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Fiction Faeries Episode #4: Nature Crowns, Garden Joy & Finding Your Creative Courage
Christine: You are listening to Fiction Faeries, two authors chasing joy and creativity. I'm author Christine DePetrillo.
Amanda: I'm author Amanda Torrey.
Christine: Welcome to our podcast where we amplify joy, whimsy, and the magic of the written word. Good morning, Amanda. How are you today?
Amanda: Good morning, Christine. I'm doing great. How about you?
Christine: Good. I'm feeling especially awesome today because of our nature crowns. So if you're just listening and not watching, you might wanna head over to where you can watch. We are both donning nature crowns, which again, so typical us—we decided to do something that we both wanted to do, but our crowns are very different. I have an evergreen crown with some pine cones in it.
Amanda: Lovely.
Christine: Would you like to describe your crown?
Amanda: First of all, Christine just looks amazing with her evergreen crown blending in with her fairy wings and her gorgeous fairy backdrop. I mean, she's actually in the fairy forest, but I love it. And I have my little crown. I went out and picked some dying calendula and some marigolds, and I have like these little purple flowers that are weeds, but I love them so much, and the bees love them. So I put them on there too. And I even picked a couple things of kale. I have this rainbow kale, so I shoved some in. You can't really see it very well, and some of them keep falling off, but they're there.
Christine: Nice. Well, that was my plan– to use flowers. However, since you and I had our planning meeting for this episode, it has snowed here almost every day. So everything is past its due date now, past its expiration date. But the evergreen always going strong. So I went that route now. Though I kind of want to go with my fairy wings like a snowy white cloak too—that is what happens. I mean, you get the crown and then–.
Amanda: You need a cloak. Yes. You need a cloak. I've been—you know, on TikTok they always show like those green cloaks, they look very forest fairy and I want one so bad, but it's the most impractical thing I could possibly—I mean, even less practical than fairy wings, to be honest.
Christine: Yeah. No, I'm with you a hundred percent. I can't tell you the number of times that I've looked at cloaks online, and then I'm like, no, no, no. Don't, don't be silly. Don't be silly. But that might just be the joy that we're after.
Amanda: It really might be.
Christine: Yeah, we're gonna have to discuss this further.
Amanda: I think so. And listeners, if you wanna take bets on how long it takes before we each have cloaks...
Christine: Yeah. That's pretty much a sure thing, I think at this point.
Amanda: Oh my goodness. Absolutely.
What's in Our Chalice
Amanda: So one of the things we like to do here on Fiction Faeries is to share what's in our chalice. So I have my chalice here. We like to just have a little chat about what we're drinking today. So today I have just a tea bag of this Zest Tea, Blue Lady Tea. It's like high energy, three times the caffeine. So if I start talking faster as the episode goes, it's not just the Massachusetts in me, it is also the tea. And what about you, Miss Christine? What are you drinking today?
Christine: Well, I decided this morning since it was kind of frosty and crisp out when I was walking the dog this morning that I wanted to continue that freshness. So I have peppermint tea this morning to kind of clear the sinuses. And I'm like close—forefinger and thumb just about an inch away—to just going full on winter mode. I love it.
Amanda: I'm with you. I'm there with you.
Christine: So anyway, yeah, why not? I already burned a candle that was balsam and cedar, so I'm just ready to flick the switch from autumn to winter. I keep going over to it. No, no, not yet. Not yet.
Amanda: I mean, Halloween has passed.
Christine: It has, yes.
Amanda: It's a free for all now.
Christine: Right. And I actually love when I decorate my house—it brings me great joy to have all the fall and autumn colors. I mean, the walls in my house, I have a harvest orange wall, I have a green, and you know, brown. And I have these colors that are very fallish, but I do feel like fall goes by so quickly. And now it's snowy and I want to get out all the evergreen, like my crown and the whole thing.
Amanda: True. Then March is going to arrive and you're gonna wish you spent a little more time with the fall.
Christine: Yeah. Yes. That is March. Maybe, you know, April, sometimes even May, it's still snowing here. And then I'm like, okay, that's enough. And unfortunately immediately following the winter too, it's not even like, oh, it's spring. You have in Vermont a mud season, which can be very unpleasant.
Amanda: I do remember mud season in New Hampshire. I'm sure it was very similar.
Christine: Yeah. I don't decorate for mud season, but mud season decorates for me.
Amanda: I love that. That's a slogan if I ever heard one.
Christine: Yeah. All the footprints on the floor—it sends a Type A person like me over the edge, all that mud.
Amanda: But that's actually really perfect for our discussion later.
Inviting Joy Into Our Lives
Christine: As you know, if you have been listening for a couple of episodes, we're on a roll now. Our main goal with this podcast is to meet authors and other creative people, go behind the scenes into the creative process, build a whimsical and weird community—and I really feel like we're excelling at that.
Amanda: We are so good at weird.
Christine: Yeah we are. We like to highlight the power of play and find joy in creativity. So, Amanda, I am wondering how did you invite joy into your life since our last episode?
Amanda: Well, it kind of goes along with our discussion actually, because drum roll—the day after Halloween I started watching Hallmark Christmas movies!
Christine: Yay!
Amanda: And it's always kind of a barometer of my mental health. I feel like, you know, the earlier I start, the more I need them. So this year it is all about finding the joy in whatever way I can. And Hallmark movies just really hit that spot for me. You know, they're just low angst, joyful. You know what's gonna happen. You don't have to stress about it. And I've just been really enjoying it. So if anybody has recommendations for which ones I should watch, I am compiling a list.
Christine: Yeah. I love that. And I have to say like the ones that I've watched so far, 'cause I mean they started back in like October, I think...
Amanda: Did you start Christmas in October, Christine? You watched the Christmas ones in October?
Christine: I did. And I was just gonna say, hi, I'm Christine and I watch Hallmark Christmas movies in October.
Amanda: Oh my goodness. I thought I was bad starting on November 1st.
Christine: No, no. You know, if they're gonna start releasing them, I mean, what's a girl to do?
Amanda: That's true. It's like a drug.
