Jimmy Gaspero Interview - Penny and the Yeti

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
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[00:00:11] - [Speaker 1]
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[00:00:54] - [Speaker 2]
Hello, everybody, and welcome to today's episode of the cryptic creator corner. I'm Byron O'Neil, your host for our comics creator chat. Today is truly a special one because Jimmy and I are together and not for our annual show, but because he's busy promoting his own graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti from Papercuts. It feels really weird to welcome you on the show, man.

[00:01:17] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you. It feels weird to be here.

[00:01:24] - [Speaker 0]
But thank you.

[00:01:24] - [Speaker 3]
Thank thank I'm I'm excited to actually be on the Cryptid Creator Corner.

[00:01:29] - [Speaker 2]
As a guest and not a host. Yes. Well, I know you've been on the press trail and doing tons of interviews lately for the book. What's that experience been like being on the other side of the mic?

[00:01:40] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. It's it's strange, to have to be the one to to talk about the book. It's odd because there are moments of it that I feel less pressure. You know, I don't have to be the one to come up with questions or to try and if a creator isn't super talkative, like I don't have to try and find a way to engage with them and get them to come out of their shell a little. Don't have to worry about any of that.

[00:02:07] - [Speaker 3]
Like, I'm just there to answer questions. I know a ton about the book and creating it. And most of the time, Amber's been with me to answer, you know, all of the art questions for all the wonderful whimsical art that she, you know, put into the book. And so there's it's odd that there is like a little pressure that's been off. I don't have to like run the show.

[00:02:30] - [Speaker 3]
I don't have to control things. You know, and at the same time, you do though wanna come up with interesting things to say. You don't wanna just be giving the same kind of like rote answers over and over again. So, yeah, just in case there are listeners out there who might listen to a couple different things, like you just don't want to sound like you're giving the same type of answer. I want to, you know, I want to want to sound genuine.

[00:02:55] - [Speaker 3]
I want to sound authentic because that's how I think I am being, but sometimes you get asked the same questions and it's tough. So Yep. You know, it's it's it's been different, but it's it's been it's been enjoyable. Also, I'm trying to think how in terms of my interview style, if there's things I can do to kind of make it more interesting for creators that are doing a lot of press so that, you know, I'm trying to maybe dig in a little more to the book or ask them something that maybe nobody else has asked or, you know, talk about something that isn't the book or comics that is something some other interest that they have or something else that they're into, you know, just to give them an opportunity to talk about something else. So yeah, it's been an interesting experience.

[00:03:41] - [Speaker 3]
I'm enjoying it.

[00:03:42] - [Speaker 2]
That's awesome. Well, I wanna hear a little bit about this whole comics writing journey and why you were crazy enough to start doing it in comics to begin with. I know your wife is a professional photographer, and you're in for kinda getting back into comics was these weekend trips to the library with the girls while Sarah was on assignment shooting. So at what point did you decide, yeah, writing comics? That makes sense.

[00:04:08] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I mean, was the the first time I ever thought about doing it was 2020 for Mad Cave's talent search. It just felt like a really low bar to entry. You just had to, like, read you know, I've entered the talent search maybe two or three times over the past few years. I I've never won, but I've always found it to be a very fun experience and worthwhile.

[00:04:29] - [Speaker 3]
But, yeah, 2020, I thought that there wasn't anything that really stopping me. It wasn't like I had to pay money or an entry fee. You just had to read one of Mad Cave's books and then write, I don't know, a 10 to 20 page story, I think, at the time. And so I, you got books from the library, like Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics and a couple other books about writing comics. Checked my trade paperbacks to see if there was any back matter with, like, a script so I could just see how it was formatted.

[00:05:03] - [Speaker 3]
But the real reason I think I I wanted to do something and go from a a fan and someone that reads comics to trying my hand at at writing, I think was just because I missed doing something creative. I used to do theater in high school and college and even a little bit commune a little bit of community theater after college. But I hadn't done a show since 2010, I think was the last show I had done. So it'd been a decade. It'd been ten years.

[00:05:34] - [Speaker 3]
And I hadn't, you know, I hadn't done any theater. I hadn't done anything that felt really creative. You know, I mean, work as an attorney isn't particularly creative. You know, I I deal with car accident cases, and it's not like I'm coming up with unique legal arguments. I I really do not like writing legal briefs.

[00:06:03] - [Speaker 3]
Last year, I had four cases that I appealed or that were appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court. So, you know, having to write Delaware Supreme Court briefs four times, which, I mean, I think I'd only ever had to do it one other time before that in Wow. The fourteen years I've been a Delaware attorney. I've only ever had, like, one Delaware Supreme Court brief. Last year, had four.

[00:06:26] - [Speaker 3]
And I mean I had help with some very talented folks in my office, but it's not particularly creative. Yeah. I think I, at least not me, I'm not good in terms of the legal side of it, it's like you know I try and approach it very logically and it's almost like I don't really access the the creative, I don't know, part of my brain. It's just hard for me to find interesting ways to write about, you know, the legal work, at least the the type of stuff I do. I will say though that I did once come up with something that I thought was creative for a particular case involving an individual that had passed away from COVID in a nursing home was the case, and the case got dismissed and we had appealed it.

[00:07:23] - [Speaker 3]
This wasn't to the Delaware Supreme Court. This was I think another superior court case. But I had said that there's a particular statute that the other side was using, both to try and get the case remanded from superior court to federal court, and then at other times, they were using it to dismiss. So I said they were they were using the the statute, as both as a sword and a shield, which was not purpose of it. And then the judge quoted that in her decision ruling in my favor.

[00:07:57] - [Speaker 3]
And, and that was that that's, I think, the closest I'll ever get to anything, like, cool that I have written in the legal world. But, so that that was about it. So, other than that, I I hadn't really had anything creative. And I'm like, well, I read all these comics, and I hadn't yet started a comic book yeti because that wasn't really until the 2020 and the '21. And I thought, well, I'll try this.

[00:08:24] - [Speaker 3]
I'll enter this contest. I'll see if I can't write a script. You know, that sounds neat. I I just never had any I don't know. I never had any thoughts about being a writer when I was younger.

[00:08:35] - [Speaker 3]
I mean, I love to read. I love theater. I loved TV and movies. But I I never you know, maybe as, like, some daydream where I thought,

[00:08:48] - [Speaker 0]
oh, that'd be that'd be cool. Wouldn't that

[00:08:49] - [Speaker 3]
be cool to, like, write a book? Wouldn't that be cool to, like, write a movie or write a screenplay? And but I I just an offhand comment like that. I I never seriously ever considered pursuing it as any type of, I don't know, occupation or really any any type of hobby. But I think it was just not having anything that I felt was, like, creative and and for me, you know?

