Please note, I use automated transcription software with 80% accuracy and it’s only lightly edited by a human, so there might be errors or read choppy, here and there.

[00:00:00.070] – Alan Petersen
You are listening to meet the Thriller author, the podcast where I interview writers of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense books. I’m your host, Alan Petersen, and this is episode number 184. In this episode of the podcast, we’re meeting Jeremy Scott, who is a writer and entertainer from Nashville, Tennessee. He’s the co creator and narrator of Cinema Sins, a YouTube channel dedicated to movie related comedy with over 9 million subscribers. I’ve been following Cinema since on YouTube for a year or two, so I was excited to find out that Jeremy Scott has a thriller novel that was coming out. So it was fun to have him on the podcast. His thriller, when the Corn Is Waste High was published on April 19. To go pick that up and check it out before I get to the interview, you can find me on Twitter @ThrillingReads and also by my name @AlanPetersen, both on Twitter over there and say Hi and you can also go to Thrillingreads. Com/links for all my social media links, newsletter and all that good stuff to find it all there in one page. The best way to support this podcast is to let other fans of Thriller mystery books know about it. So please do shoot your friends an email or text message, or if you hang out in a forum or a Facebook group that focuses on mysteries and thrillers, I would appreciate a shout out to this podcast. And you can also, of course, then support the show by heading over to the place where you listen to it, make sure you subscribe to it there and leave a rating. Much appreciated. It helps me get the word out and let other fans of the genre find the podcast. It’s much appreciated. All right, here is my interview with Jeremy Scott.

[00:01:39.050] – Alan Petersen
Hey, everybody, this is Allan with the Filler author. And on the podcast today, I have Jeremy Scott. He’s the co creator and narrator Cinema Sims, a YouTube channel dedicated to movie related comedy with over 9 million subscribers. His Filler novel, when the Corners Waist High, will be published on April 19. Welcome to the podcast, Jeremy.

[00:01:58.370] – Jeremy Scott
Thank you. Thank you very much for having me. I’m very excited.

[00:02:01.050] – Alan Petersen
Yeah. Thanks for being here. I was saying I’ve enjoyed your YouTube channel, Cinema, since over the last couple of years. What led a YouTuber to writing a filler novel? Was that something you always wanted to do?

[00:02:14.000] – Jeremy Scott
Oh, boy. I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I started out writing really terrible songs. When I was taking piano lessons, I wrote some poems. I got to College and I got really into film. So I wrote a couple of screenplays that were also terrible. Then I joined a band and I started writing some rock songs. And then once we started the YouTube channel and started to get a little bit of a following, I realized we had a potential platform and I got serious about writing something that we could put out there. And that led to my first novel, which originally self published, called The Ables, which is about a group of superhero teams that are all disabled and their disabilities interfere with their ability to be superheroes. And that did pretty well and landed with a publisher who wanted to publish the rest of that series. And then just like any book that I’ve written, which is now, I guess this is my fifth book. It has to be an idea that won’t leave me. I never set out to write a thriller. I just had an idea, told my wife, thought it was neat. And then two months later, I’m still thinking about it. And that’s about the time that I realize I better start typing,

[00:03:34.970] – Alan Petersen
Because they’re different genres, right? YA and thriller. Is there a difference when you’re writing in the different genres, or is the process kind of the same for you?

[00:03:46.070] – Jeremy Scott
The process changes every time. I feel like I learned something different every time. So the first book that I wrote, I just wrote, I sat down and I wrote. And when I got to the end, I was like, oh, I have to cut and edit so much because I didn’t have a plan when I was writing. So the second book, I had a general outline, and that made things a lot smoother. But in that book, I also learned about setting things up for the future books. That process is honed a little bit every time, I think. But in terms of every one of the books I’ve written has been in first person, which is the most natural way for me. And so it does have that in common with the previous books. And I’m not sure anything about my routine really changes.