Christine: And I mean, I have enjoyed all of them. There's only one so far of the new ones that I didn't finish. For me, a barometer of whether the movie is good or not is if I stay awake. If I keep falling asleep and have to keep rewinding and restarting, then something's off. I'm also somebody, when I watch those Hallmark movies, I am very loyal to certain actors. So if I'm not feeling whoever's in it, that's not gonna keep me either.
Amanda: Yeah. I'm the same. I just discovered a new favorite. We'll discuss it off air, but I have a new favorite. I'm curious if it's one of yours too. And I don't remember her name right now, so I'll have to look it up.
Christine: Yeah. Well, another thing that brings me joy is that my mom watches them as well. So like, her and I will like recap, and we'll be like, so-and-so is in this one coming up and, you know, oh yeah, I have it set to record. You know, so that's kind of fun too.
Amanda: I love it.
Christine: We do talk like we know those actors and actresses, so...
Amanda: You do! As we discussed a couple of episodes ago, you know, it's all about the fandom and we're in the Hallmark fandom as well.
Christine: It is. It is true. So the thing that brought me joy recently, and it's such a silly thing, but I had this favorite fuzzy buffalo plaid fleece-lined coat with a hood.
Amanda: Wonderful.
Christine: Okay, now nothing fancy, nothing super expensive, but it was just that great coat like you just throw on to take the dog out or to step outside quickly. And again, because it had a hood, it is just cozy. I have this problem where I bust the zippers on almost everything that I own. Okay? Not even just coats—pants, you know, you name it. I don't know if I am zipping too fast in my haste, or am I super human fairy strong?
Amanda: I was gonna say, I think you did something to offend the zipper fairies.
Christine: I did totally. I don't know why, but I mean this coat, the entire part that you pull came completely off, so there was no way to keep the coat closed. So I was like, well, I'm not throwing this away. Like I love this coat. And so I was wearing it kind of wrapped like a bathrobe almost, but you kind of had to hold it. And so now you have one hand holding the coat while you're holding the leash or whatever it is that you're doing outside. I discovered on Amazon that you can get these zipper pulls that have a little screw on them and you can unscrew to like open them, fit them on the track, screw it back tight, and then you can totally fix the zipper. Now, I'm not a seamstress, I don't sew, like there was no way I was replacing the entire zipper on this thing. I was like, I don't know if it's gonna work. I even had to guess on the size because the directions say check the zipper you have, 'cause it should have a little number on the back. Well the zipper I had was completely off and gone, so I was like, well I can't do that. So I kind of went around to some of my surviving zippers and was looking to see what was close in size. And then this thing was great. It just had, like I said, a little screw on it. You can tighten it and adjust it so that it'll make all different sizes fit.
Amanda: Wow. What kind of magic is this?
Christine: It was magic. Completely fixed it. So I did that part. It had a little tear in the back from where the dog snagged it, so I even took some care and sewed that little hole up. And I zipped that thing up, literally jumped up and down for joy. Like I fixed it. I fixed my coat, and now I've just been wearing and loving this coat again all over again since.
Amanda: That brings me joy. I love hearing that because you know when you have like a treasured thing—yes, we could just buy a new one, but there's something about repairing what we have and keeping it. And sometimes you just can't even replace the thing that's the most cozy.
Christine: Yeah. Well, that's what I was gonna say too. I did look to see if I could find it, but typical me, this happens with everything—especially cosmetics, right? You find this color that you love, and then they discontinue it. And it's like, well, why didn't I buy an entire case of this? But I actually did learn my lesson over the summer. I had bought a pair of sandals and they fit perfectly. I immediately bought a second pair.
Amanda: That's really smart.
Christine: So I have them on tap. So now I have my coat all fixed, all snugly, just for the cooler weather. So that's my joy.
Amanda: That is so perfect. And I just love it because it segues right into our next conversation because in talking about the cooler weather, dear Joylings who may be listening or watching us now, Christine and I both enjoy gardening. I'm a new gardener. Christine is a little more experienced.
Christine: Seasoned.
Amanda: Yes, she's seasoned. I'm new, but we both got so much joy out of gardening this year and the season's over. And do we have the gardening blues? sniff
Christine: We do.
Amanda: Lemme wipe my fairy tears away. So at this point, we have harvested our veggies and we've been eating them in a variety of ways. As one does. I have filled my freezer with so many tomatoes and peppers, I can't even tell you. But we were chatting and we decided that we would add a new feature today here on Fiction Faeries called Fairy Kitchen Fun, because what's more fun than being fairies in the kitchen?
Fairy Kitchen Fun
Amanda: So we challenged each other this week to try out a recipe using vegetables that we have grown. So, Christine, would you like to go first? Tell us what you made.
Christine: So I made eggplant Parmesan, which is one of my favorites. So we did grow eggplant. The thing that was different though, and I hope my Noni will forgive me—normally I would take eggplant and fry it, which is like, you know, a whole thing. And I usually do it like in a huge batch because by the time you take everything out, you have the oil going and the whole thing, you know, it's like a half a day project if you do it the Italian way. So I found a recipe, however, in which you don't fry the eggplant. You still egg and bread it, and then you bake it. Then you layer it with the sauce and bake it again, so there's no frying—healthier. And I find too, like, it's not that oil doesn't just sit in the pan after, like if you have leftovers, which I always do. So I love this recipe. I mean, anyone who's eaten it that I've served it to has been like, yeah, it tastes almost the same as when you fry it. So I've kind of abandoned Noni's original methods.
Amanda: I'm sure she would approve.
Christine: But I think she would, and I will say, I'll add to that, that also with my tomatoes from my garden this year was the first time that I made a marinara sauce from tomatoes in the garden. So that might balance out—I might get the Italian pass.
Amanda: Absolutely. Freshly grown tomatoes and your own recipe from you.
Christine: Yeah. So how about you? What did you make?
Amanda: So I've been—I love soup season. A few years ago I got really into soups when traveling in the UK and Ireland and Scotland especially. My daughter and I go there a lot and we just love the soups, like the soup and the bread. Oh, so good. So I make a lot of soups now. So this week I made a carrot coriander soup using carrots that I grew, and most of them are not very big carrots, but I did get a pretty good harvest at the end of the year and I just dug up my potatoes and I had a good amount to put in there. So, so delicious. Like knowing that you grew it from your own dirt. I don't know. I don't know why I never gardened before. Well, I know why, because I never had time and energy and...
