A Woman, a Dream & a Pen: Inside the Mind of Sai Marie Johnson

SPEAKER_00 0:00

In the office, where stories collide. When the others waiting, let curiosity guide. All genres invited. From forward and street. Unravel the tales at our podcast heartbeat.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Welcome to another episode of the Author Spotlight series. This is where we step behind the pages to meet the people who create the stories we love. We'll talk about their latest book, their writing journey, and the story behind the story, and probably a few other things that neither of us plan to talk about. And today we're putting Cy Marie Johnson in the spotlight. Cy, welcome to Travel Time Stories.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Thank you for having me, Shannon. I'm really excited to be here.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

We're excited to have you. But before we dive into the book and everything else, I'd love for you to introduce yourself to the audience.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

Well, I am a pretty prolific author. I have 31 different works on the market, but I'm also a podcast host. I am the creative lead of three different podcasts: Histories of Horror, Around the Table with the AOTR, which stands for Authors of the Resistance, and also The Mind of Simerie, which is kind of more my variety solo show, but I do a lot of different types of guests on it. And then I'm also an advocate and an activist and a screenwriter. I spend most of my time creating all different types of transmedia, as you can tell. And I just I really enjoy using my talent to educate, inspire, and entertain people.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

I love that. That's so wonderful. And I don't know how you do it all. I mean, I only have one podcast and I'm writing plus my regular job, and that's overwhelming for me. So I don't know how you do all the things that you do.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Scheduling. It is very strict scheduling. Um, the podcast, especially like mine assignory, I do more often because it's just me, but with my co-host ones, a lot of them, both of my co-hosts have day jobs too. And uh so because of what they do, I just set it up where those two are done bi-weekly and they're done at a certain time, and everything's so I have the time to get everything ready and kind of get myself prepared for what's coming next. But yeah, it's it's a lot of scheduling and uh being consistent on staying on the routine.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Yeah, I would say so. So there's one line in your bio that I absolutely love because despite everything that you do, you simply describe yourself as a woman with a dream and a pen. So let's start there. What was a dream? And when did you realize that your pen might actually take you there?

SPEAKER_03 2:53

Well, I actually remember saying I think it would be great to be an author when I was a kid, like probably about nine, but it was a passing thought. It wasn't, oh, I want to be an author. If somebody asked me what I wanted to do, I would not have said that. But I I really did already have that in the back of my mind because I was a very creative kid. That's my cat. I was a creative kid, and I just really loved like playing dress up and make-believe with my cousins, and I come from a pretty big family, and you know, kids in the neighborhood, and that kind of developed into over time. Um, my hero I in writing is Anne Rice. So I started reading probably a lot sooner than I should have, I will admit that. But it still had a great impact on me because when I was about nine was when I started really uh writing in journals and diaries that like scripting things out, poetry, and like different little pieces and scenes of stories that were coming to me in my head. And it was just for fun. But what actually really got me on the pace of deciding that this was a dream that I could make happen was writing kind of saved me in a lot of ways. I started writing one of my first novels when I was in my first marriage. It was a very narcissistic and abusive. And um, I actually had to hide the notebook because I knew that he would actually, he was the type that would have gotten mad enough to destroy it, just because it was something that was an outlet that brought me peace. Very narcissistic, you know. And I wrote 127 pages of that by hand, just you know, pencil, paper, and having it when he was at work, and uh it really started to make me go. This was about the same time that like Stephanie Meyer was becoming really big with Twilight and things like that. And uh different types of writers that were not being noticed as much. It was right when KDP started to come up. And I was like, Well, all these people are doing this and they're they're really good at it, and maybe I could do it too, but it was still just like a little tiny thought in my mind. Like I had all of these other barriers and this bad relationship, and I just didn't really think it could happen. Well, I continued to write, and then I got onto a website and I started doing blogging and text-based role playing, and then I started getting into guild-based stuff like with people that played like World of Warcraft and making friends and really uh expanding beyond that to create my own storylines and run these role plays, and people just started noticing, you know, they're like, You're really good at this. Well, I had a mentor, and this was really when I really kicked off. Had to give you all the backstory because it matters, but mentor comes in and he happens to get a hold of one of my blogs for a story that later became what is now embracing his empire. Now, at that time, it was just a few blogs, and he read it, and he was like just hooked. Like he got a hold of one blog and just wanted it all. And he turned around, and I was visiting one day, and he had just got done reading it, and he turned around and he looked at me and he goes, Why are you doing this? And I was prepared to get lectured on wasting my time, on you know, this is a ridiculous hobby, whatever, all the bad things. And so I was like, I mean, and again, I had been in a narcissistic dynamic, so I was prepared to hear what she thinks about.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Yeah, that makes you on the defense for everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:17

