Stephen Marks' Fight Against Diabetes Through Storytelling

In this episode of “Conversations with Rich Bennett,” Rich sits down with Stephen Marks, author of the Braxton's America trilogy. Stephen shares his personal journey inspired by his niece's battle with Type 1 diabetes, which led him to write a series blending humor, satire, and political commentary. They discuss the importance of raising awareness for diabetes, the challenges in finding a cure, and Stephen's efforts to adapt his story for a streaming series. This episode is sponsored by the Harford County Health Department's Diabetes Prevention Program, helping individuals take control of their health.

Steve Marks | Author | Join the Fight (stephenrmarksauthor.com)

Sponsor Message:

This episode of “Conversations with Rich Bennett” is brought to you by the Harford County Health Department. Discover their free Diabetes Prevention Program, designed to help you lose weight, eat healthier, manage stress, and increase physical activity. This 12-month program offers the tools and support you need to develop lifelong healthy habits and reduce your risk of developing diabetes. To learn more or to sign up, go to » Diabetes Prevention (harfordcountyhealth.com). Take control of your health today with the Harford County Health Department.

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Transcript

Rich Bennett 0:00
Thanks for joining the conversation where we explore the stories and experiences that shape our world. I'm here. Who's Rich Bennett? And today, I am thrilled to have Stephen Marks with us. Stephen is the brilliant mind behind the Braxton's America trilogy, the series that uniquely blends humor, satire and political commentary. Through the journey of Jonathan Braxton, Stephen addresses the critical mission to find a cure for Type one diabetes while tackling broader cultural issues in our country. So join us as we delve into his work and the impactful message he carries, as well as learn more about Type one diabetes. How you doing, Stephen? 

Steve Marks 0:40
I'm doing well, Rich. Thanks for having me. 

Rich Bennett 0:44
Oh, my pleasure. How do we connect? What was that young lady's name? I believe I had her on my pocket. 

Steve Marks 0:49
That would be the glass artist Supreme. My wife, Nancy Marks. 

Rich Bennett 0:56
Oh, Stevie. You know, you're supposed to see the boss, right? 

Steve Marks 1:01
That goes without saying. 

Rich Bennett 1:05
I didn't say that about my wife. I'd be. I'd be in trouble. We all know or I think all guys know. No matter what, I want to get right into the trilogy series. So can you share what actually initially inspired you to write the Braxton's American trilogy? 

Steve Marks 1:24
Yeah. My my initial inspiration came in 2005 when my three year old niece at the time was diagnosed with type one diabetes. 

And that set me off on a little bit of a journey. I felt a strong desire to to do something, to give back in some way, somehow to help her. I was very I was very fortunate to have a successful business, and I hadn't really attached myself to a cause. And this cause came along and I just decided to get involved in fundraising and advocacy, which led me to be invited to join the Los Angeles board of an organization called JD RF, the world's largest advocacy firm. 

Rich Bennett 2:15
Okay. 

Steve Marks 2:15
And during my tenure on the board, a six year tenure, I became exposed to a number of. 

Of a lot of information regarding the research that was being done, that the Journey to the Cure and a lot about the treatments and therapeutics that were available. And a frustration started to build in me because I learned that the US government was funding this research to the tune of about $200 million a year. And. 

Rich Bennett 2:52
Wow. 

Steve Marks 2:52
And what was true then is also true today. And that is despite all the funding and all the money, we don't know what causes the disease and we are still many years away from the cure. And that. 

Rich Bennett 3:11
You know, 

that's the sad thing is when you first said 200 million that the government spending that much on its eye, 

at first I'm thinking, wow, that's a lot of money. But when you think of everything else they're spending money on, that's not a lot of money. Maybe that's a problem. They're not spending enough. 

Steve Marks 3:32
Well, it's interesting you say that, because in my series I get into the reasons why I feel we don't have a cure. And 

you know what? My premise is that throwing money at the problem isn't the answer. 

Rich Bennett 3:54
Okay. 

Steve Marks 3:54
What is the answer is? Is John Braxton's plan. And that is that plan is about pulling the funding until these companies agree to collaborate. Because today you have most of the most of the organizations that are involved in cure research are relatively small start up. Typically, a medical researcher has a hypothesis and he's trying to prove it. And you have many, many of these organizations around the country, but they don't work together because they're each after 

you know, the the prize developing the patent or or being offered a Nobel Peace Prize or being bought out by a big company, whatever it is, these companies are reluctant to share their research and their intellectual property. And the premise in the book is that if somebody would come along and say, All right, guys, no more government money unless you start working together and we really get on the path to the cure and. 

Knock out of the way all the obstacles which are the interests 

Rich Bennett 5:10
Right. 

Steve Marks 5:10
of Big Pharma and 

the lack of collaboration in. And that's my view. 

