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- [00:01]
Podcast Host/Announcer
This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast instead of doomscrolling. Smart Move Another smart move getting help from one of State Farm's 19,000 local agents when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with the personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. Morning Decisions how about a creamy Mocha Frappuccino drink? Or sweet vanilla smooth caramel maybe? Or white chocolate mocha?
- [00:36]
Lee Madrid
Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits.
- [00:38]
Podcast Host/Announcer
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- [00:42]
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- [01:13]
Lee Madrid
welcome to the new Books Network.
- [01:17]
Rebecca Buchanan
Hi, this is Rebecca Buchanan, host at New Books Network, and today I'm here with Lee Madrid to talk about her novel, My Lips, Her Voice. Voice Lee, thanks for being here with me today.
- [01:27]
Lee Madrid
Oh, thanks so much for having me.
- [01:29]
Rebecca Buchanan
Could you start by giving a little bit of a synopsis about what your book's about?
- [01:33]
Lee Madrid
Of course. My Lips Her Voice is a possession murder mystery about two very different girls battling for control over one body. We have Audrey, who is shy, a bit of a people pleaser and a tiny bit clairvoyant who would like control of her own body back. And we have Mara, who is her headstrong kind of bully of a cousin who has been murdered and is very upset about that and wants revenge. But unfortunately she doesn't know who killed her. And that's basically the gist of it.
- [02:06]
Rebecca Buchanan
Could you talk a little bit before we kind of get into it about, like, how this book sort of came to be? Was this something that, you know, came to. Yeah, just like the premise, like how it came to be.
- [02:17]
Lee Madrid
Sure. So I live in Arizona and one of my favorite things about living here is we have a million quirky, weird little towns and they all have their wild west lore. So kind of our thing I like to do is go on road trips and one of I live close to, you know, just an hour and a half away from Bisbee, which is one of my all time favorites. And on the road to Bisbee is Tombstone, which is this hokey tourist trap of a town. But they have this street where, you know, they've kept it like the same since the 1800s and they have shootouts every day. And that whole town is just run by the tourism industry. And so it's very common to see people in full costume. And when we were driving through there, we were stopping to get like lunch. I saw this teen girl and like the full pioneer get up. And all I could think was, if you're a teenager, that would either be the best after school job or the worst after school job, depending on your personality. My personality would be like, oh, no, I hate this. So that was kind of like got me thinking about the people who live in Tombstone and just little things like that. And then later on we went up to Bisbee, which is an interesting mix because Tombstone's very flat, deserty, and Bisbee, you go up the mountain. And it was a very cool copper mining town that later became like an artist hippie commune in the 60s when the mines went bust and they have their own kind of tourism industry, but it's much quirkier. And I started combining these two places in my mind. And, you know, I very much relate to Audrey in the book, who's kind of a people pleaser, pushover. And I like to think, what is the thing that scares me most? And it's not like monsters or whatever. It's not having control. And just, you know, with Audrey, like possession, I'm like, that would be terrifying for an introvert, people pleaser, because she. You kind of want to like also please the person who's possessing you, which is. Sounds counterintuitive, but, you know, that's, you know, when you have that state of mind. So it became. I just started thinking my head about Zadie kind of came first with the teen girl in Tombstone. And then Audrey was just like this other character that I started populating Copper City with by combining my Frankenstein being of the two towns.
- [04:43]
Rebecca Buchanan
I love it. I want to talk about the possession, but I will just say we just did a Route 66 road trip and Arizona was my favorite state to go through. And when you're talking about, I loved Oatman, Arizona, which is like very quirky after a crazy drive that was like nothing I've ever driven before. But yes, so. So I'm picturing in my head when you're talking, I'm like, huh, huh. I've been to. I've seen that so can we talk a little bit about your possession? Because it is not like there's a lot of inner dialogue amongst. Right. We learn a lot about Marv because she and Audrey kind of have conversations. She can take over at some points.
- [05:29]
Podcast Host/Announcer
But.
- [05:30]
Rebecca Buchanan
Yeah, can you talk a little bit about that and why you ch. Like how you kind of decided on that or came to that. That sort of. That kind of possession?
