>> Jeniffer: Hello and welcome to the premise. I'm Jennifer Thompson. >> Chad Thompson: And I'm Chad Thompson. >> Jeniffer: And I've got a little bit of a scratchy throat here today, folks. But bear with me. It's going to be an awesome interview. In fact, we're interviewing Keith Rozin for the second time. We had him for his book Road seven, which was phenomenal. Go get it. And that was episode 19, I believe. Wow. >> Chad Thompson: And then we skipped a book with him. >> Jeniffer: We did.
>> Chad Thompson: And now we're onto this one. >> Jeniffer: Well, two books, I think. Is that right? How many books have you written since road seven, Keith? >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, I did. I did the, story collection. That's right. Trauma surgeons. And then I did fever house. >> Jeniffer: That's right. >> Chad Thompson: Last year. >> Jeniffer: Okay. That's right. That's right. >> Chad Thompson: And this is every book. Nobody expects that.
>> Jeniffer: You know, I totally would. Keith, we love you. We are huge fans, and we would absolutely interview you for every single book. You'd be like, mm m, I've done that one. >> Chad Thompson: Oh, the premise again. >> Jeniffer: those people. >> Chad Thompson: Right. >> Jeniffer: So for our listeners, let's just tell them a little bit about Keith. Keith Rozin is the author of the novels the devil by
name, which we're going to talk about today. Fever House, smoke City, Road seven, and the Mercy of the Tide, as well as the Shirley Jackson award winning story collection, folk songs for trauma surgeons. Short fiction has appeared in Southwest Review, Nightmare, Cream City Review, Pink, Redivider, December, and more. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Keith Rozin, thank you so much for joining us here on the premise.
>> Chad Thompson: Oh, I'm so excited. I really appreciate it. I had so much fun last time, even though I believe my laptop kind of exploded and died the last time. We tried to do this a couple years ago. So, it totally. >> Jeniffer: It was like, yeah, for me, it was like one of the best interviews we'd ever done. We were just having so much fun with you and laughing and all this great stuff, and then your computer literally died. It didn't. So, listeners, it didn't, like, the battery
didn't go dead. Like, the computer died and we lost it. >> Chad Thompson: I had to get another one. >> Jeniffer: Yeah. M so we're rescheduled. And they were like, wait, did we talk about this already today or last time? >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, but it was still just arc, you know, still good work was just. >> Jeniffer: Oh, it's like, yeah, you just can't get it back. But you know what we did, it was a great interview. And, I love telling people about you. I love your writing.
And today we're talking about really, we're talking about two books, because this is a duology. The devil by name is the second book in the series with Fever House being the first. And, Stephen King recommended your book, which is amazing. Tell us about this. >> Chad Thompson: You know, we. One of the crazy things is, like, I did four books on an indie publisher, Meerkat Press. >> Chad Thompson: And the woman who runs Meerkat,
Trisha reeks. She and I pretty much did everything together as far as, like, design, editing, promotion and all this stuff. And like, she does 99% of that stuff all by herself, you know? >> Jeniffer: Wow. >> Chad Thompson: And the wild thing about jumping to random House is that they have teams worth of people where it's their job to get your book
in front of people. And we tried and tried and tried to get, fever house in front of Stephen King and like, it just didn't quite land and didn't happen for whatever reason. But the nice thing is that it happened really organically. Cause Joe Hill, his son, who's a tremendous horror writer as well, read a copy of it and really just has done so much to boost the book, you know, that's cool, that closeness. Stephen King saw it. Saw, that, like, oh, I gotta get my hands on that
copy. And like, random house, of course, was ready to go with that. So they got a copy in front of him and he loved it. >> Jeniffer: Nice. >> Chad Thompson: And he has just pushed the hell out of it ever since. Like, PBS did a thing where he was asked books that he likes and he listed it and he's tweeted about it multiple times. And I just. Tremendously fortunate. >> Jeniffer: It's so awesome. And you deserve it, man. You're. >> Chad Thompson: Oh, thank you so much.
>> Jeniffer: And that's the crazy thing is, you know, you do everything right and it just takes that one thing that suddenly, like, tips it over the edge, and now all of a sudden, it's taken on a life of its own. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, it's so cool because, like, you know, with the duology with the devil by name being out, you know, the book fever house, they have a little bit of a longer shelf life, you know, which is great. But like, fever House is still going really strong, you know?
>> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: And, it's just, it's so cool to see a book have legs like that, you know? >> Jeniffer: Absolutely. Well, and you know what's funny is I knew that it was the second book, but I didn't know you had to really needed to read fever house. At least I think so. >> Chad Thompson: So I. Yeah, it's pretty. You will be better served by reading fever house first, for sure. >> Jeniffer: I mean, there was, there were things you did that, like, get the reader up
to speed if you didn't read fever House. But you are really short changing yourself if you don't read that book first, because. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, totally. >> Jeniffer: And I read them back to back. So I've been reading horror for, like, the last two weekends and evenings. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. >> Jeniffer: I was like, okay, I'm doing this right before I go to bed. It's the perfect time to read a horror book.
