Vicious Whispers with Mark Tullius

This is the first installment of the special TBI Tuesday series. Every Tuesday for the next 6 weeks, I'll share chapters from my book TBI or CTE: What the Hell is Wrong with Me? and discuss them afterward.

This week I play the prologue and Chapters 1 and 2, narrated by Derek Dysart.

Here is the website for the Cleveland Clinic -https://my.clevelandclinic.org/locations/nevada

Here's the JRE podcast with Dr. Mark Gordon - https://vimeo.com/271460457

Our household is finally free of Covid and my kids are finishing up the school year. 

3:00 Although it has been a positive week, I look at the things that didn't help me and remove them. Adding the yoga before sleep back into my routine should be a big plus.

6:20 I just finished my final session of the trauma release hypnosis. It was focused on envisioning my future success. Coming out of the session, I was struck by the realization that I have already accomplished so many of my goals.

11:00 I'm taking action to grow the podcast and my readership. This week I will be recording with podcasts in the UK and Australia. Also in the process of cleaning up my Amazon author page. Also settting up free books. This week Brightside is free on kindle.

17:50 Thanks to some inspiration from a reader, my family has started learning Italian on Duolingo. I'm not sure how long it will continue, but I'm excited about learning multiple languages.

23:50 I am finishing up Chapters 2-4 of Our Fucked-Up Little Family before jumping back into TNTD: In the WIld West.

I review Duncan Ralston's Ghostland and discuss the Try Not to Die being set in that world.

30:30 The short story "Stuffed" from Morsels of Mayhem narrated by Gabriel Michael.

My wife and daughter still have Covid, my son and I still negative. 

We are keeping things positive and using the time to bond. In addition to our nightly swim sessions we've added in drawing/yoga right before bed.

I'm grateful for all of the messages I received this week and wanted to share what these interactions mean to me.

I go over the new and disgusting scenes I've developed for Our Fucked-Up Little Family. Some of the sex in it will be kinky, some incredibly disgusting. Something for everyone.

I narrate the last two scenes from Try Not to Die: At Grandma's House.

It's been a trying week with my wife and daughter dealing with Covid while my son and I try to remain negative.

I just finished Chapter 1 of Our Fucked-Up Little Family and it made me a bit uncomfortable due to the sexual content. I go over the rigid testing process I put my sex scenes through.

Help me name the naughty nun in OFULF. Who do you vote for: Sister Kathleen Eilneee, or Angelica?

I've made Somber Stroll free to newsletter subscribers. Somber Stroll Download

Thinking of the short collection made me realize what was important in my life during the writing of those.

Reading: Halfway through Duncan Ralston's Ghostland Book 1. Enjoying it so far and looking forward to discussing further with my daughter.

 (11:00) I narrate two scenes from Try Not to Die: At Grandma's House.

Reading - I finished Duncan Ralston's Gross Out and loved it. The next 3 books I decided not to finish.

Writing - This week I focused on TNTD: In a Dark Fairy Tale

Rocking - I can't wait for my daughter's musical performance on Sunday.

Podcasting - Just had a 2-hour conversation with According to Woods where we discussed TBI and CTE. https://bit.ly/3PjXVgb

(7:45) I narrate two sections from Try Not to Die: At Grandma's House

(1:00) I review Brian Asman's brilliant Man, Fuck this House and discuss Duncan Ralston's Gross out which I'm halfway through and loving.

(4:00) I talk about whay I'm participating and donating money to the Concussion legacy Foundation's Race to End CTE. Here is a link for anyone who wants to donate. https://raceroster.com/events/2022/50537/2022-cleveland-marathon/pledge/team/74

I also discuss why I think it's a bad idea to believe you have CTE. Believing you have a neurodegenerative disease is a sure way to add toward depression. Focus on fixing the problem and finding ways to cope with symptoms.

(12:15) I discuss my desire to self-sabotage and abandon all social media.

(15:35) I've made progress on Our Fucked-Up Little Family and know a lot more about one of the main characters. (17:45) I narrate two scenes from Try Not to Die: At Grandma's House.

I'm enjoying sticking to the new routine of recording the podcast on Thursdays so I can dedicate Fridays to being creative.

This week my son has focused on teaching me how to float. I got to watch both kids play volleyball over the weekend and took time to praise them in different ways.

(5:50) I go over the advancements in Our Fuck-Up Little Family. It felt great trimming it from 33 to 27 stories and now I know the entire timeline. Out of the 27 stories at least 8 have sex in them.

(13:55) I was inspired to write a new short story about a mother who gives birth to a cat. I go over the names suggested by readers.

(18:20) An inappropriate question from my acupuncturist and two reader questions.

(23:00) I narrate the next scene from Try Not to Die: At Grandma's House

It's been an exciting week and I couldn't be more grateful.

I go over my writing projects for 2022 and 2023 and am excited to be working on a novel I've resurrected.

(5:55) How I'm trying to frame each day, looking for the positives, focused on the good.

(6:55) The return to Knotts was a blast and only reinforced my belief that I'm fine around crowds and way less anxious overall. Also cool to see how much my foot has healed.

(9:25) Question of the day is from Paul Young: How does it feel to hold the physical copy of your book?

(12:55) How and why I'm turning a 23-year-old idea into my next big project. Our Fucked-Up Little Family (working title) is going to be a brutal novel broken into 33 stories, 11 for the priest, 11 for the private investigator, and 11 for the predator. And yes, the first scene may involve some dirty sex in the confession booth.

(22:00) I narrate two scenes from Try Not to Die: At Grandma's House

A short episode I filmed early so I could enjoy Friday at Knotts Berry Farm with my son. I'm interested in seeing how I handle the fear of rollercoasters this time around.

(2:20) I had another great hypnosis session with Alex from Life Craft Hypnosis. This week we went over the emotion of hurt and did a special program to deal with anger outbursts. Here's a link to her site if you'd like to check it out. https://www.lifecrafthypnosiseft.com/

(4:00) I'm still messing around with Derek on TikTok and realizing I'll most likely be doing my creating over there.

(4:45) The question of the day is from Rebecca Dotson, one of my favorite readers. Rebecca asked which book was my favorite to write.

(7:45) I just finished up a couple of death scenes and am really excited to write out these next two that are pretty nasty.

(9:20) I narrate two sections from Try Not to Die: At Grandma's House

Been an interesting week full of fun and challenges.

I spent a good amount of time with Derek exploring TikTok and making TNTD videos. I plan on continuing this for Grandma's House for all of April.

(3:45) Derek and I review Caitlin Marceau's Palimpsest.

(8:15) I overcame my fear of rollercoasters at Knotts this weekend and realized how much hypnosis has helped me be comfortable in settings that used to trigger my anxiety.

(11:20) This week was spent recovering physically and redirecting my writing focus. Had a blast examining death scenes.

(15:30) Why I'm a co-captain for Team Brown in the CLF's Race to End CTE

Here is the link to donate

(20:20) I narrate the next scene from TNTD: At Grandma's House