Get Booked – Gillian Young, The Legend Of Childer’s Forest 201123

Hi, you're listening to Get Booked with with me, Hazel Butterfield, for Women's and Men's Radio Station. Welcome to today's show. On today's show, we are going to be chatting to the author Gillian Young. She was born and raised in Worcestershire. She's written and illustrated 4 children's middle grade books: Poppy on Safari, Tammy and Willow, Poppy Loves Devon, and recently The Legend of Childers Forest, which is what we're going to be focusing on today. 3 of these books are part of the Crazy Cream Adventure series, which follows the antics of Poppy the Crazy Cream Retriever. The title for this series comes from Poppy's Instagram account called crazy.cream.retrievers. Please do go and check it out. Sorry, there's a little X on the end of there as well, um, and they're so cute. So if you're a dog fan, please do go and check it out. Gillian has been both a book and dog lover for most of her life. Each dog has its own unique personality, and this is what inspired Gillian to write engaging feel-good stories starring these amazing canine friends. Gillian also enjoys drawing and photography, both of which are featured in her books. Thanks to her thousands upon thousands of photographs, she creates drawings from these images and incorporates them into her books. In Gillian's spare time, she likes walking her golden retrievers Poppy and Devon around the forest, going to castles, cathedrals, and other places steeped in history, and sitting back in front of the log burner with a good book and a glass of wine. Well, that sounds absolutely perfect to me. And I'm super looking forward to catching up with Jill very, very soon here on Get Booked. If you are looking for some inspiration of something to read over the next couple of weeks, please do pop on to hazelbutterfield.com. I've been reading so much at the moment, kind of hiding away from the rather British wintry weather, and I've been putting up my latest reviews on hazelbutterfield.com. The latest set of book reviews is entitled "There's a Lot of Killing, But It's Fiction, So It's Fine." In this blog, it looks at Don't Look Away by Rachel Abbott, The Best Way to Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale, Artificial Wisdom, a previous guest here on Get Booked, Thomas Weaver, and Kill Show by Daniel Swearin-Becker. Such a fantastic book. Please do go and check them out. And if you've read a fantastic book and you want to share share that with us, please do get in touch with me. You can either go via my Instagram @getbookedws or my Twitter @nuttybutty. I know I'm very lucky to have many book bloggers that listen to Get Booked, so if you've come across a fantastic book and you've written a review and you'd like to have it aired on the show, please do get in touch and send over a nice audio file and we'll get that on there. Right now, today on Get Booked, we have the author Gillian Young joining us. And following on from Poppy on Safari and Poppy Loves Devon, uh, Jill has just released another in the Crazy Cream Adventure series, a spooky tale entitled The Legend of Childer's Forest, and it is now available on Amazon. Now, um, I so enjoyed reading this book. It is— it's, it's got a really important message, but I love the whole perspective from the crazy cream retrievers. However, there is a constant battle against how much is too much in terms of progress, expansion, and job creation when it comes to nature being the casualty. We all know as humans how much we need to protect wildlife, nature, and the ability to still have somewhere for us all to experience to learn from and enjoy. But what about the wildlife itself? How much— how must that be for all the creatures not understanding what's happening to their environment with nobody to communicate this to? How it affects the ecosystem is often not addressed in the main. The legend of Childers Forest is a tale of the crazy cream retrievers navigating the repercussions of the destruction of their favorite stomping ground in their local forest and fields. And not just the effects on their paw-ents— see what we did there— and human siblings, but their desperation to help those not as lucky as them to have bricks and mortar as a home. Will the legend of the forest come to the rescue? Nature can be very powerful. Yet another reason why we should not be destroying it unnecessarily. Um, So here we have Jill to chat to us about the legend of Childers Forest. Hi, thank you for joining us on Get Booked. Hi Hazel, it's lovely to be here. How are you? Do you know what, I'm all right. I'm a little bit drenched because, you know, uh, it's now pretty much winter, isn't it? Uh, I've just— I've been out and about. Yeah, I've had to dry the dog off. Oh, the smell of wet dog, lovely. Oh, you've just got to love it, haven't you? Um, Yeah, but do you know what? I think you've seen various pictures of the dog joining me sheltering in pubs and cafes as I've been reading your latest book. I think she kind of knew, because, you know, your dogs and my dog, they follow each other on Instagram, don't they? They do, yes. Insta buddies, yeah. Do you know what? I've thoroughly loved this latest book. Now, I know it's got a really important message, and some of it's a little bit watership. Dawn-esque. Yes, yes, there's a lot going on, but I love that home. There's something about it, kind of the quirky mannerisms, and reading a book from the perspective of dogs, especially when you're a dog fan, that kind of— it just fed my soul. I really love that. Oh, thank you. And you must— do you love kind of just being out with your dogs sometimes and just going I wonder what they're really thinking. Yeah, I mean, sometimes it's just like the expression on their face can say it all. And Poppy especially, I mean, a lot of the neighbours around here know Poppy because she's just so sociable. And you just know what she's thinking because as soon as she sees someone she recognises, she plonks her bottom down on the floor. And she's such a big, strong girl. So I can't move her. So if she sees a neighbor, it doesn't matter if I'm in a rush, she doesn't