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Episode 64: Brandie June ‘Plays’ with Storytelling
35 Plays1 month ago
Brandie June spent most of her childhood onstage or reading, as both activities let her live in fantastic stories. She moved to Los Angeles to study acting at UCLA, and eventually branched out into costume design, playwriting, prose, and even got her MBA in entertainment marketing, becoming the marketing director for Kids & Family Entertainment at Shout! Studios.
When not writing or marketing, she can often be found doing nail art, listening to audiobooks, drinking too much espresso, and coming up with new art projects. She's a volunteer story coach for middle and high school students through SpiritCorps and mentor through Youth Mentoring Connection.
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Transcript
Introduction to Consents May Ferry and Brandi June
00:00:06
Speaker
<unk> my um <unk> just keep Welcome, everyone, to Consents May Ferry. I'm Angie Fiedler-Sutton, talking to geeky people about geeky things. I'm a proud fangirl geek with pieces published in Stage Directions, Den of Geek, The Mary Sue, and I'm a regular contributor at The Geeky Area.
00:00:30
Speaker
This episode's guest is Brandi June. Brandy spent most of her childhood on stage or reading as both activities let her live in a fantastic stories. She moved to Los Angeles to study acting at UCLA and eventually branched out into costume design, playwriting, prose, and even got her MBA in entertainment marketing, becoming the marketing director for kids and family entertainment at Shelf Studios.
00:00:52
Speaker
When not writing or marketing, she can often be found doing nail art, listening to audio books, drinking too much espresso and coming up with new art projects. She's a volunteer story coach for middle and high school students through Spirit Core and mentor through youth mentoring neck connections.
00:01:07
Speaker
Welcome to Contents May Very, Jerry.
Brandi's Writing Journey and Inspirations
00:01:09
Speaker
First of all, i always ask my origin stories, just kind of when you first came across that time when you realized this was something that you wanted to do for a living rather than, quote unquote, just a hobby.
00:01:22
Speaker
Oh, geez. I think once I actually was able to finish and edit a book is when I realized that I could actually finish and edit a book and that maybe other people would like to read it as well. So that was really kind of the first step in in that direction.
00:01:43
Speaker
And then you've done books and plays. Do you have a preference or is it just kind of... Whatever the needs are needed. I really enjoy both for different reasons. There's something to me magical about writing something and then seeing people embody it on stage. So last year i co-wrote a Gem in the Holograms parody musical.
00:02:06
Speaker
And seeing the words I wrote, you know, then being enacted by people was just really delightful. And there is something that I just adore about it coming to life in that way.
00:02:19
Speaker
I also love creating really just incredibly fantastical stories, which is where I find that my books are easier to convey necessarily magical worlds. I don't have to worry about the practicalities of actually putting something on and can have worlds that are as far-fetched or magic systems that are as out there as I possibly want to make them.
00:02:48
Speaker
Do you feel you use different writing muscles when you are writing a play versus writing a book? I really love to have ah table read when I'm writing a play. And that's not something I usually do when I'm writing a novel. You get some actors or even just some friends around literally a table. Snacks are usually advisable.
00:03:08
Speaker
And everyone just reads a part and you can hear things out loud and you sort of hear what jokes hit and maybe which ones don't. And so that's a great way for me to get a sense of if the play is shaping up into the way I want it to or not.
00:03:24
Speaker
Whereas a novel is usually too long to do that. So for a novel, I lean more heavily into some of my beta readers to get their feedback and their sense of of what worked or maybe
Exploration of Goldspun and Upcoming Works
00:03:35
Speaker
what didn't. And if some of the things I'm hoping came across did or, you know, what did not.
00:03:41
Speaker
Okay, well, let's start talking about your books. For those who may not be familiar, give an elevator pitch as what they're about. so Goldspun duology, which is Goldspun and Curse Undone, is a Rumpelstiltskin retelling from the Miller's Daughter's point of view, except she's a con artist Rumpelstiltskin is a mysterious fairy and then hijinks ensue.
00:04:03
Speaker
And so those are the two books that I have out. And then I have one book coming out next summer, which is called Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theater. As you we've mentioned, I'm a big theater nerd. So it's about two sisters growing up in a Victorian-esque theater. There is secret magic and this bounty hunter eye infiltrates the theater.
