October 25, 2024 • 59 mins
MAC Outdoors with Mia Anstine brings you an insightful episode featuring Stephanie White, an accomplished author who shares hunting, agriculture, and outdoor life. Whether you're a passionate hunter, an enthusiastic agriculturist, or someone eager to learn about the intricacies of rural living, this episode is a must-listen!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
She's an award winning writer, a hunting guide, archery and rifle instructor,
keynote speaker and all around outdoors woman who encourages
you to get outside, hunt, fish, shoot and savor all that life has to
offer. And now here's your host, Mia Anstein.
Well, hey. Hi. Hello. It's great to be visiting with you again.
I am kind of filming a
(00:23):
after the show intro to the show and
that is because I received
a package that I was waiting for that took a little while. But
today's interview, we're actually talking about some books
and I wanted to read them before the interview. It's always nice to know
kind of what you're talking about. And I'm opening sharp object. This is my
(00:46):
Gerber flipper knife. You can find it in some of my reels on
Instagram. But when I had the
interview, I didn't have the books. Like they hadn't shown up yet. And tell me
like let me know, have you been having this issue? Because
I have heard of the issue and now I'm experiencing
it. But I've got a handy dandy package here and I
(01:07):
thought I'd do a quick unboxing with you. And let's
check out these books that we're going to
be talking about today's episode.
Wow, they're, they're nicely wrapped in bubble wrap.
And also there we go.
I don't want to be talking and. Making too much noise. Oh, look at how
(01:28):
cute. Look at this little if you're watching on YouTube, cute little
sticker on this paper that Stephanie used to wrap the books. It's a
little raccoon. So cute. And
then let's open it up. Oh.
Check it out. It there's a nice little thank you
card. It says thank you for your purchase. I hope you enjoy my ranch,
(01:51):
farm and hunting books. My hope is to share the rural
lifestyle through these books. New
release. Just in time for Christmas, you can add a
turkey hunting book to your collection. Head to
welcome to our Farm Life.com to
receive your copy. Please enjoy 10%
(02:13):
off your next order with this code. I didn't ask if
I can share this code so if you direct
message me, I will share the secret code with you
so you can get a discount on the books. The links to
obviously the welcome to our
farm life.com and to the books I'll share in the
(02:36):
show notes so you can find it there. But look at this. This first book
is called the Hunt and
Stephanie mentioned that they're very high quality. I'll
attest just to the, the binding and the
quality of the publication since I haven't read it yet, but I'm going to.
Very nice the pages and full color pictures.
(02:59):
These are really high quality books and
so she sent two of them. So why
don't we also do a giveaway and I'm going to
give one of these away to a viewer or
listener. Okay. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna do a
giveaway and this is so cool because I didn't know I was getting two books.
(03:20):
So I'm excited to share. I love sharing. I am not an only
child. Or at least I wasn't born an only child. I am an only child.
Now that's a sad story. But we'll talk about that maybe on another
day, but. So we're gonna do a giveaway. What
I want to do is I have an email list.
What I want you to do is if you are a current
(03:42):
subscriber, then you need to reply to the newsletter
and let me know what is your favorite Mac Outdoors
podcast episode that you have heard so far. It can be this one. That's fine
if it's this one. If you're not yet a subscriber for the email, then head
over there and sign up and subscribe and also
email me back and tell me
(04:04):
what you learned from this episode of Mac Outdoors.
So either way, you need to be an email subscriber to
miaanstein.com's Mac Outdoors. So it's same email,
go to Mac Outdoors.com go to Mia
anstein.com subscribe to the newsletter and when you
reply to me, I will know that you want to be entered into
(04:26):
Win this book. This would be a great Christmas gift.
It'd be a great birthday gift. And right now
we're going to start the giveaway. We
will we'll run this
giveaway from to this giveaway is going to
be open from October 26th to
(04:48):
November 16th. November 16th will
be the last day that you can enter to win a copy of
Stephanie White's book the Hunt. And if you have
questions, email me that can enter you just let me
know and I'd be happy to sign you up. And that being
said, I thank you for listening. I really do appreciate everybody I
(05:10):
know. I thank you guys like every episode. But I really am thankful for the
community that we have here. If you have a topic
or an idea or somebody that you would like to have on the show that
you want to learn more about, let me know. But also when you let me
know, let me know what it is. That you would like to learn.
I did have somebody ask for one of my past guests to be on the
(05:31):
show and I did have Jen O'Hara from Girls with Guns Clothing. We had
her on again and we talked about her show
Living Outdoors. So you I'll link that episode in the show notes.
But if you have anyone else like just let me know and
I want to learn with you alongside you. If there's
something that I've covered in the past that you want to know more about,
(05:55):
let me know about that as well. Because today's interview
we actually there's so many other other directions I could have taken the
interview, but we were talking about these books for
youngsters and so I tried to stay on target with that. But we're
gonna have another interview in the future to talk about some other
areas where Ms. Stephanie White has some knowledge and
(06:17):
experience that I think she can share with all of us. So
without further ado, please again go to
miaanstein.com sign up for the newsletter or you
can email me without signing up to the newsletter, it's not quite as fun,
but email me. The email address is contact
miaanstein.com and I will be happy
(06:38):
to enter you for A Chance to Win the Hunt by
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(06:59):
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So welcome to the show, Stephanie for the listeners today,
I'm excited to learn a little bit more about Stephanie
(07:21):
and about her work because she is a writer
and an author, which I aspire to be someday. So I'm always
excited when I get authors on the show so so that I can learn more
about not just your books but about you and kind of behind the
scenes a little too. So Stephanie, would you mind introducing
yourself to my listeners and letting them know who you are and what you
(07:43):
do? Sure. So I
am from the Midwest, I'm from Missouri and
I grew up on agricultural operation
that we had both livestock and cat livestock and row
crops. And I was really passionate from
a young age of sharing the story of agriculture. And so that's where
(08:05):
I really started wanting to share the story of
producers and agriculturalists and I was able to work
in radio sharing anything from
legislative issues to your more interesting
stories that were more personable about the farmers around us.
And after that, I had the opportunity to work for the
(08:27):
Cattlemen's association, where I did a
few different jobs, but one of which was education
outreach. And I just saw a need for
books in the agricultural world that talked about
more than just our pretty red barn. You know, that's what we think about with
farms. And there's so much more to it, especially with modern
(08:49):
agriculture. And I found that important to be able to have that,
you know, in a book to be used in the classroom. And
that's where I started writing children's books at. And from there
I. Well, I got married and about 10 years
ago. I've been writing books for four years. Three. Four years. But I got
married 10 years ago and became full time on the farm.
(09:12):
And I just was missing that education outreach.
And that's when I began writing books. And one day I was out in the
stand and I thought, you know, I just
started scribbling down some stuff and I wrote the Hunt,
which is a book about archery, deer
hunting. And so that's where that story started. And
(09:33):
it came from the enjoyment of writing books
for agriculture into sharing something that I find a lot of
value in. Yeah. And so, of course,
as always, I have so many questions running through my mind, so I'll try to
kind of channel them, keep us in on track of
one topic or another. But something that I've found over the
(09:56):
years. I'm not sure how you found me, but a
lot of people tell me I have to niche down. And so I
have agriculture and farming, and then I have hunting. And I
have so many things that I do. But it's been something that
I've been tasked with also is to kind of tell that story of
how they overlap. And I think a lot of people don't
(10:18):
understand that, but farmers and ranchers do understand that a
lot. So I'm really excited that you're kind of sharing a message
about that. Before we start talking about how
you're sharing the message, can you tell us for the listeners if
you are listening on audio only. If you go
to YouTube or to the videos, you'll see there are some animal mounts
(10:40):
in the background. So I have posted that you're an author and a
farmer, but you're also a hunter, I take it? Yeah,
for sure. So. Well, actually, depending
on when you're listening to this, so people have a time reference. But we are
in the middle of October and I'm in Missouri. Our first Cold front just
came through. So we are also in the middle of
(11:02):
harvest, which means I'm sitting here getting a visit with you instead
of out working with my husband because we both are full time
farmers and so we
really have to juggle the love of
hunting and also getting our job done because
we are on a time constraint to being out in the field and making sure
(11:23):
harvest is completed as it should be. So we are
hunters. We both bow hunt,
rifle hunt, and you know, I've been out in the tree
several times already this year. We really just had our first
good movement of cold air come through
probably two days ago. And you know,
(11:45):
we. I took full advantage of it. My husband was. He didn't leave
the combine, but I left my post and I went sat in a tree and
so I wanted to get those cobwebs really brushed off and I went on a
doe hunt and all I saw was basket rack bucks. It's
like, you know, it's not usually hard for doe to walk in
front of the stand and of all nights, I went in with full intention and
(12:08):
I guess, you know, the lord, good lord looked down on me and said, not
today you're going to be patient. Just enjoy the scenery. And I did. You know,
I had a whole group of bucks bed down underneath me. It
was so fun. Even
I. The stand I was in was the ladder stand and
the post that hooks the ladder to the tree.
(12:29):
One of the bucks went under there and was rubbing that and my
whole tree stand was just shaking. And I didn't know if I needed to close
my eyes and hold my breath or if I should scream and, or yell at
him to make him leave. But yeah, so we're, we're
hunters and we truly enjoy it. So
I love the story. I think that's awesome. And so
(12:51):
for some of my friends, they only do spot and stock and then we have
different people that will do climber stands. The saddle
hunting now is a big deal, which for me, being doing a lot
of horseback, I was like saddle hunting, like we've been riding saddles for years and
not understanding what a sling saddle was. So now I know I've learned a lot
about those. But being on top of a
(13:13):
ladder stand and having a box scrape, were you worried that he
might jar the brackets or any of the straps or anything?
Or was that kind of. I had, it was super
windy, so that was. I had just put that stand up not very long
ago. And so the tree itself was a pretty large tree,
but it had a lot more flex than I was anticipating. So as windy
(13:35):
as it was, my tree was already blowing and
there I texted my husband and I was like,
this tree has a lot of give to it for as big as it is.
And he just said haha back. So I don't know if he took it seriously
or if he thought I was being a wuss, but either way, I was already
kind of like this. I really hope I have this
(13:57):
strap down good enough. And you know, that
base bracket is basically just to keep the ladder
sturdy as I'm climbing up and down. So I really shouldn't have been nervous.
But it had me, you know, it had me shaking a little
bit. And then I imagine there's got to be a little bit of
adrenaline as well, because even though you're not hunting a buck, you probably
(14:19):
might have. It's like, do I scare them away? Do I not scare them away?
Because you're used to trying to be quiet and it's like if you scare them,
are there does around that they're going to frighten? That sounds like such
a cool adventure. Yeah, always fun. You know,
there's really not no such thing as a bad hunt when you're out there. And
it was such a beautiful evening. It was the first night, it was really
(14:39):
cold and I had actually, I just got
some new camo. So I was in a complete new
setup. And I did not have any gloves because
up until that night, I hadn't been needing to wear any.
