The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – The Cloud People by Kenard Tuzeneu

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

The Cloud People by Kenard Tuzeneu https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-People-Kenard-Tuzeneu/dp/B0BS4LZ8Y6 Billy is a typical middle-grade boy who is excited to be spending his summer vacation with his grandparents in Indiana. He is super excited because this time, he is going alone. He will soon discover though that going by himself isn't the most special part of the trip. One of the things he wanted to be sure to bring is the brand-new camera that he received for his birthday. In the rush to get to the airport, he forgets it. Little did he know how much he will miss it as his vacation turns out to be far more than he could have ever imagined! After getting his seat on the plane, he falls asleep almost immediately. He doesn't wake up until they are about to land. It is then that he happens to look out the window and sees something that would change his vacation and his life. There, in the clouds around the plane, he sees a face, a cloud person. The eyes on the face open and look directly at Billy, Appearing startled that he was seen, the mysterious face abruptly disappears. From that moment, Billy becomes obsessed with trying to figure out what he saw and if it was real. He shares his secret with his best friend, Megan, and together they enter a world they never dreamed existed. Their friendship grows as they try to understand it all. Billy also discovers that his grandfather and uncle have both had similar experiences. His vacation, will take him on an unforgettable adventure, and along the way, he and Megan will learn a lot about life, loyalty, and friendship. Their summer vacation is filled with a lot of surprises and a big one at the end that will leave you guessing.

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Because you're about to go on a moment. monster education rollercoaster with your brain. Now, here's your host, Chris Voss. Hi, Moses, Voss, here from thecrisvoss Show.com. Well, ladies to know, welcome the big show. As always, the Chris Voss family loves you, but doesn't judge you, and just appreciates all the support you give us and everything that we do there. Go to Goodreads.com, Fortuness, Chris Voss, LinkedIn.com,

Fortress, Chris Voss, won the Tickokotocity, and all those crazy places in the internet. Opinions expressed by guests on the podcast, solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the host or the Chris Fosch show. Some guests to the show may be advertising on the podcast, but it is not an endorsement or review of any kind. To an amazing young man on the show, we're going to be talking about his book called The Cloud People out November 28th, 2022. We are joined by Canard, Tuzanoo, and we're going to get into

with him, find out all the details on his new book and everything that goes inside of it as well. And as we get into with him, we're going to be talking with him about the book, What's Inside, and all that good stuff. So welcome the show, Conard. How are you? Thank you. Doing great. Doing very, very well. We've got a beautiful summer day, so I can't complain. And so you basically have written this book. And tell us about the book. Give us the 30,000 overview of what's inside. Okay. Yeah, to be honest, I never planned on writing a book as a priest. I write for the book. parish and different other ways of communicating and around christmas i usually write like a little short story but uh this uh started when i went to visit my brother and i happened to look outside

the plane because i like to look at clouds as a lot of people do and i thought to myself suppose i saw a an actual cloud person and that just started from there the uh the story emerged and it started as a short story just kept going and going and going and ended up to actually be a book oh wow so this is your first uh is it a novel per se it's a novel yes yeah so uh now i forgot to ask you at any dot coms any websites you want people to learn more about you on well the cloud people uh kenertusenu dot com cloud people kennertusenu dot com not about the book yes yeah uh what what was some of the things that motivated you want to write the book. Was there

something about the story they gripped you? Was there some sort of thing that moved you? Anything like that? Any sort of clarity moment? Well, I would say the one thing that I've always am passionate about, and I think we need more of his imagination.

I don't think we use our image. It's a great gift that we all have. I don't use it enough in a positive way. So many of the things that I see, I think are dark, negative. And of course, there's a place for that. But I think we have a great gift of

imagination. It's used it in a positive way and so that was one of the main motivators I think for the you know for the story and the story just kind of like tells of a young boy who has an experience and at first you know you might think about his imagination even questions

that himself but then that'll be kind of like the theme of the book was it real or or not and I love the way the story ends because it kind of like leaves you well it looks like maybe It was real. It wasn't just his imagination, you know. So I want to invite people to use their imagination, but also invite them into a world, particularly people of all ages. But kids, I think it's a way to invite them into a world that they can have a little fun and imagine what we like to experience that.