Christine: Yeah. It's a lot of work. Takes a lot of work. It takes up time.
Amanda: Yeah. It's very expensive to start. But I'm just overjoyed and it's been delicious and nourishing and cozy and all the wonderful things.
Christine: Nice. So I'm gonna go off script here a little bit and just—do you have any one tip that you would give listeners in terms of gardening? Like, for example, I grow carrots as well, which I just remembered that I did make a carrot cake from carrots in my garden, which was pretty awesome, I have to say. But a tip in growing carrots—because I used to just, you know, go ahead, throw the seeds in there, and then I would get these really fat carrots. And then I discovered that the trick is if you dig down deep and you loosen a good amount of soil, the carrots are able to grow down and you get some really—this year I got some really nice long carrots that look like real carrots. So that would be my tip. Loosen your soil well when growing carrots.
Amanda: I did not do that. It was new soil, like I had just shoveled it all into the bed. So I thought it was okay. But I definitely, I think once it rained and started getting compact, it really got a little—I did have a couple of good long ones, but also I have a thing—they say to thin them and I can't. I just feel like I'm sacrificing my babies if I do that, and so they were too crowded, you know? So I'm grateful for what I got. I'm gonna try to be better about planting them farther apart so that I don't have this problem because I can't pull them out. I just can't.
Christine: Yeah, we did pull them out. I feel the same way. But you're right. If you were to just start out by planting them farther apart, you wouldn't have to do that.
Amanda: It's just that the seeds are so tiny, it's so hard. But yeah, I think my tip would be as a chaos person in general, and it definitely carries on into my gardening—I would call myself the chaos gardener. I am part of those Facebook groups. Ignore the spacing rules except for carrots. I think they're always like, plant precisely this far apart. And then you have all this empty space and I'm just like, overplant. And they'll fight for it. They'll live, they'll do it. I had so much stuff and I had a lot of things that did not grow well, but because I planted so much, it really didn't matter. You know what I mean? Like, I just had—I had so much.
Christine: It is kind of like a Darwinian kind of situation out there. The fittest ones will make it, yeah.
Amanda: Well, because I spent all the late winter carefully nurturing every seedling inside—does it have the right amount of water? Does it have the right amount of light? Blah, blah, blah. And the tomatoes that grew the best were my volunteer tomatoes that fell off of tomatoes last year from the one tomato plant I had last year. I got like eight that grew under my cucumber trellis. So I'm like, why did I do all that nurturing?
Christine: Yep.
Amanda: I'm still gonna do the nurturing. I'm still gonna talk to them and sing them the good morning song and the goodnight song. I will do it. But at this point I'm thinking that's more for me than for them.
Christine: Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree with you a hundred percent. I learned this as well. I'm very obviously, you know me, meticulous about, you know, where we're planting things and rotating beds and all these different things. And then I have a neighbor down the street and she's like, oh yeah, I didn't even plant that. She's like, it just sprung up. And I'm like, exactly. And her garden is beautiful. She's got all these great vegetables and she's like, I don't really know where that came from, but it's such and such. And she's like, do you want some? I'm like, yeah, I guess, you know, and I'm just like, what? I'm over here, I've got the grow lights going months ahead and, you know...
Amanda: Yes. But in nature, they don't do that in nature. They just fall and they grow and they crowd each other and they figure it out. So...
Christine: Yep. Yep. So listeners, if you are a gardener, we would love to hear from you—what you grow, how you prepare them, if you have any tips for us. We're always learning. I think that's one of the great things about gardening is that each year you learn something for next year. Like, I'm gonna not plant that, or I'm gonna put this here. There's always learning happening.
Amanda: Or you overplant something that you don't actually like eating, and you're like, oh, maybe next year I should actually plant the things I want to eat.
Christine: Exactly, yes. Or, you know, for us, we had planted broccoli, which I love, but it was very susceptible to pests since we're in the woods. I was like, no, no more broccoli. I'm gonna fill that in with something else.
Amanda: Yeah. Good thought.
Christine: So that's what we did with that. But yeah, so listeners, we'd love to talk about gardening—that would bring us joy. And part of what we love so much about gardening is being outside and connecting to nature. So that's, you know, something that brings both of us a lot of joy. We have, Amanda and I have our nature roots—connecting with nature is definitely a huge source of joy.
Amanda: I think that was one of our early bonding moments when we realized we were both tree huggers.
Christine: Yes. Yes, definitely. Yeah, nothing bonds people like knowing that other person also will throw their arms around a tree and speak to it. That's friendship right there. For life.
Amanda: It is. That is that weirdness beacon like, oh!
Our Love of Nature
Christine: No. Well, I mean, there is, but weird is good. We want weird. I mean, that's what we're promoting here. So I don't know about you, but like my love of nature grew from an early age. You know, where I grew up, I did grow up in a suburban neighborhood. However, we were the last house on a dead end street surrounded by woods. And that was just our playground out there behind the house in the woods, with so much creativity happening out there amongst the trees. And my dad was a very big fan of going for walks in the woods. And I mean, all he would have to do is grab the stick he used as a walking stick. And, you know, my brother and I were like, okay, like the call to adventure—let's go. So, you know, that notion of just wandering in the woods has been instilled in me from way back, decades back. And I just never lost that joy.
Amanda: I love that.
Christine: How about you? Any early memories of loving nature?
Amanda: Well, I was a huge reader. I learned to read when I was like three years old. And you know, by the time I was six I was reading Reader's Digest that my grandmother always had, always imagining, you know. So I loved books that had to do with nature, but I lived in a suburb of Boston. There wasn't a lot of nature. My apartment building was surrounded by—there was a funeral home across the street, a bunch of bars, you know, so I didn't really have that. But my grandmother in her apartment had this really big picture window that you could sit—there was like a little window seat kind of, I guess. And I would sit there and look out and just imagine that I could see mountains. And I had never seen mountains before. But in my imagination, I was in nature all the time and I did love to find the nature in the city. You know, walking, there were chestnut trees and I remember the chestnuts all falling to the ground and I remember crunching, you know, leaves and acorns under my feet when I'd walk. And it was always very magical and finding little beetles and bugs and I would build stories about them in my mind and make up stories that I would tell my friends—like about talking beetles. But as if I actually talked to them and I don't know, I think they call that lying, but...
