Episode 12 - J. T. Maxwell
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Sitting down with J.T. Maxwell, author of Red Brick Road, an irreverent, vulgar, hilarious, and moving romp through Oz. We talk about the upcoming release of his debut novel, the process of writing and querying, how to swear well, preparing for reviews, his book tour, and so much more! Order your copy of Red Brick Road through Chicken House Press.
J.T. Maxwell has been a storyteller his whole life and has been sitting on the idea for his debut novel since he was very young. It took a global pandemic closing down the world to give him the oomph he needed to really dive in. Together with his wife of twenty-three years, two sons, and a pair of cats, he makes his home an hour west of Boston where he has settled into a teaching career after fifteen years in finance and banking. He loves a good road trip, maintaining their Victorian-era home, beer-making, and he is constantly on the hunt for the world’s best root beer float.
Be sure to connect with J. T. online
Theme music is Morning by LiQWYD
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I am Alanna from Chicken House Press and this is Writer’s Chat.
I am just gearing up for a great conversation with author J.T. Maxwell. He is the author of Red Brick Road, which is set to release on Saturday March 30th. We are very excited for this release. This is a book like none other.
I am going to find the blurb so I can tell you…
A freak blizzard, heartbreak, and a journey of self-discovery, Brendan Connor's life is about to get a lot more interesting. When a surprise snowstorm throws him into a surreal reality Brendan must navigate his way through unfamiliar territory and confront his deepest flaws in this bold reimagining of The Wizard of Oz. Embark on a wild ride through a world that L. Frank Baum would have never imagined. Filled with crude humour, violence, and irreverent twists, Red Brick Road is a tribute to old technology and new ideas. But don't be fooled by the chaos. Beneath the madness lies a valuable lesson about being a good human in a broken world. Get ready for the most exhilarating read you've had in a long time. This is for fans of literary nonsense and those looking for a refreshing take on a beloved classic. Red Brick Road is a must read.
So, if that doesn't get you, I don't know what else to tell you, but I think the conversation that I get into with J.T. is is so rich. There's so much going on. His imagination is wild. The things that he has planted in this story that on the surface look silly, like just straight entertainment, it is not. It is so deep. There is so much going on. It is so highly recommended and I'm so proud of it and I can't wait to get it into your hands. There will be links, purchase links, in the show notes, so make sure you check those out. Please support him in his journey. Buy his book. Leave reviews. Reach out to him. He's inviting your conversation. That relationship between reader and a between reader and author is really valuable and I know he would love to hear from you after you've read it or even if you've just purchased it.
And let me tell you that if you pre-order from Chicken House Press you're going to get an email that will give you a little sense of the tone of this book that was way too much fun for me to set up and I love the response of people who have been receiving it.
If you aren't a reader, this is a book for you. If you are a reader, if you're a deep thinker, this is a book for you. If you are a lover of The Wizard of Oz this is a book for you. If you don't even know what The Wizard of Oz is it doesn't matter; this story is so fresh that it's going to capture you whether you're familiar with Oz or not.
So just join us for a great conversation and learn some more about a cool author and a great story.
A: Hello
JT: All right, here we go. I've got my water, got my book, I've got a pen and and my my rocket book here to
take notes, so yes I'm I'm I'm cool and the gang.
A: The goal is really to introduce you and your personality to my listeners to the readers of Chicken House Press and convince them why they need this book in their life.
JT: Thank you that's that sounds fantastic and I'm still floored. And I still can't believe that this is really real and that it's like this is this is it like I'm holding it this is the proof, but I'm still holding it and it still bonkers that this is real. I mean, for years I've used a hashtag hard work pays off (#hardworkpaysoff) right, I mean I've been using it.
I'm currently a teacher and before that I was in finance and banking and stuff and I wanted to make the move to become a teacher and it is it's brutal down here if you don't have a degree in education - the hoops that you have to jump through are are silly, but I can kind of understand why they exist. Right, so I worked at it and I worked at it and I worked at it and I was finally able to change careers from banking to teaching. All of that hard work paid off and this was pre-covid and I tell you, man, teaching pre-covid was glorious. I miss it. This is obviously a separate podcast in a separate conversation, but I loved teaching back then, and it was it was well worth it, I'm glad that all of that hard work paid off and now you know fast forward a few more years when I picked up Red Brick Road and finished it and then tried to find a home for it - again, all of that hustling and the editing and it just it it paid off. And here we are
A: Here we are. So you got the idea for Red Brick Road a very long time ago. Like the journey of this book has been over decades.