So when this man was like, Why are you doing this? I was ready to just get loaded on. And he goes, I think he saw it in my face. He goes, No, wait, that's why are you doing this and not making a living off of it? And I just was like, Well, I don't have a formal education, I don't have this, I had my GED. And I started going into all these, and he goes, No, stop. Obama was president at this time, and he was doing all of these different grants for women to go back to school. And it was a man who actually told me this. He goes, This president has done this, this, that. And he also was not a fan of that administration, I have to add. But he still was like, these are the things that our government's doing now. You have this talent, it's raw. Why don't you go to college? Why don't you see what you can do? You know, if somebody could make a big story being homeless and writing it, you know, and and then make billions of dollars, why can't you do that? And I really kind of was like, Well, I guess you have a point. Why can't I? Accept I don't know where to start. And he got me on his computer and he goes, Look, you can use my computer, research, fine. And I I was adamant that I was only gonna find like APA journalistic kind of researching, which at that time I didn't really care for. Now I'm a little different. Being an activist and an advocate, things kind of evolved there. But I was like, I don't want to do that. I don't want to just be, you know, like CNN reporter kind of style. I I want to do something different. And he goes, No, there has to be something, just look. And so then I I went ahead and for some reason I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt that day, which was the right thing for me to do, I will say. And I found the college that I graduated from twice. And it was while I was in my first stint of college that I'm just a woman with a dream and a pen came to me because that's really what I was. I just I have a pen and I have a dream. How can I make this happen? I love that.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

And look, you did make it happen.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Yes, yes, through consistent and persistent effort, and I mean, I I have four children, and two of my children have Duchenne muscular dystrophy. They're fully wheelchair bound. And during my second stint of college, when I was getting my master's degree, my oldest son was on life support nearly past in Vanderbilt in Nashville. And I actually live in Oregon, so I had to crowdfund money because I did not have I'm also 90% deaf, believe it or not. So I wear bilateral hearing aids. I had lots going on for my own kind of challenges that I was going through. I did have housing and I was stable at that time, but there was no possible way I could maintain what I had and also afford to go see my son, who was literally on his deathbed. And it was a position no parent should have to be put in. Exactly. And I, of course, chose to sacrifice everything that I had to go back there. And me being there did help my son get better. He got better and he is, you know, he's still with us. And everything turned out good because I went, and I know that my energy being there and and helped helped him and that he knew that he was loved and he needed that. So I don't regret doing it, but still all the challenges and the barriers kind of set me back a little bit in some ways. And uh and then I went through a period where I was homeless for several years again, and that was right about when COVID struck. So I was balancing trying to get myself back together with the two kids that I did have, which one of them was 18, that's my oldest daughter, and then I had my youngest son, which is from my second marriage. So doing all that for my other two sons, they still lived with my first husband, which was the narcissist. There's so there were all of these things that I had to consider that I was going to be exposed to, which again, yes, a narcissist is a narcissist, is always going to be a narcissist. So when you know that and you still have to co-parent with one, uh you know that there's certain things that that person will do to try to get you trapped in bad situations. That also causes a lot of anxiety and emotional trauma, and it's it takes a toll on you. So all of those things were also crosses that I was carrying, and yet still I was like, I always remembered what my mentor told me, and that was you can do this. You are talented, you are capable, you could be the next Dolly Parton. And that I feel like is pivotal right now in a post-Dolly world. Because that's how I look at my life. I've been through, I've been through a lot. I know what it's like to be the girl that was wearing the coat of many colors. My mama used to sing that to me when I was little too. And I know what it's like to fight for a dream that nobody else believes in but you. And I know what it's like to experience being ostracized and talked down to and put down for who I am, the way I choose to express myself, all those things. And so I feel like I identify with her a lot. And I always ask myself, even before she passed, how can I be a dolly? And I feel like all of the things that I'm doing here, I'm trying to, even as we speak, I've been working with a producer for several years on and off, get funding together to get one of these books or stories that I have made into a movie. And that's ultimately what I would like to do. Once one gets done, I know that I will be able to go forward. And somebody's got to step into those shoes. And I'm not saying I'm the only person that wants to. If we all could, that would be great. How much better would the world be? But yeah, that's the kind of big boots that I'm seeking to feel. Like I want people to see that and go, even like what you said, it's such a simple quote, but it holds so much power.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. That's why it like jumped out at me. I was like, wow, it's such a simple way to describe yourself, but the meaning behind it is so powerful. And I love that.

