SarahPinsker

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Laura: Hi Sarah, welcome to Web 3 Next Podcast.

Sarah Pinsker: Thank you for having me.

Laura: So happy to have you here. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Sarah Pinsker: I guess, I'm a writer now. I was a musician. The, which I just consider another form of storytelling really. But I was a touring musician for a long time. And I live in Baltimore. I have two dogs who will hopefully not interrupt our recording at all. I've got the door closed, which is great.

Sarah Pinsker: usually offends them terribly, but we'll see what happens.

Laura: I live in Berlin actually, wow, 20 years ago, true to say. I lived in the Puget County. I used to go used to go to Baltimore whenever I needed a break from the, from my area. I was like, I was in Braxton University, my own college park. So I was like, Let me just get a Baltimore. I will go to the Inner Harbor, which is beautiful.

Laura: And then, or I'll go down to D. C., but D. C. wasn't such a hike, so Baltimore was like an easy drive to go to. It's a fun place out in the Maryland area with the, you know, [00:01:00] cupcakes and all the fun stuff that's there. Beautiful. It's a beautiful state.

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah. It is a beautiful state. And I've been in the city for a long time and I just, I've always loved it. The art scene here is so vibrant like it was a great place to be a musician. It's a great place to be a writer. It's a, you know, it's a, an affordable city. So it's a city that where people can afford to be artists and can afford to support art.

Laura: So let's try to talk about Pond Sweet Home. It's a mouthful for me to say. It's a paranormal, ghost story TV show. We have Pierre, who's,, in general, like, we're in our 20s. We don't know what we're doing, what we're doing with our lives. So, I try to figure out what a purpose in life is and gets this job as a, all around gopher, all around and this, you know, reality TV show, which is, , about girl stories.

Laura: So talk to us about what is the other one, which, although I think I've said it before.

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah, you did a good job there. Thank [00:02:00] you. Yeah. So, so it's about Mara, who, as you said, is a production assistant, which is the very entry most point of entry into the world of TV. And the show that she has gotten a job on thanks to her cousin is a combination paranormal show and home renovation show.

Sarah Pinsker: So, so the concept is that like people buy a house that needs fixing up and also is possibly haunted question mark. And so people the owners have to. Renovated by day with the show's handy, you know, handy people, and then at night they have to sleep in it. And so the production kind of keeps them a little bit short on sleep so that they're, You know, more willing to believe and in the first year, this is the long elevator pitch.

Sarah Pinsker: I gave you the short one and then I kept going. In the early years of the show. You know, they kind of relied on. Oh there are bones in the wall. And, you know, cut to commercial. And when they come [00:03:00] back, it turns out, you know, a squirrel died in the wall or something. And then, like, in order to keep the show going They need more.

Sarah Pinsker: And so they hire a night crew whose job is to essentially haunt the houses. So, so there's this layer of reality show manipulation. And then on top of that, there's a layer of also maybe something else is going on.

Laura: Yeah, and so what was your research? Because it's probably like, it's a mix of, you probably have watched enough reality TV shows to see like the structure where it all starts, like some screenwriting, and it has like production understanding, like, what it means to work in a production, which is very different than consuming a production, you know, and understanding the job of like, a PA, but also all the different layers, because it's not just like the PA is there, it's like, there's a VP, there's this night crew, there's this other person, there's the all around gopher, So understanding that world, what was your experience like to whether research or were they just like knowing people in the industry of some [00:04:00] sort?

Sarah Pinsker: A little of both. I bought this house. years and years ago with a friend from college who was just getting into the movie industry at the time. And she's now in Hollywood, like doing it for real. And she, I mean, she was doing it for real here, but she was like an assistant set dresser.

Sarah Pinsker: And she would come back with stories. And also there was this kind of funny thing where like, I would come downstairs in the morning and I would go to put the kettle on the stove and the kettle would be gone. And then I'd realize that's okay. Cause actually the burners are all gone also in the toaster and like they had all gone to set.