That's kind of like we own my primary motivation. And I believe your protagonist is a little boy named Billy. Is that correct? Correct, yes. Yeah, he probably about 11 or 12. a typical boy you know kind of like at that age and kind of like do okay in school but this time he's gone on a vacation

he has his grandparents that live in Indiana and he goes there every year but normally he joins the family but this time he's going by himself so that's kind of like an adventure for him and as it turns out that's when he was just about to land he sees this image and of course no one else saw it so he's got this secret locked inside of him but then as it turns out when he goes to meet his grandparents are there

as quirky uncle Uncle Frank I kind of like him as a character in the story and then he has a dear friend Megan kind of like grew up with in long distance but one of his best friends so they're all there and so that launches it and it turns out kind of like sheepish about this and it turns out that he's not the only going to sold these things these cloud people so it turns out his grandfather has seen him his uncle seen him you know so that kind of like starts a new adventure for him

and hence the name the club cloud people. The cloud people, yes, yeah. And they're sort of like guardians over us because both of the grandfather, he's a Korean vet, his uncle Frank is a Vietnam vet, and they both had experiences of the cloud people in combat. And it turns out that they kind of like came to their rescue. And so that kind of like adds to the invitation. Now, are we taxing these cloud people?

Because it sounds like, you know, we need to make some more money in taxes. Are we taxing these folks? No, I'm just kidding. No, they're not. In fact, they want to keep themselves secret. In fact, that's another part of it. They don't want anybody to know about them. See, they're avoiding taxes.

Is this part of the part of the book? That's what's going on. All the things that we have to experience, yes. That's in book, too. I want to be beyond that. I'm just kidding. Better off. You know, this is your first book.

Have you always been writing? I think you mentioned you write for your parish, the church. Did you ever have an inclination to write novels and stuff before this? No, no, I do like a little reflection each week in the bulletin, and I tried it to not be about just stuff around the Paris world, like stuff's going on in the world, the news, just like, well, for a little reflection, things for people to think about it. And sometimes I would share a story with them.

But then at Christmas, years ago, I said, well, I can't really afford to give everybody a gift, so let me write a little short story. So that was always a part of what I was doing. but I never plan on writing a book. So that's kind of how it started. Like I said, it just began with an idea that just kept growing and growing and growing. And actually, as I did, it was kind of, and I'm actually in the process of writing a sequel. Hmm.

So, yeah. So you see the other book, but I guess. So you see this maybe as a series or maybe just a sequel for now, or maybe a series where there's an album? I, uh, I kind of like have the next, which I, the sequel, and then I have another segment after that. So, yeah, in a way, it kind of like could be a series. I guess I'm inspired by the Lord of the Rings a trilogy, so I guess they've got to make it a trilogy somehow, you know.

At least a trilogy. We have a lot of novelists on the show, and I mean, we have some people there, they're like 40, 60 books deep in a series, and their audience loves the characters. They love following the characters. They love seeing how they develop an adventure, and if they don't, if they don't keep writing, writing the series, they actually get hate mail.

Okay. It's like, like I've got captivated with the people I want to do what happened next. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like they'll do like two or three series, you know. They'll have like two or three threads going of characters. And, and, you know, maybe one year they put out two books on this series and then another year they put on another series.

And they just kind of do them as the books come to them. And the characters speak to them. But it's funny, they'll get, like, people will be like, when are you going to write about Bob again? Bob series, you know, and you're like, I can't take that pressure, you know. Yeah, so, but, you know, it's, I mean, it's a blessing to have that kind of audience. Absolutely.

I know, it's a lot of fun with it, yes. Sometimes I sometimes have authors say, like a Jay, Janice, she's going to be on the show again. I think she's almost 90 or in her 90s, but she's written like, she has like, I think, two or three threads, and she's written just prolifically probably 100, books right now maybe 80 oh my goodness and like one time she had like uh one of her she'd written about this guy about 20 books as the protagonist in her books and one day one someone walked up to

her at a book signing and said do you know that that one guy he always write about he's an alcoholic and she hadn't even you know she hadn't even occurred to her that and you know so it's like wow the reader knows more about my characters and books than I do. So it was pretty funny. But, you know, it would be great if you came up with something like this. How did you know that this was like going to be a thing

for you? Was there a light that turned on or, or, you know, how did you know this is going to be a thing? Part of my problem is that's why I'm still working on the sequel is I have a full-time job. You know, that's my primary, you know, so I have to take care of my flock and do my priestly duties.