[00:09:14] - [Speaker 3]
So that's think that's why I started to well, I don't know. I read all these comics. Let me try.

[00:09:19] - [Speaker 0]
Maybe I can maybe I can write one. Maybe I

[00:09:21] - [Speaker 3]
can write a story. So

[00:09:22] - [Speaker 2]
As a visual artist, I can't wait until you get to hold that thing you created in your hands. Like, as your friend, like I'm seriously looking forward to this because I remember what it was like the first time I had my work hanging in a gallery and you had people walking up and looking at it and, you know, interacting, talking about this thing that I made and, you know, objectively enjoying, you know, it at the time. So it's, it's the coolest experience. So I'm definitely, definitely excited to see and hear about your own experience kind of, Hey, I made this thing. Woah, people like it.

[00:09:58] - [Speaker 2]
That is so cool.

[00:10:01] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. I I'm, you know, I'm excited. I am. I'm excited.

[00:10:06] - [Speaker 3]
I can't wait, and I'm, you know, I'm excited to do, like, a signing at my my local comic shop, and hopefully people show up, and I won't have to make one of those, like, sad TikToks where, like, nobody came to my signing.

[00:10:19] - [Speaker 2]
I don't think that's gonna be the case.

[00:10:22] - [Speaker 0]
Don't think that'll be the case at all.

[00:10:23] - [Speaker 3]
Hopefully hopefully not. But yeah. If if if that happens, it's it's a good it's always a good day when you're at the comic book shop. So

[00:10:32] - [Speaker 2]
That it won't. It's gonna go great.

[00:10:34] - [Speaker 0]
It's gonna go great.

[00:10:35] - [Speaker 2]
Faith, my friend. Well, this originated with you and your daughter, Penny, working on a one page comic short, I believe. So how the hell did that morph into a whole graphic novel? Because I remember this, you know, when you were telling me, hey. I'm gonna work on this.

[00:10:50] - [Speaker 2]
Hey. I've got a graphic novel I'm working on. I was like, where the hell did that come from? Like I remember the short and then here to there I really haven't ever heard the whole story about.

[00:11:01] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah, so it was, initially it was a four page short and it was just that I was putting Penny to bed one night and I think it's really funny to talk to children like they're adults. I just I get a huge get a huge kick out of it, and so I was like when I was putting her to bed and this was four years ago. I mean, she was five at the time. And I was I said, hey. Do have any big plans for the summer?

[00:11:33] - [Speaker 3]
No. Like, what are you talking about? And she goes, do you? And I'm like, well, no. I have to work.

[00:11:38] - [Speaker 3]
I don't really have a summer. I'm like, why? Do you do you have any idea, like, anything I should do? And she said, I think you should write a story. I mean, because she knew by 2022, they had seen me trying to write or she saw me with my notebook and like, oh, I'm gonna I'm trying to pitch to this anthology.

[00:11:55] - [Speaker 3]
And so I said, yeah, sure. I'll write a story. What should it be about? And she said a yeti because I had been with comic book yeti. She knew about comic book yeti.

[00:12:06] - [Speaker 3]
So she said a yeti and I said, well, if the Yeti's in it, we gotta have Penny in it as well. So we came up with this, like, story idea. They go to the diner because Penny loves the Brandywine diner near us. She calls it the shiny diner because it's it's like what looks like one of those old chrome, you know, New Jersey diners.

[00:12:21] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:12:22] - [Speaker 3]
And yeah. So we we came up with a story idea and I thought it would be neat to show her how a comic was made. So I I scripted it. I reached out to Beck Kubrick who did the artwork for, the short that I worked on in By Visibility. Beck wasn't available but she gave their they gave me a few names and one of them was Amber's.

[00:12:45] - [Speaker 3]
So I looked at her portfolio and right away I was like, oh this is perfect. So I got Amber on board to do the four page short just to show Penny like, hey, isn't this neat? We had a story idea. This is where the, you know, this is how comics made. This is how it works.

[00:13:00] - [Speaker 3]
And I then posted it online. And then fast forward about a year or so, and, you know, Mad Cave had had the open submissions, and I was it really was a function of I was just trying to force myself to, like, take the next step. I had pitched to a couple like, bunch of different anthologies and probably for, like, every 10 rejections, I had one accepted. So I had had, like, a, you know, a short comic published at that point. And I was like, well, I haven't, like, written anything longer than 10 pages, and I hadn't had anything published longer than maybe six.

[00:13:37] - [Speaker 3]
I said, I I really should try to pitch something, and the only artwork I had was the Yeti and the big stop, which is what we called the four page short. And so I was really just trying to save money and not like hire an artist to do pitch pages. And I said, well, is there anything I can do with this? You know, like, what is the story here? Is it just about Penny and her friend Yeti?

[00:14:01] - [Speaker 3]
You know? Is it something like that? And I thought, well, who's who else is in the story? Like, who does Penny live with? And then I thought, oh, you know, we'll we'll I'll I'll have the whole family in it.

[00:14:16] - [Speaker 3]
And I have this idea that really also kind of came from something Penny said when my wife when Sarah and I were, like, in an argument. And Penny Penny like, Penny my Penny, the real per really does not like arguing. I mean, I don't think we're Fenton and Maxine. You know, it's not like this book is autobiographical, but just that little idea, I said, well, what if we have a scenario where the parents are arguing, the youngest kid, Penny, really doesn't like it, and we have this yeti character come in who Penny thinks is there to help get my parents to stop arguing, which

[00:14:56] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:14:57] - [Speaker 3]
You know, of course, isn't gonna work because that's not how adult relationships work. Like, kids can't really come in and, you know, it's not like a magical yeti's gonna come in and fix everything. But, you know, there were other elements to it, like the older sister, Penny. I always thought that, like, Penny thought that the older sister was kind of, like, not there in the way that Penny maybe wanted her to be. And so it's almost like Yeti was kinda like this best friend, you know, sibling that Penny, you know, felt she she needed.

[00:15:31] - [Speaker 3]
And so, yeah, I outlined it, and I reached out to Amber, I'm like, hey. I I, like, outlined the story, and I was gonna pitch it and just use the Yeti and the big stomp. I think Mad Cave submissions, they wanted, like, six to eight pages, and I just had the four. And I was like, I I have no idea what's gonna happen, but I'm just gonna do this if it's okay with you, like, and I, you know, I don't know what'll happen. And she's like, yeah.