So I didn't take my pack with me. Nothing
was. Nothing was with me. Hey friends, if
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anstine so I. Was digging through, like I had
jeans on underneath my pants and I had a
(15:45):
pair of like pink gloves that are. I have pretty small
hands. So those gloves that you can buy at Dollar General that are just
super cheap at the checkout, I had bought some earlier that morning
because we had been working cattle. And so I found those and I
had these pink gloves and they did nothing to keep my hands warm. But that's
all I had because these clothes had never been worn before. So
(16:09):
it was kind of like, oh, it's cold and I'm glad there's a cold front.
But I was not prepared, not acclimated weather yet.
So that's something with, with the first time going out for the
season and I'm pointing out because I hunt sometimes on my own place
here, but it seems like the first time out you're always like, okay, did I
bring this? Did I lose my calls? Like, what are the first
(16:31):
outing jitters or whatever? I don't know. But. So that's something.
But can you tell us a little about your gear? What, what
is your new hunting gear for that you're wearing as a lady? And then also
tell us a little about your harness or whatever safety equipment you use.
So I guess I'll start with my stand.
We really. And this goes. I'm going to connect this
(16:54):
back to my book. We are farmers and we really
appreciate anything that is made in the United States. So we
try hard to source what we use in the field and in our
life as much as we can that is made here in the United States. Now
we can't always do that and it is not a stipulation to everything we do,
but we do try and we have really started
(17:16):
using Nova mixed tree stands. So we have put
a few of those up and that. That
was actually not one of the stands I was in the other night. But that
is what we traded. Most of our stands out, they're just really sturdy
and they are super prideful in the fact that their stuff is
states and we connected with them at a trade
(17:39):
and because I go to trade shows quite a bit to set up for my
books and we just really. My husband really appreciated
visiting with the guys that, you know, sell novik
stands and the passion they had for it being American made,
that was so important to them. And we bought a few
stands and we pulled some of our old stands out and we're just
(18:01):
loving the quality and the sturdiness of novix. So that's,
that's the stand that I typically like to set in. I also
have a few just homemade box blinds that I really love on those
super cold days. But as far as clothing, as
a woman, I've really struggled with that.
I definitely am bustier
(18:24):
and so and I'm not super tall. So I'm like 5,
5, 4 ish is probably my hike and
I had a hard time finding clothes that I that fit me
well and that I can bow hunt with easily that aren't
loud. So I bought a DSG set
and I can't remember what
(18:47):
the name of it is called but you
know, they have all different names for each set. But this was like a
mid, a mid season type setup.
So not for super cold weather, not for super warm weather. It
was just kind of your mid season. Like I wouldn't probably turkey hunt in it.
It was too warm for that. But when I was up in the stand I
(19:08):
was so surprised at how quiet it was. And
you know, I have no affiliation with any of these groups. I just go on
and I buy and I listen to what other people might like and
of course through contacts of meeting people, trying things
out. But I really have enjoyed being able to wear that set
so far and really I probably plan on buying
(19:31):
another one. So that's more for extreme
cold. Last year I was hunting and it was, it was
zero degrees, you know, and I was freezing. So I'm excited to
have clothes that fit me at those temperatures that I can easily pull a bow
back with. Yeah, and that makes sense and especially
with the DSG wear because I'm not positive
(19:53):
I need to interview them sometime. But I think they started out as like
snowmobile gear and more hardcore winter gear. And that
was what attracted me to them was their drop seat in
their bibs. I don't wear bibs for hunting very often unless it's waterfowl
hunting. But for ladies, you know, to be able to have a drop seat in
your bibs is a big deal. And then, you know, from there
(20:15):
I've, I have a couple of lightweight archery
pants and tops from them that seem to fit if you're
a little more curvy. So that's something that I don't have
the issues up top, but down below, fitting over my butt
is a good thing. Yeah, we
all are definitely different shapes and sizes and finding something that
(20:38):
accommodates women versus pulling out something
I might pull something out that I've had
forever that was not made for women. And I just get
frustrated with sitting in the sand and my pants not fitting
correctly or you know, the, the
length of the zipper not, you know, it just never fits
(21:00):
correct. Or your jackets in the arms how my
arms aren't very long but the sleeves might be long and it might fit
me lengthened torso. So I, you know, I really,
really like DSG and so I think that
I. There's lots of other really great brands out there but so
far for my first full complete set I've owned a few pieces here and
(21:23):
there, but not A complete set. This. I really like it. That's cool.
It's always good to find stuff that works for you. And
so you mentioned when you were talking about that in the book
the Hunt, can you tell us a little bit about
your books? I've done a little exploring. But
you've written more books on the website. There's several
(21:45):
books. Then there's some coming. So you. Can you tell us a little
bit about the Hunt? Yeah. So
I mentioned earlier how important things were for me to have
it done here in the United States. So all of my books are
printed in the United States and that is extremely hard to
do. So I buy my books in bulk
(22:08):
and they. I go pick them up in
mass quantities and they are printed here in the United States.
If you go to a store, most of the time you're going to get books
that are printed overseas and I'm not. Again, that is a
great option for a lot of different reasons.
The price point on the end of the author or the
(22:30):
publisher. That's really nice to be able to have that. And
my cost is competitive when I go to purchase, but I do give
some a little bit considering that it is printed here. But
it's important to me to know that my books
are about our rural heritage, that they're
printed here in the United States. So my
(22:51):
books, as I said, are about the American farmer, about
the hunter here, and our conservation efforts.
So to me, it's important to keep that here. The Hunt, I have
it here. Oh, you brought my website up. So, yeah, you can
just see it on there. This is the Hunt. It's illustrated by Dustin
Ditilio. And shout out to Dustin if any of
(23:15):
you guys out there listening have not checked out Dustin's work before.
I really encourage it. He is not only a great
person, but he is an amazing and talented
artist. And him and I right now are finishing up a turkey
book. So it's either going to be titled off the
Roost or the Strut. I haven't decided
(23:36):
yet, but it'll be out by Christmastime and it's
just about finished and wrapped up. So those will be my
two hunting books that I have out and hopefully there will be more in the
future. My most recent release is
Sprout, and I just think it's beautiful. It has more
of a commercialized, you know, Pixar,
(23:58):
current Disney look to it. And I think, yeah, that's a cool cover.
Yeah, I think it's really pretty. And I had to add a velvet
deer, a buck and velvet. Oh, that's cool. I
couldn't help myself.
So. But other than that, my books are really more ag
education and they're used in the classroom.
(24:20):
So different farm bureau groups, commodity groups,
agricultural outreach programs, will purchase my
books to use in the classroom for ag tools.
And that's. That's kind of.
That's the base of my books. So it really is
my passion being able to share these books with people and
(24:43):
hopefully reach those who like. With my ag education,
my clients base I don't really think of as farm
kids. They're used in St. Louis
or in larger cities in Louisiana and
Colorado and California. So those
are the kids that are receiving these books. And the books just
(25:06):
aren't about how your food is being made. Sprout
is more of the perspective of the plant that's
growing. So, you know, obviously sprout, but my other books,
the Pig in My Barn, the Calf on My Farm,
those books are. We talk about production,
but they really shine light that the farmer is just like everybody
(25:28):
else and that a farmer is. It's a job, it's a career. There's no
reason to be scared of the people who is. Who's taking and
caring and raising your food. And I think that's the
core of a lot of our misconceptions within the
agricultural industry. And so that's why I really
focused on. The character in the book
(25:49):
is just like you in the classroom. You know, as I'm talking to a kid,
it's just another kid, and they just happen to live on a farm.
And so I. I really wanted to hit home with
that. So I bridged out again with the Hunt and
Sprout being more focused on the crop itself.
But my other books really share who. Who's behind your food?
(26:11):
Who's behind our production. Yeah, that's something
that I think is wonderful that you would be teaching that and
that you have that background in education, because that's something that
I think is quite helpful is to understand how to share a message.
And when you're sharing the messages, what kind of
age are they geared toward? Who. Who are you talking
(26:33):
to? Like what age? So a little bit of
different age groups, depending. Excuse me. The Hunt,
I would definitely say reaches. It's. It's a simple book. I
don't. Did you receive yours by chance? I haven't gotten them
yet, so no. No. And I probably start today,
of course. I was hoping you would get them in time. Okay.
(26:56):
Well, the Hunt is. It's pretty
simple language, and I would say it's more
poetic. So the pages aren't long and it's
a great bedtime story. So, you know,
it's super short. The words are big
and it's easy, easy to read.
(27:20):
And I definitely say this is a bedtime story
to older kids.
That would probably be 10. That's kind of the demographic for this
book. So it has a little bit of a more widespread. But it's
because of the content. You know, it's a hunting book and
I definitely find that older boys, you know that 10,
(27:42):
11 year old age group, they come up and they are so excited to
flip through the pictures and read the book when I'm at a show. But also
the parents get so excited about seeing a book that they
can, you know, it's not the same old, same old about a dump truck or
a puppy dog. It's something that they live and it's about their
lifestyle, but it's not so,
(28:04):
so in depth that it's not enjoyable to read at bedtime. So
that's, that's what my hunting series is all about. It's something that we can
share at bedtime but also sit down and get excited to
read as, you know, a young boy or. And the person in my
book, I say a young boy because it just seems to be that the
older boys tend to flock to it, whereas
(28:26):
girls seem at that age to want to pick up more of a chapter
book, a smaller chapter book or something. But in my
book you never see the hunter. They're always covered
in camouflage. And that was something I talked to Dustin about. I
wanted any youth to be able to see themselves as a
hunter and you never know. So I always like at a
(28:48):
trade show asking, do you think the hunter is
you? Could this be you? And they're like, oh yeah, that little girl could be
me. Or when I ask a boy, oh yeah, he's just like me. That's how
I wear my camouflage. So it's important to me to be able to
share that. My other books, I would say
kindergarten to third grade is really the
(29:10):
demographic I work with on that. And that's just because they're ag focused
on the education side. That's where my curriculum sets with those
books. And the Winter Cowboy, it's more on
animal husbandry. It's a Christmas book, but it is also an
older kid book. So I would say that
8 to 11 range is where the Winter Cowboy book fits
(29:32):
for kids. Yeah, it's
interesting how you've kind of sorted out the demographic of
who you're looking for to send the messages to
when you're sending the messages, I have in my
mind what I'm assuming the books are going to say since I haven't received them
yet. But what is the actual message?
(29:54):
I mean, because since I grew up with agriculture, and
I'm guessing you did also. I didn't ask you that. Did you grow up in
farming community? Yeah. Both of my parents are full
time on the farm and I live three hours away from
my parents, so not far. Andrew and I started our own operation
up north where he grew up, but I have three younger brothers.