Sarah Pinsker: So she worked on a whole bunch of different things like commercials and you Marilyn was doing a lot like you know, West Wing and stuff like that. So, so she worked on all kinds of stuff. And I got a little of it from her and it's an interesting question of where I picked the rest of yeah, a little bit of research and I've got some other projects that have me like looking at Hollywood stuff in any case.

Sarah Pinsker: So I guess some of it is just being interested in behind the [00:05:00] scenes. And then an interest in, in, in the kind of manipulation that goes on. So, so just reading a lot of like exposés on different shows also. And they're not even all like exposé but getting the impression of what actually goes on.

Sarah Pinsker: I guess I had a friend of a friend who was on one of the Fix It shows. And she said that, You know, it was all about the angles, like, the one wall of the room that they had done gorgeous stuff, and then it, like, if the camera had panned over to the other side of the room, like, it was just, you know, trashed.

Sarah Pinsker: And so, so, and all of those shows where, like, they pretend to you know, people have to decide which house they're buying, but they've actually already bought one of them, and they've just, like, they're faking the whole thing of walking them through other houses and deciding which one they're going to buy because really they bought one already.

Sarah Pinsker: Which makes sense because, like, the process of buying a house takes forever. Like, they couldn't wait around and see, you know, are they, is this the right house? Are they going to close on it? Like, blah, blah, blah, blah. So they do it [00:06:00] backwards. Like, they'll pack up, like, the house, sometimes the people have already moved in and they'll pack up all their furniture into a moving truck.

Sarah Pinsker: shoot it as if they're looking at the house for the first time and then move their stuff back in. Like, it's all amazing to me. Just the, You know, the manufacturing of reality.

Laura: Yes. Yeah, I actually feel like I read, like, for the Magnolia Network, there was a couple exposés about some of their shows, and I was like, oh yes, it's okay, the whole thing is like a facade, it's just, but then again, we're in the, we're in a society of we love Zillow

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah. Yeah. Like,

Laura: Zillow real estate, like we just love Peruse and Zillow, and look at the things that we cannot afford,

Sarah Pinsker: right. Yeah. It's absolutely true. And it was so much fun. Like, so that was some of the research I did for this too was like, I picked real houses just for the fun of it that really were available in the areas that the show was shooting. And I, you know, and had cool architectural details that I included.

Sarah Pinsker: And then I guess from the screenwriting front, because you asked about that too at [00:07:00] the beginning of the pandemic, a bunch of friends and I started reading scripts online like, so we would have like a big, and it's still going, it's like more or less monthly, like four years in, once a month, a bunch of us get together and we've picked a movie and There, there's an, there's a randomizer for like who the order for who gets which part like you, you get to choose, but the order of choice is randomized.

Sarah Pinsker: And then we just do a table read you know, and sometimes they're costumes or props and sometimes not but I got kind of into. The idea of screenwriting without, like, I haven't done the work yet but I kind of liked the idea. It's more, this is more of a transcript that you see in the book, like, like, it sort of falls between the, because it's not a scripted show per se but I think what I've done is the idea that sometimes you come across, like, someone's transcript of the movie or of the show, where they've, like, painstakingly written down everything that happened and sort of, like, backfilled it.

Sarah Pinsker: So it's [00:08:00] more of that than a shooting script.

Laura: Yeah, I love this idea of having a group of friends who just talk to just do a table read of a script writing. I'm like this is like such a like amazing idea like not only because it creates a community but it gives you like a sense of joy like entertainment in a different way like you're consuming it in a way that feels like you can infuse your personality too.

Sarah Pinsker: yeah, and you can do different reads of the lines, but also just like seeing how, like, scripts tick was really interesting, and which ones, like, which ones flow, and which ones, like, like, often, you know, like, sometimes we'll buy one, and sometimes we'll find one that's free online, and occasionally, like, if there's something someone really wants to do, and it's nowhere to be found, we'll actually, like, click.