[00:15:57] - [Speaker 3]
Go ahead. That'll that'll be great. And so I sent it in, and it was probably a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so later that Papercuts reached out, that they liked it, they loved Amber's art, and they wanted to talk more about, you know, maybe, us making a a graphic novel. And I was like, oh, great. Sure.

[00:16:19] - [Speaker 3]
Awesome.

[00:16:20] - [Speaker 2]
Now I do

[00:16:21] - [Speaker 3]
it. Now I gotta do it. Now I told these nice people that I could write, like, I think I pitched it as 114 pages, you know? And I was like, now I I I what do I what what what in the world possessed me to do this? Yep.

[00:16:42] - [Speaker 3]
So now it's two years later, and the graphic novel comes out in a little more than two weeks. Yay.

[00:16:50] - [Speaker 2]
Crazy. That is a wild journey. It really is. I mean, it's it's it's like manifesting something you didn't even know you wanted to do. So

[00:16:58] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. It's it's just it's weird. And, like, to still do the podcast and, like, bring it up, you know? Because, like, I a part of me has felt like I just wanna belong to this club. Like, that's part of the reason I did it.

[00:17:12] - [Speaker 3]
It sound so silly for, a 47 year old man to say, like, I just wanted to I just wanted to belong. And so, it, you know, it's I I almost I sometimes tell guests on the podcast, like, well, I have a graphic novel too. Just like, I'm one of you. Right?

[00:17:31] - [Speaker 2]
Yep. Are pleased?

[00:17:32] - [Speaker 3]
Yep. It's so ridiculous.

[00:17:36] - [Speaker 2]
It's like high school again. You wanna be one of the cool kids? Yeah.

[00:17:39] - [Speaker 3]
It it is exactly like high high school again. A little bit. But yeah, I just like, you know, I don't know. I I I'm not very good at like moving on to the next thing. I'm hoping that, you know, I I'd like to do more and and other tell other stories.

[00:17:58] - [Speaker 3]
So, I haven't really done a ton of stuff, but since this, I didn't really write much last year. But so I'm hoping that once this is out, I'll feel like, okay. I can now move on to, to maybe trying to do something else. So we'll, we'll see.

[00:18:16] - [Speaker 2]
Well, I think it's, this book is super, super relatable. That was, that was my takeaway from my read. Know, thematically, it's easily one of the most relatable books that are written for younger readers that I've seen a long time topically, because we don't see as much of the real life struggle of parents trying to manage all that modern life throws us. And maybe that's just me. And maybe that's why I connected it with it because, know, I have a teenager myself and all these things feel very, very relatable, you know, most of the time though, it's a parent that's out of the picture or you have a protagonist that's dealing with bullying and and all those are are important and relevant, but, know, this just feels very, very direct.

[00:18:55] - [Speaker 2]
So walk me through why you wanted to do to make that the nucleus of the story.

[00:19:00] - [Speaker 3]
I think part of it is just having read a ton of kids' books and all ages books with my two kids. And it's always it's always great when I'm reading something with them. You know, first when I'm reading it to them, and then as they get you know, as they're able to read, we kinda take turns a little bit. And now, I mean, not Charlotte anymore. She she's 13.

[00:19:24] - [Speaker 3]
But with Penny still, you know, we'll still she'll read to me now, basically. Like, when I put her to bed, she'll she'll read to me or or we watch this this TikTok video, the guy makes sandwiches. But from all the different books that I've read, it's great when the kids like something and like there's also something in there for like the parents when I'm also actively engaged because then you you know, you look forward to that. Not that I don't look forward to to, you know, to bedtime or to reading with them. But it is a little bit better when the material is engaging.

[00:20:06] - [Speaker 3]
And also I think there's a lot of not a lot, but there are some kids books that I've read where there's just some things that I haven't liked about how they've approached the material or where I feel they're maybe not talking down to kids, certainly with older books, more modern books or more recent books you don't see that as much, But I do still think that there are some books out there that don't really give kids enough credit for how perceptive they are how astute they are and the the emotional intelligence of children. And I mean, I'm not the first one to, like, discover this or or, you know, Amber and I aren't aren't the first to do this. There's books out there that are, like, amazing. But I've, you know, just I've seen some that I didn't think did it very well. And I thought, well, I, you know, what things do I want to make sure that, you know, not like a mission statement, but just some things what do I want to make sure that I do well or that we do well with this book?

[00:21:09] - [Speaker 3]
And I wanted the family to feel really relatable and authentic because I thought the more fun imaginative stuff with Yeti would feel more magical the more relatable the family felt. I wanted to have a book that I felt kids and parents could read together, and there would be something for both of them in there, which Amber's art, I think, does a ton of heavy lifting with that because it is so friendly and so

[00:21:36] - [Speaker 2]
It is.

[00:21:37] - [Speaker 3]
Like, bright and vibrant and whimsical. I wanted to do something where I thought the the kids were front and center or where the kids have agency or as much agency in as possible in some of the things that was going on that I didn't want the book to feel like it was talking down to kids.

[00:21:55] - [Speaker 0]
And the other thing because I'm dealing with

[00:21:56] - [Speaker 3]
a family where their this the parents are fighting and arguing, I Amber and I never wanted it to feel like it was too scary in terms of the arguments for younger readers. We also never wanted to present like a an answer. I I didn't want anyone whose parents, you know, a kid reading this whose parents had gone through divorce feel like I was saying that there was something wrong if that happens. I I wanted to present and, you know, we don't really say what happens with the family. You know, by the end of it, they're still together and working on it, But I never wanted to say that this is the right answer.

[00:22:34] - [Speaker 3]
Like divorce is the right answer or staying together is the right answer. Like it's it's really, I think, and what I wanted it to be about is more so about that feeling for kids of that stress and tension in the home where you when you have two parents who are, you know, either fighting, arguing, nitpicking, just whatever it might be, just that uncomfortable feeling to have to to deal with that, and you really just want everybody to kinda get along. And so I I mean, we tried to keep all of those things in mind as we crafted this story, and, I don't know. I think I think I think we did it. So, I mean, you I do.

[00:23:14] - [Speaker 3]
Readers, you be the judge.

[00:23:16] - [Speaker 2]
No, I definitely do. I I did a reread the other day, and I think, again, it's just some of what I'm processing myself. It it came off as a is a bit raw, personally, for me. Because when we were growing up, you know, my parents were you didn't discuss the marital problems, right? That was just not something in our generation that was done.

[00:23:36] - [Speaker 2]
As you know, my brother visited a couple of weeks back and we were talking about when we were in high school and my parents being checked out. And he had never really put together, really didn't know that they were going through marriage counseling at the time. So here we are, I'm 51, he's in his late forties, and he's finally having this realization. Oh, wow. Like, I had no idea my parents were struggling, you know?