Rich Bennett 5:20
It sounds like we've especially with type one diabetes, if you look at like Parkinson's once. Michael J. Fox found out he had Parkinson's and he started his own nonprofit. The steps that they've made, the research that they found is phenomenal. 

I don't understand why that is not the case of type one diabetes. I'm sure there's nonprofits out there that are doing research as well. Right. 

Steve Marks 5:52
There's tons of them. There's tons of 

Rich Bennett 5:55
Okay. 

Steve Marks 5:55
them. But the the the science is very difficult. So trying to understand why the human body at one points at one point the immune system goes off the rails and starts attacking the cells in the body that produce insulin. It's very complex and the solutions are very complex. And that's why the the the the path to the cure is taking so long. So but you make a good point, Rich, and that is we need more awareness and that was one of the motivations for writing my book, was to create more awareness and to also to that end, we're working in Hollywood to try to get our story adapted for a streaming series or a movie, which. We would hope would be the catalyst to exploding the amount of awareness for the disease. A lot of people still don't understand the distinction between type one and Type two. There's a tremendous amount of misunderstanding. A lot of people feel that, you know, a Type one diabetic, if they just stop eating sugar and started taking care of themselves, they would be they would cure themselves. But unfortunately, that that 

Rich Bennett 7:15
Right. 

Steve Marks 7:15
is not the case with type one. 

Rich Bennett 7:19
And aren't most people born with type one, or is that a myth? 

Steve Marks 7:23
They're not born with it, but. There's a there's a theory that it is genetic and it just something trips the whatever the genetic root cause is something turn flips it on and we don't know what it is. We don't know if it's a virus. We don't know if it's something in our food today. But there's a couple of trends going on in the Type one world. And one trend is, is that 

historically it's usually been young children that are afflicted. So it was a disease of the very young. And now we're finding that more and more adults are being diagnosed. So 

Rich Bennett 8:08
Really? 

Steve Marks 8:08
it's. 

Rich Bennett 8:09
With type one. 

Steve Marks 8:10
They call adult onset. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 8:13
Wow. 

Steve Marks 8:14
So. 

Rich Bennett 8:14
I didn't realize. 

Steve Marks 8:15
So that that's a changing trend trend which the community, the research community hasn't again identified the reason why. But. 

Rich Bennett 8:24
Like is sitting dormant for a while. 

Steve Marks 8:25
Exactly. 

Rich Bennett 8:27
Like shingles. 

Steve Marks 8:29
I don't know too much about shingles, but yes, you know, that's 

Rich Bennett 8:33
Well. 

Steve Marks 8:33
is something that. 

Rich Bennett 8:34
You never want to give them. 

Steve Marks 8:36
Is that the disease that's tied to measles or. 

Rich Bennett 8:40
Yeah. Yeah. I know a lot of people say it's very painful. I've had it before. It was more of a nuisance than anything, because you're. It's like you're constantly itching. I mean, it was painful, but there's I've as a mother, things that were even more painful. You know, so I mean, but. So, John, Jonathan Braxton, how did you come up with this character and the name? 

Steve Marks 9:12
Well, I guess I should say that his character is based on a lot of my personal experiences, although he's he's much more talented than I am and making things happen. 

Rich Bennett 9:25
Okay. 

Steve Marks 9:27
Sort of the whole one of the premise behind the story is we have all this money being invested. We have all these dedicated people trying to find the cure, and we're not making headway very fast. And maybe it takes somebody from outside the medical world to be the difference maker. So I tried to think of someone 

outside the medical world, what could he do? And because of the way the grant funding is set up in Congress these days, my story takes the character into politics. So he starts off he's very apolitical. He's very skeptical of the morals and the the character of the people that run for federal office. So he's very apolitical. But in the story, his son is diagnosed and that turns him 

away from his nice, comfortable lifestyle, where he's a successful tech entrepreneur and the opportunity presents itself for him to run in a special election for his local congressional seat. So he he runs for office reluctantly and against his nature, and he wins. And he basically turns the country upside down, going to Washington as someone who does not have an ego, is not motivated, motivated by money or power. He's there for one reason to find the cure and the things he does over the ensuing six year period are pretty remarkable and tied to historical references. So the timeline of the story is 2012 through 2016. And of course, we remember that the presidential cycle from 2012 to 2016 included Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. So this is an alternate reality. So there is no Donald Trump in our story. There is a Hillary Clinton esque character in our story. And what happens between John Braxton and Heather Carrington is her name. What happens between the two of them? Basically sends both the Republican and Democrat parties to the brink of extinction. 

Rich Bennett 12:10
Oh, wow. That might be a good thing. 

Steve Marks 12:15
And the second book in the series, which is also out now, which is titled Braxton's plan, is the follow on to the first book and its time frame is 2017 through 2018. 