(30:16):
They are all farm full time with my dad and my mom
and their families. So I grew up on a farm
and. Yeah, yeah. And so growing
up, it's like we kind of know where our food comes from. We know the
work that it takes to produce it. What kind of messages are in the books
for. Is it. Is it directed towards somebody who lives in
(30:38):
an urban community, or is it more toward a rural liver?
I would definitely say as far as the agbooks,
they really are inviting people who may not
understand what's going on on the farm into the book. So it starts.
Every book in my welcome to Our Farm Life series starts with
welcome to our farm. It sure is a busy morning around here. And then we
(31:01):
jump into what is happening, whether it's taking care of dairy
calves, farrowing pigs, or
wheat harvest, you know, planting wheat. It. It really,
truly is about inviting people who may not understand what's
happening on the farm and what's happening with their food system and in a
very intermediate basic level. So that's the focus of
(31:23):
that. I will say people enjoy
that, live on the farm, being able to pick up a book and relate to
it because it is their life. And so I enjoy seeing people who
live my lifestyle enjoy the book and find it accurate. That's
important to me, that they feel like it's a true reflection of their life. So
that's exciting. But with my welcome to the Farm Life series
(31:45):
particularly, it definitely is. I hope
it's used as an educational tool in classrooms a lot, whereas the
hunt, it's something I hope people can sit down at
bedtime and pass on their legacy
and their enjoyment to their kids.
Yeah. And so in the hunt, how Without. Without giving
(32:08):
away the story, because we obviously want people to read the stories.
But how are you molding the agriculture and the wildlife? Are you
telling a conservation story?
No, actually, I would not say that there is any
agriculture involved in the hunt. It is truly a hunt story
and it's not a. I'm after one particular
(32:30):
deer, it's. It's more of,
you know, and the character doesn't have a name,
but it, you know, it's dedicated to all
hunters, and it has to keep their
sights set in the right direction. So I feel like that's the
(32:50):
basis of what I hope all my books are, that they really help you,
help the kids as they're reading or being read to, that they're seeing that it's
important to keep in mind what's happening. And
so the book, like I said, it's a little more poetic. So up on the
treetop is my favorite place to be among all the
acorns, where squirrels like to feast. And these pages are a
(33:12):
little warts. I grabbed one that I use on my school visits, but
it really is more poetic. And
we, the kids, love the squirrels because they're always laughing. Oh, yeah,
the squirrels, we always think they're dear. So I think that's
fun. One of the pages, you know,
my bow hanging beside my head, an arrow pulled from the quiver.
(33:34):
I patiently wait, trying not to shiver. So,
you know, I really hope to just catch maybe the
essence of the hunt, rather than I'm just
going out to kill a big deer. Although that's exciting. I
definitely have a target buck that I want to,
you know, that I want to harvest. But I also think we talk
(33:56):
about practicing, and it's important. I practice my
shots all summer and fall, shooting my target. No, I have to be good enough
to hit them all. That's important. But I hope the message is
just quietly in there and, you
know, throughout a picture of the hunter, there's a. The
hunter's in there. But you, as a youth hunter, you can't tell if
(34:18):
that's a little boy or a little girl.
And it does end, you
know, with the harvesting of a deer.
But the last page, I kneel
down beside him and lift up his rack, taking in the moment,
appreciating where I am at. There is so much more to
(34:40):
the hunt than what it lies here in front of me. Nothing is to
be taken for granted, not the tops of the trees, acorns, or the
big V's of geese. So
I hope the message that is gathered is that our
time in the woods is important for so many reasons. And
although we might be successful some hunts
(35:02):
that seeing that those cold fronts push the V's
of geese down and those chatty squirrels in the trees,
you know, keeping us awake or excited when we think it might be a
buck coming towards us, I hope that's the message that's really portrayed in this
book. I think it's a wonderful message and
it's probably one. I mean, we're saying these books are for kids, but I think
(35:24):
some of the adults could use a reminder sometimes as well
to just get back and enjoy, enjoy the outdoors and the
aspects of the hunt. Because I think sometimes we get so focused, as
you mentioned, on the actual witch deer
and killing, killing our target, where there's a lot
more to it. And I have a friend that on social
(35:47):
media that is struggles to get around, has
some ability issues and such and sent me a
direct message about a hunt and just, you know, wonderful things that they
saw. Because with this cold front that came through and, you
know, the elk and they weren't in range, but all the
fighting and the different things they saw. And so hopefully your
(36:09):
message about enjoying what's out there is
subliminally in there and will help people remember that.
And to me, I think I'm just listening to you right
now. And in my mind I'm like, okay,
holidays are coming and the hunt is already out,
correct? Oh, yeah. The hunt has been out
(36:31):
for a year since last October. So a full
year. Almost a full year. I would say the end of October. Yeah. So
the hunt is out and you have some other agriculture
books, but I'm thinking Christmas gifts right there. And I mean,
I always, I love to give children books for birthday gifts
and stuff because reading is just so good for our development.
(36:53):
And so for the listeners, I'll put links in the show notes of
where we can get these. But before that,
tell us a little bit more about what else you have going on with the
writing. You said you've got a turkey book coming and
tell us a little bit. You don't have to give us give away the story,
but tell us a little about that. And when do you think that one will
(37:15):
come out? I really hope it's out the first week
in November. That's tentative. Of course. We are
starting to really feel October slide in and out
really fast. So I really, I feel like
October is a month that I wish could last two months
long. I love the month of October. I don't have a
(37:37):
favorite season. Not to get off topic, but I don't have a favorite season. But
I love the changing of seasons. So the feeling of new.
Like, I love seeing summer end and
fall come in and I love seeing fall end and
winter start and, you know, the same for winter ending and
summer slow or spring slowly sneaking in on us. I just love the
(37:59):
change of seasons and appreciating those little changes. I
don't feel like fall. The start of fall stays here fast enough. The
trees, they can hold those pretty fall leaves for so much
longer if they wanted to. And I really
hate to see October leave so quickly also because I really want
this book to be done the first week in November. And I'm scared I might
(38:22):
need two more weeks of October to get it done.
Well, hopefully you can get that one finished as well. And then maybe we can
get a set by getting the hunt and the turkey
one. Whichever you decide to title it, I think that would be a great gift
idea. And so with the
books, I kind of. I showed your website on
(38:44):
here because I had done some exploring around,
and there you. You mentioned the
calf on the farm. And then you've got some others coloring
sets. Oh, those are. You don't have right now, the pig
in the barn. Yeah. That coloring book sells out so fast. It is
a hot seller. The Farm girl coloring Book. I can never keep those in
(39:07):
stock, no matter how many I buy. But I also have free
coloring pages that work with, like, the cap on my
farm coloring page. Those. Those go together.
And if you're a teacher and you want to work this into your
curriculum, your curriculum, excuse me, all you have to do is reach out.
And I have worksheets and all of that, and it's free.
(39:28):
So if you buy the set of the books, then I send you the curriculum
to work with it. I have some fun downloadable
coloring pages and winter
games and things, some rodeo games that are just kind of
fun, that are something to do over Christmas break or when
you're on a road trip. And then I also have free
(39:50):
Valentine's Day cards. Those are a huge hit. Everybody
loves the Valentine's Day cards. They go along with my books
so that they're just
super cute cards that have the characters and they're
free. All you have to do is download them, print them, and cut them. And
your kids have Valentine's Day cards and those.
(40:13):
Whenever we start getting close to Valentine's Day,
my website starts hopping with free downloads. So I'm really
happy that people can use those. I have the farm life series
Valentine's Day cards, a ranch Valentine's Day
card set, and then also a hunting Valentine's Day
cards. And I think they're so cute. Like, no ifs, ands, or
(40:35):
bucks about it. You're my valentine. I just think it's adorable.
Those are so cute. And that's such a great idea. And I love that you
have you have stuff for adults too? So as I mentioned, like, I
think the books would be good for adults. But also you've got other things on
your site if we wanted to buy the
books. Do you do some type
(40:58):
of direct transactions with schools or
educators or something like that? If they're interested in something?
Yeah. So my phone number is on the website. So if
there are questions when you want to do something, like in large
bulk, of course you can reach out to me and we can work things out.
The hunt is really popular right now with like
(41:20):
different whitetail banquets that are happening and they're buying
them to give to the kids that attend the banquets, which is so fun.
And, you know, those groups reach out to me. I do a lot of
wholesale in stores. So my books
across the country, I'm looking because I'm kind of thinking,
but they. I retail in about 80 different
(41:42):
stores, different locations. Most of them are boutique
to farm stores, feed stores, bow shops,
stuff like that. So I do a lot of wholesale.
So there's always opportunities for me to work with people
on. On pricing if somebody wants to buy a big group for a
classroom or board activity. And one of my favorite things
(42:04):
to do is when somebody calls me up and they're trying to
have some sort of an event where they're raising
money for education, whether it be
agriculture, conservation, or just,
you know, hunters with disabilities, and they need to raise money for that.
And I am always happy to send a whole book set
(42:28):
and give them to those groups to be auctioned
off or to be silent auctioned, whatever the case is.
I think those causes, that's the root of why I'm doing what I'm doing, you
know, and I always. I
just hope that in some way I can give back to these
organizations that do so much for other people and
(42:49):
impact the educational route for some of these young
kids. I mean, there's so many opportunities out there, and
I don't want them to be missed out because somebody has a limitation
or maybe they didn't grow up in this lifestyle and this is a way
for them to connect with it. So if there's any people involved in
any groups out there, please reach out to me and I'm happy to.
(43:11):
To ship you a set of books for you guys to use.
So, yeah, I think it's awesome that
you have that outlook on things because I think
something that we often see in our
society is people just want to make the dollar.
And oftentimes there should be a better
(43:33):
underlying reason why we're doing Things. And which is
why a lot of people are unhappy is because they're only worried about the dollars
and not about helping their neighbors. So I think it's wonderful that
you have that aspect because obviously you want to make money, but you
want to spread the messages too. So I love that
outlook on things. It's very commendable.
(43:55):
When we, when I was looking around and kind of
searching the books and stuff, I, of course I always share Amazon affiliate
links because I make money from those and I don't make much, but as
any little bit helps. But I noticed
there are, I mean, I had mainly looked up the hunting ones because I wasn't
exactly sure what we were going to talk about today and which is why it's
(44:17):
wonderful to do the interviews so we can see what comes up. But
do you have like an author page or something that we could share where
people can follow you on there? So as
far as Amazon, the last four, three, four years,
I have been very much against my books being on
Amazon because I just like the idea of direct sales. However,
(44:41):
as of two weeks ago, I decided to go ahead and take the
plunge. And the hunt is 100% available
now on Amazon and they are now stocked in Amazon
warehouses all across the country. I've sent out hundreds and hundreds and
I'm continuously restocking Amazon with the Hunt.
