Unveiling the Magic of Children's Books: Lyn McDonald's Journey of Creativity and Self-Discovery

Has your heart ever skipped a beat reading a captivating children's book and ever wondered about the journey behind those magical words? Our guest for today's episode, Lyn McDonald, unlocks the heart of her creative process, sharing her inspirational journey as a children's book writer. Lyn's love for poetry and its significant role in her healing journey forms a cornerstone of her writing. We discuss her debut book, "The Great Tree and the Ladybug," which manifests her bond with nature and her experiences. From promotional strategies to the emotional roller-coaster of sharing her work, Lyn's journey is as enchanting as her stories.

What if you could touch at least one person with your words? Lyn showcases the power of positive feedback and its role in overcoming self-doubt. Her website, “Green Light Pages,” symbolizes her perseverance and unwavering bond with nature. As we navigate her journey, she brings to light the concept of self-worth, independent of others' opinions. Trusting divine timing and following your heart forms the crux of Lyn's journey in writing her second book, "When the Walls Came Down." Her personal experiences and the courage to make decisions when things aren't working are woven through her words, inspiring every aspiring writer.

Beyond the world of letters and words, Lyn's love for animals and her plans for a holistic wellness center in Tennessee form a significant part of her life. She emphasizes the significance of self-care during the pandemic and listening to the whispers of our heart. As we wrap up the conversation, Lyn shares a sneak peek into her upcoming second book and ways to connect with her. Get ready to be inspired and touched by an incredible journey of creativity, courage, and self-discovery with Lyn McDonald.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Today I have with me Lynn McDonald, and Lynn is an inspirational writer of children's books. Lynn's website, the Green Light Pages, inspires everyone by promoting positivity, growth and healing. Lynn resides in Delaware, where she took a leap of faith to write her first book, the Great Tree and the Ladybug. Hi, lynn, thank you for joining me. How are you?

Speaker 2: 0:22

I'm doing very well, Deb. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, you are welcome.

Speaker 1: 0:26

So I'd like to ask two questions to get us warmed up. If you could have any superpower, which one would you have?

Speaker 2: 0:34

I would love to fly, because I think just being able to see the world from a different perspective that you wouldn't normally be able to do, I think that would be really pretty amazing. And to be able to go places that not everybody could go, you know, I think it would really open you up to a whole other perspective and, as a writer, I think that would give me some really good inspiration, right.

Speaker 1: 0:59

Oh, absolutely, I like that. All right. So what is your favorite app on your phone currently?

Speaker 2: 1:06

Well, I try not to be on my phone as much, but I would have to say Canva is probably my favorite, because I started to do a lot more with Instagram and my Green Light Pages, facebook page, and Canva has given me the opportunity to be creative that way and share my writing, my poetry, just even like flyers for my book and stuff like that. Like it's provided a lot of templates and things like that, so I probably use that one. The most.

Speaker 1: 1:42

That definitely is an extensive and intensive app. I use that one also.

Speaker 2: 1:47

There's a lot. I don't know for sure, I just scratched the surface with it. But that's probably been my favorite so far with just. At first I was using a lot of their photos and stuff and then lately I've been trying to use more of my own photography.

Speaker 1: 2:04

Oh, there you go.

Speaker 2: 2:06

So when I go out in nature and take pictures, rather than using a random photo from Canva or whatever, I'm trying to use my own backgrounds and things like that. So it's been a great tool for just being able to create and then share your creations. I've really enjoyed it.

Speaker 1: 2:24

I agree with that, and you don't absolutely have to be a very creative person. That's why I like it, because I can go in and get ideas and then I can change up what they offer.

Speaker 2: 2:34

Right. I mean there's a lot I would like to maybe branch out with with, like animation type stuff. I haven't really spent a lot of time with that. Same thing with Instagram and the Reels. I've made a few, but there's just so much out there now that you can actually do and people are. They're sharing a lot of their creativity in really amazing ways, and I'd like to continue to learn more and just see what I can come up with. That's your creative side. Well, it's cool to be able to foster it in ways that you can't do by yourself. So I think that's. What's been great is I have the creativity and the ideas, but being able to execute them. That's where I'm aware of my limitations, and so having apps like Canva and Instagram and other platforms where you can actually explore it all oh yeah, it's been really cool.

Speaker 2: 3:33

Did you always love to write? I would say I did from an early age. Yes, it definitely was something that I felt pulled to do. It did come naturally to me for a while. When I was younger, I was really fascinated by poetry. At that time it was more of like the rhyming poetry. I didn't start to branch out to more, just expressing myself, regardless of whether it was rhyming or not, until I got older. But yeah, I mean stories and it definitely there was something in me that I knew when I was younger and then I just sort of I kind of lost it a little bit along the way as I was growing up. But journaling was always something that really helped me on my healing journey and my journey back to myself, because I definitely I did what I'm sure a lot of people do, like you kind of lose yourself along the way and writing for me has been my way of getting back to who I was always meant to be.