[00:24:02] - [Speaker 2]
And now couples counseling is way more normalized than, you know, mental health in general is. So I think it's a great topic to be covering in a book, especially for kids.

[00:24:12] - [Speaker 3]
Well, thank you. I do appreciate that. Yeah, it is interesting. I mean, my parents are still together. They're gonna be 70 this year.

[00:24:23] - [Speaker 3]
They've been together since they were, oh geez, 19 maybe?

[00:24:29] - [Speaker 2]
They met

[00:24:30] - [Speaker 3]
in high school. I mean they had me at 22. And so, know, I have a younger brother, you know Bobby, and my younger sister Desiree. And so they've been together forever and you know, but they certainly had their arguments growing up and it's it is interesting like when you get older and when you become a parent and this is an experience I found, and with Sarah's family as well, because she's the youngest of three. Like the stuff that you start to talk about when you're older and you become a parent and then your your parents, you know, let slip or actually talk to you about some of these things that were going on when you were a kid and you were just like, oh, I had I had no idea, you know, like, didn't know that or I didn't know this or it's it is a very a very interesting, situation to try and because then you start to think back at all these things, all these memories of your at least I did.

[00:25:31] - [Speaker 3]
All these memories of your childhood, and you're like, oh, wait. Well, I I I thought this was a. And was it was it really b? Like, oh, I had you know? It it is it is interesting.

[00:25:44] - [Speaker 3]
You know?

[00:25:45] - [Speaker 2]
My favorite part is when my parents will judge me for being overly strict, And that's a really fun one because it was like, well, you guys had your opportunity and you let me get away with way too much. So, you know, my kid's going to a top 20 college. I went to community college and then dropped out. So, I mean, you know, I did finish my degree. I got, I had, I actually double majored, but it was much later, you know, I was, I entered college at back, entered college at 28 and, you know, finished up then, and you're just in an entirely different place in your life.

[00:26:18] - [Speaker 2]
It's totally different experience and it's not, I would not advise anybody trying to do it because it's really, really hard. You're in a completely separate place than the rest of any kind of peer group. So it's, yeah. But yeah, I love the judgment from my parents on the you're too strict.

[00:26:35] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. I it's we one of the things that that we bring up sometimes is I I I mean, half jokingly, but, you know that that old the old adage many many a true thing has been said in jest, like I say to my mom that she's given all three of her children, like body image issues and she's like that that's not that's not true. And I'm like, no, all of us are, all of us, me, my brother, my sister, like all have a difficult relationship I think in terms of like weight gain and like how we look and and my mom still does it to this day and like I'll call her on it now because I'm like you you're not gonna do that in front of my kids. Yeah.

[00:27:22] - [Speaker 3]
My mother's the type of person that if she sees somebody that she hasn't seen in a while and she wants to tell you about it, the first thing she says is, Oh my god, I ran into Betty, at the farmers at Boost Corners, the farmers market, and she looked great. She's lost like 40 pounds. She looked amazing. Or, Oh my gosh, I ran into Betty. She looked awful.

[00:27:49] - [Speaker 3]
It looked like she ate her husband. So, and like, you know, those things get come, you know, get compounded and they, well, no pun intended, but like weigh on you as you get older. And, you know, I've had to say things like, don't don't do that. You're not gonna you're not gonna do it either way. You're not gonna comment on what my kid looks like or you know, anything along those lines.

[00:28:17] - [Speaker 3]
I've recently at 47 been told that oh they my mother had no idea how sensitive I am.

[00:28:23] - [Speaker 2]
So

[00:28:23] - [Speaker 3]
apparently apparently calling somebody out for what I will say is like toxic behavior, is really because I'm I'm too sensitive. But but, you know, we we we move on. I'll write another book.

[00:28:38] - [Speaker 2]
There you go.

[00:28:41] - [Speaker 3]
Channel that. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:47] - [Speaker 2]
Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart ride or die, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Aiken. What started as a comic short with his daughter that I've known about for ages now and it's evolved and has become one of those annoying can't talk about it in comics things for too damn long. Yes, I'm predisposed to be supportive but after reading an advanced copy of it, I have to admit it's way better than I anticipated. No shade but it's really good, remarkably so.

[00:29:18] - [Speaker 2]
Does it have a yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah. But it streak flies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience.

[00:29:33] - [Speaker 2]
Kids. They're way smarter and perceptive than we adults give them credit for. So I really appreciated Jimmy's narrative approach tapping into his own experiences as a dad and a spouse. I can hear his wife saying, get off your phone, Jimmy, through the pages. She's gonna kill me for saying that.

[00:29:50] - [Speaker 2]
It's hitting shelves on April 21, and I dropped a link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today. Getty or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent having big feelings as well. And it was an interesting way for Penny to process in a different way because you usually think, right, it's crypted. First of all, generally people are going to like either be really, really surprised or you think maybe this is an imaginary friend, but the yeti is everybody just kind of accepts, well, yeti, not even the yeti. There's not even a pronoun there.

[00:30:42] - [Speaker 2]
So, you know, why was it important to illustrate that everyone has feelings, you know?

[00:30:48] - [Speaker 3]
Well, I mean, everyone does have feelings, and I think it is important. And also, one of the things about, you know, the character of Penny is that, and this was something that I I feel about myself a little bit is that, and I think it's something that's generally applicable to a lot of humans where we're really good talking to other people about a topic or an emotional issue, a mental health issue, but we're terrible about like having that conversation with ourself. And so something about Penny as a kid that I thought was interesting was she's really good about recognizing, how and very empathic to, like, how Yeti is feeling and talking to Yeti about those big feelings, but she still is having a difficult time kind of processing and being able to talk to her parents about, you know, how they're arguing is making her feel. Beyond, you know, just say I'm sorry and and and you and mom be okay or you and dad be okay. So I thought that was kind of like an interesting, concept that I wanted to bring into it.

[00:32:06] - [Speaker 3]
And, I just thought even if you didn't even if if if you didn't relate to the issue with the parents with Fetten and Maxine at all, I still think, you know, that this is a really good story in terms of friendship and empathy and kindness and that's just I don't know. It's just something I wanted to see. I just wanna see two people that were, like, being really sweet to each other and really just trying to, you know, get through it as best they can and have fun. And I saw that was another added element that was really important to us, you know, to include. And, you know, Amber does a great job with all those scenes and with Penny and Yeti's facial expressions and how they interact with each other.

[00:32:48] - [Speaker 3]
It's really great.