[00:04:28.250] – Alan Petersen
Were you fan of the genres that you write in as a reader before you started actually trying to write them?

[00:04:34.280] – Jeremy Scott
It’s interesting that you say that, and I hope I don’t turn off any listeners, not particularly as a reader. I was a big Tom Clancy reader for a long time. I really like Andy Weir’s books today, The Martian and Project Hail Mary. But I have never read a lot of young adult stuff. That’s just the genre my idea happened to live in. And yeah, I’ve never read a Stephen King book, even though people tell me they’re great. I’ve just never really been as a reader drawn to that genre. But when I had the idea that’s the genre where this idea lived and the next thing I’m working on is a short story anthology of Sci-Fi stories. So I just kind of go where the nugget of an idea takes me.

[00:05:26.270] – Alan Petersen
Can you tell us about When the Corn is Waist Hight? What’s that about how that all came to you.

[00:05:33.770] – Jeremy Scott
I can’t tell you how it came to me because that is one of the two or three big secrets waiting in the book. Okay. But I can tell you that the setting of the book is probably what’s most personal to me. This is a fictional town in Indiana that is modeled on a town I actually lived in with 20 people. No stoplights, no fast food, one grocery store, and a lot of farmers. And I was also a preacher’s kid at that time. And so I really love that period of my life. That’s probably the most nostalgic I get thinking back on that tiny, tiny community and how everybody sort of knows everybody, or at least of everybody. And so that’s sort of the setting for this. And we have a character that is both a local priest of a Catholic Church but also has been elected Sheriff of this tiny town and police force of five people. And the book begins with him discovering a pretty gruesome murder and realizing that he’s in way over his head, and it turns out they have a serial killer. So then he ends up having to try and investigate these crimes while also fending off the Mayor, FBI, everybody else that wants to basically come in and take the case away from him. And that’s maybe as much as I want to give in terms of a general synopsis, but I don’t think it’s a very traditional murder mystery.

[00:07:16.130] – Alan Petersen
Yes, I think the character is so cool because, like you said, he’s a priest and a Sheriff. Is there anybody out there in real life, anything like that? Was that inspired by anybody, do you know?

[00:07:28.530] – Jeremy Scott
No. I mean, certainly inspired by members of the clergy that I’ve met throughout my life. No. I just remember that there are communities here and there, especially back 40 years ago, where sheriffs that are elected aren’t necessarily full of law enforcement backgrounds. There are sometimes political leanings involved in these kinds of elections. And so basically the way the book explains it is the Church board rallied behind him and funded his campaign and really pushed him to be Sheriff because they thought it would be good for the entire community to have a person of faith sort of also Manning the law. But I’ve never met anybody that had both those professions, though I’m sure it certainly happens somewhere.

[00:08:19.110] – Alan Petersen
It reminds you of the National Lampoons vacation where the mechanic is a Sheriff. Small town way of going. I’m curious, too. So you said that you’re working on something that’s more of a Sci-Fi realm. Is this a standalone novel or is it going to be a part of a series or what’s your plans with it?

[00:08:40.350] – Jeremy Scott
I would call it a standalone novel that my publisher has asked me to consider writing a sequel to say there’s certainly room there for more stories, but I didn’t write it that way with that in mind. And I might even need a little convincing because I think it works so well as a stand alone. But we’ll just wait and see how well it’s received. And if people like it enough, and if I get another idea that inspires me, I could certainly come back to this universe.

[00:09:17.750] – Alan Petersen
Yeah, that’s pretty good for the publisher to come back and say, yeah, how about a series?

[00:09:23.830] – Jeremy Scott
Yeah. The email was like, hey, have you had any ideas? And I went to my wife, and I was like, this is probably a really good sign they might like this book.

[00:09:33.310] – Alan Petersen
And so I got curious to know whether your whole writing process and writers are listening to this podcast. So I was asked these questions, like, do you do a lot of research then? Or what’s your writing process like? Do you outline do you write the seat of your pants?