00:04:24
Speaker
Well, I'm also a theater nerd for longtime listeners. They know I spent a good 20 years covering theater in Kansas City before I moved to l L.A. for a volunteer magazine. So I'm i'm very much into theater as well. For the books, though, I usually don't ask where you get your story ideas, but that's a very specific story idea. Do you remember how you came up with it? For the theater one?
00:04:47
Speaker
No, for the rubble still skin. So I don't know if you're familiar with NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month for anyone who doesn't know. It's this challenge in November to write 50,000 words.
00:05:00
Speaker
Any inspiring writers, I highly recommend doing it because it's a good way to quiet your inner critic because you just don't have time to edit if you're trying to write that many words in a month and Then you can edit later on.
00:05:13
Speaker
And one year I didn't have an idea for a big story. So I decided I would do short stories for every letter of the alphabet based on some sort of fairy tale or mythological creature.
00:05:24
Speaker
and I didn't get to all 26 stories, but for r I picked Rumpelstiltskin and decided to reverse the trope on it is what would Rumpelstiltskin look like if he had been the hero of the story?
00:05:38
Speaker
And though my... Goldspun is a lot different than that short story. That short story really excited me about looking at the story from a different way and a different perspective. And then after that short story was written, I wanted to dive deeper into what that story could look like.
00:05:56
Speaker
And as I did that, I realized that the Miller's daughter really didn't have much of a voice or much agency. In the original story, her dad says she can spin the gold and Rumpelstiltskin, you know, comes in, does it, and the king makes her. So I wanted her to have a lot more agency, which is why I made her her a con artist, because if she's going to get in trouble, at least she could get herself in trouble.
00:06:21
Speaker
So that's that's really where that story started.
Workshops and Encouragement for Writers
00:06:25
Speaker
Awesome. Let's talk a little bit more about your theater work. Before the interview started, you mentioned you have a workshop coming up for the LA Fringe. Yeah, I would love to. So I do a fairy tale retelling workshop, which is really designed to get people's creative juices flowing. So I give some different prompts and people start creating their own fairy tale retellings. And it's really helpful. I've seen people come up with just really creative, fun stuff. And it's
00:06:55
Speaker
Not so much just to create a retelling, but to ask some interesting questions so you can start developing kind of more interesting, complex characters. And so I'm offering that workshop at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, and it's both in person and virtual. So if there are people who are too far from Los Angeles, there's also the streaming option.
00:07:20
Speaker
Awesome. You're a volunteer story coach for middle and high school students through Spirit Corps and a mentor. What is some of the advice that you, you know, the most common advice you tend to give when you're working with up and coming students?
00:07:33
Speaker
I think a lot of it is being very encouraging. So even with any sort of feedback, to make sure there's a lot of and encouragement in there, because it is, you know, a personal element to tell a story. And especially if it's a personal story and you have to be able to put yourself out there. And so just encouraging these young people to put themselves out there and to start telling stories, I think is the most important piece of feedback. And to me, that trumps
00:08:04
Speaker
you know, whether it's grammatically perfect or not, or some of these other details that can come later on in the process, but to really just start telling stories. And then once you start telling them, you can expand upon them and just have that initial encouragement.
00:08:22
Speaker
Do you, how did you get involved? I actually got involved with it through my work at Shout Studios. So they have a big, push on doing volunteer work. So both of these offer opportunities came to me through my work there.
Marketing, Projects, and Creative Balance
00:08:36
Speaker
Awesome. Well, let's talk a little bit about your, are you still at Factory? Yes, i am. Okay. Let's talk a little bit about that. What do you do there and and kind of how long have you been there and give me the...
00:08:47
Speaker
I am marketing director for kids and family Shout Studios. I've been there just over 10 years, actually. I've been there quite a minute. i I do a lot of the marketing for any of the kids, the family, a lot of anime.
00:09:04
Speaker
We recently launched the digital distribution for Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, which are two of my favorite films. So I'm always excited when we get to... work on titles that I have loved for many years. So I work very closely with whatever partners we have. I put together selling materials for the retail pitches. I'll put together, you know, work on ad plans and basically whatever is going to be the best strategy to make customers and consumers aware of titles that we're putting out that we think they would enjoy.
00:09:41
Speaker
We are very much a company for fans by fans. So most everyone in our office has some sort of movie geek in them. Awesome. Well, you obviously have a full-time job. So when it comes to your writing, do you have a regular schedule or just kind of whenever you have the time? or it really depends on what's going on at my work as a marketing director and also what deadlines I'm under as a writer.
