August 27, 2025 • 30 mins
What happens when a professional dog trainer becomes a beloved children's book author? Join Merry and Cathy as they chat with Maryanne Wood, who made the leap from training basset hounds to penning tales inspired by them. Discover how Maryanne's journey with Randall and Hunter, her sister's dogs, led to heartwarming stories about resilience and adaptability. We dive into themes of change, overcoming challenges, and the power of creativity, no matter your age. Tune in to be inspired to follow your passions and embrace new adventures!
Maryanne Wood's Bio:
Former professional dog trainer turned author. I was inspired to write a series of children's books about my basset hounds, Randall and Hunter to encourage young children to flow with the changes that live brings us all. Resilience and adaptability are important life skills. Everyday Randall and Hunter taught me how to move through life with more grace.
I was most certainly a late bloomer to the word of becoming a published author. I'm 66 years of age and I strongly believe it is never too late to beginning something new, follow your bliss and live life to the fullest. When I'm not writing, I enjoy walks in the woods with my latest canine companion Willow. the chocolate lab.
Connect with Maryanne:
Website: https://www.maryannewood.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572250213133
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maryanne Wood (00:01):
This is the EWN Podcast Network.
Cathy (00:14):
Welcome to Late Boomers, our podcast guide to creating
your third act with style,power, and impact. Hi. I'm Cathy
Worthington.
Merry (00:24):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you
conversations with successfulentrepreneurs, entertainers, and
people with vision who aremaking a difference in the
world.
Cathy (00:34):
Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the
ride on each interview,recounting the journey our
guests have taken to get wherethey are, inspiring you to
create your own path to success.Let's get started. Hello. I'm
Kathy Worthington. Welcome toour newest episode of the late
(00:56):
boomers podcast.
I'm here with my cohost, MaryElkins. And today, we are going
to visit with our guest,children's book author, Mary Ann
Wood.
Merry (01:05):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Mary Ann was a professional dog
trainer who has channeled thosetalents into writing about her
two basset hounds, Hunter andRandall. And now, they go with
the flow. Welcome, Mary Ann.
Maryanne Wood (01:21):
Oh, thank you so much. It's great to be with you.
Merry (01:23):
Great to have you. Thanks.
Cathy (01:25):
Tell us about your first ACT career, which was dog
training, and how you gotstarted on that, and how it led
to your writing career.
Maryanne Wood (01:35):
Sure. Well, actually even before I became a
dog trainer, did. I've had manydifferent handles so to speak.
But yeah, I was a professionaldog trainer for fifteen years
and I've always been the kind ofperson that kind of just,
especially the older I got, Iwould just, if something felt
(01:57):
right to me, I would do it. So,I call it taking a leap of faith
kind of thing.
And so, I was transitioning outof another business that I had
and my husband was retiringbecause he was quite a bit
older. And I said, well, I'mnot, I can't retire. So, I
(02:19):
looked for something else. And Ijust said, Oh, I think I would
like to be a dog trainer. So,this was early on when the
internet was just, you know, inits, it's not what it is today.
And I didn't even have acomputer. And I went to my local
(02:39):
library and I just sat there andI Googled dog training and dog
trainers. And this ad came upabout buying a dog training
franchise in my area. And Isaid, well, that message is for
me and I'm doing it. And so Idid it and I loved it.
I did it for fifteen years. Andthen
Cathy (03:01):
It sounds like you actually hadn't trained dogs
before.
Maryanne Wood (03:05):
No. No. I when you buy the franchise, it was
with Canine Dimensions dogtraining. They're a national dog
training franchise. And, whenyou buy it, you you you get
trained.
You received you have to gothrough their training.
Merry (03:20):
What was
Cathy (03:20):
it That's good.
Maryanne Wood (03:23):
The training?
Merry (03:24):
Yeah.
It was I, you know,
Maryanne Wood (03:28):
I loved it. When you learn to make that
connection with the dog, itchanges everything. And when you
make that connection with thedog and you can teach the owner
how to do that, then it changeseverything for the owner. And I
always said, it's not, you knowdogs, every time I would go to
(03:53):
someone's house to train theirdog, I said, your dog just
proved to us that it could doeverything that I asked it to
do. Now, the question is, canyou keep that going?
Because it's really up to theowner. So yeah, it was really a
joy. I loved it. But then I justgot this idea one day that I
(04:19):
needed to do this series ofchildren's books about my basset
hounds because the story behindthat, how that all came about is
it's very emotional and also, Idon't know, it's been life
changing. Owning and those batsand writing about them has been
(04:42):
life changing.
Merry (04:43):
Well, tell us about that and tell us about Randall and
Hunter and what made them theheart of your stories.
Maryanne Wood (04:51):
Well, so, actually it's interesting
because you guys are on the WestCoast. My sister was living in
San Diego. And she got very ill.And she, Randall and Hunter were
her dogs. And she had a terminaldiagnosis and she felt like she
(05:13):
wouldn't be able to take care ofthem because she was probably
going to transition out of herbody.
And so she called me and said,would I take them? And I
thought, oh, because I alreadyhad another dog of my own and he
wasn't necessarily dog friendlyand I thought, oh, but of course
I wasn't gonna say no. So theythey flew out in little crates
(05:40):
on the airplane. We went andpicked them up. And so the story
of them, Randle and Hunter,Going With The Flow is all about
them.
They were so adaptable. And as Iwatched them like adapt to a new
home, a new mom, never seeingsnow before, all these things. I
(06:06):
thought, wow, they could teachpeople really how to be
adaptable and how to beresilient and how to go with the
flow of life. And so I had it inthe back of my mind many years
ago, because they've both passedquite a few years ago, that I
(06:28):
should do this book and it justcame to me. The word adaptable
just came to me.
I was walking them one day on awalk and it just said, these are
adaptable bass and hounds. Andso I said, okay. So I pushed it
out of my mind. I didn't act onthe books. And then later it
(06:50):
came back to me actually when Iwas doing a meditation that I
needed to do these books.