[00:09:46.270] – Jeremy Scott
Yes, I do. Both my outlines are very general. I won’t start writing until I know the main five, six story beats that I want to hit. But then I allow myself flexibility and freedom in between those story beats to get there by the seat of my pants, if you will. So I think that works best for me. I think some writers would structure everything out, but I am just spontaneous enough. I have to leave myself a little bit of room, and it really works in this book. As an example, I wrote a murder victim named Vernon. And the way that I write is I write every night for a few hours, and then the next night I read what I wrote the previous night and then write another couple of hours. And so a week or so later, I was writing another murder because this is a serial killer story. And I named the character Vernon. And I realized only the next day when I went back to reread everything that I had just used the same name twice for two different victims. And I laughed. And then I started thinking, maybe there’s a way I can use this. And I ended up writing it in as, like, this small town quirk where there’s these two Vernons and they hate each other, and there’s Vernon A and Vernon B, and everybody knows that they’re not friendly with each other. I just basically turned what was an accident into what I hope is just another charming element of this small town. And if I structured everything out before I ever wrote, I would never have had that moment of discovery.

[00:11:23.530] – Alan Petersen
Yeah, that’s cool, because that’s how come when you’re writing something you use the same name, never thought of like, oh, I can incorporate that story. That’s a good idea.

[00:11:32.980] – Jeremy Scott
Right.

[00:11:35.230] – Alan Petersen
So you say you work at night, so then that’s really great, too, because do you try to write every day? I’m assuming you write a lot for Cinemasins and the other jobs that you have. So writing is a part of your process every day?

[00:11:49.790] – Jeremy Scott
Yes. If I’m not writing for one of my own books, I’m writing for work, or I’m writing an essay or a nugget of a story idea that I’ll tuck away for the future. I do find it important for me to write every day when I’m able. Clearly, there are times when I’m on vacation or just too busy that I don’t get to it. But yeah, it just works out at night. My wife goes to bed, everything gets dark and quiet in the world. There’s nothing much on television, and I can just sort of focus with no distractions. That’s why it works best for me.

[00:12:25.690] – Alan Petersen
And now with the last couple of years, the pandemic and everything, did that change your schedule a lot or any changes or kind of been self isolating?

[00:12:36.430] – Jeremy Scott
It changed. I’m already a little bit of an introvert in that. I really like people and I want to be around them, but I get anxious sometimes when I am so even pre pandemic, I didn’t do a ton of going out. But yeah, it’s certainly I find it was harder to be creative when my environment was the same 24/7, right. Even when before the pandemic, I would only go out a few times a week. That was stimulating to my brain and my creativity and just seeing the same desk and the same shelves and the same screen over and over again because for many months I didn’t feel like I could go anywhere safely was draining. I think any person that is creative, maybe even people who are creative in their work, found it mentally draining to just be in the same space over and over again.

[00:13:38.710] – Alan Petersen
And they’re kind of curious to always ask about this from my guest. What do you use to write? Use Word or some other software?

[00:13:45.760] – Jeremy Scott
I do use Word. One of my favorite things is how every writer has their own quirk. I wish I could tell you, like, I only type on 1850 typewriters, or I only write by hand in Calligraphy or something really unique story. But no, I use Microsoft Word. I’m a pretty fast typist, and it’s just a program that I’ve been using for 20 plus years that I’m just really comfortable with.

[00:14:12.670] – Alan Petersen
So you usually write from the same spot and you have office space. You don’t go to, like, the coffee shop or something. Well, I guess you read at night. So that’s kind of hard, right?

[00:14:20.840] – Jeremy Scott
In actuality, the first book I ever wrote, that first Ables book, I went to the office. My office. At that point, I had a day job, but the office was literally 1.2 miles from my house. So I would say good night to my wife, and then I would drive to the office and sit at my work desk and write. And that was in my mind just to give me a new environment. I don’t think it ultimately made that much difference. So, yeah, everything else has just been written from my regular at home work desk that I do everything from.