And. 

Rich Bennett 12:35
And when did that one come out? 

Steve Marks 12:36
That was released in December. 

Rich Bennett 12:40
Okay. Okay. 

Steve Marks 12:42
And then I'm writing. I'm currently in writing on the third book where we will actually get to the Cure so we don't quite get to the Cure in the second book, but we're on our way. We have a plan. We're starting to execute the plan. Big Pharma is going crazy. The political establishment's going crazy. Everybody's flipping out. And Jon Braxton and his superhero wife Angela are just going for it. And they don't. Nothing is standing in their way because they want to help their son. 

Rich Bennett 13:17
I love that. So with the first book, which is just Braxton's turn, right? 

Steve Marks 13:22
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 13:24
Okay. What was your favorite part of the book? Your your the favorite part that you wrote and most memorable for you. 

Steve Marks 13:33
So the book is very light hearted. I mean, we deal with a sensitive subject and we get serious when we need to be. But most of the time I'm focusing on the quirkiness of the characters. So one of the things I had the most fun with was these memes that I would write where the people involved in the from the political aspect, they're very paranoid and they have this protocol where when they call one another on the phone, 

there's a there's a handshake, like a secret handshake to 

identify that the person calling is is the person they want to speak to. So there's a particular series of calls between Heather Carrington, Anne's husband, who is the ex president of the United States. His name is Will Carrington, and he has a senior adviser. 

He has a senior adviser named Sidney Rosenberg. And so whenever will call Sidney, there's a handshake. And the handshake is is kind of ridiculous. So one of the so it's a question where Will will call Sidney and Sidney will answer the phone and and Sidney will go, hello and will will go. What up, my brother? And Sidney will go. You have the wrong number. I'm an only child. And then they'll then that that identify is that they are the parties who they're expecting to be speaking to, and they start their conversation. But every call I have a different handshake. And I just had so much fun writing those comedy, those little comedy moments in the story, just to keep it light. I would end up laughing to myself as I was writing these things. 

Rich Bennett 15:25
Stephen, You just gave me flashbacks to when I was in the Marine Corps. Because, you know, when I would call home, I would always call collect and of course I would. Or how do you go? I would call say, who it was just to let them know that I was okay. They wouldn't accept the charges. So this way we didn't get charged for the call. So I guess you could say that was like a handshake as well. 

Steve Marks 15:52
Right. 

Rich Bennett 15:53
I think that started after, you know, because during boot camp, I think I ran my parents phone bill up to well over $1,000 for the Colts. 

Steve Marks 16:03
The other part I really enjoyed about writing the story is I have a lot of viewpoints on a lot of our social issues and how. How I would solve them if I was calling the shots and I was able to resist, you know, the pollution of money and power and just say focus on really just trying to find solutions to problems. So I take on a lot of social issues in the book, and I weave the solutions into into the into the fabric of the story. So there's conversations going on. There's also 

Braxton develops a relationship with a cable news TV host, and he goes on the show on a fairly regular basis because this cable TV host at first was very skeptical of Braxton and didn't really know if he was true to his intentions. 

Rich Bennett 17:04
Right. 

Steve Marks 17:05
And so he treated them pretty harshly. But Braxton wins them over with his wit and his humor, and they end up becoming friends. And when he goes on the show, you know, Braxton the first time said, Wally, Wally, why don't we just like why don't we just two guys in the bar drinking beers, shooting the breeze. So on the on the visits to the show, he ends up bringing root beer onto the stage and they bring a picture of root beer and they they pour their beers. And on the on the show they're they're like drinking beers and just having a casual conversation. But the conversation is about, you know, fixing the country. 

Rich Bennett 17:46
Right 

got. 

Steve Marks 17:48
So I've. 

Rich Bennett 17:49
I got. 

Steve Marks 17:50
I had a lot of I had a lot of fun writing the stories. 

Rich Bennett 17:54
So with this, how much research actually went into it? Because you're you're talking about the health care system. You're talking about, well, type one diabetes to health care system, 

politics. I mean, it seems like there be a lot of research figures into this. 

Steve Marks 18:12
I did do a fair amount of research, but a lot of a lot of the information is I already learned my previous experiences. And as far as politics go, I'm sort of a political news junkie. I love to follow it for entertainment value. 

Rich Bennett 18:31
I. 

Steve Marks 18:31
I find it I find I find it the hypocrisy very entertaining and. 

Rich Bennett 18:39
It's like watching a comedy show nowadays. 

Steve Marks 18:40
Yeah. Or a freak show. 

Rich Bennett 18:43
With the books. I all women. First of all, when do you think the third book is going to be released? 

Steve Marks 18:48
I'm hoping or hoping early next year. 

Rich Bennett 18:52
Early next year, early 2020. 

