T.A. Barron's Blog, page 8
December 8, 2022
Find Merlin Sweepstakes
Recent Posts Find Merlin Sweepstakes You Are the Author of Your Own Story Keeping Your Story Boat Afloat Using Mythology to Write Fantasy: Creating the Merlin Saga Myths, Magic, and Podcasting: A T. A. Barron Interview The post Find Merlin Sweepstakes appeared first on TABarron.com.
December 7, 2022
Heroes All Around Us
As all of my readers can attest, young heroes play an important role in my stories – fiction and nonfiction alike. I am often asked why this is — what is my fascination with young heroes — and the answer is quite simple: young heroes play an important role in our lives! Or, at least, they should.
The stories I tell about young heroes are meant to serve as inspiration. In this day and age, where celebrity is often confused with heroism, I think this is particularly important. Our society is seriously confused about the difference between a hero and a celebrity.
It makes sense that young people especially experience this confusion. Celebrities are all around us. We see them in the media all the time. We celebrate them, we talk about them, and we focus on them a lot. It’s easy to mistake their celebrity for heroism when we give so much of our attention to them in this way.
True heroes are different. Celebrities are about being well known (and not always for a great reason), but heroes are about character. They may be well known, but often they’re not. In fact, heroes do what they do, regardless of whether anybody else ever notices. So the distinction is crucial between a hero and a celebrity. And I think more than ever, it’s important for young people to discover this difference.
In this time when we are all faced with so much cynicism and despair, heroes give us an idea of our own potential. I think of heroes as our guides on the trail of life. They show us just how far we can go and just how high we can climb. Because heroes are just like us; in fact, they are us! They aren’t special people gifted with extraordinary abilities. They’re people who have tapped into that part of themselves that gives them the courage to do big, great things. And we all have this courage. It’s part of my core belief that there’s a hero in all of us, a hero in every child. A potential, a force, a positive energy with the capacity to allow us to do something special with our lives.
Every hero discovers that they have something deep inside themselves, something that they didn’t even know was there when times really get tough. They dig deep and find in their hearts the courage, the wisdom, the vision, the perseverance, whatever it takes to survive and, ultimately, to triumph. Everyone has that potential and telling these stories of triumph by everyday young heroes helps other young people know that they can find their own heroes living within them.
That’s why I love telling these stories about young heroes, even those like Merlin, who are living entirely in a fantasy world. The magic Merlin discovers within himself is only a metaphor, really, for the possibility that every person has; that every child has to discover the magic within themselves.
As much as I find Merlin and his discovery of magic to be a metaphor for the possibility that all children have to discover their own “magic,” I know that it can be challenging for children facing hardships to make that connection – from the fantasy world of Merlin to the very real one they’re living in. That’s why I was inspired to create The Hero’s Trail.
This nonfiction book tells over 100 stories of real-life young heroes. It shares how children from all different backgrounds, with a host of different life experiences, facing so many seemingly insurmountable challenges, find the magic within themselves to become real-life heroes. I wanted to tell the stories about how these children, who each found themselves washed ashore in a certain way in their own lives, were able to find courage, perseverance, generosity, compassion, hope, faith, humor, and the willingness to get up and go on. These kids are far more impressive, honestly, than any of the fictional heroes that I’ve ever written about. And they are real.
My greatest hope is that by sharing these stories, the inspiration and the possibilities will shine through for any young person who might be on the cusp of uncovering their magic or doubting if it’s truly in them at all.
Recent Posts How Nature Inspires Us: A Collection of Blogs from Readers Find Merlin Sweepstakes Heroes All Around Us You Are the Author of Your Own Story Keeping Your Story Boat Afloat The post Heroes All Around Us appeared first on TABarron.com.
November 11, 2022
You Are the Author of Your Own Story
Today I’m inviting you to see your life as a story!
Episode 6 Excerptby T. A. Barron | Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast
https://tabarron.com/wp-content/uploads/Life-as-a-Story-Quotes.mp3As we journey through life, we encounter many moments that are out of our control. I find that embracing those moments, seeing them as chapters of the great book of our lives, helps me to make sense of them and use them as a source of growth.
While you may not be able to control or even anticipate all of the things you will experience in life, what you can control is how you allow those experiences to embed themselves into your story. Will they be thrilling chapters of adventure and excitement, or tragic interludes that push you into new spaces and dimensions?