And I knew then that I had to dothese books. And at that when I
first thought about it, thoughtit will be one book, but then
the story just morphed intothree books.
Cathy (07:10):
Yeah, fabulous.
Maryanne Wood (07:11):
So, I feel like it's the culmination of the gift
of me, my sister gave me andgiving me those dogs and
allowing me to have them for thelength of time that I did. And
kind of a way of honoring herand honoring them and teaching
(07:35):
children that you can,anything's possible. Don't be
afraid. Change is part of life.And so, you know, book one talks
about them moving across TheUnited States and Hunter plays
the part, which he kind of wasin real life, Hunter, of the
nervous, scared basset hound.
(07:57):
And Randall is the calm brotherwho says, you know, don't worry,
we go with the flow like theriver to the ocean, we're
adaptable basset hounds. And,you know
Merry (08:08):
He even uses that
Maryanne Wood (08:09):
line. So so there's many lessons in in in
all all three books, actually.Many lessons. And it's all about
the theme of change andadaptability.
Cathy (08:19):
Yeah, great. But how would you say your experience as
a dog trainer, shapes the lifelessons in your books?
Maryanne Wood (08:27):
Well, I would say it gave me more of an
understanding about dogbehavior, dog instincts, dog
resilience, because I saw everyday how resilient they were.
Know, when I worked with them asa trainer. Know, lot of people
adopt dogs from shelters and oh,my dog has this hang up and all
(08:49):
this. And I said, you know what,he or she is in a new home now.
Let's just make a clean slate ofit, move forward because if you
do, the dog will.
Merry (09:01):
That's And so interesting to me, because I've rehomed my
dog and yet another owner, and Ifound out that he was scared of
aluminum foil, of all things. SoI called the first owner, and I
said, What's the thing with thealuminum foil? And she said, Oh,
he still does that? That was socute. And I thought, No, it's
(09:21):
not cute.
Maryanne Wood (09:23):
Not cute.
Merry (09:23):
No. But I had a couple of questions for you. First, you
talked about, a trainer, how doyou get the owner to resonate
with the dog, as well as the dogresonate with the new owner? Is
that, as a trainer, what do youdo?
Maryanne Wood (09:43):
When you do dog training, as you you're not only
just obviously working with thedogs, but you're a large part of
it is you have to have some kindof skill with people. So, would
often, you know, I didn't eventouch the dog or look at the dog
for a while. I just wanted tosize up the owners. And so, you
know, you could tell like if itwas a busy household with a
(10:07):
bunch of kids running around andthey're very distracted, you
know, I might have to take adifferent approach than the
owners that were more focusedand, you know, but, you know, I
would just tell them that, youhired me, what are your issues?
What are your problems?
We're going to fix them. And Ifound if you took a very
(10:28):
positive attitude, this is aneasy fix, we can get this, don't
worry. And, give them step bystep things to do.
Merry (10:38):
You
Maryanne Wood (10:39):
know, most of the time it worked.
Merry (10:41):
Well, back to your books. Why do you think children and
adults resonate so deeply withstories about animals?
Maryanne Wood (10:51):
I think animals are here to teach us
unconditional love.
Merry (10:55):
Oh, yes.
Maryanne Wood (10:56):
And, I think that we intuitively know that, and
children definitely know that. Imean, look at a children with a
puppy or look at a children witha kitten, they just intuitively
know that they can be free, openand loving with that animal
without judgment or anything ofthat nature. So, you know, I
(11:20):
think, I think animals can beour greatest teachers. Dogs,
cats, whatever, whatever thecase may be, horses, whatever
you Oh, are going sure.
Cathy (11:31):
I've had horses and for sure they they bring out all
that in us. Your book focuses ongoing with the flow. And so can
you share a personal momentmaybe when this mindset made all
the difference to you?
Maryanne Wood (11:50):
Yeah. Well, I can give you an example. So, my
husband passed quite a few yearsago and we were living in what
we thought was going be ourretirement home, but turned out
he wasn't retired in there verylong. And then, you know, I
(12:12):
stayed there and then I don'tknow, you know how life changes.
And I just, within the last yearand a half, I just got this
feeling, you need to leave thishouse.
You need to put it on themarket, sell it and downsize.
And I did, but it was hard workbecause I had to get rid of so
many things. Had to, you know,and I really learned that I
(12:39):
don't want to be attached to thethings in my life, you know. I
don't want to feel that heavyattachment to those. So I let a
lot of things go so that I couldmove into a smaller space.
So I think that's a good exampleof how I was just going with the
flow, of how I felt like I wasbeing, you know, called within
(13:00):
my for the higher good of me todo that.
Cathy (13:03):
Well, times you've mentioned, downloading stuff
from the universe, you'regetting messages a lot. You're
obviously very tapped into beingable to do that.
Maryanne Wood (13:15):
Yes. I do meditation and yeah. And I
Merry (13:18):
That's great.
Maryanne Wood (13:19):
I feel like I'm very guided, spiritually. Well,
I mean, we all are, but whetherwe are some people are more
aware of it than others. Yeah.For sure. Right.
Merry (13:30):
Right. Have you always been that way?
Maryanne Wood (13:33):
No. No. Well, if I was, I wasn't aware of it.
But, no, I think through thelosses I've had in my life, you
know, my sister passed and myhusband passed and my parents
passed. And I think that opensyou up to the idea that there's
a greater reality for sure.
(13:54):
And it's been like in the rightwhen I started writing that
book, Hunter and Randall series,right before that is when I felt
like I was really being guidedto do those kind of things.
Merry (14:08):
Yes, I was going to ask you about that.
Maryanne Wood (14:12):
Yeah, and I feel like, you know, even in the
writing process, I feel likethere was a lot of inspiration.
I think all writers will saythat, but there was a lot of
inspiration coming that I waslike, wow, I just wrote that?
Wow, I just Yeah. Wrote Good.
Merry (14:33):
Talking about writing, what's been the most rewarding
part of writing for childrencompared to working with dogs?