I love them both. And I, you know, we gotta be really careful because there's so much I want to talk about, but I don't want to give anything away to our listeners because as it's, as it's revealed, it's like, so fun. And so we, I'm not gonna take that away from our listeners. So we're gonna, like, dance around some of the things that happen in this book. >> Chad Thompson: And we also have the magic of editing we can work with, too. >> Jeniffer: Oh. If we say things we shouldn't say.
>> Chad Thompson: Haha. >> Jeniffer: Haha. Well, I gotta say, take that, listener, right? You won't even know. this is. So today is actually September 10, which is your pub date, so congratulations. >> Chad Thompson: Oh, thank you so much. It's such a, it's so weird, like, where it's starting to feel a little bit old hat, which is just absolutely insane to think about. >> Jeniffer: Totally. That's awesome. >> Chad Thompson: All this kind of emotional buildup for months and months and months,
right? And then it happens and it's like, oh, I still am walking my kids to school, and the dog still did what the dog did on the. You know what I mean? >> Jeniffer: Right. >> Chad Thompson: Like a human. >> Jeniffer: Like, no one, no one knows. You're waving, dear neighbors. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, right. It's cool. But it's not that big of a deal all told, you know? >> Jeniffer: Well, I mean, for those who don't know yet. Yeah, exactly. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. Right. Yeah.
>> Jeniffer: But I'm curious, like, how does random house differ to meerkat? Which was awesome. I remember you saying her praises and that whole process. But in terms of, like, them giving you information about what's happening with the book, like, are they pretty communicative about that? >> Chad Thompson: Oh, absolutely. And there's this very dorky thing, like an author portal where you. It's updated, like, every single day where you can go in and see, like, sales and all that
stuff. Like, And it's. It lags, like, maybe a week behind, you know? >> Jeniffer: Okay. Okay. >> Chad Thompson: It's amazing. How was, how was that Stephen King bump? >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, it was very helpful. It was the bit like the PBS thing. And Jason Pargan also did like, a TikTok video the same day. >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: and so, he's an author, right? Yeah. Like, John dies at the end. >> Jeniffer: Something about spiders.
>> Chad Thompson: Yeah, exactly. it was the best sales week since first week. >> Jeniffer: Wow. >> Chad Thompson: So it did really well. Yeah. so I can't
remember where I was going with that, but, Oh, yeah. So as far as random house goes, there, it's almost like I have moments of, like, not necessarily guilt, but like, trying to turn it into gratitude because you recognize how fortunate you are to be there to have this, like, group of people who it's their job to get your book in front of people, you know? >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: And just how, fortunate you are to be in that position, you know?
and they're like, it's a little tricky because publicity, all the publicity folks are rad and they will approve about 20% of my ideas. You know what I mean? Hey, let's try this. And they're like, yeah. Ah, I don't. Yeah, Keith, we've run the numbers and, you know, it's not going to work. Mandy, that's interesting. >> Jeniffer: Can you give us an example? Yeah, I'm curious. don't mean to put you on a slut. Like what book? >> Chad Thompson: events.
>> Jeniffer: Okay. >> Chad Thompson: Like book tours and things like that. post Covid, book of tours have never really, they haven't really recovered. and so logistically, it makes more sense for a big publisher to use the money that they would spend on, like, flying somebody out on like a ten date tour. >> Jeniffer: Right. >> Chad Thompson: doing like, Amazon ads and things like that, you know? >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: where it's just kind of, it gets the book
more in front of people. More. Cause even if you sell 20 copies at every bookstore, you know, numbers wise, it just doesn't quite pan out. But, you know, a lot of times they'll do things, I think it's called like, author appreciation or something, where they'll be like, ah, ah, let's send them on a five day thing just to kind of, kind of appease them a little bit, you know what I mean? Feel good and all that. Yeah. So, yeah, they. But again, like, they have done this for so long that they know
what works, right. You know? So occasionally we will politely butt heads about, like, I think this would be cool. And, sometimes they'll say yes, you know, like we get to do devil, by name t shirts this time around to send out to people for, like, in like, promo packages. And stuff, you know, which was something that I, had broached last time. and so this time they're like, hell, yeah, we'll do that. >> Jeniffer: You know what I love the most are the zines and the guitar picks.
>> Chad Thompson: I know. That was so fun. Again, it's. It's like little, just little ideas. Those were both, random house ideas, too. So, the zine is full of little auxiliary things, that kind of correlate to devil by name and fever house. And the guitar picks are for a band called the blank letters, which is a band that features pretty prominently in the first book. And so it's just neat little things like that, you know?
