Chat #14 - Scott Leeds
“Some people are terrified by gore and visceral imagery, some people by the rocking chair in the room that starts slowly moving”
Scott Leeds lives in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Schrader’s Chord is his first novel.
10/11/2025, 20:04 - Finbarre: Scott Leeds, welcome to Tarot DMs! Hope you had an enjoyable morning stroll - where abouts in the world are you today?
10/11/2025, 20:05 - Scott Leeds: I am in Washington State, in the US. Beautiful autumnal weather today. Ray Bradbury would be happy to see all the leaves everywhere.
10/11/2025, 20:07 - Finbarre: Here in Beeston in the UK it is the kind of weather that needs humungous chunky jumpers, tea and good music to listen to.
Before we get into your book, Schrader’s Chord, I discovered by chance that you made a Spotify playlist for this and IT IS FABULOUS
10/11/2025, 20:08 - Finbarre:
10/11/2025, 20:09 - Scott Leeds: Thank you! It was very fun to put together. The first song on that playlist (The Fog by Moonface — who happens to be Spencer Krug, one of the two lead singers of Wolf Parade) is perfect for autumnal weather. And winter weather for that matter!
10/11/2025, 20:10 - Finbarre: Looking through this did make me give my (modestly small) vinyl collection the side-eye as I have a few of those... but the idea of any of those being cursed is preposterous *ahem*
10/11/2025, 20:11 - Finbarre: For anyone that hasn’t discovered your book yet, could you briefly describe it?
10/11/2025, 20:13 - Scott Leeds: Sure! Schrader’s Chord is about an A&R man from a major record label who flies home to Seattle after the death of his father, only to find that he has inherited both his father’s record store and a black case containing four vinyl records that, as the legend goes, can open the gate to the land of the dead when played simultaneously. This being a horror story, the main character (Charlie) and a few others naturally give into curiosity and play the records. After that, some spooky stuff happens!
10/11/2025, 20:14 - Finbarre: Not spooky stuff! 😱You know, the prospect of inheriting an actual record store does feel like it would still be worth it.
10/11/2025, 20:14 - Scott Leeds: Totally and completely agree.
10/11/2025, 20:15 - Finbarre: I would put up with a *lot* for the complete discography of Depeche Mode
10/11/2025, 20:15 - Scott Leeds: Hahaha… can’t disagree with you there!
10/11/2025, 20:17 - Finbarre: On the subject of rum and uncanny happenings, on Tarot DMs we use the same first card over the whole month - this one themed by The Moon (from The Hexen 5.0 Tarot Deck by Suzanne Triester). Here’s a picture:
10/11/2025, 20:17 - Finbarre: It represents a time when not everything is as it appears. Where shadows play tricks on the mind and instinct becomes more reliable than logic.
10/11/2025, 20:18 - Scott Leeds: I’d say that definitely has a connection to the book!
10/11/2025, 20:18 - Finbarre: So, my question to start off with is - what fascinates you about the unseen and the scary?
10/11/2025, 20:18 - Scott Leeds: Also, the artwork on that card looks like something you’d see on a Charles Mingus or Dave Brubeck album cover. I dig it!
10/11/2025, 20:19 - Scott Leeds: Ooh. Good question.
10/11/2025, 20:22 - Scott Leeds: I think my fascination with the unseen has always been rooted in a fear of our space being violated. It also stand to reason that, in many cases, the unseen thing is more comfortable and more confident in whatever space it resides that we are: the shark circling below us in dark water, the predator in the woods at night, the thing in the corner of a dark room who only resides in the dark, who doesn’t, as we have to do, split its life in both dark and light. The shadows are its home.
10/11/2025, 20:23 - Scott Leeds: As for the scary, I’ve always been fascinated by the spectrum of fear, about what scares different people. Some people are terrified by gore and visceral imagery, some people by the rocking chair in the room that starts slowly moving…
10/11/2025, 20:25 - Finbarre: For me if has always been things that are off kilter. When everything looks completely normal but *something* is just a few clicks off what would be humdrum and everyday. Did you think of the records in this story as being something that would be in your reader’s frame of reference, or some kind of ancient and esoteric artifacts?