SPEAKER_03 12:29

Well, I want to maintain some of my humility. I don't want to become big-headed and arrogant. That's never been who I am. But I do want to convey confidence and, you know, belief in yourself. Because if more of us had confidence and belief in ourselves, we'd be willing to do more things that normally we don't have the courage to do. And, you know, a lot of times people look around and they regret or they resent what someone else is doing and they get that FOMO feeling when the reality is the only limitations in life are the ones that you put on yourself. Now, granted, with disabling conditions, you know, we have to make accommodations and understand that everybody's not the same. But even then, we don't put the boundaries on other people, no matter if their their ability or their disability. They are the ones that decide what their limitations and what their accommodations need to be.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Exactly. Yeah. And I love the saying, and I and I use it all the time, is comparison is the thief of joy. Yes. So don't compare yourself to other people because that's just stealing your joy.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

I seen someone s swear something the other day, or share something the other day, excuse me, and it was something along the lines of you can't compare or you can't compete where you don't compare. And that is a very toxic mindset that a lot of people have. And I wish that more people would adopt what you just said in understanding that you don't need to compete or compare. You can be, you know, great just as you are. If we're having to distract or detract value from other people in order to feel important, then it's not it's not actually good value anyway. Yeah. It's just a token, you know, arrogance and it's uh just to feed your ego. So I yeah, I I really didn't want people to look at my work and think, oh, this girl just thinks she's all that and a bag of chips, which sometimes I am. But hey, you know, I sometimes we all are, right? But I wanted people to look at it and go, Well, if she can do it, I can too.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, we need to stop comparing and just embrace our differences and support one another in our differences. And guess what? What a wonderful world would that be.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

It's truly beautiful when people begin to do that because everybody has gifts and talents. And when they feel accepted, then they'll let them shine. Yeah. When we feel like you know we can be open with who we are, then we're more likely to share the best things that we have. When we feel like we're already judged on the exterior without being able to even speak up about who we are, then we usually shrink ourselves, make ourselves smaller, and we don't share those things.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Yeah, exactly. And then the world misses out on all of our gifts and other people that we could be helping and influencing with our gifts that we're supposed to be using, don't benefit from that.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

Exactly. And in a way, those things when you contribute in that way, you know, you're adding love to life. And you know, that's a thing I think people need to realize. Love doesn't have to just be romantic, it doesn't have to just be familial. Love can just be being that person that's that encouraging light in that moment. You are being love and you are giving love to the world. And when people see that and they feel that love, then they want to do the same thing. That makes everybody be elevated to a level of you know, feeling better and then acting on those better feelings instead of feeling negative and acting on those.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