[00:32:50] - [Speaker 2]
Well, I think she was absolutely critical to get the balance right because parents yelling that can, that can come off pretty harsh, you know? So my wife is a psychologist and mental health being a part of our own family dialogue, but we all get hot, you know, and this is a really, it resonated maybe a little bit too much because I I've been accused a time or two of being like, okay, you're yelling. And I'm like, I'm not, I'm not yelling. My voice isn't that loud, you know? Yeah.

[00:33:21] - [Speaker 2]
But I think the success in this project definitely is balancing out an entertaining story with also all these coping mechanisms too. So did you have to you know, where are you pulling from with with all that stuff?

[00:33:37] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I mean, part of it is probably I mean, I have a background in psychology, not that I really use my my bachelor's degree,

[00:33:43] - [Speaker 2]
Oh okay, I didn't even

[00:33:44] - [Speaker 0]
know that.

[00:33:45] - [Speaker 3]
A lawyer. Yeah, yeah, my bachelor's degree from St. Joe's, is in psychology. Oh okay. Not that I keep, so not that I keep up too much on on modern modern trends, probably pulling a little from that, probably pulling a little bit from I don't know, going to therapy myself, to be honest with you.

[00:34:07] - [Speaker 3]
Sure. And just really trying to be even handed with with everyone, with with all the characters so that, you know, we don't ever I I never wanted the to feel like they were the villains. It's you you know, a lot of their arguments are not really about big huge things, but just trying to stress, especially with Penny and Perry, and as we get towards the the end of the book, you know, just about talking about those things, just trying to to talk it out, trying to have more a more helpful approach to your feelings rather than acting it out initially, just trying to sit with some of those feelings before you respond. So just really little simple things, you know, that I thought would be helpful to everyone in in every situation when you especially when you're dealing with any type of conflict. So, you know, I didn't think it was anything, like, groundbreaking, but just a a few simple things that I I thought would work or, you know, if a if a kid is reading it who does have big feelings, maybe it'll help them even a little.

[00:35:27] - [Speaker 3]
So that's it.

[00:35:29] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. There were some nice moments, I thought, where you're also picking up on and really grounding it in the experience of the family, right? So dance class was absolutely a highlight for me, where parents will emphasize so much the extracurriculars, and we tend to forget that it's like an enjoyment of the activity that really caused us to pursue it in the first place. And the YETI provides that space to punctuate that, where the absence of it, Penny would not have had the opportunity to to do that, which I thought was was really clever. You did well

[00:36:08] - [Speaker 3]
Thank is what I'm you. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, with with the Penny and Yeti stuff, when when they're not trying to, like, fix, quote, unquote, fix, you know, according to Penny, Fenton, and Maxine. Like, I just wanted it to be fun.

[00:36:21] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I I think my if if I had to say that I have any strength as a as a dad, I've definitely always been one of those, like, let's get down on the floor and play kinda dads, you know? Like, let's break out the action figures. Let's tell a story. Let's let's build a world.

[00:36:40] - [Speaker 3]
Let's, you know, let's use these Legos or Magna Tiles and we'll we'll build something for them and we'll act out or whatever. And I I did that with Charlotte. I've I've done that with Penny. And so imaginative play is like really important

[00:36:56] - [Speaker 0]
to me, and it's one

[00:36:57] - [Speaker 3]
of those things I didn't realize how much until I had kids, and especially like I've had a conversation with a parent and this is gonna sound judgy, don't really mean it to be, but it's just what happened, where we were talking about interacting with our kids and they said, well yeah, really don't have an imagine like a I don't know if they said an imagination or like a good imagination And they said it was like really hard for them to do that and just like make up stuff. And I probably like should have sent messages to my face because I I probably looked like so shocked, I didn't mean to I didn't mean to make the person feel bad. I just that concept is like really foreign to me, and it it it I had to like take a second to wrap my head around it. I guess it's one of those things I just took for granted. They're like, oh, everybody has an imagination.

[00:37:54] - [Speaker 3]
Right?

[00:37:55] - [Speaker 2]
I mean, sure. Right.

[00:37:56] - [Speaker 3]
Some are better than others, but I never met anyone that felt like they just they didn't have an imagination or wasn't able to to do that. It's just I you know, it was always important, but I never realized exactly how much until, you know, I started I had kids and started playing with the kids, and it was just like hugely important in terms of being able to to be creative or just in terms of fun.

[00:38:24] - [Speaker 2]
Was that something then that your your parents did with with you when, you know, when you were growing up? I'm just curious. I'm thinking about my own experience while you're talking about that. And it was really kind of eerie because I realized when you're talking about the imaginary play, like, okay, what do I do with my kid? And for me, we're, we're a sports family.

[00:38:48] - [Speaker 2]
And so the eerie aspect was, Oh my God, I'm my father. And I really was uncomfortable with that thought. Because yesterday we're up in, in Fain's room and for Christmas, I got him a little basketball goal. So when he's at college, he'll be able to have a little basketball goal, know, the kind that goes over a door or whatever that he he can shoot on when he's in his dorm. And we were just kind of shooting together, and I was like, oh my god, I'm my father.

[00:39:17] - [Speaker 2]
I hate this. So I was just curious if if that was something that, that you did, you know, with your parents or something, or was it the absence of it that they didn't, that you're like, no, I'm doing this. It's just funny how we become our own parents or how we rebel against or try to fill in the vacuum of those, the things that we didn't do with them.

[00:39:38] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Mean, I definitely think with, with my dad, he was definitely in involved in terms of, like, play, but it was it was probably more sports stuff. I was just never really into sports, but, you know, we'd have a catch. Like, my brother and I played baseball. My Bobby played other sports.

[00:40:01] - [Speaker 3]
Bobby could, like, play anything. That was not me. I was not very coordinated. But, you know, my dad certainly encouraged my love of Star Wars and things along those lines. I still have all my action figures where like every payday I think or every other payday they take me down to like the toy store and I'd get like a new a new action figure for my, for my collection.

[00:40:33] - [Speaker 3]
It was just it was different just because I think my dad would have done it more, but he worked shift work and so that was always Okay. You know, it all it all depended on what shift he was in. And then Bobby and I are, you know, pretty close in age about just about, three years apart. So I always had, a built in person I could play with in terms of Legos or, you know, we lived when we when we were younger, we lived in a little street with twin homes and there was a field, Poulsen's Field, so we were always down at Poulsen's Field and building forts and playing in the crick and doing that kind of stuff.

[00:41:13] - [Speaker 2]
Sure. Yeah. Well, I wasn't trying to dig too much. I was just very curious and it was, I don't know. It dawned on me and I I was very, very uncomfortable with this this aspect of, my god, I'm my father.