Speaker 1: 4:37

So was it journaling poetry that you were writing before you had the idea of to write a children's book or to write a book?

Speaker 2: 4:45

Well, I actually wrote the story for the children's book years and years ago. Short stories like it's, those kind of came naturally to me, like the inspirational stories, like they kind of came naturally to me and picture books just seemed to be the best way to actually bring them to life. So it wasn't a plan that I was going to be like a children's book author, it just Based on how I write. That seemed to be the best way to express it and I've come to really appreciate that style of writing because I like having illustrations to support my words. That's been really cool to kind of see how that's evolved.

Speaker 1: 5:26

Did you sketch any of your illustrations yourself as you were going along? I?

Speaker 2: 5:31

did not At first. Well, because I do love to draw. I'm just not a natural artist that way I do have to look at stuff, and so I'm definitely fascinated by people that can just they can just pen to paper and boom go create an entire world just from their mind, like. I haven't had that gift, but I did love to draw as a kid and so I do have on a piece Because I've always been in the restaurant industry for a very long time. So I always had those guest check and I had a sketch of the tree with a ladybug, with the original title, for the book was called the Mamosa and the Ladybug Because it was based on a Mamosa tree that I planted with my dad in our backyard in North Carolina when I lived there, and so the original title was the Mamosa and the ladybug, which I later changed to the great tree and the ladybug.

Speaker 2: 6:22

But I do have a I'm not sure where it is, but I do have a guest check piece of paper with that image on it, and I actually did a few years later, before I, or even like, I guess, when I was having the book illustrated, you know, by my illustrator I think I actually have I sketched like the tree with like colored pencils. Oh wow, oh, maybe, maybe I'll include, like some of my own artwork, or you know, at some point. But I ended up not following through with that. But you know, someday down the road maybe I'll I'll, I'll tackle it you know, you never know.

Speaker 1: 6:55

Never say never. Yeah, I was wondering, was it you know? Did it help you with the process of writing the story itself to have, you know, that illustration alongside your, your writing process for the for the ladybug?

Speaker 2: 7:06

Well, it was kind of, because it really it's like the writing should be done before the illustration process even begins. So what was kind of cool it was, it was I allowed because I, my illustrator, it was a friend of mine. We went to, we practiced yoga together at a studio on Long Island, and so this was honestly her first illustration attempt and it was my first book creation attempt. So we were kind of learning together. But so I basically gave her creative control over that.

Speaker 2: 7:37

I was curious to see how she envisioned my words coming to life and it was really cool to kind of see from, because you know, drawing and art and painting like that's a whole different medium, right so to see her, her creativity coming through, you know, and then my words being along it and stuff, we kind of. We kind of rolled with it together, which was really really cool. And then I ended up, you know, when I I the book was finished, when I decided to redesign it, and so at that point in time it was more of like I was shifting some of the words to go along with her illustrations.

Speaker 1: 8:14

Okay, If that makes sense, it just makes sense. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 8:19

Now I'm kind of like, now that I've put together a team of people to kind of help me on like my next books and things like that, I kind of know what to do to kind of guide the illustrators and things like that. And so, because my next illustrator is going to be she's my best friend from college, that we're doing this together and she's an amazing artist, but also she's never illustrated before, so now I'm in a better position to, you know, guide her on that journey and stuff. But you know, I I look at it like, you know, I don't want someone telling me how to write, so I want them to have that freedom to like that's the talent and there and I know I don't have that gift, so it's, I don't want to put them in a creative bubble Now. I want them to be able to, you know, take, take the words and like how do you envision this? And and you know, then can we, you know, put our talents together to make it even better.

Speaker 1: 9:08

Exactly. Oh my gosh, you have. What a great process. So let's just back. You're in Delaware now, but what? What was the journey like for you? Or were you? What did you do that led up to you moving to Delaware?

Speaker 2: 9:19

So it was, honestly, completely, completely random and not planned at all, which, you know, sometimes life will, will do that to you and it could be the best thing for you. Covid was the catalyst. It was 20, you know, beginning of 2020. And my parents had, you know, they had been, they had made the decision I want to say, maybe a year or so prior to that that they were, you know, going to retire and move to Delaware. So they were having a house built and they were closing on their house. The first week of March, covid happened. I want to say that third week of March, and you know, we were told that we were, everybody's job was shutting down for two weeks. So I looked at it as a two week vacation where I could go and visit my parents in Delaware in their new house, right? And so I packed enough stuff for two weeks and came to Delaware, and you know that two weeks turned into three months and when I ended up going back to New York, it just it, really I had made the decision, it wasn't the right place for me to be anymore.