- [05:40]
Lee Madrid
Yeah, it's, you know, sort of a different take on possession because it's someone she knows and it's someone that she's mourning the loss of. Even though they weren't, you know, particularly close, it was, you know, they were closer when they were younger. And, you know, as they became teenagers, Mara took, you know, some young adults are just not the nicest people as they are finishing their development. And that's where Mara was at the end of her life. And Audrey, you know, she has her own arc and journey to go through. But so Mara's sort of her foil. And I just thought it was interesting putting those two very conflicting personalities together. So Mara is, like, a little over self confident, whereas Audrey is severely, like, lax in self confident. And they're, like, kind of bickering there. And I just, you know, I like the idea of, you know, someone you've grown up with and that you're close to, if possessing you, because then it's. Instead of just having the. I need to get rid of this thing in me, you have more. There's a guilt to it and you feel very bad for, you know, Audrey feels very bad for Mara, but she wants her own life. But also she feels responsible in a way that, you know, I don't think she should, but she does. And so she ends up, like, hosting her cousin. And the more she lets in, the more power Mara gets.
- [07:00]
Rebecca Buchanan
Yeah. And you have sort of sort of dual narrator. And so let's talk a little bit about Zadie, too, so folks can kind of know who Zadie is and why she is really important.
- [07:13]
Lee Madrid
Yeah. So Zadie is Mara's ex girlfriend. They had just broken up before Mara disappeared, you know, and they'd been on and off again, and they kind of had that sort of toxic teen relationship that when you're that age, it seems really exciting and fun. And when you're a grown up, you're like, what are you doing? But, like, you know, so Zadie, I kind of had. I had fun with that character because I, like, I knew a girl like that in high school who just seemed super cool to me. And then later I was like, okay, what? You know, the things you realize. But she has her own, you know, passions. That driver she really wants out of this town that, you know, Audrey loves the town, wants to stay in there, and Zadie has these dreams outside of it. And meanwhile, she has unwittingly become, you know, part of this investigation. Her, you know, Mara goes missing. She still has strong feelings for her. Meanwhile, you know, she's developing a friendship with Audrey and, you know, kind of debating whether or not she believes Audrey once she finds out. But then it's like, hey, your ex girlfriend's back from the dead. You get a second chance. You weren't really sure about the breakup, and so it just adds this complicated layer to it.
- [08:25]
Rebecca Buchanan
Yeah. And then there's also the grandmother who is. Also has a voice there and sort of allows us to get a bit of the history of the town, too. So. Yeah, talk about her a little.
- [08:39]
Lee Madrid
So Shirley, I had a lot of fun with, you know, because she starts off, you know, throughout the book. Her timeline is much faster, but she starts off about the same age as the other girls. And then we see her grow up and become, you know, who she is. She's kind of like the. Almost like the wise woman of town. She's quirky. She has a little fortune shop. She does all sorts of fun stuff. But I liked having that ancestral trauma and curses and lore there where I wanted to find a way to really show that there's been something in this town that is just more than your average little spooky thing. For generations, there's been this supernatural trauma, but there's also been abilities. Some of it's just like, yeah, wipe it off as being quirky or, you know, or mental illness and all these other things, but there is just something there in this town that's been lingering for decades.
- [09:41]
Rebecca Buchanan
Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about the town? Like what this town? Sort of. Yeah, like a little bit more about the town. You talked a little bit about it, but, yeah, like, what is this town? Because the town is important and plays a role too.