Exactly. Yeah. So one of the places that your pen has taken you is into the world of monsters and slaves. Of masters and slaves, yes. Masters and slaves. Gosh, oh my gosh, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 16:21

It's okay. It's okay. Yes. Of Masters and Slaves, actually, you know how I referenced being in some of those role play groups and those blogs. So Of Masters and Slaves wasn't one of the role plays, but it was one, it started out as one of the blogs of me writing a story, uh similarly to Embracing as Empire, but it was before it, which is interesting because I started writing it before it, and then Embracing His Empire came out first. So it just, you never know how that's gonna work. Yeah. But I I started writing it and I got this visualization of these two sisters, and this was before Frozen, I have to add, because they were blonde and redheaded, and they were Nordic sisters, and I know that everybody knows about Elsa and Anna and everything, and that's basically the same look. But it was before that. So after that came out, I was like, I don't want to change them though. This is who they, you know, when they presented as characters in my mind, this is what they looked like, and I don't I don't want to change it, so I didn't. Yeah. And these two sisters were playing in this meadow, and then this just like crazy thing happens, and these like marauders come and one of them gets taken, and there's this crazy comment. And it was just like this scene I had in my head, and I was like, oh, this looks this sounds cool. So I started writing it. I didn't have any idea of what lore I was gonna use yet. I I just knew that I had this idea in my head, and I started writing it, and I could kind of see the girls playing and hear their dialogue in my head. And I tell people a lot that when I write, it's like a movie in my head. I basically am just transcribing what I'm seeing in my imagination. And people were like, so you don't have any control over it? Well, yes, I have control over it. I can always decide I don't want to go with what I envisioned and kind of change it or tweak it, but as a basis, that's how it happens for me. And so I did that and I wrote it, and a lot of people liked it, and then I kind of just let it sit on the side. And then I started writing more stuff, and I started writing on it a little bit, and then I'd stop and I'd write on it a little bit more. And I finally, in like the last two years, I was gonna try to see if I could finish it doing like national novel writing month and finish it in one thing, and some things came up. And it always seemed like with that particular story, I'd get a little bit done, and more things would come up. Until this last year, I was like, you know what? I'm putting this book out. It's time for my Vikings to make, you know, an entrance. It's time for me to finally finish this one. Um, I know that it's a good story, I just need to get it put out there. But it is probably one of the ones that has taken me the longest. Not the absolute longest, but it's one of the ones that's taken the longest.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Yeah. So the two sisters, their lives split in different directions at one point. And did you find yourself identifying more strongly with one sister over the other?

SPEAKER_03 19:25

You know, no, because both of the sisters have elements of like kind of my personality in ways. Like they're both different, maybe different eras too, like different like eras of me, as in the way that I was when I was at one age, as compared to the way that I was at another age. I didn't feel like either of them was really vying for my more favorite character. I felt like they were kind of a unit, if you will. And it's different, I know that, but like when you think about when you're when I write romance, the unit is usually, you know, the male and the whatever the romantic partners are. And those are the two. And this one, it being sisters, made it kind of different because of being dual antagonists, but it didn't really feel that I had to separate them. It was like I knew that they were a unit in the end. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's like I just felt even with the separation, that at the end of the day their destinies would always be intertwined. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

Yeah. So what does the magic in this world cost the people who possess it?