>> Jeniffer: Yeah. In fact, Chad and I want to get our hands on those two items. >> Chad Thompson: Oh, you know, I have sent all of them out. I want to see what I can. >> Jeniffer: Okay. Yeah, well, I saw it on, I think it was on your instagram. And I was like, oh, my God, that's such a great idea. And one of my questions, too, was, you know, I have the arc, so I don't know what the final book looks like. And when we're looking at the reports, like the government, top secret reports, the
zine makes them look really cool. Did you. Does that same design land in the final product? >> Chad Thompson: No, it's very much like typeset. In the same manner that fever house is where it's, like, it's more functional readability. the zine was really a cool way to just get. Cause I'm a designer, too. and so I was able to just get really dorky with top secret layouts. >> Jeniffer: Totally. I saw you all over that. Well, that was gonna be one of my questions, is, you designed
your book covers for your past books. You had to relinquish that over to random house. And how was that? >> Chad Thompson: It was really hard. and then they sent, the first version of fever house over the first cover with the devil hand doing the kind of devil horns or whatever with the big claws at the end. And I had a lot of reservations about it because I felt like it was kind of, like, making light of a lot of stuff in the book.
and then, like, we, you know, I talked about it, and I showed people, and, my agent, showed people and everything. And eventually, like, pretty quickly, I changed my tune because it's so the typography and the design is so eye catching and immediate. that, like, you see it amidst 20 books, and it's like, that's the one your eye gravitates to. You know, you see it across the room 100%.
>> Jeniffer: Like, yellow and red are the first two colors that the eye sees when you walk into a room, and your books are yellow and red. >> Chad Thompson: Right. And so they. The designer really just switched the colors for the devil by name, but it's still very much the same, like, design, you know, layout and structure with the, type going, down, going down, up and down versus
horizontal, you know. And, yeah, it was, this woman, Ella Latham, who also did stuff like, the only good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. >> Jeniffer: Oh, yeah, that's a great cover. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, she is a tremendous designer, and she just killed it. >> Jeniffer: It's funny because that is also that author, I believe is from Portland, or in the Pacific Northwest, isn't hedgest? >> Chad Thompson: No, I think he's in, Colorado, maybe Denver.
>> Jeniffer: Oh, I got that totally wrong. Well, maybe it just reminded me of home when I said people in all the trees, because, listeners, I lived in Portland, Oregon. I'm from the Pacific Northwest myself, and, of course, that's where Keith is. So let's. Okay, let's dive in. Let's talk about these books. I read a reviewer say that this was, like, a new genre that you've pretty much penned, punk rock thrillers. And I feel like that was kind of apt. That was on Goodreads.
There's. I love. I know that you love punk rock, and, you know, your books are often steeped in that, but, man, did you nail that in fever house. And it just is so great. And so I have a couple questions. Number one, is Catherine Moriarty? Is she. Did you get her name from, the gits from Steve Moriarty? >> Chad Thompson: I think subconsciously I did. And I hope Steve, doesn't, you know, take me to court over
that. Yeah, I think so. Because I think, I think the gits, bands like the gits and bikini kill and a lot of, like, bands who lived through the kind of nineties, major label feeding frenzy of punk were a big influence, you know? and so, you know, there's a. There's a thing where, like, I think names are so interesting because once you get to a certain point, you realize, oh, I used Nick last book. I gotta come up with a different name. >> Jeniffer: Right, right.
>> Chad Thompson: And I realized that, one of the characters, in the book that's coming out after the devil by name, that's coming out next year, the bad guy, is the name of an author of a book I've read, like, ten years ago. >> Jeniffer: That's fascinating. >> Chad Thompson: Straight up lifted from it. Subconsciously, you know? >> Jeniffer: Right. Yeah, I love that. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. So, like, names, are they,
like, they seep in. In a way that's like, it's really hard to, hard to manage sometimes, but, yeah, I think it's. I think totally, like, Steve and the gits and all that, like, definitely played a part. Well, Moriarty is also the villain, in Sherlock Holmes. >> Chad Thompson: That is not intentional. So I'm just saying, if you need, like, a legal wiggle room in case. After you. Yeah, yeah.
>> Jeniffer: Well, and I feel like you really presented the punk rock world in such a great way, like, total reality, you know, based on your love of punk. And. And I just wonder, too, if, you know, the paper letters or the blank letters. My bad. isn't based on the gits a little bit too? You know, just we've got the three guys and the lead singer whose voice is just, like, so powerful. Right.
>> Chad Thompson: Yeah. You know, I think, like I said, I think they're a kind of amalgam of the Gitz, bikini kill, a bunch of other bands, but it's all kind of, like, subconscious and run through the colander of, like, my own. What's going to hold my interest as a writer, you know, so, like, doing, like, Gitz, you know, a veiled Gitz biography or whatever would not have been interesting to me as a writer. >> Jeniffer: Right, of course. Yeah.
>> Chad Thompson: And it wouldn't have worked for this story, but there are definitely elements of it, you know, and again, like, just nineties punk stuff, you know, is super threaded throughout and prevalent, >> Jeniffer: In the book and done so well. And you're, you know, if I were to. I was trying to tell someone recently, like, a couple days ago, you got to read these books. They're so good.