- [09:55]
Lee Madrid
You know, Copper City is almost like its own character. I like. So thinking about the mines and the quarry pit that play a big part in the town, those are stolen from Bisbee. You know, I definitely recommend going to Bisbee if you've never been there. But they. When I. When you go to. When I go to these little touristy towns or these quirky places in Arizona, one of my favorite ways to learn a town is to take history tours, or better yet, ghost tours. Because when you Take the ghost stores. You get like the history but also the fun lore and legends. And I did that with Bisbee and you know, I also took a mining tour, but they didn't do an after hours tour. But so when you hear about these, the bloody history of the west and just they say that Bisbee is one of the most haunted towns in America because the quartz in the hills and something about being conduits or whatever, but everyone there has a ghost story. Everyone believes in ghosts. And I kind of took that and then I, you know, I think I had been reading was it the Devil in White City? The Erik Larson Book about H.H. holmes and I was thinking about, you know, these old timey serial killers and that's how the legend of, you know, Copper City's, you know, bloody Jasper was born in my head is, you know, what if they had this miner who just started picking off people and came to just a big dramatic OK Corral style end. And then this legend has gone through the town and you know, hundreds of years later people still talk about it and they've made it into a tourist industry. Like it's like here's this horrible thing that happened and we are going to market it and make themed drinks from
- [11:43]
Rebecca Buchanan
it and everyone's gonna love it.
- [11:46]
Lee Madrid
Yeah, we're gonna come to get T shirts with pickaxes on them and just.
- [11:52]
Rebecca Buchanan
It'll be fabulous. Yeah. You know, one thing I wanted to ask you about and you sort of, you nodded to but like can you talk a little bit about research you might have done for this? So you did the tours. Was there anything else that you kind of researched to make sure that you know, like.
- [12:08]
Lee Madrid
Yeah, for this, you know, I learned a lot about mining and I didn't use like 99% of it like, but you never know. I've. I learned that mining is complicated and kind of boring but you know, until like horrible things happen. And that seemed really common. But most of my like research was just going. I also go to Jerome, which is another really cool town and that one is like known as the wickedest town in the West. But they, it was kind of picking and choosing local legends, twisting them or stealing them for my book and just adding all my favorite flavors. So a lot of it just was combining my hobby of visiting these towns and learning about them and just like I'm going to cram this in or make it my own and it's just really fun to do place based research. And you know, I am not a baker like Audrey, but I really like baked Goods. So any excuse to eat really fancy, like, baked goods and tarts and stuff. Bisbee has the patisserie, which is a really, you know, worth going and standing in line in the heat to get out the window to get food.
- [13:26]
Rebecca Buchanan
I love it. Yeah. Can you talk a bit about your writing process and your writing process for this?
- [13:33]
Lee Madrid
Yeah. So this one, you know, it's funny because I wrote the first draft of it in 2019, and I got into pitch wars at the time, which no longer exists, but it was a mentorship program, and I got an agent, and I had it. It was a completely different draft and very different story at that time. And later I ended up rewriting it completely, actually, multiple times. But so it became like. If you read the first draft, it was called something, you know, didn't even. It was called Copper City or something. Completely different story. But it had the same kind of bones thrown in there. So my writing process with that one was kind of, like, varied, and it just layered. It wasn't as clean as I'd like it to be. Now I'm very much like, I have my outlines and I'm falling. And this one was more. I kind of did it backwards, where I had to, like, take it apart and rewrite it and reformat it. And, you know, I probably. At one point, this story was about 20,000 words longer, and that involved pulling, you know, to get it short for, you know, so it wasn't quite a book. I had to pull out whole threads, which causes these ripples, and, you know, it's kind of traumatic. But I really loved the story. So I was going to keep going until I made it, you know, into this doable thing where it's not like, here's everything I love about these towns, and I've ghosts and I've added every. Because that's basically what I did. I threw in all the things I love. So then I had to decide what was actually important to the plot and not just like, oh, look at the shiny rock.
- [15:23]
Rebecca Buchanan
So did you always sort of approach this as having multiple narrators and that's the way to tell the story, or did that kind of morph and change as you did revisions or thought through it?