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah, like you learn a lot just seeing which ones are genuinely like solid script from the start and which ones clearly the actors had a say in and that kind of thing. Yeah,

Laura: That's amazing. I think in some ways it might have helped you, might [00:09:00] have helped you with your writing, because it's like looking at storytelling in a different perspective. There's

Sarah Pinsker: yeah, absolutely.

Laura: and you're like understanding the storytelling and be like, okay, how do I incorporate to writing, which is like writing books is different.

Laura: It's a different medium. There's different expectations, descriptive and all these different things, but at the same time there's there's parts of art, story arts that you can borrow from other mediums and it could actually help you,

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's been a, an education. And I feel like I still have a lot of education on that subject to go but it's definitely it. And it was fun to just give it a shot with this one and do something that's sort of in between but see if I could make it flow. I've been listening to my own, to the audio book, cause it just they just sent it to me this week and I don't always listen to the audio books of my own books,

Laura: Yeah.

Sarah Pinsker: but I was really curious, like, how they would make it happen.

Sarah Pinsker: And they did this fantastic job where like, most of it is all one reader and then they did full [00:10:00] cast just for the script. So they're reading it as if it's, you know, as if those parts are the show and they've like infused the personalities into it and it's delightful.

Laura: Yeah. Gosh, I'm pre-ordering the audio for sure. , because I'm like, oh, like, I'm like, I consume an audio. Especially when it's like me, other medium that gets for audio. It's just there's a new layer of immersive experience that

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah.

Laura: from like, just consuming and misunderstanding, like, you

Sarah Pinsker: Right. Yeah. And the other side of that is sometimes bad audio can ruin it for you but Yeah, so it's always a delight to find that they've, you know, picked really cool voices and that things work.

Laura: So can you talk about your other work after we finish Transcriptic Home, which is a shorter book, so it's basically you can read it in one sitting or a couple sittings, so what else can we read from you that, you know, gives us

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah, so, so, I have two other novels. This one's sort of. the longest that a novella can be before it becomes a [00:11:00] novel but the other two are novels proper and both of them are near future science fiction. So A Song for a New Day is about musicians in a near future where that, that has had to deal with some violence and also A pandemic that one came out in 2019 is what I have to always say is that my pandemic book came out before the pandemic we've lived through which gave it an interesting and unintentional push.

Sarah Pinsker: Because I got some things right. And it kind of. Weirdly yeah, I just got some things right in a weird way. And the other one is called We Are Satellites, and that one's about a brain implant. So that one, and that one came out in 2021. And so I was able, like, when people say, like, what do you, what should I take away from this?

Sarah Pinsker: I can say, don't let Elon Musk put a chip in your brain. But yeah, it's about a family and how they deal with this new technology that has kind of become ubiquitous in society. And then [00:12:00] more similar to this book, I would say if you like the vibe of this, you might actually go for my short fiction instead.

Sarah Pinsker: I have two collections. There's a lot of stories available online, but I have two collections, both from Small Beer Press. One is called Sooner or Later, Everything Falls into the Sea. And the one that came out last year is called Lost Places. And Lost Places, I would say, has a similar vibe to this. There's some kind of, There's some kind of creepy stuff, as creepy as this gets, which I generally say, like I write dark fantasy, not horror.

Sarah Pinsker: You can call it, I've heard soft horror. I've heard some people say but I'll take care of your heart is a general promise. I make like, like, I'll make you go through some creepy stuff but I, yeah the dog will never die. And yeah, it'll never be gory.

Laura: yeah.

Sarah Pinsker: And I'll try to keep the trauma to what's necessary for the plot.

Laura: I appreciate your book as an anxious girl who has [00:13:00] PTSD and cannot sleep at night because I get triggered, not so easily, but I, there are certain things that trigger me. This book was just like delightful, you know, like, I'm like, Oh, I can read more reviews, you know, more

Sarah Pinsker: Oh, that's great to hear. Yeah, so you can read Lost Places and you'll be fine with that as well, I think.

