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From Murder to Muse with G.S. Gerry
20 Plays4 months ago
In this episode of the eReads Podcast, G.S. Gerry joins me and shares how his personal experience served as a muse for his novel and influenced his storytelling approach. Listeners can discover how to create boldly and authentically from this unique perspective.
Bio:
G. S. Gerry is the award-winning author of Meth Murder & Amazon. He is a father of 5, Navy veteran, cybersecurity expert, and tattoo enthusiast that is reinventing the art of storytelling and writing wrongs along the way. Gerry’s original writing style has been compared to the likes of Hunter S. Thompson, Chuck Palahniuk and Lemony Snicket. His books are quirky and utterly unique, jam-packed with humor, suspense, and satire. Gerry grew up in the world of books working for his father's book bindery business when he was just a child. Little did he know the literary universe had something more in store for his life.
G. S. Gerry’s creations offer an escape from life’s harsh realities by providing a hilarious perspective in turning lemons into lemonade. Constructing a world where the unbelievable seems made up and yet, oddly relatable. Gerry’s visionary approach towards life, laughter and entertainment bridges comedy and originality with memorable creations, leaving no stone unturned to help others laugh their way to a better today.
Social Media Links:
Website: https://grakeden.com
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Connect with Liz
Website https://lizbullardwrites.com
Email: [email protected]
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Transcript
Introduction to eReads Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back eReads podcast listeners. I'm your host Liz and this is my podcast where I talk about books, authorship and all the different parts of the creative process.
The Importance of Authenticity in Writing
00:00:08
Speaker
And today I have Jerry on and we dive into the authenticity of writing and the importance of having a unique voice and how he used his real life experience and fuse that with his personality to create his dynamic story. So let's jump right in and get to know Jerry a little bit more.
00:00:32
Speaker
Okay. Welcome Jerry. How are you doing? I'm doing well. How about yourself? Thanks for thanks for having me on. I am excited to have you on. um you You say that you have a unique writing style and I'm interested in learning more because I think a lot of authors struggle with like finding their voice and finding that thing that helps them stick out. So I'm selfishly wanting to pick your brain. Absolutely. Yeah. But we'll talk about it Well, anytime. And so I'll start off by asking you what I like to call a bookish question, which this is just something related to books just to ease into it. And so my question for you is when you are struggling to find inspiration, what is your number one thing that you go to? It could be food, it could be a book, it could be anything, but what helps you get unstuck?
00:01:26
Speaker
Uh, so I like to hang out with my family. And so we go on walks, uh, I'll work out in the garage with my sons. And so usually inspiration starts kind of anywhere. I have a different process just in general. I read the entire first draft of my phone, uh, on my phone. And so always got my phone kind of close to me until something kind of peaks, my interest or sparks my, uh, you know, inspiration or one of the kids says something to now write it down on my phone. And then so I make sure I don't forget. And so. That's usually what I do. Um, I don't put like limits on myself, like, Hey, after write like two hours a day or anything, if I have time, I'm going to write. If I don't, there's always tomorrow. Right. So, okay. I want to pick your brain more about writing on your phone.
Inspired by a Wild Accusation
00:02:06
Speaker
So, but before that, please introduce the listeners to who you are in your, your novel. Absolutely. So my name is GS Jerry. I wrote an award-winning story called meth murder in Amazon.
00:02:20
Speaker
which is a basically the world's first documented real estate roller coaster. And so it's about, you know, avoiding the evils of real estate, as I like to call it along the way. I actually get accused of murder and meth while I'm trying to sell my house and move away from Colorado to Florida. Yep. So this happens during an open house when I'm not even in the state. Stop. I promise. we have an open house in like the middle of this whole situation. And yeah, there's a body that they find under the bed.
00:02:55
Speaker
Real estate agents go down the aisle past me and they show up early and they clear all the rooms. And so as they get to the top of the staircase and go into the guest bedroom, they see a leg hanging out from under the bed. They scream, they run out and they call the cops on me and they call the cops and they say that I must have murdered someone and hit the body under their bed. And that's really why I went to Florida. Cops show up, right? I'm not there. So there's no body. And so, You know, I include a lot of evidence in the book, like I actually have a police report for when the cops got called. Well, four days later, they are like, Oh, yeah, we have a meeting at work, right? All the realers get together, kind of talk about the properties and the listings. And so they're like, Oh, by the way, we forgot to mention on, you know, during the open house, we were in your garage and we smelled something that smelled like burning plastic.
