April 21, 2025 • 28 mins
Chase McPherson is a queer speculative fiction writer whose stories blend the gothic with the emotional, exploring themes of grief, identity, and the resilience of love. His Bloodbound series reimagines vampire lore - a place where rules are meant to be broken and relationships rarely follow the expected path.
Influenced by a childhood filled with cult classics and dark comedy, Chase’s writing is rich with emotional texture, sharp humor, and a deep curiosity about what it means to survive, and thrive, through transformation. His work is a testament to the power of storytelling as both rebellion and refuge.
Learn more and find his books at: https://www.bychasemcp.com
NEXT EPISODE: Lindz McLeod, author of The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet. If you're intrigued by reimagined classics, sapphic romance, and the complexities of societal expectations, this episode is not to be missed!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Finbarre Snarey (00:18):
T Welcome to Tarot Interviews, the podcast
where we explore creativity,storytelling and the unexpected,
one card at a time.
Today, we have the pleasure ofspeaking with Chase McPherson,
(00:40):
the imaginative author behindthe Bloodbound fantasy series.
The imaginative author behindthe Bloodbound fantasy series,
chase's work delves into theintricate lives of vampire
detectives, weaving narrativesthat explore profound themes of
loss, regret and mental health.
His storytelling transportsreaders into worlds filled with
vampires and demons and complexcharacters.
Born in New Mexico and havinglived across Texas, florida and
(01:04):
Alabama, chase's diverseexperience have undoubtedly
influenced his rich storytelling.
He believes passionately thatanyone who can read is also a
writer, so there's hope for usall.
In this episode, we'll drawthree tarot cards to guide our
conversation, looking intoChase's creative journey, the
inspirations behind hiscompelling characters and the
personal experiences that haveshaped his narratives.
(01:25):
What insights will the cardsreveal about his path and the
stories yet to come?
Let's shuffle the deck and findout.
Good evening, thank you so muchfor being here.
What time is it there?
Chase McPherson (01:36):
It has just.
It's just about two o'clock inthe afternoon.
Finbarre Snarey (01:40):
Two o'clock in the afternoon, so what have you
done today?
Chase McPherson (01:42):
Not much.
My husband and I are actuallygetting caught up on EastEnders.
We get a BritBox subscription,so we're getting caught up with
all that business.
Finbarre Snarey (01:51):
Sorry, did you say EastEnders?
I've not seen EastEnders sinceabout 1995, when my parents
would videotape it religiouslyand just have banks upon banks
of cassettes yeah.
Chase McPherson (02:01):
I've known about it for a while.
Um, brick box.
Um is a BBC and ITVsubscription service.
Um, so we get the best of bothboth those networks, and they're
about to hit their 40thanniversary, so of course
they're bringing a ton of drama.
Finbarre Snarey (02:18):
My absolute word.
I mean I have seen the sameactors in and out of EastEnders.
They seem to be almost likeserving some kind of prison
sentence.
They just can't go.
They're somehow jinxed to be onthe show.
Chase McPherson (02:30):
You can't even die on this show because they
will bring you back.
They've got another actorplaying Peggy Mitchell in
Hallucination and they'reactually bringing a clip of
Arthurthur fowler and paulinefowler and they're actually
going to be credited intonight's today's episode.
Finbarre Snarey (02:51):
so that is insane.
I mean we're talking my era.
I mean people like you knowdirty dan and angie.
These are the people I know.
Chase McPherson (02:57):
Yeah and I'm probably one of only a handful
of people in america who knowthose names either, so super and
Finbarre Snarey (03:04):
just before we begin, can I ask what your
husband does?
Chase McPherson (03:06):
He and I actually both work at the same
television station.
We've we've tried to work inthe same place for as long as
we've been living together, afew years where that hasn't
panned out.
But yeah, we, we currently work.
I work at the digital desk, Ihelp run the website and the
streaming app for our televisionstation and he is a sometimes
(03:27):
video editor, sometimes director.
He's got his hands in a bunchof pies, excellent.
Finbarre Snarey (03:33):
Can I ask how you met?
Chase McPherson (03:34):
Xbox.
Finbarre Snarey (03:36):
What.
Chase McPherson (03:37):
Yes, I was living in North Texas for a
while and sometimes you justhave to live with people who can
afford to help pay the rent,and this roommate of mine was
really, really overtakingeverything.
He was using my television allthe time, he was using my Xbox
all the time, and one day I justsaid you know what, if you're
going to be using my Xbox totalk to your friends, give me
(04:00):
one of your friends so I cantalk to them.
Finbarre Snarey (04:03):
Swapsies!
Chase McPherson (04:04):
Yeah, and he picked Tyler and we got on like
a house on fire.
We spent the first nighttalking for almost nine
consecutive hours and I knewright then and there, this was
the one, and that was almost 15years ago.
Finbarre Snarey (04:21):
Wow, 15 years.
So have you got any?
No, don't tell me about anykind of anniversary plans that
you have.
Obviously, your partner mayhear but yeah, 15 years, well
done, oh, okay, thank you.
Yeah, good to know, right, I'vegot the cards in my hand now,
okay I would say no whammies, nowhammies.
Chase McPherson (04:37):
But I don't think press for luck aired in
that in the uk, so stop and whatdo you see?
Finbarre Snarey (04:45):
that would be the star.
Okay, so what are yourimpressions of that card if it's
not one that you've seen before?
Chase McPherson (04:51):
I hope it's something that speaks to luck.