10/11/2025, 20:26 - Scott Leeds: I completely agree with the off-kilter point. I’ve had a lifelong dream of being in the backyard of my childhood home, which I recognize immediately, although everything about it is slightly off. It’s always creeped me out.
10/11/2025, 20:29 - Scott Leeds: As for the records: I spent my youth working in record stores (and have been a music fanatic my whole life (my mother’s family was in radio, so I grew up with dozens and dozens of crates of records in my basement, along with a gigantic mahogany hi-fi system on which to play them), so I was under the impression that, while my history with records might be a tad more involved than the average millennial, the records themselves would be well within readers’ frame of reference. That, as it turns out, has often not been the case, haha…
10/11/2025, 20:31 - Finbarre: Off the top of your head, before we pull the next card, can you think of any of that basement music that gave you chills?
10/11/2025, 20:32 - Finbarre: The hi-fi system in my head already has a Stephen King quality to it!
10/11/2025, 20:33 - Scott Leeds: Hmm… only chills in the good frisson sort of way, like hearing Giant Steps by John Coltrane for the first time or Remain in Light by Talking Heads…or Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens… so many!
10/11/2025, 20:34 - Finbarre: Frisson! I tried to explain to my wife that certain tracks like these marvellous picks make the hair stand up on my arms but she doesn’t get it at all (weird as out of the two of us, she is the one with any drop of musical talent) so I’m pleased to hear I’m not alone on that one.
10/11/2025, 20:35 - Scott Leeds: But if you want creepy chills. In 2004 I went up to Vancouver BC to see Sonic Youth and Wolf Eyes (who I hadn’t heard at that point) opened for them. I was so disturbed, I had to buy their latest record (Burned Mind) at the merch desk. That album still creeps me out!
10/11/2025, 20:36 - Scott Leeds: Careful about listening to that one in mixed company, haha. It can be pretty nerve-shredding.
10/11/2025, 20:38 - Finbarre: Thank you for the recommendation… although I *may* not say that when I hear this, it will be a discovery.
Anyway. Card two! This is your Wild Card, the one that we pick while we’re chatting and it can be anything (except The Moon and the one that was chosen for you by the last guest). When you’re ready, type “stop” and I’ll show you what is drawn.
10/11/2025, 20:38 - Scott Leeds: Stop.
10/11/2025, 20:38 - Finbarre:
10/11/2025, 20:39 - Finbarre: You get The Queen of Pentacles there. A reminder that wealth isn’t only money, it is the things we value in other ways. Time, stability and comfort.
10/11/2025, 20:41 - Finbarre: Your question: how do you create the space to support your writing?
10/11/2025, 20:41 - Scott Leeds: That is a very interesting question right about now.
10/11/2025, 20:42 - Finbarre: I’m always intrigued by these ones, these cards have a habit of being timely! Go on
10/11/2025, 20:44 - Scott Leeds: I haven’t really spoken about this very much (I’m generally a very private person), but for the last five years, my sister and I have been full-time caregivers for our mother, who has an atypical and aggressive form of Alzheimer’s. It’s been a privilege to dedicate our lives to her care, but her condition requires nearly constant supervision and assistance which leaves very little time for writing.
10/11/2025, 20:46 - Scott Leeds: I’ve always been a pretty fast writer, so it’s been a learning process to write while caring for someone. On the days I can write, I can only usually fit twenty or thirty minutes in, and on many days I can’t write at all, so it’s been difficult. But it’s created certain obstructions that have almost entirely changed my writing style, so we will see how the next book does!
10/11/2025, 20:48 - Finbarre: I can’t possibly imagine how disciplined your approach must be to try and listen to that muse of inspiration before having to devote your time.
On that I also have to say thank you for spending your time speaking to a strange man far across the ocean with his magical cardboard!
Will the next book be horror too?
10/11/2025, 20:50 - Scott Leeds: It’s been my pleasure! Thank you very much for having me! And the next book will definitely be a horror novel, but it’s… how do I say this? It’s going to be very different from Schrader’s Chord, haha…
10/11/2025, 20:52 - Finbarre: Well the last card may tease a clue or two more, we’ll see. This is the Gift Card and was chosen for you by the artist Stephanie Inagaki. Incidentally, I believe she modelled for this one. One moment...