Steve Marks 18:54
The second one. The first book took about 12 years to write because I had a long hiatus in the beginning. 

And then when I retired from from the tech world in 2021, I just put the pedal to the metal and finished the first one. And then the second one took about a year to write. 

Rich Bennett 19:18
Self-published. 

Steve Marks 19:19
Self-published? Yes. 

Rich Bennett 19:21
Okay, so with that, this is something I always love to ask authors, especially the ones that are self-published, the marketing. 

How has that gone for you? Because a lot of authors have never done marketing. 

Steve Marks 19:37
It's tough. It's really, really tough. And I'm not I haven't really been successful with the marketing, but I recently put up a new website and I'm starting to do a little bit more 

of the things that I've been instructed, what to do for authors to be successful. So I have a new I have a new website up and you can actually buy the books on the website as well as Amazon, of course. 

Rich Bennett 20:08
Mm hmm. 

Steve Marks 20:09
And I'm starting to build a mailing list. And the other thing I'm doing on my website is I have a news page and I want to be I want to elevate the Web site to be a comprehensive news source for everything related to the cure for type one. So I'm hoping. 

Rich Bennett 20:28
Good. 

Steve Marks 20:29
That people in the community, you know, who want to stay, stay current on information as to what's going on in the cure. They'll view my news page as as a as an authoritative source. 

Rich Bennett 20:41
All right. So I'm looking at your website now, which is very good website. Who is the guy portrayed as Jonathan Braxton? 

Steve Marks 20:50
He's a stock. He's a stock photo. 

Rich Bennett 20:53
Oh, okay. 

Steve Marks 20:54
Stock photo. 

Rich Bennett 20:57
It looks familiar, I was ask. 

Steve Marks 20:59
Well, you know, when I was right, when I was writing the book, I was thinking of how it would do on the screen. And I always thought that Ryan Reynolds would be the perfect John Braxton. And so. 

Rich Bennett 21:12
All. 

Steve Marks 21:13
When I was looking. 

Rich Bennett 21:14
That little bit of humor. 

Steve Marks 21:15
When I was looking for an image, I was looking for somebody that kind of looked like him. So. I don't know if he in everybody's eyes, if he looks like if he's a look alike for Ryan Reynolds. But that was sort of the reason why I chose that image. 

Rich Bennett 21:30
Now with the book are books, I should say. Are they also in audio form as well? 

Steve Marks 21:35
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 21:37
What? 

Steve Marks 21:39
Yep. The first one is up on Audible, the second one, the narration is done and I just have to upload all the files to access, which is the audible arm of Amazon. 

Rich Bennett 21:54
Dow, who did the narration? Was it you yourself? 

Steve Marks 21:57
No, I hired a narrator. 

Rich Bennett 21:59
Okay. 

Steve Marks 22:00
His name is Will Stoff. 

And 

I hope. 

Rich Bennett 22:06
How how how hard was that the fight? Because a lot of just talking to other authors, a lot of them are hesitant because he said it cost an arm and a leg to get somebody to do it. And a lot of times I don't think they're looking in their own backyard, to be honest with you. But I mean, how hard was it to find this gentleman to do it? 

Steve Marks 22:28
So for the first book, I actually hired a marketing company to do a lot of marketing things for me, and one of them was to get the audio book published. So that company actually found the narrator. And I liked him. He he has sort of has the same political viewpoints I have. And I thought he did good representation and so on the second book, I just I contracted with him directly, but I did not I did not find him through my own efforts. 

Rich Bennett 23:03
Okay, so with the books, what are you hoping that the readers take away from them? 

Steve Marks 23:17
My motivation is to bring hope and inspiration to the Type one community. So I really wrote the book for two audiences, one is the people and Type one community, which includes people afflicted with the disease, their loved ones, the research community, the people that are involved in advocacy fundraising. So it's it's a pretty good sized community. And then the second community I wrote for is just for people that are sort of sick and tired of what's going on in this country from a government standpoint and are just hoping for some kind of change. And so my my my character is someone that I think everybody could get behind from both sides of the aisle. He sort of plays it down the middle. You know, he's conservative on some issues. He's liberal on other issues, but he's really all about common sense. And he and he comes into the job without any 

egotistical attitudes or, uh, you know, interest in power. He just is looking to solve problems and in the beginning of Braxton's term, I build the character's 

profile and he's working at the local level and he's solving all these problems, um, through the philanthropy he does through his company. And so an example of one of those is public education. So you know where I live. We have sort of a split demographic in the county I'm in. One half of the county is fairly upscale. Higher income, and then the other half of the county is very, very, um, more blue collar, you know, less wealthy and we have a lot of problems in that part of the county with as as the whole country does, right. With kids that are not getting good education and, and, and they're not turning out to be good people. 