You are the author of your story — which means you get to make it the best story possible! I’ve always seen this as a gift and an opportunity. I’ve always been highly motivated to use my life to the fullest, to really grow in all of the ways I can grow. Stretching your wings to fly gives you the opportunity to live fully, even if you have to crash and burn a few times along the way.
But how do you truly commit to living your story passionately, honestly, and as fully as you can?
I say it’s a lot about perspective, gratitude, and being open to embracing all of life’s moments, as well as remembering three important things.
The important people in your life are the main characters in your story.And, just like any character in a great and intriguing story, they’re important!
I have been blessed to have many important characters who have helped shape my story. One of them is my lovely wife, Currie. She stood by and watched as I toiled through the process (and the many rejections) of becoming an author. She saw me working to maintain a full-time job while waking at 4 am each day to get in some quality writing time and she saw me being disappointed time and time again when publishers turned down my first manuscript. Through it all, though, she believed in me — even when I began to doubt myself.
That unwavering support was crucial to my success. I was fortified by her belief in me and it’s exactly her belief that gave me the courage to leave a job I wasn’t passionate about and focus more wholly on writing a manuscript I could be proud of.
My first book was published within a year of us leaving my corporate life in NYC behind and I know I wouldn’t have accomplished that without the support of one of my all-time favorite story characters: Currie.
Your experiences, good and bad, are the key elements of your story.Daily life gives us our material. That includes parts that are about heartache, parts that are about hope… parts that can be painful, difficult, and very challenging. And also parts that can be beautiful, nurturing, and lovely, as well as surprising. Usually it’s a mix of many of these parts that make up the story of our life.
That’s the material that we storytellers get to work with. Key elements of our story. So, add to that mix just as if you’re seasoning a soup, a sprinkling of herbs and spices, like gratitude, empathy, humility, and humor. I would say especially humor. That’s the basil in your soup that gives it that little bit of extra lift.
Then by the choices we make, and the attitudes we bring to every day, we can shape that material. We can affect how that story unfolds, always aware that this is our story, no one else’s, and we get to be the author.
The choices we make, even the small ones, matter.That’s because we each matter.
The choices we make, small ones and large ones, really do make a difference. Some small decision you make today can go on to impact you and those around you in some huge way later. You may not plan it, and you definitely can’t predict it, but making a small change, a minute shift, or even the most minuscule alteration in your movements or choices today can have a seismic impact on something many moments or months — or even years — from now.
For some, this probably seems like an overwhelming and even frightening way of looking at things, but I choose to embrace it and look at it as an opportunity. I think about the beautiful possibilities that can bloom from the choices I make. Imagine the twists and turns it could add to my story!
The ending will be here before you know it.
I know, that sounds a bit macabre, but it is truly what has empowered me to live my life as a story.
The idea that life is so brief makes it more beautiful, even at the same time as it makes it more poignant and fragile. It is what has given me the courage to take big leaps into the unknown, to pursue far-fetched dreams and make them come true, and to look at rejection as just another stepping stone on my way to where I’m supposed to be.
At the end of the day, all we have — truly, all we have — is our time and our souls. Why not make the most of them as we tell our story with passion, honesty, and joy?
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October 28, 2022
Keeping Your Story Boat Afloat
Did you know that before my first manuscript was published, I received 32 rejections?
Thirty-two “no thank you”s. Thirty-two “we’ll pass.” Thirty-two “thanks, but no thanks.” That, friends, is A LOT of nos.
But fortunately, not enough to make me give up. And I say fortunately because, to date, I have also written 32 books!
Perhaps 32 is a lucky number for me.
It’s certainly a number I’ve learned a lot from, especially when it comes to keeping creativity alive and finding inspiration for building, nurturing, and sharing your story.
I don’t have 32 tips to help you along this journey, but perhaps these will help you launch your own story boat.
3 Things You Must Remember to Keep Your Story Boat Afloat Know your why.I find that when I’m in the creative process, it helps to remember why I’m doing it, what it’s about, and what the goal is. I maintain focus on the idea that my stories are like little boats, that I’m spending time crafting until they are finally shipworthy and ready to sail. My little story boats will have the opportunity to touch many people around the world and, I hope, leave them with something meaningful.
That’s my goal–to touch as many people in a meaningful way through my stories as possible. In the face of adversity, including multiple rejection letters, it can be easy to get discouraged with the process. Maintaining focus on that end goal helps me to persevere.