Obviously I've.
I've got this book series thatI've put a lot of work and heart
and time into, and my one wishwith that is that people see it,
people read it, people connectwith it, engage with it.
However, that may translateinto success, I hope that's.
(05:14):
That's a guiding clue yeah,absolutely.
Finbarre Snarey (05:19):
I mean traditionally.
It's a card of hope,inspiration, renewal.
The card that arrives justbefore that one, if you go on
the fool's journey and you gothrough the major arcana, is the
tower.
So it represents afterdestruction of the tower, you
have a sense of calmness anddirection.
So it's that beacon of lightafter great turmoil.
So what inspires hope andoptimism in your writing?
Chase McPherson (05:43):
I need to put that down to my husband, tyler.
A few years ago he was actuallydiagnosed with stage four
testicular cancer and that was aquite literal body blow to the
both of us.
He'd barely just started his 30swhole life ahead of him and you
get this diagnosis and I putall of my effort and energy into
(06:05):
supporting him, making sure hegoes.
It's a it's a survivabledisease.
It's one of the most survivableforms of cancer out there.
So, with that as a foundation,I just put all of my energy into
making sure that he was calm,he was focused and we would get
through this all right, and hedid.
(06:25):
He's been cancer-free now for alittle over three years now.
So I look to him as a source ofinspiration.
He's had as much trauma in hislife as I have and I think now
is about time for the karmaticcircle to come around and we
start start reaping the benefitsof all the the negative that
(06:47):
that we've endured this is oneof those times that I wish that
this wasn't just an audio only,only podcast, because I'm
looking at your face right nowyou are glowing with pride.
Finbarre Snarey (06:56):
It seems like you've been through a tricky
time yeah, I.
Chase McPherson (07:00):
I call him my warrior, because it takes a
warrior to fight that disease,and when you win you ought to
feel like a warrior.
Finbarre Snarey (07:16):
I'm speechless.
But I'm amazed how you'retaking this in your stride.
You're taking all the best bitsfrom this.
Obviously, there must be somuch to process and so much hurt
to kind of let go of.
But, wow, I am astonished.
Chase McPherson (07:32):
And look at that, look at that big smile on
your face there I, I always, Ialways wonder about how I would
react in a crisis or in somesort of emergency, and it has
happened in the past and I, Itend to be calm, cool, collected
, because I figured cooler heads, rain, yeah, um, so, yeah, uh,
(07:56):
that's, that's, that's how Ihave to approach any obstacle
that we, that we encounter right, but yeah, that takes us to
card number two.
Finbarre Snarey (08:07):
Well, I've been shuffling these here, all right
, let's see what this one bringsout okay, what do you see there
, it appearing at the screen ageof pentacles page of pentacles.
So what your impressions ofthis card?
Chase McPherson (08:24):
it's a cute drawing.
That's about all I can tell youum I.
I am not.
Finbarre Snarey (08:28):
I am not ofe in the meanings of all the cards,
so but in terms of vibes, I meantalking the colors, the
positioning, the form, justfirst.
I mean say, for example, if youjust happen to open your front
door and there is this personstanding there, what would you
be thinking?
Chase McPherson (08:43):
what a short start.
The first word that comes to mymind is neutral.
The colors are kind of neutral,except for I can't tell if
that's hair or if that's a scarf, but it's a little pop of red
there, but everything else iskind of muted and neutral else
(09:10):
is kind of muted and neutral.
Finbarre Snarey (09:11):
Okay, well, the page of pentacles.
It's a symbol of curiosity,ambition, ambition seems to be a
bit of a theme of these cards.
Okay, and of course you've gotthe, the young figure, standing
in a field, um examining apentacle in their hands.
You've got the lush landscapebehind them indicating growth.
This card would traditionallyappear where you've got
opportunities for growth,whether that be financial,
educational, personal, all ofthat on the horizon.
(09:31):
So, okay, my question for youis what new skills or ventures
are you currently learning about?
Chase McPherson (09:44):
I, hmm, at my day job at the tv station, I'm
having to learn adobe aftereffects.
If you've ever tinkered ingraphic design and motion
graphics, that is a bearer of aprogram.
It it's.
It's a mammoth undertaking.
(10:04):
It's.
It's helping me, uh, get alittle bit of a leg up in
keeping my job.
Um, because they're they'redoing the downsizing our, our
company I'm not going to mentionit um is being uh run at the
moment by an ai bro and he, he's, he, slash the company.
(10:26):
Have actually eliminated myhusband's department of
production in exchange forbringing in automation and
computers and robotics to takethe place of two or three people
at the company in a differentrole.
(10:46):
But he's going to need as manyskills as he can muster to keep
his toes in the ground, as am I,I think, professionally.
That's what I think that means.
Is that we're on the righttrack there For this side job.
I am hoping that Backtrack alittle bit.
(11:07):
This version of Bloodbound isactually a reboot.
Um, I I tried a three novelseries with the same name uh, a
little over 10 years ago, and Ihit a major writer's block while
doing the third one and Icouldn't continue past that.
So in the intervening years,I've been wondering how could I
(11:30):
refresh the concept, reboot theidea, make it stronger, and the
result is what I have now.
I'm about to release the fourthbook in the series and I'm
starting to branch out intomaybe short stories, body horror
, short story collection.
