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Fairytale Retellings: Symbolism, Magic & Mistakes | Mythic Mirror Ep 30
22 Plays5 days ago
Explore the types of Myth and Fairytale retellings with us! Tired of hearing about the new Odyssey movie? We go beyond it real quick! We chat about symbolism, history, villains, and lots more!
Explore Mary's upcoming fantasy novel about lost gods, deadly secrets and water magic at kickstarter.com/projects/maryckehoe/breaking-inlands
Interested in the books we mention? Head over to bookshop.org/shop/mary-c-kehoe
Want a free short story and fantasy world exploration? Go to mary-c-kehoe.kit.com/e18855812b
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Transcript
Introduction to Mythic Mirror
00:00:00
Speaker
Why do we keep telling the same stories?
00:00:15
Speaker
Welcome to Mythic Mirror, the podcast for lovers of myth and fantasy who want to live magical and fulfilling lives. I'm your host, Mary
Hosts Introduction
00:00:22
Speaker
C. Kehoe. And I'm your co-host, Carolina Carter.
Fairy Tale Retellings: What Works and Why?
00:00:25
Speaker
And today we are talking about fairy tale retellings, what works, what doesn't, and why should you care.
00:00:34
Speaker
you want to start us off? I think you and I went different directions with these concepts, so I'll obviously start with mine. i think um I was rethinking, i was thinking about retellings and that we have Twisted Tales, The Villain's Perspective, Modern Retelling.
00:00:52
Speaker
Like for me, that's like Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You. um Or She's the Man, the underappreciated She's the Man. Those are modern retellings of Shakespeare or Jane Austen. I would argue it's
Styles of Retellings
00:01:08
Speaker
fantasy.
00:01:08
Speaker
But I would say Shakespeare is a, he retells a lot of myth and fantasy too. So it's a retelling of a retelling. It's a dream within a dream.
00:01:23
Speaker
Then we have the expanding and the expounding, which, ah by the way, I'm making up these categories. This is I like him. This is not a literature class.
00:01:34
Speaker
I'm making this up. um Expanding and expounding is like when you take a side character and you give them the main character role for your whatever, for your book, for your movie, Circe. Yeah.
00:01:49
Speaker
The Witch's Heart, you know, I think there's several things done for the ugly stepsister. And then there's the, what's in my mind is like the traditional retelling where you truly are um just telling the tale again, like Spindle's End.
00:02:05
Speaker
And maybe you're putting your own zhuzh on it, but it's, you know, princess pricks her finger, falls asleep, wakes up is essentially the theme.
00:02:16
Speaker
What were your examples for the twisted one, twisted tails?
Disney Villain Retellings
00:02:24
Speaker
Maleficent would be something I would put under that category. i just going to say did all of Disney's, they've done like a series of all the bad guys. but At least in books. And there's an author who's quite popular on TikTok right now who ah takes all the Disney villains and makes them sexy.
00:02:45
Speaker
I can't remember her name right now. but I remember the name for Captain Hook is Hooked. I think she puts them in a modern setting, too. um
00:02:58
Speaker
Then there's, of course, the original Wicked. Oh, Cruella. Yeah, Wicked. Oh, yeah, you said Disney does that. Yeah. A villainous retelling. You're sick of those, aren't you?
00:03:10
Speaker
Oh, so sick of them.
Retelling Preferences
00:03:12
Speaker
we i ah You like them? I like them. All of them? All of them?
00:03:21
Speaker
Oh, I think you and I differed quite a bit. I enjoyed Cruella immensely. Yeah, we we covered that. Not on the podcast. Yeah, we did. Oh, we did?
00:03:33
Speaker
Yeah. What episode is this? 30! Welcome to episode 30. It's pretty exciting.
00:03:44
Speaker
I'll bring an actual a toot for our hundredth. Okay. Chibs, it's our 30th episode. Say yay. o Okay.
00:03:56
Speaker
And then we have yours, which I think I'm going to speak for you. Okay. Why don't I speak for me? No. You can't. Then this whole podcast is a monologue. You'll have nothing to say.
00:04:09
Speaker
Get out of my way. This train is leaving the station. Should have thought of that before you asked me to be on a podcast. You got me monologuing, you slide dog. Well, do you have a favorite of your types?