Christine: No, no. That's imagination. It's imagination.
Amanda: I was probably seven, but I very specifically remember trying to convince my friend. I don't—she seemed convinced. She might've been just, you know, placating me. I dunno.
Christine: Playing along.
Amanda: Yeah. But then when I was nine, we moved to New Hampshire up on a mountain and I got to have that, and that was a period of my childhood that was actually very tumultuous and kind of—there was some childhood trauma there, but the woods were so healing and I could escape into them, and we had a brook out in the back. So even though it was a really hard time of my life, it was also the most magical because that connection to nature—there was something about that. All my memories, when I think of that time in my life, go to me being in that water, being in those woods, having a hammock tied to the trees, you know, things like that. And just—it really was just very, very magical. So, you know, as I've gotten older, when my kids were young, we would do things in nature. We'd go to the beach, we'd go for a walk in the woods and stuff, but I did kind of get away from it more. I wasn't as immersed as I wanted to be. You know, we would try to do nature crafts and things like that, but it's been really nice now making a concerted effort to get myself into nature every day and just not lose that again. You know, I mean, we're always part of it, but...
Christine: Yeah. No, I love that. I've never had like a being away from nature, but I've changed the kind of nature that I'm around. As I said, I grew up in a suburban neighborhood, and then I had moved to a suburban area as well that had like a little patch of woods. And then actually when I was teaching, that was also a suburb, but they did have woods in the back and we actually built a nature classroom and I really enjoyed being able to, you know, bring nature into the teaching experience. But then in moving to Vermont, that's a whole different level of nature. I call it feral nature. It's just deep nature.
Amanda: I love that.
Christine: Yeah. Where I live now, I don't see any other houses. It's just woods all the way around, which is pretty awesome. So just kind of having that opportunity to get even deeper into nature has been a huge source of joy. But I like how you said too about finding nature wherever you can find it and the healing part that nature brings to you. I think one of the things I really love about being where I am now in the woods and anytime you connect with nature—it's a good opportunity to experience all the elements at once. You know, you've got the ground, you've got air, water, you've got all of them there in that moment and it's just so—you feel so alive at once.
Amanda: That's so beautiful. All that fresh air.
Christine: Yeah. And we talked a little bit here about tree hugging. So do you have a favorite type of tree that you like to hug?
Amanda: That's kind of like asking me to pick a favorite child, which, you know, I always tell them each I love you the most. You know, don't tell the others. I'm sure they're not listening to this podcast. But yeah, I think as far as tree hugging experiences, my favorite has to be the redwoods of Northern California, Southern Oregon. They're just massive and they're old. And it was a dream come true to get there, you know. And I mean, literally me and my three children when they were teenagers could all be hugging the same tree and not even touching fingertips.
Christine: Wow.
Amanda: And just magical. And I just feel something. And also the smell of the redwood forests is like nothing I've ever smelled anywhere. I mean, I love the smell of any forest, but there, if you could bottle that up, man, I'd spend all my money on that. But I'll hug any tree. And some of them I feel like will call out to me. Like I just have to touch them. I have to, and so hopefully they're consenting to it.
Christine: I agree. Yeah. No, I agree with you too. Especially about the call—I have, there are a couple of trees on my property that even their branches are out in almost like waiting for an embrace kind of situation and I kind of can't pass them without doing a quick hug. But in terms of my favorite, I do love hugging maples and I happen to live in a sugar bush. So there are plenty of maples here and I like how you brought up too the smell. 'Cause it is—hugging trees is a very sensory experience. You've got the touch of the bark, you've got that smell. It just engages all the senses.
Amanda: Absolutely. I have to ask you, did you love maples before you moved to where you are? Like were they your favorite?
Christine: I did, I did, yeah. It is possible. I will say, and not to disparage any tree, but I am a little bit allergic to oak trees. And there are, where I live right now on this property, no oak trees.
Amanda: Oh my goodness.
Christine: So I know, I just—as it happens...
Amanda: That is kind of wild.
Christine: I didn't specifically say I want no oak trees. No. But this one just happens to not have oak trees. And I will say I did hug oak trees, but at certain times. I wouldn't hug it in October when the leaves were starting to die, 'cause that would be very allergic and I wouldn't hug them at the beginning of spring, 'cause that was an itchy time. But yeah...
Amanda: Interesting. Hmm. And so, I was gonna say, the oaks were probably my favorite in this area. Like, I love birch trees, but I don't really like hugging them as much.
Christine: Yeah. Well, they shed a little bit.
Amanda: Yeah. Yeah.
Christine: Yeah. I do have a lot of birch here. That's the one that has its arms out waiting is a birch tree, actually. But, yeah.
Amanda: I love that.
Christine: Anyway, yeah. I mean, let's keep on tree hugging and again, listeners, if you have not hugged a tree at all or haven't in a while, this is your reminder to go do so.
Amanda: I am a nanny part-time and I do teach the kids I nanny about hugging trees and howling at the moon and all that, so they will be continuing the tradition.
Christine: Yeah. You can't—oh, yeah. Well, that goes without saying, doesn't it? I mean, I love it.
Books About Nature
Christine: So as Amanda and I were talking about, you know, connecting to nature and that bringing us joy, it let us obviously, as our conversations do, often go to books. And this has happened to Amanda and I before where we discuss a book and then we're like, oh, we both read that—just like randomly too. Not anything like we planned to read it like we were having a book group. It's just like, oh, I have that too!
Amanda: Yes! Right. And it's not even like it's usually some big popular at the moment title usually.
Christine: Right. Yeah, it is. Some obscure title that we both have for some reason. But we were talking about some books that really helped shape us in terms of our love of nature. And one of them was The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. And again, listeners, if you haven't read this book, it's such a great read. It discusses how trees communicate with each other and support each other, that they learn from experience. They form alliances with other forest dwellers. Trees have their own personalities and communities. And I mean, I feel like I learned a lot about what I should be doing in terms of connecting with other humans by finding out the way that trees connect.
Amanda: Interesting.