JT: That's right. It started in high school. It must have been 1990. I'm gonna say 91 or 92. I can't remember if I was a junior or senior but regardless, it was my history teacher. I remember the red brick road from the film and how nobody talked about it - and this was clearly pre-internet - and I remember from the books that there were other colours of road. But I had a history teacher and he was a huge Wizard of Oz fan, and I remember asking him one day like ‘you know the film, you've seen that, where does it go?’ and he said, ‘I don't know. Somebody should do something about it. Maybe write a book.’ And so I then took that to my creative writing class and that's where I kind of first put pen to paper about it . I don't really remember the crux of that but I remember being done with like, you know, handwriting five or six pages and being like okay, you know what, I can do something with this. Like this could go somewhere. And then getting into college and life lifes as they say, or as you say, and now I'm going to start saying it.
Fast forward to 2007 when my oldest son was born and there would be nights that I would be up and my wife Melissa she would be she'd be sleeping so I'd be up with my son getting him to go back to sleep, feeding him, that kind of thing, and he'd go back to bed and then I couldn't fall back asleep. I was wide awake and I thought, you know what, I'm going to startthis. I'm just going to start it. And I just I've always been a writer; I've always been a storyteller. And so it just started. It just flowed.
Truth be told, a lot of the first couple of pages of the book are nearly identical to what I had back in ' 07 and if anything, I had to cut a lot out. I went into psychotic detail about weather and weather patterns and The Weather Channel and with my first go, you know, I finally got done with it and I'm reading it and you know, chapter one is 83 pages long. I'm like gonna have to peel that back. We really don't need to know you know what time that this weatherman woke up in the morning and what kind of coffee he had and what colour his tie is and you know so I got rid of all that.
Anyway, so you know 07, 08, 09, I'm working on it. My other son is born in 09 which reups that ability for me to work on it when one child was up and then I was up and then they were back asleep and I was still up.
And then 2011 rolls around and I've got a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. I was still in finance and banking at the time and this was on the heels of like that huge mess uh the housing mess in ' 08-09. The rules then changed in 10 and it just it got too much. I got moved up into management. I was going to school part time to get my undergraduate degree. I actually I just graduated in 2010. And so my company heaped on more responsibility with me and it just got to be too much. So I said, you know what, I'm going to put it aside. I just I don't have the the structure, the support, that I need in order to to actually get it done so I didn't touch it from 2011 until 2020 when we were all told to get in the house and stay in the house and don't go to work. Next thing you know, I'm trying to teach from home, and because I had become a teacher by then andit was I think it was in April - which is another set of wackiness because we decided to try to sell our house and buy this house that we're currently in in April May and June of that year - you know, because there wasn't anything else going on in 2020 for April May and June - but it worked. And so we moved in in June of 20 and that's kind of when things freed up. Because the summer that summer wasn't really super social and so I picked it up and I started hammering away on the keyboard and then the next thing I know, things start to progress back to normal.
It was 87,000 words when I finished and I started shopping it around to agents and I was like, you know what, I know there isn't an agent out there that's going to give me the time of day. I knew it because I don't have a pedigree, I'm not famous, I'm not an English major, I didn't go to any prestigious English school, but I've got a passion for writing and storytelling so I tried to reach out to agents and it was crickets and tubble weeds. So then, after that, I edited the hell out of my book and I had some friends help me with it and I got it down to where pretty much where it is now and started trying to find some publishers, and well, as they say, the rest is history.
A: Were there multiple publishers that you submitted to?
JT: Yeah. I should sit down and actually dig up a number. If I remember right, it was over 40 - maybe even 50 - you know what, I've got a list here somewhere. I should probably sit down and count it up. Yeah, it was that many, and I mean, it'sa numbers game. For all you authors and wannabe authors out there who are like watching/listening, I'm telling you, it's a numbers game. But if you believe in your work, I mean truly believe in your work, and you've put the effort into polishing it - not just, you know. not just having it just to have it, but I mean, really fine-tune it, really get it to a point where you have something and you know you have something and it's unlike anything you've ever done before - start looking for homes for it. Skip right over the agents. Go right to the publishers. It is a numbers game. One of them eventually will give you the time of day, it's just a matter of your persistence and finding the right one for me.
There were there were four publishers who, within a matter of 48 hours, all said stop shipping this around, we want to look at it, and we want to let you know what what we think - which I didn't know was a thing until the very first one was like stop sending it, I want to go over this. So I did. Yeah, I stopped sending it around. And three of them came back and pretty much said this is not for us but it's going to be for somebody, and well, Chicken House was that somebody. I'm so thrilled that they were that somebody.
A: What gave you the confidence? Why did you believe in your book? What gave you power to keep pushing forward?
