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- [00:00]
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- [01:03]
Renita Hora
Welcome to the True Fiction Project, a podcast series that explores the origins of fiction. Every week we begin with an interview nonfiction followed by a creative piece, fiction inspired by something from the interview. The ideas to demonstrate, of course, that fiction is born out of our life experiences. Now, here's your host, storyteller, author, public speaker, health and wellness expert Renita Hora.
- [01:34]
Welcome to this week's episode of the True Fiction Project. We are in between seasons and today I'm featuring episodes from children's book authors as I had many such guests in season six. I chose these episodes specifically because I too, as you know, have come out with a children's book. It's called Sundry and Mundri's Lori Adventure and it's about two smart sisters from Fresno, California who are whisked away through their grandmother's shawl into the Lori Winter Harvest Festival. I have some copies available to give out to listeners, so if you'd like to be one of those lucky listeners, send me an email or an Instagram message with the subject line Sundri Mundri tfp. That's Sundri Mundri tfp. Links to my email and Instagram handle can be found in the show Notes. So let's begin with Renee Green Murphy, a multiple award winning children's book author who, after the tragic loss of her younger brother in 2022, dedicated her book your Heart's Voice to his memory. Renee shares how grief shaped its development and the spiritual symbolism woven throughout its pages. Then she reads from her book, which is designed to help children embrace self awareness and intuition. Let's take a listen.
- [03:04]
Renee Green Murphy
It was something I always wanted to do was to be a children's book author. I just didn't know what I was going to write about and it was at that point that the concept came to fruition, I began writing my manuscript at the time. The main character's name was Divine, and I had started with creating a life lesson that she learned in the story, and then I tucked it away because life took over. And it wasn't until 2022 that my little brother tragically passed in a car accident in the town that I live in. And it was a huge, tremendous blow to our family. So something that we still haven't really wrapped our heads around. Grief is tremendously debilitating, and I found that writing was therapeutic for me, especially in those initial stages of grief, in those shocking moments and the moments of anger and depression. And I remembered that I had my heart's voice told me to peel my book back from my closet and go back to writing. And I did. I found myself at the beach every day, as that is one of the places that I find most calming for my mind. That's the first step in listening to your intuition, is having a calm mind. And I finished the rest of my book on my cell phone. Believe it or not, at the beach I added my brother as a main character and I dedicated it to him. Your Heart's Voice by Renee Green Murphy Ms. Ed to my beloved little brother Robert, you will forever live on through us. Your magnetic light will continue to guide us, teach us, and comfort us. Jade, when you're finished playing, please clean up before you leave the room you're playing in. I asked you many times. I almost tripped on your dolls, mom said. Okay, jade replied. Why does mom always expect me to clean up my mess? After all, she is the mom, she thought with a snarky face. The peculiar voice in her heart told her to put her dolls away before she left the den, but she was in a hurry and decided not to. Jade went back into her room to color, as coloring often helped her mind to relax. She was in the middle of coloring a beautiful picture of an angel that she drew for her uncle. She had promised him she would give him this surprise picture the next time she saw him, and mom said they were seeing him tomorrow at Grandma Fay's house. I must hurry, Jade thought. Knock, knock. Yes, come in, said Jade. Jade, dinner will be ready in 30 minutes. I will call you when it's on the table, so please come downstairs, okay? Okay, Mom. Do you want to see my picture? I'm almost finished. She showed the picture of the angel that was almost complete. It's beautiful, Jade. How angelic. It's for Uncle Robert. I cannot wait to give it to him. He will Love it. Jade. 20 minutes later. Dinner. Shouted Mom. Jade went downstairs for dinner. Meatballs again. She thought her mind said no. But deep down she had a voice in her heart that often told her what to do. Sometimes she listened and sometimes she did not. She called in her heart's voice this time her heart's voice told her to eat her dinner as it would make her parents happy and she would be making a good choice. So she did. After telling her parents all about her day in school, she looked down at her plate and realized she ate all her veggies too. Wow, she thought, my heart's voice really does help me make the right choice. That night before bed, her dad came in to say goodnight. Jade, I've been meaning to ask you. Have you seen my new pen I just got for my birthday? There was that voice again. She could hear it in her heart. It was whispering to her. You saw the pen. You used it to draw the angel. Tell him. Yes. But she thought, what if I get in trouble? It's his new pen. He just got it. I did not ask, what if he takes away TV and my new show is on tomorrow? She started sweating. Jade asked dad, did you see my new pen? Is there something you want to tell me, sweetheart? She decided to listen to her heart's voice and shouted, yes. Dad's head flung back, almost startled. Why are you shouting? I'm just worried that you'll be mad, said Jade. It's okay, sweetheart. You were honest and that means more to me than anything else. Just please ask first before you want to use something of mine. And always be sure to return it afterwards. Okay, Dad. I was drawing an angel with it. It's right here. Do you want to see? Jade held up the picture of the angel. Yes. Wow, Jade, you are one talented 11 year old. It's for Uncle Robert. I cannot wait to give it to him. He's going to love it. Sweetheart, said dad. That night, as Jade drifted off to sleep, she thought about her day and how each time she listened to the voice in her heart, she made the right choice. And when she didn't, she made the wrong choice. What is that voice called? She thought, I must find out. The next day after school, she ran into Grandma's fay's house with the picture in hand. Here, Uncle Robert, it's for you. He looked up after looking at her picture. This angel is as beautiful as you and you are one heck of an artist, Jade. Thank you. I love it. Is this in pen too? That's even more impressive. Exclaimed her uncle. She hugged him. I started listening to my heart's voice, and it told me, you would love a picture of an angel. I'm glad I listened. Uncle Robert laughed. Your heart's voice, you mean your intuition? Yes, Jade, we all have it. And that's exactly what it's there for. To help guide us to make a choice. You're smart and talented, my beautiful niece, Jade.