Or is it equal? I
Maryanne Wood (14:46):
think in many ways it's equal. Yeah. I think,
you know, but I'm finding thatbecause I've been going to
schools, local schools, andreading the books to the kids.
And I've been doing some, youknow, local outreach to
libraries and things like that.And the response I'm getting is
really good.
(15:07):
I mean, the kids really seem toresonate with the book. And I'm
so glad you're
Cathy (15:16):
to do that. So you're actually getting feedback from
the children you wrote it for.
Maryanne Wood (15:19):
Right. In fact, I'll give you an example. The
other, I don't know, about amonth ago, I was at a they were
having sidewalk sales in anearby town. And the woman that
owns the local bookstore invitedme to be one of the authors, you
know, to sit out Friday, youknow, be part of the sidewalk
sales, sit out there and I couldsell my books. And it was a
(15:42):
really, really hot day.
And so anyway, I'm out there andall of a sudden this little boy
comes up to me and he says, Doyou remember me? And I, of
course, I didn't actuallyremember him per se, but he
goes, You came and read to usread the Randall and Hunter book
tour to us at school. And Isaid, Oh yeah. And he told me
(16:05):
what school and then he said,and his dad was with him and he
goes, and we we wanna buy yoursecond book. And I said, great.
That's wonderful. And the littleboy looked at his dad and said,
but dad, you didn't buy me thefirst one. Oh. And his father
says, but you had it read to youat school. And he goes, but I
want it.
(16:25):
I wanna have both books.
Merry (16:27):
So his father bought him both books.
Oh, that's
Cathy (16:31):
the truth. I told him that's
Maryanne Wood (16:32):
a great testament too. Yeah. And then I sent a
couple, I have a niece thatlives in New Zealand and she has
two small children. So I sent acopy, both books over to her and
I talked to her not long ago andshe said that her son hurt his
(16:55):
leg playing some sport orsomething. And he
Merry (16:59):
goes, but don't worry mom, I'm going with the flow.
I'm with the flow. And I
Maryanne Wood (17:04):
thought, well, that's great.
Merry (17:07):
That's great. For A good lesson for adults these days. It
is. Yeah.
Maryanne Wood (17:13):
And It is. Absolutely.
Cathy (17:14):
How do you think, Mary Anne, that parents and
grandparents also could use yourbooks to open conversations with
their kids about handling life'schallenges?
Maryanne Wood (17:26):
Yeah. Well, that's a great question. You
know, there's so many lessons inall the books. But, you know,
for example, what if your childis having, you know, concerns or
a little bit of fear aboutmoving, which kids do. It's, you
know, they have to move.
(17:47):
The parents are moving out ofstate or just even a local move,
they have to change schools,whatever. So that book can, you
know, Randall and Hunter moved.They came all the way across The
United States. They, you know sothat and plus it talks it's
within book one, it's like,Randall's Hunter's very nervous.
So they pull out a map of TheUnited States and they show the
(18:09):
journey that they're gonna makefrom California to Vermont.
So, you know, it's also kind ofshowing kids some geography
there. Talking about just beingopen to new things, seeing snow,
whatever it might be. It's kindof like Randall and Hunter can
(18:30):
do it, you can do it too. Andthen in book two, it takes the
challenge of adaptability andresilience even further because
Hunter loses his eyesight, whichactually did happen. Oh.
Merry (18:44):
He
Maryanne Wood (18:45):
had glaucoma, which apparently can be a
genetic thing for a bassethound. He was inspirational.
People would come to my houseand they'd say, I can't believe
he's blind. He's like walkingaround. Like, he knows every
inch of this place inside andoutside.
(19:07):
And so for children that havedisabilities or you know, issues
like that, Hunter can do it. Hedidn't give up. You can't give
up either.
Merry (19:22):
Is very inspiring. Yeah, absolutely. Well, talk a little
bit about your creative processin writing when you're
developing new stories that areinspired by your dogs.
Maryanne Wood (19:35):
Like I said, the material kind of just came to me
pretty well, but I thought-
Merry (19:40):
Did you just sit down
Maryanne Wood (19:41):
and it
Merry (19:44):
all came to a No.
Maryanne Wood (19:48):
Sort of. I mean, it took, I did quite, I did
rewriting because I had gottensome feedback from, you know, I
read the stories to some peoplein different groups and they
said, you know, I really thinkyou have a lot of information in
here for one book. You couldmake a series out of this. So, I
really took that to heart and Ispread it out over. And then I
(20:12):
knew I was gonna do the movingpiece and the, you know, and it
talks about going through allthe seasons because they had,
you know, Southern Californiadon't really have significant
season changes like you do onthe East Coast.
So, they saw snow and thenspringtime and this and that.
So, but then and then the secondbook with Hunter going, you
(20:34):
know, I knew I wanted theblindness piece in there because
I thought that was a greatlesson for kids. Like Hunter can
navigate life, so can you. Butthen when it came to book three,
cause I kind of wanted to wrapit up somehow, it just came to
(20:56):
me. Again, I think it's likesome kind of divine inspiration
sometimes hits you.
But I said, not have Hunter, nowthat he's conquered his fears,
why not have him give back? Soit's all about he and his
brother and their two new doggyfriends who the children meet in
(21:20):
book two, which I use Willow, mydog is one of those dog friends.
They all go to the local animalshelter and they decide that
they're going to coach the otheranimals at the shelter, the cats
and the dogs, how to beadaptable and go with the flow
so that they could find theirforever homes. And they do and
(21:45):
they're very successful. They dosuch a great job.
All the animals are adopted. Theshelter closes. And
Cathy (21:53):
Wow.
Maryanne Wood (21:54):
There you go.
Cathy (21:55):
Oh, that's wonderful. That
Maryanne Wood (21:58):
one I feel like that one because that one I
wasn't really pulling onanything from the dog's real
life as I did in book one andtwo. But I thought that's a
great way to wrap it up becausethen you're teaching children to
give back, to give the kindnessthat was given to you back, to
(22:18):
give the love that was given toyou back.
Cathy (22:22):
Oh, that's
Merry (22:24):
very touching. I
Maryanne Wood (22:27):
know it is.