JT: The teenager me wouldn't have done this, the 20-year-old me, 20-25, maybe even 30, as I was writing it wouldn't have done this, but you know, all these years later it's a combination of experience, which I mean, there's no substitute for. You know, you either participated in an event and you have that, you know, intrinsic knowledge, or you don't. So it's a combination of experience and passion and support. I really think that it was those three that made me go, you know what, I can do this. Not only can I do this, but I I can find a home for this. I can find somebody to publish it. If you're gonna ask me, you know, specifically what was it. I can't put my finger on it, but I know that it was that internal drive, that ownership mentality, that entrepreneurial spirit, that pushed this to a place where I knew I had something something good. And I can't tell you how I know that, but there was just something about it that made me realize you've got something here. And then you start asking friends, you know, the early readers, these are all these are all friends of mine you know people that I can call or text at a moment's notice. some of them I've known forever, you know, like Jim on the back here and Q, like I've known both of them well over 30 years, and I know them well enough to know that if it was a bunch of horsepoop that they would have said, dude this looks awesome and it sounds awesome and you've got 70 whatever thousand words, but it's crap. Like, they would have told me. They would, you know what I mean, like I I know them and I love them well enough to know that if it was actually junk that I should, you know, go back to the drawing board, that they would have mentioned that, you know. They all genuinely were like, no man, you've really got something here. So between my own internal drive and fire to want to make this real, combined with outside influences of people that I know and I love and I trust absolutely I had to plug forward with this. It would have been a crime if I didn't.
That was a lot, wasn't it? I do that though.
A: I love that. You're so thorough with your answers I think it's amazing.
JT: That's the teacher in me.
A: I don't even have to ask questions I can just talk to us.
JT: I used to love doing seminars, man, I used to just get up there and talk.
A: Teacher is in your blood. What are you hoping to teach people who read this book? Maybe that's too going too deep into spoiler world but…
JT: You know what, I can answer this question, and I can dance around it because there are there are fundamental lessons that a lot of people they think they know, whether through their own experience or through watching something or through talking with other people - whatever it may be - they're under the impression that they possess the correct information. I have ideas for at least six other books which challenge perceptions of these fundamental concepts and with this one, with Red Brick Road, again without giving away too much, I'm hoping that that it will make people really think about their relationships and what they what they have and how they got there and what they want because, I mean, you know, Covid proved it more than anything else in in my lifetime and hopefully for anybody else's lifetime that we are social creatures. We really are. And I'm not talking about social media. I mean like face to face, look somebody in the eyes and have a conversation with them. We are social creatures and I'm hoping that with this it makes people think about how they interact with people that they believe they know and love. And I'm not saying this, you know, I'm not looking to stir the turd or anything like that, but I'm looking to get them to just be like, is this really the right thing, is this really what I want, is this really who I am, all the while laughing at vulgar jokes and slapstick comedy and action adventure and and and and and so, but yes, if you're going to ask me what would I'd like people to get out of it it, you know, if they can come with that and go ‘I think I get it a little bit better now,’ you know what that's a huge win. I'll take that.
A: Yeah, I think that one of the the great gifts of this book is that it is hilarious. It is such a wild romp of an adventure and it is vulgar and irreverent and I literally laughed out loud reading your manuscript my first time through and then of course again other times reading it, but with all of that chaos there's this rich kind of deep human empathy that just is so touching and that's an incredible combination. I think you did it just masterfully and I hope that it catches people. I expect it will catch them off guard because they're thinking that they're picking up this raunchy buddy comedy but they're getting way more than they thought they were buying, which I think is such a gift that you're giving.
JT: Thank you. I'm I'm I'm so flattered. Idon't even know what to say. It's more than validation to hear this come from you - not just as the woman who is, you know my boss so to speak, but also because like you are the you know way more about literature and books than I do, and I made a an effort to build this just right so that people would be able to to to get it, because thereare Easter eggs galore and there are a lot of heavy thoughts in there if you want to have them and I just I'm flattered. I really don't know what to say beyond thank you.
A: Well, you're welcome, and I mean it. I mean, we wouldn't be here if I didn't mean it; if I didn't didn't get it. Even now, I don't know how many times I've gone through this manuscript; I don't know how many times I've read this story; I had just emailed you - was it last week? - for a new discovery that I made in your book. Like you said, Easter eggs, and you planted so many things through this that it continues to blow my mind and it makes each reread so exciting because I'm finding I'm learning new things. You reintroduced me to the band America.
JT: Absolutely.
A: Yes, thank you for that. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole that was a good time. I don't know how much you want to share about some of the little things that you've planted or give a tease of what people should should be paying attention for.
JT: You know what, in the back of the book there are a bunch of acknowledgements. You know, it's almost a novella in it of itself, it's almost like 3,000 extra words just in acknowledgements, right, but in there I talk about America the band and well,I thank them and their song “Tin Man” and there's a an instance within the book where it asks the reader to research America and “Tin Man” and this third other thing that I don't want to give up, but if you start there you're going to discover that a lot of the names and a lot of the -I don't want to say symbolism because that sounds too academic - but a lot of the the things that will kind of intertwine, it's all done deliberately, you know. This didn't accidentally take me decades to write. I don't even know how many iterations of editing before even you saw it. So yeah, I'm going to let the reader discover some of them on their own. If you're reading and you have that light bulb moment there's a phenomenal chance that that is a correct moment to have. And if you do a little bit of homework you're going to see that that this is a lot more complicated than it seems.