00:04:23
Speaker
I love a modern retelling movie. I really do. But I think my favorite to read is probably a traditional retelling.
00:04:34
Speaker
um
Book vs. Movie Adaptations
00:04:35
Speaker
I would include Ella Enchanted in that as well. For sure. Yeah. Where it it keeps within the fairy tale parameters. It keeps the rules. It keeps the setting and the atmosphere and just like gives it a gives it new life.
00:04:51
Speaker
The bones are there. in the flesh We're talking about the book Ella Enchanted, not the movie, which did not keep to the. right you liked it oh no i mean it grew on me i think love anything medieval from the early 2000s yeah it i feel like it has a moment yeah i think now i can look back on it fondly at the time comparing it to the book well yeah but have you ever been happy going to a movie and comparing it to the book
00:05:30
Speaker
not even Lord of the Rings. I still like Lord of the Rings.
00:05:35
Speaker
Okay, we've got one.
00:05:39
Speaker
But not The Hobbit. was upset with The Hobbit. We were all upset, Mae. In fact, I defended it longer than you did. You, after the first one, you... Movie one, I was out. Well, that's because i didn't realize they'd... When I went to see movie one, I didn't realize they'd broken it up into three parts. So as we're nearing the end of the movie, I'm like, they're going to have to speed things up. This is We have a lot of ground to cover in these last 15 minutes. Yeah.
00:06:09
Speaker
So then when I realized it was three parts, of that was done. Yeah, I defended his choices all the way up to the third movie. And then I was more done than anyone.
Impact of Literary Retellings
00:06:23
Speaker
yes All right, so what I was thinking about, first I did two types and then i yeah kind of got I went off into a sidetrack. So we'll we'll get to the sidetrack in a moment.
00:06:38
Speaker
Yeah, I've been thinking about, so you've got like the literary myth retelling. someone at my door. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, so, so so sorry. can't Hang on one second.
00:06:49
Speaker
Okay, that's actually adorable. um I work remotely and every Wednesday we have a team meeting and everybody eats donuts. And I had mentioned that the only thing I miss about being in the office is the donuts. So um one of my coworkers just Uber eats a box of donuts to my house so I can have donuts for the meeting.
00:07:12
Speaker
I'm going to cry. That's so sweet. Okay. Sorry. So sorry about that interruption. Back in fairy tales and donuts. Do you want to come over? Okay. do I do want to come over.
00:07:26
Speaker
Come on over. So your three types would fit into what I was thinking of as the fantasy fairy tale retellings, which we can explore in a moment.
00:07:37
Speaker
The other type I was thinking about is more of the literary myth retelling, which I think Cersei probably, some of what you mentioned, like Cersei would kind of, I don't know.
00:07:50
Speaker
I haven't read it yet. So I don't know. Is it literary or fantasy? I feel like I've seen it marketed as both. It's on my to-read list. I'm so sorry. I haven't actually read it yet. I just know.
00:08:01
Speaker
We just know it's about Cersei. Which I just heard are a YouTuber pronounce Kerkay. And I've never heard it pronounced that way. So tell us in the comments. This Cargawia all over again. Yeah.
00:08:17
Speaker
Yeah, so so with the literary myth retellings, there's one danger i think a lot of them can fall into, which is...
00:08:30
Speaker
it feels a little bit like they are fixing them, doing them through a lens of today that makes it better. You know, that the, you know, I've, I've made, I've focused more on the women's voice and that makes this myth now better instead of,
00:08:48
Speaker
Here is my ah contribution to this myth. And I focused on the woman's point of view or something, you know, it's just, and and this might not even be the author, it might just come from the marketing of the publishing company. I don't know, since I, you know, I haven't read Circe yet. So I'm not even talking about that one specifically. But I just, I, in all of the marketing I've seen for these, it's always, you know, this new feminist, uh, and, and the comments like, and this, okay, I'm not going to get into the movie, the Odyssey too much because there are a million, literally a million videos about it already.
00:09:26
Speaker
But one of the comments that people who work who worked on the movie have said is you know, the, the, a comment about how Homer would feel, you know, I wonder how Homer would feel with all these, the women point of view that we focus on, which he didn't kind of thing.