Merry (22:28):
I would think that the kids that read your third book
are looking to give back now.Have you had any any experiences
in part book three
Maryanne Wood (22:38):
is not out yet.
Merry (22:39):
Oh, wow.
Maryanne Wood (22:39):
It hasn't been out yet. Okay. It's going to be
released, the September.
Merry (22:45):
Oh, good. Oh, good.
Maryanne Wood (22:46):
So I'm kinda yeah.
Merry (22:48):
Can
Cathy (22:48):
you give our listeners some advice for people that are
looking to pivot into a creativecareer after, say, retirement or
after a major life change?
Maryanne Wood (23:00):
Yeah, absolutely. I firmly believe that we don't
have to cement ourselves intoone area of life. I mean, some
people do and some people arehappy with that and that's fine
for them. But if you're not andyou're Don't stay in a job or
(23:22):
even Don't stay someplace thatyou're not happy because that's
not why we're here. We're nothere to be like drudging to to a
job or we're here to becreative, expressive beings.
And so that's why, you know,like I've always just,
(23:46):
especially in my later, as Isaid, you know, after I got into
like my late 40s, early 50s, Isaid, I'm just going to start
doing what feels right and goodand not block myself. And so, it
does require what I call takinga leap of faith. Sometimes you,
it'll spin you into fear becauseyou're like, oh no, I can't walk
(24:12):
away. I can't change. Becausechange is scary.
I don't care how old you are,change is scary. But I found
that if you really listen toyour deepest callings, you're
gonna be happy. It's when youdumb them down and push them
down that you're not happy. So,think that for anybody out there
(24:33):
that is saying, yeah, maybe Iwant to be a writer. Well, just
try it, do it.
If they want to be learn to playan instrument, do it. I mean, if
because your soul is calling youto do that or it wouldn't be in
your mind. It wouldn't come toyou if it wasn't something that
you were meant to give a try.So, I think that And I really
(24:57):
feel like we're on thisprecipice of the world changing.
And I feel like the young peopleof today are not they are going
to follow their hearts more.
That's my opinion.
Cathy (25:10):
Your Definitely
Merry (25:13):
from your I think
Cathy (25:14):
you're right.
Maryanne Wood (25:15):
Yeah.
Merry (25:15):
So, what's next for you with the adventures of Randall
and Hunter, or perhaps withWillow?
Maryanne Wood (25:24):
Yeah. Good question. I'm not sure I'm going
to do any more Randall andHunter. Because I feel like book
three kind of wrapped it upnicely. But, yeah, I could I
have toyed with an with maybedoing a book about Willow
because she has a you know, it'sjust so sweet how animals are.
(25:48):
They're like I said, they'rejust so she has this best
friend. I call her her bestfriend named Otto. And he is
this big mix breed, but he Idon't know. He looks like he
could be, Saint Bernard mixedwith something. I don't know.
And he's just like this gentlegiant. And he's so calm compared
to her. But they just truly loveeach other. I mean, you can see
(26:12):
they love each other. They justhave like this, they're
together, it's like cool, theycan hang out, whatever.
So I have thought maybe I coulddo a little story about them. I
don't know yet. Not sure.
Merry (26:26):
It will come to you. It will come. Yeah. Mhmm.
Cathy (26:29):
And, Mary Anne,
Maryanne Wood (26:30):
what I'm would you enjoying, I have to say, I'm
really enjoying visiting theschools.
Merry (26:35):
Oh,
Maryanne Wood (26:36):
good. And promoting the Randall and Hunter
series. And in fact, tomorrowI'm doing a book signing in one
of the towns near me. So, I'mreally enjoying the outreach.
Merry (26:49):
That's You're giving back like your third book.
Maryanne Wood (26:52):
Right. Because you can't just I mean,
especially with a children'sbook, I don't feel like you can
just sit back and depend onAmazon sales. I think you really
have to get it out there.
Cathy (27:03):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And what would what would you
like our late boomers podcastaudience today to have as a
takeaway?
Maryanne Wood (27:11):
Well, I think, Kathy, you hit on it earlier
about if something's in yourheart and it's calling you, you
know, give give it a shot. And Ithink the world needs more of
that. I think definitely theworld needs more of that. So,
that's what I would say. Don't
Merry (27:31):
Yes, the world does.
Maryanne Wood (27:32):
And I mean, I look at me, I'm 66 and I just
have a, you know, age is just anumber, right? It's just a
number. Absolutely. Mean, youknow, just because you
technically get a socialsecurity check or whatever
you're getting doesn't meanyou're you just hang up your
(27:53):
shoes and sit in front of theTV. At least that's not what it
means to me.
I think you can still bevibrant, do things, get out
there. You know, even if it'sjust being part of your
community or, you know,volunteering, whatever calls
you, do it. That's wonderful.
Merry (28:11):
I love that. I love that. I know you'll inspire our late
boomers audience to go out anddo that. Thank you. Guest today
Maryanne Wood (28:20):
You're welcome.
Merry (28:21):
Our guest today on late boomers has been children's book
author, Mary Ann Wood, who haswritten a series about her dogs
called Randall and Hunter GoWith the Flow. You can visit her
website, maryannnewood.com,that's maryannew00d. And find
(28:41):
out more. Thanks again, Maryann.
Maryanne Wood (28:45):
Oh, thank you so much. It's been wonderful
chatting with both of you. YouThanks. So
Cathy (28:50):
And thank you to our audience for listening to our
Late Boomers podcast andsubscribing to our Late Boomers
podcast channel on YouTube.Listen in next week when you'll
meet another exciting guest,Luis De Jagger, who travels the
world with a mission toregenerate our soil and teaches
people how we can feed the worldwithout destroying it. You can
(29:12):
listen to Late Boomers on anypodcast platform and look at our
new website, lateboomers.us,where you can find all our
episodes and descriptions.Please follow us on Instagram I
am Kathy Worthington and at I amMary Elkins and at lateboomers.
Thanks again, Mary Ann Wood.