I think I answered your question.
A: You did, yeah. The amazing thing is that you put all this care and intention and strategy into writing the story this way
but as a reader it's just it's just there like revealing itself. It's like an onion that you're peeling the layers off so to imagine the work and the thought that you put into it is just it's art.
JT: I don't even know what to say. Thank you. I'm so floored by that. It is a lot. And if I may, one thing that a couple of early readers have asked is that, you know, in the film and in the books there's Toto, and our main character doesn't have a pet and why is that, and I think I've left enough in there for them to figure that out because I I did not write a, you know, a companion like Toto in there very deliberately, and I'm hoping, yeah, I'm hoping people can figure it out. But yes, there there is a lot to it. It is oniony. It is a lot and I'm I'm just I'm very very proud of it because it. You know, you've heard me say this a million times, to hear that validated from other people I just I'm I don't know, I still, what's the term? I still feel like it's imposture syndrome a little bit, you know? Like yeah, I'm an author, yeah yeah no, I totally wrote a book, yeah yeah, I did that, sure yeah yeah.
A: It's such a wild tension because you feel that impostor syndome but at the same time you've already shared that you believed in it so much that you weren't going to stop and if I, heaven forbid, had said no, you would have tried 50 more. That wasn't that wasn't gonna stop you
JT: No, it was not, and it's nothing in the world I said it a minute ago but there's nothing in the world that can take the place of experience. There's only one other thing that has no parallel and that's persistence. And if you have that persistance, you know, I mean there's no app that's going to be able to take that place either. There's no amount of training. I mean, you either have it or you don't, and when you're an entrepreneur, and let's face it, if you're an artist in any way shape or form whether or not you choose to identify that way - that's a different conversation - but as somebody who teaches entrepreneurship, let me tell you, you are an entrepreneur; so, as somebody who created something and then was looking to sell it, I had to draw on that skill set and that Academia of what I knew about entrepreneurship to get that out there, and thankfully I've got a solid work ethic and persistence is real, and well, I mean, I'm so grateful that you did pick this up, and that you did sign off on me.
A: It's been a wild ride and which I anticipate going on for a long time. I want to see this book have a long life. I think the themes in it are evergreen. I think just like The Wizard of Oz movie has lasted forever, this has more depth than that.
JT: Thank you. Yeah, that film is 85 years old now. It came out in 1939, so I hope you're right, and I hope that that readers see the value in it and they get something out of it. You know, I mean, even right on the front right: the road not travelled is the road everybody knows. There were a couple of lines from the book that we could have used and we went with that one and I'm glad we did because, you know, when you stop and think about it there's a lot of truth to that. But it sounds so dumb. Right, like the road not travelled is the road everybody knows - what I mean, if you know the road, maybe there's a reason that you're not going down it, and on the other side of that coin, if you don't know the road, well, why aren't you going down it? So yeah, I'm hoping people will read and kind of discover that yeah there's a well.
A: You want them to get - okay what was the quote…? “JT Maxwell flips it on its head and waxs it in the shins with a baseball bat in his hilarious, vulgar, and yes, moving take on a classic.” So that's your friend Jim.
JT: Yes, the deputy editor over at Mass Live. Yeah, I've known Jim for 30 years. Man, he's a great guy.
A: Yeah, so you have these great quotes from your early readers who were are so invested in the story. They got it. And I mean, what a treasure that the back of your book is covered in these amazing quotes - that the front of the book has a quote from New York Times number one bestseller James Frey.
JT: Yes, yeah, I mean, I will be indebted to these people for a very very long time. You know, I've thanked them all for their time and their effort but I still, I'm at a point where I can't believe that they actually decided to do this, you know. So yeah, I'm honoured and flattered and by the way, the artwork on this… I mean, you took the original design and just you went with it and it looks fantastic, It really does. Both the front and the back and then even the binding, I mean look at that how solid is that, seriously. It's so cool.
A: It really came together well, and you did have a vision for the cover. It's evolved a little from what you had.
JT: As it should. I mean this is, you know, kind of like the book. I gave you an idea and we worked together to get something a lot better, and you did the same with the cover.
A: Has there been a part of the publishing journey that has surprised you or made you uncomfortable?
JT: I can't get uncomfortable. So nothing that you have done or said or that anybody else within this has done or said has made me uncomfortable. The 40 some-odd publishers and the umteen agents that never got back to me, like, that doesn't make me uncomfortable. So no. And I teach high school. I mean, come on. My level of uncomfortable is staggeringly high. Nothing in this whole process has made me uncomfortable.