- [09:13]
Renita Hora
Next is my interview with Erica Silverman. Erica is a children's book author and illustrator, and through her engaging storytelling, she explores meaningful themes like self esteem, perseverance, and inclusivity. We discussed how writing serves as both a creative escape and a powerful mission for her, leading to recognition from the New York Times and. And a Pulitzer Prize nomination. Then listen as Erica shares her story, leave your mark on the world. It's about a washable marker determined to become permanent by making a difference.
- [09:54]
Erica Silverman
My children, really, my, my children, the biggest inspiration for all my ideas. I mean, my daughter one time said, and this is very, very sad, she said, mommy, if I'm not pretty, people like, oh, my goodness, that's a horrible. Why It's a four year old telling me this. You know, I thought this is something obviously that she must be hearing on either on YouTube or school or society in general. I thought I got to find a way to inspire her and let her know that, of course, what's matter with Castle Insider, beauty is more important, or our beauty and all that. But she's already having self esteem issues at such a young age. And then of course, she didn't like reading very much either. She didn't like reading.
- [10:25]
Renee Green Murphy
I thought, I mean, if I can.
- [10:26]
Erica Silverman
Write some books that maybe she would like to read, maybe she'd actually get more into wanting to read, hopefully. And, and so I try to write things, hopefully, that she liked and hopefully I get characters that she liked that she would relate to and that could have helped to inspire, you know, me wanting to write books as well. This is about a very selfish marking pen. This pen does not want to contribute to the world. This pen only cares about himself. And basically right now, he's not a permanent marker. He's a washable marker, but he wants to become permanent. So he asks his friends, well, how can I become permanent? And they say, well, you have to do something important with your life. So he tries all kinds of things to make himself importantly noticeable. He wants to become permanent marker, but so far he's just watched because he's very selfish. For example, the little girl is trying to draw a picture and he pushes marker out of the way to make sure she only uses him again. He only cares about himself, not his friends, nobody else. And as far as he's concerned, the world revolves around him. So the next morning I asked Wynonna. So is of course the lady girl who's the marketing pet. She's a girl that owns the marketing pen. How can I become a permanent marker? Your actions and how you leap to treat others make an important impact on the world. The more you need to help others and make the world a better place, the more of a lasting positive effect you'll have on others. You will only have a permanent mark in the world that will never be forgotten or raised as long as you do things to help other people. So you have to make a difference. And all of a sudden you started doing all kinds of wonderful things. For example, Brad's parents were fighting one day he wrote a letter saying, sorry, I love you. Try to help again, help that argument and help those couples hopefully reconcile their differences. There are crime. He saw crime happening in the neighborhood. He wanted to work. He goes with the shell crime going on. He's trying to do all kinds of random acts of kindness for people essentially. And all these things he's hoping will make him hopefully more of a noticeable person, actually make a contribution to scientists, to the world. At first he did for selfish reasons. He wanted to be a permanent marker. After a while, he actually started feeling good about what he was doing. He actually enjoyed helping people. He actually liked the feeling of knowing I made a difference this person's life. And then one day guy so note to his owner, Sarah, it's I'm so proud of you, Sarah. As she spilled water on the marking pen. But the marking pen this time did not erase because he made a difference in people's lives. He became permanent because he actually showed the world that he actually cares about people, made a difference in the world. And he thought he actually impacted all people's lives. For his kind acts, he'll never be forgotten. But he actually make a difference people's lives. And I'll ask you, even here, unfortunately, you want to make a permanent impact in the world. Leaving your mark, you got things special with it. Helping people, helping people. Remember that this person helped me with this or that. Let the world know you were actually here. And it's an amazing.