So I started it, and then I was having trouble finding the time, and then unfortunately, COVID hit, and everything kind of like shut down. And I said, you know what, I'm going to use this time to, so I get on a computer every day. And unfortunately, that that horrible thing gave me the time. So that's how I finished it, you know. Yeah. So I use that in a positive way.

Yeah, it was, and think, you know, in spite of all the horror there of COVID, there was a lot of books that got written. It was really funny. I'm one of them. I mean, a lot of people found their creative outlet, and a lot of people used that time for good, and the way to tell stories,

whether they're entertaining or whether novels or documentaries, people jump through their history. It was kind of a great thing. I mean, it was great for the show. We had so many authors on and have so many authors on. It was great for the show. was kind of like, can we bring that pandemic back? The other thing, I'm just kidding, folks, we don't want to do that.

But the other thing was, is more people listened to show back then because everyone was stuck at home. I was kind of half a fan of it. I was kind of like, well, this sucks, but hey, everyone's listening to the podcast now. Oh, you got to do what you got to do, right? You got to do what you got to do. And as people go through the thing, is there anything, is there anything? interesting. You know, we can't obviously tell how the books ends or

maybe what happens in the middle, but are there some other characters involved? I see there's a Megan that's involved in the book. Yeah, it's a dear friend. And then it's kind of cool the way they're, I mean, they're at that young middle age, so the relationship is sort of growing

and of course, because of their relationship, she's the first one that he wanted to tell, and at first she thinks he's just pulling her leg, you know, but then kind of like, particularly when they grandfather says that he experienced him, it's kind of like, wow, so then that other big sequence, he has

a dream where he's, I guess this is one of the things that I always jumped about doing is like, actually flying. So he has a dream where he's flying with the clouds. He becomes actually the first person to actually meet cloud people and communicate with them. Of course, it's not

verbal communication. It's like telepathic. You know, and so he's flying in the clouds. He actually meets them. He communicates with them. and he finds out a little bit about the world. And, of course, then Megan's jealous. It's kind of like, well, and then in another scene, you know, because she's going to join them, you know, in the dream.

And, of course, it's like, well, how can you be together in a dream? So, like, they actually did experience. So actually they're the only ones that technically communicate with the cloud people. Uncle Frank and grandpa saw them, but they never actually talked with them. You know, so they're kind of like this added dimension of them actually entering the world than being able to communicate with them. That's kind of like cool, yeah. Yeah, that is pretty cool.

That is pretty cool. You know, I think I've hung out with the cloud people, too. I think it's on Fridays when I do edibles. There you go. Might have been in the clouds a couple times there, but so relaxing. Anyway, just jokes, people. Don't do drugs. Anyway.

You got a joke. You got a joke. Yeah. So what do you think you might? Get into any other type of books, maybe create some series or just taking one book at a time and see how it goes. I get one book at a time because with the finding the time crunch, this will be enough to work on it. Like I said, I have the idea to finish the sequel, and then they have an idea for a third ones. So I think that will keep me busy, you know, for a while, for a while, yeah.

No, I know you're religious. this is a bit and kind of like you know I know you're religious is there any sort of an analogy here maybe cloud people looking down and you're protecting you maybe angels or