Talent is nice, but discipline is essential.Writing is a craft and, like any skill, the only way you get better is by doing it. It’s one of those things that just takes practice. You train your brain to be open and available to the creative process. And that’s when the magic happens!
Sometimes I’m in my writing room working on a chapter for several days and can’t get a single good sentence, not one. And then suddenly, that next night or the next morning, it all suddenly happens. I wake up at 3:00a.m.and I know what I need to say and how to say it. I go right to work, and I can’t write fast enough!
That’s the miracle of it, when the creative process is magical. And I know that none of that magic would have happened if I hadn’t gone through the agony of the several days before that.
Write things down.I know in this day and age there are countless options for taking notes. You can even dictate your notes into your phone or device and it will type them out for you. I appreciate the convenience of features like this and I even utilize them in many situations, but when it comes to storytelling, it’s all by hand!
Believe it or not, I actually handwrite every first draft of my manuscripts! There’s something quite wonderful about what happens with the hand and the brain together. When you write things down by hand, the neuroscience shows you really do capture them more as an embedded memory, an image, and it has a longer life. It has a deeper life.
I know writing an entire story by hand makes me slower, but it also makes me go more slowly through the story. It makes me feel my way through the story more intentionally and in a way where I can better connect with the undercurrents and dialogue of it.
Want to learn more about my creative process and how I keep my story boat afloat? Tune into episodes four and five of my podcast, Magic & Mountains.
Excerpt from Episode 4by T. A. Barron | Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast
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October 13, 2022
Using Mythology to Write Fantasy: Creating the Merlin Saga
Children and young adults understand both the fun and the power of a good story.
What could be more exciting than traveling without limits to other times, other value systems, and other universes? Creating lands in those other dimensions, where reality is bent in intriguing, yet somehow still believable ways, can be a challenge.
And just as the places must feel real, the characters of your tale must also be real to readers. Their personalities, their backstories, their hopes and dreams… these must all feel as if you know the character personally.
The problem you face is where to begin.
It All Started with a Dream Excerpt from Episode 2by T. A. Barron | Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast
https://tabarron.com/wp-content/uploads/Merlin-Quotes.mp3My journey with Merlin began with a dream. And I knew from that moment I had been given a story that had to be told. After all, we’ve all experienced the power of this great wizard in stories old and new, but never before had it been told as an origin story.
Where did his power come from? What must he have endured and experienced as a youth to be so wise? What is it about this great human that has caused us to find reasons to be immersed in his story for over 1500 years?
I realized that, in the glorious tapestry of myth about Merlin, a tapestry whose luminous threads had been woven over 15 centuries, there was a big hole: the years of his youth. So that was my greatest challenge: To fill in this gap, this mystery, of his youth – with all the richness and majesty and power Merlin deserves!
Building Lore from Myths, Legends, and TalesLike many other writers — J.R.R. Tolkien, for example — I’ve drawn much inspiration from ancient myths that have endured for centuries.
Whether Celtic lore, Norse legends, Greek myths, or Native American tales, those myths carry great power. But they may also have gaps that can be filled by modern storytellers. If that is done with great respect, we can have the best of both worlds: stories with enduring depth and a fresh, original twist.
Taking ancient myths and metaphors and giving them fresh new forms is one of the greatest challenges, as well as joys, of writing. If the writer can succeed at that challenge, longstanding truths become vibrant and meaningful to new generations of readers.
My Favorite Sources for Creating LoreThere is a tremendous amount of material on Celtic, Greek, Druid, Norse, and Christian sources. All of those sources have informed my writing. All of them hold great depth and richness.
Here are my suggestions on where to start:
For an overall perspective, nothing beats Joseph Campbell’s classic, Hero With a Thousand Faces.
An excellent text on Celtic history and myth is The Celtic World, edited by Miranda J. Green and published by Routledge. You will also want some good resources about the ancient Druids — the kind of book or website that will help you discover that I took the phrase “Dance of the Giants” from the old Druid word for Stonehenge.
A great book on Greek mythology is Gods and Heroes: Myths of Ancient Greece, by Gustav Schwab, published by Pantheon. In this text are all the stories I refer to in The Lost Years of Merlin books – and many more. For example, this book contains the lovely story of Baveis and Philemon, which foreshadows what will happen to the old couple T’eilean and Garlatha whom Merlin meets on his initial quest.