I will say, and I'll tell you because I think you've heard me say it and I know I've said said it to a lot of other people, this has been an education. And I'm not saying that good or bad, but the amount of stuff that I didn't know, no matter what the internet would tell me, was just astounding. I came into this with an open mind and with a whole lot of hope, and I'm at a point now where, you know, you probably can't see it, but I've got a rocket book here and it's got pages and pages and pages of just notes about this whole process. Ever since we first, you know, since you sent me that contract last year, it's been absolutely crazy. So, what have I learned? I've learned most recently that there's this secret society of Illuminati librarians who - I swear to God - like they control what happens in like 83% of all libraries across the country. And don't go ask any librarian about it because they're going to deny it, but I'm telling you, I found evidence. I'm pretty sure it's a real thing. It's the secret cult. I don't think they've sacrificed anything yet, although I'm sure there's a couple of books I'd like them to sacrifice, but again, that's a different conversation. So that was that was eye opening to discover.
I've also discovered that the distribution of books is a beast in and of itself. I know a thing or two about business and how business works, you know. I'm a business teacher. I have my MBA. Like, I get business. And when you started to tell me about how book distribution works and book creation - because you can't even really call it manufacturing, I mean you I suppose you could but it's not. I mean was this manufactured? I suppose technically it was, but the whole concept and process of manufacturing and distribution, like it went against so much of what I've learned about how business actually works, that I was like, wait a minute, what? And like, I'd start twitching a little bit. And like, wait, what? But it's true, and I mean, you know that way better than I do that logic is only applied sometimes.
Let's see, what else about the whole publishing process… I said before it's a numbers game. I'm pretty sure that goes without a doubt. But I'll repeat myself: it is a numbers game, and you've got to find, you've just got to be persistent with it. Like once you have the right publisher who wants to take on your project, because it is such a numbers game, make sure that the publisher works with you. Does that make sense? Like I know you get this, Alanna, but you said it early on and it didn't sink in until a few weeks after you said it, but you said we are a partnership here and you know, I joked earlier about you being the boss here, because you own Chicken House, but it really is a partnership. And you've got to find that right match and I'm so lucky and blessed that I have.
What else about the publishing process? Oh, not necessarily the publishing process, but I'm discovering with bookstores and little independent bookstores and major chain bookstores that they all want books for free and that's not a very successful business model for neither the publisher nor the author. Neither of us will be around too long if, you know, we did everything for free. So all you other, you know, writers out there who are looking to get this done, when it comes to talking about money, stick to your guns. If you've sat down and done some math, there's that delta, there's that price point that you know is going to work. It's not too high, it's not too low, and quantity is moot, you know, but you know you're at a point where you've got a a good product and it's priced right, stick to your guns. But believe me, you'll be glad you did.
So I guess I did learn a thing or two about the polishing process.
A: You've been doing a a very good job of censoring yourself in this conversation. The same can't be said for Red Brick Road.
Jt: Correct.
A: There is this whole the running joke of in the Land of Oz - you can't swear out loud, but you can swear in your head and you take ample opportunity to utilize Brendon's thoughts in very creative ways. It also comes out very creatively. How is that to write? Like, did that just kind of flow out of you naturally or did you really have to think about how am I going to… how do you swear well? That's my question.
JT: I love this question. How do you swear well? Okay, so you know what, I don't usually swear, and when I do it, it's for emphasis and it gets people's attention simply because I don't too often, you know. Again, where I'm a high school teacher, I'm hearing kids, you know, throwing the f bomb all the time and they say it so much that it's watered down and it loses its meaning, right, but if I lose my mind and drop an F bomb like they just snap to attention like Whoa! What did? Maxwell just what? Because it carries that weight because it doesn't happen too often. So my character has, yes, a potty mouth, but also a bit of an immature potty brain. And that's part of Brendon's kind of, I don't want to say charm, but I suppose charm, for lack of a better word. And when I'm writing it I had to actually when I got done with it all, I went back and I edited the whole thing, and I actually had to go back and add swears in because I wanted it to be such a - I don't want to say important - but such aheavy part of his vocabulary not just out loud but also in his head and I think towards the end you see that journey; you see that evolution where it's not such a massive part of his thought process anymore and it's not such a huge piece of his vernacular. I got to tell you, one of the most challenging parts of it was not duplicating anything. And if I were to duplicate it I wanted it to be unique and call myself out, you know. And I'm not just talking about like dropping the f bomb, but in Oz you can't swear, and so I believe I used one or two of them like what? twice - and I think Brendon was like, What? I'm saying that again? because you know, yeah. And one of them had to do with a 1990s Volkswagen commercial ad which is perfectly finee because this, you know, originally takes place in 2008, so yeah. It was a challenge, especially early on when he discovers that he can't swear out loud. It's this massive tirate of words that start with f or ph as the case may be and that was a lot of fun to imagine that and to to get that down on paper. That was cool. That was a lot of fun.
