How E. L. DuBois Turned Her Life Into Stories That Matter

Welcome to Mad Props. Today, we are joined by author and filmmaker E. L. DuBois at Comicpalooza in Houston for a wide-ranging conversation about writing, Hollywood, filmmaking, the Ransom series, and using entertainment to tell stories that actually mean something. E. L. opens up about how her own experiences with trafficking, sexual assault, domestic violence, homelessness and survival eventually pushed her toward storytelling. Rather than presenting recovery as a simple happily-ever-after, she wanted to create stories that reflected the complicated reality of surviving trauma and rebuilding a life afterward. That journey eventually led from her memoir into fiction. E. L. explains the inspiration behind Ransom, her paranormal series set against the isolation of West Texas, and how her love of Batman, horror, thrillers, action movies and dark humor influenced the universe she created. She also discusses her writing process, building playlists for her books, creating antiheroes and why she has little patience for filler in the stories she consumes or creates. Chris and E. L. also dive into the realities of being an independent author, the importance of social media, maintaining creative control when Hollywood becomes interested in your work and why she has been unwilling to simply hand over the rights to her stories. This interview is also the final installment of Mad Props' Comicpalooza interview series. Join the Discord - https://discord.gg/dYhnmwQANb Follow Mad Props Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madpropspod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@madpropspod X: https://www.x.com/madpropspod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madpropspod YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MadPropsPod Follow Chris Schnabel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisschnabel TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.schnabel YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Chris.Schnabel Mad Props is a Schnabel Studios Production Chapters 00:00 – Welcome to Mad Props & E. L. DuBois 02:17 – Comicpalooza, Hollywood & Celebrity Stories 09:24 – Social Media & Life as an Independent Author 13:56 – Turning Real-Life Experiences Into Stories 17:31 – Creating Ransom & the West Texas Horror Universe 22:09 – Survival, Advocacy & Life After Trauma 25:02 – Hollywood Stories & Meeting Celebrities 29:21 – Maintaining Creative Control in Hollywood 33:26 – Writing, Comfort Shows & Creative Inspiration 38:19 – Audiobooks, Movies & the Stories That Shaped Her 47:57 – Journey & Using Film to Tell Difficult Stories 50:09 – The Power of Impactful Storytelling 53:13 – Final Thoughts & Mad Props Outro