The Hallowed Hearth - Frighteningly Fantastic: Gothic Shadow & Second Chances with Justin Mi

August 3, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The three of swords tarot card shows up early in the conversation, and author Justin Michael Greenway takes it as a sign. The card’s message — that you have to take part in your own healing — maps directly onto the story he tells about loss, grief, and the strange creative aftermath of both.

Greenway’s partner Kirk died of cancer, and the loss upended the future they had imagined: “We were supposed to be two grumpy old men on the porch together.” In the wake of that death, Greenway moved to Iowa. Then Kirk appeared to him — standing in his bedroom, solid enough that Greenway said, “What are you doing here? You’re dead.” He went back to sleep and experienced what felt like a full reunion, all the old passion and emotion “not just exploded inside of us, but lit up around us.” The next morning, he felt as though they had been together again, both in their twenties. He began speaking to Kirk regularly. A lamp in his living room, operated by a knob you have to turn, switched on from across the room while he was talking. “It still gives me goosebumps,” he says.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:23) **Opening Invocation & Guest Introduction** - The host delivers a poetic, gothic call to author Justin Michael Greenway, framing the conversation as something summoned from beyond the veil.
2 (03:37) **Personal Connection & Tarot Pull** - Justin reveals his friendship with one of the show's "sisters of the heart," and the host draws the Three of Swords tarot card for the episode's theme.
3 (07:23) **The Great Love Passing: Loss and Beyond-the-Veil Contact** - Justin describes the death of his long-term partner Kirk, and a subsequent visitation that launched his exploration of the afterlife.
4 (13:08) **Death, Love, and Integration: A Conversation with AI** - Justin discusses his experimental book created with AI as a "love letter" and healing tool for processing his grief.
5 (15:17) **The Birth of Ravenword: From Poe's Last Line** - Justin reveals the singular inspiration for his novel: the final line of Edgar Allan Poe's *The Masque of the Red Death*.
6 (19:51) **Cast of Characters: Real People from Nowhere** - Justin introduces the eight members of the Ravenword literary society, describing them as fully realized individuals who "informed me" of their actions.
7 (24:35) **The Title's Omen & Synchronicities in Writing** - Justin explains the ominous weight of the title "Ravenword" and how the writing process mirrored real emotional losses.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Katy, Rachel, and Haley welcome Oregon-based dark fantasy and Gothic author Justin Michael Greenway to the circle. After the devastation of the Great Recession stripped away his financial prosperity, Justin returned to his childhood home of Portland. It was during those heavy, uncertain years of struggle and unemployment that he chose to fulfill a lifelong dream—transforming his hardships into the pages of his debut novel, Ravenword and The House of the Red Death. Join us around the fire as we talk with Justin about: The Healing Power of the Dark Woods: How the atmospheric landscape of the Pacific Northwest inspired a journey from financial ruin to literary creation. Testing the Waters: The raw reality of self-publishing Ravenword on Amazon's CreateSpace as a new author, and the invaluable feedback that shaped his craft. The Journey Forward: Justin's travels to network with industry professionals, his work on two brand-new secret projects, and his current mission to bring Ravenword to an even wider global audience.

Pour a warm mug of tea, draw your chair closer to the flames, and join the conversation. Sometimes, the path through the ruins leads exactly where you were always meant to go.

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