[00:41:25] - [Speaker 2]
And the scariest part of it, I guess, for me, with my son, of course, going off to college in the fall, is how much of a separation that was for me and my dad, and how the relationship really has never it's never been the same because he was amazing as a father when I was younger. You know, by the time I hit high school, come to find out it was because of the marital issues, but, you know, he was just kind of checked out and I don't know. It's just really, don't know. Being a parent is terrible. It's the most terrifying thing you could ever do.

[00:41:58] - [Speaker 2]
I don't recommend that people who are listening. You don't have children, don't.

[00:42:02] - [Speaker 3]
It is. Yeah, it is. It is kind of scary. It is scary. You know?

[00:42:07] - [Speaker 3]
I I I agree. You know? Just every just worrying about everything. You know? And it's like it's just like it's never it's never done.

[00:42:18] - [Speaker 3]
You're you're you're always worrying about something. You know? So it's not not for the faint of heart.

[00:42:27] - [Speaker 2]
Well, back to the book then. How how excited is Penny to get to to see this, to be a part of it? You know, with with the signings and stuff coming up, I'm sure she's she's gotta be not just proud, like, way to go, dad, but really excited.

[00:42:43] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. She hasn't read it yet. I've asked her if she wanted to read it and, you know, on, like, the iPad, and she said no. She wants to wait until, like, she can hold the physical book in her hand. But she is she is excited.

[00:42:57] - [Speaker 3]
She's excited. I'm gonna go to her class and talk to both third grades about, about the book and about making comics, and I'll, you know, I'll find some other stuff to talk about too. But, yeah, she she is excited. I it's just funny, like, sometimes I'll be like, hey. I was gonna make a video.

[00:43:17] - [Speaker 3]
Do you wanna be in it? And she's like, no. And then, like, a little I'm like, okay. You don't have to. And then a little bit later, she'll be like, okay.

[00:43:23] - [Speaker 3]
I guess I'll be in the video. Like, what do want me to say? You know? So, I I think there is some excitement. I said something to her the other day.

[00:43:31] - [Speaker 3]
I'm like, well, what if you read it and you don't like it? And she goes, I'll like it. I'm like, but what if you don't? She goes, no. No.

[00:43:37] - [Speaker 3]
No. I know. I know. I'll like it. I was like, okay.

[00:43:41] - [Speaker 2]
Wow. No pressure. My god. I'm never writing anything.

[00:43:47] - [Speaker 3]
So, yeah. She is excited. So we'll, you know, we'll see. And it's funny because Charlotte has been really you know, everyone's asked, like, well, how does Charlotte feel? And I'm like, I told Charlotte and I explained it.

[00:44:03] - [Speaker 3]
Like, I didn't plan this. Right? Like, I didn't set out. I am going to write a graphic novel called Penny and the Yeti, and I it's it's just that's not that's not how it happened. So, yeah, Charlotte has Charlotte's like, I don't care.

[00:44:17] - [Speaker 3]
That's fine. It's great. You know? Whatever. But, like, because she's savvy enough at 13 though that she will, like, use it against me when she feels like it, you know?

[00:44:28] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. If she's like, hey, can I stay up another half hour? And I'm like, no, you gotta go to bed. You have school tomorrow. And she goes, oh, really?

[00:44:34] - [Speaker 3]
Because, I was just sitting here sad that you wrote a book called Penny and the Yeti, and I

[00:44:40] - [Speaker 0]
I'm like, oh my god. Sharlyn, will you please

[00:44:44] - [Speaker 3]
knock it off? I know you're

[00:44:46] - [Speaker 2]
really is evil. Yeah.

[00:44:48] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, she's like, she's funny. She, You know? And she'll be like, I'm just kidding.

[00:44:54] - [Speaker 2]
Right. Teenagers. Just wait.

[00:44:56] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. So at at 13, she's she's she's funny. Lucky for her or maybe unlucky for her, she definitely inherited my sense of humor. Like, especially when I was her age. Like, she could be very sarcastic, very biting.

[00:45:13] - [Speaker 3]
She's she's pretty good at cutting people to the to the quick when she wants to. So know she's she's

[00:45:21] - [Speaker 2]
the artist. Right? She's the artist. Yeah.

[00:45:23] - [Speaker 3]
She's the artist. Yeah.

[00:45:24] - [Speaker 2]
There you go. You just have do something with her where she can illustrate it. You're good.

[00:45:29] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I did. I I asked her for I wanted her to to draw something in terms of, like, some type of would she be interested in drawing, like, fan art for the book, you know?

[00:45:42] - [Speaker 3]
And she she's instantly right there with, like, how much you're gonna pay me? And I'm like, oh, yeah, You know, she's Respect. She knows. Yeah. She's, you know, she's, she's on top of it.

[00:45:57] - [Speaker 3]
So

[00:45:58] - [Speaker 2]
Artists get paid. There you

[00:45:59] - [Speaker 3]
go.

[00:46:00] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:46:00] - [Speaker 3]
Yep. Artists get paid, so it's only fair. Nobody works for free. But yeah.

[00:46:08] - [Speaker 2]
Well, okay. 20 questions with Jimmy then. The questions well, that I've always wanted to no, not that many. But I have you, and and you're you're stuck. So is the yeti your favorite cryptid?

[00:46:19] - [Speaker 2]
This is on topic.

[00:46:21] - [Speaker 3]
No. It's actually the squonk, which is a a PA cryptid, which is like a pig like thing with covered in warts and it cries.

[00:46:31] - [Speaker 2]
I have never heard of such a thing. I will have to look that up.

[00:46:34] - [Speaker 3]
Yep. S Q U O N K, squonk.

[00:46:39] - [Speaker 2]
Where did that originate? Do you have any idea? No idea. That is

[00:46:42] - [Speaker 3]
Nope. Nope. Here, I I can probably look it up right now. Here we go. There's the squonk.

[00:46:48] - [Speaker 2]
Oh god. That is hideous.

[00:46:51] - [Speaker 3]
I love I love it.

[00:46:54] - [Speaker 2]
Oh.

[00:46:55] - [Speaker 3]
Yep. That's my favorite.

[00:46:57] - [Speaker 2]
Oh my god. It's like a walking pimple.

[00:46:59] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I love all the different iterations of the squonk. A couple of these have really captured the squonkness of it.

[00:47:07] - [Speaker 2]
Audio listeners, I feel truly well, maybe I don't feel truly sorry for you. Do yourself a favor. Don't Google the squonk. Google it. That's all I'm saying.

[00:47:16] - [Speaker 3]
No. Google it. It. Go right to it.