So I weaved in to the story some of my personal experiences where I as a young adult was having a lot of trouble trying to get my life on track. And I ended up reading a book that changed my life. And the book, it was about how your thoughts basically control your life. You are what you think. And 

I embrace that. And my life turned on a dime and I started to be successful in everything I tried just because I change my attitude and. 

Rich Bennett 26:03
You remember the title of that book? 

Steve Marks 26:05
It was called Psycho Cybernetics. It was written in the sixth. It was written in the sixties by a cause by a cosmetic surgeon. And he started to write well, the thing that drove him to write it was he he was providing services to a lot of famous people. Very wealthy people, movie stars and Hollywood. And the people would come to him and say, you know, Doc, if you just fix my nose, I would be happy. Or if you just touched my chin, I would feel better about myself. And he would perform these surgeries and the people's attitudes wouldn't change. You know, they would still feel 

unhappy with themselves. 

Rich Bennett 26:52
Yeah. 

Steve Marks 26:53
And he wanted to understand that. So he he started testing out hypotheses and and learning about what you know, what is the roots, what is the root source of happiness and success. And it's he came to the conclusion that it's not money. It's not how you look, but it's all about how you perceive yourself and how you think. And, 

Rich Bennett 27:18
Yeah. 

Steve Marks 27:20
you know, the the conclusion of the book was that anybody can be happy and successful if they choose to think that way. So I took that sort of philosophy and I said, What if we applied that to public education? What if we set up a curriculum, let's say, in the fifth grade of every public school and we taught nothing but concepts about how to be a better person? So, no, no traditional subjects, but just more about how to be successful at life as as, of course, curriculum. 

Rich Bennett 27:55
Like that. 

Steve Marks 27:57
So that's one of the one of the things Braxton does at the local level here. He has a very successful foundation. He calls Win the Day. And they take these kids who are on the brink of gang membership or suicide or drug addiction, and he 

Rich Bennett 28:15
Oh, wow. 

Steve Marks 28:17
turns them around. 

Rich Bennett 28:19
Wow. I love the fact that you have him starting at the local level, too, because I think especially when it comes to politics, people always look at the national level, but they don't even know what's going on in their own backyard with politics there. Which I think people need to know that especially, you know, with legal education and all that. Know, you got to start you have to start there. You know, I really like that. 

Then 

something else you're doing and if you can't, I want you to tell us more about this. The Type one you're done project and its goals. 

Steve Marks 29:03
Yeah. So my effort to try to bring the story to the screen, I decided to just brand it. And, you know, I don't really know how Hollywood works. I've learned a lot over the last two years about what it takes 

Rich Bennett 29:19
Right. 

Steve Marks 29:19
to get a a story told. And of course, we've had a couple setbacks. We had the pandemic was a setback. And then, of course, we had the writers strike last year and the Screen Actors Guild strike. And so 

things are very, very difficult in Hollywood these days. 

Rich Bennett 29:42
Yeah. 

Steve Marks 29:44
It's it takes almost, you know, the will of God to try to bring a story out. And I do have a producer that's interested in our story and he's. 

Rich Bennett 29:56
Good. 

Steve Marks 29:57
He's shopping it. And what he told me was, because it's such a strong, character driven story, that the only way a studio or a network will be interested in taking it on is if there is a renowned actor that is willing to get behind the project. So what we've been doing is. Well, I started doing as I started looking at, okay, well, what famous actors are out there that are type one diabetics and maybe 

Rich Bennett 30:33
Mark. 

Steve Marks 30:33
maybe someone who has the disease might be very interested in the role of becoming. I'll give away a little bit of the story, becoming the president of the US and being the driving force behind the cure for type one. You know, maybe somebody in the Type one world would be interested in that. So that's that's one direction we're going. 

Rich Bennett 30:57
I do believe there is a famous singer slash actor, that is. 

Steve Marks 31:01
Well, we have a lot of you know, there's I mean, there's a lot of famous people that have type one. The most notable who's involved in a lot of advocacy is Nick Jonas. 

Rich Bennett 31:10
That's what I was thinking. 

Steve Marks 31:12
And 

and he has a bad ex-wife, at least in the films. Priyanka Chopra, I don't know if you've ever seen any of her work. But she. 

Rich Bennett 31:22
At least I don't think I have. 

Steve Marks 31:23
She's she's she's she fits the character of 

Angela Braxton in the story to a tee. Although Angela Braxton's Japanese and is Indian but I don't think that matters but I would think the two of them as John and Angela Braxton, would be the perfect casting. 

Rich Bennett 31:45
Yeah. 

Steve Marks 31:46
So I try to reach out. I'm trying to find 

an entrance into his inner circle to share. The story. And we do have a pilot script for a streaming series. By the way, I did invest in a screenwriter to write a pilot script. Um, but. 