care. She just puts her bottom down on the floor and she will not move until they come over to her. And then she's just like— she doesn't just bark, she howls. She does this howl bark. It's like a different bark for each thing she's trying to tell you. And it is honestly, it's like she's talking to you. She's got the most amazing character. That's why I write books about her. She's just one in a million. They're so expressive, aren't they? But I love it how you kind of address that, you know, sometimes the dogs are going, 'Oh no, I need to go and save the rabbits!' And then there's the owner going, 'No, you're not having any more food.' I'm like, 'What?' Yes, yeah, totally don't get it. I just— I mean, I think I pretty much have it down to a T what my dog's trying to say because she's so cynical. I mean, beagles are ridiculous at the best of times anyway. But wouldn't it be lovely to just be in their mind and completely have a proper conversation. God, yes. Yeah, I mean, like, last night I was trying to watch this film, and it was quite a good one actually. I love these psychological thrillers, and I was really getting into it. And I've got these, uh, glass doors that separate the living room from the dining room, and I just happened to look and there was this white face just staring at me through the glass, which is a bit unnerving. And it was just that look. And I was like, what? What's the matter? And then she just pushes the door open. So the door swings open because, like I say, she's a strong girl. So the door bashed against the wall and she comes trotting in and she just stared at me. And I said, what? I said, oh, I wish you could talk to me. It was like she was really trying to say, well, come on then. And I said, well, what do you want? What do you want? It was so funny. So in the end, I ended up having to pause the film. And take her outside, see if that's what she wanted. But she was cheeky because Poppy, as you'll see in the books, food comes first with everything with Poppy. And she went outside, had a sniff, came back in because she wanted a treat. She didn't actually want to do anything, but she knows that normally if she goes out and she does something, she gets a treat. So she's been cheeky, but I was watching her and I knew she hadn't done anything, so she wasn't getting one. Wow. You see, with my dog, I've got a cupboard where I keep all the treats, so you don't ever have to wonder if she wants a treat. She literally will drag you and kind of say, look, cupboard. Yeah, and she'll just kind of smack the cupboard and go, that's what I want, dude. I know, if they want you to know, they have a way of making themselves understood. Yeah, I completely— yeah. So I've really kind of enjoyed reading the book and kind of seeing these little quirky mannerisms, because it's just— it does, it feeds your soul. I mean, do you know what, as a nation we have always loved dogs, but since COVID not only— obviously everyone got dogs, and you know, rightly or wrongly, everybody just suddenly realized more so how much they can feed our soul and look out for us. And they're great if you've got anxiety or mental health issues, or to make sure that you have to get out and about. And I just think there must— that we've fallen more in love with dogs, even if that— even if you don't think that was possible. Do you not think there's been a bit of a resurgence over the last couple of years? Yeah, definitely. And dogs are like people, you never get two the same. There's always a perfect match out there for everybody because dogs are perfect companions. I mean, they don't answer you back, they don't expect much in return, but they give you so much love. And the companionship and the greetings they give you when you walk through the door— you could have the worst possible day and they will guarantee you they will bring a smile to your face. And the fact that you have to like take them out for a walk, that's good for your mental well-being as well, because I think you need to get out. Yeah, and you can meet friends. I mean, I've met so many friends through walking the girls because you, you get to see regular faces around the forest and you get chatting and they get to know the girls. And I call them the girls. The girls mean my dogs. No, no, some people think I'm talking about my daughters. It's like, no, no, they're my dogs. Yeah, your, your babies. Whenever I get home, like, my dog's like, oh my God, it's so great to see you. And I'm like, kids, are you even here? No, I know, they don't have the time, do they? They're too busy on their gadgets. But the dogs, they just want you, that's all they want. Yeah, and treats, of course. Yeah. And I do know what I love, it that you, um, you've kind of created this whole Poppy and Devon series out of it. I keep on thinking that I'd love to write a book with my dog in mind, but I think it's not going to be as, um, wholesome as yours because my dog's got a very dirty sense of humor. The things she says to me. So good. Yeah, dirty sense of humor, very cynical. Her sarcasm levels are through the roof. So it would be a very different kind of book, but— You should do it. Do you know what? I'm gonna do it. I think I'm probably— Yes! I talk more to her normally. I take her out for a drink quite often, so I think that maybe, you know, she gets more expressive the more red wine I drink. There's many— they're very in tune with our moods, aren't they? Yes. Yeah, yeah. But I think, I mean, I've read, um, the, uh, the first book as well, and now I think this book is quite different from previous books, isn't it? Yes, it's a little bit darker for a children's book, I think, because the other books, especially the first one I ever wrote, which was Poppy on Safari, was more for younger children. Yeah, you know, like, um, like 6 to 8 or 9, much younger read. But this one, I think it's more like an 8 to 12. It's got a little bit— it's a bit more darker. You've got like legends and myths and a bit of spookiness going on in the forest. And also there's the, you know, the controversial side to it with, you know, the houses being built, the animals losing their homes, and that sort of— like you say, very Watership Down That has to be one of my favorite films. I remember watching that at the cinema and crying my eyes out. I would, you know what, I did a bit of a deep dive because I was like, as I was reading it, I was going, oh, I forgot about Watership Down. I was Googling it a little bit and I think it's been banned in some countries now. Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, it's kind of classed as a children's book, but it is quite disturbing in parts. I mean, the book, I've read the book, but I've also seen the film as well, and the film's quite, quite distressing. Yeah, but I would think that your latest book though, I mean, although you might class it as like 9 to 12 year olds, I would say for adults as well. Yeah, because I think it is, I think it's something that people would enjoy to read. I mean, it's got a little bit of history in it as well, which I thought gave it another dimension. Yeah, I personally love, um, I, I love like time slips and things like that, like Kate Moser's books where you go from one century to another, and, and I love that, and it kind of feeds the imagination and how it all kind of intertwines. I love— I'm fascinated with anything like that. And the reason why— what inspired me to add this element was that one day, because I like history anyway, I happen to be reading about, um, the English Civil War and King Charles II. And pure chance, I just noticed that he actually crossed my doorstep on his escape from the Battle of Worcester. And that fascinated me. I thought, oh my God, that's right. And I thought, this is a sign, I've got to add this to my book. I did read, yeah, the author's note at the back said that you, you're a bit of a history nut anyway, so you kind of ended up really going, you know. Yeah, I mean, I love Don Joe. Jones. Do you like to watch any of his? Dan Jones? No. Oh God, he brings history to the new generation. He makes it so much more interesting. Really? And I love his podcasts and his books. And yeah, he's really good. I mean, there's loads of others as well, loads of others I like, but they just make— I mean, I love history anyway. I'll read all the old dusty books, which most— some people find really brain-numbing, but I love it. But this, it's like a new generation of, of history that makes it so much more interesting. I've just Googled him. There's definitely other reasons to be interested in what he has to say as well. Is it? Yeah, the tattoos as well, they're quite nice. Yeah, I'm just looking at those as well. Yeah, I'd listen to what he has to say. Yeah, give him a go. I think you'd be interested. I've suddenly decided that I'm Wow, absolutely love that. Um, yeah, tell me what I'm just— he's on Audible too, that does make it very interesting. Um, no, I'm quite keen to find out, what was your goal with this book? Well, thing was What happened was I've got this field opposite the house and I sit in my cave, as Mark, my husband, calls it, where I shut myself away with my music, my books, my laptop, and I'm just absorbed in my work. You know, I do the artwork, I do my stories, and there's this field opposite and it's just full of rabbits playing and I love watching them play. And in the spring it's full of daffodils. It's such a beautiful field. And then they sold it and they started building houses on it, which, you know, that it's happening these days, isn't it? You know, that there's a shortage. They need to build more homes. But it was such a shame, though. And I remember talking to my neighbor and she said her son, Ewan, turned to his mom and said, oh, what about the rabbits, mom? And I said to her, because that's exactly what I thought. But you can't really say to them, I oppose this building because of the rabbits. They're not really going to listen to that, are they? No. You know, it's not really— but it was a shame. And, um, you know, that you saw a lot of the dead rabbits on the road because it's a busy road, and you saw a lot of them probably escaping the field, I'm imagining, because it was more than usual. And it was a shame, it was sad. And I suddenly thought, oh, you know, I wonder what the girls think of this, because when they started the building work Devon especially, because she's more fiery than Poppy. She was jumping up at the window and she was barking like mad at these builders. And it was as if to say, get out, who do you think you are? Because it was like, this is my domain, you know. And these little threads of little topics that just wove themselves around inside my head. And that's how the story kind of took shape. And I did feel sorry for these rabbits. And I thought, well, you know, they haven't got a voice. They haven't got a say. They've just got to find somewhere else to go, haven't they? And I was looking at it from my girls' point of view, which I do with my stories. And that's how it started. That's how the story took shape. And then we go to the forest a lot. The forest is our second home. I mean, I take them there every day. And so, you know, I let them off the lead, they have a good run around. And with all this in my mind, and then watching them playing and roaming in the forest, Again, that added another dimension to the story. And then when I read about Charles II and his escape from the Battle of Worcester, and it just all kind of just formed naturally, really, which is quite— I like it when that happens. You have an idea and then these light bulb moments appear and you think, oh, that'll be good, and you add that into it. And it just all took shape very naturally. See, I don't normally get too involved with history, especially until I knew about Dan Jones. But as I was reading it— helps, it does, it really, really helps. But I was then kind of Googling the Cromwell elements and trying, because, you know, and I did read the author's note at the back first as well, just to kind of see. I find that quite interesting sometimes before you read the book. Just so you can see where the author's coming from. Yeah. And I was quite keen to kind of find out how much of it was fiction and non-fiction, and it just got