way other people wanted me to. I you know don't.
08:51
really feel emotions the way that neurotypical people do. A lot of the times things are pretty numb for me, but I've taught myself to react with facial expressions because I didn't used to. And when I was a child, I was bullied really badly because of all of these things, because I was so different and I didn't behave the way the other kids did and they thought it was strange.
09:21
Let me see, I'm trying to think if I went through everything.
09:28
your because yeah that's a really big question but I think now I'm really working especially like in therapy to all of so when an autistic person tries to hide their traits it's called masking and that's what I did for my whole life and it ended up resulting in very very bad anxiety and depression.
09:54
Um, and so I'm actually working now with my therapist to try to unmask and allow myself to do more of these, um, to allow myself to have more of my autistic traits come out because when I suppress them, I do get really, really bad anxiety. Um, along with the autism, I actually also have sensory processing disorder, um, which is pretty common.
10:23
for autistic people to have. And so one side of it is like my hearing is very heightened. I tend to wear headphones a lot to block out sound because it can push me into like a meltdown or an anxiety attack. I also like my sense of smell is very sensitive. My sense of taste.
10:54
And then I don't like to be touched. So a lot of the time, if I'm in a really intense situation and somebody touches me, my skin hurts. Like it, and it's really hard to, and people are like, wait, what do you mean? And it's like, I don't know. Like if someone goes to hug me or stroke my arm, it actually, I feel pain from it. But then on the flip side, I also have
11:22
In other occasions, I have a really high pain tolerance to where I may not feel the way that other people feel. So when I was little, I actually used to bite myself to see how far I could go until I felt something because I knew that like, hmm, well, other people can't do this. Why is it that I can?
11:52
And so a lot of people have asked why I didn't get diagnosed autistic until I was 37 years old. I'm 40 now. Why bother? Why get assessed now? And it's actually answered so many questions, so many things from my childhood, from growing up that I just never understood. I didn't understand.
12:18
And for so much of it, I just thought I was weird. And that's what other people told me too. And why am I like this? Why do I behave differently than everybody else? And it's really allowed me to accept myself and really work towards being happier with who I am and how my brain works.
12:46
and it's opened so many more doors for me.
12:52
That was very, very in-depth and I appreciate you for doing so. And I think it actually sets the stage quite well for going into your relationship with media in particular because something that I've particularly noticed as of late, besides the discourse around neurodivergency, it's the idea of representation in media. From your vintage point, how accurately would you say
13:22
emotionally, physically, culturally, you see yourself in media. And also, if you could touch upon what exactly could be improved upon, if there's anything to be improved upon, you could definitely do that as well.
13:42
Um, well, that's exactly why I wrote my book because I personally, like if, if we're talking me, we're talking a queer Chicana autistic person, I, I fit the P. I do not see myself represented very much in media. Um, and one thing that I realized is a, it's the algorithm.
14:13
the algorithm is not pushing accounts like mine or other people that are of the same backgrounds. And it's really frustrating because I've actually, I've spent hours on Instagram, on TikTok, trying to find other creators like myself, just to build community. And it's really hard, like they, until
14:42
It wasn't until I found like a good base that then it started recommending people. But like when you're first starting out, like those accounts aren't the ones that are being seen. And I end to even even worse than that, those accounts are getting silenced because we tend to be the ones that are speaking up in the face of.
15:11
Adversity and activism and then you get in trouble for that. So when I was publishing my first book, I was a month away from publication. I called out homophobia that I had experienced and Instagram immediately deleted my account with no warning. No, they just, they said that my account was spreading hate and they deleted it and I lost everything. Um, and.
15:41
the amount of creators that are BIPOC, that are queer, that that happens to is ridiculous. And so we're counting on media on these platforms, but they're not created for us to exist within. And so I have this
16:06
huge love, I mean not even a love, a hate, hate relationship. It's like, it's, it's the platform that everyone's using, it's how you get your stuff across, it's how people find you, but you're at the mercy of a system that wasn't made for you.
16:24
I don't know, did I completely go off on a tangent? You very much touched on a few things that I think it's really going to be beneficial in terms of really setting the ground up for not only who you are, but also why you do what you do. I don't know, because I feel like there's different types of butters, right? There's the more narcissistic type.
16:50
shamelessly that will just write about stuff that they only care about. And in some cases, we will serve self insert into their medium, which funny enough, there's like the common story I hear about Twilight, it's that it's basically the self insert story, right? The author wanted to
17:13
I guess like bone vampires and the best way for her to do that was to basically Copy the playbook of 50 shades of gray, but with vampires. That's what I heard I don't know how true that is, but if that's really the case kudos to her because She's gone on to earn a sweet million dollar deal from that book series
17:36
The other type of author I can definitely detect is the more self-reflective type where you know you sign up for a lot of heavy material in terms of what they discuss, whether it's like fiction or non-fiction. You can definitely tell that they don't they kind of wear their emotions on their sleeves and I'm very curious to know what type of author are you because up to that point I have never read anything by you.
18:05
But I do read a lot of stuff on this platform that I use called Substack where basically people post demos of their stuff and that kind of gives me an idea without having to fully invest into buying a book or reading like an entire you know transcript and what have you. If you could you know get into that that would be dope.
18:30
So I think I think I'm both. Um, like I said, vampires have been my thing since I was in middle school and I'm old, so Twilight had not come out yet and being really into vampires in middle school was not cool. Um, so I did not dream of having sex with vampires. I dreamed of being a vampire.
18:59
Um, and you know, you add the fact that I was very horribly bullied. Um, and I just, I wanted to be a vampire and I wanted to like suck everybody's blood and. You know, leave them. So I, I had always dreamed of writing a book where the vampire is based off of me. And that is what V is. Um.
19:26
So you have that little narcissistic piece right there. Uh, and that's that fun bit. Then I really wanted to write a book that showed the autistic experience, my autistic experience, um, in fantasy, because like I said, I love fantasy. That's pretty much all I read. And.
19:56
I had not come across a book where the characters are neurodivergent to the extent that I wanted to see. Usually it's a side character. A side character is slightly neurodivergent. With the amount of representation that I wanted to see, I wanted to see myself and all of my friends are different cultures within.
20:25
fantasy as well. And then also gender and sexuality. I wanted to see those different things too. And I, my hope is that I, and with the feedback that I've gotten from reviewers, I think I've, I, you know, I think I've done this to, it is a vampire book. It is
20:54
fantasy, it is fun and exciting. But you're getting to do it through a point of view and a lens that you don't usually find in fantasy. And the amount of autistic readers or parents to autistic children that have written to me and been like, this is the first time I've
21:22
ever seen myself represented within a main character is so beautiful. It's what keeps me going when I don't sell any books in a month. I just recently had someone message me and say, I'm reading your book for the third time and she's autistic. And she's like, because I just feel like I'm home when I'm reading it. And that was my goal. It was.
21:51
I was writing it for my 16 year old self who was reading and just wishing that I could see myself in the literature that I loved so much and hoping that I could bring that to other people.
22:11
It makes perfect sense. I think my relationship with literature has definitely evolved over time. I'm one of those folks who you'd refer to as a polyglot. I can speak more than three languages. And it's been interesting to sort of see the overlap and the weird quirky differences that exist from language to language. And that really leads me to engage with media very differently from that vantage point.