And Sprout is not yet on Amazon.
(45:02):
The other books are currently in the process of being
logged. So there's so many different ways that you can publish and share your books
through Amazon and different affiliates. But
I print all my books through a book printer and not through Amazon,
which means Amazon buys my books and then
they are the ones dealing with the whole backside of it. I
(45:25):
don't do any of my shipping to any individuals and they're not print on
demand. So my books are. They're super high quality with the printing
and Amazon is just making their basic
commission off of it. And so it's a hard process to
get into Amazon to sell that way, to sell where they're
wanting to buy your books and then resell them. But I'm glad
(45:47):
this is the route I took. It definitely made the most sense for me.
And my author page isn't quite up yet. I
decided to do this in the middle of Harvest, which is kind of silly,
but it's where I'm at and eventually I'll have it. But the Hunt, as
far as that goes, it's on there and it's definitely
purchasable. Yeah. And so
(46:09):
with the best place to be to point people to would be to your
website. And that's the welcome to our farm life dot
com. Yeah, it, yeah, that is the direct to
me. But I don't have, you know, anywhere my book is. It's
there. You can find it on other online stores also. Okay.
But Amazon is
(46:32):
hopefully will be a great resource for people looking for all
hunting books. There's a good group of hunting books out there and
I hope to see more. You know, I get phone
calls often of people wanting to learn how to publish
a book. And there's lots of different ways that fits lots of different
budgets. And one of the first hesitations
(46:54):
or concerns people have are we don't want to
feel like we're competing with you, so please don't take this
offensively. And my response back to that is we are
not competitors. We're all working for the same common goal,
which is to share our love for the outdoors or to farming
or whatever the case might be that you want to share. And kids can never
(47:16):
have enough books on their bookshelves. And I'm sure parents get tired of reading the
same books over and over again. So the more outreach there is,
the better. And I hope that if somebody needs a
resource, I kind of treaded this water alone
and I think that's silly. If somebody knows that they have a
resource available, I hope they reach out to it. So I hope anybody
(47:38):
shoots me an email, sends me a Facebook message. Easiest way to reach out to
me is through my personal Facebook. But I
hope that I can be a resource for somebody trying to either fulfill the dream
of publishing a book or just fulfilling the dream of
sharing their passion with young children and
whoever that might be reaching, you know, I. Think
(48:00):
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order@wsi sports.com I think. I think it's important as well.
And I wanted to ask you another question because
we've. I know what you're talking about and you've mentioned it a
couple times about being harvest season. And
(48:44):
I know some people don't understand what that means. And
like right now it's like, oh, you need to go to Denver to the
Capitol for this event. And it's like we're hanging right now, you know,
and for me personally, this was last week.
But can you tell us a little bit about what you mean about the
season right now and how busy you are and getting to take a
(49:06):
break and not having to be out there working right this minute?
Yeah. So I. This morning, as of this
morning, I done nothing around here but basic chores, which
is just go out and check some baby calves and
feed a few things around the house. But typically, I would be
doing something with my husband. I'm a pretty good gopher. I
(49:30):
go for this and I go for that. Whatever he needs. And before
I called you, I actually told him that I needed to be
on with you at 1:00. And I think that was because, like, the time
zone. So in my mind, that's where I was at. But then I was like,
oh, It's. And at 1:15, I called
him, was like, hey, you know, don't. Don't call me from this time to this
(49:50):
time. And he's like, okay, sounds good. I had the
most optimistic, positive husband in the world. Like, the worst
things could be happening, and he might be frustrated for two seconds
and then two seconds following, he has a smile on his face and he's ready
to conquer it. It's quite amazing. His outlook is just so
positive, but he could not get his combine to start.
(50:13):
I mean, it's so frustrating. So we are harvesting, which means
we're combining corn and soybeans. We're actually done with
corn, but we're now harvesting soybeans. We just started on
soybeans three days ago, and this is our
first breakdown of the season. So we're pretty fortunate that we've not had many
issues or breakdowns. But he sent me a Snapchat and he was sitting in
(50:35):
the parking lot at John Deere saying, well, my combine could.
Does not start, but it could be worse. This could be day two of harvest
instead of close to the end of harvest. So
that's. That's what we're doing. My job's pretty simple. Like I
said, I just kind of am the person that fills in the blanks so
they don't have to leave the field or I might run the green cart. I
(50:57):
do. I will jump in the combine and
combine too, but not often. That's really my
husband's job, and I just kind of am the
gopher. Yeah. And so for the listeners, that's
generally a lot of times is what the wife does. I mean, it depends
on how much Land. You have how much you have to do,
(51:18):
obviously. But I have. I teach hunter education,
and the lady that runs the hall where I'm doing that, she's, you
know, running to get parts, running to get more
bale wrap or twine or whatever. But that seems to be what
ends up happening, is they can work on it, and you can hop
in the vehicle and go and get things for them. It's like, that's fine if
(51:40):
you want to be a gopher. You know, it's not. It's not a bad job,
but it does keep busy because parts
are hard to find sometimes. And especially in the past three or four or five
years, it's like, okay, I've got to go further for parts, or we have to
order parts and stuff like that. So when we're in
the season of harvesting, and I don't know if you're doing corn
(52:02):
for food or if you're doing any silage and stuff like that, but. But
it's like this is the kind of the backbones of what feeds the
country, and people don't understand all that work. So the
books, I think, are going to probably give a little inclination into
what's going on behind the scenes. Yeah. And that's
what I hope. I hope it paints a decently
(52:24):
clear picture of what's happening on the farm. And
I think oftentimes with any industry, not just
agriculture, but they tend to shine a light on the bad
apple. And that bad apple does truly ruin it for the
rest of us, you know, and I. I hope
that it can be seen that there are so many of us within
(52:46):
this industry that truly care for what we do.
We're feeding our family the same thing that we're harvesting and putting on
the shelves for you. Most of our corn is corn
for cattle feed or, you know, that kind of stuff. We
don't. We don't do a lot of white corn, which would be what you typically
are using for food production for humans. But,
(53:08):
you know, our soybeans turn into soybean meal, which feeds
hogs and chickens and stuff like that. So
we are a part of the food chain. And it is scary to think
about all the different misconceptions that are out there about
those of us who work every day, just like there are
misconceptions about people in other industries. But it's what
(53:31):
we are putting into our body. It's also what we're putting on our body
and what we're putting into our vehicles or the soap, the
crayons that your kids use. In the classroom or toothpaste.
And there's nothing that is not from a farm
or somebody working in an agricultural or forestry type
job. And to think that those people get such a bad
(53:53):
rap for what they're doing just trying to make a make ends eat
meat is really disappointing. So I
hope that my books can shine light on the fact that we're not a bunch
of scary people. We really are just everyday folks, you
know? Yeah, everyday people. And as I
keep going back, I really want to read the books. I was hoping I could
(54:15):
get them in my hands before I visited with you so I could ask you
more questions. I know I'm kind of surprised that you
didn't get them, but I am. Too because I was
trying to think when you asked that how long ago you had messaged
that you were sending them. And who knows? My daughter
got married a few weeks ago and our aunt, she
(54:37):
didn't ever receive her invitation. So we remailed another one and she got
it like a month later. And it's like you are invited.
It's so. I don't know, I don't want to drag on the mail
system but as I said, with my luck it'll show up today.
Like it'll be in the mail or something. I don't know. But
we'll see. And then I'll have to give some reviews online.
(55:00):
But for my listeners, can you kind of tell them again
where they can find the books but also where can they
find you and follow you if you'll let them know?
Sure. So on Facebook, which is
kind of my most used social media tool,
me personally, Stephanie White. My profile picture is me
(55:23):
with. I don't know if you can see him fat buck right here.
He might not. He might be out of frame. But anyway,
I old November, he was one of my favorite hunts. I don't
know if I can get my camera to get your. I'm trying
to get the button. There we go. There, now you can see it. Anyway,
that's November right there, the shoulder mount. Anyway,
(55:45):
that's one of my favorite hunts and
my. My husband was combining when I shot him.
So. So anyway, I sneak off
often and you can find me in the woods if I'm not where I
should be working. But so
Stephanie White, I'm super easy to find. I also have a Facebook page
(56:08):
just for my book. Welcome to our Farm Life
series is my Facebook page for my books, but it's not used as
much. I kind of use my personal Facebook page as my book
page and on instagram
it's the White House Farms. And on Tick Tock, it's the White House
Farms. And I'm not super active on Instagram. That was not something that
(56:30):
I ever really clicked with. But I tried to
post on there two to three times a week. And on TikTok,
I pretty much post one to two times a day on TikTok for
the most part. So I'm the White House Farms is where I can
be connected with. And if you message me on Facebook to
my personal Facebook page, I have no blockers on it. So don't be scared
(56:53):
to send me a friend request. Send me a message if you have any
questions about anything and I'm really happy
to help and answer. So
awesome. I will I'll put links to all of those and
I'll try to add a picture. If you're watching the video, I'll add add a
picture of the profile so that you know which one it is. And we're
(57:15):
talking about husbands and combines and my I'm something
that I was going to say before we got going was if the dogs start
barking, that it's okay. And my dogs are like running around because
they hear him outside. It's a little scurrying in the background
here and a couple of whiny dogs.
But I do really want to thank you for reaching
(57:36):
out and for joining me on the show and, and maybe we
can in the future have another episode to discuss a
few other topics and I'll let you know about those
in the future and see if we can reach out again and connect
and visit about some other hunting and maybe some other
ranching issues. Yeah, no, I would love it. I could talk
(57:59):
about agricultural issues and situations
and share about hunts and talk to somebody who enjoys it as much as
me anytime. So I really appreciate it and
I appreciate your podcast. You asked. I don't know if it was right before we
began or right as we began, but you didn't know
how I connected with you. And honestly I was just
(58:21):
searching hunting podcast and
yours popped up and I don't know when this was. I mean, it's been a
time ago, not just here recently. I would say
maybe a year ago or something probably or even past
that. I don't know when I began, but I
just started listening and I've enjoyed the content that
(58:43):
you've provided and the people that you visited and bring on
are such quality people and I've learned a lot about the
different what happens in different states and different
opportunities for people out there. So thank you for making sure that the
rest of us can learn a little bit more about what's happening around.
Well, that's awesome. If there's anything, there's a fly flying around me. So sorry about
(59:05):
that. If there's ever anything else that you want to learn about, let me know.
And that goes for those of you that are listening, too, because that's generally how
topics come to me is somebody asks, and I'm like, if you had the question,
somebody else must have the question as well. And so we try to answer it.
And I try to find somebody who, who knows that can
educate everyone else. So I'll think,
(59:28):
hey, this is Lloyd Bailey, the Armed Lutheran host of the Armed Lutheran
Radio Podcast, reminding you that the podcast you're
listening to is a proud member of the Self Defense Radio Network.