me a little bit involved, and I really enjoyed that. I think it's nice to, to find different ways to get you interested in what's going on. Everyone's so busy all the time, and I found the book quite although there was quite some, you know, some serious topics, it was quite a kind of gentle intro to a little bit of history. And it's nice to kind of put yourself in the position of dogs and animals and things like that as well. But also, we are so busy all the time that we don't think about when we are expanding and progressing and building, just how much of the ecosystem is getting completely and utterly screwed Yes. And once it's gone, it's gone forever. That's the thing. I mean, these houses that they've built opposite, yeah, they've finished them now and they are beautiful. They are lovely, you know, but it is a shame because that field has now gone forever. You know, you can't get that back. And that is quite sad. It's like the town that's just a few miles away. I was brought up there and you look at the old photographs and it's so beautiful. Such a beautiful town full of quaint quirky shops and it's, it's a beautiful place but now it's just gone forever. It's a ghost town now and a lot of it's being pulled down and it's such a shame. It's gone for good because a lot of the old buildings they pull down, you see. So all that, like you look at places like Stratford and Ludlow and, and they are beautiful places but that's because a lot of the heritage, a lot of the history, they've kept. So it's retained its character. But with the town that's a few miles away from me, it's, it's a shame. I remember how it was when I was a kid, but my mom, my aunties and uncles, they remember it way, way back when it was even better. It was a much nicer place. You had so much going on for everybody. There was cinemas, there was dance halls, there was little shops, every— and, and you look at the pictures and you wouldn't recognize the place because now it's just charity shops, empty units, few coffee shops, and you know, that's it. It's a shame, such a shame. You know what's quite interesting, because like the majority of my family are up north and they're like, oh, you know, Hazel's down there in London and it's, you know, it's just all built up and She must miss all the green space. And I'm thinking, you're absolutely bonkers. London probably has more green spaces than you because you all, you're all just building more and more housing estates. There's all these businesses kind of, um, struggling. There's all these empty old shops, whereas around here in London, got some of the most amazing huge parks. They're all protected because they're royal parks. Or it's Hyde Park or Regent's Park and whatnot. And I think we've got more access to parks down here, some of it more protected than you can imagine. Yeah, and it needs to be protected because what I don't understand, and this is just my opinion, but there's a lot of— I mean, like, a lot of the carpet industry was very, very big around here a long time ago, and so there was all these empty factories, and they look like— they looked awful, derelict. But instead of building on these, they build on all the lovely fields that are around. I don't understand that. I don't— why don't they just regenerate land that's— that needs a new facelift rather than ripping up land that's already beautiful by nature's hand? Okay, so anyone who's listening right now, if you know the answer to this, and I'm sure it's an incredibly boring bureaucratic answer, but it seems like common sense. Why not regenerate an eyesore rather than messing with our nature spaces? And also, do you know what? We all know, especially with what's going on with everyone's mental health at the moment, we need nature, you know. Um, yes, a lot of people, whether they use medication or therapy One of the biggest therapies out there at the moment is back to nature therapy. And oh yes, we need that. Definitely. Yeah, I mean, I've, I mean, I've gone through, um, difficult times in the past, as you know, and I've had to, you know, with depression and this, that, and the other, with illnesses and stuff. And I'm not going to go into that, but what's been a lifesaver for me is walking through that forest. Yeah. It doesn't cost anything, but it's just the tranquility, you know, feeling that fresh air, feeling the sun on your skin, or even when it's raining, just feeling the rain. It's that quietness, that stillness, and hearing the birds singing, you know, it just calms you down and it makes you feel so grateful to have that on your doorstep. Oh, completely. So that's why Up until about 2 years ago, whenever I was walking on my own— as I've got a walking group, I walk with quite a few other women who've got their dogs as well, and we kind of, you know, shoot the breeze, have a good old rant for 45 minutes, 60 minutes, whatever, go home, go home to our families, and we've completely kind of expelled anything that's in our brains at that moment. But when I go on my own, I used to listen to music or a podcast or something like that. The last couple of years I don't even take my earbuds anymore because it's the silence. I want the silence, I want the rustling, and I don't want to shut things out. And I am so much better for it. Yes. Yeah, I remember, uh, one of the, um, counselors I saw a while ago, she said, because a lot of the problems I have was anxiety, and she said one of the best things to try is to think of 5 things that you can see right now, 5 things that you can touch, and 5 things that you can hear. And just sitting there and concentrating on that. And it's that stillness and that— is it mindfulness? Is that the right word? I don't know. It is mindfulness. It's making sure that you're actually addressing what's going on around you rather than running around in a haze and actually engaging with your environment. And it works, my God, it really does work. Because at the time I thought, oh, I can't see that working. But your mind is just constantly in overdrive and it burns you out. So you have to have that moment, don't you, where you just actually keep still and just— you can feel like