[00:47:19] - [Speaker 2]
Hideous. This 20 questions has started off in a direction I did not anticipate. Not so sure I'm I feel comfortable going down this road.

[00:47:27] - [Speaker 3]
Let's go. What else have you got?

[00:47:29] - [Speaker 2]
Okay. Well, you do this all the time on the podcast. So explain the love of time travel stories to me, because you cared enough to put it in your creator bio for God's sakes. Just don't think

[00:47:43] - [Speaker 3]
they're they're I I just don't think any topic has captured my imagination like time travel. I mean, I Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies. I think it's a nearly, like, perfect film. I don't know if that's where it started, but I read, watch, you know, a ton of stuff that has to do with time travel. The, like, the really good stuff, the really bad stuff.

[00:48:13] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I'm just I don't know. Just the idea that like, you you could go back and unmake things, to change time. I don't know how how it would actually work. Like, I love thinking through the idea of, like, you know, the the grandfather paradox.

[00:48:30] - [Speaker 3]
Like, could you go back in time and kill your grandfather, you know, before your father was born? Right? Like I just I this the thought experiment of it. I just really there's something about it that scratches an itch that I just love thinking about. You know?

[00:48:50] - [Speaker 3]
And so because like, if you did, like, how would that work? Would you be able to return to a time where you didn't exist? Would would time somehow stop you? And that you'd you'd be prevented from doing it because your grandfather never was killed before your father was born. Does that mean your attempts to go back in time were unsuccessful?

[00:49:15] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. And just the idea, like, what happens? Does it branch off into a new timeline? I mean, I I think the Back to the Future one is not great. I I don't like how probably my biggest pet peeve in terms of time travel with Back to the Future is how, like, they'll have a magaz they have, like, newspaper article, and after Marty changes things, the newspaper article changes.

[00:49:36] - [Speaker 3]
Like, I don't think I don't think that's how it would work. I think that that still is an artifact that exists. Like, it wouldn't just, like, magically change. So but I I understand the reason they use that device for, you know, for for movies and whatnot. Sure.

[00:49:49] - [Speaker 3]
But, yeah, I I've always kinda captured my imagination. And I yeah. I love it. People that backed Made in Delco, there were a couple of them that backed at the digital deluxe, which I sent the scripts, as well as a short prose story that I had written called Mister Worlow, which was about time travel. And, yeah, just, it's kind of a bummer of a story.

[00:50:15] - [Speaker 3]
But, yeah, I just always been fascinated by it. Always, always, always. And, I love it. I'll, you know, give it give it to me. Give me the Back to the Futures.

[00:50:24] - [Speaker 3]
Give me the time cop,

[00:50:28] - [Speaker 0]
which

[00:50:28] - [Speaker 3]
is also kinda ridiculous. Yeah. Matter. Can't be bad. By the same space.

[00:50:32] - [Speaker 3]
Love that. Yeah. Give it I want Doctor Who, Lost. Yeah. I love it.

[00:50:40] - [Speaker 3]
I love I love it all.

[00:50:42] - [Speaker 2]
See, I just find it such a cheat that I can't I don't my brain will not let me do that. I'm like, no. This as a writer, you're just you're trying to use shortcuts to make your point, and you're cheating. Be more creative.

[00:50:55] - [Speaker 3]
Well, I mean, it just, I mean, depends on what the the purpose of it is. I mean, I think, you know, it's the the interesting stuff about, like, Back to the Future is you kinda get a glimpse of the past, and you get to see how Marty chain like, just a couple of small changes that Marty makes totally changes the dynamic between his parents and Biff and in terms of his parents relationship, you know, and also like the relationship between Marty and Doc and how that's affected by time travel. I I just I find it very, yeah, I find it very fascinating. And I love the ones that I think do it well, at least in terms of, like, what I I think if time travel would be possible, how it would work. And I I love the ones that just do it, like, really poorly.

[00:51:49] - [Speaker 3]
You know? So

[00:51:52] - [Speaker 2]
and knowing you, I think you're you're gonna your next big project is gonna be a time travel thing to spite me and also to impress me because you've already impressed me. So you set the bar Okay. With with Penny and the Yeti. So I'll I want you try and travel version It's gonna impress.

[00:52:08] - [Speaker 3]
And do a time travel thing that that it both impresses and delights and annoys you. So I'll try and I'll try and see if I can I can work that out? Yeah. There's, you know, there's some things with time travel story. I can talk about time travel stories like for the next four hours, but I won't do that to you.

[00:52:30] - [Speaker 3]
But there's some time travel stuff. I I just got done an audiobook now called The Book of Lost Hours, which had, like, kind of time travel y elements. That wasn't the main part of the story. It was more about, like, memory and to an extent, it was about time. But it did one of the like, for the most part, I

[00:52:46] - [Speaker 0]
like the book. It did one

[00:52:47] - [Speaker 3]
of those things, though, with time travel stories that I really don't like where there's an alternate version created of somebody due to time travel and like our main character acts like, you know, oh, that's still my same husband or partner or whatever it is. Only because I think like, now we're getting to like when time travel stuff affects somebody's memory because really I think that's kind of all we are, like all of our memories. So if you, through time travel, cause someone to have the dip totally different memories and experiences, they're not the same person, you know? Right. So I don't like when time travel do that, but, in any event.

[00:53:31] - [Speaker 3]
Now everyone's everyone's turned off, and stopped listening

[00:53:35] - [Speaker 2]
to my No. They they problem. I don't care. I mean, I'm I'm filling in the gaps in my knowledge. So just getting to know you better.

[00:53:41] - [Speaker 3]
I'm sure

[00:53:41] - [Speaker 2]
everybody wants to know you better.

[00:53:43] - [Speaker 3]
Listeners, hit us with your best time travel stories.

[00:53:46] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah, put it in the comments. Put it in the comments because I need some good suggestions because I I mean, I feel unfulfilled on the time travel thing. I feel like I've, I don't know, missed out on You've seen on the good Back to the Future, right? Yeah, I like Back to the Future, genuinely.

[00:54:02] - [Speaker 3]
Okay. Yeah. And you've seen Time Cop?

[00:54:05] - [Speaker 2]
Yes. I'm not gonna call that good.

[00:54:08] - [Speaker 3]
Ever. No. Don't quote Bantam.

[00:54:13] - [Speaker 2]
But and even Loki. Silver? Even the Loki series bothered me. So if it wasn't for Alligator Loki, I would have checked out.

[00:54:22] - [Speaker 3]
Okay. I still haven't watched season two, but I did see season one, and I did I did enjoy it. I did like it.