22:40
So from the idea of representation, what I can definitely testify firsthand is that if you look at a piece of media that does really well and that's really successful, I'd argue that part of what makes a piece of media really resonate with people, regardless of what language or background that they have is that
23:04
there's good character traits and there's also the kind of ideas and trials and tribulations, for lack of a better term, that makes people go, yeah, you know, like this person definitely has gone through stuff the way I have. And most recently, I've been getting into testimonials that people would post about this Japanese
23:29
author called Akira Toriyama. This is the author of Dragon Ball for reference and passed away recently at 68 and I knew he was influential but him dying revealed to me how actually influential the guy was. For starters in Mexico apparently like he's basically a national icon. I don't know what that's about. Yeah.
23:57
I don't know what that's about. But people are literally making or dedicating taco shops, you know, to his image. The entirety of the population actually came out for a parade and his honor and actual sitting presidents, you know, were basically dedicated eulogies to the guy. And this is someone who wrote a story about a young boy who can turn into a giant ape.
24:27
and goes on a rampage and kills people. That's like oversimplifying it, of course, but I think part of the charm of Dragon Ball is like a piece of media is that...
24:40
It's the classic character arc of someone being a naive, up and coming person to then going into yourself and discovering potential in that inner strength kind of thing. That was what I would wager, makes it a cornerstone of modern literature. And I'm very curious from your perspective, what sort of other similar traits that you see in pieces of media that you consume on a regular basis that makes you go
25:08
You know what? Yeah, that's the kind of stuff I would want to aspire to myself.
25:16
Um, yeah, I was actually just talking about this. My favorite series right now is, uh, it's called the legend born series. It's by Tracy Dion and, um, she has two books out so far. The next, the next one's called blood marked and she, what she does. Is exactly what I strive and hope that I can do. And that's definitely my inspiration.
25:45
I first, I read her first book, I believe two years ago, and it was the, you know, her main character is a black young woman and she has powers and it's supernatural and it's so well done. But it was the first time that I had seen racism addressed within a fantasy book. And
26:12
and head on, you know, not shied away from. And it was so well done. It just, it made perfect sense and the way that the character was formed and the way that the other characters interacted with her. And when I read that, I was like, this, this is what I want to be able to do when I, and I hadn't started writing my book yet. Um, but.
26:38
First, I've been trying to write this book for 10 years and I just, I didn't know how to do it. And it was kind of like when I read Tracy Dion's book, it was just like this light bulb going off and being able to see somebody else do it. Let me know that I could do it too. And I think, and that's what we talk about. That's why representation is so important.
27:08
you have all these ideas in your head, but if I mean, kudos to the to the people that can do it first and don't and don't need to have anything else as a reference. But I think most of us, until we see until we see it being done, it almost it seems like an impossible task. As a kid,
27:35
a huge, my, my favorite vampire movie was blade, which I don't know. That's not very, that's not very kid friendly, but I was watching it. Um, but like to see a vampire that wasn't white. And, and somebody asked me this in my book when, when I was writing my book, they're like, Oh, so your vampires are BIPOC, but like, are they going to have like white skin and for me, like blade, that was my inspiration was like.
28:04
No, why does somebody have to have white skin if they're a vampire? Um, and, and not white as in like race white, it's like more like they look washed out because I've seen, I have, there are some instances where like vampires are BIPOC and they make their skin look washed out. Um, and I didn't want to do that. And I, but I felt confident because I had that media.
28:33
um influence from that I had always really connected to. So I think I've definitely drawn from there aren't very many but from the places where when I would see something I would really latch onto it and watch it over and over again and read it over and over again and and really take it in and be like okay well if they can do it then I can do this too.
29:03
That makes sense. And speaking of, I guess, the idea of mythical type of characters and their relationship with culture, the culture I came from, it's South American, right? Specifically, Central America, where werewolves, basically beings that can control the elements, i.e.
29:31
water, wind, fire, you know, the ocean bang. That's a thing also. vampires that I can recall, not so much. The closest we kind of have in terms of equivalent would be what's called a Bacca. And basically, a Bacca is like what
29:50
It can be a person, but it can also be like an animalistic kind of figure that can shift and chase you around throughout the night or specifically be sent after you if you've wronged someone. Or not even if you've wronged someone. Sometimes, apparently, you'll have one set on the loose after you just because someone is jealous of you, just because they can. So it's like the whole lore that comes with that.
30:20
So it's very interesting that you touch upon this idea of, you know, white vampires, not so much from like the idea of skin tone, but I guess like the cultural implications of what a vampire looks like. Would you say that the modern concept of vampire, as it is commonly known, would you say that this is something that's too popular for it to sound good?
30:47
Oh my gosh, that's such a good question. And, and you know, I've, it's funny that you brought up Stephanie Meyer earlier because that's kind of how I felt when her book came out. Um, I re I really, and okay. And I will admit, Oh, I ate up the Twilight series. It was my guilty pleasure. I read the whole thing in like a week. So I, you know, I enjoyed it, but.
31:15
When, when she made the vampire sparkly, I was very angry because I've been studying vampire lore for years. And to me that was, that was just such, I was just like, where did this come from?
31:37
It was very, very hard for me to get over that huge of a change to the lore. But as we are talking about art, I think that folklore is an art form that gets to belong to the culture that is interacting with it.
32:04
And so, you know, vampires, something that has a mythical creature that has existed for, I mean, you go back and there's like, there's so many different, like you were saying, it's a bit different in yours. And for me, I'm Mexican, my parents are from Mexico.
32:33
It wasn't really so much vampires, but it was more like demons kind of within our culture talking about. But that dark entity that can corrupt you, that can suck the life out of you, is so ingrained for thousands of years. This has been, you see it within different cultures.
32:58
And I think it's pretty, I think it's really cool that cultures get to take it and turn it into what they want it to be. And so even when I was writing my book, I took from all these different influences that I've had, whether it's media, modern day, Renaissance, my Mexican culture, and then I added in my own little twist and my own flair and what I would be like, well, you think it's gonna be like this.
33:28
And I think that's the whole point of art is to be able to take something that is there, that is really ingrained within us, but then to make it our own. And there are people will come, Stephanie Meyer will come out with her sparkly vampires and some people won't like it, but some people will love it. And so I don't have, I think it's really fun to see how things, how the vampire lore and culture does evolve.
33:58
and will continue to evolve.
34:03
Yeah, and the reason why I even bring attention to that is because for me, going back to what we touched upon earlier when it comes to representation, as a black, Latin American person, I can tell you firsthand, I don't particularly go out of my way to seek representation on screen or in media in general. But when I do see it, I'm pleasantly surprised. In case you point the character Blade.
34:31
performed by Wesley Snipes early 2000s. He's far, far, far correctly. Yeah, he plays a vampire and that's a pretty hardcore story too from what I understand. I'm not like the most comic book nerd person out there, but his story beat is beat is basically he was in the in the womb of his mom. His mom got bitten by a vampire in the womb. So he became a hybrid. And as a result of that, that makes him a daywalker.
35:01
And in that world, vampires can't really walk around during the daylight. So he's one of the rare few, aside from a few specific elites that can live in both worlds. And it was a very interesting take on the vampire lore, but even from the standpoint of storytelling and the violence that
35:24
the character was allowed to showcase on screen for me, being a young teenager seeing that, I was kind of losing my mind, I'm not gonna lie. Like seeing this badass black guy doing his thing, going on a murder spree, killing vampires and shit, that was like, okay. I didn't know we were that cool, but I think I was pretty happy to see that Blade, the movie franchise,
35:53
set the stage for what eventually became, I'd argue, a renaissance for superhero in terms of the genre. Whether it's in written form or in media form, to the point where even other contributions to the genre, specifically picking up Spider-Man and Wonder Woman and so on and so forth, I genuinely think had Blade not broken this
36:21
glass ceiling of A, having a black character on screen being the lead, and B, having the movie being read in R, you know, like essentially signaling to people that the adults are willing to engage with the medium. I really think that the landscape would have looked very differently, but perhaps you have a different thoughts when it comes to stuff like that.
