Laure Stack on Once Upon a Boy & Howie the Unusual Bear with Chris Dabbs

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Hi and welcome to author conversations.

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I'm Chris Dabbs and today I'm delighted to say Laure Stack

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you know what?

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It has been like an educator for 20 years.

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Can you believe that really spending her time in her career supporting children through

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their struggles and dreams?"

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Now she's an author as well and her deep understanding of young minds leads her to her

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what, to write heartwarming stories.

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Who wants upon a boy how is the unusual bear and more future books, law hopes to inspire

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children to dream big and never let doubt keep them from reaching their full potential.

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Well, good on you law, I've got to say, I love that.

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So first of all, we've got "Once upon a boy" with how is the unusual bear, the leaf that

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went on an unexpected road trip.

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I mean, you really are prolific aren't you as an author.

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Well, I've always wanted to write and I became a teacher instead and I didn't have time

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to write and so as soon as I retired it was like and I was working in the classrooms

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and I saw immediate needs and I saw things that were blocking kids and so I decided to

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write stories about them.

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Right, that's interesting actually.

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So what were blocking kids?

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I mean, what age were you teaching?

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I actually worked with kids from kindergarten to seniors in high school.

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I substitute at all the schools.

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So you look after like, well, any child said that means you have got a lot of experience

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in dealing with different age children who are in a school environment, right?

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Yes.

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Wow.

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It's not just like being a parent, okay, where you've got your child at a certain time and

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they're growing up and then you have to deal with that kind of thing but for you being

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a teacher, I mean, you know, I can see that's quite tough really.

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So was there a particular moment, say, in like your first book "Once Upon a Boy?"

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I mean, was there a particular moment in your life that influenced, I guess, Liam's

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emotional journey in the book?

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That really influenced the character of Liam.

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He was actually built on an actual child, Liam.

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And the Liam that I worked with was special ed.

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He was in a SDC class, but he was the cutest thing ever.

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And what I noticed is in school, the minute a child couldn't do something or they thought

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they couldn't read or they couldn't do the math, they didn't understand, they just shut

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down.

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They just, I can't do that.

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I can't.

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In the minute they do that, they're creating their reality.

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And so this book was written to let kids know you are in charge of your reality.

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You create your reality.

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And you have to believe in yourself because the minute you stop believing you can do it,

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you can't do it.

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There's no way.

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So in this book, Liam discovers that he can create all kinds of things.

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It's a fantasy story.

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It's not a realistic story.

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But he develops all these things, children in a play set and all these things.

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And as soon as he sits back and goes, how in the world did I do that?

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It all vanishes.

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And you know, he thinks, did I just make this up?

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And then he sees a remnant from the lunch and he realized, no, I did create that.

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And then he brightens up.

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And what was meant to convey is the minute you believe in yourself.

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And really know that you can do things is, you know, when you have the power to create

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wonderful things.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And you know, I think that's one of the things that sort of like breaks my heart actually

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with children who have got no self-confidence and really don't believe that they can do these

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kind of things.

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I mean, so you really think that it comes down to fear or doubt about a child's ability

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to pursue their dreams really that affects them.

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I mean, does that come from home?

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Does that come from their own psyche?

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Does it, what does that come from, do you think?

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Well, what I've seen, there's a lot of children that come from homes that aren't so great, homes

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that aren't encouraging, that don't build them up.

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And they're pretty much on their own with the TV set.

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So a lot of these kids, it is based on home life.

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But then again, there's kids that have a wonderful home life.

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And they just, it's too hard.

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This is too hard.

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Math is too hard.

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A writing is too hard.

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And it's just easier to give up.

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But you know, I watched the Olympic, the kids in the Olympics, the last Olympics.

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And all of them said, I went through trials and tribulations.

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I faced so many roadblocks, but I didn't give up.

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I never gave up.

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And that's why they were there competing.

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And it's the only way they can do something that their lives is to believe that they can.

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Which I mean, again, I think you feel a nail there, I haven't even on the head.

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As far as athletes are concerned, they've got the support system around them.

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Sure, of course, that helps them, you know, coaches and things like that.

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But they still have to believe in themselves, don't they?

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Yeah.

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And you know, children, even if they don't have a home, you know, ra ra team that's that's

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spurring them on, it's school luckily.

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Those schools have dedicated staff, whether it's teachers or other people that work there.

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And every single person is dedicated to every single child on that school that they feel safe

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and welcome and are in a healthy environment to learn.