You're gonna love them. And I said, you know, it's really, it's, it's horror, but it's so much more than that because the character development is so good, your writing style. >> Chad Thompson: Right. It's like, distill a 450 page book with, like, six main characters. Yeah. >> Jeniffer: You know, did you struggle with, like, the backstory, you know, revealing too much or going too deep or, like, was. >> Chad Thompson: That, you know, I. So here's two little fun factoids
about fever House was one. I had no plan to write a sequel to. >> Jeniffer: Oh, my God. That was my next question. Really? >> Chad Thompson: Oh, yeah. It was going to end with Cath or. Sorry. it was going to end where it ended. >> Jeniffer: Good job. Good job. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, totally. And, it was going to end where it ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger. And when my agent. So the cool story is on a Thursday, my, agent and I had worked on the book, and he's like,
I'm going to send this out to, like, six editors. And then we will, that was on a Wednesday. And then we will send it out big on Monday to, like, you know, 25 other people or whatever. And so the next day we get this. He gets an email from the editor at Random House who says, oh, my God, is there a sequel? And then the day after that, yeah, that was a Thursday. The day after that, she has her team read it over the weekend, and then on Monday, she
emails. My agent is like, I want to set up a call with this guy. Tuesday, she calls me, and she prefaces the call with like, I don't have this conversation with people unless I'm really willing to make an offer. Which is just like, that just blew my mind, you know, because it was, like, life changing. >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: and then she's like, two questions. One, are you willing to write a sequel? and I was like, I will write cat food copy for you.
and I had kicked around the idea of a sequel, you know, but it wasn't like, it was like, if it had just stayed at fever house, I would have been okay with that, honestly. M. And then, the other thing is, she's like, would you add, like, 30,000 words to it, including a lot of, character backstory? And then what happens in Portland once things really accelerate? And so it's very rare to get so rare. Add another 25% to this book, for sure. >> Jeniffer: Yeah.
>> Chad Thompson: Usually you have to cut it. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And so a lot, that's where a lot of that, like, kind of backstory and stuff came from, was like, my editor, asking for more versus less, and she sensed, what the hell was I thinking? Why did I do that? You know? But did she really? Oh, yeah. Well, she was just, I think 30,000 is a lot, you know? >> Chad Thompson: I think she, she would have, in retrospect, probably been like 15, maybe. You know what I mean?
>> Jeniffer: Did you find that challenging to, like, did it feel like you were adding fluff or did it come pretty easily? >> Chad Thompson: No, it was great. It was, you know, the thing with, with, my agent, my editor is she's tremendously good and smart, and she makes me rewrite books, which is such a drag sometimes. So, like, in the two books following Fever House, she's essentially said, like, this isn't quite working. And I had to go back and essentially rewrite I had
to rewrite the devil by name. Kept maybe 10% of the original material in it. >> Jeniffer: Holy shit. Wow. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. And the vampire book that's coming out after that next year had to go back and rewrite that with maybe 10% of it. And so with fever house, it was like, just the idea of, like, building scaffolding and adding more to the world was not hard. That was fun. >> Jeniffer: That's cool. It felt like you were having fun
with this book. I've, you know, I read road seven. I haven't read all of your books, but. And I loved that book, but this one just felt like, I don't know, like you were really in your element, in your groove. It just. And I don't know, maybe that's, like, the editing process and going back and polishing it, but it felt so spot on to me. >> Chad Thompson: You know, it's weird. I wrote fever house.
A lot of it, like, during COVID during, lockdown and during, George Floyd protests, you know, and my kids were finally able to start going to, like, preschool and kindergarten and all that stuff, like, in very short bursts because we were still, like, pretty, you know, cautious with, like, schools were very reluctant to open up full time at the time and everything. And so I had little windows of time where I was able to
write. And, it was just like, I just wanted to write something propulsive and fast as hell and joy, you know what I mean? Joyous in my way, in the sense of just, like, fun, making it fun for me. >> Jeniffer: Okay, so here's something interesting. I've never read horror before. I've never read Stephen King's fiction, and I've always wanted to, but I've been, like, really afraid to do it. And my sister, who, you know, Lily, she was like, this is gonna scare the hell out of you. And I was
like, oh, really? I was like, oh, no. So I really had to challenge myself to read these books and 800 pages. >> Chad Thompson: So your sister read it first, and she was like, it's gonna freak you out. >> Jeniffer: Totally. Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: Oh, that's great. Right on. >> Jeniffer: Yeah. She's like, it's gonna scare the hell out of you. In a good way. And, it didn't, it didn't scare the hell out of me. I found it to me to be exciting and super
fun. And, like, the parts that scared me were, I mean, if you think about horror, it's based on the ridiculous and the supernatural and things that, like, aren't going to happen in the real world. You know, I mean, good versus evil. But, like, this book, specifically the devil by name, I feel like these things could happen. Like, it. It reflects on greed and the government and the defense contractors and all these things that could actually happen, and just another pandemic could wipe out
humanity. I feel like you captured that really well, and that scared me. But the horror piece of it, I just found it to be really fun. And I'm like, oh, my God, maybe I love horror and I have to read more horror. >> Chad Thompson: You know, for one, I think you should give Stephen King a shot, for one, because he does this thing where the dude is just like, it's not stream of consciousness, but it's so easy to just plow through the pages because his style is so
affable, you know? And then he slips the, dread and unease among that affability. And so you're just plowing along and you're like, oh, I'm starting to get freaked out here a little bit. Characters are so friendly, and, you know, he's written them so well, and, so, yeah, and then I guess, as far as the devil by name goes, like, yeah, I don't think that the. I don't think they're necessarily horror in the sense of, like,
I think they're more gruesome. Like, there's a lot of gore in it, you know, moments of, like, profound violence in it. but I. Yeah, as far as. And, you know, there are monsters and shit ultimately in it. >> Jeniffer: Right, right. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. For me, it's like, it fits in more in that nexus of, like, yes, horror and supernatural stuff, but also, like, crime and post apocalyptic stuff. >> Jeniffer: Right. >> Chad Thompson: And, like, that's the stuff that I personally
like. You know, I'll always, like, dip a toe in horror, but, like, I love crime fiction, and I love, like, literary fiction. And so it's really, like a kind of combination of all of those things. >> Jeniffer: I think it totally is, which is probably why I like it so much too. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. >> Jeniffer: Because I'm. >> Chad Thompson: And it's fun to write. It's entertaining. You know? >> Jeniffer: You're entertaining yourself. Yeah, go ahead.