36:45
No, I mean, I agree. I think it was groundbreaking. And I am a nerd that reads comics and is obsessed with all things superhero. I mean, I have my favorites and stuff, but I, like I said, I was blown away when Blade came out and I had seen a few of the comics too. But like, but
37:12
It was groundbreaking and it was, and I just used to, like I said, I used to watch it over and over again. I couldn't get enough. And, and the fact that he was such a complex character. And I think especially back then in the nineties, like when you did see representation, it was always a side character or it was always someone that didn't have a good arc. And you had Blade who was half human and half vampire. And he's struggling.
37:41
with his identity. Um, and he is a good guy, but he's like an anti hero. Cause like, you know, he's doing all this killing. It's all ruthless, but he's like killing the bad guys. And, but then he has the blood lust and it just like, oh, it was. It is, it still is so well done. And I think they're doing a reboot, aren't they? I, if I remember correctly that they're working on it.
38:11
Um, yeah, they are. Yeah. So I'm very curious. It's actually going to feature Marshall Ali and I've seen him perform pretty great and other shows and movies specifically I've seen him in this one called Luke Cage, which is pretty funny because in Luke Cage, this is like a Marvel of shoot.
38:35
Netflix series that supposedly is not tied to the mainline MCU series but then later on got retconned to being like well Nevermind, I guess we gonna include, you know, those side characters into the main franchise now. So What is he gonna play basically like two roles and within this like storyline of characters? I don't know but yeah that would make it the second time technically of him taking the mantle of a Marvel character
39:05
First, if I remember correctly, that was this character called Outmouth. It's like this gangster mobster that ruled the Bronx and then now he's gonna be Blade. He's got some big shows to fill, I'm not gonna lie. Because he's not just going for the Blade role, he's going for the way Wesley Snipes himself performed that role. It's a very physical role.
39:30
which is part of what made me appreciate that particular character more. He had this ability to command your attention on screen because you could tell that the guy could fight. So in this day and age, man, it's really hard to get people to latch onto you like that. And that leads me into your thoughts on the value of what are called gratuitous violence in media, because
39:59
Aside from media in general being discussed ad nauseum on my feed across the social platforms I use, there seems to be a renaissance of people being critical in terms of how much is too much in media. So where do you learn specifically, you know, like how much in terms of the content would you say goes too far?
40:24
Ooh, well, I have a really hard time with censorship. So, you know, I I'm a huge fan of dystopian literature. And, you know, if we're going really far back, not really far back, but like Fahrenheit, 9-11, is that 1984? It's like,
40:52
It's a slippery slope because who gets to decide what is too much and what goes too far. And I personally don't like to see a lot of violence. Um, just that that's, it upsets me. I tried watching the Walking Dead and I got very sad and started crying and stopped watching it.
41:21
That's just me. That's my personal take. But I would never want it to be censored so that somebody who does want to connect with it or watch it isn't able to. And so I kind of feel the same way about violence within things. It's like, well, I'm not going to watch it. That's not for me, but It's telling a story.
41:48
this is how the artist is portraying it. And if there are people who that's their medium, that's what they want to see. I don't see a problem with that. And then, you know, as far as we go with children, like, well, then that's where us parents have to talk to our children and see what we feel comfortable with and have those open conversations. And I think that open dialogue
42:17
trying to censor what somebody is trying to get across through their art form, through their media.
42:29
I see that makes sense because from my vintage point of view, I've seen all of this growth in terms of witnessing the rise of comic books, mangas, and video games. It's very interesting what people were clutching their pearls over. I remember there was a time where people were unironically advocating for banning video games altogether because there was this little thing called
42:56
They were not pulling any punches. You could cut people's head off, slice them in half, and many, many other fucked up gory things and people lost their minds over it. And I guess, first of all, to today, people kind of got more comfortable with it. Granted, they're still as vocal and critical, but from my vintage point, it's like, yeah, that's kind of the idea.
43:24
Also, oddly enough, at least in the context of American culture specifically, there seems to be this weird double standard that exists between censorship of violence and censorship of sexual material. For whatever reason, people definitely will go more ham when it comes to sexual type material, particularly the type that features women. I picked up on that. It's, um...
43:50
Even on Instagram, to be honest, I can kind of tell there's a thing like that going on where you can portray men in all sorts of salacious ways and not in really bad sunlight, but God forbid you show a titty or two, then boom, bam. So I'm very curious to kind of hear your takes when it comes to that level of censorship, not so much in media per se, but how society censors itself as someone who is a
44:19
cross-cultural like yourself.
44:23
Oh my gosh, that is like one of, oh, it bothers me so much. And, and especially like being a teacher, dress code is like a huge issue. And when we talk about dress codes, well, that's all rooted in sexuality as well. And females trying to regulate how female dresses because of how other people are going to react. Um.
44:53
And I completely agree with you. And to be honest, like that is...
45:02
what worried me the most about my book and not having it involved with my personal life is because there is romance in it and it's not even I romance readers have read my book and rated and said oh my gosh there's like it's so tame because that's how I write but like you were saying I know so many people that would clutch their pearls.
45:31
if they were to read my very what people is what people in the book community feel is very tame romance scenes. And but yeah, there is this this hyper fixation on people's bodies and sexuality and this double standard of a man can be on his Instagram in his underwear. And you can really tell what's going on.
46:01
Oh my gosh, you know, you're getting reported and it's getting taken down. And, um, and it's really frustrating because I have gotten into discussions about this with people and it's just. Culturally, it is so ingrained. Um, and then you get to my Mexican cultural side and it's even more, um, because of how.
46:32
this idea of the Latina woman either, you know, there's so many different parts to it, but there's Marianismo where, which comes from the idea of the Virgin Mary and that Latina women should be caretakers and wholesome and, you know, saving themselves for their husbands kind of an idea. And that is so ingrained.
46:59
within the culture, even to this day, and the fact that a daughter is treated very differently than a son in a Mexican household, and that's how I grew up. And all of this intersects when we're talking about censorship and sexuality, whether people realize it or not, this is all coming into play when they are looking at things and reading things, and then getting upset and wanting to ban books and wanting to
47:29
take down accounts that cross that line. But it's like, how do we? How do we get to the point where we can overcome these ideas when the people that are enforcing them the most are just so unwilling to listen and to change and I and that's, that's what I keep coming across. When I run into issues.
47:56
with people that want to censor things is just, there's no getting through. And then it seems like all of our policymakers tend to be on that side of it.
48:12
Yeah, that makes sense. Cause, um, I mean, when it comes to media, to be honest, I'm a very live and let live kind of guy. It's like, um, as long as you're not harming people, I really couldn't care less what you do with it. And that goes both for social media and straight up, you know.
48:31
media that people consume, whether it's, you know, film, music, and so on and so forth. But there's something to be said about the impact of what media has on society. And that's personally what led me to do this research kind of project. Well, initially it was supposed to be about research, but it kind of ballooned into something entirely different. And as you may know, Whisper, the platform that is...
49:00
focuses on the intersection of arts, culture, and technology. And I'm very curious to know what about these specific areas stand out or appeal to you.