Finbarre Snarey (11:45):
I've got a couple of other books that I've
written two or three chapters of, uh, so the creative juices are
are continuing to flow, whereas10 years ago I hit a wall and
just stopped I once heard, and II don't know if this is true at
all, but um, apparently thezombie genre flourishes under a
democratic or democrat, um uhgovernment, but the, the vampire
(12:09):
genre flourishes under arepublican one.
I don't know if that is true,it's just a peculiar quirk that
people have noticed it.
It makes sense, it makes senseto me.
And have you ever thought of umuh, venturing off into I don't
know, uh like interactivefiction or computer game writing
or anything like that,centering off into I don't know,
uh like interactive fiction orcomputer game writing or
(12:30):
anything like that.
Chase McPherson (12:31):
No, uh, but tyler has, he is, he's had a an
interest in um voice acting, umhe's, he's.
I don't know if he's actuallysubmitted any auditions uh
lately, but he he really likesum video games with lots of
cutscenes and story and dramaand he has gotten into running a
(12:58):
tabletop RPG game throughDiscord.
Which game in particular?
This game is based in theFallout 76 universe, okay, and
he is weaving in Call of Cthulhutype of macabre and
supernatural elements into itand rather than doing the game
(13:21):
live like we're speaking inperson right now, this is all by
post.
Speaking in person right now,this is all by post.
When people have time torespond, they will respond and
the story just flows.
When people have time to tapout a few lines and sentences.
Finbarre Snarey (13:37):
That's incredible.
So to read back over that itmust look something like out of
Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Chase McPherson (13:43):
It really does.
It really does.
You can read this game frombeginning to end, and I think
that's a fascinating way to.
I'm not a player in this game,I'm actually an observer, so
from my vantage point, this is areally compelling read and this
is a game that they are playing.
I just think that he's reallybrilliant for running this, this
(14:07):
game, the way he is, and he'sreally coming into his own as a
storyteller wow, okay, right, sothat's card number two.
Finbarre Snarey (14:16):
Let's see what card number three has in store
now.
I have not seen this card for along time the Six of Cups.
What do you say there?
Chase McPherson (14:29):
It's hard to describe.
I really don't know what I'mseeing.
It looks like an elder person,maybe been down towards a
younger person.
Finbarre Snarey (14:41):
Yeah, so Six of Cups is the card of nostalgia,
innocence and emotionalconnection.
So you've got the two kids in agarden, one offering a cup
filled with flowers to the other.
I think that is, and theimagery evokes memories of
childhood and past relationshipsthe comfort of simpler times.
(15:01):
So, okay, which books or filmsfrom your childhood influence
your current work?
Chase McPherson (15:12):
actually things I watched as a child.
Most children didn't, and I canthank my mom for that, because
my mom had a dark sense of humor.
So there's, there's.
She's the one who introduced meto the movie clue uh, which is
seen it which?
Was your recommender absolutelyum.
Tim curry, for once, is notplaying a sadistic psychopath.
Finbarre Snarey (15:37):
But he doesn't have demon horns or he's not
looking fabulous.
Chase McPherson (15:41):
He looks fabulous, just no demon horns.
He's very smart and dapper.
He's the butler in this movie.
But yeah, absolutely.
I recommend Clued anybody.
She also caught me onto a Johnjohn waters movie called serial
mom.
Uh, kathleen turner plays thissuburban housewife who goes on a
(16:04):
murderous rampage every timeher family is slightly
inconvenienced, like herdaughter is stood up for a date
and she kills the boy.
Her son's teacher thinks hewatches too many violent movies,
she runs him down with her carand it escalates from there.
(16:24):
But it's such a hilarious movieand it's a very good statement
about the American culture ofturning serial killers into pop
culture icons.
Can I ask how old were you whenyou watched this?
I was in third grade, whichwould mean I had just turned 10.
Okay, and this was definitelyan r-rated movie.
(16:48):
My mom didn't have much of thefilter when it came to uh,
comedy, dark, dark comedy movieslike that yeah, I think um age
10 I was rushing home to watchuh, ulysses 31, if you remember
that at all wow, yeah, that's.
That's a stark contrast so yeah,um.
Finbarre Snarey (17:08):
So what inspirations did you take from
these films?
Chase McPherson (17:12):
the thing that these taught me is that I can
find humor in just abouteverything, even situations that
in reality should be veryserious and somber.
There is humor that can befound in it, and I think I've
used that as a coping mechanismEvery time in my life things
have turned bad and I try toinfuse that a little bit,
especially in my writing, and Itry to infuse that a little bit
(17:34):
in, especially in my writing.
Finbarre Snarey (17:36):
Now, those, those two films, are ones that
I've I've never crossed my orbit.
I have to say that when I was akid, most of the things that I
was watching were either inspace or with dragons, or
possibly.
You know, I'd have the threepounds in my pocket, I would go
to Blockbuster and I'll begetting all the touchstone
picture films and, um, it soundsreally rather different.
(17:56):
But okay, so you've got those,those two very interesting films
there.
Um, how about, uh, books,comics?
I just want to get a kind of apicture of childhood you books
books.
Chase McPherson (18:09):
More traditionally I was sticking to
stuff in my own age range.
I grew up with the the beverlyCleary series of books about
Ramona Quimby a very, verypopular series here in America.
When I was getting into juniorhigh and high school, getting
into my preteen years RL Stine,first Goosebumps and then moving
(18:30):
up to the more mature FearStreet series that's when I
started to get introduced tohorror and fantasy elements.
Finbarre Snarey (18:39):
Okay, and obviously vampires being
something of a love.