00:10:07
Speaker
i just got my editorial letter on Dragonfly Theater from my publishing editor last Friday, which means they're like, here's what we liked and here are some things that we might want to see some revisions on.
00:10:20
Speaker
And so now that I'm under deadline, pretty much all my free time my calendar for the next month is edit, edit, edit. When I'm not under deadline, it is more of when I have time. i usually try to block off chunks during my weekends. I have a Wednesday night writing group I meet with. And for that, I find really helpful to have that regular schedule where I carved out the time for myself, plus some accountability of showing up to...
00:10:49
Speaker
meet with some of my writing friends to make sure we all kind of check in on each other and put that on the calendar. Cause it is a challenge to not have as many hours in a day as I would love to have.
00:11:03
Speaker
Now, I like to ask writers, you know, George R.R. Martin said there are two types of writers, panthers and plotters. Are you a plotter? I'm plotter who doesn't mind deviating. So I found through a couple of manuscripts, because it took me a few to figure out what my style was, is that I spend a lot of time really researching the world I want to write and brainstorming and kind of daydreaming about it.
00:11:29
Speaker
And then once I feel ready, I'll usually put together some sort of outline. And then write i try to write an entire first draft, usually start to finish. And then I go back and I actually do a second outline, a reverse outline, which I love.
00:11:45
Speaker
And that outline is what I actually wrote, because a lot of times it will... deviate a certain amount from my initial outline. And what I love about a reverse outline is it also gives me a great place to start editing because I can see my whole draft in a couple of pages as opposed to being like, here's 100 pages now, go forth and edit. Because for me, that's completely overwhelming and i would have no idea where to start. Whereas if I'm like, okay, there's four pages here, I can kind of see here are some big changes to make. And I'll start with the big changes and then I'll keep making the smaller and smaller and smaller changes until we
00:12:19
Speaker
get it as as, until I get it as polished as I possibly can. Great. And then another question I like to ask, and it's kind of a writer's block adjacent, what do you do to kind of keep from being burned out? I mean, it obviously it's a job and everybody has to have a job, but at the same time, you have to have fun at writing. Otherwise there are plenty of other, I mean, you could just work your full-time job and not worry about it. So what do you do to kind of keep it fun and keep it fresh? I'm usually working on a couple of different projects at various points in the process. And to me, that's really helpful because I will have one project that maybe I'm editing and just doing more of the technical elements of
00:12:59
Speaker
Whereas another project, maybe I'm still in the brainstorm phase or the research phase. So if I get too burned out on one area, I can kind of jump to the other project and do something that feels very different in the process. So if I'm deep into editing and trying to keep track of everything in the world, sometimes it's nice to take a break and just brainstorm for a while. Let's just play in the sandbox and make up stuff. And we don't have to commit to anything yet because I'm still just brainstorming or I'll...
00:13:29
Speaker
Make a Pinterest board full of inspiration because all my mind can handle right now is looking at fun, pretty pictures.
Personal Touches and Storytelling in Marketing
00:13:37
Speaker
Great. Now, when we first met, it was at the Writers of the Future Awards and you were wearing this glorious book page dress. It says you branched out into costume design, assuming you designed that yourself. I did. I designed it. I made it myself. I got a prom dress from the thrift store and then sewed book pages all over it.
00:13:58
Speaker
So where, I mean, did you, what made you decide to come up with that design versus, i mean, just coming in a regular? I had actually created it for events before Writers of the Future, and I really wanted the idea of like a glamorous ball gown that also spoke to my nerdy bookish side.
00:14:19
Speaker
So I thought it would be really fun to come in like a glamorous book page gown and thought a while and like, what would that look like? And for me, it's just instead of layers and layers of ruffles, I wanted layers and layers of book pages.
00:14:34
Speaker
So it was really fun. And then it did make it a bit hard to sit in it or move in it, but I loved how it came out. Talk a little bit more about costume design. I'm assuming that's because you're in theater, but obviously the two aren't,
00:14:48
Speaker
but You don't automatically get into costume design because because you're in theater. Kind of how did you get into the you know doing it and designing? So a lot of it was being in theater and wanting to try something different.
00:15:00
Speaker
So with some of the theater companies I was with, i took up the role of costume designer and a lot of that was was pulling things or kind of coming up with an overall idea for the show.