Speaker 2: 10:20

During the three months that I was down here in Delaware, you know, I really I got back to myself. I really the book had already been in the works at that point, but I had pushed it aside because of my fear. You know, those three months really gave me a chance to, you know, play with my website and get back to writing and really just sort of ask myself you know, what do you want? I knew going back to New York was not what I wanted, but it was what I had, and so I did.

Speaker 2: 10:49

But I was very unhappy and then I had to make the decision, like, this is not what I want, and so I I came to Delaware with, you know, with the blessing of my parents. They have been amazing, absolutely amazing. They basically got me on my feet and helped me to get the book in its final stages to where you know. I was able to put it out in the world and move forward with that. And yeah, here I am, three years later. I'm still in Delaware and it's actually I'm moving forward on my next journey. So this is, this is a transition place for me. This is not where I'm going to stay Journey continues on after it continues.

Speaker 1: 11:24

Absolutely. Were you working on your website while the while you were writing on your book, or did the website come into play after you had written the book?

Speaker 2: 11:35

So the book was already written and then it was the website was kind of an avenue for me to share it. So you know, I knew that I wanted to have a website. But I didn't want a traditional author website because I want the website to be, I wanted it to be just more than about me. You know, my hope is that you know as things progress and you know as the future unfolds, is that you know it'll be maybe a collaborative space for you know, other creatives to share their inspiration with the world, because the whole premise behind the website was to share inspiration, positivity, growth and healing through creative expression. Right, and writing for me is my, my vehicle for that. But you know, the people are, there, are, you know, artists, musicians, you know, and either so many ways that you can do that and inspire others. And I wanted to create a website that would sort of kind of bring all of these things together and maybe inspire other people to be able to have that in their own life as well.

Speaker 1: 12:32

Yeah, that's a great platform to have, and the green light pages is the name of the website. Yes and your, and each of the words has a meaning to you. It has a meaning.

Speaker 2: 12:42

Yes, so you know, and that's kind of cool thing too is that you know it is symbolic to me, like I know what it means to me personally. But you know, I'm hoping that you know, when people come to the website and check it out, like maybe those words will spark you know meaning for them as well. But you know the whole thing, that kind of inspired it was. You know, like I, at the time I was really striving to live a green life. Nature has always been my connection to my writing. I find that I am very inspired when I'm, you know, among trees or, you know, by the beach or just going on a hike, so it's most of my writing has taken place in nature. To kind of include that in my, you know my website name, I think that was really important for me, you know, and green itself has so many different meanings, you know, and just you know just the color itself and you know, representative of the heart shop or representative of, just you know, the healing light, you know. And then you know something as simple as like going for it Right, move forward, green go.

Speaker 2: 13:45

And that's kind of been what I needed, you know, in the later stages of the book creation was. You know, don't stop, keep going. And because it's very hard to kind of keep sometimes moving forward when you're self-doubt and you're fear, just your inner dialogue of criticism and you know, or the fear of outside criticism comes into play and you just sort of have to make a decision are you going to go or are you going to stop? And I had a lot of start stops along my journey, but that green was like my motivator of like no, like you're doing something good, so keep doing it. You know, don't be afraid. And you know I think the more I do it, the easier it has become. But it's definitely been a lifelong battle for me. And you know the Great Train, the Ladybug, that book was written, I want to say the first version of it was back in 2010. So she's been around for a while and it's just taken me a while to go through my journey, to get to this point where I was able to share her.

Speaker 1: 14:44

So yeah, and you are not the only one with those fears or the lack of self, or do you think you don't have the self confidence to do something? And going through your website and reading what you have, and for me, the feelings that I get from your website is so motivational. Inspirational, because we had talked prior to sitting down tonight with about my own anxiety and fear and working through things, and you know, I'm sure this happens with you too. People have no idea, you know, people have no idea that you know, sometimes it's that anxiety and you can talk yourself out of things, and so I'm so glad that you remember the green light and keep going forward.

Speaker 2: 15:25

Well, and that's where, like, the support system has been, you know, huge for me as well, like, you know, like my family and my friends and you know people, when I finally had the courage to start sharing my writing, you know, because I kept it to myself for a very long time, when I finally started to have the courage, you know, to just let other people see it, you know, like the validation of it helped them or it, you know, it sparked something in them. It just sort of makes you want to keep doing that, you know. And then I mean, you do have your people that may not resonate with your words, and I think that's been important too, because it's helped me to get back to you know myself and to not hold myself worth based on someone else's opinion. You know, just because I created something, that doesn't mean that it's gonna resonate with everybody, but it also doesn't mean that, like, my creation is bad or that I'm bad and so it's. I think that's been part of the journey.