Rich Bennett 32:07
That's nice. See, the thing is, if you could get Nick Jonas to do it, that because that's going to draw in the young crowd as well. You're going to get you're going to get the older crowd no matter what. Because when you're talking about something like this, it's, well, type one diabetes, but also the political part, you're definitely going to get them. But that hit him would also draw in the younger crowd as well. I like that. It's going to happen. It's going to happen, Steve. I guarantee it's going to happen. 

Steve Marks 32:34
The other angle we were thinking of is I think the script would be of interest to anyone who had an interest in going into politics because the script would cast them in a very favorable light. So I watched an interview with Dwayne The Rock Johnson. 

Rich Bennett 32:53
Yelp. 

Steve Marks 32:54
The other week a little bit before his big WW F event that they held in Philadelphia. 

Rich Bennett 33:00
WWE. 

Steve Marks 33:01
WWE. Sorry. And, you know, he's he's sort of expressed an interest in politics. 

And based on the podcast interview, I talked to my producer and said, we really need to find a way to get the script to the rock because he. 

He might see us as a catalyst to launch a political 

Rich Bennett 33:26
Yeah. 

Steve Marks 33:26
career. And the other actor who's expressed an interest is Matthew McConaughey. 

Rich Bennett 33:33
Really? 

Steve Marks 33:34
I thought he would be a good option for the lead character as well as he has expressed an interest. 

Rich Bennett 33:41
Wow. 

Steve Marks 33:42
Politics. 

Rich Bennett 33:45
That? Oh, man. Have you toss up between them? Three. 

Thatched roof. 

I'd have to knock it down to two. I'm sorry. Even though I am a wrestling fan, I'd. I'd have to say of either Matthew McConaughey or Nick Jonas. 

It's just. 

Wow. That it's going to happen. And the thing is, if all the streaming services out there now, I would think it's a lot easier than back in the day, you know, when you only had a few networks and everything was going, you know, or everything was going to the screen right away. You now is I mean, you got you have Netflix, you got Zoom, you play, you have 

got 

other ones just went in my head I Pluto TV 

Steve Marks 34:38
Amazon Prime and Hulu. And 

Rich Bennett 34:40
Amazon 

Steve Marks 34:40
they're 

Rich Bennett 34:40
Prime. 

Steve Marks 34:40
all they're all looking for good original content. 

Rich Bennett 34:44
Yeah. And the thing that gets me is some of the best movies I've seen were those ones made by independent. You know, people like you would see the big festival they do every year, the Sundance Festival. Some of the best movies I've ever seen. And there was one I'll never forget called The Station Agent with Peter Dinklage. As for I even knew who he was, and to this day, that is still my favorite movie I've ever seen with him also. And I think it was at Sundance Sundance Festival. Great movie, though. Yeah, It's going to happen for you. Definitely. Actually, actually, how can listeners get involved or support this? 

Steve Marks 35:30
Well, so you mentioned the tape when you're done project and you know, that's the branding that we're using to try to get people involved and. 

Rich Bennett 35:40
Mm hmm. 

Steve Marks 35:42
If they would subscribe to our information, because we are going to start an email campaign to people that are interested in following us and you can subscribe on the main page on our website. 

If someone can handle it, if they would buy a book and submit a review on Amazon, I think that would go a long way to building momentum for when we do attract an author or I'm sorry, an actor to one of the roles or get the ear of a studio or a network. If we can show that there's appetite for the story and people want the story to be told. If we can point to a review page on Amazon, I think that would help us quite a bit. So so 

Rich Bennett 36:28
Oh, yeah. 

Steve Marks 36:29
get involved with the project by signing up on our website and buying a book. I mean, the Kindle version is only four bucks. 

The we have them in paperback. They're $15 online and then we have the hardcover for the first book is $30. We haven't done the hardcover for the second book yet, but. I tried to keep the price down. You know, we're not making much money. Authors 

Rich Bennett 36:56
Right? 

Steve Marks 36:56
don't make any money unless you sell hundreds 

Rich Bennett 36:59
No, 

Steve Marks 36:59
of thousands. 

Rich Bennett 36:59
they. 

Steve Marks 37:01
I don't see us getting to that. 

Rich Bennett 37:04
And I love the fact that it's on Audible as well. 

Steve Marks 37:08
And I've even gone to what's interesting, which is I think there's a lot of fatigue in the Type one community because we've been waiting so long for the cure and have been promised for so many years. And I think people are starting to lose hope a little bit. 

So 

I'm hoping that the that our work provides some inspiration to keep fighting, keep monitoring your blood sugar. Don't give up and maintain hope for the cure. Think those thoughts. Make the universe move in that direction. 

Rich Bennett 37:47
The thing is too, is this. And you're going about it the right way because I cannot think of any other movie or book that is, you know, focused on type one diabetes that is in the political arena. If there is, I don't know about it. 

