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Yeti Stereo Microphone: 0:34

Hello, and welcome to gays reading. What's the T I'm your host, Jason Blitman. And I'm here with Daniel Elman. Man to talk to us about his new book, I might be in trouble. It just came out a couple of weeks ago, if you are new to gaze reading. Welcome, welcome back to those of you who have joined us before. And follow us on Instagram at gaze reading. And you can also head over to YouTube and watch most of our conversations as well. Likened subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts. That's sort of the housekeeping for today and let's dive right in Daniel. How you doing?

Daniel Aleman: 1:11

I'm doing great. How are you?

Jason Blitman: 1:13

Great? book. You are here to talk about your brand new book. I might be in trouble, which insider info, I finished it and then slid into your DMs immediately

Daniel Aleman: 1:26

I remember.

Jason Blitman: 1:28

because I finished it in a day and I just had so much fun reading it and I'm so excited for everyone else to read it. For our listeners, what is the T? What is the T? What is the E? What is the A? Tell

Daniel Aleman: 1:41

first I should tell you a little bit about the book for those who have not heard about it. So I Might Be In Trouble is about a gay author living in New York City who goes on this amazing date with the man of his dreams and then the next morning wakes up to find his date And so this kicks off a chain of events that is a little unexpected. So instead of calling the police, he chooses to call his literary agent, who's his best friend and the person he trusts most in the world. And she has some ideas about how to deal with this situation. Meaning, she suggests moving the body to a different location instead of calling the authorities, and a lot of things happen after that.

Jason Blitman: 2:30

Huh.

Daniel Aleman: 2:30

And so for the tea, like my first word is tense because, this is a genre mashup. Like it does blend thriller elements, suspense, even a little bit of romance, a lot of comedy. And just talking to some people who have gotten early copies, I've heard that, I've heard people say, Oh my God, I was nervous while reading this. And I don't mean to make my readers nervous, but I do want you to be flipping the pages waiting to see what's going to happen next. And so there is a lot of tension, a lot of just big questions throughout the story. And there are a couple of twists. So hopefully you know, you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens.

Jason Blitman: 3:18

Yeah, it's, tense is definitely, it's a fantastic word because, and I think that's why I finished it in the day, because I was just like, I need to know what is going to happen. All right, what is your E? Thank

Daniel Aleman: 3:29

My E is emotional, which is a bit of a contrast to what I just said. But, the main character, David, is someone who hasn't always had an adequate support system, especially given that he's a gay guy. I feel so many of us just struggle to find that sense of community, that sense of belonging, especially in our teenage years. And so now he's 28 years old. He has a very tense relationship with his family, his boyfriend

Jason Blitman: 4:02

that word again,

Daniel Aleman: 4:03

Sorry, say that again.

Jason Blitman: 4:04

there. There's the T word again.

Daniel Aleman: 4:06

yeah, tense.

Jason Blitman: 4:07

So he is a tense relationship with his family, with

Daniel Aleman: 4:08

very tense relationship with most of the people in his life, and his career is on the fritz. And as I was crafting this story, it was important to ask myself what kind of character would go and do all these crazy things? Because it is a leap of faith premise, moving a dead body, throughout New York City. So who would be willing to do this? And the answer is someone who has already lost a lot and has not a lot to lose but a lot to gain if he can get away with this. And this book is an exploration of that, of his identity as a gay guy, of the ways that Having community or a lack of community can push us into very difficult circumstances. And eventually, hopefully, David does find that stability that he needs to move forward with his life. But there is a very emotional layer to the story that I really wanted to explore.

Jason Blitman: 5:05

How meadow would you say the book is for

Daniel Aleman: 5:09

Very. And that was so fun for me. This is my adult debut, and this is the first time that I was writing a character my own age. I was 28 when I was writing the first draft of this book. And

Jason Blitman: 5:24

name starts with a D. What,

Daniel Aleman: 5:35

looking around and feeling like my life is not what I once imagined. And I think that's something that so many of us go through as we explore our 20s, our 30s. We had this idea of what life was going to be like, and then we're here, and There's so many disappointments that we have to deal with. So many things that turn out differently and how do we deal with that? And how do we rebuild our idea of. a quote unquote good life. And so that is something that I was going through as I was putting it down on the page. And this book really helped me just be less harsh on myself. It helped me have conversations with my friends who are also experiencing similar struggles. And it helped me realize that I'm not as alone as I thought I was.