For some additional references, check my Author’s Note at the beginning of The Lost Years of Merlin. I name several good sources, including the poet Tennyson and the British historian Nikolai Tolstoy.
The amalgamation of these stories, tales, and texts has helped me create the various layers of my fantasy lands so that you, as readers, are able to feel as though you’re stepping into a complete world. These existing tidbits of lore give my lands their own histories and depth, without getting readers too bogged down in countless hours of backstory.
Reality Gives Fantasy WingsWhatever worlds I’ve written about—whether Merlin’s Isle of Fincayra, Avalon, the lost island of Atlantis, a fictional Native American tribe, a faraway galaxy, or any other place—must feel authentic. That’s the key.
Creating lands that are as relatable as they are fantastical requires intricate attention to detail. You must think about the unthinkable, consider the unimaginable, and make the myth and the magic make sense. I find creating lore — the stories behind the stories — to be one of the most difficult, but also delightful parts of my storytelling.
If that world feels real, then anyone can enter into it — and have a big adventure. Those imaginary places need to feel every bit as real as a Colorado wildflower meadow in the height of summer — with all the right colors, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches.
All of my greatest stories, as original and unique as they are, don’t stand alone. It is their various existences in the fabric of our realities, the lore, and myth that permeates our histories, that give them their meat and strength. It’s what makes them relatable and authentic in a way that doesn’t require you to entirely suspend reality to enjoy them. It just asks you to push what you know aside to make way for something even more magical!
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October 11, 2022
Myths, Magic, and Podcasting: A T. A. Barron Interview
School Library Journal
October 11, 2022
View Online | PDF
Folks, I’ve been around a while. Met a lot of folks. And about nine years ago I did something I’d never done before: I finally visited the Bemelmans Bar. Imagine, if you will, a beautiful little watering hole located in the Rosewood Hotel in Manhattan, and inside, more surfaces than you would ever think possible are painted by none other than Ludwig Bemelmans himself. The man behind Madeline! I’d always wanted to go, but it took an invitation to get me there. And that invitation came from none other than author T. A. Barron himself. We struck up a friendship that day.Mr. Barron’s had quite the career of his own. Sure, he’s the award-winning author of more than 30 highly acclaimed books, many of which are international bestsellers. Sure, he’s won the de Grummond Medallion for “lifetime contribution to the field of children’s and young adult literature” as well as many other awards. But what you may best know him for are his book. Books like The Merlin Saga, The Great Tree of Avalon (a New York Times bestselling series), The Ancient One, and The Hero’s Trail (nonfiction stories of courageous kids).
And now Tom’s doing something entirely new: podcasting. Called Magic & Mountains, it’s described this way:
“In this first season, T. A. explores the creative writing process, the enduring magic of Merlin, the wonders and inspiration of nature (as well as the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss), the power of young people to make a positive difference in our world… and he’ll also invite listeners to “see your life as a story.” On some episodes, he will interview some truly wonderful guests; on others, you will hear T. A. sharing his own magic as a storyteller.”
How does a fantasy author make the switch to an audible medium?
You know what this means: Question Time!!
Betsy Bird: Tom! So great to talk to you today. You’ve been a fantasy book creator for, I dare say, decades. Now you’re switching venues, slightly, and getting into the podcasting game. Can you tell us a bit about the show and where it came from?
T. A. Barron: Lots of folks have asked me to do a podcast, but for a long time I resisted. Then I realized it’s really another form of storytelling. While the form is certainly different from writing a novel, a movie script, or a children’s book — all of which I’ve done — the core elements of telling a good, gripping story are the same. And I’ve had lots of practice using my voice to share stories around the campfire (or the breakfast table) with our kids… so it’s familiar terrain!
BB: I understand you’ll be talking to some creators on your show. Can you give us a sneak peek to some of the folks you’ll be chatting with?
TAB: Sure! I’m thrilled to share some truly sparkling conversations with people, ranging from Carolyne Larrington (professor at Oxford and the world’s greatest expert on British folktales and Merlin) to Rue Mapp (founder of Outdoor Afro, a superb group that supports Black people experiencing nature) to marvelous young people who are helping our world. And of course, I will share stories about brilliant creators I’ve known like Madeleine L’Engle and Eric Carle. In addition… since the podcast episodes were recorded in my writing room at home, all those wonderful characters from my stories are “in the air” — so you can also expect to hear the voices of the wizard Merlin, Rhia, Atlanta, Shim, Trouble, Promi, the Grand Elusa, and many more!