SPEAKER_03 20:37

Well, one of them is a Volva. So obviously she has the gift of sight, and that might seem like a lot of people would think, oh, that's great. You can see whatever in the future, but that also means that she has to deal with how does she present that to her people? What does what she see going to cost her if they don't believe her? What is what she see going to cost her as far as like the Cassandra effect? There's all of these different things of first the when you get into this awakened power, which is what happens to her, it's accepting that you have it, then learning how do I wield it, and then how do I use it in a way before my people that's going to be beneficial rather than destructive, and also not cause myself to become ostracized. So for her, she lives in a very patriarchal society. The father that she has, she perceives him to be one way and is not exactly what she perceived. And so if she presents this power before them the wrong way, it could result, I mean, as it can in any history of a witch, her persecution. So there's if I don't say anything, my people are going to be destroyed. If I do say anything, I could be destroyed.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

And then there's just the fact of wielding that power itself and what it costs you to wield that power. Power. Yes. Within your own self.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

And and the thing is with them being, you know, they're still they have supernatural ability, but they're still a human being. So if you do something like if you put yourself through something high velocity, that's gonna have an impact on the organs on the body, right? So even if you could heal yourself doing certain things, and of course we've seen that in other different types of you know movies and things too. Like even with the Hulk when he becomes super strong, but then when he's coming back down out of it, how much it just it causes a lot of you know damage it really does. So with her, it's like that too. It's like when I do this, how much is it gonna take out of me? How much life source, how much energy, and can I recoup it? And how much can I recoup?

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Yeah, exactly. So uh I have to ask this question for Lydia. Did I say her name properly? Yes, Natalia and Lydia. Okay. For Lydia, do you think she's more frightened by the forces around her or discovering what she's capable of herself?

SPEAKER_03 23:07

Honestly, I think it's the forces around her because she's been very sheltered. I mean, that's part of the reason why, like everything they believe about their family, they think that they're a great family, that they are kind of benevolent when honestly they're kind of the warmongers. So she's been really protected, and she's also been led to believe that basically everybody on the outside is bad, kind of that us versus them. So her having power that she can wield, as scary as that is, that's also kind of a defense mechanism against what she doesn't fully understand or know, and that alone causes fear. What we don't understand or know is often what causes the most fear in people.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Yeah. So what part of your own truth found its way into the story?

SPEAKER_03 23:53

Uh being unafraid to step into my power to finally come out of my shell and step into my power fully as a woman, whether that be, I know, you know, some of the scenes are sensual, and you know, asking for what you want the way that you want it, and just being able to go, I don't have to cater to what this person is demanding. I have power and sovereignty in my own self. Yeah. And as a woman, don't be afraid to ask for it.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

Yep. So do you see storytelling as part of your own healing journey?

SPEAKER_03 24:32

Absolutely. Storytelling and writing has been incremental to my healing journey. And I have a great therapist who I've been seeing for about a decade, but even before, I mean, I did a lot of self-help, and you know, a lot of that came through journaling. And a lot of times, especially having had been homeless, I didn't have the income to go be able to afford to talk to a therapist. So I did seek out a lot of self-help books. One of them that I really loved is Don Miguel Ruiz, and that is what is the name of that book that I'm trying to think of right now? Uh, The Four Agreements. Um, I was gonna say the four laws, and I was like, no, it's the four agreements. Anyway, so that one and then writing and reading stuff like that really helped me because when I had those pent-up bad feelings, or I mean, I've dealt with suicidal tendencies and stuff, I could get that temporary horrible onto paper. And then if I didn't like it, I could burn it or tear it up and know that I'm getting rid of that emotion for now. It doesn't hold power over me. And that act alone was pulling my power back in. Just because I feel like this in this moment doesn't mean that that's the entirety of my life.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Yeah. And when you write it down, it gets that out of you. It's so cathartic. And like you say, it you don't even have to put it out anywhere. You know, keep it for yourself, burn it, whatever. Just but write it down and get it out of your body. Yep. Because it's talking about it.

SPEAKER_03 25:54

Sometimes, sometimes when you look at it, you're like, I just wrote that, and wow, that's actually really good. And yeah, yeah, it's a little vulnerable and it's a little it's a little deep, but it's so good that you go when you start to build up that confidence. Somebody could benefit from reading this. Somebody else out there is feeling this, and if I share it, they're gonna go, wow, somebody knows exactly how I feel. I'm not alone.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Yeah, exactly. Yep. So, what does healing mean to you at this point in your life?