Steve Marks 38:04
And nothing that's focused on the cure. There are some stories out there, but they're anecdotal to the story. They're not really key to. 

Rich Bennett 38:10
Right? 

Yeah. And I. God, I hope that they do find a cure for this. I mean, it's just. 

It's been too damn long. Like with cancer and everything else, it's. You figure all this money that the government puts into research with all these different things, they would have found the cure by now. And I'm sorry. Anybody that says, well, there's no cure for this, I got to disagree. You know that to me, that's just your giving up too easily. You know, you're if you keep it in your mind that there is a cure for something, you're going to find the cure. Maybe not in your lifetime, but there will be a cure one day, you know, And we all hope for that. I had a better happen. 

Steve Marks 39:03
Most of the research today is focused on. 

Injecting the body with with insulin producing cells. And there's a lot of obstacles in that. One is, is that if you use cells from another patient. In other words, you take someone with a healthy pancreas 

and typically it's in the form of a donor, an organ donor, and you extract the insulin cells and you inject them into another person, that the immune system sees them as foreign cells and will attack them just the way it did the native insulin producing cells. So now companies or research organizations are coming up with encapsulation packets, so they'll have some type of fibrous sleeve that they'll fill with these cells that are designed to allow the excretion of insulin but block any exterior attack from the immune system. So that's becoming a 

therapy or a pathway that a lot of companies are following. But recently I became aware of a company that's based in Israel that is developing a pill. So they have found the combination of a few different proteins that seems to work in early clinical trials, works with adult onset patients. So so adults that are being newly diagnosed. And imagine the cure being one pill that you take once a day to stimulate the body's ability to produce insulin rather than all these other difficult surgeries. And typically, these other treatments are coupled with immunosuppression therapy, which there's a lot of side effects taking those drugs. So I'm very excited about this research of this firm by the name of Levitt Cure in Israel. And that would, you know, their cure would be much more elegant, right? It would be something that is scalable. You can mass produce. It would not be expensive because they're not using any patented material. These are all natural. 

Rich Bennett 41:26
Oh. 

Steve Marks 41:28
Natural vitamin and hormone 

components. And it just seems to be it would be a very, very elegant way to get us to where we want 

Rich Bennett 41:42
Yeah. 

Steve Marks 41:42
to. 

Rich Bennett 41:44
God, I hope it's very soon, then. Very soon. Actually, before I go, there is one question I want to ask you. But before I do, I want to ask you if there's anything else you'd like to add about the book or even about the project or type one diabetes in general. 

Steve Marks 42:03
Oh, no, not that. Nothing that comes to mind right now. Maybe something before our interview concludes. I'll come up with something. 

Rich Bennett 42:11
Okay. I've been I've been meaning to ask you this since we started. You mentioned that your journey on this started when you're. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you said your night your niece found out that your fiancee was type one diabetic, Right? 

Steve Marks 42:26
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 42:28
How's she doing now? 

Steve Marks 42:30
She's doing well. She's 22. 

Engaged to be married. And for a while there, during her teen years, she wasn't as focused on managing her blood sugar, but she seemed to have matured a little bit in that area and is doing a much better job to take care of herself. So she's doing well. Thanks. Thanks 

Rich Bennett 42:53
Good. 

What does she think about the books? 

Steve Marks 42:58
I don't know if she's read it yet. So what's it? 

Rich Bennett 43:03
Actually. 

Steve Marks 43:03
What I find, what I find very interesting as an author is trying to find people to read the book that don't seem to be tied to it in some way. It's very difficult. 

Rich Bennett 43:14
Okay. I was going to ask you, who was the first one to read the book? 

Steve Marks 43:19
I was one of my ex coworkers. 

Rich Bennett 43:22
Okay. 

Steve Marks 43:23
So now Nancy knows the story a little bit, because I keep reading it to her, you know, chapter by chapter. So she's but I don't think she sat down and flipped the pages and read the read the book all the 

Rich Bennett 43:33
Right. 

Steve Marks 43:33
way. 

Rich Bennett 43:35
So your niece may have read it and you don't even know. 

Steve Marks 43:39
I sent her a copy a few months ago and I haven't heard any feedback. 

Rich Bennett 43:43
Okay. Well, the main thing is, you know, she she's doing well, so and she's learning how to control it. So that's that's a good thing. Tell everybody the website. So you know, they can go there cause you have, I think, several different ways to purchase the book, right? 

Steve Marks 44:02
Yeah, the web, the website is my name, followed by the word author. So Stephen R Marks author dot com. 

Rich Bennett 44:11
And Steven with a. 

Steve Marks 44:12
Correct. 

Um let's go Braxton dot com will take you there as well. 