00:03:46
Speaker
I'm like, Oh no, it's something burning in my garage. Like there's something on fire. And they're like, no, Mr. Drake burning plastic means meth. And so we think that you could be making meth or someone could be smoking meth on the premises. So we're going to need you to get a meth test done or we're going to flag your house in the MLS for suspicious behavior. So they got fired. Oh my goodness. And so, you know, I ask people, you know, it's almost like a joke, right? How many real estate agents does it take to sell a house? And people will be like, one, right? You know, that's a lot of plants. You would think so, but that's not always the case. And so during this story, and I don't want you to do the process, it actually takes us three real estate agents to sell the house. It's a seller's market back back in this time in Colorado, it's like 2019. They're like, your house is only going to take 30 days to sell, other houses are like flying off off the streets.
00:04:40
Speaker
So 30 days it takes us six months and just a whole bunch of calamities on the way. That is an interesting story, right? Like you had me at, right? and You go to sell the house and there's a body under the bed. So how how do we get from story to rewriting this on your phone? Walk me through your your process and your unique writing style.
From Work Reports to Novel Writing
00:05:02
Speaker
Absolutely. And so during this whole process, I actually work at Amazon at the time. That's how Amazon kind of comes into play. But at the end of it, I'm like.
00:05:11
Speaker
I'm moving like I'm getting away from the meth. Like I'm getting away from Colorado. That's crazy. And so I actually leave and I go to Florida. And so I leave the Amazon and go back to a company I work for. I have a situation at work. um I do a lot of technical four report writing. And so a couple of years ago, I had a customer call me up and she was like, Jerry, you guys gave us a report and it's completely identical as last year. I'm like, oh gosh, please don't tell me this is true. This is like a 450 page report. They're going through it reading out like, yeah, it's absolutely the same. It makes it worse as I'm the one who wrote it. And so my work got plagiarized, got sent to the customer, actually knew it was the same. And so I have to rewrite the entire report. I rewrite it. It goes from 450 pages to 750 pages. And that's what works when I got done. I'm like, man.
00:06:01
Speaker
I just wrote a novel like this is such a long process like two and a half months to fix this whole court. I'm like that's it I'm gonna write a book this is exactly what I did and so that's really like kind of what led me to even start writing in the first place. So as I'm like deciding hey I'm going to write this book I already have this crazy story that happened and like people are going to read this and be like this is made up but like no this is rare like this actually happened. and ah And so as I started writing, I was like, oh, you know, you want to be kind of close to the data, you want to be close to the writing. And so it's like, what better way than to write it on your phone? Oh, that's brilliant. it so my And I always have my phone on me because of work, my customers always reaching out and asking questions, just just kind of getting it to do it that way.
00:06:44
Speaker
So I'll write it up my first rep from my phone, then I'll upload it to the computer, and then I'll use a tool called Scrivener, um which will allow you to actually compile the report, make it PDF, Kindle, whatever kind of version. And so I'll edit it for a month, and then I'll finally release it. And so that's kind of...
Crafting a Unique Writing Style
00:07:00
Speaker
That's kind of how it all happened. And so as I started writing on my phone, I'm like, if I'm going to write a book, I want to do something really different. Right. That's right. like There's so many books that come out. This is a crazy story, right? Right now, write something different. And so that's kind of where I came up with this writing style. And so.
00:07:18
Speaker
The way that I do it is I'll try and take the readers on a legitimate journey. And so this one, I actually will use a roller coaster. You start off the road on the roller coaster, right? You're in line. And so like something's happening in the book, the anticipation is building and you get in it and then you start going up, click, click, click. I'll actually add sound effects like that to the book. And so all right you're getting nervous, you're getting excited, and then you get to the top, and then you drop, and as soon as you drop, and boom, something crazy happens. And then you ride the roller coaster around the the track, boom, you go through like a a loop-de-loop, and boom, something else in the book happens. And so constantly, continually throughout the book, I'll continue to to talk about the roller coaster. or
00:07:57
Speaker
in this case, the methicoster. That's what I like to call it. That's neat enough, we're on a methicoster. And so as you go along the journey, and I take you through all these series of events, which is more more than just real estate, but I mean, that's pretty much the basis of the book. so But interesting, right? Like you you said, okay, how do I elevate this, right? So how do I take this from being kind of like one dimensional to like adding an element that would appeal to maybe more than those interested in in real estate and those may be interested in storytelling, right? And to think about like a roller coaster and how that goes is really interesting. What kind of helped you do that? Whether like stories you've read, just sitting and thinking, kind of where did that inspiration come from?