00:15:12
Speaker
One of my favorite projects actually was the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had a charity fashion show right before COVID that I signed up for that I was not entirely qualified to make a gown, but I figured I would try it. And more importantly, i would convince my best friend, who is a exceptionally talented costume designer, to join in with me.
00:15:42
Speaker
And it was Cirque du Soleil-esque theme. So we made a big, huge ball gown that had red and white stripes, like a circus tent. And they really encouraged a lot of upcycling. So we used a dollar wedding dress we got from a thrift store for fabric. We used little paper plates that we then...
00:16:03
Speaker
bedecked with jewels and glitter and rhinestones. And we put on these little tiny motors. So the mall was walking down and these motors were spitting. We made a little hat out of the little pizza box topper. We made a little circus tent. so a lot of what I love about...
00:16:19
Speaker
The costume design is the visual element, but also just the creativity that can go into it and being able to transform these ordinary items into something that just looks really elevated and and magical.
00:16:35
Speaker
Hi, I'm Siobhan Olds, author of Ollie's Eating and other children's books, and I am geeking out with Angie Fiedler Sutton. Thanks for listening to Contents May Vary, the theme song is Schoolyard Haze by Yari Picnicin, available via the Free Music Archive.
00:16:48
Speaker
More information about the podcast is available on my website, angiefsutton.com. Want to support the podcast on my website? Be sure to rate and review the podcast on whatever platform you use, as well as podchaser.com.
00:17:00
Speaker
You can also support me financially through my Ko-fi account. You can find me there and on various other social media platforms with the handle angiefsutton. Also, be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter and see links to my social media on all the places you can listen to this podcast and episode transcripts.
00:17:15
Speaker
They are all available on my website, ngfsutton.com. Finally, I want to hear from you. Call my Google voice number, 424-341-2252, and leave a short message about what you're geeking about.
00:17:27
Speaker
You may wind up on a future episode. And now, back to my interview with Brandi June. I'm looking over some of your other bios that I found on the Academy. It says you've spent most of your childhood on stage. Was that your choice or was that something that your parents began? My choice. i don't know how I don't know if it was them or me who initially started me in theater, but once I started, i I never wanted to stop. I was always auditioning for plays as a kid and i was in community theater and in really anything I could be a part of.
00:17:58
Speaker
What about a Drew? i love, I love, I think what's really been through line in all of these activities, whether it's as an actor, as a playwright, as a costume designer, as a novelist, is that I love storytelling. love storytelling.
00:18:14
Speaker
i love I love being a part of the process of taking an audience, whether it is an audience in a theater, whether it is someone reading one of my books and taking them on a journey. And I think I just developed that love very early on as a young actor on stage. And even though I'm not acting as much as I used to I still found other ways that I just still love telling stories.
00:18:44
Speaker
Obviously with writing and a playwright. and and I found that like as an actor, I kind of get to be part of the story. And then I discovered as a playwright and as an author later on, I could decide what the story was. you said It says you moved to LA. All over. We grew up, I grew up Arizona, Massachusetts, Colorado, New York.
00:19:05
Speaker
And then I moved out to l a for college. And after that, I stopped moving. I'm like, I'm done moving. The weather's a lot nicer here. Exactly. Entertainment marketing.
00:19:17
Speaker
but You talked a little bit about that. How is that different from regular marketing? It's... and so i mean I'm sure there are elements that are the same, but it is very much specific to entertainment, to the TV and film industry. So elements that are specific to it, things like I will cut a trailer, that you wouldn't necessarily have that if you were marketing...
00:19:42
Speaker
say, furniture. And I guess you could say all marketing is somewhat storytelling. But for me, I found entertainment is closer to that storytelling aspect because you are marketing these stories.
00:19:57
Speaker
Whereas other marketing, maybe you're marketing a product or a service. Whereas entertainment marketing is the story you're telling people, hey, there's this new movie we think you'd like because you like these kinds of stories. So I think that's in a lot of ways what drew me to the entertainment part of entertainment marketing.
00:20:19
Speaker
Now with your writing and your playwriting, i had a question. You can just pretend my answer was brilliant. Oh, well, yes, I'm sure I'll remember it two days from now. My answer is always in the towel. We talked briefly about where you got your ideas, but in terms of be found doing aerial arts, let's talk little bit about that. I'm assuming like circus acts kind of Yeah, sadly, I don't do a lot of that these days because I have a shoulder injury that I'm currently in physical therapy for,
00:20:53
Speaker
I'm not doing it as much as I used to, but I used to do a lot as far as like the aerial silks or Lira, which is the big hoop. I also did some pole dance. I actually competed in a pole dance competition for the pole sport organization. I did entertainment because for me coming up with a funny routine was the most intriguing. So I really just kind of wanted to try it and found that it was such a fun, supportive community.