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And so, well, that's interesting.

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So, to learn in the book has pushed himself forward and, you know, done things now and

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believes, I guess, in himself.

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I mean, what sort of advice do you think Liam would give to people who ask him if, you know,

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who are discouraged, maybe, you know, children who are discouraged?

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What do you think he'd say to them?

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Don't give up.

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Don't give up.

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Don't ever give up.

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You know, every dreams are what are help people through life.

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I mean, from very little kids, they have dreams and goals.

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And it is so important that they know that they are exactly where they should be and that

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everything will work out all right.

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But they have to try.

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They have to take on difficult things because that's life.

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And so, it's nice that most children, I can say, have mentors at school that are propping

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them up and going, you can do it.

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You can do it.

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But they just need to believe.

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Yeah, it's just so sweet.

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Yeah, well, you know, that's down to adults as well, isn't it, to help them along?

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But yeah, it's a shame that sometimes a home life gets in the way of that.

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But okay, let's, everyone listen.

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I mean, you know, that's got to be a really good thing.

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And just quickly on that, I mean, what sort of conversations are you having with readers,

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you know, through reviews and things like that that have moved on and have they, you know,

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have you had some positive stuff as a regarding family moving on with these sort of things?

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Yes.

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Well, I've shared these stories with children before they were ever published.

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And they always had a good reaction.

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They always understood that this book was there to help them realize that they have potential.

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They all have potential.

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No matter what their strengths and weaknesses are, every child has value and potential to

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do something.

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They just have to feel good about themselves.

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Because when you don't feel good about yourself, you're just kind of muddling through

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and so those are the kids that I kind of watch out for when I'm teaching.

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Yeah, those are the kids.

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Well, that's, that's good to hear.

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Excellent.

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So talking about that muddling through and everything onto book two, then we've got how

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we the unusual bear.

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What can you tell us about this one?

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This one also originates from the idea that today kids are so unique, very, very different

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than when I was in school.

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I mean, when I was in school, no one had purple hair, you know, no one wore crazy outfits that

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I can remember.

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And the kids today, they're so different and the way they dress, the way they appear to

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their peers.

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And it can produce a lot of bullying.

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And what that stems from is I don't understand you.

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I don't understand your look.

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I don't understand how you talk, how you feel, how you think.

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And so I'm just going to avoid you.

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And I think it's so important if kids embrace who they are, you know, this is who I am.

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This is what I love.

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This is what is important to me.

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And they just, you know, again, they don't give up.

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They stand by how he, he's friends with everyone in the forest, not just bears.

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But he doesn't live like other bears, you know, he builds his own log cabin.

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He has his own garden, so he doesn't forge for food.

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And he, yeah, he sleeps in a bed.

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He has a library.

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He's snowboards and he keeps himself quite happy.

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And you know, he's looking for his bear.

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He's looking for his person.

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And in the meantime, he makes his life as happy as it could possibly be.

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That's what we all need to do, you know, as to just know who you are as a person and that

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that has value.

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And it coming from my own life.

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I mean, I was bullied as a kid.

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And I had to, I had to just get through that.

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And actually what I did, if I had time by myself and there wasn't anybody to play with, I

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would write.

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I would write.

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I would research animals, plants, and I'd make my own books.

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So that's where the writing career started.

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But I totally understand the kids that are different.

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And the kids, they want to be accepted for exactly who they are and know that they can be successful

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whoever they are.

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You know, because everybody has strengths and weaknesses and we need to use those strengths

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and build up the weaknesses.

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Yeah, that's so interesting.

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I mean, people are changing, aren't they?

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And school is very different from when I grew up and obviously as you were saying, when

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you grew up, I mean, even watch now TV shows about say school days as it were and you look

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back at the ones, you know, and everyone's regimented, they all fit in that they've always

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got the low-in-ers, the ones or two's who never fit in and they're really upset usually

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in a film, right?

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So how do you think that how a story can help children and teens as well, right?

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Become kinder towards others and perhaps not so dismissive or nasty or unaccepting.

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How do you think how we can help with that?

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I wrote it for young children on purpose.

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So starting in kindergarten, they know that whoever they are is just okay, it's fine.

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And they're going to go somewhere, that they're important, their ideas, their feelings are important

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and they can use these things to get through school in really creative ways.

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Because the kids that aren't academic, they find other ways, they find theater, they find

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working, they find automotive or whatever in high school printing.