SPEAKER_03 26:28

Being able to live my life with contentment and self-sovereignity, to be able to feel comfortable in my own skin and know that I am capable of taking care of myself no matter what comes against me. And I'm there. I wouldn't say that I don't ever have a hard day. Like I've told everybody before, healing isn't linear, it is definitely a circle. Things will pop up to remind you. Your shadow self will come out trying to rear its face in ugly ways, and all you can do is kind of look at it and go, Okay, I'm the dragon slayer today, and you're not getting me. Just deal with it as it comes.

SPEAKER_02 27:03

Yep. So do you think sometimes we create the stories that we need before we even realize that we need them?

SPEAKER_03 27:11

I do. And I think that's when people say write the story that you want to read, a lot of times when we feel different things, like different feelings, what we really need is that outlet just to see that story, just have it, you know, kind of roll out to see what it would be like. And then once when we get that kind of escapism, we can sit back and go, well, that was a fun experience and move along. Instead of getting ourselves trapped up in like rumination or you know, just different kinds of things that kind of get us in overthinking cycles or bring us down. Um, so if you are feeling that way, write something. It it really does help.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Yeah, it really does. And so I know you also said that you wanted to talk about travel, which feels wonderfully appropriate for travel time stories. So uh you spend so much of your time in this creative life building all these worlds. Does exploring the real world change the imaginary ones you create?

SPEAKER_03 28:12

No, it just makes them better. I mean, like my favorite place is New Orleans, which probably makes sense for me. Yeah, I love it. And also with being an Anne Rice fan. So I've been there several times and I intend on going back. And I mean, every time I go there, it's just like my imagination is just like seeing my characters, my imaginary friends there in the streets. I know that sounds probably crazy to people, but it's like I'm immersed in it. And even here, like I recently went to Thor's Well. I wrote a horror story about Thor's Well last year. And when I was walking there, I was like seeing it all and being there. I'm like, wow, it's so real. It it feels like it's almost just emphasizing what my imagination already had. And sometimes when I go to places, it's also because they refill my creative pot. And I can go somewhere without any thought of a story or writing, I'm just going here because I want to walk through the forest, and I'm from Oregon, so that's a pastime, right? And then all of a sudden, an idea for a story is just hopping out of the woods at me. That's just the way it works for me. So traveling and getting to see the things that have inspired me, or even just going on a random, you know, walkabout as if it were, they have all shaped me into who I was. Like being from Oregon and and all like one of my stories is an Elven story called The Tales of Valisa. And I'm a big Lord of the Rings fan too. I tell people all the time, I'm from Oregon, that's basically Middle Earth. I mean, like how I found it. If you look at some of the stone structures that we have in my state on the coast, or even like we have this observatory in eastern Oregon that is like made out of obsidian, all lava rock, and it looks like a castle. So these different types of things have been. My parents used to take me just to see this stuff, and then I had an active imagination. So I was a fan of things like the labyrinth and the princess bride, and my parents obviously also encouraged that. And so when they would take me to these places, I would just be like, This looks like something out of you know, Neverland or wherever.

SPEAKER_02 30:25

Yeah, right. That's what I totally understand what you're talking about. Uh Ann and I just had a trip. Uh, we were in Iceland, and oh my gosh, we got to go to Ghatapas Waterfalls, which is the waterfall of the gods. It was spectacular, beautiful, and yeah, just sounds like the I can picture Thor and Loki and all of them, just Braya right there, you know. I was about to say, sounds like the landscape in my story. It pretty much was, yeah. Definitely a lifetime dream right there to get to do that. And then a few years ago we were in Scotland, and my god, like just everywhere we went, I was expecting the fairies to pop out at any moment, or you know, just all the things. Yeah. Because it's just so gorgeous. And yeah, right, right for the imagination. If you have any type of imagination, you can just yeah, it just plays right into that.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

I am definitely like a big kid in that in that regard. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Yeah, same. And I'm like you. I love like my pastime is being out in the woods, in the forest, and I've done that since I was a young girl. And Anne and I have been to New Orleans more than once now. We we love it. It's one of our favorite places to go.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

It is one of the best.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

Yeah, it is. So, is there a particular place other than New Orleans that you've traveled that's just stayed in your imagination for a long time?