00:09:46
Speaker
And a I think he did b
00:09:52
Speaker
It's kind of missing the
Women's Representation in Retellings
00:09:54
Speaker
point. If you just focus on kind of the the gender of the character you're missing, and this gets into this whole other, this is getting into the sidetrack of where we can head next, but the symbolism and how myth and fairy tale isn't just a story, it's a story that symbolizes something. Everything in it ties to something deeper, and this is true across all cultures. You know, Joseph Campbell spent his whole life's work looking at these patterns and what they mean and how they're recurring patterns throughout the world with these different myths.
00:10:29
Speaker
And I would say the folklore and fairy tale grow out of myths and have the same strands of symbolism. So, saying that, you know, the Odyssey doesn't focus enough on women, I think A is ignoring what Homer did with Penelope, which is amazing, how she kept people vying for her favor instead of killing her, and using wit, which is the same thing that Odysseus is doing, is using his wit, and the mirroring of them is important.
00:10:57
Speaker
So it kind of negates that just in one comment and then also ignores the fact that Odysseus symbolizes our soul. So it doesn't matter that in the in the book, in the story, Odysseus is male, is the is the man because he symbolizes the reader.
00:11:18
Speaker
no matter what who who gender the reader is. So I think um some of these retellings in the literary side where it where it um
00:11:30
Speaker
where they're trying to make a point, it feels like, kind of loses some of the depth of the myth itself. Yeah, I can see what you're saying where you feel like they're almost negating that the power, negating the power that she has by kind of claiming that she didn't have any and that they're giving her power with their narrative.
00:11:51
Speaker
Instead of looking at like, yeah yeah, that she's been outsmarting every suitor for decades and has been in power for decades.
Storytelling and Representation Evolution
00:12:02
Speaker
Mm hmm. And it's very interesting. i do remember, you know, like i I get what you're saying and how it feels just because in my in my brain, when I'm reading something, I'm so interested.
00:12:22
Speaker
immersed in it that it it didn't really occur to me like reading the odyssey to feel like unrepresented by odysseus i think i felt what you were saying with like feeling the soul's journey and it's funny too because i take no like issue with it when i'm reading older stuff but i do have a huge problem with it in movies and do have a really like you know i was just reading some interview old Hollywood director was talking and he said the only time a woman should be on screen is if she's naked or dead and it's better if it's both so I do understand this like revulsion and revolution against like
00:13:12
Speaker
that totally and like total wanting women to be represented as human beings and then it is hard when you have that cross-section of people trying to do the right thing as I'm sure they were in oh yeah the odyssey but it is but then it does like it negates this power and this connection um that we have to the past Right. And I think what you said there is key where we're taking how women have been mistreated and misrepresented recently and bleeding that out as back as far as we can, as we know, you know, um, and, and yes, women have been silenced and ignored and, you know, rights taken away for many, many generations. Um,
00:14:03
Speaker
but that doesn't mean that's been our story for all of time and everywhere, you know, there, you know, or the only thing interesting about us, right. Or yeah, the only thing to say, um you know, in ancient Greece, there were the city states and, and women had different amounts of power in different, in the different city states, some more, you know, or less. And,
00:14:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think losing the subtlety of of real history turns women into the victim, which isn't helpful. ah That being said, I think what you're saying with um modern stuff, i I totally agree with you. And and It is hard. Like, I know we talked about this before with the Avengers movie, making this obvious, like, girl power moment, which didn't work for me. um And I understand it's a reaction to decades of, yeah, women are only seen on screen if they're, you know, talking about a man or talking to a man. Mm-hmm.
00:15:13
Speaker
So, yeah, my my critique does not negate any of the problems that have been in storytelling with women. ah It's just, I guess I, yeah, don't agree with all of the reactions to it that blanket everything as if it's that one director who said that.
Symbolism in Myth and Fantasy
00:15:32
Speaker
You know, let's go back and talk to Homer because his portrayal of women is actually in the books more rounded, more real, in depth than many ah modern Hollywood directors and screenwriters. Mm Right.