49:15
Well, you know, we're, I always tell my students, I was alive when the internet didn't exist. And they think it's so weird. And so we're living in a time where we can get information within seconds. And I've heard so many people say, things are so much worse now than they were before. And my answer is like, no.
49:45
You look at historical periods, I mean, even if we go back to Roman times and like the things that they were doing were so disgusting and immoral and, you know, like making people fight to the death and watching and cheering and all that kind of stuff. Things aren't any worse. Humans are humans. It's just that we now have the ability to see everything live at the touch of a button.
50:15
That overload is what people are really reacting to. Now, that's the negative piece of it. But then you have the positive part. And this is where everything can intersect in a really amazing way. I have been able to connect from people from across the country.
50:41
who are autistic, who are Mexican, who are queer, that if we didn't have the ability with media, I would have never gotten to know. Me, somebody who is just a regular person was able to publish my dream book because of the technology that we have available to us. I wouldn't have been able to do that 15 years ago.
51:11
would have had to have find a publisher and get backed and all this kind of stuff, which we all know is very, does not favor somebody from my background. That's not really what people what the big publishers are looking for. And so I think, and then you bring culture into it. And the idea that if we allow our cultures to influence the material that we're making,
51:39
Hopefully now we're reaching an even broader audience. And so like I follow so many indigenous influencers that are bringing light to what's happening to their communities in Oaxaca, in, you know, the Amazon and. Wow. I'm able to then share it with my platform, with people that maybe would have never interacted with.
52:05
these different cultures and they're able to really see what's going on. And you hope that it does start a chain reaction of people opening their minds. And so I, my thing is always yes, there is that negative side because there's a negative side to everything. But I think that if you allow media, art and culture.
52:35
to really intersect and represent.
52:40
yourself. I think that the things that can come from it are so beautiful and
52:47
can really influence our world in a way to where real change can come about.
52:57
Yeah, that makes sense. I, it's very interesting that you're going to talk about what's possible currently being a self-published author because I looked into the numbers of how many Kindles were sold, the devices that feed directly into the Amazon services. I think it's like 10 million plus. So safe to say, it's a lot of those out there. So imagine being a successful author.
53:27
happening into that alone, you know, like, it definitely opens up a lot of horizons and opportunities. And then the barrier of entry for what art offers, I think, is that much lower and that much better, in my opinion. And I'm very curious, too, in terms of, you know, what art specifically is and what stands out to you. When you think of like the word art, you know, like what's the first thing that comes to your mind?
54:01
So like the first word that pops into my mind is creation. And to me, art is...
54:11
something that somebody is able to create that, I don't know, this is gonna sound so cliche, cheesy, but like that comes from their soul. And I mean, the possibilities are endless. I think, I don't know, maybe I have too broad of an understanding of art, but for instance, I have a daughter and she is very much into fashion.
54:41
And she puts together the most beautiful outfits and things that I would have never put together, patterns and different layers. And that is art to me. And it is so beautiful. And I'm just like taken back like, wow. And no one ever taught her to do this. It just, this just comes from her. She just, you know, it makes sense to her. And, and
55:09
And so that's what I think of when I think of art is what a person is able to create and
55:20
It brings beauty into our world and it's something that just speaks from your soul.
55:32
To further expand on the idea of art and media, what particular stories or pieces of media that you personally are big enough? I know you've mentioned Twilight earlier, but I'm sure there might be other ones. Yes, one, and Twilight's like, that's not really, please don't base my likes off of that one.
55:59
Right now I'm also really into an author named Rebecca Rowan Horse. She writes sci-fi and fantasy. She's an indigenous writer and I read one of her series, I'm on another series. Her work has just been fantastic. Oh, and then this one's a silly one, but I love the show What We Do in the Shadows.
56:27
Um, it's a vampire show, but it's a comedy and it's just, it's hilarious. And it's so well done. And we just found out that the next season will be their last. I'm very sad about that. Um, I, I grew up watching like every vampire movie I could get my hands on. Um, so let's see. We even, even the one that Eddie Murphy did, which.
56:55
Right now I'm totally blanking on, oh, A Vampire in Brooklyn, I think it's called. I loved that movie as a kid. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the whole Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.
57:09
I've rewatched that over and over and over again. And then also, I really enjoyed like all fantasy and sci-fi. So like the hunger game series, oh my gosh, my brain just blanked.
57:33
the Resident Evil, the main character of Resident Evil is named Alice and her just that strong female lead and the way that she played it like was oh my gosh I can't sit like I because that was I believe in the did it come out in the 90s 2000s um
58:03
She was s-
58:06
so independent and strong. And I think she always saves the guys too in it, if I remember correctly. And I just loved that. Once again, I was always so hungry for representation in all my different parts of my life.
58:27
So all of that has, has always really pulled me in. And I actually read this article on NPR that said that when the pandemic got really bad, they noticed a huge surge in people's interest in vampire books. And they, I think, I think they interviewed like some psychiatrists or like they took this phenomenon apart. And what they were saying is.
58:57
It's such a wonderful escape. And when people's lives get really difficult, they, sci-fi and fantasy, um, offers them worlds that kind of allows them to turn their brain off and, and to forget in that moment, all of the things that are happening. Um, and that's definitely what it was for me. It was, I was growing up.
59:27
I didn't have any friends. I didn't feel like I fit in. Didn't see myself anywhere. And then I would go into these vampire worlds or these monster worlds. And I could I just let everything fall away. And I could pretend that my my biggest struggle was that I was going to have to fight a vampire. So, yeah, that's. A breakdown of.
59:57
a lot of my favorites. It all ends up, the Resident Evil franchise is one of the most popular ones out there. If I recall correctly, that one actually was kickstarted by a Japanese author. And yeah, it's like, Resident Evil is very deep into the gaming industry. And I think without it, a lot of the additional IPs would not have been made. So...
01:00:26
pretty interesting that people have gone from playing the game to then watching movies based on the game. That's something you really see every day. And you mentioned also that like you've read in an NPR article, and that actually gets me really curious because when it comes to researching and staying updated in your field, and how do you balance staying informed
01:00:54
while still engaging in your hobbies. And also, what platforms do you typically use to stay up to date on things?
01:01:04
That is, that's one of my biggest struggles is trying to balance. Because I will get sucked in and I could spend, spend two hours researching a subject and I don't want to do anything else. And I've actually been struggling lately with that because I'm trying to write my second book. And.
01:01:29
It's like everything distracts me. Like I just go and start researching other things and then no writing occurs. So I am a, I do subscribe to NPR. I think, and a lot of it too is like it's the ease. So like I'm subscribed to their newsletter and then they send me the updates and I'm able to go through real quick and see if there's anything that I want to.
01:01:57
um, read more in depth about and, and when then say, if I, with autism, I'll use that as my example. If I do have a topic that I'm just really, really interested in, then I pull up my computer and I will spend hours just looking up, um, articles or scientific journals, especially if we're talking science.
01:02:23
I do try really hard to actually find credible scientific journals. So depending on the topic, I try to get to the experts and the actual research. That's really important to me. Let me see, I'm trying to remember another part to your question.
01:02:53
Oh. You touched on the balance part, but you also were touching on the platform aspect of it as well in terms of what you use to stay up to date on things. Specifically me and social media. I know you have Instagram, but what else do you use? I try not to do my research through social media. I really don't.
01:03:20
trust it or what I do is I see something. I see something on Instagram and then I will go and do my own research. I do have a few influencers who are scientists, historians, I purchase their books like their actual physical books, I read you know the research that they're
01:03:49
TikTok and Facebook, but I do not use Facebook or TikTok for research. Um, so more of what I use social media for is finding the people that are. The experts in the field that are doing the research. And then I further look into them and look into their research, their publications, their books. Um, but I.