SPEAKER_03 31:57

I haven't been able to go abroad yet. So there is a lot of places that I want to go I haven't done yet. But within the United States, I mean, aside from Nola, I went to California in March and I was working with an activist advocate friend of mine who also happens to be a book cover model. I should plug him right now, Dave the Viking. Authors get him if you want him, he's good. But yeah, so me and him, we we were working on his book cover modeling at that time, and we also went and uh we protested at No Kings 3, and we went down to the Santa Monica Pier, which was really awesome. And I had never been to the Santa Monica Pier, even though I've been to California multiple times, and just being there and walking around and seeing it, I was like, I can see why this place has made it into so many romantic movies, and it was just really cool. And I was like, this I could probably write a pretty cool contemporary romance about this place and being here, and it was so cool, like seeing people break dancing on the boardwalk and everything. It's totally different experience, and yeah, and even though it's right here in America, and I know that that's like super well known, it was just different and fun. And I think that that's probably what I like the most about travel is the unexpected, really awesome stuff you get to see.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

I'm jealous. We haven't gotten to go to California yet and see any of that, but it's on our list uh to do.

SPEAKER_03 33:19

So the feeling's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

Yeah, I'm gonna tell Ann we have to put that at the top of the list. So, and when you get ready to go abroad and you want someone, a tour guide, to go with you, just let us know. Well, we're happy to go with you.

SPEAKER_03 33:32

Well, going to Iceland, I might have to go with you on that one. That one sounds pretty cool. Um Iceland and obviously Scotland and also Vienna are places I really want to go to. Um, if I had to name all of the places I want to go to most, the fourth one would be Venice, and those are like the places I really, really want to see. There's a ton I could list aside from that, but I mean I'm not rich yet.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Girl, you don't have to be rich to make it happen, trust. I am nowhere near rich, and we make it happen, so we'll have to we'll have to hook up after the show and and we'll start making it happen for you.

SPEAKER_03 34:14

I am ready to visit some interesting different locations and definitely travel abroad, though. It's been it's been a lifelong dream too. And I have a couple of friends in the UK that have been like, when you get here, when you get here, don't forget about me. So like, oh trust me, I won't. It's been on the it's been on the wait list for a long time. And some of these people, you know, they they've known me since I was doing the role playing and watched me just elevate and and believed in me and were like, when you get there, we're gonna be going to a pub and having fish and chips or something. Exactly. Yeah, that's a must for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

So do you think travel and writing asked the same things of us, like to leave what we know and become curious about what we don't?

SPEAKER_03 35:01

I think it does in a lot of ways. And you know, people say that a book is a free vacation all the time, you know. So I think that our imagination and going to places, even like I just said, it works both ways for me, whether I'm there and I'm not even anticipating coming up with a story and it just hits me, or I go there knowing I've already written about it and it just hits me with remember this part or this scene in this particular space, and and you can just see it there. And I feel like writing and traveling is that way too. And I I think that because writing can be so portable and you can do it anywhere, that they really do go hand in hand. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Well, you definitely also have to go to Scotland too, especially if you like Harry Potter.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Well, my mom is Native American and she's actually also Scottish. So she's like, or her dad was full-blooded, and she's a half, so I'm a quarter. And their last name is McKenzie. So obviously, McKenzie is a Scottish. We we've already done all of the, you know, the ancestral tracing. Yeah, 100%. And I'm like, yeah, it's definitely Clan McKenzie and all of these different I I've done tracing all the way up to the 15th century, and know that they had, you know, where their castles were and different things like that. So my mom's always been really drawn to Scotland, and that was something she talked about a lot. The two things I heard about all the time Scotland and Native American lore, which consequently kind of goes together because it's both kind of tribal cultures.