A: And it's very fun to read. So when I'm talking about how it made me laugh that loud, those are the moments because it's so shocking. Like, it's one thing to see the f word on the page, but to see the ridiculousness coming from a place of anger or frustration, it's just a recipe for hilarity.
JT: Thank you. Thank you. It was a lot of fun to come out with, to think of the fact that you can't actually curse in this place, you know, and I got to say too, as fate has it, one thing that that my wife pointed out to me was that there's this show that was on NBC for a while called The Good Place and I don't know if you're familiar with it, but when it first came out, you couldn't swear in the Good Place and immediately she was like, oh man, is this going to be a copyright thing? and the first thing I did was I went and I found my old computer that I had started this on and I've got files that have been saved that show that you can't swear and that predate The Good Place so I was like okay, God forbid NBC or any of their lawyers come after me. Like, worst case scenario, I've got proof. There it is some IT geek who will get in there and say, no he really started this back in ' 08 and yes, he didn't touch the file since, you know, 2010 or whatever it was.
A: Really, there's no such thing as a brand new idea. Like, we're all recycling all the things and they're all so different. So like, whatever, if The Good Place comes after you, they have no ground. Like, you can't copyright an idea.
JT: Or a concept. Yeah, I'm with you, but you know, I'm also a little paranoid with stuff like that because that's how my brain works. So I was like, I'm just gonna double check and yeah, thankfully I'm okay.
A: You're covered. One thing that we did have to talk about when doing editing on your book was legal things. Like the books are in the public domain but the movie is not so we had to be very careful that you're not taking anything that's from the movie specifically. So the name of the town where the munchkins live…
JT: It's Munchkinville, it's munchkin place it's, I don't know, munchkin location, munchkin addie… you know, it's just, yeah, you get the idea. We absolutely had to get creative with that and I had to go back and reread not only the book but also like a couple other iterations like Salman Rushdie rushy did a version of The Wizard of Oz just to make sure, you know, just to be like all right, are we really covered or do I just think we're covered and yeah, it's a dance. Because you know people are going to be more familiar with the film than they are going to be with the book. I mean, you know this, so I had to incorporate enough of the book, but also kind of hint at the film without actually mentioning the film so that people would be able to roll that into their thought process as well. Because again, this is what people are more familiar with.
A: And one of the fun things that you do in this book is answer some questions. You're probably not right - but how the movie came to be - and your answers to those questions are fascinating. So I hope people really love that because, yeah, it's crazy.
JT: Thank you. I can virtually guarantee I'm wrong but it makes for a really nifty kind of backstory to what happens and where we're at and how how we are where we are and yeah, the people within the the book itself.
A: Do you feel a responsibility to the the classic? There are super fans of that classic. Are you a afraid of them or do you feel like you have honored the classic and you're presenting now a new journey?
JT: I like this question. What's the most sincere form of flattery? it's imitation, right? And I didn't imitate and the film is not accidentally a classic you know. Never mind that the technological or the awards that it won, when you peel that away and you just look at it, just fundamentally, you know through almost like a film major's lens, it was built to be a classic. It was edited and directed kind of knowing that it was something special and I know that there are super fans out there and it isn't that I'm afraid of them, and this is certainly not fanfiction because it's different enough, you know. Quite honestly, we never see Dorothy, so there you go, spoiler alert - we never see Dorothy. There's enough different with this that I think fans of the the film and maybe even the book too, you know, they could read this and go, you know what, I I get it. I can kind of see how he built this entity of what happened before Dorothy got to Oz and what happened after Dorothy left Oz, and if they come away with that, thinking of it as a separate thing where, you know, you you see this before and after painted for you, not tarnishing anything with the original book nor the film, I mean, I'll I'll take that. You know, I hadn't quite thought of it, but I would consider that an unintended consequence really because I'm definitely not paying homage to anything. We all know the film and we all kind of grew up with it. It almost feels like it it's here down below and the film is up here, and if you know the film and you're curious about how it got there ,you've got to look down below and this tells before and after. We see, you know, Judy Garland. I guess the true fans will let me know what they think, you know. Not to sound too cliche, but time will tell.
A: But you're ready. You're open.