00:21:29
Speaker
And it wasn't necessarily all having to be sexy, although that could definitely be part of it. But a lot of it was just trying some different things and getting stronger. And there's something that's so graceful to me about being able to do some of these aerial arts. And I'm i'm actually rather sad that I've been put on hiatus. It's been probably about a year or so now that I'm and I'm trying to fix this chronic shoulder injury so that I can get back into it.
00:21:58
Speaker
Yeah. When i went to college at USC for my master's, I took a class on coding and we had to create a journalistic coding story. And we decided to do the polo art competition that was happening at the time. And so i interviewed I went to the competition and I kind of interviewed some people there. So I've been fascinated by that ever since. So it's definitely...
00:22:21
Speaker
very, very difficult to do. There is so much strength and the people who are so good at it make it look so effortless. And anyone who's done it is like, oh my gosh, your core must be so strong that you can lift yourself up like that.
00:22:35
Speaker
We already talked about whether you have a preference to still kind of advice. We talked about what you give for kids, but what kind of advice would you want to give playwrights wanting to enter the field? I would say, I mean, my first advice for any writer is to do it and to not be afraid of writing a really messy first draft.
00:22:56
Speaker
And for me, that goes for playwrights, that goes for novelists, is that it can be so easy to read so much. You see plays and what you're seeing is the polished final piece. So you're not seeing all those really messy revisions and drafts but that came before. So I feel a lot of writers can get frustrated that what they're putting on paper doesn't match what they're the finished pieces that they're seeing.
00:23:25
Speaker
And just knowing that totally okay to write something that's really messy and terrible the first time is something I had to give myself permission to do. And that was a challenge, but that was such an important, such, such important acceptance for me to allow myself every time I write something, I'm like, okay,
00:23:44
Speaker
It's okay if this first draft is total shit. And in hindsight, it almost never is. Once you go back and read it, there's definitely parts that you're like, oh, I love this. Or, oh, this does need to be fixed.
00:23:55
Speaker
But just the fact of getting it on the page, because as other writers have said, you can edit a messy first draft, but you can't edit a blank page. Exactly. What kind of advice would you give yourself when you were first starting out? o When I was first starting out as a writer?
00:24:13
Speaker
Yeah. See, that that's tricky because there's times where I'm like, oh, I wish I'd begun writing earlier in my life and my career because I actually started writing a bit later in life. I was first an actor and a theater major and really focused on that for a while and then went to grad school. So I didn't even find the time to write till later.
00:24:36
Speaker
And so at times I'm like, oh, I wish I could have started writing earlier. But then I look back and I'm like, but if I had done that, I wouldn't have had the other life experience that I did have.
00:24:49
Speaker
And a lot of that life experience has influenced my writing. If I hadn't been such a huge theater geek my whole life, I wouldn't have a new book about my absolute love of theater.
Community, Pets, and Personal Interests
00:25:02
Speaker
So part of me is like, you know, I'm glad I just kept going at it and found a writing community found the friends and the writers who became my writing tribe. And that's so important because especially once you start to try to get published or if you query for agents, there is so much rejection in this world.
00:25:27
Speaker
And even now I'm querying right now for an agent because I had to part ways with my last one. And even now, after I've had two books out, there's still a ton of rejections in querying and it's tough. It's not fun.
00:25:45
Speaker
Some days are easier than others, but I know very few people who love being told no or that their work is not the right fit. But having people in your life to help support you and who you can support and kind of console each other when you're dealing with rejections or cheer each other when you're dealing with victories, because writing itself can be so solitary. For me especially, and I feel a lot of writers, we sit and you know stare at our computers by ourselves when we're writing most of the time.
00:26:18
Speaker
So having that community makes the act of being a writer feel less lonely and less isolating because you need those people around you in your life.
00:26:29
Speaker
And so i just think, you know, go forth and build that writing tribe is you know, what I would have immediately told younger writer me. Yeah.