your heart rate's slowing down and just calming down. And that concentrating on these senses is what helps the brain calm down and shut out that chattering monkey, as I call it. Yeah, never shuts up. And do you know what, it's so— it doesn't actually take that long. And I remember doing some mindfulness, and I'd actually done a bit of hypnosis as well, and I came home and I felt ridiculous. I know it's, I know it's a little bit of a woo-woo phrase, but I felt so zen. And I was just sitting in my bathroom and I suddenly went, I looked around and the practitioner kind of said, you need to start addressing what's around you a bit more rather than just going bang, bang, bang, bang. And I realized that for 2 years I had not even acknowledged the color of the light fitting in my bathroom. Never. Never. But that's the thing, isn't it? You're always racing around at 100 miles an hour and you don't take in what's going on around you. It was a rented house, so it's not like I'd picked it or anything like that, but otherwise that'd be weird. But I was just like, wow, that's really bad. And it really kind of brought it home. I mean, I was going to ask you for like 3 of your favorite tips on, you know, kind of trying to look after your own mental well-being, and I think that that's a good one that I'd forgotten about those things, you know, 5 things you can see, 5 things you can— yeah, brilliant, absolutely love that. It works for me like a charm. I do it all the time. It serves as a good reminder as well for people listening, you know, because we all keep on hearing about these fantastic things that we should do, and then we just forget. They go out of our brain at the same time as, you know, when we walk into the kitchen and we knew full well we walked in there for a reason, and it'll come back to us just as we're about to fall asleep. Well, it's like, do you remember the last time I spoke to you? I don't know if you remember this, but I was busy, I was chatting to you, and then all of a sudden, mid-sentence, I completely forgot what I was talking about. Do you remember that? Yeah. And I was like, oh my God, what was I saying? And that happens a lot, and it's because there's just so much going on inside of here. This is the thing, and it just becomes a tangled mess of thoughts, doesn't it? And you just go off on a tangent and you lose yourself. Well, I do lose myself quite often, and when you are regularly doing live radio, sometimes you just gotta wing it and keep on chatting and hope it comes back by the end of the sentence. And hope nobody notices. And also you don't want to listen back just in case it really was and you didn't, you didn't manage to cover it up as well as you thought you did. Yeah, we've all done that. Yeah, and do you know, it's not just a female thing either. I speak to a lot of my blokey friends and they're like, dude, happens all the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Makes you feel better then, doesn't it? It's not just me, I'm not going crazy. Yeah, occasionally, depending on who I'm interviewing as well, I quite often just go, it's gone. Do you remember where we were going? They're like, yeah, you said this. Cool, cool. Let's, let's work it back. Let's work it back. I find, you know, sometimes it's better just to be honest and just be— just admit it. But yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah, like you say, it's gone. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes it depends on what I'm talking about. If it was something really important, I was like, oh, maybe try and keep the theme going. Don't panic. No, I, I forget all the time. My kids find it hilarious, especially when they know it's happened. Yeah. So if I was to ask you for your 3 top tips, and I'm assuming that the 5 things, 5 things, 5 things would be one of them. Yes. What would be the other 2 things that are your go-tos to kind of look after your own mental health? Uh, the one would be definitely walking around the forest. Yeah, it doesn't have to be the forest, just in the country, anyway, away from all the hustle and bustle. The stillness and the fresh air— there's something about the fresh air just filling in your lungs with that fresh air and just listening to everything around you. And it's just really, really relaxing, and it helps clear your mind. If there's something on your mind that's troubling you, go for a walk in the forest and it just clears your head. Do you know what? Even when I go for a run, sometimes I might not even put the earbuds in then. I'll think of something that I needed to clear my mind with, maybe a topic that I wanted to bash out, and I'll just think about that while I'm running, and bang, I'll kind of come up with a solution. You know, 5K, like 5K, probably 2 and a half, but you know what I mean. I'm impressed. Just walking around the forest with the girls and I'm bushed for the rest of the day. And they do the running, not me. Yeah, not in my case with the beagle. She kind of looks at me ridiculously if I try and run. I, you know what, going out in nature is great, but just going outside, even just sometimes if you're just walking down the streets and you just actually manage to make a bit of eye contact with somebody or say hello. Yes. And just engaging with people. Just getting outside, out of the house, getting outside. Yeah. And sometimes just seeing a somebody smile and say good morning can just lift your spirit so much. It doesn't sound a lot, but it can. But that's why I always like to smile at people. And when you go to a— into a shop, you always like to say good morning. And that's because you think, you think, well, you know, it'll brighten my morning, so I'll try and do the same to them. Because, you know, every— if you're at work, like working in a shop or wherever, and you've got someone with a miserable face, it can kind of kill your mood even more. But if somebody just smiles at you, that's sometimes that's all it takes. It's free and it takes very little effort. Yeah, that's it. I love that. Do you have— like I say to my daughter, I say, just keep smiling, keep smiling. And sometimes if you're feeling