Christine: I think too, when I hug a tree now, I think about—'cause a part of this book talks about the underground network of roots and how it's all connected. And I feel like when I hug one tree, I'm hugging all trees all over the globe and that just fills me up.
Amanda: I love that.
Christine: I know, Amanda, you have this book too?
Amanda: I do. I listen to it on audio and I agree. It really opened my eyes because I've always felt this way toward trees, so I felt like my feelings were validated. I was like, see, I knew it. I knew it.
Christine: Yes, yes.
Amanda: Awesome. And another book we were chatting about, I don't know, do you have this one or is it just one you read? The Last Child in the Woods?
Christine: I have, yeah, I have all the ones that we discussed. Yep. Last Child in the Woods—and again, this one I read because of teaching. But again, it had huge implications than just for teaching. But in this one, this is by Richard Louv and he talks about nature deficit disorder, which is something that kind of plagues children and adults both now where we've, you know, become more technologically tethered, I guess is the word I would use. And a lot of us have, you know, office jobs and we're becoming more and more inside people. So, you know, this talks about this disorder, about disconnecting from nature and the negative consequences of that. So it's really an encouragement to get back out there and connect with nature and how important it is and how many benefits there are to connecting with nature, again, both for children and adults.
Amanda: Absolutely.
Christine: And one of the specific things is that it talks about connecting with nature stimulates creativity, which of course here on Fiction Faeries we are 100% behind.
Amanda: Bingo. Absolutely. I saw that author speak at—it was some school nearby, maybe Brown University or something, years and years ago, and I was just—as a preschool teacher at the time, I was like, that's exactly it. Like kids need to get out in nature more.
Christine: Yeah. I mean, it's as simple as that.
Amanda: Mm-hmm.
Christine: And then this next one is called I Love Dirt, which is just a really cute one. It's got 52 activities that help your kids discover the wonder of outside. But again, there are things that adults can do with children or without. 'Cause I don't have any, and I've done some. I did also use it in the classroom as well. But it's just, you know, simple activities to do outside. The author is Jennifer Ward. It's a real quick read, but it's just a nice little book to have on hand when you're thinking about, you know, how can I connect with nature? And there's plenty of things here. And what I like about it too is you don't have to live in the middle of the woods like I do for this to work. You can, you know, do it in a city park, in a backyard, you know, whatever slice of nature that you can find, the activities in here will work.
Amanda: I love it.
Christine: Let's see. And I have one more. This one is Your Guide to Forest Bathing. And forest bathing—I originally came across this idea 'cause I saw the words, which I was like, what is that? First of all, I just love saying it—Shinrin-yoku.
Amanda: I love that.
Christine: But it is, yeah, it is a Japanese tradition of forest bathing. It literally means kind of going out into nature and being present there, kind of like playfully meditating out in nature. And again, it is a therapeutic approach to getting you to kind of slow down and kind of turn within by connecting to nature. So this one happens to be by M. Amos Clifford, but there are tons of books about forest bathing and these will be linked in our show description. So if you didn't catch the title or the author, they will be down below in the show notes so that you can give those a look.
Amanda: Lovely. I love those. I'm definitely adding that last one to my list. I don't have that one. And I have seen some places around here doing forest bathing classes, and I've thought about trying it, but I think I'd like to do it by myself.
Christine: Yeah, I think you can even get certified to be a forest bathing therapist kind of thing, if I'm not mistaken. There's something to that as well.
Amanda: Sounds awesome.
Christine: Like you've said, you know, and I've experienced as well—I've always found nature to be joyful and healing. So...
Amanda: You never feel worse after a walk in the woods unless you twist an ankle or something.
Christine: No. Well, yes, that is true. Yeah, that would be unfortunate. Let's not hope for that.
Nature in Our Writing
Christine: So, and for us, nature is part of our writing. I mean, your story about imagining mountains before you even had access to them is a perfect example. And I know that in our books we also put a lot of nature in there as well. A lot of our stories are deeply, deeply rooted in a very natural setting. So, um, yeah. So did you—I know that we both talked about sharing a snippet from our books that showcase us using nature. Why don't you go ahead and go first on that?
Amanda: I was thinking you would go first.
Christine: I know, but I just felt like I just did a lot of talking with the book recommendations.
Amanda: No, I loved it. I'm like all ears. All ears.
Christine: Well, I'm gonna have to balance out, you know.
Amanda: I forgot to grab the book to show you, but this is excerpted—an excerpt. That's a harder word to say.
Christine: It is. Passage. Use passage. Just like whenever I can't spell a word when I'm writing, I'll use a synonym. So use passage.
Amanda: Okay. This is a passage from Loving a Wildflower, which is book two in the Starting Over series. It does take place in Healing Springs for those of you who have read the Healing Springs series. It's the—there's four books about sisters and this one, this sister has struggles with mental illness. So she has internal scars. The hero is—he was once a prisoner of war and has a lot of external scars and family issues and things. And he's—it's sort of a grumpy sunshine sort of thing. So anyway, she is very free spirited. He is very much not. So that's the setup for this. So this is from his point of view.
"He watched her grow from a wilting rose to a strong, vibrant wildflower. Her shoulders supported her proud head as she remained unwavering on his doorstep. Wildflowers never quit. No matter how much they were mowed down, they grew back twice as strong through concrete, through nutrient deprived soil. Heck, they grew where they weren't wanted and where they were most needed. Soil correctors, beauty givers. The wildflower before him straightened her body and lifted her head toward the darkness. 'I refuse to accept your rejection of me.' This wildflower self-watered with tears. She generated her own sunshine, which is a good thing since he had none to offer."
That's my little nature description. They're obviously at a difficult part of their relationship where he's trying to keep her at bay and she is not letting him turn her away.
Christine: What a great comparison there to describe her as a wildflower too. What a great idea. And really showcasing, you know, the use of nature to further what she was as a character. Awesome. I love it. I love that book. I love that whole series.
Amanda: Thank you.
Christine: So I chose Rescue the Night, Book One in my Harley's Nest romance series, which that entire series is based on a family who owns a wildlife rehabilitation center. So obviously there's lots of nature involved in there. But I decided I was gonna read actually the very first paragraph of this book. 'Cause it opens with the heroine Vanessa, who is an art teacher, and she does art classes at the family's wildlife rehabilitation center. But the book just opens with a description of, you know, where she's at.