Jason Blitman: 6:23

What were you expecting?

Daniel Aleman: 6:26

Out of life? I think I have this image from the sitcoms, like from Friends, where, you live in close proximity to all your closest friends. You experience a little heartbreak every now and then, but your career is on the rise. And there's also those societal expectations of once you're approaching 30, you should be stable in your career with an eye toward marriage and a stable relationship, have a solid community. And I found that was just not where I was at that age, like at 28. And I felt like I sat so alone feeling like I was the only one who didn't have it together. And in fact, I think it's more of a common experience to not have your life figured out than, this unrealistic expectation that we're led to believe is how we should experience our

Jason Blitman: 7:20

Friends is the fantasy. They don't even have train delays.

Daniel Aleman: 7:25

100%. They're a lot. They have these huge apartments on whatever salaries. Yeah.

Jason Blitman: 7:33

There's no construction on the subway

Daniel Aleman: 7:37

Yeah.

Jason Blitman: 7:37

That is not real life. Yeah, I definitely don't think you are alone. In fact, I think that is a very common experience. So what was the name of the dead guy that you woke up next

Daniel Aleman: 7:50

Oh, was no dead guy that I

Jason Blitman: 7:53

I'm

Daniel Aleman: 7:53

but I should say there is a real life experience that I had that inspired a lot of what happens in the book with the dead guy.

Jason Blitman: 8:05

What?

Daniel Aleman: 8:05

So I, back in 2019, I met someone on a dating app it became this sort of situationship, long distance situationship because he didn't live in the same city as I did. So it was like, we would travel back and forth to see each other. And then once the pandemic hit it came to light that this guy was actually engaged and had been lying to me the whole time. He had been leading me to believe that he wanted, To see where he and I could go to maybe build a future where we eventually lived in the same city. And I was just shocked to find out that he was not who he said he was. And so I don't want to spoil the book, but there is a big element of going back and rethinking who this dead guy is. And yeah, and that comes from real life.

Jason Blitman: 9:00

Oh my God. Okay. What's your A?

Daniel Aleman: 9:09

Like I said, it blends a lot of different genres, but it is, at its heart, a dark comedy. And the brand of humor is what I personally enjoy, which is a comedy that sometimes does go for the laugh out loud reaction. But that sometimes just goes for the facepalm reaction when, where you're like I can't believe this is happening and that is what I want my readers to experience. Like this rollercoaster of funny but also sad but also thrilling and I think the book does have a little bit of all of that.

Jason Blitman: 9:46

Yeah, and there's something too about there's a very fine line between. not taking yourself seriously, but also being truthful,

Daniel Aleman: 9:57

Yeah.

Jason Blitman: 9:58

to have, to feel this honest emotional response to the book. And I think in general, something it's just a very hard line to balance. And I think the book does such a nice job of, you can understand how absurd it is, and believe it

Daniel Aleman: 10:14

Totally. And in the absurdity, maybe find little bits of truth and little bits of exploration of why these characters are doing the crazy things that they're doing.

Jason Blitman: 10:26

And it also makes you think, what would you do in a situation like that?

Daniel Aleman: 10:30

Oh my gosh. I would probably not call my agent. I can tell you that.

Jason Blitman: 10:35

I know, who would you call? That's actually, that was something I was thinking of. I was thinking about who I would call, who would you

Daniel Aleman: 10:41

honestly probably call my mom who would probably tell me just go ahead and call the cops, honey. My boyfriend who would probably panic more than me. I think I'm the more level headed one, which is why he's not my first answer.

Jason Blitman: 10:54

He wouldn't be the first call. That's

Daniel Aleman: 10:57

but yeah I hope never to find myself in that situation. Let's just say

Jason Blitman: 11:01

yeah, no, I would agree. I New York is such a great character in and of itself in the book. And it was fun to be on that journey with them. It feels very It's like Yellow Face meets Weekend at Bernie's.

Daniel Aleman: 11:16

Yeah, literally that's a great. way to pitch the book. 100%.