Maryanne Wood (29:33):
Oh, you're so welcome. Thank you.
Cathy (29:44):
Thank you for joining us on late boomers, the podcast
that is your guide to creating athird act with style, power, and
impact. Please visit our websiteand get in touch with us at
lateboomers.us. If you wouldlike to listen to or download
other episodes of late boomers,go to ewnpodcastnetwork.com.
Merry (30:08):
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple
Podcast, and most other majorpodcast sites. We hope you make
use of the wisdom you've gainedhere and that you enjoy a
successful third act with yourown style, power, and impact.
This is the EWN Podcast Network.
Cathy (00:14):
Welcome to Late Boomers, our podcast guide to creating
your third act with style,power, and impact. Hi. I'm Cathy
Worthington.
Merry (00:24):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you
conversations with successfulentrepreneurs, entertainers, and
people with vision who aremaking a difference in the
world.
Cathy (00:34):
Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the
ride on each interview,recounting the journey our
guests have taken to get wherethey are, inspiring you to
create your own path to success.Let's get started. Hello. I'm
Kathy Worthington. Welcome toour newest episode of the late
(00:56):
boomers podcast.
I'm here with my cohost, MaryElkins. And today, we are going
to visit with our guest,children's book author, Mary Ann
Wood.
Merry (01:05):
And I'm Merry Elkins. Mary Ann was a professional dog
trainer who has channeled thosetalents into writing about her
two basset hounds, Hunter andRandall. And now, they go with
the flow. Welcome, Mary Ann.
Maryanne Wood (01:21):
Oh, thank you so much. It's great to be with you.
Merry (01:23):
Great to have you. Thanks.
Cathy (01:25):
Tell us about your first ACT career, which was dog
training, and how you gotstarted on that, and how it led
to your writing career.
Maryanne Wood (01:35):
Sure. Well, actually even before I became a
dog trainer, did. I've had manydifferent handles so to speak.
But yeah, I was a professionaldog trainer for fifteen years
and I've always been the kind ofperson that kind of just,
especially the older I got, Iwould just, if something felt
(01:57):
right to me, I would do it. So,I call it taking a leap of faith
kind of thing.
And so, I was transitioning outof another business that I had
and my husband was retiringbecause he was quite a bit
older. And I said, well, I'mnot, I can't retire. So, I
(02:19):
looked for something else. And Ijust said, Oh, I think I would
like to be a dog trainer. So,this was early on when the
internet was just, you know, inits, it's not what it is today.
And I didn't even have acomputer. And I went to my local
(02:39):
library and I just sat there andI Googled dog training and dog
trainers. And this ad came upabout buying a dog training
franchise in my area. And Isaid, well, that message is for
me and I'm doing it. And so Idid it and I loved it.
I did it for fifteen years. Andthen
Cathy (03:01):
It sounds like you actually hadn't trained dogs
before.
Maryanne Wood (03:05):
No. No. I when you buy the franchise, it was
with Canine Dimensions dogtraining. They're a national dog
training franchise. And, whenyou buy it, you you you get
trained.
You received you have to gothrough their training.
Merry (03:20):
What was
Cathy (03:20):
it That's good.
Maryanne Wood (03:23):
The training?
Merry (03:24):
Yeah.
It was I, you know,
Maryanne Wood (03:28):
I loved it. When you learn to make that
connection with the dog, itchanges everything. And when you
make that connection with thedog and you can teach the owner
how to do that, then it changeseverything for the owner. And I
always said, it's not, you knowdogs, every time I would go to
(03:53):
someone's house to train theirdog, I said, your dog just
proved to us that it could doeverything that I asked it to
do. Now, the question is, canyou keep that going?
Because it's really up to theowner. So yeah, it was really a
joy. I loved it. But then I justgot this idea one day that I
(04:19):
needed to do this series ofchildren's books about my basset
hounds because the story behindthat, how that all came about is
it's very emotional and also, Idon't know, it's been life
changing. Owning and those batsand writing about them has been
(04:42):
life changing.
Merry (04:43):
Well, tell us about that and tell us about Randall and
Hunter and what made them theheart of your stories.
Maryanne Wood (04:51):
Well, so, actually it's interesting
because you guys are on the WestCoast. My sister was living in
San Diego. And she got very ill.And she, Randall and Hunter were
her dogs. And she had a terminaldiagnosis and she felt like she
(05:13):
wouldn't be able to take care ofthem because she was probably
going to transition out of herbody.
And so she called me and said,would I take them? And I
thought, oh, because I alreadyhad another dog of my own and he
wasn't necessarily dog friendlyand I thought, oh, but of course
I wasn't gonna say no. So theythey flew out in little crates
(05:40):
on the airplane. We went andpicked them up. And so the story
of them, Randle and Hunter,Going With The Flow is all about
them.
They were so adaptable. And as Iwatched them like adapt to a new
home, a new mom, never seeingsnow before, all these things. I
(06:06):
thought, wow, they could teachpeople really how to be
adaptable and how to beresilient and how to go with the
flow of life. And so I had it inthe back of my mind many years
ago, because they've both passedquite a few years ago, that I
(06:28):
should do this book and it justcame to me. The word adaptable
just came to me.
I was walking them one day on awalk and it just said, these are
adaptable bass and hounds. Andso I said, okay. So I pushed it
out of my mind. I didn't act onthe books. And then later it
(06:50):
came back to me actually when Iwas doing a meditation that I
needed to do these books.
And I knew then that I had to dothese books. And at that when I
first thought about it, thoughtit will be one book, but then
the story just morphed intothree books.
Cathy (07:10):
Yeah, fabulous.
Maryanne Wood (07:11):
So, I feel like it's the culmination of the gift
of me, my sister gave me andgiving me those dogs and
allowing me to have them for thelength of time that I did. And
kind of a way of honoring herand honoring them and teaching
(07:35):
children that you can,anything's possible. Don't be
afraid. Change is part of life.And so, you know, book one talks
about them moving across TheUnited States and Hunter plays
the part, which he kind of wasin real life, Hunter, of the
nervous, scared basset hound.