00:15:50
Speaker
You know, can I take us off on a really far tangent that has nothing to do with what we were just talking about? What I really wanted to see is a purple sea. Oh, yeah. The wine dark sea. I think that somebody needs to be bold enough to make a wine dark sea because our eyes didn't see blue back then.
00:16:08
Speaker
And so the ocean was actually purple. I've heard that theory and I don't know that I believe it I don't know. i know I totally believe it, and I went to see Purple Sea.
00:16:21
Speaker
I just do it. We couldn't see blue, and the sky had better be tinged purple. nobody's But why could we see purple but not blue when blue is the primary color that creates purple?
00:16:34
Speaker
I guess light is different. It just has to do with the way our eyes are. I didn't question it for a moment. I just wanted what I wanted. didn't try to figure it out.
00:16:47
Speaker
Don't take blue away from me in ancient times. I'd be sad. I know. Sorry. That would be very sad for you to go see a whole movie with no blue. Yeah. Or think of living in a world without blue.
00:17:00
Speaker
What about just a day just for me so I can see what it be like? Okay. We can do that. Thank you. You're welcome. Back to reality, or not reality. Back to this this reality. Whatever this is.
00:17:13
Speaker
Symbolism, you were talking about, and the things that matter in the human journey. I was thinking about, oh sorry, did you have something? I was about launch into something. um I was thinking about fairy tales and why we do retell them.
00:17:26
Speaker
and what do we what are some like things that we come back to in fairy tales? And I was breaking it down in my mind to bargains, debt, um and how we have these things in our life, but somehow having them in a fantastical setting I feel like makes us, helps us make more sense of it in our own lives. The weight of the magic, the weight of the magic is, I don't know, it helps us process it in our own life.
00:17:59
Speaker
And then i i was trying to think about fairytale rules um and like why they're so important. Like don't eat the food.
00:18:12
Speaker
Don't look back. ah Don't give anyone your real name. This is all just great life advice. um What else? ah Don't look in the West Wing.
00:18:31
Speaker
There's something I can't put my finger on, but there's something about all of these that feels so important.
00:18:42
Speaker
And you and I talk a lot about ritual. And I think it's a part of ritual is rules. And these rules with with bargains, debts, not giving anyone your real name, it all speaks to something so mystical and whimsical that you almost can't look directly at it. And that's what I feel like fantasy does for me is that it's like, here's the truth.
00:19:12
Speaker
And you like, you can't look directly at the truth. The only way you can see it is somehow by like, seeing it reflected in these stories that we read.
00:19:23
Speaker
Yeah, I can see that. It just reminded me of the quote from Spindle's End. She talks about a curse and you never take the curse head on. You start to pick at it from the side and find its weak point.
00:19:36
Speaker
We're just taking the truth from the side, finding it through fantasy.
Violence in Modern Retellings
00:19:41
Speaker
Yeah, I was thinking about folklore and ah how a lot of the retellings actually lessen the violence because in the you know in the original Grimm's fairy tales that they collected ah they're pretty you know pretty strong on punishment and i was just reading this book which I did not bring it but it is a great one
00:20:15
Speaker
nope it is not here Well, anyway, I'll skip that part because I don't want to recommend it without even remembering the name of it. um
00:20:25
Speaker
Yeah, I was doing research on spiritual symbolism within these fairy tales, and it kind of gets to what you're saying about the truth being folded into folklore fairy tale because...
00:20:40
Speaker
um I think one of the things that continues to echo through us as readers and is why we retell these stories across the world is because of this symbolism and like, uh, for instance, and this is not, I did not figure this out. Uh, this
Folklore, Fairy Tales, and Mythology
00:21:02
Speaker
was something I just read in a book.
00:21:05
Speaker
It's not even online. Um, But i do remember okay do you remember the green books, the big green books from the library folklore? Of course. folklflore Yeah. Do you remember the the one with the seven kids and the wolf?
00:21:22
Speaker
Mm-hmm. The goat. and the So this in this book, she's talking about that fairy tale. And I just got such a like visceral memory of reading the big green book with this story. But it's a story of a mother goat and seven kids and this wolf comes and he's eating and he eats six of the kids and and the seventh one hides in a clock.