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There's some thinking of all the classes that are available and there are so many opportunities,

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especially with AI, for them to do so many different kinds of things.

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So you know, we need all those different viewpoints.

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We need all those different ways of looking at the world because that's what makes the

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world go round is we're all different.

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Yeah, that's true.

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And I think that obviously, as you say in kindergarten, the earlier that we sort of understand

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that, the better for humanity, hopefully in the future, right?

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So how do you hope that adults respond, you know, after reading this story to their children

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and with their children?

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Do you think it?

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Do you hope that that happens?

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And I mean, have you heard of any adults who thought, who said to you, oh wow, you know,

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I've heard it.

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I've heard it.

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I've heard adults say this book was important for me, as well as Liam wants upon a boy

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because it is a universal thing, you know, to succeed in this crazy world, you have to believe

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in yourself.

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You just, you have to, and you have to be okay with who you are as a person and accept

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who you are as a person.

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And then others can feel free to, you know, to join you and kind of go through life together.

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But it's the fear of difference.

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It's the fear of, you don't look like me.

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You don't act like me.

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And so this causes, this will cause bullying.

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And so I think from the get go, we have these conversations with children.

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And we have these conversations with adults also.

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And this can help them guide their kids through school and through those difficult times.

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Yeah, excellent.

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Yeah, good.

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I mean, you know, great.

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So we're talking about using it as a kind of handbook or some sort of manual as well,

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right, to help people, to help their children, which is great.

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You know, maybe you didn't really plan that when you first started, but it sounds like

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a really great thing.

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So, okay, so once we book three then, which is, yeah, which is the leaf that went on an unexpected

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road trip, hey?

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So tell us about this travel, movement, core of the story.

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What's this about?

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Well, it's based on a true story.

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We've all had that leaf on our car that, you know, and this one trip about two years ago

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I took with a girlfriend.

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There was a big oak leaf on my car.

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00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,160
And I thought, oh, by the time we hit the freeway, it's going to be gone.

238
00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:12,160
But it wasn't.

239
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:17,320
The little part came up and this leaf was with us the whole trip.

240
00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:22,520
And so I created a persona for this, this leaf.

241
00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,840
And I told my girlfriend, I said, I'm going to write a story about a leaf that goes on an

242
00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:28,880
accident road trip.

243
00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:32,960
Now the leaf road trip was not my road trip.

244
00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,000
I made the road trip up.

245
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:44,080
But basically what that book deals with is the fear of the unknown, whether kids are starting

246
00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:51,400
a new school, a new class, you know, new opportunities, new things happen.

247
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,680
They move to a different home.

248
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,400
They're going to have.

249
00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:02,640
They're going to have things that frighten them and things where they're not quite sure

250
00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,320
how things are going to work out.

251
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:13,200
And so the leaf is terrified because he lands on this car and is taken away from, you know,

252
00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,120
everything is ever known.

253
00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,640
But he comes to trust these girls.

254
00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:23,920
The girls notice the leaf and start a relationship with them in this trip.

255
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:33,400
And by the end of the story, the leaf is grateful that he's had the experiences that he's had.

256
00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,920
And any trust, he has trust in these people.

257
00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,640
And he winds up back home where he started.

258
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:50,720
And so it's all about getting through, getting through your fear, you know, your fears of

259
00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,360
unknown situations.

260
00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:55,360
Yeah.

261
00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:57,360
And it all turns out good in the end, right?

262
00:18:57,360 --> 00:18:58,360
Yes.

263
00:18:58,360 --> 00:18:59,360
Yeah.

264
00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:00,360
But it takes him a long time.

265
00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:09,480
I mean, he has to go through a lot of scary, you know, scary things that happen to build

266
00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:15,080
that trust and to know, okay, I'm going to be okay.

267
00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:22,120
And kids need to know that too because it is frightening to go to a new school where you

268
00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,160
don't know anybody.

269
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:30,280
A new, I mean, right now the kids from middle school, we're going to be going to high school

270
00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:32,840
and I've asked them all, are you ready?

271
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,600
Are you ready for high school?

272
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,680
And they're all like, no.

273
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,560
And I said, you know, you are going to have so much fun.

274
00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:45,840
You are going to have a blast.

275
00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:46,840
But it's the unknown.

276
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:50,720
And same with I saw the elementary kids at the middle school the other day and they came

277
00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:52,840
over for their orientation.