What early vampire fiction wereyou experimenting with, reading
, thinking about, or is thissomething that you came to later
?
Chase McPherson (18:53):
It was more of a later thing.
I think the only vampire bookthat I got my hands on during
those formative years wasactually an entry in the arl
stein series.
It was uh.
He did a trilogy calledgoodnight kiss and that was very
vampire focused.
It wasn't until the twilightyears and god help me, I cannot
(19:15):
stand the twilight series, butthis was also this guilty
pleasure of mine.
Finbarre Snarey (19:19):
I'm sorry, not the, not the books.
I mean, I've I've never openedone of those books, but the
films are just nonsense, andsometimes you need nonsense true
, we, we all have I.
Chase McPherson (19:31):
I just I've not been able to sit.
I've not been able to sitthrough the first one.
It's just too much for me.
But I'm not going to faultanybody who is a fan of them.
Certainly, everybody has theirvices.
But around Twilight time waswhen HBO did the True Blood TV
series based on the CharleneHarris novels, of which those
(19:54):
books are fantastic.
It translates well enough intoa tv series, um, but even though
, even though the show tried todo some lgbtq representation,
they weren't the focus of thestory.
The focus of the story was thiscisgender, uh, straight woman
slash fey.
Sorry spoiler, it's been 10years, move on.
(20:16):
Um.
But I was like I want somethingfocusing on my tribe, my people
, and I was like, okay, roll upyour sleeves, do it yourself.
Finbarre Snarey (20:30):
Excellent, I mean, I must say, with um, true
blood felt like it almostreached into things that could
have been so interesting likenow.
It's been a while, so I forgetpeople's names.
So you've got Sookie and thetwo gentle vampires that she
comes downstairs to, and they'reboth wearing gowns.
Again, this may be a spoilerand it's actually a dream
sequence.
It's not real, but she'simagining living with both of
(20:52):
them as a throuple.
Why didn't they go with that?
It's so attainable in thevampire world.
Chase McPherson (20:57):
I know and not to spoil my own stuff, but we
are talking polyamory in myseries, not necessarily one
person or all three people inlove with the other two.
We have Hunter, which is ourmain vampire character, who is
in love first with Kai, theperson who made him and then
(21:20):
Gibson, a secondary character inthe first book, becomes a main
character thereafter.
He has genuine lovingrelationships with the two of
them.
The other two do notreciprocate with each other.
So this is not a throuple ineven that context it's not.
(21:41):
I would call it a lopsidedthrouple maybe.
Finbarre Snarey (21:46):
That sounds like something you'd go to the
doctor with.
Yeah, when it comes to yourvampire fiction as well, what
elements of vampire?
Sorry, this is a complete bonusquestion.
This is just something that I'mfascinated by.
What elements of vampire loredo you draw from?
For example, do the vampiresburn in sunlight?
Are they scared of garlic?
Do they flee at crucifixes?
(22:07):
Or do you take from like a copyand paste from various chunks
of vampire lore?
Or do you just make it upentirely and just redefine it
and see?
Chase McPherson (22:16):
the only trope that I am absolutely sticking
with is the don't go out insunlight thing.
But I am playing around withthat.
Uh, because in the, in thebloodbound world, there is an
alternate dimension.
There is an alternate universe.
It's a carbon copy of our world, but everything is just
slightly different, includingthe people in it.
(22:36):
Hunter has an absolutedoppelganger in this world who
I'm still haven't really decidedif he's full vampire or if he's
full demon, or maybe acombination of the two, just
like Hunter is Another spoiler.
But please read the book.
It's much more interesting whenyou read this.
But in this other dimension therules of vampire physics don't
(22:58):
necessarily apply.
They can eat human food, theycan walk about in the sunlight.
So I'm that's one of theinteresting things that I'm
playing around with is whatrules can I tinker with in this
world?
And there's this one scene inthe second book, West of Nowhere
, which is my favorite.
Hunter and Kai areinvestigating some abductions
(23:19):
and they go to a suspect's house.
Kai is able to pick the lockand go in Hunter's like I
thought that vampires weren'table to go into a place without
permission and Kai just pointsto the ground and there's a mat
in front of the door that sayscome on in.
Written permission ispermission.
So that's what I like to do.
(23:40):
I like to tease with tropes,toy with tropes and, in some
cases like that, break them alltogether Excellent.
Finbarre Snarey (23:47):
One of the major issues that I've had
within this podcast so far isn'tthe expense of running an
online studio or the microphonesor any of that.
Every time I speak to a writerlike yourself and I hear the
passion and the inspiration andthe reasons why you write, of
course, I'm going to get yourbook, but I don't have enough
shelves.
Um, yeah, I'm gonna have to geta new house, I think.
Chase McPherson (24:11):
Um possibly, but the the good thing.
I'm making most of my moneyfrom these books, from the
digital side.
My website has links to everyplace that is carrying them both
digitally and in print, and Ihave a Ko-Fi shop, coffee shop,
k-o-f-i I don't know how youpronounce it, probably coffee.
(24:32):
Buy me a coffee.
That makes sense, but I have ashop there that's got drm free
versions of the books in epubformat.
Finbarre Snarey (24:41):
So space is not necessarily an issue, unless
you're talking disk space, andjust remind me how many, how
many books are in the bloodbound series um, as of the time
we're recording this, there arethree.
March 11th, number four comesout and I'm in the process of
writing number five okay, my toread pile is is a teetering
(25:02):
tower already, but no, thissounds good, chase.