01:04:17
I personally do not like using social media as a form of research. Yeah, see, this is where you and I were very different. And that's a virtue of the stuff I've been doing in terms of designing the infrastructure behind this project of mine. What I noticed, right, I'd say definitely early 2014,
01:04:44
I've noticed that social media was definitely taking more of a hold on the average person. And people were basically talking about not the stuff they were doing, but talking about posting the stuff they were doing on social media. There was this like weird shift. So I kind of gone from that to getting latched up on that last time myself. I didn't realize it. Wait a minute. I'm spending an average of six.
01:05:12
8 hours a day staring at a screen and being fed stuff and not really thinking too deeply about what it is I'm being fed or why it's being fed to me. So from that point on, I kind of set on a journey of sorts to solve that. And I'm kind of happy to report that I at least half of it I've cracked it. For starters, I started with the email system that I use. It used to be that I made fun of people that read emails.
01:05:41
Actually, the big jump for me was that if you read emails, you're a boomer. Um, well, I'm now the boomer that I very much made fun of because a lot of what I read is email all day, every day. It's just pretty simple and practical. I can just bookmark something, send it to myself via email. I can subscribe to Stelvia email. Um, I tend to make it a point to also.
01:06:06
basically, their email to us called an RSS feed, which is basically what happens when you subscribe to something and it sends you live updates of people's activities, you know, that's pretty neat. And obviously, the email for me comes into play from the podcasting angle, because if people subscribe to my stuff, then they can automatically get that delivered to their devices, regardless if they are on an Apple iPhone or, you know, an Android. So
01:06:35
That was like the first one that really clicked for me in terms of bringing myself from the shackles of social media proper. The second step eventually came down to understanding how to navigate different pockets of communities, because I think the virtue of what I do in terms of covering the intersection of arts, culture and technology is that
01:06:59
I'm not really stuck into one nation. Thank God I'm not. Because I definitely noticed a certain tendency for people to get pretty comfortable with where they're at and not really venture that much further. And a lot of what I tend to do, to be honest, beyond following the influencers of the day, is to look into their comments section and see who's replying to them actively, see if there's like a...
01:07:27
repeating patterns there in terms of someone that stands out or a particular theme or topics being discussed. And I can jump from that and do a deeper dive. And in a weird way, by doing so, I'm essentially getting people to do the research for me because now I'm tapping into a hive mind of sorts where I can sort of keep tabs on what's currently going on in a particular sphere without having to necessarily be involved in it.
01:07:55
So that's why I can afford to basically plug off of social media like that in the way that I am and still manage to dispatch what I'm working on to well over 100,000 people. That's what it shows me on the back end on Substack. I think I've reached that number in about a year, which actually surprised me, to be honest, because it used to be that I thought being a hotshot meant we had to be big on social media. But
01:08:25
To be honest, ever since that day, I've really got serious about the whole marketing, funneling, and that whole technical side of the game. I swear about email, man. Like, email is such a powerful medium, especially for what I do. And I'm very curious, you know, in terms of how that impacts you and what you do, because instead of social media, I can, or rather,
01:08:53
The way you get into things, you can get basically rabbit hole type of interest and can get distracting. So, would you say that consistency is a challenge for you then? And why is that specifically? Oh my gosh, it is a huge challenge for me. And I think it really relates to being an indie author.
01:09:21
There's nobody, I don't have deadlines. I don't, I could never publish another book again. No, and the only people that would be sad were the ones that read my first book. And so I, the motivation has to be intrinsic and it has to come from me. Otherwise it's not gonna happen. And I think you touched on something where you, when you were saying like, you thought, you know, being successful meant
01:09:49
being successful on social media. And it can be really discouraging to see those numbers and to feel like you're not reaching enough people and other authors have, you know, such bigger followings and bigger numbers and more engagement and then...
01:10:14
I start to feel like, well, why am I even doing this? Is this a waste of time? Should I just give up? And then that's when I get distracted. So that, in writing my second book right now, that has been the biggest challenge is the consistency and the motivation. And I keep telling myself like, oh, well, I'll schedule it in the calendar, but then I go to write and I don't have inspiration.
01:10:42
And, you know, at the end of the day, this is an art form. And so if I'm sitting there forcing it or just staring at my screen and nothing's coming out, I mean, I, at least with how I write, it's very, it kind of just flows. And if I'm not in that mood, I have found that if I force it, it just doesn't work.
01:11:11
Um, and I ended up going back and deleting it anyways. So I don't know. I, I am still really struggling with, with that, with the consistency of, of trying to create art on a regular basis. And I think too, I mean, life, I work full time. I have three kids. There's.
01:11:38
So many things that come before writing the book and then I get to the end of the day and it's really hard to create art after being worn down and exhausted and living in the world that we live in and then trying to create something.
01:11:59
Yeah, really dig much. You know, there's a school that I tend to go back to a lot. And I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically says that you only as strong as your systems. And for me, I'm big into systems, man. I'm not going to say that systems solve everything, but for what I do, and the creative angle of it all like
01:12:24
without systems, it would basically all fall apart. I mean, you've kind of witnessed a bit of that firsthand. At first, when I was trying to get you on last time, at the time, my system was not fully fleshed out yet because I think I was at about 10 episodes-ish into it. Currently, I'm already 500 hours published deep into it. So yeah, like my systems, they got extremely refined.
01:12:53
to the point where I kind of, you know, hit people up, ask them about, you know, like, what they're currently doing, what they're into, if they want to come on. And once, you know, they confirm that I can just, you know, forward them that link. And that's the first link in that chain of that system. So that from there, I can basically build everything around it so that even even today before we were gearing up to get into this.
01:13:23
You probably noticed I tagged her into a bunch of things. And there was a specific reason why. I'm really not into the whole idea of quote unquote creating content. I'm not like a fornato that like, I get on a treadmill and it's like, cool, I'm gonna make Zuckerberg some money today. It's like, no, fuck off, I'm not doing that. What I'm doing though, is I'm documenting what I'm doing in real time, systems wise so that...
01:13:51
As I go along, you know, it's like, yeah, it's literally matter of fact of like, hey, I'm, I'm doing this at this day at this time, if you want to tune in, you tune in. And people that catch along, catch along and it's worked out for me. And what really helped me to be honest and humor me with that thought exercise is that think more of what you do creatively as like a diary entry and less as like a task that needs to be done. Right. Where
01:14:18
You know, you log in today and you're like, cool, like, what does my day look like? What am I doing? What am I planning? How much of it can I realistically get done? And you kind of go from there and you can either document what you're doing or just make what you're doing be the documentation itself so that once you're done with the entry of the day, it's like, congratulations. As far as I'm concerned.
01:14:43
Any day that is approached like that is always going to be a good day regardless of whether you feel like you obnoxious, you know, unparalleled or not because It's not intended to be a product. It's a diary entry. Do you have any thoughts about that?
01:15:03
Wow, I actually really like that. I've never thought of it like that. And that would really work for me. And it's funny that you say that because recently, when I was writing, I was going through some really tough stuff. And in the book, I had
01:15:32
I had planned on making it very fun and lighthearted. And then because of what I was going through, it really did become like a journal to where I was putting in exactly what I was feeling and going through. But in the world of this vampire. And that was like the first time I'd been able to write in like two weeks channeling that. And so.