"Sunlight filtered between the roof slats of the arbor painting golden streaks over the large wooden table my students were gathered around for class. Wednesday morning Art Adventurer summer classes at Hartley's Nest were my favorite part of working at my family's wildlife rehabilitation center in the small town of Greenridge, Vermont. The property was mostly acres upon acres of wild forested lands that hugged a cleared area. The clearing included the arbor area, animal enclosures, a clinic, a food garden, and an extensive butterfly garden I created. I grinned to myself. A series of dirt roads snaked into the forest from the clearing and led to individual homes for my mother, my five brothers, and me. I said five brothers. Thanks for your condolences."
Amanda: I love that!
Christine: But my intent as the author was to try to put you right there in that nature right from the beginning. And again, like I said, a lot of our books have that nature component in it.
Amanda: I love that so much because you really did—I felt like I was sitting there waiting for class to start, you know, for my art class in the woods. I mean, you should do that if you haven't already done it in real life.
Christine: Yeah. And now you're a little disappointed that there is no art class in the woods for you to do.
Amanda: And five brothers. Someone else's brothers,I mean.
Christine: Well, true. Yeah. Five rough kind of mountain men type brothers is always handy to have on tap
.
30 Ways to Find Joy in Nature
Christine: So our discussion here about, you know, our connection to nature and about how it brings us joy led us to create 30 Ways to Find Joy in Nature, which is downloadable. And you'll find that link down below in the show description as well. So if you've been listening to our conversation and you know, you wanna go out and hug trees and maybe do some other things, we have some suggestions for you in that 30 Ways to Find Joy in Nature.
Amanda: It's a fantastic list and definitely lots of things to remind you of ways to reconnect or things that maybe you wouldn't have even thought about. So thank you for putting that together, Christine.
Christine: Yeah. No problem. And I think that we should challenge each other to write outside in nature and outside in nature, maybe away from home. 'Cause I know my temptation will be to just walk out the back door, so that's a little too easy. So how about we have to find somewhere out in nature, away from home, and write something. And we'll see what we come up with.
Amanda: I love that because I used to do that a lot. I used to take my notebook or my laptop and go find a neat place out in the woods to write and I haven't for a long time. So I appreciate this challenge.
Christine: Yeah. All right. It's gonna be cold, so we'll need gloves.
Amanda: I know, but...
Christine: Yeah. I'm gonna need a shovel. I'm gonna need a shovel, but okay.
Amanda: I can loan you my unicorn inflatable suit.
Christine: is it warm in there?
Amanda: It gets pretty toasty.
Christine: And folks, if you didn't—I'll plug it again. If you didn't go see our videos where we dance outside, you need to. There's something to see!
Amanda: Definitely go see that.
Christine: Yeah, definitely. Pat ourselves on the back for that one for sure.
Amanda: We’ll flutter our wings.
Wand of Wonder
Amanda: So on the topic of writing, actually I'm so excited because we got a question for Wand of Wonder from a listener and I'm so excited because we don't get a lot of those yet. 'Cause I don't know that we have a lot of listeners yet. So...
Christine: No. But that's all right. We're building the community.
Amanda: We're building. Yes. So I'm very excited. So, and this person asked to remain anonymous because their letter is a little bit personal. But I'm very, very excited. So I'm gonna wave our little wand for Wand of Wonder. I'm gonna read the letter and then we will do our best to answer.
"Hey, Fiction Faeries, thank you for this podcast. I've never been into podcasts, but now that you introduced this to me, I've been finding others that I like too!"
"Helps pass the time while I'm doing chores. I'd love to know, since you're both published authors, how did you get past the fear of people reading your work? Or is that just a me thing? I've loved writing since I was a kid and was always told I had great potential. I've always loved the idea of writing as an adult, but something stops me from doing it, even when I tell myself to just go for it. Something is making it hard for me to open up and get vulnerable on the page or something. I can't explain it, but I hope you get it. So how do I get past this fear of being seen and go for it? I'm getting older and need hobbies, but more than that, I need to feel like I don't let fear stop me from accomplishing something dear to me. Your last podcast about being brave enough to step out of your comfort zone spoke to me and I want to dive in, but that fear is always there. I know you're not writing therapists, but if you have any advice for me, I'd appreciate it. And maybe someday I can be a guest on your show with my shiny new book in hand."
Christine: Hmm.
Amanda: I love that. We want you on here with your shiny new book.
Christine: Yes!
Amanda: And though we are not writing therapists, I think we probably can help with this because it is definitely not a her thing, right?
Christine: Oh, not at all. Not at all. Definitely. Yeah, I feel—I mean, I could have written that a couple years ago, you know, before we started putting our books out there. I'm sure we have that same sentiment. For me, there's something that I always go back to because I'm gonna say unfortunately I don't think you ever get rid of that because I think every new book that you write, you still have that little voice in your head that's like, I don't know if this is good enough. I don't know if you should be putting this out there in the world. And so when I hear that voice and that fear kind of comes up, I think back to when I was in high school, I took a creative writing class. And that was in my senior year. And at the end of the year, that teacher signed in my yearbook and he wrote "a potential playwright." And anytime I think that I shouldn't be putting something that I write out there, I think about the fact that I spent a semester with him, you know, doing all the writing exercises that he had assigned and he thought that I was a potential playwright.
Amanda: I love it.
Christine: So sometimes it does take, you know, somebody outside of yourself, somebody who's a little bit louder than that critic inside your head, to sort of validate and say, no, you know what, I've seen your work. And you got it. You got something there. And don't let that voice in your head cancel that out. So, listener, you know—this is us giving you permission to share your work. Okay?
Amanda: We've got our wands here for you.
Christine: We got our wands. Yep. So when you're writing and you're getting a little nervous and you're like, I don't know if I should share this, you just know that the Fiction Faeries said, you are good enough. You go and you share it. We believe in you.