00:26:42
Speaker
Now, I've tried writing. I've written fiction myself and I've tried writing playwright. For some reason, my brain just doesn't want to skip to that rail of the format. Do you find yourself going out that you're writing a play versus a book or have you been like halfway through and you're like, oh, wait, this is something this is. I i usually do now. I usually have a pretty specific vision that this is a story that's a novel.
00:27:04
Speaker
This is a story that's a play. it I feel like it would probably be a bit different if I did screenplay writing, which I haven't done yet, although I'm not entirely it out. I live in l L.A. It's almost a requirement.
00:27:17
Speaker
but But as a playwright, usually I have a pretty specific vision because i go into playwriting with much stricter limitations, knowing that, okay, if I want this to be on stage, I need to minimize the number of set changes.
00:27:36
Speaker
i lean more heavily into the dialogue and know that, you know, this needs to physically somehow be possible. Even with, you know, whatever creativity, it's still something that has to happen on stage. And if there are set changes, they need time. or you know, maybe there's just one elaborate set, which means all this action needs to take place in one location.
00:28:01
Speaker
So for me, that's usually a pretty set feature when I'm brainstorming a story. Whereas if it's a novel, i can have it set all over the place. And I often do.
00:28:14
Speaker
if Now, what kind of resources do you usually use on a regular basis for your writing? i love hands-on research. It is my absolute thing to do as a researching author.
00:28:27
Speaker
i Every time, if I can, i will take an in-person class for my my theater book coming out next summer. i actually signed up and took classes at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.
00:28:43
Speaker
so that I could learn the sleight of hand tricks because one of the main characters is a sleight of hand magician. And so I wanted that experience. I have a project I'm querying now where the main character character is a milliner and I drove several states over to take a class in hat making.
00:29:02
Speaker
and So, honestly, I absolutely love hands-on research. To me, it's the most fun and also gives me the most visceral way to explain and describe what a character is doing is if i actually know how to do it.
00:29:19
Speaker
Even if I don't know it as well, i at least know how it's supposed to happen, even if I can't actually make... fabulous hats or grand illusions. I at least have a sense of how they happen.
00:29:31
Speaker
So that's my favorite way to to research. Of course, that's not always feasible. So then i read books, either books, In the time period, I'm setting my story. I'll read books about that time period or books written in that time period. i did a my first standalone play, went up at the Hollywood Fringe Festival several years ago and was about Oscar Wilde.
00:29:56
Speaker
So I read books about his life, his plays, also about the women in his life. I read a very interesting book on his wife. So, you know, obviously trying to do any of that research.
00:30:09
Speaker
I also, a lot of times, will just go down wacky rabbit holes of research. There's one piece I'm working on that involves mythological creatures. So I just love...
00:30:21
Speaker
reading about different mythologies and the different characters who inhabit those worlds. Clearly, I love i love fairy tales and retellings, and so I love knowing what the usually dark origins of them are.
00:30:34
Speaker
And a lot of times I'll just spend time brainstorming and just trying to think about how my characters would would live in their world. I think it's the actor part of me that does sort of the character prep of, you know, maybe I'm not writing a scene yet. I'm not outlining yet. I'm just thinking about what these characters are like.
00:30:55
Speaker
So that's a lot of how i I kind of prep for whatever I'm planning on writing. Awesome. Well, we're getting close to the end. I've got the, what are you geeking out for? And then here where are you coming from? But if there was something else that you thought we were going to talk about that we haven't or that you thought i was going ask, but we didn't.
00:31:15
Speaker
I mean, how many puppies I have and how many birds? And the answer for both is two. hu Okay. As I convert in background. I have two little characters. So one of them is my buddy. And I'll actually, a lot of times I'll be writing at home and his favorite place to perch is on my reading glasses. So he'll just perch on top my glasses watching the screen and offering little chittering feedback.
00:31:42
Speaker
yeah Well, I have two cats. at I had a cat when i was a kid who would answer the telephone. Back in the olden days of landlines, my cat, when she heard a phone ring, would whack it until she knocked it off the receiver. And so someone would call and we'd be out of the house and all of a sudden the line would just go busy. And they'd be like, well, gay. i needed to teach her to meow after she did that. So they'd go.
00:32:07
Speaker
Never got that far with it. Now, this podcast, when it first started, was called Geek Out with Angie Fiedler Sutton. I changed it because my name, Fiedler, was hard for people to find and spell. But I still like to ask people, what are you currently geeking out about? Is there something that you're watching, listening to, reading, that you're just telling everybody about that you just can't stop talking? And if so, what about it draws you? That's a great question. What am I geeking out about right now? Well, my husband and I are currently doing a Steven Universe rewatch.