BB: One aspect of Magic & Mountains that particularly appeals to me is the focus on “the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss”. I’m intrigued by the connection made between this and the fantasy elements you’ve discussed for years. Can you delve a bit into their connection and what they mean to you? What is the connection between conservation and fantasy?
TAB: Brilliant question. Throughout my life, I’ve been inspired by the sacredness of nature — its power to heal and teach and transform us all. Nature has been the greatest mentor in my life, giving me hope when I’ve most needed it, or reminding me of my own power of renewal and rebirth when I’ve felt deeply sad.
So it’s no surprise, really, that those themes are woven through all my books, whether fantasy novels about young Merlin or the origin story of Atlantis, children’s books about brave young people, or nonfiction tales of heroic kids. Today, young people are really hungry for big ideas and tough questions about life. So even if a fantasy tale happens on a magical world like Merlin’s isle of Fincayra, the big questions and core values are the same as those right here on Earth. Smart kids totally get that connection!
On top of that, we are living in a time when human actions are causing serious damage to our climate and the planet that supports us and all living creatures. So I hope that my stories might inspire young people to care even more deeply about the future of the environment… and also remind them of their power to make a positive impact.
BB: I see that you’re starting off with 12 episodes in your first season. Do you have any intention of creating other seasons as well? Where would you like this show to go as you produce it?
TAB: Absolutely! I’m already dreaming up some fun ideas and awesome interviews for the next season. And who knows? Maybe, if the Disney movie of young Merlin keeps making good progress… I’ll be recording some episodes on a film set.
BB: Oh, that’s neat! Which takes me to my last question, actually. I know that you’re particularly busy. So I ask you, what else are you working on these days?
TAB: You’re right that my life is busy! I’m grateful for so many blessings — including the small ways I can try to help our troubled world. Among them are writing new stories (I’ve got two in the works right now), supporting fabulous kids through the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes (which I named for my Mom), and helping superb conservation groups like World Wildlife Fund, Earthjustice, The Wilderness Society, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Alaska Wilderness League. On top of that… I’m always grateful for time with my wonderful wife and kids, as well as time out in the marvels of nature. Oh, and I’m now learning to play marimba, hoping to make something that sounds vaguely like music!
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September 29, 2022
Congratulations to 2022’s Barron Prize Winners
Each year, the Barron Prize awards outstanding young people whose actions serve as an inspirational example of the power we all have to make a difference in the world. Over the past two decades, the Barron Prize has honored 550 young heroes from across the U.S. and Canada. They have helped the hungry and the homeless, invented life-saving technologies, protected our oceans and endangered species, and addressed climate change, almond myriad other initiatives. I invite you to take a moment to read through this year’s list of marvelous, accomplished young people, to visit their project sites, and learn more about them!
Anna D., age 17, of Alaska, who founded Promote Our Pollinators (P.O.P.) to raise awareness of pollinators’ importance and devastating decline, and to provide ways to promote their population growth.
Aseel R., age 17, of Texas, who developed an inexpensive and environmentally-friendly solution to mosquito-borne diseases. Her novel method uses household essential oils and baker’s yeast to create a larvicide that could be produced in industrial quantities.
Austin P., age 17, of Washington, who founded Save Our Salmon Through Art (SOS) to create vibrant public art projects and murals in the Greater Seattle area that engage, educate, and empower communities to restore salmon spawning streams.
Ethan H., age 11, of Alabama, who created Ethan’s Heart Bags4Blessings to support individuals experiencing homelessness in his city.
Hannah G., age 15 of Texas, who founded San Antonio Math Include (SaMi) to increase access to STEM education for underserved students.
Jack D., age 12, of New Hampshire, who works to protect critically endangered orangutans and their rainforest habitat, as well as to educate and inspire people to protect the environment.
Karina S., age 17, or Florida, who founded the Florida chapter of Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB), an international student-led nonprofit committed to reducing the amount of plastic on the planet.
Karun K., age 17, of California, who created X-Check-MD, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software that can diagnose COVID-19 and pneumonia with 99% accuracy in under one minute. His tool is an initiative of Democratize Health, the nonprofit he founded to save lives in impoverished regions using fast, accessible, and cost-effective technology.