Amanda: Absolutely. I love that. That's such good advice and I 100% agree. You know, I also was fortunate enough to have a teacher—we had to write a short story and she wrote on it, and I still have this 'cause it meant so much to me. She wrote, "This is the best story I've read by a student in a long time." She still gave me a B plus, I think because of comma splice, which probably has not changed. Sorry, Mrs. Donahue. That has probably not really improved, thank goodness for editors. But, you know, I think if you just remember those times you've had validation and if you haven't had validation because you've never shared your work or just because this is new for you or anything like that, you just give it to yourself because you know what, your characters, your stories that you have to tell are needed in the world. This world needs art and whether it's writing or painting or playing music or whatever it is, you have something that nobody else has and it's unique to you. And the only regret you'll have is not doing something that meant something to you.
Christine: Exactly.
Amanda: You're never gonna regret taking the chance and putting yourself out there because you know what? Yeah, sure. Some people are not gonna like your work. That's just part of it. I mean, you know, I used to reread my one star reviews over and over and over again, and now I'll look at them. I'm not one of these people who cannot look at reviews, but you know what? That's just somebody's opinion. I don't love every book that I've read. I don't love every piece of art I've, you know, experienced, but it doesn't mean it's bad art. It just means it wasn't for me. So if you just get yourself into that mindset and just go forward, you know, put out those negative voices. Say, okay, not everybody likes me. Not everybody's gonna like my art. Even if they do like me, they might not like my art, or they might like my art and not like me. I mean, it's all—oh, you know, and just find a friend who will cheer for you, you know? And like Christine said, if you don't have someone like that in your life, that's what we're here for. We're gonna flutter our wings for you and we're gonna encourage you because we want your stuff. So have that book done or story or whatever, we are gonna feature you on here for sure.
Christine: Yep. Definitely. And like you said too, you know, I've gotten that piece of advice where, you know, not everyone's gonna like your work, and it just means that it wasn't for them. About one star reviews too—I, you know, I obviously look at those reviews too, and my favorite one star review that I received said that, gave it the one star and then said, "This is like a Hallmark movie," which was my goal. So I was like, really? I'm like, I don't know. I'm like, I'll take that one star because that's what I was trying to do!
Amanda: Yes. Art is so subjective, and I still always have that fear. When the last book that I published was A Heart to Find, which was the series that Christine and I co-wrote. You know, we wrote a duet, we each wrote a book in that series. And I was taking my nanny kids to an event and one of their friend's parents is like, "Oh, Amanda, I'm reading your book." And the terror in my soul was—and that was my 24th published novel. Like, it wasn't like I was new at this, but I was like, why is she reading my book? You know? I was terrified. Also very grateful, but scared to death. And I don't know that you ever do get past that, you know? But it is what it is. You know? I create it, I put it in the world. It is now for the reader and onto the next thing. And you can't let yourself get bogged down by that kind of worry, you know?
Christine: No. And the hope is that it lands in the hands of the right reader, someone who you were writing for. So and that they're gonna love it and enjoy it and tell other people about it, who will also enjoy it. So, and that's, you know, kind of how it grows. But yeah, now and then it's gonna land in the hands of somebody that says, "This reads like a Hallmark movie."
Amanda: Yep.
Christine: And apparently they don't think that's a positive thing.
Amanda: But we do!
Christine: That's fine. That book was not for them. That's fine. So...
Amanda: Exactly. Let that inner creative child come out and play.
Christine: Yes, yes. Thank you for that letter to our Wand of Wonder segment. That was just a great question and we really hope that you do put pen to paper and get that out there. 'Cause we are definitely on your side.
Amanda: Yes. Hundred percent. And if any other listeners have a question they would like to ask us, we would love it!
Christine: Yeah, we do. I think we could—I actually want us to have little business cards now that say Fiction Faeries, Writing Therapists. I like it. I like it. Yeah.
Sprite Spell Check-In
Christine: All right. Let's transition to the Sprite Spell where on the last episode we did—what did we do? We dared each other to do something brave that would bring us joy. So what did you do, Amanda, that brave something?
Amanda: Well, so it's not something that was new to me. I've done this before, but it was new for—I haven't done it in a long time. I went to a new writer's group that meets in person, and it was in another state because most of—I used to go to writers groups all the time. As you know, we met at one. And I used to do conferences all the time. I even have my 2012, you know, New Jersey Romance Writers Conference mug today. But since COVID, a lot of the meetings have gone to being online. And though I'm appreciative and I love them, I don't connect the same way. I really like to just be around people in person. So I've been seeking an in-person writing group, and there was one that I went to and it was so lovely. I was nervous because I'm very much an introvert. But, you know, I took my mom, who's also a writer, and it was only fair—she dragged me into writing groups 22 years ago, you know, to my first one and has always been my encourager. So I was like, all right, I'm dragging you with me this time. And the people were lovely, and I'm so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone. I'd been eyeing it for a while, but I hadn't been able to kind of push myself to do it, to just drive the two hours and, you know, meet these new people, walking into a room where you don't know anybody and they all know each other can be intimidating. But I did it. I'm happy. I left feeling very inspired and professional, and it was great. So how about you, Christine? What was your thing?
Christine: Excellent, excellent. Oh, I love that. I love that. I'm actually in search of a writing group around here, which is hard. People live far apart from each other up here, and I'm kind of arriving at the idea that if I want a writing group around here, I'm going to have to create it.
Amanda: Yes. I was battling with that as well.
Christine: Yeah. And I'm not—I don't know if I'm up for that, but that's something that's sort of spinning around in my head, so...
Amanda: I wish we lived closer.
Christine: I know. Yeah, I know. So stay tuned. I'll see what happens there. You know, what is big around here is poetry groups, which I do love writing poetry, but they're more sharing poetry. It's not really writing groups or business things like that, which is fine. I don't mind sharing poetry. And I did go to one of them, but it just wasn't the vibe that I was looking for. It wasn't quite the right energy of a group. So anyway, I'm still on the quest for that. But yeah, my brave thing is so—if you've been watching the podcast or listening to the podcast, I've mentioned my dog Archie before. He is a German Shepherd mix and he had some serious anxiety issues which would lead him to when he encountered people and other dogs and just really, you know, any kind of new situation, he would just immediately, fur would go up on his back and he would just start barking and he just really couldn't settle down, which led me to not, you know, taking him anywhere and not having him encounter people 'cause it was kind of too much to handle. So he went to a training program, which was miraculous, I have to say. Worth every cent. And so the brave thing that I did, which I would not have done prior to the training, is I took him to a place called Dog Mountain. It is literally a mountain, but it is just dedicated to dogs. There's actually a dog chapel there in memory of dogs that have passed. It's got all pictures in it. There's an area where dogs can, you know, play free. I didn't go over there—I wasn't quite that brave yet, but we did go and we were around other people and dogs and cars coming and going and we were off our own property and that was really a big thing for us.