- [13:01]
Renita Hora
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- [13:50]
And last but not least, Here is Vicki McGrath's interview for this special episode with children's book authors of Season six. Vicki was inspired by her daughter's desire to become a vet and she uses her childhood hometown to bring the setting of her graphic novel to life. It's called the Dragon and the Mysterious Tales from the Clinic. Listen as Vicky reads an excerpt from her book about two excited middle grade friends on their way to the vet clinic after school.
- [14:25]
Vicki McGrath
It sort of started in Covid when everyone was in lockdown here in Ontario. I'm not sure how it was where you were, but in Ontario, you know, it was pretty much locked down from March 2020, well, for much longer than probably we would have liked. I was a business owner and my business practices had to change dramatically. I was an in person business owner, you know, service based. I had to change my whole business practice, as did many. My daughter was home from school, taking classes online. Everybody was so I feel so isolated and anxious and I think what happened was I just really needed a creative project to give me some kind of stress relief really about feeling so isolated and anxious. And that's really how it developed. The ideas just kind of, you know, sprang to mind as they do with writers, authors and they just, you know, the ideas just come into your mind and you start to realize that when the characters drop into your mind that at first you might be thinking, well, what the heck is that all about? But then eventually you realize, oh, these are characters and they want to be developed into a storyline, right? And they have a purpose and they want to be heard. And so the whole foundation of the novel series is actually based on my daughter's desire to be a vet. She's always wanted to be a veterinarian from as long as she's been able to explain, express what she would like to be in her life. She's an animal lover. To this day. She's now in university. She still wants to be a vet. And so that was really kind of the foundation, the foundation of the book is based on the characters and their moms. Their moms are veterinarians. They own a veterinary clinic together. And so that's really kind of how the whole series developed was from that foundation. And you know, it takes place funnily enough, you know, of course, as things evolve and your story grows. The characters are based in my hometown, my childhood hometown. That's how I envision. You know, they go to school, they walk to the veterinary clinic on Main Street. I envision exactly my own walk through my childhood from school to the things that I did in life. This is Tales from The Clinic Book 1 The Dragon and the Mysterious Mysterious Artifact by Vicki McGrath Are you ready, Jules? Sam asked as he approached his best friend's locker in the hall of the elementary school they both attended, Parkview Public School. I sure am, responded Julia, smiling at Sam, pulling her backpack straps over her shoulders and closing her locker door with a bang. Okay, let's go then. Sam started down the hall towards the main doors. My mom wanted me to help out at the clinic today after school. That's good. I have homework to do and I can do it at the clinic. Julia said as they walked out of the school and towards the veterinary clinic owned by their mothers. Yeah, I have homework as well. Sam glanced around as they walked and pulled his backpack higher up on his shoulders. Hopefully I can get it done after I'm finished at the clinic. Can you believe our moms have owned the vet clinic for for 15 years already? Julia exclaimed. We're pretty lucky they met at vet college and decided to go into business together. I know, right?
- [17:52]
Renee Green Murphy
Sam agreed.
- [17:53]
Vicki McGrath
It's a good thing we decided to be besties at birth. Sam and Julia laughed like we had a choice. Julia laughed. And we get to help with all the patients who stay over and board with the clinic. It's pretty much a win win win. Sam continued. The kids were walked through the schoolyard across the road and cut through the community center. As they walked along the pathway behind the center, they entered Main street and walked towards the clinic. The clinic was a heritage house that was part of a commercial area which had been renovated to become a veterinary clinic several years ago. It had a waiting area in the front, two assessment rooms, a surgery room, and two holding rooms in the back. Hi Mom. Called Sam and Julia in unison, grinning at each other as they walked in the clinic's back door.
- [18:42]
Renita Hora
I hope you enjoyed this look back at the children's book authors of Season six. This is the True Fiction Project. I am your host Renita Hora, here at the True Fiction Project. We are always looking for great stories that make for comedy compelling fiction. So if you have a great story or know somebody who does, or if you are a writer who would like to contribute, then please do get in touch with us at renita.com forward/contact.
- [19:16]
Thank you for listening to the True Fiction Project with Renita Hora. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter to receive more inspiring stories showing how fiction is born from our everyday experiences. For more information visit www.TrueFictionProject.com.
- [19:39]
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