Check out all the great content@selfdefenseradio.net.
She's an award winning writer, a hunting guide, archery and rifle instructor,
keynote speaker and all around outdoors woman who encourages
you to get outside, hunt, fish, shoot and savor all that life has to
offer. And now here's your host, Mia Anstein.
Well, hey. Hi. Hello. It's great to be visiting with you again.
I am kind of filming a
(00:23):
after the show intro to the show and
that is because I received
a package that I was waiting for that took a little while. But
today's interview, we're actually talking about some books
and I wanted to read them before the interview. It's always nice to know
kind of what you're talking about. And I'm opening sharp object. This is my
(00:46):
Gerber flipper knife. You can find it in some of my reels on
Instagram. But when I had the
interview, I didn't have the books. Like they hadn't shown up yet. And tell me
like let me know, have you been having this issue? Because
I have heard of the issue and now I'm experiencing
it. But I've got a handy dandy package here and I
(01:07):
thought I'd do a quick unboxing with you. And let's
check out these books that we're going to
be talking about today's episode.
Wow, they're, they're nicely wrapped in bubble wrap.
And also there we go.
I don't want to be talking and. Making too much noise. Oh, look at how
(01:28):
cute. Look at this little if you're watching on YouTube, cute little
sticker on this paper that Stephanie used to wrap the books. It's a
little raccoon. So cute. And
then let's open it up. Oh.
Check it out. It there's a nice little thank you
card. It says thank you for your purchase. I hope you enjoy my ranch,
(01:51):
farm and hunting books. My hope is to share the rural
lifestyle through these books. New
release. Just in time for Christmas, you can add a
turkey hunting book to your collection. Head to
welcome to our Farm Life.com to
receive your copy. Please enjoy 10%
(02:13):
off your next order with this code. I didn't ask if
I can share this code so if you direct
message me, I will share the secret code with you
so you can get a discount on the books. The links to
obviously the welcome to our
farm life.com and to the books I'll share in the
(02:36):
show notes so you can find it there. But look at this. This first book
is called the Hunt and
Stephanie mentioned that they're very high quality. I'll
attest just to the, the binding and the
quality of the publication since I haven't read it yet, but I'm going to.
Very nice the pages and full color pictures.
(02:59):
These are really high quality books and
so she sent two of them. So why
don't we also do a giveaway and I'm going to
give one of these away to a viewer or
listener. Okay. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna do a
giveaway and this is so cool because I didn't know I was getting two books.
(03:20):
So I'm excited to share. I love sharing. I am not an only
child. Or at least I wasn't born an only child. I am an only child.
Now that's a sad story. But we'll talk about that maybe on another
day, but. So we're gonna do a giveaway. What
I want to do is I have an email list.
What I want you to do is if you are a current
(03:42):
subscriber, then you need to reply to the newsletter
and let me know what is your favorite Mac Outdoors
podcast episode that you have heard so far. It can be this one. That's fine
if it's this one. If you're not yet a subscriber for the email, then head
over there and sign up and subscribe and also
email me back and tell me
(04:04):
what you learned from this episode of Mac Outdoors.
So either way, you need to be an email subscriber to
miaanstein.com's Mac Outdoors. So it's same email,
go to Mac Outdoors.com go to Mia
anstein.com subscribe to the newsletter and when you
reply to me, I will know that you want to be entered into
(04:26):
Win this book. This would be a great Christmas gift.
It'd be a great birthday gift. And right now
we're going to start the giveaway. We
will we'll run this
giveaway from to this giveaway is going to
be open from October 26th to
(04:48):
November 16th. November 16th will
be the last day that you can enter to win a copy of
Stephanie White's book the Hunt. And if you have
questions, email me that can enter you just let me
know and I'd be happy to sign you up. And that being
said, I thank you for listening. I really do appreciate everybody I
(05:10):
know. I thank you guys like every episode. But I really am thankful for the
community that we have here. If you have a topic
or an idea or somebody that you would like to have on the show that
you want to learn more about, let me know. But also when you let me
know, let me know what it is. That you would like to learn.
I did have somebody ask for one of my past guests to be on the
(05:31):
show and I did have Jen O'Hara from Girls with Guns Clothing. We had
her on again and we talked about her show
Living Outdoors. So you I'll link that episode in the show notes.
But if you have anyone else like just let me know and
I want to learn with you alongside you. If there's
something that I've covered in the past that you want to know more about,
(05:55):
let me know about that as well. Because today's interview
we actually there's so many other other directions I could have taken the
interview, but we were talking about these books for
youngsters and so I tried to stay on target with that. But we're
gonna have another interview in the future to talk about some other
areas where Ms. Stephanie White has some knowledge and
(06:17):
experience that I think she can share with all of us. So
without further ado, please again go to
miaanstein.com sign up for the newsletter or you
can email me without signing up to the newsletter, it's not quite as fun,
but email me. The email address is contact
miaanstein.com and I will be happy
(06:38):
to enter you for A Chance to Win the Hunt by
Stephanie White. Hey guys, are you looking for a
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So welcome to the show, Stephanie for the listeners today,
I'm excited to learn a little bit more about Stephanie
(07:21):
and about her work because she is a writer
and an author, which I aspire to be someday. So I'm always
excited when I get authors on the show so so that I can learn more
about not just your books but about you and kind of behind the
scenes a little too. So Stephanie, would you mind introducing
yourself to my listeners and letting them know who you are and what you
(07:43):
do? Sure. So I
am from the Midwest, I'm from Missouri and
I grew up on agricultural operation
that we had both livestock and cat livestock and row
crops. And I was really passionate from
a young age of sharing the story of agriculture. And so that's where
(08:05):
I really started wanting to share the story of
producers and agriculturalists and I was able to work
in radio sharing anything from
legislative issues to your more interesting
stories that were more personable about the farmers around us.
And after that, I had the opportunity to work for the
(08:27):
Cattlemen's association, where I did a
few different jobs, but one of which was education
outreach. And I just saw a need for
books in the agricultural world that talked about
more than just our pretty red barn. You know, that's what we think about with
farms. And there's so much more to it, especially with modern
(08:49):
agriculture. And I found that important to be able to have that,
you know, in a book to be used in the classroom. And
that's where I started writing children's books at. And from there
I. Well, I got married and about 10 years
ago. I've been writing books for four years. Three. Four years. But I got
married 10 years ago and became full time on the farm.
(09:12):
And I just was missing that education outreach.
And that's when I began writing books. And one day I was out in the
stand and I thought, you know, I just
started scribbling down some stuff and I wrote the Hunt,
which is a book about archery, deer
hunting. And so that's where that story started. And
(09:33):
it came from the enjoyment of writing books
for agriculture into sharing something that I find a lot of
value in. Yeah. And so, of course,
as always, I have so many questions running through my mind, so I'll try to
kind of channel them, keep us in on track of
one topic or another. But something that I've found over the
(09:56):
years. I'm not sure how you found me, but a
lot of people tell me I have to niche down. And so I
have agriculture and farming, and then I have hunting. And I
have so many things that I do. But it's been something that
I've been tasked with also is to kind of tell that story of
how they overlap. And I think a lot of people don't
(10:18):
understand that, but farmers and ranchers do understand that a
lot. So I'm really excited that you're kind of sharing a message
about that. Before we start talking about how
you're sharing the message, can you tell us for the listeners if
you are listening on audio only. If you go
to YouTube or to the videos, you'll see there are some animal mounts
(10:40):
in the background. So I have posted that you're an author and a
farmer, but you're also a hunter, I take it? Yeah,
for sure. So. Well, actually, depending
on when you're listening to this, so people have a time reference. But we are
in the middle of October and I'm in Missouri. Our first Cold front just
came through. So we are also in the middle of
(11:02):
harvest, which means I'm sitting here getting a visit with you instead
of out working with my husband because we both are full time
farmers and so we
really have to juggle the love of
hunting and also getting our job done because
we are on a time constraint to being out in the field and making sure
(11:23):
harvest is completed as it should be. So we are
hunters. We both bow hunt,
rifle hunt, and you know, I've been out in the tree
several times already this year. We really just had our first
good movement of cold air come through
probably two days ago. And you know,
(11:45):
we. I took full advantage of it. My husband was. He didn't leave
the combine, but I left my post and I went sat in a tree and
so I wanted to get those cobwebs really brushed off and I went on a
doe hunt and all I saw was basket rack bucks. It's
like, you know, it's not usually hard for doe to walk in
front of the stand and of all nights, I went in with full intention and
(12:08):
I guess, you know, the lord, good lord looked down on me and said, not
today you're going to be patient. Just enjoy the scenery. And I did. You know,
I had a whole group of bucks bed down underneath me. It
was so fun. Even
I. The stand I was in was the ladder stand and
the post that hooks the ladder to the tree.
(12:29):
One of the bucks went under there and was rubbing that and my
whole tree stand was just shaking. And I didn't know if I needed to close
my eyes and hold my breath or if I should scream and, or yell at
him to make him leave. But yeah, so we're, we're
hunters and we truly enjoy it. So
I love the story. I think that's awesome. And so
(12:51):
for some of my friends, they only do spot and stock and then we have
different people that will do climber stands. The saddle
hunting now is a big deal, which for me, being doing a lot
of horseback, I was like saddle hunting, like we've been riding saddles for years and
not understanding what a sling saddle was. So now I know I've learned a lot
about those. But being on top of a
(13:13):
ladder stand and having a box scrape, were you worried that he
might jar the brackets or any of the straps or anything?
Or was that kind of. I had, it was super
windy, so that was. I had just put that stand up not very long
ago. And so the tree itself was a pretty large tree,
but it had a lot more flex than I was anticipating. So as windy
(13:35):
as it was, my tree was already blowing and
there I texted my husband and I was like,
this tree has a lot of give to it for as big as it is.
And he just said haha back. So I don't know if he took it seriously
or if he thought I was being a wuss, but either way, I was already
kind of like this. I really hope I have this
(13:57):
strap down good enough. And you know, that
base bracket is basically just to keep the ladder
sturdy as I'm climbing up and down. So I really shouldn't have been nervous.
But it had me, you know, it had me shaking a little
bit. And then I imagine there's got to be a little bit of
adrenaline as well, because even though you're not hunting a buck, you probably
(14:19):
might have. It's like, do I scare them away? Do I not scare them away?
Because you're used to trying to be quiet and it's like if you scare them,
are there does around that they're going to frighten? That sounds like such
a cool adventure. Yeah, always fun. You know,
there's really not no such thing as a bad hunt when you're out there. And
it was such a beautiful evening. It was the first night, it was really
(14:39):
cold and I had actually, I just got
some new camo. So I was in a complete new
setup. And I did not have any gloves because
up until that night, I hadn't been needing to wear any.