00:21:45
Speaker
And then the mom and the last kid trick the goat into eating stones instead of the seventh goat, baby goat. And then while he's sleeping, they like cut him open and and get all the...
00:22:01
Speaker
um They get all, oh, that's, what they they trick him. He doesn't eat the sevens when they, they, ah they cut him open while he's sleeping. They bring that all the other kids get out safe and they fill his belly with stones and and sew him back up.
00:22:18
Speaker
And this author was pointing out how the symbolism of this folklore folk, you know, supposedly a children's story um echoes that of Kronos and,
00:22:34
Speaker
eating his children and then Zeus being the seventh son, the the third son, but the seventh child that Gaia hides.
00:22:45
Speaker
And then he um tricks Kronos into eating a stone and then kills him. Or they trick him into eating a stone instead of Zeus. Zeus gets strong enough to then kill him and he, you know, saves all the other gods that he'd eaten.
00:23:02
Speaker
And um so they were talking about this a
00:23:08
Speaker
going with... so it's like it So this story about these six... And it's interesting. It's it still the seven kids, the seven gods, seven days of creation. It's this...
00:23:19
Speaker
continuing repeating motif which lends or echoes this story of creation and the the dying of an age and the coming of a new one.
00:23:31
Speaker
And it goes in depth of like what what each thing means and how the kid hiding in the clock is like hiding outside of time because when you're inside of a clock, time doesn't exist anymore.
00:23:42
Speaker
because you're um you can't see the clock. You don't know what time is passing. So it's this idea of you know this this seed for the new age hides, you know is is kept outside of time while the old age is going and then it brings in. So then that seed comes and brings in the next age.
00:24:02
Speaker
And it's this continuous cycle. And that's why. And so... She was bringing up how it's not just seen in Greek mythology, you know, and it's, this issue you know, the seven days of creation and bringing up these different aspects that all have similar symbolism in them.
00:24:22
Speaker
And so I think that's one of the reasons, even if we don't recognize the symbolism consciously, there's something...
Retellings Maintaining Original Essence
00:24:32
Speaker
that speaks to maybe the subconscious that feels that depth, you know, and that even though we're just reading um a fantasy story, a story about magic, there is something that's echoing ah deeper reality that, that myths talk about that, that humans have been creating since the beginning.
00:24:59
Speaker
This was a pretty resounding men at arms. ah And then um last week I was confused by the four X's because I'm not very smart. But Clockwork Liar responded, ah, for x four X's is the name of the last continent. And it's important to note that smart in this case just means have read this series of books so many times that it may actually be a disorder.
00:25:23
Speaker
Thank you. That's very nice. For example, now I have to reread Men at Arms. Fair enough. Tilly Mint said, this one's easy, men at arms. You guys are nice.
00:25:35
Speaker
Wonderful. Okay. I know, you always get on my case about not finishing series, and now I'm going start to get on your case about catching up on all the Discworld books.
00:25:49
Speaker
Well, Pumpkin, I've had a lot to read this year. i don't know why. All righty. How do you do this? It's very secret.
00:26:03
Speaker
For those listening, Caroline is about to read the Discworld Delight. For those listening, Caroline is about to read for the first time. in her life. In her life.
00:26:15
Speaker
The figure faded. He nodded. Of course, there'd been a mistake. Anyone could see there'd been a mistake. He'd known all along there'd been a mistake.
00:26:27
Speaker
What is it?
00:26:31
Speaker
So to be fair, I have read plenty of fairytale retellings that were quite enjoyable that don't have this echoey feel.
00:26:43
Speaker
but i will say i don't reread those you know they're the ones that are just a fun quick retelling oh that was fun i move on um i think i read more retellings than you do but i think the ones that i reread are the ones that hold a little bit of this feeling from the original stories
00:27:08
Speaker
And it's almost like if if the fairy tale was a taste, like a ah meal or a drink or something, it's like the the ones I reread have a little bit of the of the like pungent or bitterness still in it, if that makes sense.
Weaving Folklore into New Narratives
00:27:28
Speaker
um So one of those would be Kate Stradling's, her retelling of The Little Mermaid, which I've read her... um what she wrote about about writing it. And she was thinking about the original story of Hans Christian Andersen and how, um, thinking about that ending and how with all the retellings, the ending is always, it gets changed.