a bit low and you keep smiling, it has this way of actually lifting your spirits anyway, and you genuinely smile because you are happy. You're not just putting that smile on. Does that make sense to you? I wrote a blog about it recently, um, about how if you smile, it sends signals to your brain telling you that you're happy. So even if you're not happy, smile, because it'll trick your brain, and then eventually it's like reconditioning your brain. There is science behind it. So sometimes I just The thing is, I've got a terrible smile. If you look at my social media, I pout all the time because I look demented when I smile. So although it's great and it sends them— it sends the messages to my brain— there's people walking by going, is she crazy? Yes, I am. People think you're snarling. Yes, I just look— I look demented. I'm gonna have to look on your, uh, Instagram now and see if we can see some pictures of you smiling. It doesn't happen. I look absolutely crazy. But sometimes then I just smile just to kind of confuse people, and then it'll make me giggle. So if people want to find out a little bit more about yourself and the Crazy Cream Retrievers, where can we find out more about you? Well, there's plenty on my website. Which is www.gillianyoungauthor.com. And also there's my social media, uh, there's my Gillian Young Author page on Instagram, and also my girls, the Crazy Cream Retrievers, that's their own Instagram page. So there's that. And I've also got, um, Corn Dolly— no, it's Corn Dolly, that's a strange name. That's Twitter, yeah. And that's, that's Poppy's pedigree name. Corn dolly, so that's why we called her that. And so yeah, I'm always on social media, and like, again, there's my website, and also my books are available on there. So if anybody wanted a signed copy with a little cheeky bookmark added in, they can always order a copy from there. I love that. I did actually— I, I did love the, um, the Halloween post from the Crazy Cream Retrievers, um, Oh, they're in the forest. In the forest. Uh, one is a ghost, one is a devil. Yeah, yeah, Devon is a devil. Yeah, she's— yeah, this horn suits her. She's a little devil. I— to be honest, it does look like they should stay on there. They— it really does suit. Yeah. And what, what are they going to be up to next now, now that they've saved the rabbits from the fox? Well, don't you see? You see now? The next book I'm planning isn't actually a children's book. It's for more of a young adult, and it's a supernatural thriller. Oh, I saw this! Yes, ah, that's what I'm working on now. Yeah, so I might— I, I'm never say never. I think I just love writing about the girls. I think they're a great duo, and their, their different personalities gel so well together, so it makes writing a story with them a lot of fun. So I think I will do more with the drawings, but my next project isn't actually a children's book, it's this supernatural one. So if you're interested in that, Hazel. Yeah, I am super, super looking forward to that, and then we'll get you back on the show back in 2024 when that one gets released. I'd love to, I'd love chatting to you. Yeah, likewise, I've really enjoyed it, and you know, sometimes I just think we should just start a new podcast just talking about dogs. Um, yeah, love that idea. Yeah, brilliant idea, isn't it? We just wouldn't stop to take a breath. Yeah, I know. The thing is, while we've been chatting, I'm sure the dog's figured it out because she's kind of banging on the door going, excuse me. Oh really? I really want to meet her. Excuse me. I think she'd go on really well with the girls, don't you? Oh yeah, she loves the retriever. Definitely. Well, Jill, thank you so much for chatting to us on Get Booked for Women's and Men's radio station, and good luck with The Legend of Childers Forest. Go and buy the book. Yeah, you're very, very welcome, and hopefully I'll speak to you again soon. Yeah, I look forward to it. Thank you. Take care now. Bye. Legend of Childers Forest, Chapter 3: The White Stag Inn. After a delicious dinner at the White Stag Inn, Poppy and Devon sat outside with their family in the decking area. While Dad fetched the drinks, Poppy lay beside Devon in the shade under the crisscross beams. She looked up at the golden-coloured fairy lights wrapped around the wood. At night they looked like stars. Large hanging baskets hung from the wooden supports Poppy and Devon lay beside one. Devon looked up, her eyes darting about. Poppy guessed she was watching the bees and wasps that buzzed amongst the colourful blooms. Meanwhile, Poppy flopped onto her side and groaned with contentment. After a good dinner, she always felt sleepy, so she left the humans to talk and Devon to keep an eye on the flying insects. A few moments later, she woke to the sound of clinking glasses and voices. Dad had returned with a tray of drinks and a bowl of water for Poppy and Devon. Poppy slapped her chops. Sleeping always made her mouth dry. She slowly pulled herself up, but before she had a chance to taste the cool water, Devon was already there, her golden head bent over the water lapping loudly. Typical. Poppy sat down and grunted. She looked around at the other families enjoying the late summer sunshine and then noticed with a jolt Boxer glaring at her from on the windowsill. The tip of his grey and white tail whipped from side to side and she was sure his eyes narrowed further when she looked at him. She tried holding his stare. Two can play at that game. She took a deep breath, pushed her chest out, and grunted. "What's up, Pop?" Devon whined, licking the drops of water from her jowls. "Look over there." Poppy lifted her chin and returned Box's glare. Devon stared back at the old grumpy cat. She was so still that not even her whiskers moved. "Come on, Devon," Poppy whined. "Let's make ourselves at home like Boxer does in our garden." They stretched out, beating their tails against the floor. Evie noticed and settled down beside them. Their behaviour didn't just capture Evie's attention though. Another family sat at a neighbouring table, began laughing. Finally, the mum spoke to Poppy and Devon's parents. There was a young girl sitting at the table. She looked a little older than Evie. Poppy guessed a little older than her brother Jack too. She looked as though she wanted to speak but was unsure and kept looking from Poppy and Devon to her parents. Eventually, the girl caught her mum's eye. 