- [15:36]
Lee Madrid
You know, in the first version, it was just Audrey and Zadie. In that initial version, Zadie was the main character. And, you know, they're pretty much equal in parts, but I do feel Audrey ended up being the main character. But in early versions, it was more about Zadie is doubting Audrey and just thinking, this poor, bereaved girl you know, I don't want to leave, but, you know, and more, as I got to know Zadie, and this sounds terrible about her, but I kind of wanted my teens to be like real teens and have their. I'm like, I don't think she's the type of person who would go off and, like, really be that concerned. She would be concerned. But I found Audrey was the more character who has this deep empathy that's almost to a fault. So when Audrey was the main or when Zadie was more the main character, I think it was a much different tone, and it just didn't feel as sympathetic as you would want it to be and relatable because she was still focused on, you know, she wanted to start her music career, and she was mourning the loss of her girlfriend and just. Was it complicated? But then when I switched the focus to Audrey, you know, when I. When that hit me, I was like, why didn't I do that in the first place? It sounded more like, that's the interesting person she has. She's being possessed. But, you know, sometimes we just. I, unfortunately, am a discovery writer, so often I have to, like, write big chunks of things to just get to that line where I'm like, oh, this is what I'm going for. This is the truth of it. And then I scratch everything else and I take that line, and that's my. My starting point. So I wish I wasn't that way because it's much more time consuming, but.
- [17:23]
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- [18:10]
Rebecca Buchanan
Almost.
- [18:12]
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- [18:21]
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- [19:22]
Rebecca Buchanan
You've got, you know, like I often say, when students are struggling, I'm like, you have to write your way into it, right? Like, sometimes you just have to write, we'll find it in there. But you, yeah, it's gotta be. You've gotta write it down.
- [19:34]
Lee Madrid
No, I, My most recent project, I got about 40,000 words in and then I'm, you know, in. Had outlined and everything. And then I was like, wait, this is not where it starts. And I'm. So now I'm back at like 5,000 words just because I, you know, it's. Sometimes it takes 40,000 words to realize where the real story is and what's. And I get, I'm very excited about it, but I'm just like, man, I wish that would have come first. But I don't think that's how it works.
- [20:05]
Rebecca Buchanan
So do you write then them both sort of every. Like in sort of chronological order for yourself or are you just like, okay, I am. Audrey is talking to me. I need to just kind of write Audrey and I'll figure out when Zadie talks to me, where Zadie fits in, kind of when.
- [20:21]
Lee Madrid
The first draft, it was more by vibe and feeling and so it was pretty uneven at that time. When I came to the second draft, it was more sitting down with graph paper, coming up with the timeline, who, you know, since it's going, you know, this week after the murder and trying to. Another girl's gone missing. We have to work together to find her. That's what I'm Thinking, you know, going through, since we're telling this, you know, kind of tight timeline, which character is more compelling to tell this part as we move forward in the plot. Plot, who's doing what, you know, so there was a lot of just mapping it out and trying to. Because then, you know, you get to a point and you're like, wait, it's Thursday not. And this is, you know, this. It's been. We've had eight nights somehow, and it's only been three days. You know, so you have to, like, really be careful with that. So it, like, weaving that all together was a little tricky. I did have a lot of spreadsheets, and then when I did revisions and I pulled out a lot of threads, that was very, you know, because every little thing creates ripples. So if you tug out a thread, you have to go back and consider, would this character still be feeling this way right now? Because this has no longer exists or happens. But even now, sometimes when it. I'll think about something and I'm like, did that make it into the final, like, copy? I don't like, just little things, but yeah.
- [21:48]
Rebecca Buchanan
Oh, yeah, I love that. And it's like, oh, that, you know, or somebody says, oh, then this happened. You're like, oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah.
- [21:56]
Lee Madrid
I wasn't sure if it's.
- [21:58]
Rebecca Buchanan
I would love to talk a little bit about sort of the supernatural aspects of this. Right. Because you could write a book about a possession murder mystery or a town that feels haunted and it could just be. Yeah. It's not really. Right. Like, but you lean into that idea that, like, all of this is true. Like, the ghost story, all of it is something that gives, like, is a generational trauma on the town. So can you talk a little bit about that? And the need to make sure that the.
- [22:29]
Lee Madrid
That.
- [22:29]
Rebecca Buchanan
That it is a really true.
- [22:31]
Lee Madrid
Right.
- [22:32]
Rebecca Buchanan
Possession is really true. That sounds weird to say, but yeah. No.