Khloe J., age 9, of Texas, who founded A Book and a Smile to help build kids’ home libraries and to improve relationships between children and the police.
Laalitya A., age 18, of Ohio, who invented Nereid, a low-cost, globally applicable device that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect water contamination within seconds.
Lucy W., age 18 of Illinois, who founded LucyClimbs to raise awareness of the need for clean water in developing countries by climbing the world’s highest mountains. She is the youngest American woman ever to summit Everest.
Luna A., age 17, of Oregon, who founded the Effective Climate Action Project (ECAP) to increase awareness of solutions to climate change – especially the possibilities of systemic thinking and collective action.
Sahana M., age 15, of North Carolina, who co-founded Foundation for Girls (FFG) to economically empower homeless single mothers and support their children.
Sri Nihal T., age 13, of New Jersey, who created Recycle My Battery, a nonprofit that installs free battery recycling bins and educates young people and adults about battery recycling.
William C., age 16, of Florida, who founded We are Forces of Nature and its A Million Mangroves initiative to combat climate change and to protect coastlines from the effect of sea level rise.
These young leaders work hard to make their ideals and passions a reality and are an example to us all. Please join me in celebrating their accomplishments!
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September 12, 2022
New Podcast Explores the Magic, Folklore and Inspiration Found in the Mountains
Westword
September 12,2022
View Online | PDF
The connection between fantasy and the natural world has long informed T. A. Barron’s writing and environmental advocacy, and he’s turned it into a podcast called
Magic & Mountains
. The full season of a dozen free episodes meant to entertain and inspire will be available to stream from his website starting October 3.The podcast delves into Barron’s writing process, the inspiration behind his beloved characters and his belief in the transformative power of nature and everyday heroism. Topics range from Celtic mythology to combating climate change and ensuring racial equity in outdoor spaces.
Fans of Barron’s acclaimed fantasy series The Merlin Saga (now being developed into a feature film by Disney) won’t be surprised by the topics covered. The author, raised for a time in Colorado, has always been a passionate conservationist, traveling the country to speak on the importance of protecting our planet and supporting young people who are making a difference in their communities through his annual Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes.
“I’m one of those lucky writers who really loves talking with people,” says Barron. “Speaking at public libraries, or schools, or bookstores, or conventions, whatever. I love the interaction of storytelling. For about three years, people kept asking if I’d do a podcast, and for whatever reason, I just didn’t feel ready. And then last fall, in the aftermath of Giant [his most recent book], I had to do book events by video. I was skeptical, but it really worked. I was able to welcome several hundred people at each go. It occurred to me that the podcast would be as beautiful a form for story. I liked the challenge of that.”
From there, Barron says, he began to brainstorm what he’d want to talk about. “I thought about what buckets I could come up with that I could put ideas into,” Barron says. “I came up with five. Merlin, of course, my favorite character. Another is the creative process, both the agony and the ecstasy of it. Third is nature, which runs through everything I write, no matter the genre. And then I wanted to do something on the inspiration of young heroes, these real-life kids that are doing these awesome things in the world. And finally, I couldn’t resist doing a segment on seeing your life as a story.”
That last element clearly evokes some excitement in Barron: “It’s something I keep coming back to, especially when I speak to young people. Your life is a story, and you are the author. No one else is going to write this story. So what kind of story do you really want it to be? Tell it with passion and courage and depth and honesty and beauty.”
Barron speaks with the same sort of devotion about the sacredness of nature, including his favorite hike in Colorado, Cathedral Lake in the Maroon Bells. “There’s so much variety of wildlife and ecosystems and terrain,” he says of the trek. “But that wonderful gem of a lake is always jaw-dropping.” Barron says he’s done that hike so often that he has names for various trees along the way and knows a certain spot on the trail where the air smells particularly sweet, though he’s never been able to figure out why.
Perhaps it’s the mystery that draws Barron in, because he’s definitely a lover of the mystic and the magic. “What always strikes me,” Barron says, “what goes to the core of why nature is sacred, beyond all the things we can come to understand about the natural world, why science is important, why policy to protect the outdoors is important…there’s something deeper going on. The best way I can put it is that when I’m out in nature, really out there, I feel both very, very small, and very, very big at the same time. We can feel humbled — which is good for us human beings — by the sight of those wonderful Rocky Mountain nights full of stars, or vast forests, or a cascading river. But at the same time, we can feel enlarged by those same things, because we’re a part of all that. This grand sweep of creation includes us. It’s an immensely beautiful feeling.”