Speaker 2: 16:17

Now, at this stage, like, the more that I share it, the more open you are to, you know the positive and the negative side of that, and either way, it shouldn't affect you yourself, and so that's been, I think, part of this. This next phase of, you know, overcoming the fear aspect is, you know, not to, not to take those negative things to heart and to just sort of keep going. You know, because, yeah, there will be those that don't resonate but those that do, and even one person like that's, one more person that maybe needed those words at that time, and you don't know what the ripple effect will be. You know that's been, that's kind of like where we're at now.

Speaker 2: 16:57

You know, along the way, so is the second book, also based on your journey, your it is, and it's so funny because I've had a journey with this one too and you know, and that's why I'm definitely a big believer in divine timing for things, sometimes we want them to move faster than they're meant to move. My second book, when the Walls Came Down, is, you know, very indicative of that. Honestly, I that was a big, you know, personal, you know learning experience for me too, because I, you know, after the you know the first book and then moving with the second book, the second one was coming about in 2021. So my best friend, she was starting illustrations on that. I had it written, we were going with it. I had a book designer on board, like things were moving forward, something with the writing, you know it wasn't working and I had had it edited by two different people and taking their suggestions and this and I'm like it, just something wasn't working with it.

Speaker 2: 17:55

I ended up making the decision to kind of pull the project, and it was. You know it was difficult to do because, I mean, the story is very close to my heart and, honestly, that story the original version of that story, helped me to move from North Carolina back to New York, like it was the catalyst for me to like pick up and go, because I realized I wasn't happy where I was and so I needed to change. And that story was my motivator. You know, something wasn't working with the writing and I'm like I can't force this and I don't want this to become what it's not meant to be, and so I stopped it. And, you know, my best friend was very gracious because she had put time in and she's like, no, like it's okay, like when you're ready, we'll get back. And in the meantime, she has now created her own platform with her art, which is really awesome. She's deciding to move forward as a as an artist, and so she's. She's doing commissions for animal portraits and all sort of stuff like that. And then, you know, we're hoping to get back to this new book in the new year. Oh, wow, okay, that is our plan.

Speaker 2: 18:57

So, basically, I ended up taking time off from it and this past summer I rewrote it, had it edited, and it was more in line with the original story that I was trying to tell and it felt right and I sent it to my my friend again and she's like Lynn, this is this, is it Like? This, is this is like you? You, you fixed what needed fixing and it just it's just better. And so you know. So that's, you know, it's, it's ready, and she now with now we're waiting for her to you know, which is fine, you know, because she waited for me for two years. So I'm like you know what you do, what you got to do when, when it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

Speaker 2: 19:33

But I'm excited about that one, because that one is all about following the path of your heart, honoring your happiness and knowing who you are and what's right for you, even when it looks different from everybody else. And so I think I think this story is going to be very powerful. It will also be a picture book, but I think it's going to be intended for a little bit older audience than my first book. It's a little more introspective, but I think it's very much needed, because we tend to sometimes get so caught up in what we think we should be doing or what everybody else is doing that we forget. We forget who we are and we forget what's important to us and what we're here for. Sometimes you're lucky and you remember, but then you have the other. You know. The other hurdle to encounter once you remember is do you walk away from what you have and start over, or do you stay, knowing that you're not going to be happy?

Speaker 1: 20:27

Exactly so many people struggle with that.

Speaker 2: 20:31

And that was my big decision to even come here, you know, because it's like I had my life in New York. You know, I had a lot of hobbies there. I had a job I loved, like things were okay, but I wasn't happy. And so you have these choices to make and I think you know people tend to get stuck. You know, unfortunately, our society just sort of thinks it's okay to wait till retirement to start living, and I personally think that's one of the worst things you can do, because you're basically just sacrificing your life in the hopes that you're going to make it to retirement and you're not guaranteed that?

Speaker 1: 21:04

No, absolutely not. And if I had waited to do that, if I had waited to retirement which I'm, you know, that's a few years down the road I wouldn't have started R2RB, I wouldn't be doing my podcast series, I wouldn't have two radio shows right now. So yeah, you definitely have to, yeah, we have to change that thought process. You're right, and do what you love to do when you feel like doing it. Right, you know. Otherwise you wouldn't have taken the path that you have taken to where you are in Delaware, and right, and you were.

Speaker 2: 21:37

Not even close. I would have settled, and now I had been talking about leaving New York back in 2019. So it's like I knew. I knew that it wasn't where I wanted to be, but it was just.

Speaker 1: 21:48

You just get used to where you're at, yeah because it's it's a fair, it's the fair, it's the fair of the unknown. Am I making the right decision? And unless you take that leap of faith, as you did, and came to Delaware and you know the great tree and the ladybug, and at the time you have, you had a partnership of sorts with the brewing, brewing company that you own, oh, no, that actually happened afterwards. So that's a really cool story too.