- [22:37]
Lee Madrid
So I'm a very, like, skeptical person and I'm like, into science and logic. But about 20 years ago, I saw a ghost or what I could. And like, it. Maybe I had, like, a brain function malfunction or something that I have no way that I could have described it to myself. And it is literally something that I have thought about because before, at that point in my life, as someone who's like, oh, I had a ghost experience, I'd be like, liar attention. You know, it was. I was very like, you know, I wasn't rude about it, but I wasn't gonna say it, but I didn't ever Believe anybody. And then I, you know, I had worked at this rundown coffee shop and it was early in the morning and I was opening up and I saw a man walking towards me. And I was like, did I leave the door unlocked? And it. I felt a chill and I froze. And he. And I just deer in headlights. But when he got up to me, he looked at me and he disappeared and I freaked out. And I called my dad because he was up early because he went to work. And you know, he actually came by because I was so scared and like looked around to make sure no one was hiding in there. And um, so I knew. So it's something that. Nothing like that's ever happened to me again, but it's something that stayed with me is like, you know, maybe there are just things we can't explain and maybe there's some very scientific explanation that I haven't thought of. But I knew it was so real to me in that moment that I kind of colored. I'm like, well, what if this whole town just. It's very real to everyone there, even if they're not going to be like super open and have forums about it. So it. That experience from 20 years ago just leaked its way into the book and you know, like possession's true. If, you know if that's true, could be true. Why not all these other things.
- [24:23]
Rebecca Buchanan
So did you do like, you also have like a hypnotist, right. You have some like reading of like sort of. I don't know if I want to say nature, but also. Right. There's like a lot of sort of nods to that. So was that something too that you have always had an interest in? You did some exploring and were like, oh, this fits in really well.
- [24:43]
Lee Madrid
Yeah, I mean I've seen like the Las Vegas style hypnotist, like just for entertaining. And you know, that one, it's hasn't quite captured my brain the same way, but I do think it's fun. And I'm like, I don't know if, you know, I think. I personally think you have to be want. You want to be hypnotized to fall into it. But you know, if it works for you, great. The nature stuff, I just kind of. When I was. I was the kid who was always playing potions and which out in the, out in the yard and so I've just always liked plants of nature and just learning what different things do and I feel like they have personalities and I'm terrible with plants, but I love them and I, I have like Two plants that are survivors of my love. So that I'm very pleased with. So that just kind of made its way. I wish I was more. I was better at plants and managed to keep more than two alive and not kill so many. Like, I don't buy plants for myself anymore. I. Only. If they're gifted, I will do my best to keep them alive. But out of. I feel too responsible to find them,
- [25:56]
Rebecca Buchanan
I have to laugh because I am
- [25:57]
Lee Madrid
the exact same way.
- [25:58]
Rebecca Buchanan
And my mom is, like, a master gardener. Like, I go and visit her and, like. And she gave me something, and I'm like, I'm going to kill it every time you give me. But I'm like, I. I'm like, it's been a lot for, like, three months. I'm so proud of myself. I mean, it'll probably die at some point, right? And she's like, this will never. She's always like, this plant will never die. It's hearty. And I'm like, yeah, for you.
- [26:19]
Lee Madrid
You know, I once got a succulent as part of a favorite, like a baby shower or something. And I had mentioned how proud I was that I had kept it alive. And my friend looked at me and she's like, lee, it's fake because it had real dirt in it. So I was, like, spritzing it for months. And I was so happy with myself, but it was a very good take. So. Yeah, that's how good I am with plants.
- [26:44]
Rebecca Buchanan
Well, I have just, like. I just get my children to give me. I love Legos, and so they just do the LEGO botanical. So I just have a whole, like. I'm like, I just put those up and I'm like, there's my plants. They stay alive. My leg. So shout out to Legos. My LEGO plants stay alive all the time. Everything. I know. This is how I feel, you know? Can we talk a little bit about sort of rural town? Like, Right, Like. Because a lot you have these sort of this dual narrative, too. I always like to ask about the rural stuff because I love it. But, like, we have the one girl who really wants to leave town, and then the other who has a real comfort for staying in the town and wanting to be there. And so was that something too you wanted to kind of show or. I mean, you talked a little bit about the towns that frame this, but, like, it is very much a rural space.