(07:57):
And Randall is the calm brotherwho says, you know, don't worry,
we go with the flow like theriver to the ocean, we're
adaptable basset hounds. And,you know
Merry (08:08):
He even uses that
Maryanne Wood (08:09):
line. So so there's many lessons in in in
all all three books, actually.Many lessons. And it's all about
the theme of change andadaptability.
Cathy (08:19):
Yeah, great. But how would you say your experience as
a dog trainer, shapes the lifelessons in your books?
Maryanne Wood (08:27):
Well, I would say it gave me more of an
understanding about dogbehavior, dog instincts, dog
resilience, because I saw everyday how resilient they were.
Know, when I worked with them asa trainer. Know, lot of people
adopt dogs from shelters and oh,my dog has this hang up and all
(08:49):
this. And I said, you know what,he or she is in a new home now.
Let's just make a clean slate ofit, move forward because if you
do, the dog will.
Merry (09:01):
That's And so interesting to me, because I've rehomed my
dog and yet another owner, and Ifound out that he was scared of
aluminum foil, of all things. SoI called the first owner, and I
said, What's the thing with thealuminum foil? And she said, Oh,
he still does that? That was socute. And I thought, No, it's
(09:21):
not cute.
Maryanne Wood (09:23):
Not cute.
Merry (09:23):
No. But I had a couple of questions for you. First, you
talked about, a trainer, how doyou get the owner to resonate
with the dog, as well as the dogresonate with the new owner? Is
that, as a trainer, what do youdo?
Maryanne Wood (09:43):
When you do dog training, as you you're not only
just obviously working with thedogs, but you're a large part of
it is you have to have some kindof skill with people. So, would
often, you know, I didn't eventouch the dog or look at the dog
for a while. I just wanted tosize up the owners. And so, you
know, you could tell like if itwas a busy household with a
(10:07):
bunch of kids running around andthey're very distracted, you
know, I might have to take adifferent approach than the
owners that were more focusedand, you know, but, you know, I
would just tell them that, youhired me, what are your issues?
What are your problems?
We're going to fix them. And Ifound if you took a very
(10:28):
positive attitude, this is aneasy fix, we can get this, don't
worry. And, give them step bystep things to do.
Merry (10:38):
You
Maryanne Wood (10:39):
know, most of the time it worked.
Merry (10:41):
Well, back to your books. Why do you think children and
adults resonate so deeply withstories about animals?
Maryanne Wood (10:51):
I think animals are here to teach us
unconditional love.
Merry (10:55):
Oh, yes.
Maryanne Wood (10:56):
And, I think that we intuitively know that, and
children definitely know that. Imean, look at a children with a
puppy or look at a children witha kitten, they just intuitively
know that they can be free, openand loving with that animal
without judgment or anything ofthat nature. So, you know, I
(11:20):
think, I think animals can beour greatest teachers. Dogs,
cats, whatever, whatever thecase may be, horses, whatever
you Oh, are going sure.
Cathy (11:31):
I've had horses and for sure they they bring out all
that in us. Your book focuses ongoing with the flow. And so can
you share a personal momentmaybe when this mindset made all
the difference to you?
Maryanne Wood (11:50):
Yeah. Well, I can give you an example. So, my
husband passed quite a few yearsago and we were living in what
we thought was going be ourretirement home, but turned out
he wasn't retired in there verylong. And then, you know, I
(12:12):
stayed there and then I don'tknow, you know how life changes.
And I just, within the last yearand a half, I just got this
feeling, you need to leave thishouse.
You need to put it on themarket, sell it and downsize.
And I did, but it was hard workbecause I had to get rid of so
many things. Had to, you know,and I really learned that I
(12:39):
don't want to be attached to thethings in my life, you know. I
don't want to feel that heavyattachment to those. So I let a
lot of things go so that I couldmove into a smaller space.
So I think that's a good exampleof how I was just going with the
flow, of how I felt like I wasbeing, you know, called within
(13:00):
my for the higher good of me todo that.
Cathy (13:03):
Well, times you've mentioned, downloading stuff
from the universe, you'regetting messages a lot. You're
obviously very tapped into beingable to do that.
Maryanne Wood (13:15):
Yes. I do meditation and yeah. And I
Merry (13:18):
That's great.
Maryanne Wood (13:19):
I feel like I'm very guided, spiritually. Well,
I mean, we all are, but whetherwe are some people are more
aware of it than others. Yeah.For sure. Right.
Merry (13:30):
Right. Have you always been that way?
Maryanne Wood (13:33):
No. No. Well, if I was, I wasn't aware of it.
But, no, I think through thelosses I've had in my life, you
know, my sister passed and myhusband passed and my parents
passed. And I think that opensyou up to the idea that there's
a greater reality for sure.
(13:54):
And it's been like in the rightwhen I started writing that
book, Hunter and Randall series,right before that is when I felt
like I was really being guidedto do those kind of things.
Merry (14:08):
Yes, I was going to ask you about that.
Maryanne Wood (14:12):
Yeah, and I feel like, you know, even in the
writing process, I feel likethere was a lot of inspiration.
I think all writers will saythat, but there was a lot of
inspiration coming that I waslike, wow, I just wrote that?
Wow, I just Yeah. Wrote Good.
Merry (14:33):
Talking about writing, what's been the most rewarding
part of writing for childrencompared to working with dogs?
Or is it equal? I
Maryanne Wood (14:46):
think in many ways it's equal. Yeah. I think,
you know, but I'm finding thatbecause I've been going to
schools, local schools, andreading the books to the kids.
And I've been doing some, youknow, local outreach to
libraries and things like that.And the response I'm getting is
really good.
(15:07):
I mean, the kids really seem toresonate with the book. And I'm
so glad you're
Cathy (15:16):
to do that. So you're actually getting feedback from
the children you wrote it for.