Speaker 2: 22:17

So I had I paid for my first print run at the end of 2020. So I started selling the version one of the great tree and the ladybug back at the end of 2020. I started doing vendor events in Delaware in 2021. So most of 2021 was spent, you know, doing different vendor events, like locally and you know, up and down Delaware, sometimes Chesapeake City in Maryland, like you know, local Right and through that I had met someone that put me in contact with one of the partners at Revelation who did Thankful Thursdays at Hudson Fields.

Speaker 2: 22:51

Her name's Kyle Schaefer. She's become a great friend of mine, love her dearly. She's been a huge supporter of me and I feel truly blessed. Yeah, I was vending at Hudson Fields for most of the summer with Thankful Thursdays, and then she even was like if you want to come Fridays and Saturdays, bring your book, sell your book. Just you know, and she was just really, really great and so I had made an awesome connection with her and when I was looking for a job to supplement my income at the time, they thought the Georgetown brewery was gonna be open back in 2022, which unfortunately it was not but they needed bartenders for Rehoboth, and so I was like I can start tomorrow, and I went interviewed. They hired me that day and then I started working in February of 2022 at Revelation and Rehoboth, and so I've been with them almost two years now, and back this past summer she was like Lynn, if you wanna put your book at the bar, put your book at the bar, sell your book.

Speaker 2: 23:50

I was not gonna turn down that offer and because I had, I self-published myself and I made a lot of rookie mistakes, so my unit cost for my book was very high, which eliminated me being able to do any sort of consignment with anybody. I was basically stuck with all my copies that I had to sell myself. So, her giving me this opportunity, it allowed me to really unload my inventory, which I did. I sold, I would say, close to a thousand books, not all of them at the brewery, but the last, I would say maybe four or 500 of them. There you go 400 close to that, like at the brewery, which was amazing.

Speaker 2: 24:28

It is amazing. It's given me the opportunity to now be able to pay for my second print run, which is with the redesigned version. So I'm hoping that'll be ready in the next month or so. I just sent the files back to my printing company and, yeah, hoping that'll be ready soon. But yeah, she gave me this amazing opportunity and I've established a following through Revelation. There you go. I'm very blessed about that. I have people coming in and they ask me all the time like how are things going with the book and when's the next book coming? And it's just, it's been really amazing to organically create a readership which I would not have had I not had this door opening through Revelation. So I'm just truly grateful to them.

Speaker 1: 25:10

That is fantastic and I say this often that Delawareans are great supporters of each other. They are they are.

Speaker 2: 25:20

I've been truly blessed. I mean, the biggest thing for me was that I just had to show up Right, and that was a big thing about overcoming. My fear was having those hesitations of should I go, should I do this, should I say yes to this opportunity? Should I say yes? And I found that once I put myself out there, other avenues and other doors started becoming available to me. And I've been very fortunate here in Delaware because people have been so kind and if they weren't able to help me, they knew somebody that could. And I was just very floored by just the support, especially from somebody who's not from here. I didn't expect to be embraced with open arms like I have been, and that's one thing that I will never look back and I just feel truly blessed to have these connections here, and they gave me a family here in Delaware.

Speaker 1: 26:21

Yeah, absolutely, my parents have retired here too and I've been here two years myself and with the podcasting and then with the broadcasting. Yeah, anytime I need to reach out to somebody, everybody is very supportive of us and the podcast, and I can reach out to anybody and, like you said, if they don't know it, they'll find somebody for me. So, yeah, in every little town here, everybody knows each other. They'll support each other, especially down in the South.

Speaker 2: 26:49

We're a really nice community and I've come to really appreciate Rehoboth because our first year being here, with COVID and everything, everything was kind of shut down and we were more secluded and coming to a new place and not knowing it. And then the first time you experience it, it's through a very difficult time. It's like we didn't really get to appreciate it. So it's like that whole first year of being here was just sort of a. I mean that was more of just like I said, it was an introspective year. It wasn't really an out there in the world year and getting to know Rehoboth a little bit more and kind of seeing what it has to offer, like I get now, why people come here. It's a really great community and I feel fortunate to be here right now at this point in time.

Speaker 1: 27:34

And you know, I agree, yeah, that whole area. So let me ask you this Do you have a favorite part of writing?

Speaker 2: 27:41

Ooh, favorite part of writing, I would say when it just hits me, that when that inspiration comes and you just can't put your pen down. It doesn't happen all the time, that's how I know it's special, but when it happens and you just get this surge of inspiration, like you just can't stop. You know that I think that's my favorite writing, because that's the real writing. That's me not trying to manipulate it, that's the writing coming through because it's meant to come through and it just flows and I don't have to fight it, I don't have to force it, it just naturally comes and I think, and the rush I get from it, I mean it's just so authentic and real, like that is. I love those moments.