SPEAKER_02 36:34

Right.

SPEAKER_03 36:36

And so it was already kind of like part of my raising and me listening to her tell stories. My mom was a wonderful storyteller too. So always have been interested in things like that. I'm working on a screenplay right now that is loosely about the Morrigan, but not entirely. And I'm kind of using some of the she and the fee lore that's you know between Scotland and Ireland. So those things are obviously very much up my alley, and I want to go see the different places, you know. I know some of them are not there anymore, like the oak that got involved. That was really messed up. But you know, the different kind of fairy places that are super famous and popular. Like I can't remember the name of that waterfall right now, but they said that I think Bridget walked out of it. I want to go to that place. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:29

Yeah. And it it really is amazing. So uh usually before we wrap up, we do some rapid fire questions. So fantasy world or real world adventure? Fantasy. Pen and paper or keyboard. I know it's a hard one.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

It's hard because it depends on where I'm at. At home, my computer, obviously, definitely. But when I'm out and about writing, like when I did that first manuscript in a notebook or like a little notepad, that's the easiest. Yeah. Mountains or ocean? Well, I'm from Oregon where the mountains meet the sea. So I kind of get to say both.

SPEAKER_02 38:10

Writing alone or creating with others?

SPEAKER_03 38:12

Probably writing alone. It's not to say that I don't enjoy have done collaborations, but getting other people to meet the same level of commitment or consistency that you do is very difficult. So finding that alignment can be hard. And I am a very driven person, obviously. So when other people aren't coming to the table meeting the same, like, and I know I have a deadline or timeline, I get kind of a little irritated. So I've learned it's probably best if I just do my own thing.

SPEAKER_02 38:41

Exactly. That's why I did not like group projects in school because I was the one that was always on top of it. And and then you have the others on your team that you know are just dragging their feet or whatever, and then you just end up doing all the work. So it gets done on tying, but then they get to share in the credit, and it's like, come on.

SPEAKER_03 39:02

Yep, yep, exactly. It's hard to feel a little taken advantage of.

SPEAKER_02 39:09

Exactly. So would you rather meet one of your characters or let one of your characters meet you?

SPEAKER_03 39:14

That's an interesting question. I think it depends on which one. That's fair. I mean, some of them I might not want to meet, and I don't at all in any way. Yeah, it depends on which one. And if your life were a book, what would the title be? Solitary Epiphany. Ooh, I like that. It's actually the name of one of my poems.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

Oh wow, okay. Well, that's a good one. I like that. So, Cy, where can everyone find of Masters and Slaves and follow everything that you're creating?

SPEAKER_03 39:50

Well, I'm all over social media. It's pretty easy to find me on Instagram, threads, it's at author Cy Marie altogether on TikTok. I think it's at Cy.Marie Johnson. As far as my books, they're all available on Amazon. I do believe that of Masters and Slaves is also available on Walmart and Barnes Noble. Some of my books are not because they are exclusive to KDP, but you'll be able to see that from Amazon, which ones aren't. And it's maybe three of the four titles that are like that.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

Okay. All right. Well, Sai, thank you so much for joining us and letting us go behind the pages of Masters and Slaves.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

Awesome. It was great to be here today, Shannon. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 40:33

And that's a wrap-up of another edition of the Author Spotlight. Thank you for joining us. We will have Sai's information in the episode description and on our website, traveltimestories.com. And you can find Sai's dedicated guest page there, as well as her book on our recommendations page with the link to purchase on Amazon. And remember, every book has a story, and so does the person who wrote it. So tune in Friday for another edition of the Author Spotlight series.

SPEAKER_01 41:04

So join us each week in the splendor of the arts. In the Author Spotlight, we capture the heart with every story to share. A new world takes light.