Amanda: I love that.
Christine: And then we went to—it's a bike path, but they call it a rail trail 'cause it's where a railroad was. And I took him there. We were jogging again past people and past dogs and he was so well behaved and it was just like the confidence that both he and I had brought us joy in being out in the world. So I'm trying to, at least once a week, take him out somewhere, which is kind of, you know, a thing for me as well. 'Cause I like to just, you know, be here in the woods with my trees.
Amanda: Yes.
Christine: But I am kind of surprised because the other thing is that as we were out there and, and jogging on the trail and being at Dog Mountain, I was saying hello to other people, which again is not really like me. I'm one to avoid eye contact and just kind of go about my business. But I was wanting people to engage with us to have it be a training opportunity for Archie.
Amanda: Yes. Wow.
Christine: So I'm like, hi, hi. Hello. How are you? Hi. To like everybody. And everybody was so delightful, you know, back to me too. So I was like, first of all, who is this? Like what have I become? But I was like, well, it's kind of nice to say hi to people and have them say hi back to you. It only took me like 51 years to figure that out, but that's okay. Better late than never, I suppose. But so yeah. So that's been my brave thing that brought me joy—and Archie joy, so...
Amanda: I love that. I'm so glad that he did so well and that you got to do that. And I love that it's kind of like both of our inner children—you having to engage with other people that you may not have wanted to or might have felt a little, maybe as a kid you felt shy or just whatever. And me walking into a group like that would've been my worst fear as a child. Like I hate to make myself the center of attention unless I was on a stage or something, but in a social thing. So our inner children are doing so beautifully!
Christine: They are. They are. Yes.
Amanda: And if you listeners who are listening or watching did something brave that brought you joy, please let us know in the comments. We want to hear about it, we wanna read about it.
New Sprite Spell: Make Messy Art
Amanda: And it's now time for our new Sprite Spell. So we've got our little wands. We're going to call the next few dares that we do the Letting Your Inner Child Experience Joy Series.
Christine: Mm-hmm.
Amanda: If you can help us come up with a better name...
Christine: Yeah. That's kind of long, right? Yeah.
Amanda: Give us something catchy, you know. But these dares will honor your inner child because we have to give these inner children the honor they deserve. We're gonna give the inner child permission to take the wheel every now and then. I mean, we could have some discipline, but... So this episode, Sprite Spell, is to make messy art. Now, why am I suggesting this? I'm forever a preschool teacher and I love all things messy, and I know, Christine, maybe you'll cringe a little. I know, but it's okay. We have our 30 Ways to Reconnect with Nature and we also have a list of 30 Messy Art Projects that you can download. The link for both of those things will be in the show description and it'll just give you a little jumping off point if you need some motivation, if you need some inspiration, just some things that you can do to let that messy child come out and play. And hopefully it sparks some creative things in you.
Christine: Yeah. Oh, I like this one. I do like it. I think I might get more joy in cleaning up the mess afterwards, but...
Amanda: Well, I think maybe we should live together. I'll make all the mess and you can just clean it all. Be fantastic.
Christine: That's fine. That's fine. That sounds like a good—yeah, that's our Golden Girls Plan. That'll work out. That'll work out. So we'll see how we did in the next episode with our messy art projects and listeners, we would love to hear about your progress with the Sprite spell in making messy art projects. You can share photos with us, you can tell us about it in the comments. Again, all of our links are below so you can find us wherever you listen, wherever you watch. You can message us on social media. We would love to see what kinds of things that you're creating and doing to bring you joy.
Amanda: Yes.
Christine: And on our Fiction Faeries Substack, on the About tab is all of our contact stuff there too. So we would love to see the tribe do their Sprite Spells. Yeah.
Amanda: Oh yes. The tribe. Yes. And if you have been getting any value out of this podcast, please feel free to share it with someone that you want to feel the spark of creativity and joy, someone you want in your weird, whimsical tribe. And come on, let's build this thing.
Christine: Yeah, let's do it!
Amanda: Yes. So I think that's it for episode four. Can't believe we're at episode four.
Christine: Yay.
Amanda: Can't believe it. If you enjoyed the Fiction Faeries podcast, please hit that like button, subscribe so that you don't miss an episode. And find us on social media, leave a review, tell everyone you know about the podcast and just remember if we're going on and on, you can always speed it up if you like to listen. If you don't have a lot of time, speed it right up and we'll...
Christine: Yeah, I'll bet we're even more fun at two times the speed.
Amanda: I'm certain of it.
Christine: Yeah, maybe. I like it. I like it. And if you're a creative person and wanna be a guest on the Fiction Faeries podcast or you're a listener with suggestions, there are forms in the show description and on our Substack to contact us. We'd love to hear from you. We're very open to suggestions. Yep. And we're very eager to have guests.
Amanda: Yes, we are. So we will leave you with the Glimmer Challenge of asking you to find and spread joy today and to take your inner child outside to play.
Christine: Yeah. Farewell, listeners. See you next time on the Fiction Faeries podcast!
The Fiction Faeries Podcast is hosted by authors Amanda Torrey and Christine DePetrillo. Our main goal with this podcast is to meet authors and other creative people, go behind the scenes into the creative process, build a whimsical and weird community, highlight the power of play, and find joy in creativity. In this episode, we talk about connecting to nature’s joy and freeing our inner child to play.
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Links to books mentioned in this episode:
Rescue the Night by Christine DePetrillo - https://books2read.com...
Loving a Wildflower by Amanda Torrey - https://amzn.to/4oJBjaf
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben - https://amzn.to/481zu2s
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv - https://amzn.to/496CbRl
I Love Dirt by Jennifer Ward - https://amzn.to/3LNEHCc
Your Guide to Forest Bathing by M. Amos Clifford - https://amzn.to/4qNSitg