Maryanne Wood (15:19):
Right. In fact, I'll give you an example. The
other, I don't know, about amonth ago, I was at a they were
having sidewalk sales in anearby town. And the woman that
owns the local bookstore invitedme to be one of the authors, you
know, to sit out Friday, youknow, be part of the sidewalk
sales, sit out there and I couldsell my books. And it was a
(15:42):
really, really hot day.
And so anyway, I'm out there andall of a sudden this little boy
comes up to me and he says, Doyou remember me? And I, of
course, I didn't actuallyremember him per se, but he
goes, You came and read to usread the Randall and Hunter book
tour to us at school. And Isaid, Oh yeah. And he told me
(16:05):
what school and then he said,and his dad was with him and he
goes, and we we wanna buy yoursecond book. And I said, great.
That's wonderful. And the littleboy looked at his dad and said,
but dad, you didn't buy me thefirst one. Oh. And his father
says, but you had it read to youat school. And he goes, but I
want it.
(16:25):
I wanna have both books.
Merry (16:27):
So his father bought him both books.
Oh, that's
Cathy (16:31):
the truth. I told him that's
Maryanne Wood (16:32):
a great testament too. Yeah. And then I sent a
couple, I have a niece thatlives in New Zealand and she has
two small children. So I sent acopy, both books over to her and
I talked to her not long ago andshe said that her son hurt his
(16:55):
leg playing some sport orsomething. And he
Merry (16:59):
goes, but don't worry mom, I'm going with the flow.
I'm with the flow. And I
Maryanne Wood (17:04):
thought, well, that's great.
Merry (17:07):
That's great. For A good lesson for adults these days. It
is. Yeah.
Maryanne Wood (17:13):
And It is. Absolutely.
Cathy (17:14):
How do you think, Mary Anne, that parents and
grandparents also could use yourbooks to open conversations with
their kids about handling life'schallenges?
Maryanne Wood (17:26):
Yeah. Well, that's a great question. You
know, there's so many lessons inall the books. But, you know,
for example, what if your childis having, you know, concerns or
a little bit of fear aboutmoving, which kids do. It's, you
know, they have to move.
(17:47):
The parents are moving out ofstate or just even a local move,
they have to change schools,whatever. So that book can, you
know, Randall and Hunter moved.They came all the way across The
United States. They, you know sothat and plus it talks it's
within book one, it's like,Randall's Hunter's very nervous.
So they pull out a map of TheUnited States and they show the
(18:09):
journey that they're gonna makefrom California to Vermont.
So, you know, it's also kind ofshowing kids some geography
there. Talking about just beingopen to new things, seeing snow,
whatever it might be. It's kindof like Randall and Hunter can
(18:30):
do it, you can do it too. Andthen in book two, it takes the
challenge of adaptability andresilience even further because
Hunter loses his eyesight, whichactually did happen. Oh.
Merry (18:44):
He
Maryanne Wood (18:45):
had glaucoma, which apparently can be a
genetic thing for a bassethound. He was inspirational.
People would come to my houseand they'd say, I can't believe
he's blind. He's like walkingaround. Like, he knows every
inch of this place inside andoutside.
(19:07):
And so for children that havedisabilities or you know, issues
like that, Hunter can do it. Hedidn't give up. You can't give
up either.
Merry (19:22):
Is very inspiring. Yeah, absolutely. Well, talk a little
bit about your creative processin writing when you're
developing new stories that areinspired by your dogs.
Maryanne Wood (19:35):
Like I said, the material kind of just came to me
pretty well, but I thought-
Merry (19:40):
Did you just sit down
Maryanne Wood (19:41):
and it
Merry (19:44):
all came to a No.
Maryanne Wood (19:48):
Sort of. I mean, it took, I did quite, I did
rewriting because I had gottensome feedback from, you know, I
read the stories to some peoplein different groups and they
said, you know, I really thinkyou have a lot of information in
here for one book. You couldmake a series out of this. So, I
really took that to heart and Ispread it out over. And then I
(20:12):
knew I was gonna do the movingpiece and the, you know, and it
talks about going through allthe seasons because they had,
you know, Southern Californiadon't really have significant
season changes like you do onthe East Coast.
So, they saw snow and thenspringtime and this and that.
So, but then and then the secondbook with Hunter going, you
(20:34):
know, I knew I wanted theblindness piece in there because
I thought that was a greatlesson for kids. Like Hunter can
navigate life, so can you. Butthen when it came to book three,
cause I kind of wanted to wrapit up somehow, it just came to
(20:56):
me. Again, I think it's likesome kind of divine inspiration
sometimes hits you.
But I said, not have Hunter, nowthat he's conquered his fears,
why not have him give back? Soit's all about he and his
brother and their two new doggyfriends who the children meet in
(21:20):
book two, which I use Willow, mydog is one of those dog friends.
They all go to the local animalshelter and they decide that
they're going to coach the otheranimals at the shelter, the cats
and the dogs, how to beadaptable and go with the flow
so that they could find theirforever homes. And they do and
(21:45):
they're very successful. They dosuch a great job.
All the animals are adopted. Theshelter closes. And
Cathy (21:53):
Wow.
Maryanne Wood (21:54):
There you go.
Cathy (21:55):
Oh, that's wonderful. That
Maryanne Wood (21:58):
one I feel like that one because that one I
wasn't really pulling onanything from the dog's real
life as I did in book one andtwo. But I thought that's a
great way to wrap it up becausethen you're teaching children to
give back, to give the kindnessthat was given to you back, to
(22:18):
give the love that was given toyou back.
Cathy (22:22):
Oh, that's
Merry (22:24):
very touching. I
Maryanne Wood (22:27):
know it is.
Merry (22:28):
I would think that the kids that read your third book
are looking to give back now.Have you had any any experiences
in part book three
Maryanne Wood (22:38):
is not out yet.
Merry (22:39):
Oh, wow.
Maryanne Wood (22:39):
It hasn't been out yet. Okay. It's going to be
released, the September.
Merry (22:45):
Oh, good. Oh, good.
Maryanne Wood (22:46):
So I'm kinda yeah.
Merry (22:48):
Can
Cathy (22:48):
you give our listeners some advice for people that are
looking to pivot into a creativecareer after, say, retirement or
after a major life change?