01:15:59
I actually think that that shifting my mindset in that way would make a huge difference for me because I do think of things like that in that way. And additionally for me, part of the reason why I take this approach and full credit to Rick Rubin here, this is the person that introduced me to that mentality. And it really goes to show because Rick Rubin is one of the most
01:16:25
influential music makers of our century, without a doubt. He's worked with basically everyone, from Metallica to Beastie Boys to Madonna and so on and so forth. And yeah, like he said, we made on that as far as it's concerned. The pressure for him is not about the product. It's about the diary entry of the day. It basically shifted everything for me from since then.
01:16:50
so that I don't make it about producing something for that day, but more so showcasing what I have to offer that day. See the difference?
01:17:02
Yeah, for sure. And I think that that form of thinking really lends itself to creating art. Like you said, we're not machines. We're not. This isn't a product that I'm trying to make. This is.
01:17:22
something that's going to just flow from me organically that would happen as myself.
01:17:29
And to linger a bit more on the idea of consistency as well, it's for me the idea of taking on this diary entry approach directly ties into iteration. And I'm very curious to know what is the difference between consistency and iteration in your day-to-day work? Could you elaborate a little bit in terms of your approach and how you balance?
01:17:58
your problem solving process.
01:18:05
have to be honest, I don't think I've been doing a good job of balancing. And I think, you know, and we talked about this a little bit when we were emailing. I have had some really some really tough things happen in my personal life recently. And
01:18:32
You know, when we all go through traumatic events, everything kind of turns off. And this is, I don't know, this has been going on for me, with me for months, but I've been, my anxiety and my depression flared up because of it. And so I have been having a really hard time with
01:19:01
that output and and when I'm overwhelmed everything just gets very very jumbled in my head. And I describe it almost as like I feel like a veil gets put over my eyes and I be it becomes I become unable to see clearly. Everything's really foggy and and then a lot of the times I just don't even know that I've.
01:19:29
gotten into that and I've gotten that low. Um, and so. I know you were asking like the difference between the consistency and iteration, but.
01:19:45
For me, they do go hand in hand because I need those systems in order to be able to be consistent. But when I'm struggling emotionally, psychologically, I become unable to even put those systems into place. And then
01:20:13
what would lead to the consistency never happens. I don't know. I hope I, I'm not sure if I answer that question right, but. No, I mean like to further really like cement where I lean in terms of my approach and what the objective is, the agenda for the day if you will. The idea is not for you to give me the perfect answers by any means. If anything, a lot of what I'm doing
01:20:43
for lack of a better term, is structuring the conversation in such a way where it gives you breathing room, that's pretty much it. Everything else is just that, a conversation, you know, like I'm not expecting all the answers to suddenly fall into your lab or mine. But I appreciate the attempt nonetheless. My comment, to be honest, would be that as far as I'm concerned, emotionally I respond to things fairly deeply, but
01:21:12
I'm also in this weird like in between zone where I'm like dumped by everything also. Um, because you know, that's a classic neurodivergency right there. Um, I gotta thank your brain for that one. But um, otherwise though, you know, like I, I still find systems to be useful in that kind of context where even when I'm in the deepest part of the hole and I'm where I'm in the hole, um, I can still kind of
01:21:41
pull on the tugs of strings of the systems to really get something going, even if it's not the best or not the most performing aspect of it. Because for me, it really comes down to volume over effort. What I mean by that is sure, uploading the effort.
01:22:03
But the volume of the effort I'm putting in does add up over time, which to go back to what I said earlier, that same approach of diary-like approach in terms of what I do, got me from first 10 episodes to now well over 500 hours of stuff documented so far and published. And I did not do that in one single sitting. It was all the repeat of the process of
01:22:30
get in, you know, get the agenda and get out, publish it, kind of simmer on it for a minute and rinse and repeat. Some of those days I've had to wake up at really odd hours to get it done because I've had this stuff basically going on with people in Australia where our schedules was so mismatched but I'm very glad I pulled it off nonetheless because again, you know, like the
01:22:58
But more importantly, I make it a point to not be so outcome focused, which makes it so much easier for me personally to do what I'm doing is at this point. It's understood on both ends that The goal is not to make it happen at all cost. The goal is to get a productive ideally quality type of conversation out of this so that People that perhaps want to resonate with it.
01:23:27
hand resume with it, as opposed to, you know, like, really finding tooth and nail to make something happen. And Lord, Lord knows, man, I've had plenty of instances where I was like, man, like, this is not gonna work out. So I did just that. I just stopped trying. I'm like, cool. If it's not gonna happen today, fuck it. I'm not gonna go out of my way to make it happen. And if instead, if my effort elsewhere, you know, it's all about
01:23:55
There's this martial arts called Aikido and the idea there to basically redirect impact so that you'll lessen the blows on yourself. It's very much that the way I do things, you know, like if I can tell that something big is coming my way, or if I'm already in the midst of it, then I'm just going to focus more on redirection and less on control, you know?
01:24:28
Yeah, no, I totally agree. And I think that that's just for me, I it's something I need to work on. Like, I know that the systems will help and I know they'll be in place. But it's, it's something that I am actively aware that I lack. And and I'm, and I'm actually like working on it in therapy, like, okay, well, how
01:24:55
how can I put symptoms in place even when I'm in a place where I can't, where I think that I can't. And I do think that it'll make a huge difference moving forward, but like with everything else, you know, you have to practice, you have to, but I do think that your journaling suggestion is gonna help a lot.
01:25:21
Yeah, hopefully I'm really happy it does. Because yeah, like anything that works for me, man, I tend to kind of pass along the nugget of knowledge to other people. Because I'd say the core majority of the people that listen to my stuff, but also the majority of the people I've featured are creative types. And they definitely all have that across the board in common, this idea of struggling with consistency in some way, shape, or form. So you know, like.
01:25:49
I'm about as creative as it gets, you know, and on top of that, I'm multi-platform too, you know, like I'm somehow able to operate across a wide variety of places, you know, from Reddit to Tumblr to Twitter to here. Um, I have no idea how the fuck I'm doing it, but I'm doing it nonetheless, man. Um, and happy to share some of what I've learned along the way, if I can. Um, and speaking of learning things and being exposed to things, you know,
01:26:19
you know, spending your wings to explore other places. When it comes to subjects that you enjoy, how do you go about critiquing them? And what criteria do you consider to be bad or good in these subjects? And more importantly, does one have to be an expert to provide critique?
01:26:41
Ooh, okay. And this is actually like a huge discussion point in the book community. What I have learned, and this has just really been cemented by me writing my own book, I do tend to be pretty critical on things. But...
01:27:06
I think when critiquing, we have to be careful because my most favorite book ever, I read somebody's review and they gave it one star and they hated it and they said it was awful. And, and I was like, what? How could anybody hate this book? It is so beautiful and well written. And that's when
01:27:33
And, you know, and at that point I had been getting some bad reviews on my book and it really hurt. And that's when I was like, okay, see exactly every book, every movie, every whatever is being created art form is not made for everyone. And each person is going to find what what they love what works for them.
01:28:01
And so it really shifted my thinking and especially after putting my heart and soul into this book that some people are not going to like. What I do is if I really love something, I shout it from the rooftops and I will talk about it and I will put it out there and I will recommend it to people. And if I don't like something, I don't critique it.
01:28:31
because for whatever reason, it was not for me. And just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean somebody else isn't going to connect with it and love it. And I don't want my critique to affect someone who has a different life experience to interact with it. And so I, and you know, I'll,
01:29:00
All viewpoints and things are valid and people, there's people that don't take that stance. But I think my, the way that I see it is that we want art to be consumed as much as possible and we want the right people, like the people who it is meant for, we want it to reach them.