>> Chad Thompson: Like, that's the thing, is, I've tried to write, like, straight crime fiction 5 million times. And one of the main characters, two of the main characters, Hutch Holtz and Tim Reed from Fever House, they started out as main characters in this, a number of crime novels that I've tried to write over the past couple years. >> Jeniffer: Oh, wow.
>> Chad Thompson: It just, like the first 25 pages of Fever House until they find the hand in the freezer straight lifted from another novel. >> Jeniffer: Wow, really? That's great. Now, I love those characters. Hutch in particular. I was so fond of Hutch, and I love the fact that he was such a reader. You know, like we, when we start to get into his character, like, here are these two goons, essentially, who are, like, doing mob boss work and, you know, they're
killers. They fuck people up for money. Right. And yet I felt like, oh, I really had a soft spot for Hutch. Where did. Yeah, what was his journey initially? Like, where were you taking him, do you think? Or do you know? >> Chad Thompson: I mean, very similar. He also, like his, and I earlier books, like, his father is like a Vietnam veteran who, is like, succumbing to dementia. And, so he's like, kind of staying at home, taking care of him while
all these other events are going on in his life. But that's an old book. so, yeah, he's just, he's one of those guys where it's like, he just. And he's in short stories and he just would not leave me alone. And it sounds dorky where when writers say, like, the characters tell me what to do. >> Jeniffer: No, they don't. >> Chad Thompson: But he just loved me so much and I kept coming back to him, and finally I found a place for him to shine. >> Jeniffer: Nice. I love that.
Let's talk about the point of view in this book, because it's written in third person omniscient. So we get the perspective, the inside voice of the character through the God voice, if you will. And I really loved how much we got, like, perspective on who that person was as an individual, what they're thinking, their snarkiness. so talk to us about how you decided to choose that point of view. And was that always where you were headed, or did you work on that?
>> Chad Thompson: No, I think that's my natural inclination out of, I've written six books now. And, apart from short stories, not one of them comes from a single pov. So all of my books are like multiple characters, even if it's just two. Like in road seven, you know? >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: And, I think for me, that kind of like open air, ability, world building ability, ah. In third person just works better, you know? one of my challenges as a writer is I absolutely want to write
one goddamn character in a book. You know, like, I want to put some novel out where it's just one person from page one to page, whatever. You mean like first? >> Jeniffer: You mean like first person? You know, I mean, like, you only have one character one character, like, really. >> Chad Thompson: The same character that starts the book, ends the book. And there's no, like, we're gonna bounce from this person to this person to this person.
>> Jeniffer: Got it. Okay. Got it. So there's other people. It's just we're following this guy. Right? >> Chad Thompson: Just like. Yeah. yeah, sorry. Not one character, but from one character's point of view. >> Jeniffer: Right, right. Well, it gives you so much more, I don't know, power to, like, create emotions and that sense of dread. I think you do it so well.
>> Chad Thompson: Yeah. And that's like, again, I have to entertain myself, and it's, for me, sustaining the narrative with any sense of velocity to it. You gotta bounce around a little bit. >> Jeniffer: Right. Well, in this book in particular, when we're talking about the supernatural elements and the characters, it's really important for us to know as readers what they are planning. Also, as I was reading it, it bounces
around sometimes even in the timeline. We'll go back a little bit and get someone else's perspective of something we saw other people go through. And I just. I was thinking to myself, what the hell does his writing area look like? How do you keep track of this timeline and what you have revealed and haven't? What needs to be revealed? And, like, do you have a process for that? Or how do you do that?