00:08:43
Speaker
Just kind of came to me and I was like first off when I'm starting with some like I've never done this before like how do I do this? And so like I was like a roller coaster, right? Like I thought about like this whole like story on what it was gonna feel like and like roller coaster is just like a perfect analogy. Or I can use that writer to help me kind of take the readers along. And if I keep continuing to kind of rely on that and talk about that throughout the process, like people are going to be like, Oh, what comes next? Oh, where are we out in the real estate or we're out on the roller coaster? And then I'll kind of keep trying to tie it back. um But then I want to also add another dimension to the book. And I think that's kind of where the the writing style comes in. I also will do things like add emojis. I have emojis in my book. And so in random places, I'll be like, Oh, something happened.
00:09:27
Speaker
ah laughing face right and so
00:09:32
Speaker
little dimension. And so I know a lot of books out there don't have emojis, but mine do. And so I just kind of just think about different things and just ways to do it different. I like Dr. Seuss, right? I like Dr. Seuss is a great rhymer. And so there'll be times where I'll There's the section on London Bridges, right? Things are falling down and so I'll remix that and I'll make my own little London Bridges rhyme along and I'll do it in a couple other places as well. And so I'll use sound, I'll use rhyming, right? I'll use all the different just different elements to really either draw the readers in or just keep them laughing because most of this stuff is just going to be really funny.
00:10:08
Speaker
This is like the definition of writing the story that you want to read, right? Like it seems like you really focused on like, okay, I want to tell the story. What are the elements, right? You, I think sometimes in writing, folks, ah rules are important, right? They help structure and all that jazz. But sometimes you have to say like, I really want to go in this direction. And it's really interesting you went there, like it it seems like really well. Yeah. And so like I said, you know, there's rules and so that's kind of one of the reasons why I wrote it. I'm like, I'm going to break all the rules. And so I will actually use run-on sentences, right? Like me and you are talking right now. We don't talk in complete sentences. We talk in run-on sentences when we text on our phone. We text in run-on sentences all the time. And so I'm like, why can't you write a book like that? Not to be fair. It's not full of run-on sentences, like the whole book is in a run-on sentence, but I'll use them. Actually, I misspelled work on purpose. I'll basically attempt to break all the rules.
00:11:02
Speaker
of how you're supposed to write to show that you can write a book and break all the rules and it'll still be good. And obviously it worked because I've won some awards now so I could tell people to write like I'm an award winning author. so Well, I wanted to ask you about that. So how did you end up winning awards? So right. So not only did you write a book, but you won some awards. ah How was that process like? It was pretty good. And so I would just go and start researching like, researching like book awards. And so I find some, or I'm on LinkedIn, I follow some authors on there. And so some will be like, Oh, I want an award today. It's from this company. I was like, Oh, they wanted to work. Why can I do that? And so even throughout this whole process of running the book, um I would try to send it to my friends that like, Hey, read this for me like, if this sucks tell me right like i want me fool myself
00:11:48
Speaker
No one will say anything that I was like, all right, maybe they're just being nice. They don't hurt my feelings, but no one's saying anything bad. So I released the book and then I go to an editorial review a company right to have them do to like a professional review. I was like, this is going to be the teller. And if I get like a one star review clear that I shouldn't be doing this, I get the review. It's like five stars. And I'm like, all right, maybe I'm on to something. And the first review says it's like, it's like Robin Williams on speed. And so like, I didn't know what I was going for. I was just trying to make something really funny that people could really relate to. And so I got that review, and then I submitted it again, and then I got another great review. It was actually kind of fun. Then I found these ah awards contests. I would just research it on Google, or like I said, I would happen to see somebody that I follow on, like, to enter social media. Right. That I won an award, and they would post, like, I look at my mom, like, hmm, I wonder if they have a humor category. Or I pitch my book as nonfiction, because it's based on a true story. It's just hold a totally really interesting way. And so I submitted it to probably like six or seven and I've won almost every single one of them. I won a ah cover award for my book cover. I actually want to i won an audiobook award.