[00:14:52.930] – Alan Petersen
You’re so creative with in different areas that you’ve done is there a little difference, you think, from being a creative YouTuber versus a novelist?

[00:15:05.350] – Jeremy Scott
Oh, sure. Yeah. Listen, that first book was like climbing Everest in that it felt like I was never going to be able to do it, especially when I started. It felt like an insurmountable goal is just going to take me years and years to ever finish. And once I finished that one, it really gave me a lot of confidence, and so I haven’t felt that very much moving forward. I’ve been like, I can do this. It may take a while, but I’ve done it once, so I know I can do it again. So when people do ask me for writing advice, I usually say, just write a novel. I don’t care if it’s crap, just write it. Get that under your belt to know that you can do it, and then you’re going to have all this momentum going into the next thing.

[00:15:56.570] – Alan Petersen
And so what can you tell us about what you’re working on next? I know you said it’s a short story, but is that something that’s going to be out soon, or are you still working on it?

[00:16:05.100] – Jeremy Scott
Well, I have another book that’s already in the pipeline, already done, and I’m just finishing up the final manuscript that comes out in the fall. That is the fourth and final book in my Able series that’s already basically done. Now what I’m writing actively is yeah, it’s an anthology of science fiction short stories. Again, I’ve never written science fiction. I’ve never written short stories. But I have found the format to be really freeing because with a short story, you can leave so much mystery and so much to the imagination, and you can just jump into a place and give a scene that’s impactful and then jump back out. So I’ve really been enjoying it, although I will say most of my stories are relatively bleak, to the point that I’m considering calling the anthology bleak. But we will see. I’ve got about twelve that are in the can and another 20 or so that I’m still working on.

[00:17:06.230] – Alan Petersen
For writing, though, when the corn is waist high. What was the from, like, the time you started writing it to now that it’s getting ready to get the launch next week, how long did that process take you?

[00:17:17.450] – Jeremy Scott
I would say about a year and a half.

[00:17:20.200] – Alan Petersen
Okay.

[00:17:21.070] – Jeremy Scott
I pitched the book to the publisher before I had written anything, and they really liked the idea. I’m with Turner Publishing, but they have another imprint called Key Light that only puts out twelve books a year. And the idea behind that imprint is that these books are ready made, supposedly for television and film, which really excited me about their interest in this story. But it wrote really quick. I think I had it finished in about five months, maybe six, and then it’s about a year process once the manuscript is initially turned in until it gets published. They have a pretty regimented system. So, yes, about a year and six months.

[00:18:09.710] – Alan Petersen
What do you think about the editing process, getting those notes back and all that? How did that go?

[00:18:15.130] – Jeremy Scott
I mean, it’s a learning experience, man, because you have to be able to take those kinds of notes without taking them personally, which is easier today than it was for me the first time, I’ll be honest. But today I want as much red paint, red ink as possible on that thing when it comes back. And I put an enormous amount of faith in these Editors to help me shape the story. I figure it’s like a sculpture, but I take the raw stone and I make it kind of look like a specific person. And then the touch up artist comes in behind me. And when they’re done, you’re like, oh, that’s definitely Caesar or whoever I sculpted. They’re just as much a part of the final product as I am, I think, because if you read just a raw first pass from me, you would wonder why anybody ever published anything I ever wrote.

[00:19:21.410] – Alan Petersen
Yeah, the first draft, I was going to be kind of rough, I think, no matter just about everybody.

[00:19:28.790] – Jeremy Scott
Yeah.

[00:19:31.070] – Alan Petersen
I was wondering. So now with the launch coming here in the next week, how’s that process been for you? I know you have, like, a marketing background, which is kind of good for writers, because a lot of writers hate that part. How has it been for you so far?