01:29:29
And so when, you know, the people that have been leaving critiques on my book, when they're talking about how, wow, it really shows the autistic experience, there's so much representation, I really connected with this character, my hope is that people will read it. And some people may be like, wow, this really is not for me. And then others will say, oh, wow, this is exactly what I'm looking for.
01:29:55
And that can that perspective can be gained through positive critique. Just as much as it could do negative critique. I'm at the end of the day, any art form is something that is coming from someone's blood, sweat and tears. And I don't want to tear anyone down for that.
01:30:21
Yeah, I see for me, critiquing things boils down to asking questions, which actually funny enough, brief pivot when it comes to asking questions, something I've noticed definitely quite a bit in the process of expanding this.
01:30:50
in question. Wow, like a lot of like double puns going on here. Yeah, like, so I found this like piece that was talking about this idea that within the neurodivergent community, there's this idea of, you know, how questions are received versus how questions are interpreted, where apparently people that are more on the neurotypical side, they tend to interpret questions like,
01:31:18
like a threat of some kind, like an attempt to demean them. And for the folks that are more so under neurodivergent side, it's just a request for information. So when that clicked for me, that's when I was like, oh, okay, that explains why I'm hated so much then, because a lot of what I do is asking questions day in and day out. And I ask the tough questions too, because
01:31:42
I don't just document stuff for my own benefit. I think that's shit by sale. Now I'm documenting things actively for a crowd of over 100,000 people and counting. So I cannot in good conscious just document things and publish them and have that stuff be bullshit, you know? I really have to get myself accountable here and ask the good questions, the tough questions.
01:32:09
And asking questions doesn't make you a lot of friends. So take note of that for the people listening as you explore your creative journey. But when it comes to you specifically, when it comes to asking insightful questions, what is your thought process? And what sorts of questions you'd wish you'd get asked more of?
01:32:35
Oh my gosh, I was like nodding so much with what you were saying right now, because I actually recently got into a very negative discussion with someone because I was asking questions like you said, like that's and especially because I tend to not understand a neurotypical person's thought process.
01:32:58
I ask questions because I know I will misinterpret what they're trying to say because I don't think the way that they do. And people do get really mad. And, and it's, and it's really hard because I'm like, I'm doing this because I want to understand you. I'm doing this because I respect you. I'm not doing it to be annoying. And that's actually the word that was used towards me.
01:33:28
And just like you, I love questions and I love it when people ask me questions and I'm like, yeah. And, and so, um, I, I love doing interviews. I love getting asked questions. I think that if.
01:33:55
people let their guard down and started being more open to being asked questions and to answering questions honestly. I think that we would there would just be such a shift in understanding each other in getting along better, you know, right now there's such a divide between so many people. Um, but that being said, so I. The.
01:34:24
I am not, especially when it comes to interview questions, I'm horrible at creating stuff like that. And every time I meet with somebody, I'm always so excited about the questions that I get asked. And just like you said, it's so interesting to see how different the questions are, depending upon the platform that I'm talking to or the person or their background.
01:34:52
And so all of that is just really fun. I think that because I am such a literary nerd, the questions that I do love the most are about my book specifically. Like, how did you come up with this character? What was your thought process? And so I have some book events coming up, but like Q&As about my book is what
01:35:21
I enjoy the most just because I love this book so much and I mean it's my art form and so I love talking about my art form like as much as to anyone that will listen and I know that my friends and family are probably so sick of it so I need new people to listen to me.
01:35:44
Yeah, that makes sense actually. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Mr. Beast. I really respect what he does and how he does it. But what I realized is that a lot of what he's doing, at least in terms of the content side of it, it doesn't really serve a need that I detect right now, which is giving people the platform to...
01:36:10
both be exposed to things but also share things. And yeah, like I'm really looking into what's currently available to see effectively who's doing what I'm hoping to do and is doing it better than I can. The closest I can think of something like that would be the team of podcasters and filmmakers. They go by the name Colin and Samir. They're pretty big on YouTube.
01:36:39
They've actually spoken with a bunch of authors and most recently, if I recall correctly, they actually featured Hank Green on their podcast before. And if you don't know who that is, for those that don't know anyway, this is a guy who he's written books. He's an educator. He's an academic. He's done the whole nine yard and he just also happens to be someone who's pretty savvy about the Internet. So.
01:37:09
That confluence in particular really stood out to me in terms of like a quality conversation material in terms of what you can learn from somebody, but also how you can learn from somebody else in terms of the questions you ask from them. Especially when they come from a field of expertise that's different than your own. So if you haven't checked that out, to be honest, I leave it in and I'll happily send some links your way afterwards, you know, once you have this one up. And
01:37:38
Yeah, that leads me into, you know, cultural influences. You said you were Chicana and also that at least waging based on what you've said, you definitely seem to have a relationship that's active with that cultural aspect. But what other cultural influences do you engage with that are different than your own? And why? Why not?
01:38:05
I've always loved learning about other cultures. It's something that my parents really instilled in me. I love to travel, even though ever since COVID, I haven't traveled much. But when I was in college, I went and studied in Spain and, you know, getting to just live in a whole other country and see the way that other people do things, especially so different than the United States.
01:38:34
was really wonderful and something that I really enjoyed doing when I can. My friends are of all different cultures and we are always talking about it in a really open dialogue because I do, I do want to know how other cultures see things and how they do things and and it it
01:38:58
does change our outlook so much and the way that we understand things. The same with like different religions. I love learning about different religions. You know, I'm pansexual and I'm part of the queer community and I have worked really hard to understand everybody within my community.
01:39:23
their gender, their sexuality, their, you know, how they want to be, things to be and addressed and everything. And that's so important to me. And I think for me, it always just comes from a place of respect. I want to honor and cherish and respect who a person is and where they're coming from always. And the first step to that is learning about them.
01:39:52
I love to dance. That's one of my passions. And so I have always, I've used dance as a way to get to know other cultures. So I've danced hula, I've done belly dancing, I've done folklorico, which is traditional Mexican dancing. And through that have just had a whole other world opened up to me, the music, the different regions.
01:40:21
even food, if we have like social gatherings, the language. And so when I am a part of something, I want it to be inclusive and whole, and I don't want it to be surface level. And so I do take learning about other cultures and other people very, very seriously, and from a very deep place of respect.
01:40:47
And then it makes it a little hard because like, for instance, with Hula, it's become such a popular, it was, it kind of makes me think of that vampire comment that you made such a popular mainstream thing to where many times it's done really disrespectfully and I get so annoyed and mad and then people say that I need to calm down that I'm being too sensitive. Um, but I just, I take other people's.
01:41:15
sacred practices and cultural beliefs very, very seriously. And I really take them to heart.
01:41:28
And speaking of other influences, I've noticed that you mentioned that you actively check out this other podcast called The Old Motherfuckers. I was very curious, first of all, how you discovered it and also like what are you taking away from it, you know, based on what you've listened to from that particular corner of the internet?
01:41:55
Um, so that one is actually one of the hosts is my best friend. So her and I were college roommates, um, and have stayed close ever since. And when I became a mom first and she saw me go through that and I had many, many struggles with it, and then she became a mom.
01:42:22
And her struggles were really similar to mine. And she was someone who I could lean on, who I knew would never judge me. And it was during a very, very dark time in my life. And it's one of those things where I'm like, thank goodness I had her. Because I don't know how I would have gotten through it without it.