Speaker 2: 28:25

Sometimes I never know when they're gonna hit and I think that's why I'm really working on getting more balance in my own life now and working on my self-care practice for myself so that I can encourage more of those moments to come organically, as opposed to me creating a setting when I think they'll happen. You know, because if there's anything I learned about writing, it's that you don't need to force it. Yes, you can have a writing practice that you know, you can build that yourself, but when it's meant to happen. It will happen. And it doesn't matter if you were in your home, it doesn't matter if you're outside, it doesn't matter what the conditions are. You could have a million people around you or nobody around it. It doesn't matter when the writing is supposed to come. It will.

Speaker 2: 29:08

And I mean I've had moments for, like at night, it's just hours. Like at night, in the middle of the night, I'm just, I just go and it just it's because that's when it's supposed to happen.

Speaker 1: 29:18

So so with both books did you write straight through or did you?

Speaker 2: 29:24

The great tree in the ladybug, honestly, I want to say, was written in about five minutes. Oh wow. I was in my backyard in North Carolina. I had built a garden back there. That was kind of like my safe space, my sanctuary. I did a lot of healing there and my favorite tree was this mimosa tree that me and my dad planted when we had grown it from a seed, and I had it in my kitchen for about a year or so and then it got to the point where it was. She was ready to be transplanted outside. So one summer, me and him we did it. We did it together. It was like a father-daughter thing. It was really great.

Speaker 2: 29:57

And you know, I got to watch that tree grow. And there was one year I want to say it had to have been like November timeframe or something really late for ladybugs to be around but there was this one ladybug and all the leaves had fallen off this mimosa tree and so it was just bare and there's this single ladybug climbing up the trunk of this tree and I just watched this happen and I had this moment of like. I just had to write the story and I literally wrote the story in like five minutes, it's like because it just came through. And you know, I used that story for a really long time for myself to kind of help me to overcome my own fear and, to you know, inspire me, to, you know, to fly. That's great when I needed to. But, yeah, it came quick. That one came quick and then, like I said, since then I've edited it and things like that, but the story itself was written very, very quickly.

Speaker 1: 30:53

Isn't it ironic, though you end up in Delaware and the Delaware ladybug.

Speaker 2: 30:57

Well, and that's the thing, I didn't know that. That was one of the things that I found really funny is that it was some of the people that were like buying the book were like did you know that the state bug is? And I'm like I had no idea. It's kind of cool. I actually put that in my redesigned version. I have a ladybug in tree fact fact page like in the back, and I did include that as like one of the facts, like because it's a state bug of a few states, so which is kind of ironic. Um, I think it was like Massachusetts was one which I've lived there, right. Delaware was one I lived there, and Tennessee is one and I'm gonna be moving there at some point. Part of my next journey is I Bought land in Tennessee with some of my really good friends from New York how cool. So we will be making our way down there.

Speaker 1: 31:39

But and I encourage anybody that's listening to go look up the mimosa tree. So we had a mimosa tree in our yard when I was growing up. It is.

Speaker 2: 31:48

It is a so beautiful and so it was. It's kind of cool. Obviously, like you know, we don't have that house anymore. You know my we've since sold that house but by the time I left, that tree from a small seed was like over, like taller than me, and it was really really cool to watch it. You know, get its first, you know flowers and all this stuff. But when I moved here to Delaware as a gift for my dad for I think it was, it was either father's day or his birthday or something Like that we found a mimosa tree at one of the local, one of the local, like you know, the nurseries. It's actually a cool mimosa because it's like it's like a reddish one, so it's not all green leaves, they're like reddish and like different colors, so it kind of looks like Sunsetty and stuff like that was really, oh my gosh, I'll have to look for those All right.

Speaker 1: 32:34

So let me ask you this question if you could spend the day with any author, who would you choose?

Speaker 2: 32:38

So that one is a toss-up because I have two authors that have been, you know, really, really inspirational and They've just they've made such a difference on my journey. I would I would have to say Paulo Coelho, and which album. They're just two of my favorites, and you know, to spend the day with them and not even ask them questions, but just to listen to what they have to share, I, I think it would just be amazing because, I mean, their words were life-changing, like all of their books. Every book that I've read by them has been impactful in one way or another to my life, and I, I love the way they write, like they're just, they have this amazing way of writing and, you know, I, I strive to be like them either them or both would be awesome, right?

Speaker 1: 33:24

I would, I would definitely. I would definitely do both. What pearls of wisdom would you pass along to someone wanting to get started with with their writing, with with writing their first book?

Speaker 2: 33:33

Just write you know, like, absolutely like the writing part. In all honesty, that's the easy part. The hard part is the self-publishing part, and so that is where I would encourage I would encourage other you know authors to really learn as much as you possibly could learn about the self-publishing process, but to also be mindful of the information that you're getting, because there are a lot of people out there that will share what they know. It doesn't mean that it's the best advice to be taking, and so I'm still learning a lot of this myself.