278
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,400
And, you know, it's scary.

279
00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,200
Elementary is kind of like a little cocoon.

280
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:06,080
And then middle school is where you get to shine who you are.

281
00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:10,440
You know, they get to be whoever it is that they want to be.

282
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:15,800
And it's interesting watching these kids on their journey.

283
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:22,760
Sometimes I've seen kids all the way around elementary, all the way through high school.

284
00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:29,880
And it's crazy watching them through their life and how they change and develop.

285
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,320
No, I know what you mean.

286
00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,560
I'm a lecturer at the university as well.

287
00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:39,920
And I see that, you know, with the undergraduates when they come through all the way from the

288
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:40,920
beginning.

289
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:42,920
And that's just like three years and they're quite old, right?

290
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:44,880
So, you know, it's quite interesting.

291
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:45,880
I know what you mean.

292
00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:46,880
It is nice to see that.

293
00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:48,640
And of course, my own kids as well.

294
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:54,400
So what about one thing that I mean, I understand why, you know, you've had a leaf.

295
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:56,720
You saw the leaf on the car, which is a very sweet story, right?

296
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,120
To be able to think about that.

297
00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:03,080
But how do you use nature in shaping the story's message?

298
00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,760
Um, my mind just works that way.

299
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:08,960
I love animals.

300
00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:09,960
I love nature.

301
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:11,920
I live in the mountains.

302
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:12,920
We have bears.

303
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:14,400
We have raccoons.

304
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,040
We have bobcat.

305
00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,040
We have eagles.

306
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,240
Um, I just saw a bald eagle on our lake the other day.

307
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:22,240
And that was really special.

308
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:32,720
And we have deer and living up here just, it is, it's so great.

309
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,520
The interaction between the animals and their environment.

310
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:45,480
And so my fourth book actually that is in the works is about my animals at home and how

311
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:52,280
they interact with each other in funny ways, how they interact with my husband and I and

312
00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,440
the wildlife.

313
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,000
And it's humorous.

314
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,760
Um, it's, it's a funny book.

315
00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:00,800
It's got like 11 parts to it.

316
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,600
I don't know if you'd call them chapters.

317
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:10,000
But, um, yeah, I, I marvel at nature.

318
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,200
And I watch my animals intensely.

319
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,720
I watch other animals intensely.

320
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:16,720
What do they thinking?

321
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:18,520
What do they feeling?

322
00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,560
You know, what are they experiencing right now?

323
00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:28,880
And that's, you know, so my whole world really is nature.

324
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:33,080
I live up here in the mountains and I ski and I hike.

325
00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:40,320
And I'm also about the ocean and I've swam of whale sharks and real sharks and, and my next

326
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:44,680
adventure is going to be swimming with whales at some point.

327
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:49,920
But, um, yeah, I, I gravitate to animals in nature.

328
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,160
Uh, that's really sweet.

329
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:57,640
I mean, I think obviously, I view as I can't, I don't think saw your cat at the beginning,

330
00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:58,640
right?

331
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,280
So, uh, your cat was wandering around it.

332
00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:01,280
Do you have any other pets?

333
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:02,280
Oh, pets.

334
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:03,280
Any other pets?

335
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:14,120
Oh, if I left them in, you'd see the, we actually, um, the dog that's in my story, um, actually

336
00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:19,120
passed away from a horrible dental accident.

337
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:26,360
He, we've dropped the dog off at the vet to get a tooth removed and they gave him too much

338
00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:31,400
anesthesia and he passed away and he was like six years old.

339
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:39,040
So we didn't have a dog for over a year and then we were convinced that the spirit of our

340
00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:43,680
old dog could lead us to whatever dog we were going to have.

341
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:50,080
And we went to a shelter and as soon as my husband saw this one dog, he started crying

342
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,040
and he said, that's the dog.

343
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:57,320
And I said, okay, so we brought her home named her Lexi.

344
00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,440
She was pregnant.

345
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,440
Nobody knew.

346
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:02,440
Oh my gosh.

347
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:04,440
So it's like surprise.

348
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,760
In a couple months, we had five puppies.

349
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:08,760
Yeah.

350
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,040
So we, we kept two of them.

351
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:21,200
So we have a mini dog pack and I've got two cats and, um, yeah, it's quite the household.

352
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:22,200
Yeah.

353
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:23,200
I bet it is.

354
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:24,200
Right.