JT: I am. I certainly am. And again, I mentioned it earlier, I couldn't have done this in my 20s or even maybe when I was 30 because my skin is thicker now for both good and bad, you know. I've heard enough of both, especially as a high school teacher, to know that you have to hear quite a bit in order for it to actually carry weight you know. If one person rips on this in Goodreads or on Amazon or something, dude, that's their right, you know. And quite honestly, thank you for taking the time to read it. I sincerely appreciate it. You didn't like it? It's not for you and that's okay. I'm not going to lose any sleep over that and they shouldn't lose any sleep over ripping my book. And at the same tim,e if somebody's dropping five stars on it and says it's, you know, the greatest thing that they've ever read, thank you. I appreciate that opinion and that, you know, that you really enjoyed this. I'm putting it out there for people to enjoy and it worked for you and I'm so glad it did, and thank you for that, but it's in that same realm. I'm not going to lose any sleep over the fact that people did like it as well. Does that make sense? Like, my skin is thicker now and I'm I'm okay with with, you know, hater is gonna hate and lover is gonna love.
A: I think that that's a very mature approach to a debut novel because so often, especially with a debut, you hold it so close to your heart and you're like, this is my baby, it's part of me, and you don't want anyone to tell you your baby's ugly…
JT: But there are ugly babies, we just can't say that.
A: I mean, it happens… but your willingness to invite that criticism and recognize that people are reading it that that's what a negative review means… yeah.
JT: Yeah. Again, I you know the fact that somebody took the time and effort to read it, even if they didn't like it, it wasn't for them, and then they took the time and effort to tell people this was not for me, I mean, I'm still flattered by that and I'm stillnot going to lose any sleep over if you liked it or if you didn't because, I mean, please don't get me wrong, I have put countless hours into making this real. You know that better than most. I think my wife and my two boys are the only ones that would understand just how much I really put into it, but really, that's it man, and like I said, I believe in this. The beautiful thing about living when we're living right now is that it's okay to not have the same opinion as somebody else because you shouldn't, you know what I mean? Like there are eight billion people here on planet Earth and it'scool that we're all different and so if you take your time and read this thank you for doing that. I sincerely appreciate it. It's okay if it's not for you. It's okay if it is for you. You still took time out of your existence to read this novel that I've created and I'm hoping that it's entertaining for you.
I think I rambled again. I tend to do that. Ask my students.
A: No I think it's great. Your son read it for the first time.
JT: Yes. He is 16 - he'll be 17 next week -
A: Okay, and what was his feedback? Did he give you any?
JT: I'll tell you right now, and he'll tell you the same thing, he got through two-thirds of it and then his school year just got so crazy that he has not been able to finish it yet, but truth be told, when we get done with this podcast, I'm gonna march this right over to his room and say here you go, go right ahead, you know, because he read the manuscript, but you and I both know how different that is between there and you know where it is now. But what did he think of it. You know, this generation of 16 is exposed to way more than our generation of 16 was. I turned 16 in 1991. What I was exposed to and what qualified as social taboos in the 30 years since have kind of become social norms and… maybe not quite norms, but things that are less taboo, you know. I said it earlier ,you know, I'm teach at a public high school and you know kids are dropping the f bomb in my class all the time and I'd like to believe that they do that in my classroom - especially towards the end of class, you know, when like we're wrapping up - because they're comfortable and they're letting their guard down and they're able to be themselves. But 30 years ago - my God! I never would have dreamt of swearing loud enough for a teacher to hear me. It's a different beast and so because it it's a different beast now, where you know they're watching Netflix and YouTube and anything on demand that is littered with f bombs, it's kind of become woven into their venacular and so, as such, there wasn't anything really in here that was shocking for my 16-year-old.
Now on the other side of it, my other son is 14 and I told him that when this thing gets published I will hand him a copy and I think he's almost at a point where he's not going to be shocked by anything in there. Because it's different, you know.
So you ask me what he thought of it. He thought it was funny. He thought it was entertaining. But where he hasn't finished it, I don't really know what he really really thinks. I'm hoping he finishes it and then, you know, if I can get a ‘Dad, that was cool’ that's good enough.
A: That's a win.
JT: Man, are you kidding me? Like holy cow. That's a dad win right there.
A: Absolutely. You are planning a book tour that will begin on the launch date at the end of this month. You have a lot of events lined up. Any particular ones that you'd like to promote or invite people to?
JT: I don't know who's listening to this or where you are but if you tell me that you heard this podcast and you show upat one of these I promise I'll make it worth your while. I may have to buy you a root beer float or maybe reimburse youfor the cost of my book I don't even know dude but I'll make it worth your while but regardless, yes, we're launching this on March 30th, it's a Saturday, at a brewery called Sterling Street Brewery in Clinton Massachusetts. The owners there were nice enough to make a big deal of this and they're putting it on their socials and everything else.
See J.T.’s Instagram for updates on all the events
A: That's great that is a good lineup
JT: You've heard me say this, it doesn't feel real. The fact that these places are like, yes show up and come talk to us and sign these things and sell these things - I'm like, holy, you really want me to do this? Like, this is so cool. Thank you so much and again thank you for the opportunity, Alanna. I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but I'm this actually wouldn't be happening without you, so thank you, thank you.