Speaker 2: 34:06

Like I said, I made a lot of rookie mistakes on my my journey with my first book, which is why I had to redesign it. I'd encourage other writers, you know, do your research first, like, don't be afraid to ask questions. I, because of my fear, I, you know, I felt like I had to go it alone because it was easier than asking the wrong questions or, you know, putting yourself out there for criticism and all this stuff. So it's kind of like I, I kind of did it Closeted and in doing that I made a lot of mistakes that I could have avoided. You know, my best advice to them is you know, there are a lot of groups for support for self-published writers. Now you know you can get a world of information from there.

Speaker 2: 34:42

You know, like I said, though, just be mindful of who you're listening to. You know, just ask your questions and do your due diligence. There's a lot of support and because a lot, of, a lot more people are doing it now you know it's an avenue, there it's, it's an option, whereas you know back in the day, like you had to wait to be traditionally, traditionally published and you weren't guaranteed Traditionally published, whereas now it's like anybody that has a story can can make a book right. It's a matter of how are you gonna do it and how can you do it when you do it.

Speaker 1: 35:09

Well, just do your research on your web website. You also have poetry, your poetry it is my poetry, yeah, and a blog and your blog posts I I do.

Speaker 2: 35:21

The blog is something I have to be honest, I have neglected the past couple of years. I would actually like to get back to that, you know. That's that's definitely something why I created the website the way I did. It was because I wanted to include a blog where it was just an opportunity for me to share you know, share my writing, you know, in another form. So I really liked that about how I could do that and link it to my website, which was really cool. I started, I started to share some of the poetry because I really got into poetry again, I want to say back in 2021.

Speaker 2: 35:49

I found a beautiful poetry community on Instagram. On Instagram, and it wasn't planned at all, I just I, I just ended up connecting with just some, some other poets there and you know, like there's a lot of poetry prompts on Instagram that, like you know, different groups and stuff will share, and then it just I was very inspired and so I just I kept writing and then I would share it, and then I kept writing and then I would share it, and it's like that community is just so supportive and so it really got me back in that writer's mindset and and Reignited my love for poetry and so I was like, oh, I should maybe share some of this on my website. Like I said, I'm I'm gonna be revamping things and I want to. I want to freshen it up a bit and maybe they add some more stuff, because there's there's definitely a lot of a lot of things that I've written Since then and and and stuff. It's been really cool because poetry there's so many types of poetry and I didn't know that until I.

Speaker 2: 36:43

You know, I met these people on Instagram and encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone with that too, because some, like some forms of poetry came easier than others and Really got my love of poetry to get reignited, and that was really cool and it helped me to make some new friends. You know that were, you know, some of them are in different parts of the world. Isn't that great? He's really cool, you know.

Speaker 2: 37:06

So Instagram, you know, not only reignited my love for poetry, we had reignited my love for social media, because that Facebook was becoming very toxic to me, and Instagram, I still like most of the people that show up on my feed, it's other poets, and so it's like you know, I'm constantly flooded by other creativity and I love that. Yeah, and you know, when it's just it's cool to see that there are people that are sharing, yeah, you know they're out there and they're sharing and they're putting themselves out there and they're they're trying to, you know, to say something and it's it's very, it's been very inspiring to me and that's encouraged me to want to keep being, you know, inspirational to others.

Speaker 1: 37:44

Well, good, because don't stop. Because I've read. I've read the poetry, I've been reading the blogs and I thoroughly enjoyed that. Thank you, welcome much, absolutely. So yes, definitely Continue. And when you're not writing, what do you like to do?

Speaker 2: 37:58

I am trying to figure that out here in Delaware because you know, I had all that in New York. I had I was taking kung fu classes, I had piano lessons, I had my yoga studio and here I you know I do have a yoga studio here to meet your yoga love her, love them. So that's been really good. I kind of got back to that. But you know, I'm trying to kind of build my life here in Delaware and you know I'm I'm working on that, you know, because I do spend a lot of time, you know, working, which you know I love. You know I I love being at the brewery, for sure. But you know there's, there's things I still want to do for me. So I'm still trying to find my places here. You know, maybe this year will be my year that I do that that's right and you know what.

Speaker 1: 38:43

You have plenty of time to figure that out and just not, you know, do something because you think you should be doing it right.

Speaker 2: 38:50

Well, and that's back to the self-care journey.

Speaker 1: 38:52

So today I just did Things for myself and it was fabulous, All right those are the best, absolutely best, and so also on your website, you have a picture of your family.