God or is that another thing can art oh yeah it's kind of like subtle in there because it's sort of like the stuff didn't just come about but you know there's a hint of God

and it's do look at them as kind of like angels, you know, kind of like sent to protect us. And the other thing I sort of like, I talk about I don't talk about prayer, but kind of like the telepathic communication. It's kind of like prayer in a way because it kind of like, you know, like communicate with God

without, you know, like in a conversational way, because I'm big on that. That's, you know, you don't just say like your formal prayers, but again, it's kind of like the chat with God. So like there's a little bit of subtle seed during that communication for like a way to talk with God. So yeah, there's like, I don't want to hit people over

head with it, but there's definitely some religious themes in there, yeah. Sometimes subtlety is the best is the best analogy to get to people, and you know, they'll get the messages. Yeah, I mean, clouds are so beautiful. I was about photographing this Sunday, and I took some

pictures of some clouds. We're almost to September, and in Utah, the sunsets get really beautiful here. We get really good clouds. And so I took a few pictures of some clouds, and yeah, maybe maybe uh i don't know i may that might explain why i'm getting a call from their lawyers going hey man

uh you're going to out us if you publish that photo um and there's something sometimes driving i make sure i don't look too much with the cloud you got to pay attention to driving yeah that's true that's that's so anything more we need to know about about what you're doing what you're up to did did any what you know is there anything influenced you in writing the books, maybe from your childhood influence, it sounds like there's a inference or religion there. Was there anything else that, you know, gave you inspiration? Yes, kind of, there's some autobiography in there. I mean, my dad was a veteran. Oh, okay. So you've always said a little bit of your life.

For veterans, yeah, for that. So in there is definitely a sense of honoring those who serve. So that's their My grandparents Had a form That's where a lot of it takes place So Okay The childhood memories of being

Being out in the form there You know So a lot of that kind of stuff You know And even Billy The main character Is a little bit of A little bit of Billy

You and me You're kind of like a good kid But kind of like you know Like curious Vibatious You know So a little bit of that in there too So yeah

Little hints of autobiography You and yeah Yeah what's that old saying you write what you know so you write what you know and so you know it's interesting yeah it's interesting how we weave these our through life and build our stories and

stuff and you know you never think that anything that happens to you maybe would influence you for something that you eventually find that you love what sort of how do you come up with your characters and what sort of process do you use when you're right? A lot of wannabe writers or want to be, again, writers are out there

in the audience, and is there a process you use? Like, some writers will write an hour a day. What's the process you use to write and help keep yourself focused? Well, essentially, because I would like the sequel to have a little bit of idea where I wanted to go, but

it just sort of evolved. So I would start writing, and then I would maybe have one scenario mine and kind of like sit with it and I said oh wait a minute I think it would rather go in this direction so that the story sort of presented itself to me you know and in some things about the like I had like the general idea but it's sort of like interesting that the story sort of like evolved and emerged in my mind and yeah I would do a little bit at a time and then like stop and then kind of like because sometimes you get like a you know the classic roadblock and I say like I don't know where I want

this to go next and kind of wait for it and I also oh something would even like the ending that kind of like I didn't have that in mind and it was just like something I said I really like that you know so so it's sort of like a little bit of luck you know you know did you see of things that's when you edited I mean how did you how did you know how to develop characters did you do any study on that any study on writing or do you sit down one day and write it out I just yeah I really I didn't take any courses on it or I just I've always enjoyed writing and people tell me at least when I write for the parish they like what I write you know

I always when I preach I like to use a lot of stories because I figure otherwise sometimes you say religious themes and it's like blah blah blah you know but when you when you tell a story you know they graves people so that's always been a part of uh you know what I like to do so yeah I think you got to tell stories to to communicate yeah so I didn't really study it with the part of the what I do yeah as we always say stories are the fabric of our lives. And people, I mean, that's how we learn. The stories of the owner's

manual to life. They guide When you get together with family, your friends, right? You do you tell stories, yes. Yeah, you tell stories about the fish that got away and all that stuff. But, no, it's a story of the fabric of our life. I mean,

that's the Chris Vosho. It's a story collector. It's a griot. We collect stories from people and lessons and different things to learn. And that's how we, that's how we, they're the owner's manual because I never got my owner's manual. So I don't think you did either. Probably, no one else got one.

So I'm not fully out of the loop, just trying to figure it all out. But stories are a great way for us to learn. They're a great way to share our journeys. They're the owner's manual to life. So, well, anything more you want to tease out on the book or what you're doing here in the future before we go out? No, I just said that, I won't give away the end. ending, but it really leaves you guessing.