00:27:56
Speaker
And she was thinking about, well, there's gotta be a reason for that that, that ending. Why did he end it that way? What was the author's reason for doing it? Um,
00:28:08
Speaker
And so she didn't write the story until she found her reason and how she would do it. And I really like that one. That's one I reread a lot.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah, put that one in the comments. I want to read i want to read that. I'll put it in yeah on our bookshop list. book shop list Support small bookshops. Support indie authors.
00:28:35
Speaker
One more time I'd like to talk about is it's not exactly a retelling, but it's where the author weaves in folklore in and around the story to the point where it feels like it's adding to the mythos. So I'd say the Dark is Rising series, which we've read, and we're about to read the last one. um That one plus Kipling's Puckapooks Hill and Rewards and Fairies.
00:29:02
Speaker
does this really well. I think there's other fantasy books that do this where it kind of references fairy tales. um But I'm trying to think of ones that do it to such an extent that it feels like baked into the world that you kind of then remember it as it's part of the folklore.
00:29:24
Speaker
One, well, this one doesn't do that. One that does not do this at all. um But I will say ah Sarah J Maas's first book in, so the Court of Thorns and Roses,
00:29:40
Speaker
has it's a It's like a light retelling and then it goes way, way different. But yeah she she mixes together. So she's got a little bit of Beauty and the Beast in there, but also this Scottish tale of Tam Lin.
00:29:55
Speaker
Mm hmm. Which then, obviously, she yet takes a different direction. But that was I was excited when i was first reading i was like Tamplin, I know who that is. Like, this is so cool.
00:30:06
Speaker
and ah and she And it's not just the name, which would have disappointed me. She does have things in there that coincide with that tale, too. Yeah. Yeah, I think that is a really, a true art form when when authors are able to weave in these little strings to our past and our understanding of myth and fairy tale and then create something new as well, where you're like excited and you recognize it and you get the joy of reading something new.
00:30:34
Speaker
If you're only listening to this podcast, it's very important that you know that I talk a lot with my hands. Yeah. That would have been a much more profound statement if you could have seen what I was doing with my hands. That's the title of your autobiography.
00:30:51
Speaker
If you could have only seen what I was doing with my hands. ah Well, you had talked, i guess, um just to bring it back to, because we will be finishing up the One Dark Window duology next week. i'm very excited. um Finishing with Two Twisted Crowns.
00:31:10
Speaker
um You had talked about fairy tales, and I think, I don't know if you've used it on this podcast, but in text form you talked about like playing in the same sandbox? Yes, I had that in my notes, but I hadn't said it out loud.
00:31:22
Speaker
the that The fantasy writers... instead of trying to make a point that some other modern authors, whatever that point is, um the i feel like some modern authors authors use myth to to make a point about a social criticism or a social you know a point about our world, which is fine. And that's what they're doing. Whereas I feel like the fantasy authors are just reveling in getting to play in a sandbox. Yeah.
00:31:55
Speaker
that has been you know created through the ages. And I think that's what I've been really enjoying about reading this duology is it's it's playing it very straight. um This is not like a deconstructed fairy tale.
00:32:08
Speaker
This is you know, it has it has the rules, it has the bargains, it has the payment, it has or the debt, as I was saying earlier. um So there's something very familiar about it and totally
Personal Reflections and Joys
00:32:23
Speaker
new.
00:32:23
Speaker
where i think I feel a little bit like a little kid again, like reading fairy tales. And I've been really enjoying it. Yeah, I think that's part of why you so many of us do love these retellings is because there's that sense of familiarity and the more that they bring in the thee structure of a fairy tale that the more we may be able to enjoy it as we enjoyed things as kids which can often be a little bit more uh I don't know honest easier yeah you settle into it so Mary what was your spark of the week I remember walking and thinking this is your spark of the week you got to remember this
00:33:16
Speaker
and now can't remember what it was but it was really fun and nice oh sounds beautiful yeah I really felt happy in that moment see this is why we do this because yeah otherwise these moments pass us by and you think I didn't have a great week but you did but I did but if only I knew what it was That one is gone for the moment, but it was really nice. I was very happy.