- [27:33]
Lee Madrid
Yeah, definitely. So I grew up on military bases because my dad was the military, which they all feel like their own versions of little towns where everyone's kind of up in your business. Like, if you're seen smoking a cigarette by the bx, someone's going to call your mom and say, I drove by, you know, so everybody. You can't get away with anything. So, like, I definitely had that hatred of living in a, you know, small town, even though the bases, it's more transient, people come and go. But so Copper City being this town that it's been pretty much the same families for, you know, centuries. That's very much like other towns I've gone to. You know, I've stayed in an Airbnb and Bisbee recently, actually, and was talking to a shopkeeper and they asked, oh, yeah, what place are you renting? I told them, and they're like, oh, yeah, I used to live there. And it's just like all these connections where, you know, I. I hang out at Bisbee a lot, so I talk about busy a lot, but I've met so many people and they all know each other. Like, they're all connected and they. And it's just kind of fun seeing those threads where it feels like this rural town. Everybody has. They know your history, they know each other's history. They all have these connections, which could be either very comforting if you are a person who likes to feel known. You know, everywhere you go, it's like, this person was my preschool teacher and this, you know, you have these. These feelings of comfort, whereas in a bigger place, you know, you're just anonymous. But however, the reverse side is everybody knows your history and all the same things are true. Could be, you know, if you want to be someone else, they've known you since you were a kid. They know your mom, they know you're. You know, they have their preconceived notions about you. And people, you know, once they think they have someone pegged, they don't really want to allow them to grow and change. So then you feel a little trapped. And, you know, I thought that makes for an interesting background.
- [29:33]
Rebecca Buchanan
Yeah. When you were writing, was there or, you know, in the writing, in the revisions, were there anything that completely. I always like to ask, like, that completely changed or that you were like, I can't, you know, like it was going to go this direction or this character, like, you know, like, what were that you can think of or that you could talk about?
- [29:53]
Lee Madrid
Oh, yeah. You know, originally I was going to keep it more like. The supernatural stuff is very explicit in the book, but in my early drafts, I wanted it more ambiguous, which was interesting in some ways and I think would work better in short story form. But that was fun to play around with, like the reader guessing. But then I was, you know, concerned that I didn't want to like fall into the trope of like, oh, this person's mentally ill, so they're seeing ghosts. So I thought. And I was worried the ambiguous nature would do that. And that's something I'd want if I was to write a story like that. I'd want to take extreme care. And that's not how I wanted to do this. So that. So that was an early draft thing. There was a lot more Shirley at one point because I did have. I had a lot of fun with Shirley. But you know, it's a young adult books. So if you have like a huge chunk that is an old woman narrating, you know, publishers aren't crazy about that. So, you know, it doesn't. It's not necessarily like the teen vibe. But you know, I. So I do have like a lot of like, I still have my file of Shirley stuff because I had a whole, you know, just working of how she operated in the town and just, you know, the people who would come to see her and she's kind of like a little bit of a modern day witch. And you know, I had Shirley's like there was backstory about her growing up with her grandmother who was a midwife, and just sort of like the witchy stuff there, I think, like little snippets, brushstroke Scott brought in, but it was a lot more. So I had stuff that I really enjoyed writing, but it just didn't fit in the book. So.
- [31:44]
Rebecca Buchanan
But can you talk a little bit about genre?
- [31:47]
Podcast Host/Announcer
Right.
- [31:47]
Rebecca Buchanan
I think this kind of plays with different genres. Right. Like you said, there's the sort of mystery part of it. There is also kind of a horror thriller, like supernatural part. Like. And so was this like something like, do you. Is this like. Are you really wanting to kind of meld genre? Like.
- [32:03]
Advertisement Voice
Yeah.
- [32:04]
Rebecca Buchanan
Can you talk a little bit about genre?