I'll just leave it with this. One of the movies I always love was Capex. I love that movie with the therapist and there's a guy. I don't know if he really... He's really an alien. Yeah, correct, yeah. Or just somebody who had a psychological issue. And at the end, they really like to even guessing

because it's kind of like he's not there and he takes somebody with him. So I love the way that movie leaves you guessing. Well, that's sort of like the way I ended this story. You kind of like leave you with a little like, uh-huh, you know, this is not just a tendency, but it really is a world out there. So, yes, I kind of like that. That was one of the favorite parts of my movie because I kind of like, yeah.

Yeah, the, yeah, that was, I'm guessing, Apex, two great actors in that movie, one of the brothers. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. alien or is he just a crazy guy correct yeah they never really you're leaving I guess up to you to figure around you know yeah sometimes sometimes those are the best stories I was talking

about that over the weekend with someone where I was talking about sometimes the obscure stuff I was talking about why the eagle song Hotel California is so enduring and we often just wonder about it and what it means

and that's the beauty of it. It's the story's up for speculation and interpretation. It's like lyrics to a music song. Well, it is lyrics to music song when you listen to the Hotel California. But, you know, that song was so, it was a song that wasn't supposed to do well because it was too long for radio at the time in the 70s. People like, it's over three minutes. In fact, it's double that, I think seven.

And, you know, and then who puts a fucking guitar solo? at the end of a song. I mean, you realize at Hotel California, the guitar soul is at the end of the song. Like normally it's in the middle. It's part of the bridge. But,

and so, and then the lyrics are completely obscure. But the beauty of it is people can listen to that story and those lyrics and they can make their own interpretations. And they can do that with books too and other stories. And that's kind of what we do. And that's kind of what makes them interesting. You can

probably watch a movie or read a book. or hear a story or watch a film, listen to some music, lyrics, and maybe your interpretation is completely different than mine. But that's what makes it so great and subjective and such a great and destroying story. To watch a movie, and sometimes I want to change the end then so you can adjust it. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes Good doesn't always try it's over evil. I mean, that's the classic storyline that we love, that Good does, you know,

trying for evil, but sometimes it doesn't. sometimes bad things happen to people and that's it that's the end um you know and uh i just had a friend who had a great life and and he'd written a lot of books and everyone loved him uh and he'd written a lot of smart stuff and one day he was at 82 he was going to go for his marathon walk or his hike that he does uh for me he was a marathon walk and uh he was doing it every day to you know and keep his endurance up at 82 and he there was a bus that stopped in front of him he went to step out from the bus and someone was paying attention ran a red light and and uh put him in the hospital so much damage he died a few months later from from everything of that and uh sometimes evil

wins sometimes it doesn't it doesn't end nicely and but that's kind of a lesson of life and sometimes those are things we learn things. You know, bad things happen. You know, all the more reasons we need to learn from them and be like, we should probably never try and see if we can keep that from happening again. So as we go out, give people your final. Well, I'm just going to say that one of the things

that could like, we need to like have hope and a little bit of distraction from that. So another reason why I wanted to write a story with kind of like happy things in it, kind of like, we have enough bad things in real life here. Sometimes you need to look. A little bit of happy things that distract us, yeah. Good point. Good point.

Hope is the enduring thing that keeps, I think, I think it's one of our species' greatest assets. Sometimes no matter how dark you can be, we can always find hope, and thereby we seem to endure. There we go. So give people a final pitch out on where to order your book, where to find you on the websites to get to know you better. The cloud people, kentuzanu.com.

That's the website, but you get all the major book outlets. You get on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, all the major outlets, it's available, too, yes. So, cloud people. It's a wonderful little fantasy, a lot of good stuff. I think it's for all ages. A lot of my parishioners who are senior citizens read it and loved it, you know, and they've handed it on to their grandkids, which this thrills me that it's on that. Well, thank you very much for the show.

Right here, Ang. thank you very much for coming to show we really appreciate it thank you and thanks so much thank you so much order up the book where refined books sold the cloud people out november 28th 2022 go to goodreads.com fortress chris fos linkedin dot com for chest chris fos chris fos won the ticotcotcity and all those crazy places in the net be good at each other stay safe we'll see you next time and that should have us out