Laura: perfect, you know. I'm side approved, so it's perfect,

Sarah Pinsker: yeah.

Laura: So check on Booker One Nation. Do you recommend, do you have any books you recommend our listeners to pick up other than, like, after reading some of your book lists, you know, what books do you, like, read or you enjoy or you think, like, you know, this should be also added to your TBR.

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah. All right. So, so I was trying to come up with some stuff. And I have a couple of categories. So the first one is, if you're just really fascinated by the reality TV stuff a book just came out, I'm in the middle of it. So I'm recommending it even though I'm not done yet, but it's a nonfiction called Cue the Sun by Emily Nussbaum.

Sarah Pinsker: And it's just a nonfiction history of reality tv and i'm finding that very fascinating because it actually began earlier than I thought it [00:14:00] did. Yeah, I might have I don't think it would have changed how I wrote this book, but it is pertinent to something else that i'm working on.

Sarah Pinsker: So that's kind of fun. The next category was if you like If you enjoyed the creepy houses and you're into like the haunted house thing, but maybe you want like the state of decay that these houses are in. I was thinking Wilding Hall by Elizabeth Hand, which is also a short novel super creepy, but never horrific.

Sarah Pinsker: And it's about a band recording their album in a sort of a country manner in England in the 70s and what goes on. It's it's sort of like Daisy Jones and the Six before Daisy Jones and the Six. So it's told as an oral history of the band. And that's one of my favorite books. I'll recommend that forever.

Sarah Pinsker: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia will also give you the like decaying manor vibe. The house that's kind of rotting [00:15:00] around the people who are still living in it. On the reality show front, I haven't Can I make recommendations that I haven't read yet but sound really cool? Alright. So, Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay just came out, and Grim Root by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam both of those I'm going to read during the day with the lights on but Horror Movie is, I think, kind of found footage y, and Grim Root is a reality show called The Groom and also a haunted house, so it's sort of bachelor ish horror, and I don't know what happens in it Bonnie will mess with you.

Sarah Pinsker: So, so I'll read that during the day. Same with Paul Tremblay. There was a book called Episode 13 that came out a little while ago that was also about a, that was about a, like a paranormal show that didn't have a home improvement side to it. And the crew locking themselves in for the night.

Sarah Pinsker: I did read that one. I thought it was a good time [00:16:00] on the whole. There were a couple of really creepy things in there. And then I might say Someone to Build a Nest in by John Griswell which is a, more of a reach. But my thought on that one is, it's about trying to get by, and it, which is very much what Mara is doing in this book, and it's about, like, not so much how to win as how to live.

Sarah Pinsker: Which is, I think, also what Mare is trying to do in here, and like, trying to figure yourself out. So it's a totally different genre. It does have a decaying house ish thing,

Laura: yeah.

Sarah Pinsker: but, and it's a little gorier than mine, but it's gory with a soft kind of squishy heart.

Laura: I love this recommendation. It's having me add like a little bit of gory, but not too gory. A little horror to read at the end of the day. And then, reality TV. I did not realize, like, there's a nonfiction or reality TV history that I need to now

Sarah Pinsker: It just came out, yeah, [00:17:00] that's why I'm still only partway through it but so far it's really interesting.

Laura: Yeah, I've been around to watch her since the 90s. So it's been a long time.

Sarah Pinsker: Yeah.

Laura: you know, so I'm like, I'm curious to hear it. So, Sarah, tell us where you find your vibe.

Sarah Pinsker: Sarahpinsker. com and then, you know, all of the places that I should be in some places that I'd like to get out of. At you can usually find me at Sarah Pinsker. So as long as you can spell Pinsker and you put the H on Sarah, you can find me. I guess I hang out on Instagram and Blue Sky more than other places these days.

Laura: Thank you, Sarah, for being the show.

Sarah Pinsker: Oh, my pleasure. Thank you for having me.