00:33:43
Speaker
oh But I do have another one. Maybe the other the first one will come back to me. But this one is the rain last night. It was so much fun and cool. and it So it's been super hot here for the past three days.
00:33:59
Speaker
And it the the Thunder clap, you know, the thunder clouds were rolling in and i went inside and then it started raining and um just, i don't know, just the feeling of rain coming in especially when it's been so hot and dry and you know how much it like the ground is just so happy.
00:34:24
Speaker
i It feels like a it's a we humans have been thanking the gods for rain for you know our entire existence. And ah it still feels the exact same way when you just feel that rain coming. You walk outside and I was just so grateful for it. And it was a beautiful thing. And then it rained really hard and that was really fun.
00:34:48
Speaker
You're having to try to collect some of the water that was pooling up around the house. um Oh yeah. that was That was mine as well. Just a good traditional summer thunderstorm rolling in is so wonderful.
00:35:05
Speaker
um I did also, i had a bachelorette party over the weekend. ah One of the things, just like these moments that, you know, and this is, what again, I love tradition and ritual, but, and and this one is funny because some things, some traditions I don't love. Okay, get to the point, Carolina. But this one made me laugh because it was so human.
00:35:27
Speaker
um I think I said to someone on the boat like this is how religions get started because they had surprised her they brought a blow up doll on our rafting trip. and there was nothing inappropriate it was not like yeah it was as far as blow-up dolls go this one was pretty uh tame and they put clothes on him um but the bride was wearing a veil and so people could tell it was like a bachelorette party and when we would pass a boat they would hold up the blow-up doll and every single time the other boat would like clap and cheer it's just like hilarious it was like Felt like a primitive people going down the river with our statue and like lifting it up and people would praise the statue and then we'd put it down. But like every single boat would just be like, wow. It's like, it just made me feel so deeply and utterly human in a really good way
00:36:23
Speaker
Oh, that's really nice. There is something about being on the river that I've noticed that And maybe this isn't for every river, you know, but our river, at least. There's um the the interaction between people is it's a different level. It feels more human and and.
00:36:50
Speaker
It's like you you kind of strip away some of the defenses of modern day life and you're just on the river having genuine interactions. fun yeah Let no one forget this.
00:37:02
Speaker
Yeah. And maybe it's, you know, because you're moving more slowly. i don't know. You you kind of, it keys you into something else, a different yeah pace of life where you can take time to, you know, cheer on another boat.
Anticipation for New Book Series
00:37:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Okay, Mary, we are getting very close to launch time of your Kickstarter where people can directly buy your book from you.
00:37:29
Speaker
um If you don't know, Mary wrote a book and it's the first of a trilogy? Four books. Oh my, a quadrupee. Yeah, there's for work on that. Okay.
00:37:42
Speaker
Quartet? No, that's a quartet. Oh, I got really excited. Anyway, Mary's first of four books is coming out this summer, and we are counting down the days to our Kickstarter launch where you can buy directly from her. If you've listened to this podcast and you think, maybe I would like what she wrote, maybe not, don't worry. She wrote a free short story that it belongs in the same world. You can download it for free from her website. There is a link in the bio of wherever you're listening or watching. And sign up for the Kickstarter. It's free. It just notifies you when we've gone live.
00:38:19
Speaker
I can tell you right now that we have decided, have decided, on a date. So we're making it official. That's our drum roll.
00:38:30
Speaker
That's a very nice drum roll. All right. August 29th. August 29th. It will be launching. The moon is in the second house and Mercury aligns with Mars and breaking inlands will be launched.
00:38:50
Speaker
Woohoo! I'm very, very excited. I've been talking with the printer and the person, one of the vendors who will be making some special editions for certain levels. Like everyone I'm sourcing things from are all in the United States.
00:39:11
Speaker
Most of them are all pretty small businesses. So very excited to be You're not only supporting indie an indie author, it's also all you know independent businesses. so i'm very excited for that.
00:39:25
Speaker
That's awesome. And with that, we are so grateful to be spiraling through the universe with all of you. It's not always easy, but no good story ever is.