Maryanne Wood (23:00):
Yeah, absolutely. I firmly believe that we don't
have to cement ourselves intoone area of life. I mean, some
people do and some people arehappy with that and that's fine
for them. But if you're not andyou're Don't stay in a job or
(23:22):
even Don't stay someplace thatyou're not happy because that's
not why we're here. We're nothere to be like drudging to to a
job or we're here to becreative, expressive beings.
And so that's why, you know,like I've always just,
(23:46):
especially in my later, as Isaid, you know, after I got into
like my late 40s, early 50s, Isaid, I'm just going to start
doing what feels right and goodand not block myself. And so, it
does require what I call takinga leap of faith. Sometimes you,
it'll spin you into fear becauseyou're like, oh no, I can't walk
(24:12):
away. I can't change. Becausechange is scary.
I don't care how old you are,change is scary. But I found
that if you really listen toyour deepest callings, you're
gonna be happy. It's when youdumb them down and push them
down that you're not happy. So,think that for anybody out there
(24:33):
that is saying, yeah, maybe Iwant to be a writer. Well, just
try it, do it.
If they want to be learn to playan instrument, do it. I mean, if
because your soul is calling youto do that or it wouldn't be in
your mind. It wouldn't come toyou if it wasn't something that
you were meant to give a try.So, I think that And I really
(24:57):
feel like we're on thisprecipice of the world changing.
And I feel like the young peopleof today are not they are going
to follow their hearts more.
That's my opinion.
Cathy (25:10):
Your Definitely
Merry (25:13):
from your I think
Cathy (25:14):
you're right.
Maryanne Wood (25:15):
Yeah.
Merry (25:15):
So, what's next for you with the adventures of Randall
and Hunter, or perhaps withWillow?
Maryanne Wood (25:24):
Yeah. Good question. I'm not sure I'm going
to do any more Randall andHunter. Because I feel like book
three kind of wrapped it upnicely. But, yeah, I could I
have toyed with an with maybedoing a book about Willow
because she has a you know, it'sjust so sweet how animals are.
(25:48):
They're like I said, they'rejust so she has this best
friend. I call her her bestfriend named Otto. And he is
this big mix breed, but he Idon't know. He looks like he
could be, Saint Bernard mixedwith something. I don't know.
And he's just like this gentlegiant. And he's so calm compared
to her. But they just truly loveeach other. I mean, you can see
(26:12):
they love each other. They justhave like this, they're
together, it's like cool, theycan hang out, whatever.
So I have thought maybe I coulddo a little story about them. I
don't know yet. Not sure.
Merry (26:26):
It will come to you. It will come. Yeah. Mhmm.
Cathy (26:29):
And, Mary Anne,
Maryanne Wood (26:30):
what I'm would you enjoying, I have to say, I'm
really enjoying visiting theschools.
Merry (26:35):
Oh,
Maryanne Wood (26:36):
good. And promoting the Randall and Hunter
series. And in fact, tomorrowI'm doing a book signing in one
of the towns near me. So, I'mreally enjoying the outreach.
Merry (26:49):
That's You're giving back like your third book.
Maryanne Wood (26:52):
Right. Because you can't just I mean,
especially with a children'sbook, I don't feel like you can
just sit back and depend onAmazon sales. I think you really
have to get it out there.
Cathy (27:03):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And what would what would you
like our late boomers podcastaudience today to have as a
takeaway?
Maryanne Wood (27:11):
Well, I think, Kathy, you hit on it earlier
about if something's in yourheart and it's calling you, you
know, give give it a shot. And Ithink the world needs more of
that. I think definitely theworld needs more of that. So,
that's what I would say. Don't
Merry (27:31):
Yes, the world does.
Maryanne Wood (27:32):
And I mean, I look at me, I'm 66 and I just
have a, you know, age is just anumber, right? It's just a
number. Absolutely. Mean, youknow, just because you
technically get a socialsecurity check or whatever
you're getting doesn't meanyou're you just hang up your
(27:53):
shoes and sit in front of theTV. At least that's not what it
means to me.
I think you can still bevibrant, do things, get out
there. You know, even if it'sjust being part of your
community or, you know,volunteering, whatever calls
you, do it. That's wonderful.
Merry (28:11):
I love that. I love that. I know you'll inspire our late
boomers audience to go out anddo that. Thank you. Guest today
Maryanne Wood (28:20):
You're welcome.
Merry (28:21):
Our guest today on late boomers has been children's book
author, Mary Ann Wood, who haswritten a series about her dogs
called Randall and Hunter GoWith the Flow. You can visit her
website, maryannnewood.com,that's maryannew00d. And find
(28:41):
out more. Thanks again, Maryann.
Maryanne Wood (28:45):
Oh, thank you so much. It's been wonderful
chatting with both of you. YouThanks. So
Cathy (28:50):
And thank you to our audience for listening to our
Late Boomers podcast andsubscribing to our Late Boomers
podcast channel on YouTube.Listen in next week when you'll
meet another exciting guest,Luis De Jagger, who travels the
world with a mission toregenerate our soil and teaches
people how we can feed the worldwithout destroying it. You can
(29:12):
listen to Late Boomers on anypodcast platform and look at our
new website, lateboomers.us,where you can find all our
episodes and descriptions.Please follow us on Instagram I
am Kathy Worthington and at I amMary Elkins and at lateboomers.
Thanks again, Mary Ann Wood.
Maryanne Wood (29:33):
Oh, you're so welcome. Thank you.
Cathy (29:44):
Thank you for joining us on late boomers, the podcast
that is your guide to creating athird act with style, power, and
impact. Please visit our websiteand get in touch with us at
lateboomers.us. If you wouldlike to listen to or download
other episodes of late boomers,go to ewnpodcastnetwork.com.
Merry (30:08):
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple
Podcast, and most other majorpodcast sites. We hope you make
use of the wisdom you've gainedhere and that you enjoy a
successful third act with yourown style, power, and impact.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com