So I didn't take my pack with me. Nothing
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anstine so I. Was digging through, like I had
jeans on underneath my pants and I had a
(15:45):
pair of like pink gloves that are. I have pretty small
hands. So those gloves that you can buy at Dollar General that are just
super cheap at the checkout, I had bought some earlier that morning
because we had been working cattle. And so I found those and I
had these pink gloves and they did nothing to keep my hands warm. But that's
all I had because these clothes had never been worn before. So
(16:09):
it was kind of like, oh, it's cold and I'm glad there's a cold front.
But I was not prepared, not acclimated weather yet.
So that's something with, with the first time going out for the
season and I'm pointing out because I hunt sometimes on my own place
here, but it seems like the first time out you're always like, okay, did I
bring this? Did I lose my calls? Like, what are the first
(16:31):
outing jitters or whatever? I don't know. But. So that's something.
But can you tell us a little about your gear? What, what
is your new hunting gear for that you're wearing as a lady? And then also
tell us a little about your harness or whatever safety equipment you use.
So I guess I'll start with my stand.
We really. And this goes. I'm going to connect this
(16:54):
back to my book. We are farmers and we really
appreciate anything that is made in the United States. So we
try hard to source what we use in the field and in our
life as much as we can that is made here in the United States. Now
we can't always do that and it is not a stipulation to everything we do,
but we do try and we have really started
(17:16):
using Nova mixed tree stands. So we have put
a few of those up and that. That
was actually not one of the stands I was in the other night. But that
is what we traded. Most of our stands out, they're just really sturdy
and they are super prideful in the fact that their stuff is
states and we connected with them at a trade
(17:39):
and because I go to trade shows quite a bit to set up for my
books and we just really. My husband really appreciated
visiting with the guys that, you know, sell novik
stands and the passion they had for it being American made,
that was so important to them. And we bought a few
stands and we pulled some of our old stands out and we're just
(18:01):
loving the quality and the sturdiness of novix. So that's,
that's the stand that I typically like to set in. I also
have a few just homemade box blinds that I really love on those
super cold days. But as far as clothing, as
a woman, I've really struggled with that.
I definitely am bustier
(18:24):
and so and I'm not super tall. So I'm like 5,
5, 4 ish is probably my hike and
I had a hard time finding clothes that I that fit me
well and that I can bow hunt with easily that aren't
loud. So I bought a DSG set
and I can't remember what
(18:47):
the name of it is called but you
know, they have all different names for each set. But this was like a
mid, a mid season type setup.
So not for super cold weather, not for super warm weather. It
was just kind of your mid season. Like I wouldn't probably turkey hunt in it.
It was too warm for that. But when I was up in the stand I
(19:08):
was so surprised at how quiet it was. And
you know, I have no affiliation with any of these groups. I just go on
and I buy and I listen to what other people might like and
of course through contacts of meeting people, trying things
out. But I really have enjoyed being able to wear that set
so far and really I probably plan on buying
(19:31):
another one. So that's more for extreme
cold. Last year I was hunting and it was, it was
zero degrees, you know, and I was freezing. So I'm excited to
have clothes that fit me at those temperatures that I can easily pull a bow
back with. Yeah, and that makes sense and especially
with the DSG wear because I'm not positive
(19:53):
I need to interview them sometime. But I think they started out as like
snowmobile gear and more hardcore winter gear. And that
was what attracted me to them was their drop seat in
their bibs. I don't wear bibs for hunting very often unless it's waterfowl
hunting. But for ladies, you know, to be able to have a drop seat in
your bibs is a big deal. And then, you know, from there
(20:15):
I've, I have a couple of lightweight archery
pants and tops from them that seem to fit if you're
a little more curvy. So that's something that I don't have
the issues up top, but down below, fitting over my butt
is a good thing. Yeah, we
all are definitely different shapes and sizes and finding something that
(20:38):
accommodates women versus pulling out something
I might pull something out that I've had
forever that was not made for women. And I just get
frustrated with sitting in the sand and my pants not fitting
correctly or you know, the, the
length of the zipper not, you know, it just never fits
(21:00):
correct. Or your jackets in the arms how my
arms aren't very long but the sleeves might be long and it might fit
me lengthened torso. So I, you know, I really,
really like DSG and so I think that
I. There's lots of other really great brands out there but so
far for my first full complete set I've owned a few pieces here and
(21:23):
there, but not A complete set. This. I really like it. That's cool.
It's always good to find stuff that works for you. And
so you mentioned when you were talking about that in the book
the Hunt, can you tell us a little bit about
your books? I've done a little exploring. But
you've written more books on the website. There's several
(21:45):
books. Then there's some coming. So you. Can you tell us a little
bit about the Hunt? Yeah. So
I mentioned earlier how important things were for me to have
it done here in the United States. So all of my books are
printed in the United States and that is extremely hard to
do. So I buy my books in bulk
(22:08):
and they. I go pick them up in
mass quantities and they are printed here in the United States.
If you go to a store, most of the time you're going to get books
that are printed overseas and I'm not. Again, that is a
great option for a lot of different reasons.
The price point on the end of the author or the
(22:30):
publisher. That's really nice to be able to have that. And
my cost is competitive when I go to purchase, but I do give
some a little bit considering that it is printed here. But
it's important to me to know that my books
are about our rural heritage, that they're
printed here in the United States. So my
(22:51):
books, as I said, are about the American farmer, about
the hunter here, and our conservation efforts.
So to me, it's important to keep that here. The Hunt, I have
it here. Oh, you brought my website up. So, yeah, you can
just see it on there. This is the Hunt. It's illustrated by Dustin
Ditilio. And shout out to Dustin if any of
(23:15):
you guys out there listening have not checked out Dustin's work before.
I really encourage it. He is not only a great
person, but he is an amazing and talented
artist. And him and I right now are finishing up a turkey
book. So it's either going to be titled off the
Roost or the Strut. I haven't decided
(23:36):
yet, but it'll be out by Christmastime and it's
just about finished and wrapped up. So those will be my
two hunting books that I have out and hopefully there will be more in the
future. My most recent release is
Sprout, and I just think it's beautiful. It has more
of a commercialized, you know, Pixar,
(23:58):
current Disney look to it. And I think, yeah, that's a cool cover.
Yeah, I think it's really pretty. And I had to add a velvet
deer, a buck and velvet. Oh, that's cool. I
couldn't help myself.
So. But other than that, my books are really more ag
education and they're used in the classroom.
(24:20):
So different farm bureau groups, commodity groups,
agricultural outreach programs, will purchase my
books to use in the classroom for ag tools.
And that's. That's kind of.
That's the base of my books. So it really is
my passion being able to share these books with people and
(24:43):
hopefully reach those who like. With my ag education,
my clients base I don't really think of as farm
kids. They're used in St. Louis
or in larger cities in Louisiana and
Colorado and California. So those
are the kids that are receiving these books. And the books just
(25:06):
aren't about how your food is being made. Sprout
is more of the perspective of the plant that's
growing. So, you know, obviously sprout, but my other books,
the Pig in My Barn, the Calf on My Farm,
those books are. We talk about production,
but they really shine light that the farmer is just like everybody
(25:28):
else and that a farmer is. It's a job, it's a career. There's no
reason to be scared of the people who is. Who's taking and
caring and raising your food. And I think that's the
core of a lot of our misconceptions within the
agricultural industry. And so that's why I really
focused on. The character in the book
(25:49):
is just like you in the classroom. You know, as I'm talking to a kid,
it's just another kid, and they just happen to live on a farm.
And so I. I really wanted to hit home with
that. So I bridged out again with the Hunt and
Sprout being more focused on the crop itself.
But my other books really share who. Who's behind your food?
(26:11):
Who's behind our production. Yeah, that's something
that I think is wonderful that you would be teaching that and
that you have that background in education, because that's something that
I think is quite helpful is to understand how to share a message.
And when you're sharing the messages, what kind of
age are they geared toward? Who. Who are you talking
(26:33):
to? Like what age? So a little bit of
different age groups, depending. Excuse me. The Hunt,
I would definitely say reaches. It's. It's a simple book. I
don't. Did you receive yours by chance? I haven't gotten them
yet, so no. No. And I probably start today,
of course. I was hoping you would get them in time. Okay.
(26:56):
Well, the Hunt is. It's pretty
simple language, and I would say it's more
poetic. So the pages aren't long and it's
a great bedtime story. So, you know,
it's super short. The words are big
and it's easy, easy to read.
(27:20):
And I definitely say this is a bedtime story
to older kids.
That would probably be 10. That's kind of the demographic for this
book. So it has a little bit of a more widespread. But it's
because of the content. You know, it's a hunting book and
I definitely find that older boys, you know that 10,
(27:42):
11 year old age group, they come up and they are so excited to
flip through the pictures and read the book when I'm at a show. But also
the parents get so excited about seeing a book that they
can, you know, it's not the same old, same old about a dump truck or
a puppy dog. It's something that they live and it's about their
lifestyle, but it's not so,
(28:04):
so in depth that it's not enjoyable to read at bedtime. So
that's, that's what my hunting series is all about. It's something that we can
share at bedtime but also sit down and get excited to
read as, you know, a young boy or. And the person in my
book, I say a young boy because it just seems to be that the
older boys tend to flock to it, whereas
(28:26):
girls seem at that age to want to pick up more of a chapter
book, a smaller chapter book or something. But in my
book you never see the hunter. They're always covered
in camouflage. And that was something I talked to Dustin about. I
wanted any youth to be able to see themselves as a
hunter and you never know. So I always like at a
(28:48):
trade show asking, do you think the hunter is
you? Could this be you? And they're like, oh yeah, that little girl could be
me. Or when I ask a boy, oh yeah, he's just like me. That's how
I wear my camouflage. So it's important to me to be able to
share that. My other books, I would say
kindergarten to third grade is really the
(29:10):
demographic I work with on that. And that's just because they're ag focused
on the education side. That's where my curriculum sets with those
books. And the Winter Cowboy, it's more on
animal husbandry. It's a Christmas book, but it is also an
older kid book. So I would say that
8 to 11 range is where the Winter Cowboy book fits
(29:32):
for kids. Yeah, it's
interesting how you've kind of sorted out the demographic of
who you're looking for to send the messages to
when you're sending the messages, I have in my
mind what I'm assuming the books are going to say since I haven't received them
yet. But what is the actual message?
(29:54):
I mean, because since I grew up with agriculture, and
I'm guessing you did also. I didn't ask you that. Did you grow up in
farming community? Yeah. Both of my parents are full
time on the farm and I live three hours away from
my parents, so not far. Andrew and I started our own operation
up north where he grew up, but I have three younger brothers.