[00:54:30] - [Speaker 2]
Well, we'll we'll shift gears a little bit so people don't get super bored. Other question, because I know we both have a theater background, so this is something I've been curious So and you're always talking about it on the show. So what is your favorite musical or play?

[00:54:46] - [Speaker 3]
Great. Oh, yeah. Fun question. My favorite musical, Sweeney Todd.

[00:54:51] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:54:52] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Mainly because I did it in college and there was just a lot going on. It was my junior year of college, there was like a lot going on and it's really hard for me to separate that the memories and the the I guess, the struggle of that experience with, you know, with the objectivity about the musical. Yeah. It just holds a very special place in my heart that I will just say Sweeney Todd's my favorite musical.

[00:55:27] - [Speaker 2]
Interesting. Okay. Mine's a I'm a big Tom Stoppard fan, so I like Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are dead is Yeah. That that is peak to me. I love that.

[00:55:36] - [Speaker 2]
I was quoting it the other day because my son is reading Hamlet, and he was just horrified. He's like, you love Hamlet? I'm like, oh, I I love Hamlet. And my wife, the same thing, Cause she's reading it to help him, you know, work through writing the essays and stuff. And they're both like, You're you're broken.

[00:55:54] - [Speaker 2]
Why do you why do you love Hamlet? And I was like, I I love Shakespeare. Like, The Tempest is absolutely amazing. And they Yeah. No.

[00:56:02] - [Speaker 2]
I I

[00:56:03] - [Speaker 3]
love Shakespeare too. But, yeah, probably my favorite musical, Sweeney Todd. I if I had to pick a favorite play, that that would be tough. I mean, in terms of Shakespeare, Othello is my favorite. Favorite.

[00:56:17] - [Speaker 3]
Because I don't I don't think he's written a better villain than Iago. In terms of Iago's motivation, in terms of the things that he you know, in terms of, like, just the writing for the character, I kinda think Iago is the best written villain, and I just love the show. And, also, again, because I had to do a monologue to go to Saint when I was auditioning for a theater scholarship for Saint Joe's, and I had to do, like, a monologue from a regular play and a monologue from Shakespeare. And I did one of Iago's monologues from Othello. And, yeah, just I just love it.

[00:56:59] - [Speaker 2]
Nice. Well, I always like to wrap up with my shout outs, and that can be something that inspired you recently or somebody who did you a solid. And I'll give you go first to give you a minute to think about it. For me, I've discovered this is a thing. Viking hip hop.

[00:57:17] - [Speaker 2]
Right? And music has always been a way of coping for me during the worst parts whenever I'm struggling. And during the the most recent lupus flare, kind of disconnected from it. So it's nice to find my way back to some music. What about you?

[00:57:31] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I well, even though I'm I'm not the host this time, I'm gonna shout out to Bobby, the cryptic creator quarter's number one most dedicated fan, of course. Yeah. I mean, if anything, I I wanna shout out, like, all the the the other shows, honestly, that I've been on to talk about Penny and the Yeti. Like, it it really I think I was saying before we started recording, but it really has been incredible, the the community and the folks that have had us on.

[00:58:08] - [Speaker 3]
And it's been it's been really, great everyone that's done like an interview and everyone that we've talked to, but like so you know, and hey, if, I mean, I appreciate all our listeners listening to us, but if sometimes you wanna, you know, check something else out, there are so many good podcasts and YouTube shows and people that are just doing a ton of stuff for the the comic book community and talking about comic books. But yeah. I mean, I was on fan based press, the the monster. Christian Angeles did a really nice interview and review. Two Geeks Talking, Comics XF, Super Pulp Science, Gatecrashers, Panels.

[00:58:53] - [Speaker 3]
There are pages and panels, Keeping It Geekly, The Comics Collective, Splash Pages Comic Book Club, Long Box Punk, Panel by Panel, World at War Comics, Comics for All, Comic Books Beyond. Adam Smith on comic books beyond, he's kind of I think hasn't been doing it for too long. It was fantastic. Blake's Buzz, Bearded Comic Bro, Greg's fantastic. Comics are dope.

[00:59:14] - [Speaker 3]
BJ was amazing. 22 panels podcast, comics bodega, comic book club, Fortress of Comic News, Pop Culture Squadcast, Bob Harrison. It was amazing to hear Mike Gold, who's like a DC legend, say nice things about Penny and the Yeti. The Facts Project with James. We talked to Brad from Comic Book Couples Counseling, which is one of my favorite comic book podcasts.

[00:59:39] - [Speaker 3]
The Leo, Rich Leo, Jeremy, and and Drew at, Splash Pages Comic Book Club. Yeah. So, you know, I'm shouting out everybody.

[00:59:51] - [Speaker 2]
That's great. It's an amazing community, just like so many people volunteering their time and so many people who are passionate about it, which is really amazing. Think it's, it's underappreciated for sure. So yeah, that's a great shout.

[01:00:04] - [Speaker 0]
Thank you.

[01:00:06] - [Speaker 2]
Well, I am legally mandated. Jimmy's a lawyer, so actually legally mandated to tell you to buy a penny in the yeti. But honestly, it's good. You should buy it because it's actually good, not because I'm legally mandated to actually say it's good. But, and as I've said it before, you know, I didn't know you had this in you, quite honestly.

[01:00:27] - [Speaker 2]
No shade, but, yeah, I'm definitely impressed, you know, and compliments, as you know, are not something that I dole out all the time. So everybody should go pick up Penny and the Yeti. It's hitting shelves April 21. Right?

[01:00:40] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. It'll be in bookstores April 21, and I think at comic shops, April 22, the Wednesday.

[01:00:46] - [Speaker 2]
Cool. We'll put links in the the show notes so everybody can find it really, really easily. And dude, this has been a lot of fun. I've gotten to know a little bit more about you that I didn't know, so really enjoyed it. We gotta do it Yeah.

[01:00:58] - [Speaker 3]
I agree.

[01:00:59] - [Speaker 2]
Time travel.

[01:01:00] - [Speaker 3]
Time travel. That'll be next. That'll be next. I'll work on it.

[01:01:03] - [Speaker 2]
There you go.

[01:01:04] - [Speaker 0]
Alright. Thank you.

[01:01:04] - [Speaker 3]
Well, very much.

[01:01:06] - [Speaker 2]
Well, this is Byron O'Neil. And on behalf of Jimmy and the rest of us at Comic Book Yeti, thanks for tuning in, and we will see, next time. Take care, everybody. This is Byron O'Neil, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by Comic Book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast.

[01:01:23] - [Speaker 2]
Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for listening.

[01:01:33] - [Speaker 0]
If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast Into the Comics Cave. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.