A: I am so pleased to be part of the journey and I I love this book and I want everyone accept my mom to read it.
JT: That is perfect because, you know, I gotta tell you, there was more than one time I'm going, wait a minute, my parents are in their 70s and, oh boy, here we go. But wait, I'm married and I've got kids, like, this can't come as a surprise to them but wait a minute, they're still my parent so I know, yeah.
A: They’ll always be your parents.
JT: Yes, exactly.
A: Can you share where people can find you online if they want to look you up or if they want to to reach out?
JT: Yes absolutely. I am on Instagram and on Facebook at author JT Maxwell it's all one word a u t h o r
JT m a x w e l l (@authorjtmaxwell) and my email is author JT Maxwell - again all one word no dots in there or nothing - at gmail.com (authorjtmaxwell@gmail.com) Please reach out, send me a line say, hey, I heard you on that podcast, you sound a little nasally, are you coming off of a cold? I'll answer yes, yes I am. You know, because it is the season and it's just so cruel. like we're getting away from the flu and the colds and what's going to happen? We're going to get right into the spring pollen. My nasal cavity is just feels like it wants to divorce me, you know, and I don't blame it in the least. But, I mean, what are you gonna do? This is New England. This is what happens.
A: I only have one more very important question for you.
JT: Okay.
A: What makes a perfect root bear float?
JT: All right, so the two possible answers here because - don't get me wrong - man, you can go out and you can get high quality ice cream and you can get good root beer and you can put the two together and make it a thing, but it boils down to a high quality - I mean really high quality ice cream - I'm talking like pure vanilla, you know. I'm not talking like manufactured vanilla. I'm talking like a really high-end almost like homemade briers kind of a thing, like a really good high quality ice cream. And then the root beer, you know. I mean, you know good root beer when you're going to have it. Stick with the smaller names. Here's another plug, which is also at the back of the book and mentioned by name in there. Stewarts shops. They're this convenience store/gas station chain out in, you know, like, the capital region of of New York and into Vermont and they're fantastic. And they do sodas. And they do a root beer that can't be beat. So with the rightamount of root beer, because that's the thing, you don't want too much - all right, and you can't have too little because then the ice cream is too much, right, so you want like a good scoop in a pint glass, a good scoop of ice cream. The ice cream first, then the root beer, and you got to do the root beer like you do a beer, so you kind of pour on the side and head on down and fill because if you pour it directly onto the actual ice cream itself then forget about it, it's just kind of starts to do this weird melty thing and you don't want that.
So that was probably way more information than you were ready for, but again, I do that. I tend to ramble. I tend to go off and overexplain. There's a lot going on in my head. So there you go. It's a wonderful, scary place.
A: This is why you're a writer and why there's going to be more stories from you
JT: You know, I really hope so. You understand this, I wrestled once we finally pretty much had this end version. I wrestled with marketing versus continuing with my next stor.y I'm 7,000 words into my next one and I'm like do I continue with that or do I try to find books stores and push this online and work as my own marketing person right now, and I chose to to shelf the story for now. I can always come back to the story, but I know enough about business to know that you've got to strike while the iron is hot and so that's why instead I'm doing this podcast and I'm telling people to go out and buy this and to pre-order it through your site and it'll be available on Amazon in paperback form on March 30th, but you can pre-order the e-reader version right now and etc etc etc. So this next beast, I don't know, we'll have to wait for it. Maybe it'll be out next year, the year after that, we'll see. But until then, go buy Red Brick Road and I hope you laugh and I hope you learn something awesome amazing.
A: Thank you so much for taking all this time. We've been on this call for a long time. Thank you.
JT: I do that. I ramble. You've heard me do that. I appreciate your time as well and this opportunity. This has been really awesome, dude. Again Alanna, thank you thank you thank you. This is so cool
A: You're so welcome. We're gonna go far. I believe it.
JT: I hope so. I'm working on it.
A: I know you're killing it.
JT: Trying to. Thank you. As always, this has been fantastic and I sincerely appreciate your time.
A: Of course. We'll talk soon. Lots going on. Have a good night.
JT: Yes, enjoy your night. Bye.
A: I hope you enjoyed that conversationI know it's always so fun for me to talk to J.T. He's so charismatic and just full of energy and excitement and he's so motivated to share this book and I really hope that that captured you and that your next step is going to be ordering that book. Because how how can you regret a good time? You're not; you won't. This is a good one. Please buy yourself a copy, leave a review, support debut authors. what a special time for him.
It is one of my great honors to champion debut authors and this is no exception. I love this book, I love this story, I love its message, and I can't wait to get it into your hands. Thanks for tuning in and I'll see you next time.