(30:16):
They are all farm full time with my dad and my mom
and their families. So I grew up on a farm
and. Yeah, yeah. And so growing
up, it's like we kind of know where our food comes from. We know the
work that it takes to produce it. What kind of messages are in the books
for. Is it. Is it directed towards somebody who lives in
(30:38):
an urban community, or is it more toward a rural liver?
I would definitely say as far as the agbooks,
they really are inviting people who may not
understand what's going on on the farm into the book. So it starts.
Every book in my welcome to Our Farm Life series starts with
welcome to our farm. It sure is a busy morning around here. And then we
(31:01):
jump into what is happening, whether it's taking care of dairy
calves, farrowing pigs, or
wheat harvest, you know, planting wheat. It. It really,
truly is about inviting people who may not understand what's
happening on the farm and what's happening with their food system and in a
very intermediate basic level. So that's the focus of
(31:23):
that. I will say people enjoy
that, live on the farm, being able to pick up a book and relate to
it because it is their life. And so I enjoy seeing people who
live my lifestyle enjoy the book and find it accurate. That's
important to me, that they feel like it's a true reflection of their life. So
that's exciting. But with my welcome to the Farm Life series
(31:45):
particularly, it definitely is. I hope
it's used as an educational tool in classrooms a lot, whereas the
hunt, it's something I hope people can sit down at
bedtime and pass on their legacy
and their enjoyment to their kids.
Yeah. And so in the hunt, how Without. Without giving
(32:08):
away the story, because we obviously want people to read the stories.
But how are you molding the agriculture and the wildlife? Are you
telling a conservation story?
No, actually, I would not say that there is any
agriculture involved in the hunt. It is truly a hunt story
and it's not a. I'm after one particular
(32:30):
deer, it's. It's more of,
you know, and the character doesn't have a name,
but it, you know, it's dedicated to all
hunters, and it has to keep their
sights set in the right direction. So I feel like that's the
(32:50):
basis of what I hope all my books are, that they really help you,
help the kids as they're reading or being read to, that they're seeing that it's
important to keep in mind what's happening. And
so the book, like I said, it's a little more poetic. So up on the
treetop is my favorite place to be among all the
acorns, where squirrels like to feast. And these pages are a
(33:12):
little warts. I grabbed one that I use on my school visits, but
it really is more poetic. And
we, the kids, love the squirrels because they're always laughing. Oh, yeah,
the squirrels, we always think they're dear. So I think that's
fun. One of the pages, you know,
my bow hanging beside my head, an arrow pulled from the quiver.
(33:34):
I patiently wait, trying not to shiver. So,
you know, I really hope to just catch maybe the
essence of the hunt, rather than I'm just
going out to kill a big deer. Although that's exciting. I
definitely have a target buck that I want to,
you know, that I want to harvest. But I also think we talk
(33:56):
about practicing, and it's important. I practice my
shots all summer and fall, shooting my target. No, I have to be good enough
to hit them all. That's important. But I hope the message is
just quietly in there and, you
know, throughout a picture of the hunter, there's a. The
hunter's in there. But you, as a youth hunter, you can't tell if
(34:18):
that's a little boy or a little girl.
And it does end, you
know, with the harvesting of a deer.
But the last page, I kneel
down beside him and lift up his rack, taking in the moment,
appreciating where I am at. There is so much more to
(34:40):
the hunt than what it lies here in front of me. Nothing is to
be taken for granted, not the tops of the trees, acorns, or the
big V's of geese. So
I hope the message that is gathered is that our
time in the woods is important for so many reasons. And
although we might be successful some hunts
(35:02):
that seeing that those cold fronts push the V's
of geese down and those chatty squirrels in the trees,
you know, keeping us awake or excited when we think it might be a
buck coming towards us, I hope that's the message that's really portrayed in this
book. I think it's a wonderful message and
it's probably one. I mean, we're saying these books are for kids, but I think
(35:24):
some of the adults could use a reminder sometimes as well
to just get back and enjoy, enjoy the outdoors and the
aspects of the hunt. Because I think sometimes we get so focused, as
you mentioned, on the actual witch deer
and killing, killing our target, where there's a lot
more to it. And I have a friend that on social
(35:47):
media that is struggles to get around, has
some ability issues and such and sent me a
direct message about a hunt and just, you know, wonderful things that they
saw. Because with this cold front that came through and, you
know, the elk and they weren't in range, but all the
fighting and the different things they saw. And so hopefully your
(36:09):
message about enjoying what's out there is
subliminally in there and will help people remember that.
And to me, I think I'm just listening to you right
now. And in my mind I'm like, okay,
holidays are coming and the hunt is already out,
correct? Oh, yeah. The hunt has been out
(36:31):
for a year since last October. So a full
year. Almost a full year. I would say the end of October. Yeah. So
the hunt is out and you have some other agriculture
books, but I'm thinking Christmas gifts right there. And I mean,
I always, I love to give children books for birthday gifts
and stuff because reading is just so good for our development.
(36:53):
And so for the listeners, I'll put links in the show notes of
where we can get these. But before that,
tell us a little bit more about what else you have going on with the
writing. You said you've got a turkey book coming and
tell us a little bit. You don't have to give us give away the story,
but tell us a little about that. And when do you think that one will
(37:15):
come out? I really hope it's out the first week
in November. That's tentative. Of course. We are
starting to really feel October slide in and out
really fast. So I really, I feel like
October is a month that I wish could last two months
long. I love the month of October. I don't have a
(37:37):
favorite season. Not to get off topic, but I don't have a favorite season. But
I love the changing of seasons. So the feeling of new.
Like, I love seeing summer end and
fall come in and I love seeing fall end and
winter start and, you know, the same for winter ending and
summer slow or spring slowly sneaking in on us. I just love the
(37:59):
change of seasons and appreciating those little changes. I
don't feel like fall. The start of fall stays here fast enough. The
trees, they can hold those pretty fall leaves for so much
longer if they wanted to. And I really
hate to see October leave so quickly also because I really want
this book to be done the first week in November. And I'm scared I might
(38:22):
need two more weeks of October to get it done.
Well, hopefully you can get that one finished as well. And then maybe we can
get a set by getting the hunt and the turkey
one. Whichever you decide to title it, I think that would be a great gift
idea. And so with the
books, I kind of. I showed your website on
(38:44):
here because I had done some exploring around,
and there you. You mentioned the
calf on the farm. And then you've got some others coloring
sets. Oh, those are. You don't have right now, the pig
in the barn. Yeah. That coloring book sells out so fast. It is
a hot seller. The Farm girl coloring Book. I can never keep those in
(39:07):
stock, no matter how many I buy. But I also have free
coloring pages that work with, like, the cap on my
farm coloring page. Those. Those go together.
And if you're a teacher and you want to work this into your
curriculum, your curriculum, excuse me, all you have to do is reach out.
And I have worksheets and all of that, and it's free.
(39:28):
So if you buy the set of the books, then I send you the curriculum
to work with it. I have some fun downloadable
coloring pages and winter
games and things, some rodeo games that are just kind of
fun, that are something to do over Christmas break or when
you're on a road trip. And then I also have free
(39:50):
Valentine's Day cards. Those are a huge hit. Everybody
loves the Valentine's Day cards. They go along with my books
so that they're just
super cute cards that have the characters and they're
free. All you have to do is download them, print them, and cut them. And
your kids have Valentine's Day cards and those.
(40:13):
Whenever we start getting close to Valentine's Day,
my website starts hopping with free downloads. So I'm really
happy that people can use those. I have the farm life series
Valentine's Day cards, a ranch Valentine's Day
card set, and then also a hunting Valentine's Day
cards. And I think they're so cute. Like, no ifs, ands, or
(40:35):
bucks about it. You're my valentine. I just think it's adorable.
Those are so cute. And that's such a great idea. And I love that you
have you have stuff for adults too? So as I mentioned, like, I
think the books would be good for adults. But also you've got other things on
your site if we wanted to buy the
books. Do you do some type
(40:58):
of direct transactions with schools or
educators or something like that? If they're interested in something?
Yeah. So my phone number is on the website. So if
there are questions when you want to do something, like in large
bulk, of course you can reach out to me and we can work things out.
The hunt is really popular right now with like
(41:20):
different whitetail banquets that are happening and they're buying
them to give to the kids that attend the banquets, which is so fun.
And, you know, those groups reach out to me. I do a lot of
wholesale in stores. So my books
across the country, I'm looking because I'm kind of thinking,
but they. I retail in about 80 different
(41:42):
stores, different locations. Most of them are boutique
to farm stores, feed stores, bow shops,
stuff like that. So I do a lot of wholesale.
So there's always opportunities for me to work with people
on. On pricing if somebody wants to buy a big group for a
classroom or board activity. And one of my favorite things
(42:04):
to do is when somebody calls me up and they're trying to
have some sort of an event where they're raising
money for education, whether it be
agriculture, conservation, or just,
you know, hunters with disabilities, and they need to raise money for that.
And I am always happy to send a whole book set
(42:28):
and give them to those groups to be auctioned
off or to be silent auctioned, whatever the case is.
I think those causes, that's the root of why I'm doing what I'm doing, you
know, and I always. I
just hope that in some way I can give back to these
organizations that do so much for other people and
(42:49):
impact the educational route for some of these young
kids. I mean, there's so many opportunities out there, and
I don't want them to be missed out because somebody has a limitation
or maybe they didn't grow up in this lifestyle and this is a way
for them to connect with it. So if there's any people involved in
any groups out there, please reach out to me and I'm happy to.
(43:11):
To ship you a set of books for you guys to use.
So, yeah, I think it's awesome that
you have that outlook on things because I think
something that we often see in our
society is people just want to make the dollar.
And oftentimes there should be a better
(43:33):
underlying reason why we're doing Things. And which is
why a lot of people are unhappy is because they're only worried about the dollars
and not about helping their neighbors. So I think it's wonderful that
you have that aspect because obviously you want to make money, but you
want to spread the messages too. So I love that
outlook on things. It's very commendable.
(43:55):
When we, when I was looking around and kind of
searching the books and stuff, I, of course I always share Amazon affiliate
links because I make money from those and I don't make much, but as
any little bit helps. But I noticed
there are, I mean, I had mainly looked up the hunting ones because I wasn't
exactly sure what we were going to talk about today and which is why it's
(44:17):
wonderful to do the interviews so we can see what comes up. But
do you have like an author page or something that we could share where
people can follow you on there? So as
far as Amazon, the last four, three, four years,
I have been very much against my books being on
Amazon because I just like the idea of direct sales. However,
(44:41):
as of two weeks ago, I decided to go ahead and take the
plunge. And the hunt is 100% available
now on Amazon and they are now stocked in Amazon
warehouses all across the country. I've sent out hundreds and hundreds and
I'm continuously restocking Amazon with the Hunt.
And Sprout is not yet on Amazon.