00:12:57
Speaker
For a reader's favorite and the book one of the books I beat out was on quantum mechanics And so I got like some people that right like I write this funny story about a real estate rollercoaster and I'd be that like a super serious book that's on quantum mechanics and so You know, I felt like once I got the good reviews It was like further validation then once I won the for first award then I was like showing everybody I was like look at this I like I want a reward and and they're like, what? No, they like ah we really still don't believe you wrote a book on my guess I did So it's it's been a fun process. I've definitely enjoyed the journey. ah Yeah. You weren't you joking when you said you have a unique writing style and it it and it really paid off. And I'm really inspired to just go out there and create create dangerously. You know what I mean? That's right. Absolutely. lat No, just don't even care, right? Like that's the whole point, right? Like who wants to read the same thing over and over again and stuff?
00:13:50
Speaker
I mean that's kind of what my my work my thing was is if you're going to do something to it different and so right like Stephen King is Stephen King for a reason right like his books he sells millions of copies but no one's going to want to read the same Stephen King book from a different author like nobody cares about that but if you do something different that's like has elements of that okay people are going to relate oh this reminds me of this book but I really like the way he wrote it and so that's really what I was going for ah But when I was going through the awards, like pages and kind of their criteria, they would always be like, always looking for something fresh or always looking for something new with a new kind of creative spin. I was like, perfect, I should win every award then because this is so different that there's no comparison. And so, like,
Achieving Success with Unique Storytelling
00:14:29
Speaker
I'll have friends that are, like, after readers read this and they'll tell me the same thing. Like, I've never read anything like this. Like, it was so funny, had me laughing, ah but it also, like, I couldn't believe what you guys actually went through. I was like, yeah, imagine living that, right?
00:14:41
Speaker
And so, but I would, I, whenever this all, all this happened, I actually, uh, I came up with a title like the month after we finally sold the house. I was talking to a friend of mine and I was telling him a story. He was like, dude, that's like unbelievable. I was like, yep, absolutely. So unbelievable. You can't make it up, right? And, uh, and I was like meth murder in Amazon. What a great title. And so that's what I went with. Yeah. I mean, it just kind of happened, right? I mean, obviously the meth is part of the story. There's a murder scene and then I worked at Amazon. So I thought that that would make a really catchy title. But funny enough, right? I come up with this catchy title. I'm thinking it's going to be like take off. It's going to on.
00:15:21
Speaker
a post on social media the first time Instagram instantly banned. It banned my post every single day for months on end because of the algorithm apparently doesn't like the key words, meth, murder, and Amazon. So I don't know if they think like I'm, you know, making up some fake news story about Amazon murdering people and sending the bodies in the mail or people are sending meth in the mail to Amazon. But I would have to like reach out to them and be like, hey, read the post, right? Like this has nothing to do with Amazon. I mean, I don't like blast them I even talked to the trade department at Amazon and was like, Hey, can I use your name in the book? Like, I don't want to get sued. Sorry. That's the first thing I'm thinking. Like I'm writing this funny story. I don't want to get sued. And so I reached out to them. They're like, no, uh, you can use our, you can use your name. You just can't say anything to rockets or air to famous. I'm like, all right, perfect. I can definitely walk that line. And so on my post, it'll really be about like the met or the murder. I'll occasionally include at Amazon and like thing like, oh yeah, I used to work for Amazon from Chicago to Sam is my employee had to go through or something like that. Right.
00:16:21
Speaker
Um, but nothing like too crazy. I don't even swear hardly in the book either. And so I was like, they're going to let it go through every single day. And so I would go on other social medias. I would be like, Oh, watch out guys. My account on Instagram was under surveillance. Be careful what you read. Right. And so it went on for months like this. And then I finally ended up winning the award and then they finally said, it's not the restrictions, but it definitely. Oh, this is real.
00:16:47
Speaker
Yes. And you would think that they would like look at the post, but I know it's algorithm and I'm basically you're like, Oh no, we got to review it. And whoever is the person that decides to review it doesn't read the post like they can, or else I would have never got back. All right, Jerry, I'm hooked. Okay. If listeners are listening and they're hooked, how can they connect with you? How can they find the book? Absolutely. So you can find meth murder names on, on Amazon. I also have a website. It's called great den.com. The main character in the book is Mr. Great. like great then, but it's great then.