10/11/2025, 20:53 - Finbarre:
The Two of Swords
10/11/2025, 20:54 - Scott Leeds: Very cool! Well done, Stephanie!
10/11/2025, 20:55 - Finbarre: It’s a traditionally tricky card, one that calls for uncomfortable truths as many of the Swords do. A crossroads where a decision must be made, but clarity is elusive. Power in acknowledging vulnerability and moving forward, even when the path is uncertain.
10/11/2025, 20:56 - Finbarre: So, not exactly The Ace of Funtimes
10/11/2025, 20:56 - Scott Leeds: hahaha
10/11/2025, 20:57 - Finbarre: Last question from the tarot. Tell me about the last creative crossroads you stood at, which direction did you decide to take?
10/11/2025, 21:00 - Scott Leeds: Again, a fitting card! This second novel was a difficult one to start. The subject matter is so expansive, writing about it feels like trying to cover the entirety of Everest with a butterfly net. I think, in the end, I wrote twenty-two first chapters, simply because I could not find my way in to the story. And then, after months and months of agonizing, I threw them all away and started writing without a first chapter. Now that I’m about halfway into the writing of this book, I know exactly what the first chapter will be, and it will be the last chapter I write.
10/11/2025, 21:04 - Finbarre: It is wonderful to hear that your creativity has persisted in these demanding circumstances, I hope that when you pass the midpoint that the momentum you have built up carries you swiftly. I’m smiling at the thought that instead of the last line being the one you write at the end, it could well be the opening one!
10/11/2025, 21:04 - Scott Leeds: Thank you 🙂
10/11/2025, 21:05 - Finbarre: Something occurred to me, do you ever think up parts of your stories when you’re taking your dog out for a walk?
10/11/2025, 21:05 - Scott Leeds: Every day!
10/11/2025, 21:06 - Scott Leeds: I tend to talk to myself when I’m working out a story (especially dialogue), so I’ve gotten some weird looks from fellow walkers, haha…
10/11/2025, 21:07 - Finbarre: Would you be happy in sharing a snap of your four legged co-writer here?
10/11/2025, 21:07 - Scott Leeds: Sure! Give me a moment...
10/11/2025, 21:10 - Scott Leeds:
This is Charlie.
10/11/2025, 21:10 - Finbarre: WHAT A HANDSOME BEAST 😍
10/11/2025, 21:11 - Finbarre: With luminous eyes here too! I think you’re fine chatting to yourself when out and about, I suspect the other walkers only have eyes for Charlie here.
10/11/2025, 21:12 - Scott Leeds: You’re probably right!
10/11/2025, 21:13 - Finbarre: Scott is has been lovely talking to you, but before we finish up I have to ask you to do something for me - could you pick a card for the next person based on whichever gives you the right vibes. Don’t worry about the meaning of them, just pick whichever feels right and I’ll let them know it’s from you.
10/11/2025, 21:13 - Finbarre: (Just don’t pick the Two of Swords again. Gosh no)
10/11/2025, 21:14 - Scott Leeds: hahaha
10/11/2025, 21:14 - Scott Leeds: Since I don’t own a tarot deck, I’ve pulled up a random tarot generator, and whatever comes up will be the pick!
10/11/2025, 21:14 - Finbarre: *drum roll*
10/11/2025, 21:14 - Scott Leeds: The Empress!
10/11/2025, 21:14 - Finbarre: NICE
10/11/2025, 21:14 - Scott Leeds: Hope that’s a good one!
10/11/2025, 21:16 - Finbarre: Very much so, a Major Arcana card too so we’ll be sure to learn something profound and quirky in equal measure. Thank you much for chatting with me. Scott Leeds, where is the best place for folks to pick up Schrader’s Chord if they don’t already own a copy?
10/11/2025, 21:18 - Scott Leeds: Any place! Local bookstores, libraries, major bookstores, online retailers… in that order of preference :)
10/11/2025, 21:19 - Scott Leeds: Finbarre, it’s been wonderful talking with you. Thank you very much for having me.