>> Chad Thompson: Yeah. Oh, my gosh, I love questions like this of getting into the dorky minutiae of, like, how do you write a. yeah, so I keep. So I have the. It's all in word, you know what I mean? But, like, I write, the draft, whatever, 1st, 2nd, fifth, and then I'll keep another document open that's just notes, and it's like, people name places, things to remember as far as, like, oh, this is a motivation, or this guy only has three bullets left in his
gun. Remember that. All those details, you know, and that can span, like, a lot of pages. And then I'll also dump, like, if I have to cut something, I'll just put it in that document so I can refer back to it. so it's pretty much this, just those two documents that I'm jumping back and forth among. And then I'll do a lot of, like, handwritten journal writing, and just kind of freestyling about the characters. And I found a lot of ways that, a lot of times that will kind of loosen up,
the structure for me. And I can come up with ideas that way that I normally wouldn't. Just typing things on a computer. >> Jeniffer: That is fascinating. I have heard this before, that writing with a pen. Well, I guess depends on your generation and how you grew up. But for us, when you actually take a pen and write on a piece of paper, it does something different. Your subconscious is tapped into in a
different way, I guess. Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: And it's, it's weird because it takes me a lot longer to hand write something, and so I'm less, almost less worried about it because I'm like, okay, I've already got this, this idea mapped out, but I need to finish it, finish writing it, you know? >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: And, it's just a way more, like, relaxed kind of way of loosening the scree of the plot and, like, lifting rocks up and seeing what's underneath, you know?
>> Jeniffer: That's cool. That is cool. I guess, as a writer myself, sometimes, like, I find myself going off on these tangents, and I'm like, what am I doing? And I stop myself. And I think that just shows I'm a new, newer writer. But it sounds to me like those take you to places, and following those tangents is a really good idea. >> Chad Thompson: And to me, that's like, that's 90% of the fun. It's like coming up with something, being like, oh, shit, how
do I pull this off? Coming up with an idea of being like, I want to do that, and then, what is the connective tissue from where I'm at now in the story and where I want to be? And it's like, how do I make that happen? You know? That is 90% of the joy in writing for me, like, figuring out those little twists. >> Jeniffer: Nice, you know? Yeah. Where did you get the idea for fever house?
>> Chad Thompson: You know, like I said, a lot of it was just hutch and tim, and I loved those guys, and I wanted to, have them in there. And then clearly, the crime angle, the straight crime angle, wasn't working. And I had this idea of a severed hand in a, like, cracked leather, like, oldena doctor's bag, you know? >> Jeniffer: Right. >> Chad Thompson: With. Filled with money. and so those two things were really the impetus where it was like, that's where that kind of connective leap started,
where started happening. and I was like, how do I make this work? So there's this guy who's a leg breaker, and then this hand, and the hand does something. I don't know what. and so it's really, like, in, I think in misery, in, Stephen King's misery, the main character is a writer, and he plays this internal game that I think is called can you, like, can you do this, as a writer, how do you do it? How do you make it happen? And to me, that. Yeah, it's just.
It's really like, how do I make this work between Hutch and this severed hand? And so I just had to start answering questions about, like, how does this hand work? what are its powers? What are its effects? And then I had to kind of build the world from that. >> Jeniffer: Wow, that sounds really fun. >> Chad Thompson: It was so fun. Yeah. The devil by
name, I think, is, like, it's a strong book. And, my God, it was so hard to m write because I had built such a kind of, like, puzzle box by the end of fever house and all these parameters. >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: You know. >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: That I had to solve all these different problems I had to solve, to move forward because it ends, like, you know, things are reasonably effed at the end of Fever House, trying not to give anything away.
>> Jeniffer: Yeah. Yeah, reasonably effed. I like that. I feel like there could be a book three, honestly, you know, if we. >> Chad Thompson: Ever get, like, tv and film stuff moving forward, and it takes off, like, I could totally see random house being like, do you think about a trilogy? >> Jeniffer: Totally. Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: Now there's just plans for the two.
>> Jeniffer: And as I was reading it and some reviewers said the same thing, I kept thinking to myself, my God, this needs to be a Netflix series. Like, I could totally see it, right? But can they do it justice? I mean, I don't know. It's just different, right? You have a different storytelling way when it's a screenplay or writing a series, so it's going to be different. >> Chad Thompson: But I can't, I can't do anything, say anything specific yet because contracts aren't signed.
But I did have a option, and then that option was not renewed. and, you know, I think the strike really, the writer strike really put a damper on a lot of projects, and fever house did not survive. and now we are, about to ink a, ah, contract for another, another option for it. And I'm very excited about it. And it's a killer team and a rad showrunner and. >> Jeniffer: Nice. That would be awesome. I kept trying to picture some of the characters, and I thought to myself,
who does Keith envision? Like, Katherine, for example? >> Chad Thompson: Sorry. the closest I can think of, at least with Katherine, is like, I think Kathleen Hanna would kill at it. And, like, she's the right age, as far as I know. She's interested in, like, getting into more acting stuff. And I'm like, she'd be fucking perfect at it. >> Jeniffer: I don't know who she is. Who's Kathleen Hanna? >> Chad Thompson: Oh, that's the singer of bikini kill.
>> Jeniffer: Oh, wait, she's going to be acting. That would be amazing. >> Chad Thompson: Well, no, what I've heard is she is interested, in kind of broaching that world. But I can't speak out of turn as how accurate that is or anything, but when I envision a character for Katherine, I think she would be really good at it. >> Jeniffer: You know what? I just looked her up and I totally. Yes. She would be perfect. She has the right look. Everything about her looks. Right.
Kathleen, if you're listening, we have plans for you, lady. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, there we go. >> Jeniffer: and then Nick coffin. Let's. Let's talk a little bit about his character. he's a complicated character. He grew up in a pretty. Yeah, let's talk about him. Tell me how he came to be. >> Chad Thompson: And, you know, I think, it's so weird to be, like, where did you get your idea? >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: Because almost like, so much of it,
like, road seven. I don't remember writing a lot of road seven, you know? and not like he was in a mad fugue state and, you know, high on opium and all that, but just like, you don't remember, like, how that can. Those connective acts in the plot took place, you know? >> Jeniffer: Right. >> Chad Thompson: And so where Nick came from, I think mostly I just kind of had this image of a, skinny, like, mid twenties kid in very gangly and in, like, combat boots, like, running
down the street. And that's where that's, like, his first scene. Is he running to meet Hutch somewhere? >> Jeniffer: That's right, yeah. >> Chad Thompson: And so again, and then it's like, okay, so you have this character and this character and this character, and they want this, or they're afraid of this. How do you make that work? And so it's a lot of, like, writing in my notebook and thinking about it when I'm doing
dishes and stuff. And, like, if it. If things don't start to gel plot wise, I've effed up and I either need to get super crazy with the plot or I need to step back and cut some. Cut some words, right. And get back to, like, a simpler spot, you know? and that. I think that happened a lot with Nick where I, wasn't quite sure where he fit in, and I had to make a leap and just be like, oh, he and Katherine. There you go. >> Jeniffer: That's awesome.
How long did it take you to write the devil by name? >> Chad Thompson: that, I think, was probably 14 months, because I had to. I wrote the first draft really fast, and, it was way more focused on John Bonner and the elements inside the fever house inside Portland because I wanted to try to recapture that kind of crime element, to it. And my editor, was just like, it's not working. It's too insular. All these other characters are like, they don't even really come in. They
don't meet. They don't all meet up until much m later in the book. and so I had to kind of step back and again rewrite it. >> Jeniffer: I felt like John Bonner was, like, the main character. Like, he was a really strong character. So I felt that, like he was maybe intended to be, like, the thrust of everything. But you did. You pulled back on him. But it's great. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. It was hard because he was fun to
write. And that world, kind of like a crime thing in post apocalyptic Portland was really fun, and a challenge, but ultimately, it just didn't cut the mustard. And it's such a heartbreaking thing. Like, the first couple days after you get notes from your editor, and they always end it with, like, I'm happy to talk about this whenever you'd like, you know? >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: Oh, so much work to be done.
And then writer brain takes over, and, you know, by the next day, you're like, how do I fix this problem? >> Jeniffer: You just do it, right? >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. and it's fun. Even when it's not fun, it's still fun. >> Jeniffer: That's awesome. I'm so glad. I love that. You are 100% writing now, right? That's what you do. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. This is it, Mandy. This is it. >> Jeniffer: That's great. And so your next book.
Well, actually, is there anything else you want to tell our listeners about this duology before we ask you our final questions? >> Chad Thompson: no, I think that, like, please just give it a shot and probably want to read them in order. and, yeah, I just, again, I feel tremendously fortunate to a be on this show. Thank you very much. And to just be able to do this. Yeah, I get to do for a living. It's so cool.
>> Jeniffer: It's awesome. Well, we love having you, and I just think you are the epitome of what every author needs to be. You have so much gratitude, but yet you're such a badass. Like, to me, it's, like, amazing because you're such a great writer, and, you know, as previous listeners know, you're technically legally blind. So you do have a bit of a handicap when it comes to, you know, working. >> Chad Thompson: Right.
>> Jeniffer: but you push through and you do it with such joy. It's awesome. I love it. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, totally. Yeah. So it's a weird thing where, like, and I think that's one of the main reasons why I'm not doing as much design and illustration, as a blind guy, because there were all these various, like, accoutrements that you needed, and you needed, like, your computer and all these applications and a scanner and. Or, you know, I haven't made the leap, being an older
person. and I say that with air quotes, but, like, drawing from tablets. You know what I mean? >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: Ah, there's a way you could kind of usurp all this by. With technology, but I was just finding there are all these trappings of, like, shit that I needed to use to do illustration stuff. And with writing, it's just a notebook or a, you know, blank computer screen, and you go, right.