(45:02):
The other books are currently in the process of being
logged. So there's so many different ways that you can publish and share your books
through Amazon and different affiliates. But
I print all my books through a book printer and not through Amazon,
which means Amazon buys my books and then
they are the ones dealing with the whole backside of it. I
(45:25):
don't do any of my shipping to any individuals and they're not print on
demand. So my books are. They're super high quality with the printing
and Amazon is just making their basic
commission off of it. And so it's a hard process to
get into Amazon to sell that way, to sell where they're
wanting to buy your books and then resell them. But I'm glad
(45:47):
this is the route I took. It definitely made the most sense for me.
And my author page isn't quite up yet. I
decided to do this in the middle of Harvest, which is kind of silly,
but it's where I'm at and eventually I'll have it. But the Hunt, as
far as that goes, it's on there and it's definitely
purchasable. Yeah. And so
(46:09):
with the best place to be to point people to would be to your
website. And that's the welcome to our farm life dot
com. Yeah, it, yeah, that is the direct to
me. But I don't have, you know, anywhere my book is. It's
there. You can find it on other online stores also. Okay.
But Amazon is
(46:32):
hopefully will be a great resource for people looking for all
hunting books. There's a good group of hunting books out there and
I hope to see more. You know, I get phone
calls often of people wanting to learn how to publish
a book. And there's lots of different ways that fits lots of different
budgets. And one of the first hesitations
(46:54):
or concerns people have are we don't want to
feel like we're competing with you, so please don't take this
offensively. And my response back to that is we are
not competitors. We're all working for the same common goal,
which is to share our love for the outdoors or to farming
or whatever the case might be that you want to share. And kids can never
(47:16):
have enough books on their bookshelves. And I'm sure parents get tired of reading the
same books over and over again. So the more outreach there is,
the better. And I hope that if somebody needs a
resource, I kind of treaded this water alone
and I think that's silly. If somebody knows that they have a
resource available, I hope they reach out to it. So I hope anybody
(47:38):
shoots me an email, sends me a Facebook message. Easiest way to reach out to
me is through my personal Facebook. But I
hope that I can be a resource for somebody trying to either fulfill the dream
of publishing a book or just fulfilling the dream of
sharing their passion with young children and
whoever that might be reaching, you know, I. Think
(48:00):
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order@wsi sports.com I think. I think it's important as well.
And I wanted to ask you another question because
we've. I know what you're talking about and you've mentioned it a
couple times about being harvest season. And
(48:44):
I know some people don't understand what that means. And
like right now it's like, oh, you need to go to Denver to the
Capitol for this event. And it's like we're hanging right now, you know,
and for me personally, this was last week.
But can you tell us a little bit about what you mean about the
season right now and how busy you are and getting to take a
(49:06):
break and not having to be out there working right this minute?
Yeah. So I. This morning, as of this
morning, I done nothing around here but basic chores, which
is just go out and check some baby calves and
feed a few things around the house. But typically, I would be
doing something with my husband. I'm a pretty good gopher. I
(49:30):
go for this and I go for that. Whatever he needs. And before
I called you, I actually told him that I needed to be
on with you at 1:00. And I think that was because, like, the time
zone. So in my mind, that's where I was at. But then I was like,
oh, It's. And at 1:15, I called
him, was like, hey, you know, don't. Don't call me from this time to this
(49:50):
time. And he's like, okay, sounds good. I had the
most optimistic, positive husband in the world. Like, the worst
things could be happening, and he might be frustrated for two seconds
and then two seconds following, he has a smile on his face and he's ready
to conquer it. It's quite amazing. His outlook is just so
positive, but he could not get his combine to start.
(50:13):
I mean, it's so frustrating. So we are harvesting, which means
we're combining corn and soybeans. We're actually done with
corn, but we're now harvesting soybeans. We just started on
soybeans three days ago, and this is our
first breakdown of the season. So we're pretty fortunate that we've not had many
issues or breakdowns. But he sent me a Snapchat and he was sitting in
(50:35):
the parking lot at John Deere saying, well, my combine could.
Does not start, but it could be worse. This could be day two of harvest
instead of close to the end of harvest. So
that's. That's what we're doing. My job's pretty simple. Like I
said, I just kind of am the person that fills in the blanks so
they don't have to leave the field or I might run the green cart. I
(50:57):
do. I will jump in the combine and
combine too, but not often. That's really my
husband's job, and I just kind of am the
gopher. Yeah. And so for the listeners, that's
generally a lot of times is what the wife does. I mean, it depends
on how much Land. You have how much you have to do,
(51:18):
obviously. But I have. I teach hunter education,
and the lady that runs the hall where I'm doing that, she's, you
know, running to get parts, running to get more
bale wrap or twine or whatever. But that seems to be what
ends up happening, is they can work on it, and you can hop
in the vehicle and go and get things for them. It's like, that's fine if
(51:40):
you want to be a gopher. You know, it's not. It's not a bad job,
but it does keep busy because parts
are hard to find sometimes. And especially in the past three or four or five
years, it's like, okay, I've got to go further for parts, or we have to
order parts and stuff like that. So when we're in
the season of harvesting, and I don't know if you're doing corn
(52:02):
for food or if you're doing any silage and stuff like that, but. But
it's like this is the kind of the backbones of what feeds the
country, and people don't understand all that work. So the
books, I think, are going to probably give a little inclination into
what's going on behind the scenes. Yeah. And that's
what I hope. I hope it paints a decently
(52:24):
clear picture of what's happening on the farm. And
I think oftentimes with any industry, not just
agriculture, but they tend to shine a light on the bad
apple. And that bad apple does truly ruin it for the
rest of us, you know, and I. I hope
that it can be seen that there are so many of us within
(52:46):
this industry that truly care for what we do.
We're feeding our family the same thing that we're harvesting and putting on
the shelves for you. Most of our corn is corn
for cattle feed or, you know, that kind of stuff. We
don't. We don't do a lot of white corn, which would be what you typically
are using for food production for humans. But,
(53:08):
you know, our soybeans turn into soybean meal, which feeds
hogs and chickens and stuff like that. So
we are a part of the food chain. And it is scary to think
about all the different misconceptions that are out there about
those of us who work every day, just like there are
misconceptions about people in other industries. But it's what
(53:31):
we are putting into our body. It's also what we're putting on our body
and what we're putting into our vehicles or the soap, the
crayons that your kids use. In the classroom or toothpaste.
And there's nothing that is not from a farm
or somebody working in an agricultural or forestry type
job. And to think that those people get such a bad
(53:53):
rap for what they're doing just trying to make a make ends eat
meat is really disappointing. So I
hope that my books can shine light on the fact that we're not a bunch
of scary people. We really are just everyday folks, you
know? Yeah, everyday people. And as I
keep going back, I really want to read the books. I was hoping I could
(54:15):
get them in my hands before I visited with you so I could ask you
more questions. I know I'm kind of surprised that you
didn't get them, but I am. Too because I was
trying to think when you asked that how long ago you had messaged
that you were sending them. And who knows? My daughter
got married a few weeks ago and our aunt, she
(54:37):
didn't ever receive her invitation. So we remailed another one and she got
it like a month later. And it's like you are invited.
It's so. I don't know, I don't want to drag on the mail
system but as I said, with my luck it'll show up today.
Like it'll be in the mail or something. I don't know. But
we'll see. And then I'll have to give some reviews online.
(55:00):
But for my listeners, can you kind of tell them again
where they can find the books but also where can they
find you and follow you if you'll let them know?
Sure. So on Facebook, which is
kind of my most used social media tool,
me personally, Stephanie White. My profile picture is me
(55:23):
with. I don't know if you can see him fat buck right here.
He might not. He might be out of frame. But anyway,
I old November, he was one of my favorite hunts. I don't
know if I can get my camera to get your. I'm trying
to get the button. There we go. There, now you can see it. Anyway,
that's November right there, the shoulder mount. Anyway,
(55:45):
that's one of my favorite hunts and
my. My husband was combining when I shot him.
So. So anyway, I sneak off
often and you can find me in the woods if I'm not where I
should be working. But so
Stephanie White, I'm super easy to find. I also have a Facebook page
(56:08):
just for my book. Welcome to our Farm Life
series is my Facebook page for my books, but it's not used as
much. I kind of use my personal Facebook page as my book
page and on instagram
it's the White House Farms. And on Tick Tock, it's the White House
Farms. And I'm not super active on Instagram. That was not something that
(56:30):
I ever really clicked with. But I tried to
post on there two to three times a week. And on TikTok,
I pretty much post one to two times a day on TikTok for
the most part. So I'm the White House Farms is where I can
be connected with. And if you message me on Facebook to
my personal Facebook page, I have no blockers on it. So don't be scared
(56:53):
to send me a friend request. Send me a message if you have any
questions about anything and I'm really happy
to help and answer. So
awesome. I will I'll put links to all of those and
I'll try to add a picture. If you're watching the video, I'll add add a
picture of the profile so that you know which one it is. And we're
(57:15):
talking about husbands and combines and my I'm something
that I was going to say before we got going was if the dogs start
barking, that it's okay. And my dogs are like running around because
they hear him outside. It's a little scurrying in the background
here and a couple of whiny dogs.
But I do really want to thank you for reaching
(57:36):
out and for joining me on the show and, and maybe we
can in the future have another episode to discuss a
few other topics and I'll let you know about those
in the future and see if we can reach out again and connect
and visit about some other hunting and maybe some other
ranching issues. Yeah, no, I would love it. I could talk
(57:59):
about agricultural issues and situations
and share about hunts and talk to somebody who enjoys it as much as
me anytime. So I really appreciate it and
I appreciate your podcast. You asked. I don't know if it was right before we
began or right as we began, but you didn't know
how I connected with you. And honestly I was just
(58:21):
searching hunting podcast and
yours popped up and I don't know when this was. I mean, it's been a
time ago, not just here recently. I would say
maybe a year ago or something probably or even past
that. I don't know when I began, but I
just started listening and I've enjoyed the content that
(58:43):
you've provided and the people that you visited and bring on
are such quality people and I've learned a lot about the
different what happens in different states and different
opportunities for people out there. So thank you for making sure that the
rest of us can learn a little bit more about what's happening around.
Well, that's awesome. If there's anything, there's a fly flying around me. So sorry about
(59:05):
that. If there's ever anything else that you want to learn about, let me know.
And that goes for those of you that are listening, too, because that's generally how
topics come to me is somebody asks, and I'm like, if you had the question,
somebody else must have the question as well. And so we try to answer it.
And I try to find somebody who, who knows that can
educate everyone else. So I'll think,
(59:28):
hey, this is Lloyd Bailey, the Armed Lutheran host of the Armed Lutheran
Radio Podcast, reminding you that the podcast you're
listening to is a proud member of the Self Defense Radio Network.
Check out all the great content@selfdefenseradio.net.
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