'Can my daughter go over and say hello? She loves dogs.' 'Of course,' Mum replied. The young girl smiled shyly and settled on the floor beside Evie. While the girls fussed over Poppy and Devon, Poppy peered under her bent paw at Boxer. Yes, he was still looking, and yes, he still looked grumpy. Good. With a sigh, Poppy rested her head on the mat and enjoyed her belly rubs. Meanwhile, she eavesdropped on the humans' conversation. "Do you live around here?" the man asked her parents. "Yes, this is our local," Dad said. "Are you from around here?" "No, no," Poppy heard the girl's mum say. "We're on holiday. We're staying at the White Stag." 'Only for a few nights though, sadly. We're going back in the morning.' 'No sighting of the legend?' the girl's dad said. 'I hope to prove everyone at work that the legend exists and get a photo of the famous giant stag.' Poppy opened her eyes, now keenly interested in the conversation. She rolled onto her stomach and listened to the grown-ups talk. While Jack settled beside her and gently stroked her chin. She wanted to learn more about the legend, and since this was one of her dad's favourite topics of conversation, she knew there was more to come. "You're speaking to the right person," Mum said. "John knows all there is to know about the legend of Childer's Forest." The couple leaned closer, their elbows on the table, 'Is that so?' the woman said, resting her chin on her hand. Poppy's eyes moved from left to right, watching closely as she listened. 'Isn't this something to do with King Charles II?' Jack asked, sitting beside his dad on the bench. Devon sat up slowly so as not to disturb the girl, stroking her reddish-golden tufts of fluff around her ears. She closed her eyes against the girl's touch. Poppy glanced in Boxer's direction just in time to see him jump off the windowsill. He marched past them and out into the field. Devon watched, then froze. Poppy knew she'd seen something. Poppy sat up and looked at the field. There were dozens of rabbits. They ran, spun, ate, and scratched. Round the field they ran and Poppy wished she could join them. Devon whined. Poppy knew this was what Devon wanted too. Then, just to make the temptation to follow even worse, Teddy appeared amongst the rabbits, but the young cat was oblivious to the wild bunnies and chased a nearby robin out of the bushes instead. "Easy now," Poppy growled softly to Devon. The couple laughed. "I think Poppy agrees with you," said the lady. Hearing her name, Poppy looked at the lady and wagged her tail. Mum laughed. "Poppy's more interested in the rabbits than an old story that's been exaggerated over the years." "So you don't think the legend's true?" the man said. Mum shook her head. "A giant stag that can talk to people? Really?" 'No one said it talked to people.' Poppy caught the sharp tone in Dad's voice, which usually happened when Mum mocked the legend of Charters Forest. 'I read that when Charles Stuart escaped from the Battle of Wakechester, Oliver Cromwell's army surrounded him, and if it hadn't been for the giant stag, he'd have been captured and probably executed,' the man said. Dad took a long swig of his cold beer before answering. Charles Stuart escaped with a small group of his most trusted soldiers. They supposedly hid here at the White Stag. The young girl now sat beside Evie and listened to Dad tell the story. To Poppy, it felt like story time when Mum used to read to Jack and Evie before bed. 'One of the men in the group was Captain Childer,' Dak continued. 'When the New Model Army came to the inn, he saved the others. The army, recognizing Childer as one of Charles's men, went after him, giving the others a chance to escape.' 'And when in the forest, he came face to face with the stag,' the woman said. Poppy noticed that others were now listening too. 'Childer knew how big the forest was and how easily anyone could get lost there. He believed he could outwit Cromwell's men by hiding amongst the trees, but what he didn't count on was getting lost himself. They say Captain Childer hid in an oak tree.' 'Childer's Oak,' the man said, nodding. Dad smiled, pleased to be talking to someone who shared his interest. Forest. If it hadn't been for the stag, he probably would have died there. It was supposed to be so big that Childer didn't believe it was a real stag, but an angel sent to help him. And that's why it's believed if there's trouble in the forest, the stag will reappear. While the humans continued talking about local history and the famous legend, Poppy turned towards the rooftop of their home and their neighbours' houses. Beyond there was the forest. Poppy imagined Captain Chalder hiding in the oak tree she'd sniffed and run past many, many times before. She wondered if the giant stag was still out there patrolling the forest. I'm Hazel Butterfield, and you've been listening to Get Booked for Women's Radio Station. Catch me here every day of the week at 5 PM and every Tuesday at 4 PM on Men's Radio Station, and you can catch up on previous shows at womensradiostation.com/shows/getbooked. Thank you for listening. Now I have been devouring Lit and I'm apprehensively starting Ascent for the intoxicating journey I know it will provide. Today's guest, Mark Anthony, and his book Lit and Ascent are a cacophony of the supernatural meets horror, add in anxiety coping mechanisms, uh, throw in a good dose of childhood family trauma, constant brutality, and finish off with nightmares coming into fruition. Um, I hope you're all ready for this. Mark, hi, how are you? I am good, and that sounds absolutely terrifying, to be honest. The books are terrifying. I mean, I found— I so can't wait. I love the fact that I, I read books like Lit, and I'm like, I actually get to ask the author what was going through his head. Me too, me too. I asked myself that too. Yeah, what was