00:32:39
Speaker
And i love that show. It's so delightful. And there's so much nuance and so much love and acceptance in that show that it's always fun to rewatch it and start looking for the Easter eggs that maybe weren't very clear the first time around. But the more you see it, the more interesting it gets.
00:33:00
Speaker
I've also started geeking out about magic again. So like I mentioned, I did a class at the Magic Castle and that was before COVID because i was still researching this book. And now that the book's coming out next summer, i've started taking classes again and kind of going to workshops and remembering how much fun i have at it. I think because it has that element of mystery and it also has the storytelling performance element and Honestly, that's usually where I'm strongest. And then I struggle with actually learning how to do the gosh darn trick, but I always want to come up with a great story for it. And maybe at some point I'll actually learn what I was supposed to be doing, but that's definitely been something else. I've been having a lot of fun geeking out about and,
00:33:41
Speaker
In terms of this book too, I'm having a lot of fun looking at what's current magic, but also what is maybe some of the popular magic and illusions that were happening around like the Victorian Edwardian eras.
00:33:55
Speaker
Awesome. Now for those who may be interested in learning more about you, where can they find? Yeah, my website is brandyjune.com and that's Brandy, B-R-A-N-D-I-E because my parents wanted to make sure my name would never be spelled right.
00:34:10
Speaker
Usually get a Y or an i a I. And that has all the events that I have going on. It's also where people can sign up. I do them a once a month newsletter that has both my events as well as a lot of interviews I do with other authors. It has links to all my social media. I'm somewhat active on social media and it's mostly all stuff about either books, nail art, or my pets.
00:34:37
Speaker
It's a lot of pets. Yeah. Awesome. Did you get a chance to look at the lightning round questions before I introduce them? that quite Awesome. we yeah as regular listeners know of every As regular listeners know, at the end of every podcast, I have a series of questions that are silly or unimportant in nature, but I feel still gives the audience some insight into your personality. The goal is to answer without really thinking and as quickly as you can. i call it the lightning round. I'm ready as I'm going to be. ah
00:35:08
Speaker
Okay, I have randomized the question so you don't know which one's coming first. There's the meme that you know you're an adult when you have a favorite stove top burner. What is your favorite stove top burner? up a left I'm not an adult. Nor will I ever be.
00:35:23
Speaker
I always thought I'd be an adult when I'm matching plates and that still hasn't happened in my eyes. Awesome. What is your favorite superstition or conspiracy theory? You don't have to believe in it. Black cats are magical.
00:35:36
Speaker
Awesome. Pirates or ninjas? Pirates. Space pirates, ideally. Favorites or lucky number? Pi. If you were a superhero villain, what power would you want?
00:35:50
Speaker
I could summon glitter. Awesome. Who would you want to play you in the movie about your life? Me. but Go back to my acting roots. It'd be me. Awesome.
00:36:02
Speaker
Who's your favorite? Either James Bond, Doctor Who, or Batman. We're all three. no Malcolm Reynolds. yeah Favorite meal? Yes.
00:36:12
Speaker
All of them. Dessert. Okay. What's your go-to song to sing in the shower? Come on, Eileen, but it has to be the Save Ferris version. Two thumbs up for that one. Would you rather see Captain Kirk become a Jedi or see Luke Skywalker become captain of the Enterprise?
00:36:29
Speaker
Can I see more of Malcolm Reynolds? and Favorite drink? ah Boba tea. What is your favorite time of day? Nap time.
00:36:42
Speaker
Thoughts on pineapple on pizza? Wrong. Favorite smell? Lavender. When getting dressed, do you button and zip or zip and button?
00:36:54
Speaker
I would say zip and then button. What's your go-to comfort movie? Labyrinth. And then what's your favorite curse word? You can curse. Man. Awesome.
00:37:07
Speaker
And that's a wrap for this episode. Thanks to Brandi June for being interviewed. As always, any websites or photos mentioned are on the show notes for the episode on my website. Thanks also to Siobhan Olds for the mid-show plug. I interviewed her in episode 55.
00:37:20
Speaker
This is Angie Fiedler Sutton from one-on-one interviews to red carpets and conventions to roundtable discussions. I bring you a little bit of everything. After all, contents may vary.