355
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,720
So I can understand where you're talking about interacting, you know, with the, the other

356
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:32,080
animals interacting with the family animals, each other, but get, I guess.

357
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:38,120
And then the wildlife as well, you know, for readers who don't, or listeners who, who can't

358
00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:42,640
get, you know, living in the mountains with bears, you know, going into town and like,

359
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,760
we're rummaging through garbage bins and all that sort of raccoons and all that.

360
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:47,760
It sounds lovely.

361
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,920
I've got to say, I am blessed to live here.

362
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:56,280
I am truly, truly blessed to live here.

363
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:57,280
Yeah.

364
00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:58,280
Absolutely.

365
00:24:58,280 --> 00:24:59,280
So, okay.

366
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:06,280
I have two, I have two other books that I can tell you about that are in the least as well.

367
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:10,280
Because I'm just, once I started writing, I didn't stop.

368
00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:11,280
Why not?

369
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:12,280
Yeah, exactly.

370
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,280
I like weird stuff.

371
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:22,520
Um, I mean, my mind is just, I, it's kind of bad of a child, but have you ever heard of a

372
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:23,520
cryptid?

373
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,520
No, no, I haven't gone.

374
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,520
Um, a cryptid is like Bigfoot.

375
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:30,520
Oh, right.

376
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:31,520
Okay.

377
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:32,520
Okay.

378
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:38,600
So, a cryptid is a creature that people have seen, a lot of people have seen, but hasn't been

379
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,920
scientifically proven.

380
00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:46,840
And so, I'm fascinated by these kinds of things.

381
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:53,480
And so, I researched the United States every single state in the United States has

382
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:57,200
about five cryptids.

383
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:05,480
Almost every state has a lake monster, Bigfoot, and flying things, and it's crazy.

384
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:06,480
Right.

385
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:07,480
Yeah.

386
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:15,120
So, that book is coming out and that book will have like 250 pictures in it of the weirdest

387
00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,080
stuff you've ever seen.

388
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:18,480
Literally.

389
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:23,480
And then I love sharks.

390
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:25,480
I love being underwater.

391
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,880
And so, I wrote a book, sharks, and it's, it goes into the eight orders of sharks and the

392
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:37,120
different sharks that are in each order, the characteristics of them from teeny to large

393
00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:43,000
to ancient, I mean, there's an ancient shark out there right now.

394
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,880
And several hundred years old.

395
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,760
And it's, it's just fascinating.

396
00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:53,000
So, and that will have about a hundred pictures in it as well.

397
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,000
Well, that's a sick, wow.

398
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,840
Honestly, no, I mean, you know, she said, I can just imagine your life.

399
00:26:58,840 --> 00:26:59,840
Well, can I?

400
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:00,840
Yeah, I think so, just a little bit.

401
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,520
So, you're writing, you're enjoying yourself, you've got the recons coming along and asking

402
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:05,520
you for some food.

403
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,600
I said, you know, you're doing it in Disney.

404
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,520
You know, they come up, you know, that sort of stuff, right?

405
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,520
So, oh my gosh, that sounds weird.

406
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,400
You need to tell everybody which state do you live in?

407
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:17,400
California.

408
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:18,400
All right.

409
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,400
Okay, North or South?

410
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:20,400
Oh, North, I guess.

411
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,600
So, the California in the mountains, I live in Lake Arrowhead.

412
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:25,600
Oh, okay, right, right.

413
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,440
By a really pretty lake.

414
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,360
Oh gosh, it's so.

415
00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:32,840
I am so blessed to live where I live.

416
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:39,200
And the kids up here, I just, they're so blessed because when I taught down the hill, a lot

417
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,560
of the kids had never seen snow.

418
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,080
They'd never seen things.

419
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:48,360
And I used to take them on personal field trips so that they could see snow, so that they

420
00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:53,880
could go hiking, they could do things that they had never done before.

421
00:27:53,880 --> 00:28:01,320
And so I look at these kids and it's like these kids are snowboarding for PE, you know?

422
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,920
And so it's like a different world up here.

423
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:06,920
Oh, sounds great.

424
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,600
Well, you know, it's always a way to get into a conversation and then we end up learning

425
00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,320
at a time and it's so annoying.

426
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,120
You know, let me ask you one more question, okay?

427
00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:19,520
And then you can give us a recap of all your books if you don't mind.

428
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:20,520
Sure.

429
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:26,000
Okay, well, the three stories that we mainly talked about today, which you can obviously recap

430
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,440
briefly on in a second, they all explore growth, right?