Jason Blitman: 11:24

There's also, people, I think, talk about New York as being It's this city that never sleeps. It's so crowded. You could run into a gajillion people all day, every day. And yet it's also a very lonely city. And there's something too about the book that is about loneliness and about learning to cope with being alone and just learning that about how it's okay to be alone. Was that something on your mind when you were

Daniel Aleman: 11:52

Oh, 100%. I feel that goes back to my expectations of life in my twenties. I thought that it was going to be going out every weekend with my friends and being in a stable relationship. And I found that I was alone a lot of the time, especially when I made the switch from working a nine to five to becoming a full time writer. I found that even though that was my dream, like my biggest dream come true, there was also the flip side, which was I spent most of my days by myself. And that was a loneliness that perhaps I wasn't prepared for. And that I also needed to explore through my writing.

Jason Blitman: 12:30

For sure. This is your adult debut. How does that feel? What was that journey like?

Daniel Aleman: 12:37

It is so exciting. I love my YA books. I have two YA Indivisible and Brighter than the Sun that came out a few 2021 and 2023. And it felt almost liberating to write adult for the simple reason that I could be a little more honest about where I'm at mentally, where I'm at in my personal life. And that was just so much fun to do. This book was cathartic in every way and my favorite book that I've ever written. So I'm so excited to, to share it with everyone.

Jason Blitman: 13:12

really fun. And I know this is like the worst question to ask a writer, but because these, because books do take so long to get out into the world, Are you working on something else? Are you working on another adult book? Another YA book? What's going on?

Daniel Aleman: 13:24

I am working on something else. I, it is another adult. So I think I'm going to stick to adult for now. Eventually I love YA and I want to go back to it. But adult is on my mind. And so I am working on a book that's similar in tone. It's like a dark comedy with a desperate housewife setting and a little bit of murder and a gay guy. Okay. Navigating the whole thing. So I Will see I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to share that one in the future. Yeah

Jason Blitman: 13:58

so fun. Are you reading anything right now that's fun?

Daniel Aleman: 14:02

I'm reading Hello Beautiful by Annapolitano.

Jason Blitman: 14:07

Napolitano!

Daniel Aleman: 14:08

a mood reader and I always, I have a long TBR, but then I'll look at it and just pick based on what I feel like reading in the moment. And I'm in a more I want the family saga, like the deep characterization, like that has just been very nice to read for the start of fall. So yeah,

Jason Blitman: 14:25

good choice. I loved Hello Beautiful.

Daniel Aleman: 14:27

enjoying it so much. I'm like a hundred pages in, but I'm loving it so far.

Jason Blitman: 14:32

Yeah, that's actually how I might be in trouble. Got to the top of the pile for me. I had just gotten the ARC in the mail a day or two before. I was in between books. I was like, what am I in the mood for? I need something a little light, a little fun, a little absurd. I was like, let me start this one, and I couldn't put it

Daniel Aleman: 14:50

Oh thank you.

Jason Blitman: 14:51

Of course. Okay, because we're having tea, and I'm having my tea party with you, who would you have a tea party with?

Daniel Aleman: 14:57

if I can pick a character from my own book,

Jason Blitman: 15:00

Anyone. It could be

Daniel Aleman: 15:02

I would say I want to have tea with Stacy the literary Asian character. She is a Moira Rose type of woman. She is eccentric and, funny, but she doesn't realize she's being funny. Like in her mind, she's just being very serious about certain things. And she is the kind of friend that you want when you find yourself in a situation like the main character does. And yeah I think she would just be so much fun to meet or Moira Rose herself as well,

Jason Blitman: 15:36

just

Daniel Aleman: 15:36

or Catherine O'Hara,

Jason Blitman: 15:37

And just sit there and watch them in

Daniel Aleman: 15:40

have their, yeah. Yeah.

Jason Blitman: 15:42

That's a good choice. I know, I want to talk to Stacey too. Let's make

Daniel Aleman: 15:47

I love her. She's my favorite character in the book, probably.

Jason Blitman: 15:51

Oh my god, it's so fun. Daniel, I'm so excited for you and for everyone to read. I might be in trouble.

Daniel Aleman: 15:57

you so much.

Jason Blitman: 15:58

And thank you for joining me for tea

Daniel Aleman: 16:00

Thank you for having me. This has been so fun.

Jason Blitman: 16:03

I'm so glad.