Thank you so much, and that's awrap on this episode of tarot
interviews.
Chase mcpherson took us througha storytelling masterclass,
showing us how intuition,experience and maybe even a
little bit of fate shapes hiscreative path.
(25:22):
If you want to follow more ofChase's work, check out his
profile in the show notes.
And if you've enjoyed thisconversation, don't forget to
subscribe, rate and share thepodcast Until next time.
No-transcript.
T Welcome to Tarot Interviews, the podcast
where we explore creativity,storytelling and the unexpected,
one card at a time.
Today, we have the pleasure ofspeaking with Chase McPherson,
(00:40):
the imaginative author behindthe Bloodbound fantasy series.
The imaginative author behindthe Bloodbound fantasy series,
chase's work delves into theintricate lives of vampire
detectives, weaving narrativesthat explore profound themes of
loss, regret and mental health.
His storytelling transportsreaders into worlds filled with
vampires and demons and complexcharacters.
Born in New Mexico and havinglived across Texas, florida and
(01:04):
Alabama, chase's diverseexperience have undoubtedly
influenced his rich storytelling.
He believes passionately thatanyone who can read is also a
writer, so there's hope for usall.
In this episode, we'll drawthree tarot cards to guide our
conversation, looking intoChase's creative journey, the
inspirations behind hiscompelling characters and the
personal experiences that haveshaped his narratives.
(01:25):
What insights will the cardsreveal about his path and the
stories yet to come?
Let's shuffle the deck and findout.
Good evening, thank you so muchfor being here.
What time is it there?
Chase McPherson (01:36):
It has just.
It's just about two o'clock inthe afternoon.
Finbarre Snarey (01:40):
Two o'clock in the afternoon, so what have you
done today?
Chase McPherson (01:42):
Not much.
My husband and I are actuallygetting caught up on EastEnders.
We get a BritBox subscription,so we're getting caught up with
all that business.
Finbarre Snarey (01:51):
Sorry, did you say EastEnders?
I've not seen EastEnders sinceabout 1995, when my parents
would videotape it religiouslyand just have banks upon banks
of cassettes yeah.
Chase McPherson (02:01):
I've known about it for a while.
Um, brick box.
Um is a BBC and ITVsubscription service.
Um, so we get the best of bothboth those networks, and they're
about to hit their 40thanniversary, so of course
they're bringing a ton of drama.
Finbarre Snarey (02:18):
My absolute word.
I mean I have seen the sameactors in and out of EastEnders.
They seem to be almost likeserving some kind of prison
sentence.
They just can't go.
They're somehow jinxed to be onthe show.
Chase McPherson (02:30):
You can't even die on this show because they
will bring you back.
They've got another actorplaying Peggy Mitchell in
Hallucination and they'reactually bringing a clip of
Arthurthur fowler and paulinefowler and they're actually
going to be credited intonight's today's episode.
Finbarre Snarey (02:51):
so that is insane.
I mean we're talking my era.
I mean people like you knowdirty dan and angie.
These are the people I know.
Chase McPherson (02:57):
Yeah and I'm probably one of only a handful
of people in america who knowthose names either, so super and
Finbarre Snarey (03:04):
just before we begin, can I ask what your
husband does?
Chase McPherson (03:06):
He and I actually both work at the same
television station.
We've we've tried to work inthe same place for as long as
we've been living together, afew years where that hasn't
panned out.
But yeah, we, we currently work.
I work at the digital desk, Ihelp run the website and the
streaming app for our televisionstation and he is a sometimes
(03:27):
video editor, sometimes director.
He's got his hands in a bunchof pies, excellent.
Finbarre Snarey (03:33):
Can I ask how you met?
Chase McPherson (03:34):
Xbox.
Finbarre Snarey (03:36):
What.
Chase McPherson (03:37):
Yes, I was living in North Texas for a
while and sometimes you justhave to live with people who can
afford to help pay the rent,and this roommate of mine was
really, really overtakingeverything.
He was using my television allthe time, he was using my Xbox
all the time, and one day I justsaid you know what, if you're
going to be using my Xbox totalk to your friends, give me
(04:00):
one of your friends so I cantalk to them.
Finbarre Snarey (04:03):
Swapsies!
Chase McPherson (04:04):
Yeah, and he picked Tyler and we got on like
a house on fire.
We spent the first nighttalking for almost nine
consecutive hours and I knewright then and there, this was
the one, and that was almost 15years ago.
Finbarre Snarey (04:21):
Wow, 15 years.
So have you got any?
No, don't tell me about anykind of anniversary plans that
you have.
Obviously, your partner mayhear but yeah, 15 years, well
done, oh, okay, thank you.
Yeah, good to know, right, I'vegot the cards in my hand now,
okay I would say no whammies, nowhammies.
Chase McPherson (04:37):
But I don't think press for luck aired in
that in the uk, so stop and whatdo you see?
Finbarre Snarey (04:45):
that would be the star.
Okay, so what are yourimpressions of that card if it's
not one that you've seen before?
Chase McPherson (04:51):
I hope it's something that speaks to luck.
Obviously I've.
I've got this book series thatI've put a lot of work and heart
and time into, and my one wishwith that is that people see it,
people read it, people connectwith it, engage with it.
However, that may translateinto success, I hope that's.
(05:14):
That's a guiding clue yeah,absolutely.
Finbarre Snarey (05:19):
I mean traditionally.
It's a card of hope,inspiration, renewal.