- [32:06]
Lee Madrid
Yeah, this is definitely a blend of genre. And it's, you know, when you have talks with editors and you're a publisher, they try to like narrow it down. So it's. My publisher is predominantly horror. So like a lot of spaces it will have it listed as horror, which, you know, I consider it like light horror where it's got some elements, but it's. Overall it's not, you know, your traditional horror book, but it's definitely a touch thriller coming of age. It has some horror elements, but I think possession murder mystery has been just Kind of like the easiest way to say it. Even though I feel I would like to just throw it under the speculative umbrella to make it easier. But it doesn't really tell you what that is. I can't pick a genre to save my life because I read so widely that I like to combine, you know, I'm just like a little magpie. I steal everything and put it together
- [33:02]
Rebecca Buchanan
and just ask because I do. I love the possession murder mystery idea, but it's so hard because, you know, especially I think with ya, I'm reading a lot that are like blending genres. So talking about, like, where do you see this fit? Like, does genre really work as a. I mean, they want it as a label, right? People want to be able to like dump it in. And it's so hard when you have these sort of multiple elements going on that could reach, you know, different audiences and different interests.
- [33:31]
Lee Madrid
Well, I found that hardcore horror readers are just like, so. But people who don't read a lot of horror are really like, oh, this is so scary. And they like it. So it's either. So it's. It's sort of like if we had. You know, when you have Indian food and they ask you what level spice you want? Like, the horror spice is probably like a 4 out of 10, you know, which is a lot for some people. But if you're used to the 10, it's not.
- [33:57]
Rebecca Buchanan
You know what? I really kind of love that idea. Like, I want to be like, okay, where do you rate this on the horror spice spectrum?
- [34:02]
Lee Madrid
But you know, they do that for a romance, which I'm like, maybe we need to have that furry.
- [34:08]
Rebecca Buchanan
I know you need a little bit of weird as it sit with the horror, right? And I always love a good like, you know, horror mixed in. You know, we need a little bit of a nice scare, right?
- [34:17]
Lee Madrid
Yeah, it's like you want it a little bit. You don't want to. You know, there's some books, I'm like, okay, well, because I, I love horror and I'll read them. But it's like, I, I'm not going to read this one before bed, you know, because like, so you have your books to read in the daytime and you know, 10 books that are okay to read before bed.
- [34:35]
Rebecca Buchanan
There you go. And this one I'm also. Then it makes you wonder like, okay, who would I allow to possess me, right? Because there's a lot of dialogue like, who would I. Who would I be? Like, okay, I mean, I guess it end up being one of my sisters, but it's still like kind of like, all right, who could I live with like in my body?
- [34:53]
Lee Madrid
But if you're someone who's not really comfortable yet, like drawing boundaries, if you have some in your head and then you know, it's terrifying that they're gonna know all the things you're thinking and what what's really
- [35:07]
Rebecca Buchanan
I love it. So we have been talking for a while, so final question for you. Can you the book is out. People can get the book. Anything you're working on now, anything with the book, anything you want to kind
- [35:20]
Lee Madrid
of self promote, you know. So currently I'm working on my new project but you know, so who knows when that will come out. Then I have a book on subset. Nothing like out in the immediate future, but I'm hoping but yeah, so the book is available wherever books are sold. It's just fun to say. It's still a trip whenever I see it at the bookstores. But support local if you can.
- [35:47]
Rebecca Buchanan
Well, thank you so much, Leigh Madrid, talking with me about your young adult novel My Lips, Her Voice here on New Books Network.
- [35:53]
Lee Madrid
Thank you for having me. I had a blast.
- [35:56]
Podcast Host/Announcer
Thank you for listening to this episode of the New Books Network. We are an academic podcast network with the mission of public education.
- [36:03]
Lee Madrid
If you liked this episode, please share
- [36:05]
Podcast Host/Announcer
it with a friend and rate us on your preferred podcast platform. You can browse all of our episodes on our website, newbooksnetwork.com Connect with us on Instagram and BlueSky with the handle ew booksnetwork and subscribe to our weekly Substack newsletter at newbooksnetwork.substrate.com to get episode recommendations straight to your inbox. You want to get your backyard summer ready, but you don't want to break the bank. Wayfair gets it. Planning on dining al fresco or relaxing poolside? Wayfair has everything you need to prep your space. Shop now and save up to 70% off during Wayfair's 4th of July clearance score. Huge deals on outdoor furniture, area rugs and more. We're talking thousands of products for every style and budget, plus surprise flash deals. July 6th don't wait. Shop Wayfair's 4th of July clearance now through July 6th at Wayfair.com Wayfair every style, every home.