[00:19:44.620] – Jeremy Scott
Yeah, actually, this has been the most concerted campaign that we’ve done. I actually hired a couple of people on my end to work with the publisher hand in hand and make sure that we try our best to get this in front of people who like the genres. I think how I came to meet you and be booked on this show, and I do have a marketing background, and the YouTube channel was all old school hustle. I just cold emailed places like Wired magazine and said, hey, I’ll give you an interview if you post this video. Did that enough. The first year that we amassed a lot of coverage, we’re trying a similar approach, reaching out to libraries, focused podcasts and newsletters and blogs and whatnot, but trying not to be very aggressive, certainly just saying, hey, if you’re interested, here’s this. But I feel very good about it. I don’t know how it happened, but I got a start. Review it Publishers Weekly on this book, and I’m not sure anyone on my side asked for that. I think they just got a copy of the book and liked it. And again, I’m new to all this, but I’m told that’s a pretty big deal, and a lot of libraries and bookstores look to that. And so I was really humbled when I saw that. And then, yes, getting to talk to people like you, I’ve written a couple of really fun articles for blogs focused on true crime stuff. And so, yeah, it’s been really fun for me. I’m one of those rare authors that actually enjoys doing the marketing part.

[00:21:22.380] – Alan Petersen
I was reading about background when you first started the cinema. Since you got like 2 million subscribers in the first year or something. That’s crazy.

[00:21:30.540] – Jeremy Scott
Yeah, it was really insane. The first video we launched, people need to know how lucky we were. We want one video and somebody posted to BuzzFeed and home page of BuzzFeed. So we had 150,000 views in one day. And then our third video, another angel from Heaven, Kevin Smith, the film director, tweeted out a link to our channel to his I don’t know how many gobs of subscribers he has on Twitter. And then a couple of weeks after that, the comedian Dane Cook tweeted out a link to one of our videos. And honestly, those three things, which we had nothing to do with making them happen, are probably the reason we had success as fast as we did. And we will be forever grateful.

[00:22:18.530] – Alan Petersen
Wow.

[00:22:18.930] – Jeremy Scott
Yeah.

[00:22:19.360] – Alan Petersen
Word of mouth, free publicity.

[00:22:23.270] – Jeremy Scott
Exactly.

[00:22:24.470] – Alan Petersen
The best kind.

[00:22:25.460] – Jeremy Scott
The best kind.

[00:22:27.650] – Alan Petersen
All right, well, Jeremy, thank you so much for being on the podcast and just let everybody know the book comes out on April 19, so when you listen to this, it’ll be available. So go check it out. It’s going to be available everywhere. Anything else you’d like to say before we sign off? Where can people find you?

[00:22:46.730] – Jeremy Scott
You can find me on Twitter at Jscotn. I live in Tennessee and my name is Jeremy Scott and all I would say is thank you for having me. Thanks for listening. And I appreciate readers who welcome my first step into this thriller community.

[00:23:05.210] – Alan Petersen
All right, Jeremy, thank you so much. It was a lot of fun talking to you.

[00:23:08.440] – Jeremy Scott
Thanks. Same here.

[00:23:10.370] – Alan Petersen
Thank you for listening to Meet the Thriller Author. I hope you enjoyed my conversation with one of your favorite writers of mysteries and thrillers. Or if this episode’s guest is new to you, I hope you give their books a chance. Helping listeners discover new authors and books is one of the coolest outcomes of doing this podcast. As always, you can head over to Thrillerothers.com to sign up to my Thrilling Reads email list. That way you won’t miss out on any great deals in thriller and mystery books. You can also check out all the links and resources in the show notes for this episode over@thrillerauthors.com. And also, please do subscribe to this podcast if you haven’t done so already, and leave a rating and review wherever it is that you’re listening to this show. If you have done that already, I thank you. I really do appreciate your support for my other links to my author website, social media Haunts, and more. Check out Thrillings.com Links. All my links will be on that page. So that’s it for this this episode see you next time and stay safe out there bye.