431
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:34,120
They all explore self-discovery, acceptance and understanding people.

432
00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:39,320
But one of the things that I wondered really was, you've got Liam, you've got Howie and

433
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:41,320
you've got the leaf, right?

434
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:42,320
Are they similar?

435
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:48,960
Are they, you know, how are they connected emotionally or thematically even?

436
00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:59,880
I think they represent each child out there, really, because every single kid in school, you

437
00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:03,280
know, they all have their challenges ahead of them.

438
00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,560
They all have difficulties with things.

439
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:16,240
And I think having people there to support them or having books that they can read that

440
00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:21,720
say they can do it, they can become something.

441
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,840
It's so important because this world's gotten so crazy.

442
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:30,360
I mean, it's just like everything's upside down.

443
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:34,280
So, you know, and how do you make sense of it?

444
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:39,480
So they have to be pretty sophisticated, actually.

445
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:47,320
Even the kindergartners, I find today, are pretty sophisticated.

446
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:49,720
But oh, I don't want to go into this one story.

447
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:55,280
But anyways, I have so many cute stories of kids doing cute things.

448
00:29:55,280 --> 00:30:01,360
But they just never cease to amaze me.

449
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:02,360
Brilliant.

450
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:06,480
Well, I tell you what, Lord, tell us about the books briefly and then I'm afraid we have

451
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,880
to kind of shorten 'til next time, of course.

452
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:13,760
But yes, so which ones are available right now and where can they be, you know, bought

453
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,760
or listened to or that sort of thing?

454
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:23,160
Right now, once upon a boy that deals with making your dreams come true and what really

455
00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:29,000
stops your dreams when coming true is published.

456
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:31,400
It's on Amazon.

457
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,480
And I am developing.

458
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:39,520
A website is going to be up soon where people can go to my website and buy the books.

459
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:43,040
Right now, my website is a landing page.

460
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:48,920
But it will direct people to the new website once it's up and running.

461
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:57,080
My second book was Howie, The Initial Bear, and it's written, you know, my son was the original

462
00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:59,000
unusual bear.

463
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,480
My son did not fit into the box.

464
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,120
He was always way outside the box.

465
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:14,280
And I grew to just love that about him and just love that about other kids.

466
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:21,000
So making your way through the world when you're different, that's what Howie's about.

467
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:27,200
And the leaf that went on an accidental road trip is available right now.

468
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:34,400
And it's about overcoming your fears, about situations or opportunities or things that

469
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,960
happen that are out of your control.

470
00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:38,960
Because that's scary.

471
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:39,960
Yeah.

472
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:40,960
And I think you're right.

473
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:41,960
Yeah.

474
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:42,960
That leaf would be scared.

475
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:43,960
Yes.

476
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:44,960
Absolutely.

477
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:46,960
Well, then there we are.

478
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,320
That's all the time we've got at the moment.

479
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:50,520
I'm really sorry about that.

480
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:51,840
But it's been great talking to you.

481
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,800
And I love the way that we've managed to talk about things that are actually, you know,

482
00:31:55,800 --> 00:32:01,800
not just about a book, as it were, but a meaningful chat about why you've written the books

483
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,040
and how they help as well, you know.

484
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:05,440
So it's not just fiction.

485
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:09,080
There's a real reason behind it, isn't there?

486
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:10,080
Yes.

487
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:11,080
And it's great to see.

488
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:15,500
And you can really see that 20 years as an educator has really pushed that through you.

489
00:32:15,500 --> 00:32:16,500
So there we are.

490
00:32:16,500 --> 00:32:19,520
Thank you so much for having me.

491
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:20,520
No, no, no.

492
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:21,520
Not a problem.

493
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:22,520
It's been an absolute pleasure.

494
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:23,520
It's been lovely to meet you.

495
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:24,520
Well, thanks again.

496
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:25,520
I hope we meet again soon.

497
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:26,520
You too.

498
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:27,520
Yeah.

499
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:29,400
And yeah, well, have a great day.

500
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,320
And I'm very jealous about where you live.

501
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:32,320
So thank you.

502
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:33,320
Okay.

503
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:34,320
Bye.

504
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:35,320
Bye.

505
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:36,320
Thanks.

506
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:36,320
Bye bye.

507
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:45,040
If you enjoyed this conversation, you can watch more author conversations here.

508
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:55,040
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