Rich Bennett 44:20
Mm hmm. 

Steve Marks 44:21
And 

the heart of the softcover and the e-book versions can be purchased on the website or you can go to Amazon and you can buy. The first book is available in hardcover, softcover e-book and audio, 

and our second book is available in softcover and e-book and soon to be audio. 

Rich Bennett 44:54
All of you listening when you purchase these books. And don't forget, the new one will be coming out, he says, next year. Right. 

Steve Marks 45:01
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 45:02
Make sure you leave a full review on Amazon and good reads because we've discussed this before, but when you leave a full review, it does something with the algorithms and it's just going to dry. Stephen's book up there even higher when people are searching for books like this. Definitely. When you go to his website, subscribe to for the newsletter, but also bookmark the website because the news that he posts on there is something you want to follow, 

especially those if you know of anybody. And I'm sure everybody listening knows somebody that's got diabetes, 

definitely follow the website, save it as well as the blog. You know that he keeps on there as well. God, very good. This your website is awesome. 

Steve Marks 45:58
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 45:59
You updated a lot to. 

Steve Marks 46:01
Trying. It's. That's a full time job. 

Rich Bennett 46:06
I guess I can hire you to update mine all the time. 

Steve Marks 46:11
One of the one of the thing. Rich, if I could just mention real quickly, if there's anybody in your in your listening audience that is involved with 

advocacy for type one, I do make the book available for free for the use in fundraising events. So. So. 

Rich Bennett 46:30
A really. 

Steve Marks 46:30
Out of my pocket. I'll make 

softcover copies available if an organization wants to offer them to their members and raise money or the Kindle version, if that's easier. And I just I just want to make I just want to get the story out there. I want it to be used for good. And if someone's interested in in offering it to their members to raise money for the right purpose, then it's available. 

Rich Bennett 47:04
Something you might want to consider. Also, Stephen, are a couple places to go to other podcasts to get on. Check out new books, network tor.com and look for your genre on there and there'll be several different podcasts. Just picture book. Tom and get them on. But I would also look into Lions Clubs International because there are some I think International has a podcast. If not just get in touch with somebody there because diabetes researches, there are awareness. I should say diabetes awareness is something big that the Lions push because I have to I have to tell you this story. We had a member in our club that was diabetic and it got to the point to where, you know, he was losing limbs and all of that. He even made the comment that the hospital just put it in a drive thru for him so he can just drive up and say, here, take what you need, 

and then went completely blind, had to go to school to learn how to be blind. And even after that was our most active member, because he would not give up. He would not give up. Amazing, amazing man. And he taught me so much, 

mainly about being blind. But it's yeah, he talked to us about diabetes a lot. And then when my brother got it, I started looking into it further. Yeah, because it's scary. It's a scary thing when you when you go to the doctor and you know, whether it's type two or type type one and you find out you're diabetic, it changes your life. And I don't think a lot of people realize that. 

Steve Marks 48:52
Yeah. You have to watch everything you put in your mouth. Then you just have to be aware of how you're feeling. And, you know, sometimes your your blood sugars will go very low, in which case you're subject to what they call hypoglycemia or insulin shock, where you could faint and your organs start to shut down or if you take insulin, sometimes the body overreacts to the insulin, so your blood sugars go very, very high. And so when you recognize that, you've got to. Know what you've got to do. You have to take a bolus or a shot of glucagon or something like that to try to bring those numbers down. So it's oscillating between low and high. It's completely random. You can't predict it and you and you've got to monitor it and your life is hanging in the balance. So you're right. It's it's really a life changing diagnosis. 

Rich Bennett 49:50
So, Steven, here's what you've got to do. As soon as you hear from me, whether it be Nick Jonas, Ryan Reynolds. Matthew McConaughey or the Rock or anybody else get in touch when they're ready to start filming this. Let me know so you can come back on and we could talk about this again, because, as you know, the movies are always different than the box. And actually, in all honesty, I think you could probably say Jon Braxton could become a TV series, which would raise even more awareness. 

Steve Marks 50:31
It's more likely to be streaming as a TV series or a streaming series, because 

the risk the risk of making movies is so great and the streamer and the streamers are looking for content, they're hungry for content. The studios and the networks, they're much more picky on what they want. So they have their pick of a lot of good stories. But the content, the streaming providers are always hungry for good content. 

Rich Bennett 51:01
Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely going to happen. So. Steven, I want to thank you so much. Thanks for everything you're doing and the awareness, you know, making more people aware of this because this is definitely something that it's not a joke yet. This is something people got to take more serious and those of you listening, even though if you don't have diabetes, still do your research because you never know. You go to the doctor tomorrow, next thing you know, you have it. So, Steven, thanks a lot. 

Steve Marks 51:39
Thank you, Rich. Pleasure being on the show.