01:42:47
And so I love the topics that they, um, they address are, you know, it's like all the things that we would talk about that you just don't see in a parenting podcast. It's real and it's raw and it's things that a lot of people are too embarrassed or scared to talk about, you know, moms and sexuality and, um, the difficulties that you have with parenting.
01:43:16
And so I think it brings forward a lot of topics that need to be addressed that you don't see in parenting platforms.
01:43:28
Yeah, that's really interesting. I've actually featured one of the most of it previously. We discussed pretty extensively the idea of anonymity, social platforms, and just the impact of technology on young minds and young children. Yeah, that one took me out for a loop because some of the things that I kind of assumed were normal or...
01:43:58
expected in certain households. That really challenged that preconceived notion I had, especially as someone who's not a parent yet. And by all accounts, it's exactly planning to be, then again, I'm not close-minded to the idea. It's just the whole, you know, seeing the world fall apart kind of thing and not wanting to exactly bring other people into it. But as you said,
01:44:27
pretty eloquently earlier, you know, like the world has improved in a lot of ways. So I'll try not to be too pessimistic, because, but glad, glad this person has been a cornerstone for you. I think in this age of lack of third places, podcasting is just about...
01:44:53
one of the last remnants of what that can look like to preserving third places, especially in the context of when something actually catches on and becomes popular. Unfortunately though, in this day and age of the internet, what gets popular typically tends to be more the controversial side, but I've seen some pretty interesting stuff come about when it comes to...
01:45:18
people basically growing a cult of personality around not only themselves and what they do, but encouraging people to sort of follow suit. A good example of that would be Dr. Andrew Huberman. He's a neuroscientist who somehow found himself into podcasting and fast forward to today, you know, when he first started back in 2021, I think. He now has well over 5 million people checking his stuff out.
01:45:47
across his platforms and that's a high number. But beyond that, when he goes out and actually does in-person lectures with people, people show up in droves, man, for the stuff he's talking about. And it's really refreshing to see someone talking about hard science being this popular and being appealing for the average audience. So that makes me definitely miss.
01:46:16
pessimistic and speaking of like people you know that I think are cool the last inquiry I have for you would be to name a person alive or dead that you'd want to either date or have as a best friend and you know way too why or why not
01:46:38
Okay, so I thought about this really hard.
01:46:46
My name is Daniel Levy, who is the creator and star of Schitt's Creek. So when I... I love comedies because I'm so emotional. I have to watch things that are lighthearted.
01:47:16
They made the though it takes place in this like little town that you would think is very conservative and closed minded. Um, but he, I saw an interview with him and he said that he decided to make. That world queer normative. I don't know if he used the term queer normative, but.
01:47:41
He nicked a guy and they fell in love.
01:47:51
and he sent it to look like.
01:48:07
um, a queer normative world. And I've read, like I've read and watched so many interviews with him. And he just seems like such a, an amazing sweet soul. I don't know. Maybe that's what he's just putting out, but, um, I feel like, and I love everything that he does, uh, I would just want to sit down and like,
01:48:37
pick his brain on the creative process and everything that he puts out. And I just think that the things that he puts out are so beautiful and they heal my heart. One of the things I like to do as part of my being neurodivergent is I'll watch the same thing over and over and over again.
01:49:06
in its entirety about 20 times, like the entire series. And it's really comforting to me. And I just, that is a person that I find so much comfort in that it would be a dream come true to sit down and talk to him.
01:49:27
Is this pretty well-made? Yeah, like for me, I don't really know if any other people I can think of I would want to date, because I don't like thinking of them that way. But specifically one person alive or dead I definitely would want to have a chat with would be Einstein. Because there are people that are famous and then there are people that become...
01:49:56
larger than life where basically even their names kind of become its own thing and it's like when people call you an Einstein you know it's like this like um short hand term for like oh like you have a really big brain and i'm like does he have a big brain though like let me uh let me investigate no shame to Einstein and Einstein lovers and also part of what actually got me curious to begin with to kind of go that route is um he's recent
01:50:24
portrayal in the film Oppenheimer, which I was not aware apparently, but Robert Oppenheimer, he was alive during the time when Einstein was alive, which I don't know why, in my brain it feels like Einstein kind of comes from an era that's way earlier, but yeah, that's the guy for sure. And the way they show him in the film, he's not going to do this like
01:50:52
cranky individual who gives no fucks, will ignore you if he hates you, that kind of thing. And I'm like damn, so much for being the smartest booger on earth for some people. But yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll be asking him tons of questions about how he thinks the universe works and shit, because he clearly has stuff figured out that I don't, and probably never will. That would be the...
01:51:22
That will be the section dedicated towards you specifically in terms of announcements you have and stuff you personally would want to let people know about, whether it's upcoming events, projects, releases, and so on and so forth. Definitely appreciate you taking the time to hop on by and hang out both respectively on the Discord server, which we currently are talking in, but also on my Twitter.
01:51:50
Twitter space specifically to an audience of not many people really but that's fine Chris is the only one currently listening along but it is a Saturday morning after all I'm sure people have a lot of time being busy doing other things But in the aftermath of it though once this gets published. Yeah, like let people know, you know where to find you and What else you got cooking up and how to best support you as well?
01:52:24
Thank you. Yes, so my book V is available on Amazon, KU and Kindle. And my Instagram, which I feel like is the easiest way to get a hold of me, is at Aura underscore Marquez underscore author. And I am working on my second book.
01:52:54
which is called Eternidad. It is in English, but it just felt right to make the title in Spanish. And it's the second book to the V Chronicles, which it is gonna be a five book series. But I'm obviously just right at the beginning. And thank you so much for having me on. This was like awesome. I love talking to you about all of...
01:53:21
you know, the arts, the culture, the media intersection. It was so interesting and hearing your thoughts on everything. And yeah, it's just this this has been really awesome. Yeah, hoping to make this like a bit of a
01:53:49
I've been in the actual studio that I work at because that's where I get to really do more cool, interesting shit. I've been personally expanding more and more of my ventures in that department. Doing this is cool, don't get me wrong. Like I see a lot of value and worth and I'm putting in it. But yeah, something about like doing the whole, you know, going outside, touching grass kind of thing, and not just be like the
01:54:19
disembodied like mine on the internet, you know, like, it's a nice change of pace. So anytime you wanna get that going, let me know.
01:54:30
Oh my gosh, I would love that! Just send me a message.
01:54:36
Yeah, sounds like a plan. So this will be published in anywhere between like a few days to a few weeks. It really depends. I don't have like a schedule when it comes to specific releases, but soon as it goes out, you should be tagged everywhere. So that includes, you know, Spotify and YouTube,
01:55:05
Definitely make sure to check that out. Okay. Close up and wrap up everything. And lastly, go check out that top mate like I initially sent to you so you can, you know, leave some of your final impressions from, you know, your time spent here talking about your books, your impressions on the art landscape, the culture landscape, the representation landscape and so many more cool gems you dropped in there.
01:55:34
I definitely was not expecting to get into the deep leads of stuff, but we definitely have gone places and I'm glad we did. You definitely have a talent for that stuff. Thank you.
01:55:56
On that note, yeah, this is the part where I sign off. Catch you around. And yeah, that's pretty much it for me today. And I'm looking forward to hearing from you and your books and your next ventures. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for this. And we'll be in touch. All right, sounds good. Bye.
[Whiz Pill Podcast 58] How To Be A Best Selling Writer In 2024 Featuring Aura Marquez