And that is tremendously freeing. I don't know if it's necessarily as a legally blind or visually impaired guy, but just as a person, I find that tremendously freeing. >> Jeniffer: That's cool. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah. >> Jeniffer: So tell us about your next book. The bad guys. Is that what you said? >> Chad Thompson: No, it's called. It's a vampire book. set in 1970s Portland, shocking. And throughout, like, Montana and North Dakota and stuff. but it is essentially true grit with vampires.
>> Jeniffer: Sounds awesome. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, it's a Vietnam veteran and his adoptive niece hunting a vampire that slaughtered their family. >> Jeniffer: Oh, okay. And does it have a title yet? >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, it's called Coffin Moon. >> Jeniffer: Oh, nice. Okay. I don't know where I got the bad guys. coffin moon. Very cool. And that's coming out in 2025 in. >> Chad Thompson: The spring, or, I'm assuming summer or fall.
>> Jeniffer: Okay, well, listen, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, people. You still have to read fever house and the devil by name. >> Chad Thompson: Excellent. >> Jeniffer: Excellent books. I have one more question. How are your girls? Last time we talked to you, you just adopted two daughters. >> Chad Thompson: Oh, God. Oh, yeah, they're great.
>> Chad Thompson: it's one of those things where at the time, when I first started out as a kind of trial by fire, dad, we adopted two girls who were two and three, weeks after Covid shut down the state. And so not only were they like, why the hell are we here? But also like, oh, and we can't leave, and we can't go to school anymore. >> Jeniffer: Oh, my God, we're stuck in the. >> Chad Thompson: House with you guys.
>> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: And it was very hard, you know, and now, almost five years later, four years later, it's just, we're just. This is just life, you know what I mean? Like, it's just we play, board games before we walk to school, and we walk the dog on the way to school, the dog poops in the street, and it's a big ordeal, you know, because there's traffic and. You know what I mean? It's just like, regular. >> Jeniffer: That's awesome. Well, that's great.
I loved the dedication. I think it was the dedication in fever house where you said, you know, to my daughters, don't read this till you're old enough, or please don't read this till you're 18. >> Chad Thompson: I'm doing a book launch tonight because it's,
it's, you know, pub day for the devil by name. And I'm like, yeah, so I don't know how we're gonna do this, because, like, I'd like the girls to come, but they're seven and eight, and I'm reading a scene from the devil by name that is just gnarly as shit. >> Jeniffer: Yeah. >> Chad Thompson: And my wife's like, you know, they keep talking about how they want to do horror stuff. Like, let's, you know, let's
try it. And I got about, she. Oh, and she read it in her, like, funny reading voice that she does, you know? she started reading the devil by name, this scene, and they were like, yeah, I'm tapping out. Fuck this. I cannot listen to this. It's too spooky. >> Jeniffer: It's too much, right now. Yeah, but they're interested. >> Chad Thompson: They're not ready. They'll be reading Clive Barker by the time they're twelve. >> Jeniffer: Yeah, for sure.
>> Chad Thompson: Totally. I think I started Stephen King when I was ten or eleven, so. >> Jeniffer: Sounds about right. What is your favorite Stephen King book? >> Chad Thompson: I don't know. It really bounces around. I think he just had a new collection come out, ah, three or four months ago. Called you like it darker, and it's great. there's even a kind, of a cujo, sequel where it's the main. The father from cujo makes an appearance, 40 years later or whatever.
>> Jeniffer: Oh, that's cool. Cool. >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, it's really cool. >> Jeniffer: All right, well, thank you so much again. We really appreciate your time. And this is your launch day, so I feel really fortunate. >> Chad Thompson: Oh, I appreciate it so much. Yeah. thanks for having me again. We gotta do it 3rd, 4th, 5th time, 100%. >> Jeniffer: You can come back anytime. We're all loving watching you skyrocket and telling the world about your great books.
>> Chad Thompson: Thank you so much. Don't forget about us humans back here on earth. >> Jeniffer: Yeah, right. >> Chad Thompson: Totally. Yeah. >> Jeniffer: Well, you can learn more about Keith [email protected] and follow him on Instagram at rozinkeith, on Twitter rosin and Facebook. I think it's Keith Rosin seven. Is that right? >> Chad Thompson: Yeah, sounds right. >> Jeniffer: You can go to his website and his name is spelled r o s s n. I'm sorry. R o s s o ndez.
>> Chad Thompson: There we go. >> Jeniffer: Get it right, Jennifer, and just buy these books. They're so good. What a wonderful way to support authors. Read their work, tell people about it. You're gonna love it. And like me, I had no idea how much I would love this book. And you will love it, too. This has been another episode of the premise. You can visit us online at, thepremisepod.com and subscribe and rate or review the premise wherever
you get your podcast. Those reviews really help us get the word out for people like Keith and the premise and increase our subscriber base. So we really appreciate it, folks. You can also follow me, your host, on Instagram, enifergrace, or follow me on Facebook, enifertompsonconsulting. Until next time, thanks for listening. Goodbye. Bye.