The card that arrives justbefore that one, if you go on
the fool's journey and you gothrough the major arcana, is the
tower.
So it represents afterdestruction of the tower, you
have a sense of calmness anddirection.
So it's that beacon of lightafter great turmoil.
So what inspires hope andoptimism in your writing?
Chase McPherson (05:43):
I need to put that down to my husband, tyler.
A few years ago he was actuallydiagnosed with stage four
testicular cancer and that was aquite literal body blow to the
both of us.
He'd barely just started his 30swhole life ahead of him and you
get this diagnosis and I putall of my effort and energy into
(06:05):
supporting him, making sure hegoes.
It's a it's a survivabledisease.
It's one of the most survivableforms of cancer out there.
So, with that as a foundation,I just put all of my energy into
making sure that he was calm,he was focused and we would get
through this all right, and hedid.
(06:25):
He's been cancer-free now for alittle over three years now.
So I look to him as a source ofinspiration.
He's had as much trauma in hislife as I have and I think now
is about time for the karmaticcircle to come around and we
start start reaping the benefitsof all the the negative that
(06:47):
that we've endured this is oneof those times that I wish that
this wasn't just an audio only,only podcast, because I'm
looking at your face right nowyou are glowing with pride.
Finbarre Snarey (06:56):
It seems like you've been through a tricky
time yeah, I.
Chase McPherson (07:00):
I call him my warrior, because it takes a
warrior to fight that disease,and when you win you ought to
feel like a warrior.
Finbarre Snarey (07:16):
I'm speechless.
But I'm amazed how you'retaking this in your stride.
You're taking all the best bitsfrom this.
Obviously, there must be somuch to process and so much hurt
to kind of let go of.
But, wow, I am astonished.
Chase McPherson (07:32):
And look at that, look at that big smile on
your face there I, I always, Ialways wonder about how I would
react in a crisis or in somesort of emergency, and it has
happened in the past and I, Itend to be calm, cool, collected
, because I figured cooler heads, rain, yeah, um, so, yeah, uh,
(07:56):
that's, that's, that's how Ihave to approach any obstacle
that we, that we encounter right, but yeah, that takes us to
card number two.
Finbarre Snarey (08:07):
Well, I've been shuffling these here, all right
, let's see what this one bringsout okay, what do you see there
, it appearing at the screen ageof pentacles page of pentacles.
So what your impressions ofthis card?
Chase McPherson (08:24):
it's a cute drawing.
That's about all I can tell youum I.
I am not.
Finbarre Snarey (08:28):
I am not ofe in the meanings of all the cards,
so but in terms of vibes, I meantalking the colors, the
positioning, the form, justfirst.
I mean say, for example, if youjust happen to open your front
door and there is this personstanding there, what would you
be thinking?
Chase McPherson (08:43):
what a short start.
The first word that comes to mymind is neutral.
The colors are kind of neutral,except for I can't tell if
that's hair or if that's a scarf, but it's a little pop of red
there, but everything else iskind of muted and neutral else
(09:10):
is kind of muted and neutral.
Finbarre Snarey (09:11):
Okay, well, the page of pentacles.
It's a symbol of curiosity,ambition, ambition seems to be a
bit of a theme of these cards.
Okay, and of course you've gotthe, the young figure, standing
in a field, um examining apentacle in their hands.
You've got the lush landscapebehind them indicating growth.
This card would traditionallyappear where you've got
opportunities for growth,whether that be financial,
educational, personal, all ofthat on the horizon.
(09:31):
So, okay, my question for youis what new skills or ventures
are you currently learning about?
Chase McPherson (09:44):
I, hmm, at my day job at the tv station, I'm
having to learn adobe aftereffects.
If you've ever tinkered ingraphic design and motion
graphics, that is a bearer of aprogram.
It it's.
It's a mammoth undertaking.
(10:04):
It's.
It's helping me, uh, get alittle bit of a leg up in
keeping my job.
Um, because they're they'redoing the downsizing our, our
company I'm not going to mentionit um is being uh run at the
moment by an ai bro and he, he's, he, slash the company.
(10:26):
Have actually eliminated myhusband's department of
production in exchange forbringing in automation and
computers and robotics to takethe place of two or three people
at the company in a differentrole.
(10:46):
But he's going to need as manyskills as he can muster to keep
his toes in the ground, as am I,I think, professionally.
That's what I think that means.
Is that we're on the righttrack there For this side job.
I am hoping that Backtrack alittle bit.
(11:07):
This version of Bloodbound isactually a reboot.
Um, I I tried a three novelseries with the same name uh, a
little over 10 years ago, and Ihit a major writer's block while
doing the third one and Icouldn't continue past that.
So in the intervening years,I've been wondering how could I
(11:30):
refresh the concept, reboot theidea, make it stronger, and the
result is what I have now.
I'm about to release the fourthbook in the series and I'm
starting to branch out intomaybe short stories, body horror
, short story collection.
Finbarre Snarey (11:45):
I've got a couple of other books that I've
written two or three chapters of, uh, so the creative juices are
are continuing to flow, whereas10 years ago I hit a wall and
just stopped I once heard, and II don't know if this is true at
all, but um, apparently thezombie genre flourishes under a
democratic or democrat, um uhgovernment, but the, the vampire
(12:09):
genre flourishes under arepublican one.
I don't know if that is true,it's just a peculiar quirk that
people have noticed it.
It makes sense, it makes senseto me.