00:17:19
Speaker
And so on the website, you know, there's links to the book. I also love have a blog. And so you're kind of interested in what my writing style is like. Go read the blogs because I use that same writing style on my blogs that I do on the books. I also have a tab called meth lab creations. And don't worry, it's not anything to do with meth. It's actually free recipes, uh, cooking at home. I enjoy the cook. And so, uh, like for instance, I like eggs Benedict. And so I found a recipe that was inspired by Gordon Ramsey. So I'll just take it and throw it up there. I've tried it, I've used it. And so I basically just share a bunch of free recipes on the on the website. And the blog, you know, I think there's been maybe, so there is a blog up there about when the house almost burned down when I made chicken wings. So there's just a little bit of everything up there.
00:18:07
Speaker
Fantastic. and And what would you say to folks if they're listening and they're just like, you know, I don't know, should I try to deviate from the path of normal? Like, you know, how do they walk that fine line? How do they find their unique style? Any last words for them? Absolutely. I'd say just be yourself, right? Like write what you know. You're funny, right? It's easy. Be funny. But if you're not funny, don't be funny, right? Because people are people are going to know this, readers are going to be like, that's not funny. Like, why did he say that? Or why did he say that? And so if you write what you know, and you just kind of stay true to yourself, you can't lose, right? Don't
00:18:39
Speaker
read all these other books on writing or read all these other authors because then you're just innately going to pick up their style. I'm not a huge reader. I mean, I read a lot for work, but I have five kids and so I don't have time to just sit down and read a book. I've got all these other things to do. And so I like to watch movies. I like to watch shows and I like trying to predict the ending and things like that. But the more you read the the similar authors or what genre you're going to go to, eventually you're going to start kind of sounding like them. So you kind of try to stay away from that, stay true to yourself and just write something, just write something different, right? Like put it up there. If you're writing a book, there's people that are going to not like it regardless. Even if you broke the best book and try to build everybody, there is still a book that it feels like everybody I found that out as well. And so find your kind of target audience who you're actually writing for and then just do something different, right? You never know what might happen. Absolutely. I love that. To stay true to you and do what feels right.
00:19:33
Speaker
Fantastic. um Really fun, great interview. Thank you for stopping by. Y'all, if you missed any of the contact information, check out the episode show notes. That's where everything is going to be. I'm going to check out meth lab so I can get me some recipes. One last question. Is this it for the writing bug? Do you have anything else that you want to write about?
Exploring New Narrative Concepts
00:20:00
Speaker
So I'm actually writing my second book right now. And it's going to be a reality show in a book. And so yeah, there's no le yeah that's right. And so I did some research on this before I decided this is what I was going to do. And there's like, there might not even be five books out there in the whole world that are based legitimately on a reality show. And so like, I'll read their descriptions and I'll be like, one guy goes on a reality show and he's like, you know, I'm this like dating thing. I'm like, right, I'm totally going away from that. Like, I'm not doing like something like that. I'd like that Stephen King right funny enough I mentioned him, but he actually has a book called the running man and there's an element of a reality show But none of these are true reality shows Hunger Games same thing, right? Like there's a reality show on them But it's not a reality show My book is going to be just a complete reality show and it's based on them You meet your girlfriend or you meet your boyfriend for the first time and you go meet the family you guys fall in love you live half forever after
00:20:55
Speaker
happens when the the person you're dating is actually secretly recording your family and sending the events out to the whole world to your view. And so that's kind of the premise of my book is, you know, the main guy, his name is Victor. He has a hidden camera, or a series of hidden cameras, and he goes to meet the parents. But then he gets way more than he ever bargained for. is His girlfriend has three brothers that are around his age. They abuse him, they maim him, right? And so all throughout the book, something crazy happens, like even just in the first the opening episodes, or each chapter is like an episode like you're watching. And so in the first episode, he actually gets wrestled by two of the brothers, hog-tied,
00:21:40
Speaker
and then they just like you know they basically like string them up and they're like oh right like they got him the next chapter the one that that her dad actually chops his finger off and so he's there for this whole process and sees it and so along the way each chapter is going to throw them like hey he's
00:22:01
Speaker
in all these different kinds of scenarios that seem like they could legitimately happen and it's all like hey so-and-so looks at the camera and says oh so-and-so turns and the camera captures brightens so there's a constant element of capture of looking into the camera or the camera being present there and so i thought that would be really fun it would be really unique plus like lots of people like reality shows so i thought that would be kind of ah a good idea Listen, I'm sure I'm going to see this on Netflix one day and just remember you start right here. Absolutely. That would be great. I think it would be really funny. Yeah. Thank you so very much. A great interview and have a great rest of your day. All right. You too. Thank you.