I thinking? Um, no, it's brilliant. I enjoyed it so much. Um, and But it was, it was constant brutality. But just, yeah, I gather that this was like a dream originally when the idea was born and you just went, right, let's get that down on paper. It's, it's funny because I've always, I've always, um, enjoyed storytelling and writing, and, and, you know, I, I've always, even as a child, been known to have quite the imagination and Um, and I did. It was many, many, many years ago. I had, I had a nightmare, and it was just this dream, and this one of those dreams sort of played on you for a few days. And as usual, I, I started building up a, a story around it, or building it into something else. Um, and just sort of sat on it for quite a few years, actually. It was, um, it was definitely probably one of the main storylines I had brewing in my mind, but I did sort sit on it for a very long time. Oh really? Because you started— so you started writing it during the pandemic, so how long were you sitting on it for? Well, well, I would have— it would have been by about 8 to 10 years by that point. And of course, I mean, it probably in a completely different— and it was in quite a different form to what it ended up as being. Um, but we were actually— I was in London when the pandemic hit London. So I got COVID in London. It was actually— You're welcome. The real COVID-19 in London just after it left, I think it left Tehran at that stage. Came back to Australia, quickly got shipped off back home. And of course, then we followed into the COVID lockdowns not that long afterwards. And, uh, that was when I, I don't know, I, I thought that, you know, that's, that's when I started writing it. That's when I started thinking, you know, I could really put this together and see how this goes and, um, and building it from there. But yeah, it was, it was a weird time. It was a weird time. I, I find it interesting because there's a lot of people who have a book in them, and then when they all got furloughed um, or they're in isolation in so many different ways that people, uh, were during the pandemic. And some people like, right, this is the time that I get to write the book, whereas other people were just like, yeah, yeah, I just can't put myself through that. Because some people maybe wrote something that was a bit more traumatic, so some people could cope with it, and some people were just like, oh, now is not the time to let my head go into this. That's right. Now, now, yeah, when I will write a children's book or something, um, or we'll start, you know. But, but I mean, fair, cool. A lot of people during that time did multiple multiple different things too. They took on new hobbies and they took on, you know, they learned, you know, learned another language, or we did whatever we could to cope with such a dramatic change in our life. But I was still actually working, so I was still nursing at that stage, but it was really, really tense. Yeah. So because of course we didn't know what was happening, we didn't know what was to come, and we didn't know what would be expected of us. And, um, so I think maybe that was a way of funneling my attention, um, or funneling those feelings, um, into something creative, if that makes sense. It completely does. I think we all had to find what worked for us, and sometimes we just needed distracting or we just needed to refocus. Yes. Yeah, and just getting that, that, that time and that space, albeit not a, not a comfortable space. Nobody was in a comfortable space, but, um, but that space to actually just to think, okay, well, you know, I might as well— I mean, it's quite optimistic— make the most of this time, uh, you know. Um, so, and that's when, that's when it started. Yeah, that's when I decided to, to make a serious effort. So you decided, you know, during a pandemic to start writing a book where evil, brutal Leviathans attach their souls to kind of, um, just the everyday person, and they basically try and wind these everyday people up so that they can kind of, when they get angry, they get this kind of pathway in to steal the person that's near them and doom them to a life of torture in hell. Yes, their own special little corner of hell. Yes. And I think it sounds terrible, but that's— yeah, it really was. I think it was— I think there was a lot of play with the— first of all, I wanted to the character development was really important to me. And as much as I knew that it had to be quite brutal because just the premise is, I mean, the Leviathans are, are merciless, vicious, malicious, sinister things that So, uh, so with them, it was then I had to counter them with writing these characters that actually had soul and nuance, because the, the Leviathans, of course, had no nuance. So they were attached to these people, these vessels that I had to— that I, that I really wanted to make as very three-dimensional people. Um, trapped in this awful situation coming from these, uh, from these different backgrounds, different diverse backgrounds, where, yeah, effectively, if you get angry with someone, um, then you, you condemn that person to an eternity of, of suffering at the heart, you know, in the hands of your own monster. Well, I was kind of reading this and I was thinking, does this serve as like a kind of metaphor for letting the black dog in. And literally, not like monster dog in the case of like Josh, but it's a bit like, you know, because we all know sometimes that we can't let the anger in because it just takes us off to a different kind of playing field and it can be quite dangerous. And I found it kind of weirdly relatable. Yeah, and that's funny enough that I get that response a lot. Different people seem to relate to different characters within the book for one reason or another. And I think that that's right. It's because of that, first of all, you know, making them very three-dimensional characters. So, you know, because that's what we are effectively. You know, we're not all good. We're not all bad. We're not all positive or all negative. Have these nuanced personalities, which I, um, however, that doesn't make you necessarily unlikable.