And have you ever thought of umuh, venturing off into I don't
know, uh like interactivefiction or computer game writing
or anything like that,centering off into I don't know,
uh like interactive fiction orcomputer game writing or
(12:30):
anything like that.
Chase McPherson (12:31):
No, uh, but tyler has, he is, he's had a an
interest in um voice acting, umhe's, he's.
I don't know if he's actuallysubmitted any auditions uh
lately, but he he really likesum video games with lots of
cutscenes and story and dramaand he has gotten into running a
(12:58):
tabletop RPG game throughDiscord.
Which game in particular?
This game is based in theFallout 76 universe, okay, and
he is weaving in Call of Cthulhutype of macabre and
supernatural elements into itand rather than doing the game
(13:21):
live like we're speaking inperson right now, this is all by
post.
Speaking in person right now,this is all by post.
When people have time torespond, they will respond and
the story just flows.
When people have time to tapout a few lines and sentences.
Finbarre Snarey (13:37):
That's incredible.
So to read back over that itmust look something like out of
Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Chase McPherson (13:43):
It really does.
It really does.
You can read this game frombeginning to end, and I think
that's a fascinating way to.
I'm not a player in this game,I'm actually an observer, so
from my vantage point, this is areally compelling read and this
is a game that they are playing.
I just think that he's reallybrilliant for running this, this
(14:07):
game, the way he is, and he'sreally coming into his own as a
storyteller wow, okay, right, sothat's card number two.
Finbarre Snarey (14:16):
Let's see what card number three has in store
now.
I have not seen this card for along time the Six of Cups.
What do you say there?
Chase McPherson (14:29):
It's hard to describe.
I really don't know what I'mseeing.
It looks like an elder person,maybe been down towards a
younger person.
Finbarre Snarey (14:41):
Yeah, so Six of Cups is the card of nostalgia,
innocence and emotionalconnection.
So you've got the two kids in agarden, one offering a cup
filled with flowers to the other.
I think that is, and theimagery evokes memories of
childhood and past relationshipsthe comfort of simpler times.
(15:01):
So, okay, which books or filmsfrom your childhood influence
your current work?
Chase McPherson (15:12):
actually things I watched as a child.
Most children didn't, and I canthank my mom for that, because
my mom had a dark sense of humor.
So there's, there's.
She's the one who introduced meto the movie clue uh, which is
seen it which?
Was your recommender absolutelyum.
Tim curry, for once, is notplaying a sadistic psychopath.
Finbarre Snarey (15:37):
But he doesn't have demon horns or he's not
looking fabulous.
Chase McPherson (15:41):
He looks fabulous, just no demon horns.
He's very smart and dapper.
He's the butler in this movie.
But yeah, absolutely.
I recommend Clued anybody.
She also caught me onto a Johnjohn waters movie called serial
mom.
Uh, kathleen turner plays thissuburban housewife who goes on a
(16:04):
murderous rampage every timeher family is slightly
inconvenienced, like herdaughter is stood up for a date
and she kills the boy.
Her son's teacher thinks hewatches too many violent movies,
she runs him down with her carand it escalates from there.
(16:24):
But it's such a hilarious movieand it's a very good statement
about the American culture ofturning serial killers into pop
culture icons.
Can I ask how old were you whenyou watched this?
I was in third grade, whichwould mean I had just turned 10.
Okay, and this was definitelyan r-rated movie.
(16:48):
My mom didn't have much of thefilter when it came to uh,
comedy, dark, dark comedy movieslike that yeah, I think um age
10 I was rushing home to watchuh, ulysses 31, if you remember
that at all wow, yeah, that's.
That's a stark contrast so yeah,um.
Finbarre Snarey (17:08):
So what inspirations did you take from
these films?
Chase McPherson (17:12):
the thing that these taught me is that I can
find humor in just abouteverything, even situations that
in reality should be veryserious and somber.
There is humor that can befound in it, and I think I've
used that as a coping mechanismEvery time in my life things
have turned bad and I try toinfuse that a little bit,
especially in my writing, and Itry to infuse that a little bit
(17:34):
in, especially in my writing.
Finbarre Snarey (17:36):
Now, those, those two films, are ones that
I've I've never crossed my orbit.
I have to say that when I was akid, most of the things that I
was watching were either inspace or with dragons, or
possibly.
You know, I'd have the threepounds in my pocket, I would go
to Blockbuster and I'll begetting all the touchstone
picture films and, um, it soundsreally rather different.
(17:56):
But okay, so you've got those,those two very interesting films
there.
Um, how about, uh, books,comics?
I just want to get a kind of apicture of childhood you books
books.
Chase McPherson (18:09):
More traditionally I was sticking to
stuff in my own age range.
I grew up with the the beverlyCleary series of books about
Ramona Quimby a very, verypopular series here in America.
When I was getting into juniorhigh and high school, getting
into my preteen years RL Stine,first Goosebumps and then moving
(18:30):
up to the more mature FearStreet series that's when I
started to get introduced tohorror and fantasy elements.
Finbarre Snarey (18:39):
Okay, and obviously vampires being
something of a love.
What early vampire fiction wereyou experimenting with, reading
, thinking about, or is thissomething that you came to later
?
Chase McPherson (18:53):
It was more of a later thing.
I think the only vampire bookthat I got my hands on during
those formative years wasactually an entry in the arl
stein series.
It was uh.
He did a trilogy calledgoodnight kiss and that was very
vampire focused.
It wasn't until the twilightyears and god help me, I cannot
(19:15):
stand the twilight series, butthis was also this guilty
pleasure of mine.
