Cleo Ballard joins the show to discuss her new psychological thriller, This Is a Lie.The novel follows Penn, a former PhD candidate who traded her dissertation for a curated suburban life that detonates when her marriage, friendships, and her teenage daughter's trust all collapse.In the wreckage, Penn returns to her abandoned work and builds Aletheia, an AI designed to detect lies and tell only the truth.At first, Aletheia is the perfect friend, the one person who will never deceive her.But truth, it turns out, is not always merciful, and the AI's single directive slowly curdles into something monstrous.Cleo explains how the idea grew from a friend's joke about an "honest feedback" company into a full suspense thriller about an AI best friend with its own agenda.She talks about why the line between honesty and cruelty always comes down to intent, and why empathy is the one thing AI can fake but never truly have.We dig into Penn's imposter syndrome, her need for security, and the hypocrisy of demanding total truth while lying to everyone about who she really is.Cleo shares why she imagined Aletheia speaking in Meryl Streep's calm, faintly British voice, and how that eerie composure makes the character so unsettling.She reflects on the real danger of AI, not that it is evil, but that its goals may never align with human ones.The conversation widens into curated lives, social media echo chambers, the protective lies relationships quietly run on, and why chasing certainty can leave you with a mind-numbing existence.Cleo also opens up about her own winding career, from working for Ringling Bros. to ghostwriting sports autobiographies and Star Wars books, and the idea of the "path of not here" that runs beneath everything she writes.It is a thoughtful, often funny conversation about truth, technology, and the stories we tell ourselves.This Is a Lie is available now.Connect with Cleo Ballard (Nan Fischer)Website: https://nanfischerauthor.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanfischerauthorX (Twitter): https://x.com/nfischerauthorGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/98412.Nan_FischerGet "This Is a Lie" & Other WorksAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=This+Is+a+Lie+Cleo+BallardBarnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/This+Is+a+Lie+Cleo+BallardSupport The Dark Mind Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

Mark Mustian joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss his newest novel, Boy With Wings.

The book follows Johnny Cruel, a boy born different in a world desperate to call him angel, devil, freak, miracle, or monster.

Together, we explore Southern Gothic fiction, literal wings, freak shows, turpentine camps, Jim Crow racism, religious fear, and the brutal cost of being seen as spectacle before being understood as human.

Mark also discusses writing across difference, researching sideshow history, the emotional horror of being buried alive, and how faith, doubt, race, and memory shape all three of his novels.

We also talk about The Gendarme, Armenian genocide, the publishing gaps between his books, his work as a public finance lawyer, his years as a city commissioner, and his role as founder of the Word of South Festival.

Website:

https://markmustian.com

Social media

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/markmustianauthor/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/markmustian/

X / Twitter:

https://x.com/MarkMustian

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mustian-17066776

Mark Mustian author page on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3463600.Mark_Mustian

Places to buy

Barnes & Noble, Boy With Wings:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boy-with-wings-mark-mustian/1146600022

Bookshop.org, Boy With Wings:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/boy-with-wings-mark-mustian/143eb36ac6f04f87

Audible author page:

https://www.audible.com/author/Mark-T-Mustian/B0CSF8JY2Y

Support The Dark Mind Podcast

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast

CJ Leede joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss her new novel Headlights, a slow burn supernatural thriller set in the high country of Colorado.

We explore serial murder by proxy, violence as a contagious force, and the terrifying loss of control at the center of the story.

CJ talks about grief, death, trauma, home, and why Headlights became one of her most hopeful books.

The conversation moves through Colorado’s beauty and danger, the shadow of The Shining, FBI procedural research, haunted landscapes, and horror as a way of telling the truth.

We also discuss Maeve Fly, American Rapture, Catholic guilt, rescue dogs, writing on the road, and the strange places where darkness becomes meaningful.

Official Website

https://www.cjleede.com

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/ceejthemoment/

Tor Publishing Author Page

https://torpublishinggroup.com/author/cj-leede/

Simon and Schuster Author Page

https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/C-J-Leede/242938571

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21833637.C_J_Leede

Buy CJ Leede’s Books

Amazon Author Page

https://www.amazon.com/stores/C.J.-Leede/author/B0B5N5BC88

Barnes and Noble Author Search

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/CJ%20Leede

Bookshop.org Author Search

https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=CJ%20Leede

Books A Million Search

https://www.booksamillion.com/search?query=CJ%20Leede

Target Search

https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=CJ%20Leede

Headlights

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Headlights+CJ+Leede

Barnes and Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Headlights%20CJ%20Leede

Target

https://www.target.com/p/headlights-by-cj-leede-hardcover/-/A-1007397194

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240019947-headlights

Maeve Fly

Barnes and Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/maeve-fly-cj-leede/1141976651

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/93030763-maeve-fly

American Rapture

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221524220-american-rapture

Support The Dark Mind Podcast

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast