← Living The Next Chapter: Candid Conversations with Authors and Writers for Readers Searching for a New Read
Living The Next Chapter: Candid Conversations with Authors and Writers for Readers Searching for a New Read
E677 - Peter Cotton - Tales from Frank the Snake for Children from a Doctor, Grandfather and Storyteller
00:35:03
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- [00:01]
Peter Cotton
I've never done that. But that's not a bad idea for another book, is it? I mean, the first book was to teach them how not to cross the road or how to cross the road. So that, I guess, was a message. And I mentioned the mushrooms and stuff like that, but I haven't actually got into digestive hygiene or whatever you want to call it, or any of the poop stuff or that sort of thing. No, I haven't got into that.
- [00:27]
Podcast Host
Everybody, welcome back to Living the Next Chapter. It's the author podcast. We get to meet great authors from around the world. And my author friend today, Peter, is here. He has a friend lurking around somewhere. He might make an appearance later, which is great. I want to welcome Peter to the show. And Peter has been serving the community and the healthcare space for a long time as a doctor. Well, well known for that, traveling the world, speaking and sharing and. And educating the entire time. Peter's got a great website address which you're going to love. We'll talk about that in a second. But Peter Cotton is here. Welcome, Peter. Nice to have you on the show.
- [01:08]
Peter Cotton
So. My pleasure. Thank you.
- [01:10]
Podcast Host
Excellent. We kind of joked and laughed a little bit about your website. I love the name of your. Of your website, Peter. Can you. Can you just share that? Because I think it's quite unique and I'm proud to hear you say it.
- [01:22]
Peter Cotton
Yes. Petercottentails.com T A L E S There you go. Which also, of course, leads on to the fact that I was apparently named after a rabbit, Peter Cottontail. But I didn't know that until I arrived in the United States in my maturity. And people started laughing every time I gave my name because Peter Cottontail is an American invention. Although Beatrix Potter wrote about. English author, of course, wrote about Peter Rabbit and Flopsy and Mopsy and Cottontail and Benjamin Bunny. My middle name happens to be Benjamin, so. But. But it was a sort of maybe a Hallmark invention. Peter Cottontail. But it's been fun, really, because instead of. I mean, I had a choice either to get irritated when people kept asking me that question or to embrace it and decide to embrace it. So we got a lot of rabbits around the place. No, right now, but a lot of stuffed ones.
- [02:21]
Podcast Host
That's amazing. I love that. Peter, your. Your background as a medical doctor, you've. You've helped many, many people over the years. Can you touch on some of your medical background for the listeners who are meeting you for the first time?
- [02:35]
Peter Cotton
Yeah, basically I was retired from practice now. I was a gastroenterologist you know, a sort of stomach doctor. And I was very fortunate in being in, at the beginning of the flexible instruments, endoscopes that most people are fairly familiar with, sometimes rather intimately familiar with. And so that started me off, and I was fortunate to be one of the pioneers in that era in developing new techniques for diagnosis and treatment, which allowed me to write a lot about it, to travel and lecture, make a lot of friends all over the world. It's been great. As I said, I've stopped hurting people about 10, 12 years ago now, but I continue to do some bit of research and some teaching, bit of writing, but now I've really concentrated more on the children's books.
- [03:35]
Podcast Host
Excellent. That's an interesting. That's an interesting transition from your medical background to children's books. What was the idea behind that leap from one to the next? Because I want to use a bunny rabbit term there. A leap that you did there between the two.
- [03:53]
Peter Cotton
Very nice. Yeah. Well, when I retired from practice, my wife said, I married you for not for lunch, but not for lunch. So she said, you better find something else to do. And at the same time, my two kids are all grown up and had their kids. And they asked me what happened to the bedtime story I wrote about Fred the snake. It was a story about how to cross the road or how not to cross the road. And I said, well, you know, it was just a story, but I did have a text that I managed to find 30 years later or whatever, and I would tune that up a bit. I was very lucky to find a wonderful illustrator, Bonnie Lemaire, who comes from Canada, lives in Canada.
- [04:43]
Podcast Host
Nice.
- [04:44]
Peter Cotton
And so we put that together as the first book about Fred. And then I kind of got in the habit. I sort of, kind of enjoyed writing about Fred. And one thing led to another.
- [04:57]
Podcast Host
Excellent. Now, I'm on your website, which we've already mentioned, which is a great name for a website, by the way, and I see a picture of your friend there with you. Now, I don't know if he'll be dropping by at some point later today in our conversation, but I just want to let him know that he is welcome and we're happy and excited for his presence once he arrives, so thank you.
- [05:20]
Peter Cotton
Fred is a very friendly snake. Of course, some people are nervous about snakes. And in particular in the second book, when the boy took Fred, asked his mother if he could take his pet Fred to school, everyone went, woo, woo. A snake at school. But it turned out that he became very popular because he turned into Things that they needed at school, like a soccer goal and a jump rope, a water slide at the pool, and so he. He did great at school. Yeah.
- [05:56]
Podcast Host
Do you remember the first time you met him in person?
- [05:59]
Peter Cotton
Of Fred?
- [06:00]
Podcast Host
Yeah, in person. The first time you ever met him because you've written about him, but then actually to see him in front of you.
- [06:07]
Peter Cotton
Oh, this fella? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, he's with me right now.
- [06:10]
Podcast Host
Is he right here? Is he here?
- [06:11]
Peter Cotton
Okay. Sorry. He was having a little bit of a nap there. But he is here and he wants to say hello. He likes to chat to nice people.
- [06:20]
Podcast Host
Oh, there we go.
- [06:22]
Peter Cotton
Welcome. He's been traveling in the last. Before the last book, we went all over the United States in three books. Wow. And visited all sorts of sites. Had a wonderful time with the boy. And of course, in the later editions of the books, we included a couple of young kids, Purdy and Jack, who happened to be my grandchildren.
- [06:51]
Podcast Host
Nice.
- [06:52]
Peter Cotton
So they've been all over the place together and including in the most recent book that we just published.
- [06:59]
Podcast Host
It's nice that you can have your. Your family be a part of the stories as well. That's a great legacy for those kids to grow up with.
- [07:07]
Peter Cotton
Yeah, they like it.
- [07:09]
Podcast Host
I would love to have grown up with my name in a book and a story about me. That would be wonderful. What a great. That's a great gift that you can give your family. I love that.
- [07:18]
Peter Cotton
What.
- [07:19]
Podcast Host
What is some of the stories like for parents that are listening? What are we going to experience for our kids as we read and share your books with our children? What's kind of the. There's some big messages you're trying to share.
- [07:31]
Peter Cotton
Yeah. Well, they're all in rhyme and beautifully illustrated. The illustrations are fantastic, really terrific. And Bonnie, who did them for me, is just great. But bottom line is, I was trying to be amusing and fun, but also a bit educational. There's some morals, including the first one, which is about how not to cross the road or how to cross the road and then how to behave at school. And then, for instance, in the camping book, it's careful about mushrooms and berries and things like that. And then on the beach book, Bernadette, Fred's girlfriend at the time they got married, most recently in Vegas. Fred's girlfriend Bernadette got carried away on a wave and had to be rescued. So that was a story about, you know, not being very careful when you're swimming in the ocean. And, you know, those sorts of things, I think, add up. I've certainly had some advice along the way from friends and family as to my daughter said you, Nikki said you need throw a little bit of excitement or adventure in. So in the camping book they got. They went on a whitewater rafting trip and got thrown over a waterfall and had to be rescued by the ranger and that sort of thing. So that's what's kept. Kept me amused. I don't know how many other people are amused, but I've enjoyed it.
- [09:00]
Podcast Host
So back to your. Your career as a doctor. I'm sure you were writing a lot. You were, you know, but that's a totally different version of writing. What kind of things carried over from your career into writing children's books? And maybe what didn't as far as a writing perspective, that's a very good question.
- [09:23]
Peter Cotton
Of course they are very different in a medical articles and textbooks have to be very carefully thought through and researched and a lot of details that had to be checked. Whereas children's books. Do anything you like. I don't think the process is too different after that. I'm a two finger typer, so it takes me a little while to get anywhere with anything. Although of course nowadays I could probably dictate it and get it all turned into text immediately, couldn't I? Right, right. I'm not sure that my brain works that fast, probably. So I've enjoyed both. The process is different, but it just involves concentration, for sure.
- [10:16]
Podcast Host
The idea that you do a children's book, I find it unique and creative compared to a traditional book that maybe the author is concerned about the COVID is imagery, but really there's no, there's no images in the story. It's words on paper. You, you along with your illustrator have to build an entire world for the audience and for the children as well. So there's a lot of visual elements to what you do compared to a traditional book. So finding that great illustrator, that's got to be very important for you as an author.
- [10:48]
Peter Cotton
Well, she's actually more than half of the books. I think she's so good. She's got all sorts of awards. Every time we get a nice review, everyone talks about the illustrations and not me, which is great. She's terrific. I was actually talking to her today. She's in Canada. Said she was riding her motorcycle around in the snow, which might sound a little bit risky. I didn't meet her until we did the fourth book together. I did it all online to begin with. The fourth book is all about Fred and the boy and Jungle Jim and some other animals. Exploring Charleston, South Carolina, where I live. And so when we came to do that book, I said, you better come and look at Charleston if you're going to illustrate it. So she came down with her purple hair and teenage son. We had a lot of fun together and of course, we've continued to keep in touch very closely ever since. It's been a great pleasure working with her privilege, really.
- [11:56]
Podcast Host
It's great because I would think too, as an author, you'd want to have a relationship with an illustrator into the future, because you're going to keep writing, you're going to keep making new stories, and you want to have the books look and feel the same with the same illustrator, then switching to a new person every time, and it doesn't really feel the same. Right. So you want to build that relationship into the future. That's got to be. It's kind of like a marriage between you and your illustrator then.
- [12:20]
Peter Cotton
Yeah, that's very true. She not only illustrates what my text that I send her, but she throws things in as well. She's an innovator. She actually writes her own books. So it's a very much a team effort. Very much so. And every time I look back at some of the books and look at the illustrations, I see something I hadn't seen before. There are all sorts of little things.
- [12:46]
Podcast Host
Right, so you very basically are co writing this book together then, right?
- [12:52]
Peter Cotton
Yeah, basically it. Yeah.
- [12:54]
Podcast Host
So how much direction do you give an illustrator beyond the words that you've written for about the story? Do you give them any kind of this, this is the colors, this is the idea, or do you just let them do their thing?
- [13:06]
Peter Cotton
Pretty much let them do their thing. I just gave them. Give them the text that I want to be. Want to highlight a few suggestions, but. And then she comes back with sketches in black and white that we talk about together and improve and then go. Go into color. Yeah.
- [13:23]
Podcast Host
With your background and what you've done with your patients, I would anticipate that there's some component of. For children, like healthy eating to have a healthy stomach and things like that. Is there anything that you have like. Like that kind of background that could help parents with their children to eat better just by listening to a story by their favorite snake?
- [13:46]
Peter Cotton
I've never done that. But that's not a bad idea for another book, is it? I mean, the first book is. Was to teach them how not to cross the road or how to cross the road. So that I guess was a message and I mentioned the mushrooms and stuff like that, but I haven't actually Got into digestive hygiene or whatever you want to call it.
- [14:08]
Podcast Host
Right.
- [14:09]
Peter Cotton
Or any of the poop stuff or that sort of thing. No, I'm going into that.
- [14:12]
Podcast Host
Kids love poop, so there you go. That might be interesting. I just think sometimes our kids can be really picky eaters. And for us to have a book that uses stories from one of our favorite snakes to help us reinforce eating healthy for children, I think that might be. That might be an interesting thing to pursue at some point.
- [14:31]
Peter Cotton
Nice idea. I'll make note of it.
- [14:34]
Podcast Host
I'm giving. I'm giving Fred some homework to do. I like this. It's good. I'm sure he can wrap himself around that. So that'll be. That'll be really good. There we go. Throwing lots of puns at you today.
- [14:44]
Peter Cotton
I did. He did. There's one big meal that he is involved in in the recent book at the end of the Chinese New Year Feast. He really enjoyed that.
- [14:55]
Podcast Host
There you go. So there's a lot of global stories in here too, then. Like, you're taking people into different places and different backgrounds as well, for the children.
- [15:04]
Peter Cotton
Well, yeah, I mean, I mentioned the Charleston book, which was basically written for local consumption, basically, because it's. It just highlights all the sites that people like to see in Charleston. Yeah. But I mean, the three books before the most recent one were all about traveling around across the United States. Yeah. Visiting all the big sites, having adventures. So that's. That was intended to be valuable and maybe a bit educational as well as fun. Yeah.
- [15:37]
Podcast Host
Is that loosely based on the fact that you traveled so much in your past as well?
- [15:42]
Peter Cotton
No, not really. Because, actually, to be brutally honest, I haven't traveled quite as much to the United States as Fred has because I have traveled, given lectures in over 50 countries over a period of time, so. Fred. Been to some places that I haven't been to. Well, I guess we went together on paper here.
- [16:05]
Podcast Host
Has Fred taught you any lessons as an author?
- [16:10]
Peter Cotton
Question, Fred, have you taught me anything? Only. Only that it is a good. It's a. It's a good vehicle for amusing incidents. At least I think they're amusing. I'm not sure what else he's taught me.
- [16:28]
Podcast Host
The two of you are partners in a way, between you and Fred. So. Right. There's a relationship.
- [16:34]
Peter Cotton
Yeah. He and I go together to read at schools and libraries and things like that. We enjoy that. And actually, he has a friend, an electric snake that I take with me to schools, which causes absolute chaos, and the teachers hate that. Scrabbling around, trying to Chase off this electric snake.
- [17:02]
Podcast Host
Is that rewarding for you as an author to read stories to children in schools around your book?
- [17:06]
Peter Cotton
Oh, I love it. Yeah, I love it. Yeah. And it's the right age. We're aimed at sort of three to eight year olds, so first grade or second grade. And, and they're fun and they, they like to, they like to play with Fred. I give them a chance to meet with him and play with the electric snake and see all the pictures. So, yeah, that's great. That's a bonus.
- [17:36]
Podcast Host
Does Fred join you for book signings?
- [17:38]
Peter Cotton
Yes. He's not very good at signing, doesn't have any arms, but at school he learned his Alphabet and used his tail to write with, so he's actually pretty. Pretty clever in that way. And yeah, actually in the western book part of the United States, he used his tale of Very Important Occasion because Jungle Jim got locked in at Alcatraz and because he'd been a bit naughty somewhere and the keeper had just thrown the key away, Fred thought, well, I could take care of that. And put his tail in the lock. I'd pick the lock. And Jungle Jim was free.
- [18:23]
Podcast Host
Fred's not wanted by anyone right now. Right? He's not.
- [18:26]
Peter Cotton
Right.
- [18:27]
Podcast Host
He's not in hiding.
- [18:29]
Peter Cotton
Well, he moved on from there pretty quickly. He went off, went to Alaska and Hawaii so that I don't think they'll be catching him too. Okay. Okay.
- [18:37]
Podcast Host
I just don't want to put him into harm's way by being on the podcast, that's all.
- [18:40]
Peter Cotton
Oh, I see. Yeah. No, I don't think so. Okay. Okay.
- [18:44]
Podcast Host
All right. Yeah, I got there. Yeah. What are you hearing back from parents about the book? What are, what are parents enjoying about the stories?
- [18:52]
Peter Cotton
Well, I think they like that there is education in them and there's quite a lot of it actually hidden away in various ways. Not, not least in the, in the American travel travel books. I think they, they like the, the pictures that the kids can, can explore. I've tried to replicate some of the, some of the books I, I, well, not replicate, but actually I'm reminded of the books that I enjoyed when I was a kid, which were a lot of, a lot of, a lot of illustrations and some of them in rhyming. I loved the, like Hillary Belloc and people like that, Cautionary tales, children's books. So that's about as good as I can come up with.
- [19:37]
Podcast Host
I still remember an author coming to my school in Canada. It was Gordon Gorman, and he was like, he must have been a teenager, late teenager age. Wise to come to my school at that point. And I, I'm in my. In my mid-50s and I still remember the, the connection of an author standing in my classroom, an author of the books that I read and the actual person is standing there. It was like, it was like a superstar to actually see an author in real life. So I'm sure there's an impact for your children that come to you. They're going to remember this for a long time.
- [20:16]
Peter Cotton
Well, I don't know about that, but certainly, you know, with the younger ones, when you, when somebody introduces me and said, this is the author of the Fred books, they sort of not quite sure what that means, but I think they get it eventually.
- [20:30]
Podcast Host
And part of that might be Fred too. We have to give credit to Fred to being that wow factor for some of these children. Right.
- [20:37]
Peter Cotton
Question.
- [20:37]
Podcast Host
Yes, that's good. And so your family's enjoying the stories too, and seeing you in this next chapter is the name of my show the next chapter of your life, your as an author, your family enjoying this?
- [20:49]
Peter Cotton
Yes. I've got a bunch of grandchildren and now three and three quarter great grandchildren. So they join in. And two of my kids, my grandkids, sorry, Purdy and Jack in England are actually in the most recent books. So I've, I've included them as to travel with Fred and the others to see all the things that I like to illustrate. So, yeah, they seem to enjoy them.
- [21:18]
Podcast Host
That's good. So you said this was based on stories that you shared with your children when they were young. That was kind of the, the, the beginning of the story. Right.
- [21:27]
Peter Cotton
The first one was bedtime story that I made up to teach the kids how not to cross the road.
- [21:34]
Podcast Host
Yeah,
- [21:36]
Peter Cotton
when Fred the snake went across the road, when he first arrived in town, he saw this stripy barber's pole across the road. He thought it was another snake, so he went wee and he rushed across with never a glance into the path of an ambulance. And so unfortunately, he got squished. And then of course, he had to get mended, but the mending was a little bit complicated. The doctor in the hospital said, I need a very special thread to sew thread back together. And it only comes from a bush that grows beneath rhinoceroses in the jungle. So we had to contact Jungle Jim and ask him if he'd be kind enough to go and see if he could find this particular bush, which he did. Very bravely. He tempted the rhino away from the bush with some chocolates and found the thread and sent it back and so the doctor put it together as it said the doctor immediately, or rather when he'd had his tea, started sewing. Fred's coming to his going. So that was all put together. So I hope it was. It was a message but ended happily and I think educated people about ambulances. He ended up actually Fred had to be put on a splint on a fire engine ladder because he was rather big and not to be scared of hospitals and doctors of maybe nice people, that sort of thing.
- [23:22]
Podcast Host
There you. That's an interesting. Now that. Now some of your background is coming through in that story for sure.
- [23:27]
Peter Cotton
Yeah, yeah. But
- [23:30]
Podcast Host
were you always like as a parent, were you always like really interested and curious to tell stories to your kids and encouraging them to. To read and. And all these great stories. Was that really important for you as a parent back in the day?
- [23:45]
Peter Cotton
Yes, and it was before the era of screens and stuff. I mean we did have a small television which was. I think we got a color wide eventually, but. So there wasn't a great deal of that. Yeah, so, yeah, we had. We had lots of books. Winnie the Pooh was one of my favorites and has always been remain so I've got some wonderful pictures of Winnie the Pooh of my stairs. The Cautionary Tales of Hel Belloc. Have you ever come across those? They are a really cautionary tales. They're called T A L E. Same sort of deal. They're in rhyming and they are very strong on teaching people what to do or what not to do. Take care of. Keep your whole hand on nurse for fear of finding something worse. I don't know where that one came from, but it's out of one of the books. And a Matilda who told such dreadful lies and got burned to death. So anyway, yeah, I guess I like some of the slightly macabre stories. Well, I've shared some of those with people. They say, ooh, not sure I'd want my kids to be reading those stories. It was a Henry King who swallowed bits and little bits of string that tied themselves in knots inside. And doctors when they took their fees said, there is no cure for this disease. Henry will very soon be dead. Sorry about that. Got carried away.
- [25:27]
Podcast Host
I like this. Yeah. So my question to you then as well is as you look towards the future, do you still see there's some more stories for Fred? Do you have more adventures for him lined up?
- [25:39]
Peter Cotton
Well, my wife is rather keen for me to actually promote the ones we've got a little bit. She's wise privilege talking to you, sir. Actually, I'm in the middle of writing a second version of second edition of my memoirs right now. I wrote something called the Tunnel at the End of the Light when I retired from practice 12 years ago, which was mainly medical, but also rambled on about some other things. But now I've had a lot of other interesting experiences and some nice ideas and some things coming out of my blog that I decided to turn into another book. So that's what's. So Fred 11 is on the back
- [26:20]
Podcast Host
burner, but we'll see he's still a possibility for us. There's a lot. How many books in total are there for us to enjoy, Fred?
- [26:30]
Peter Cotton
I've got 10 Fred books. The last one came out recently and I got the first copy in my hand yesterday.
- [26:41]
Podcast Host
Congratulations. Wow. So, okay, I want to talk a little bit more about Fred's visit to your part of the world. You live in a very interesting place. Can you tell a little bit people a little bit more about kind of what, what is so amazing about your part of the world? As a first time visitor, what did Fred love the most about where you live?
- [27:03]
Peter Cotton
Right. Well, I moved to Charleston, South Carolina. When I first moved from England, I moved to North Carolina, Durham to Duke University and then they asked me to come down to the medical University here in Charleston, South Carolina, which is a lovely city. Just most people who've visited it think it's rather special. But after we'd been here for a little while we started looking around for something on the beach and we came across an island called Toys island, which you have to get to by boat. It's a 15 minute boat ride from near Charleston. So it's actually still, you know, within reach, although difficult to commute from, although some people do. But it's a very much eco friendly conservation island. There are just only 75 houses now, no cars, dirt roads, golf carts, just the only facilities on the island, apart from the water and sewage and all that sort of stuff that we take care of is a clubhouse and a swimming pool, tennis court, nature center and no shops. Three miles of beach, which are usually pretty, usually got nobody on them apart from seven o' clock in the morning when people are running or taking the dogs out. And I'm looking right now, as I'm speaking to you, out of the window over a little tidal lake straight at the Atlantic Ocean. Over the beach.
- [28:39]
Podcast Host
Wow.
- [28:40]
Peter Cotton
Well, it's not only what I've just said, a rather remarkable place. The motto is living in harmony with nature. But it's because it's a Remarkable community of people. Obviously there are a huge number, about half of the owners are part time second homes. But there are enough people fully resident here, including now some, most recently some young families with young kids who are going to school. We do a lot of things together. I've been chairman of the social committee here for 15 plus years and we arrange a lot of events, get togethers. It really couldn't be more fun than. I've just say it's great. You're really great.
- [29:29]
Podcast Host
Right. And like you said earlier, you have traveled and seen many different cultures and places through your career as well. It's nice for you to land somewhere that, that has such a nice feel to it and a home for you that is, that's very unique. No cars, no traffic, no honking horns and all of that stuff. Maybe the golf carts have horns, but it's a little different for you to be in a place like that. That sounds like a gorgeous place to live.
- [29:55]
Peter Cotton
It is indeed. I'm privileged. We get glossy magazines, you know, when you go to the dentist and see wonderful places and beaches and stuff and I think, huh, don't really need to do that.
- [30:07]
Podcast Host
And Fred's comfortable there as well, it seems to be.
- [30:10]
Peter Cotton
I haven't played recently. I have actually. I'm not sure whether he's getting all the right things to eat. I did a. I went to do some marketing at a reptile show and the next booth to ours was Frozen Rats. Frozen rats. So Fred, Fred was looking around for some freebies. I can't remember whether he got them or not.
- [30:41]
Podcast Host
A little taste test.
- [30:42]
Peter Cotton
Right. Yeah. Yeah.
- [30:46]
Podcast Host
Well I, I just want to say, to give Fred our, our thanks for making time to be here today. That was so great that he could join us. Let's talk again about your website, Peter, before we head out the door. Peter Cotton Tales T. I love the. I love the name of your website for a new person coming to your website. I saw a package deal for your books. Can you talk a little bit about that and more about your website, Peter?
- [31:11]
Peter Cotton
I sell signed copies of all the books from the website and individually or in a package of all ten of them. Now, all the three together. The USA Trilogy, which a lot of people have jumped on. Yeah.
- [31:32]
Podcast Host
Excellent. And more about you is there as well. We can go and see your partner in crime there, Fred, who can break people out of jail if we need be. So you're right there on the front. I like that as well.
- [31:46]
Peter Cotton
Yeah. I've got the blog in there which as I said, which allows me to Ramble on about things which I'm interested in. I do have quite a few people around the world, not. Not least from my medical connections, who like to hear from me from time to time.
- [32:02]
Podcast Host
Yeah, I see a video of you reading to your great granddaughter on your website as well.
- [32:08]
Peter Cotton
Yeah, indeed.
- [32:09]
Podcast Host
Very nice. Excellent. Peter, this is really, really interesting. I love what you're doing and talk about somebody living their next chapter. I think this is beautiful, Peter, that you can write great stories for us as parents that we can share with our children. I know that when children find a story they love, that's all they want. Again, every night. Every night, same story over and over. So I'm sure there's a lot of children enjoying these stories.
- [32:34]
Peter Cotton
Don't miss out any a page. You know, when you want to get this thing over with writing, to read it to the kids, it's very tempting to miss out a page or two. And they say, oh, you missed it.
- [32:43]
Podcast Host
You missed it. There you go. So, yes, everyone, please go fall in love with Fred. I'm sure he'd love to spend some time with you and your children and tell great stories, travel the world. There's a lot of great things here for Peter Cotton. And again, Peter, I'm so glad to have time with you and. And for what you do for us as readers. Thank you for. For helping us to make memories with our children. And I'm going to. I would encourage everyone to go and purchase your books if you can get a signed copy from Peter and Fred. Oh, my gosh, that's a big win right there. But everyone, go check out Petercottentails.com is a website. You'll find great stuff here and then as well. I know you're listening to this. You know, other parents who are looking for great quality books for their children, please let them know about Fred and Peter and all these great stories. Peter, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate you being here.
- [33:38]
Peter Cotton
Thank you. I've enjoyed chat. Thank you so much.
- [33:41]
Podcast Host
Excellent. Thank you. Hey, thank you so much again for pressing play, as you've heard, great guests on the show. And one thing you didn't hear in this conversation is what? What did you not hear? Think about it for a second. That's right. Not a single solitary commercial for a mattress or a supplement or whatever you call it.
- [34:07]
Peter Cotton
No.
- [34:08]
Podcast Host
Why? Because we don't want to break up the conversation with commercial commercials. So the fact that you're still here means that you are a fan of the show, I'm assuming. So if you want to help to keep the podcast going and to make me feel really happy. All I really care about is coffee. Okay. I just got to be honest. I love coffee. I'm drinking one right now. Starting to get cold. I need. I need to warm it up. Helping us with our Buy me a coffee link over at living the next chapter.com and also in the show, Show Notes helps kind of keep the lights on around here. Remember, I'm doing this for free. I. I'm paying for everything, so I would love to have a little coffee donation. You know, even five bucks kind of fills up my cup. And I would love to enjoy a coffee from you. So if you're interested, again, thank you for listening, but you can use our Buy me a Coffee link and fill up the cup. Thanks for being here.