Show Notes

This week, host Vincent Midgard welcomes back acclaimed dark fiction author Megan Stockton to discuss her novel "Pink Neon." Together they dive deep into the book’s brutal realism, creative process, the psychology of trauma and survival, and Megan’s approach to writing about difficult subjects with honesty and respect.

Episode Highlights

• Opening with Impact: Why Megan starts and ends her books with haunting scenes, and how her creative process is both intuitive and chaotic.
• Surviving and Dissociating: Exploring trauma responses, disassociation as a survival tool, and how Megan’s own experiences inform her writing.
• Writing Uncomfortable Truths: Keeping depictions of violence raw and honest—never exploitative—and understanding dissociation as both a literary and human tactic.
• Everyday Villainy: Bringing realism to antagonists, refusing cartoonish evil, and exposing systemic predation.
• Not Found Family—Trauma Bond: The relationships in "Pink Neon" are forged through necessity, not affection, subverting typical survival fiction tropes.
• Between Myth and Mundane: Missy’s symbolic presence—part vengeance, part myth, all unsettling realism.
• Social Systems and Research: Consulting sex workers, reading unbiased accounts, and striving for authenticity in representing marginalized voices.
• Tone, Prose, and Process: Balancing lyricism and harshness, using color as a storytelling device, and Megan’s “one-draft-and-done” writing method.
• Building Sunning: Megan’s fictional Tennessee setting, inspired by Memphis’s geography and history of decline.
• Looking Ahead: Teasers for Megan’s upcoming haunted house novel and the Missy prequel. Reflections on Texas AuthorCon and indie authors to watch.

Featured Books & Authors

• "Pink Neon" by Megan Stockton
• "Quite Pretty Things," "Bluejay," and others by Megan Stockton
• "The Fovea Experiments" by MJ Mars
• "Air Conditioned Nightmare" by David Slater
• "Where Pop Stars Go to Die" by David Washburn
• "Last Tour at Sulphur Creek" by Paul Avery Tindall
• "Rage" series by David Hardy

Connect with Megan Stockton

• Website: meganstocktonbooks.com
• Patreon: patreon.com/badluckcatclub
• Instagram: @meganstocktonauthor
• X / Twitter: @mstocktonauthor
• Goodreads: Megan Stockton on Goodreads

Follow & Connect with Vincent Midgard / The Dark Mind Podcast

• Official Website: thedarkmindpodcast.com
• Patreon: patreon.com/thedarkmindpodcast
• Instagram: @vincentmidgard
• Facebook: @vincentmidgard
• Bluesky: @vincentmidgard
• TikTok: @vincentmidgard
• Threads: @vincentmidgard

Resources Mentioned

• Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS)
• Very Young Girls (Documentary)
• The Oldest Profession Podcast

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