Finbarre Snarey (19:19):
I'm sorry, not the, not the books.
I mean, I've I've never openedone of those books, but the
films are just nonsense, andsometimes you need nonsense true
, we, we all have I.
Chase McPherson (19:31):
I just I've not been able to sit.
I've not been able to sitthrough the first one.
It's just too much for me.
But I'm not going to faultanybody who is a fan of them.
Certainly, everybody has theirvices.
But around Twilight time waswhen HBO did the True Blood TV
series based on the CharleneHarris novels, of which those
(19:54):
books are fantastic.
It translates well enough intoa tv series, um, but even though
, even though the show tried todo some lgbtq representation,
they weren't the focus of thestory.
The focus of the story was thiscisgender, uh, straight woman
slash fey.
Sorry spoiler, it's been 10years, move on.
(20:16):
Um.
But I was like I want somethingfocusing on my tribe, my people
, and I was like, okay, roll upyour sleeves, do it yourself.
Finbarre Snarey (20:30):
Excellent, I mean, I must say, with um, true
blood felt like it almostreached into things that could
have been so interesting likenow.
It's been a while, so I forgetpeople's names.
So you've got Sookie and thetwo gentle vampires that she
comes downstairs to, and they'reboth wearing gowns.
Again, this may be a spoilerand it's actually a dream
sequence.
It's not real, but she'simagining living with both of
(20:52):
them as a throuple.
Why didn't they go with that?
It's so attainable in thevampire world.
Chase McPherson (20:57):
I know and not to spoil my own stuff, but we
are talking polyamory in myseries, not necessarily one
person or all three people inlove with the other two.
We have Hunter, which is ourmain vampire character, who is
in love first with Kai, theperson who made him and then
(21:20):
Gibson, a secondary character inthe first book, becomes a main
character thereafter.
He has genuine lovingrelationships with the two of
them.
The other two do notreciprocate with each other.
So this is not a throuple ineven that context it's not.
(21:41):
I would call it a lopsidedthrouple maybe.
Finbarre Snarey (21:46):
That sounds like something you'd go to the
doctor with.
Yeah, when it comes to yourvampire fiction as well, what
elements of vampire?
Sorry, this is a complete bonusquestion.
This is just something that I'mfascinated by.
What elements of vampire loredo you draw from?
For example, do the vampiresburn in sunlight?
Are they scared of garlic?
Do they flee at crucifixes?
(22:07):
Or do you take from like a copyand paste from various chunks
of vampire lore?
Or do you just make it upentirely and just redefine it
and see?
Chase McPherson (22:16):
the only trope that I am absolutely sticking
with is the don't go out insunlight thing.
But I am playing around withthat.
Uh, because in the, in thebloodbound world, there is an
alternate dimension.
There is an alternate universe.
It's a carbon copy of our world, but everything is just
slightly different, includingthe people in it.
(22:36):
Hunter has an absolutedoppelganger in this world who
I'm still haven't really decidedif he's full vampire or if he's
full demon, or maybe acombination of the two, just
like Hunter is Another spoiler.
But please read the book.
It's much more interesting whenyou read this.
But in this other dimension therules of vampire physics don't
(22:58):
necessarily apply.
They can eat human food, theycan walk about in the sunlight.
So I'm that's one of theinteresting things that I'm
playing around with is whatrules can I tinker with in this
world?
And there's this one scene inthe second book, West of Nowhere
, which is my favorite.
Hunter and Kai areinvestigating some abductions
(23:19):
and they go to a suspect's house.
Kai is able to pick the lockand go in Hunter's like I
thought that vampires weren'table to go into a place without
permission and Kai just pointsto the ground and there's a mat
in front of the door that sayscome on in.
Written permission ispermission.
So that's what I like to do.
(23:40):
I like to tease with tropes,toy with tropes and, in some
cases like that, break them alltogether Excellent.
Finbarre Snarey (23:47):
One of the major issues that I've had
within this podcast so far isn'tthe expense of running an
online studio or the microphonesor any of that.
Every time I speak to a writerlike yourself and I hear the
passion and the inspiration andthe reasons why you write, of
course, I'm going to get yourbook, but I don't have enough
shelves.
Um, yeah, I'm gonna have to geta new house, I think.
Chase McPherson (24:11):
Um possibly, but the the good thing.
I'm making most of my moneyfrom these books, from the
digital side.
My website has links to everyplace that is carrying them both
digitally and in print, and Ihave a Ko-Fi shop, coffee shop,
k-o-f-i I don't know how youpronounce it, probably coffee.
(24:32):
Buy me a coffee.
That makes sense, but I have ashop there that's got drm free
versions of the books in epubformat.
Finbarre Snarey (24:41):
So space is not necessarily an issue, unless
you're talking disk space, andjust remind me how many, how
many books are in the bloodbound series um, as of the time
we're recording this, there arethree.
March 11th, number four comesout and I'm in the process of
writing number five okay, my toread pile is is a teetering
(25:02):
tower already, but no, thissounds good, chase.
Thank you so much, and that's awrap on this episode of tarot
interviews.
Chase mcpherson took us througha storytelling masterclass,
showing us how intuition,experience and maybe even a
little bit of fate shapes hiscreative path.
(25:22):
If you want to follow more ofChase's work, check out his
profile in the show notes.
And if you've enjoyed thisconversation, don't forget to
subscribe, rate and share thepodcast Until next time.
No-transcript.
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