Barron talks about all these things and more in the dozen episodes of the first season — some getting a single show, others spanning several. And Barron believes that this is indeed the first season of more to come. “Unless people throw too many rotten tomatoes at me,” Barron jokes. “But even then, I’d probably keep going, I’ve enjoyed it so much. I have no idea what season two would look like — I have a few ideas, but there’s so much to explore.”
What Barron is sure of is that the five buckets of ideas he’s presenting to his audience are the right thing for him to be doing. “This feels like me,” he says. “When you pull it all together — nature’s sacredness, the inspiration of young people, the beauty and depth of myth — all of these things and more, I feel like it’s the closest thing to an autobiographical experience I’ve ever had.”
And there are few things better in the world than sitting at a table — even a metaphoric one experienced through a podcast — and telling stories. “I really want listeners to feel that way,” laughs Barron. “Hearing these stories told in podcast form, in my voice and from the voices of the wonderful guests that I’ve lined up — it’s going to be a great experience, I’m convinced. Just magic.”
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Introducing Magic & Mountains
“All we have, truly, all we have, is our time and our souls.” – T. A. Barron
I am thrilled to announce the upcoming release of my new podcast, Magic & Mountains!
This is a project that I have been eager to share for so long because it gives me the opportunity to share some of the things that I am truly passionate about — storytelling, nature, true heroes, and the magic of Merlin — with like-minded friends like you!
Episodes will explore the topics of magic, life, and times of the wizard Merlin; the wonders and challenges of nature; the joy, the pain, and the mystery of the creative process; and the surprising inspiration of heroes.
We will also discuss the writing process and how to give your creativity wings when it comes to creating and sharing your own written words.
It’s a podcast for those who enjoy the magic of storytelling, for those who love the wizard Merlin, for those who appreciate the beauty of nature, and for those who seek to be inspired, enlightened, and empowered to live their lives as a story — and maybe create a few of their own along the way!
The first episode, coming October 3, 2022, will explore the magic of Merlin, how I encountered and built a relationship with this amazing character, and what sparked me to create The Merlin Saga. We dive into the challenges I faced while adding to the tapestry of myth around this beloved character. A tapestry that began with oral traditions of the Druids and Celts and was first written down by Welsh monks 1000 years ago. We discover three reasons why Merlin is still around today, and why we need him now more than ever.
This magical journey will continue throughout the rest of 2022 and I invite you to join me.
Learn more by visiting https://tabarron.com/podcast.
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Bestselling Author & ConservationistT. A. Barron Announces New Podcast
T. A. Barron Announces New Podcast Boulder, CO
September 12, 2022
PDF T. A. Barron, the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of The Merlin Saga, is thrilled to announce his new podcast called Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast.
Launching October 3, Magic & Mountains delves into the agony and ecstasy of creative writing, the origins of Barron’s most beloved characters, nature’s wondrous power of transformation, and the inspiration of everyday heroes.
Throughout the first 12 episodes, Barron and his guests discuss everything from Celtic mythology and the origins of Merlin, to the necessity of combatting climate change and ensuring access to nature, to the power of every person to write their own life story.
“Storytelling is so much more than pen on paper,” said Barron. “It’s the common thread that unites us all, inviting us to share our experiences for a richer understanding of the world around us. My hope is that Magic & Mountains becomes a haven for those stories, a place where we can listen and learn from one another.”
The first season of Magic & Mountains features an impressive guest line-up, with guests ranging from the president of the World Wildlife Fund to Rue Mapp, founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro, an organization that aims to inspire Black connections and leadership in nature.
The podcast will be available free of charge and without ads on all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more. Learn more at tabarron.com/podcast.
Barron is the author of more than 30 highly-acclaimed books, including The Merlin Saga, which is now being developed into a feature film by Disney, The Great Tree of Avalon trilogy, The Ancient One, The Hero’s Trail, and GIANT: The Unlikely Origins of Shim. He is also a passionate conservationist, speaking and writing on the importance of protecting our planet, helping environmental organizations, and supporting young people who are making a difference in their communities through his annual Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes.
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T. A. Barron Announces New Podcast appeared first on TABarron.com.