Speaker 2: 39:04

I do and who are they? Well, one of them is no longer with us my, my, my bearded dragon, diggy. She passed back in 2021. I had her. She was a rescue baby, so I have her in North Carolina. So she had made it through two moves and two states and multiple apartments and, yeah, she was pretty awesome. She was about 15 when she passed pretty old for a bearded dragon, but yeah, she was awesome and she actually loved it here in Delaware because my parents house, I mean, I would just put her outside in the yard and she would just sit in the bushes all day and just get the sun, which was, which was really awesome that we could do that. Yeah, she, she was. She was pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 39:43

It's definitely I miss having her around, for sure, but I still have my two cats. So the black and white one is Salem and she was also a rescue from North Carolina. She was the stray at the restaurant I worked at and so, yeah, so she joined my family. I took her in in January of 2012 and then we moved to New York in June. Oh well, she's been with me since 2012 and then the baby is Tuesday and I adopted her on Long Island. One of my friends cat had kittens and Her cat was a purebred Scottish fold with the ears. Three of the cats had ears and I made the mistake of going to see them and Tuesday ended up coming home with me. Yeah, that sometimes happens, so that is my family.

Speaker 1: 40:25

So I love it. Oh my gosh, I love the picture. And so what's next for you? Anything else? I know your second book is coming along.

Speaker 2: 40:32

So I'm really focused on the, on the writing and building the platform and things like that. But, um, like I mentioned, uh, me and my two friends bought land in Tennessee, so that is on the horizon for me. Uh, they actually moved last year. They left New York and just Just packed their car, their trailer, whatever, and he built his own house with his own pans and so they just officially moved in. I want to say, a couple of weeks ago, so a year and a half, they were living in a shipping container, they were roughing it. That's how much they wanted To get started on this new life.

Speaker 2: 41:06

I'm hoping to maybe get started on my house there. So I'm trying to figure out what I want, whether I want to do like a barn dominium type of thing or or stick built thing, like I'm not sure yet, and so I need to kind of sit and to and spend some time with myself and actually really ask. You know, ask myself, like you know, what kind of uh A refuge type place Do I envision myself being there? But our goal is to kind of have like a holistic wellness center on the land, like we'd like to have a place where people could come and reconnect with nature and themselves and take some time Out of maybe society to just sort of and we so need that.

Speaker 1: 41:43

I mean, you speak about the self-care we, everybody needs to take a moment for themselves for that self-care, um, you know, especially coming out of coven where we are, oh yeah, and I mean.

Speaker 2: 41:55

I think I think a lot of people woke up during coven. You know like there was a lot of bad with coven, but I think there was also a lot of good that came out of it, because gave people a reset. You know, it gave people an opportunity to sort of get back and touch with themselves, like in the quiet, you know, like there was chaos around, but it's like we were removed from it, you know, because we kind of had to be that. It was like, yeah, unless you were actively listening to the news every single day, you know, it's like you kind of had an opportunity to just sort of sit with yourself in stillness, and I think a lot of people made some changes during that time.

Speaker 2: 42:28

It kind of opened up to to, you know how, the truth and reality of how, like you know, you're in a job that you don't like and you think that job's always going to be there, but then you wake up one day and it's not, and so you're disposable Whether you're doing something you love or you're doing something you hate. Why not do something you love Absolutely? Yeah, we want to create a place where people can come and just sort of be with themselves for just a moment, really get in touch with you, know what it is that they want to do and what makes them happy, because Life is too short to be doing stuff that doesn't make you happy.

Speaker 2: 43:00

Absolutely 100% and we all have the answers within us. You know we, just we. We forgot how to listen. Covid was a chance for me to get back to listening to myself. Since then like myself, won't, let me forget so I've really been, you know, making it more of a priority to take care of myself better, pushing myself to share with others, you know, to maybe encourage them to do the same, because you know we can all help each other Absolutely, and that's a great outlook.

Speaker 1: 43:26

Lynn McDonald, I appreciate you. I appreciate you. It is the great tree and the ladybug. It is the green light pages. I am looking for for your second book to come out. Do you want to let everybody know what the name of it is? Yet? Sure, oh, it's called when the walls came down. And do you have a date when?

Speaker 2: 43:46

it's going. I don't have a date yet, but I will be sharing my journey on all my socials. So, uh, groupnightpagescom, and then, uh, facebook at green light pages, instagram at green light pages or at lindspirations. So I have I have the two tags for instagram, hoping that the illustrations will get started next month, after christmas and things like that. So she seems excited and ready to go.

Speaker 1: 44:08

So good yeah, and are those the best places to get in contact with you facebook, instagram, yep.

Speaker 2: 44:15

Or website.

Speaker 1: 44:16

I have a contact on my website as well. All right, well, lynn, thank you so much for taking the time out. I had a great time this evening finding out all about you and, I hope, everybody checks you out.

Speaker 2: 44:28

Well, thank you so much for this opportunity. This has been absolutely wonderful. I feel very honored. You are welcome, thank you, thank you.