Piper Thomas: The Magic of The Littlest Library

Wendy & Rich 0:01
Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios, Hartford County living presents, Conversations with Rich Bennett. 

(Laughter) 

When

Rich Bennett 0:27
I was at the Book Fair Bel Air, I had this young lady on, and unfortunately, we got cut. It was time ran out because it was the end of the Book Fair and I was like, "Oh, no, no, no." And I was going to continue recording, but I didn't announce them, so we're going to go on that long. So Samantha, don't get mad at me for saying that. So I have Piper Thomas on, who is a local author, children's author, artist. What else do we know about you that we didn't? I 

Piper Thomas 0:59
was going to do it on the parking lot, but then you came out and checked the chart. 

Rich Bennett 1:01
Okay, that's what you do. So you do balloon animals. Didn't you say you want to be a clown? 

Piper Thomas 1:06
No, I don't like travelling, so- 

Rich Bennett 1:08
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 1:08
I couldn't join the circus, but I'm learning all the talents. 

Rich Bennett 1:12
Wait, mate. Do you do socks? 

Piper Thomas 1:14
I would love to. I know there's like Ariel Yoga around here. I want to try 

Rich Bennett 1:17
What 

Piper Thomas 1:18
it. 

Rich Bennett 1:18
if my co-host has a place? 

Piper Thomas 1:20
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 1:21
Up in Aberdeen, g figure. 

Piper Thomas 1:22
No way. 

Rich Bennett 1:23
You know, we're the screaming bean, you know, a 

Piper Thomas 1:25
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 1:25
rip and 

Piper Thomas 1:25
that's the place 

Rich Bennett 1:25
stadium 

Piper Thomas 1:26
I 

Rich Bennett 1:26
is. 

Piper Thomas 1:26
was talking about. 

Rich Bennett 1:27
Yeah. Okay. Yeah, one love mind-body. 

Piper Thomas 1:28
Yeah, I even went in because my foot was broken until like a couple of weeks ago. 

Rich Bennett 1:33
Wait. Your foot wasn't broken at the fairway. 

Piper Thomas 1:36
I got my boot off two days before that. 

Rich Bennett 1:38
Are you serious? And 

Piper Thomas 1:40
was horrible. And I didn't even get to sit 

Rich Bennett 1:44
standing 

Piper Thomas 1:44
down. 

Rich Bennett 1:45
If I wouldn't have known, oh god, if I wouldn't have known that, did you at least take the elevator upstairs when you came to record with me? 

Piper Thomas 1:52
Um, no. You 

Rich Bennett 1:54
walked up the steps? 

Piper Thomas 1:55
Did. 

Rich Bennett 1:55
Oh 

Piper Thomas 1:55
Oh my 

Rich Bennett 1:56
god. 

Piper Thomas 1:56
gosh. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:58
It was 

Piper Thomas 1:59
rough and I'm like, it was like standing on extreme mode because I hadn't stood that long in like four months. My foot's been broken the whole summer until like a couple days before the book fair. 

Rich Bennett 2:09
Oh, jeez. All right. So have you ever done, no, you've never done aerial yoga? 

Piper Thomas 2:13
No. 

Rich Bennett 2:13
Have you done yoga? I don't 

Piper Thomas 2:15
know. Um, my sister had me do yoga 

Rich Bennett 2:17
I 

Piper Thomas 2:17
once. 

Rich Bennett 2:18
don't know what the difference is. Besides that you're hanging upside 

Piper Thomas 2:20
down. I think that's the difference that matters. That's the part that makes it fun. 

Rich Bennett 2:25
All right. So Nicole, if you're listening, apparently you've got another one now because I got challenged. 

Piper Thomas 2:33
You're going to go? 

Rich Bennett 2:36
Let's say forgot. So I Nicole who is a place is cohosting with me. We had up my car practice on. I don't even know how it came up, but somehow or another. I got in to, I got challenged to do the aerial yoga. And when that episode was released, like an idiot, I put something in the comments 

Piper Thomas 3:01
it. 

Rich Bennett 3:01
about And my brother and all even tried to go there. I'll video tape before. Well, yeah. And yeah, sometimes people don't forget. Especially if it's a chance to embarrass me. But I don't, she said this scar or the silks. Will hold my weight. I'm hope she's not lying. You know, the thing I didn't ask if there's like a big pad underneath 

Piper Thomas 3:31
Maybe 

Rich Bennett 3:32
you. 

Piper Thomas 3:33
you can bring one. 

Rich Bennett 3:34
I would I want you better have like five mattresses there to put under me. I mean, 

Piper Thomas 3:40
memory foam or 

Rich Bennett 3:41
It 

Piper Thomas 3:41
something. 

Rich Bennett 3:41
would be fun. I mean, I would, I would try it. And I probably wanted to do it because I've seen people trying it and it looks hard. 

Piper Thomas 3:51
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 3:51
It requires it seems like a lot of upper body strength. 

Piper Thomas 3:55
Yeah, I think I would have that. I think I could do it. 

Rich Bennett 3:57
I used to beat well. 

Piper Thomas 3:59
Probably 

Rich Bennett 3:59
do it better to me. I mean, I used to be able, I don't know. I'll do it. So all right, Nicole, Nanny, if two of us, Piper to 

Piper Thomas 4:07
actually 

Rich Bennett 4:08
three. Three because my car practice and they would do it too. 

Piper Thomas 4:12
That's a lyrs. 

Rich Bennett 4:13
I think I think there was somebody else today would do it too. Nicole, man, I'm gonna get a bunch of people. This could be fun. This could be fun. All right. So you were there at the book fair of a broken foot. Now, 

Piper Thomas 4:25
okay, 

Rich Bennett 4:26
but at the book fair. Was that your first time you ever did a book fair? 

Piper Thomas 4:29
It was my second time doing a book fair. And I only got in because another children's book author had code out. And so they messaged me like two weeks before like, Hey, can you come? I'm like, oh my gosh. Yes, I would love to go. So that's how I got into that one. [BLANK_AUDIO] 

Rich Bennett 4:43
OK, so, for those aspiring authors, we're not even aspiring authors, authors in general who have never done bookfairs. Because you said this was your second one that you did, right? And I'm sure you learned a lot between the first and the second one. What was the biggest thing you learned, say, compared to the first one and the second one? 

Piper Thomas 5:02
Uh, whenever there's downtime, I think it's really beneficial to speak to the authors around you 

Rich Bennett 5:08
Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 5:08
because especially since you're just like sitting there so long next to these people is like awkward if you don't. 

Rich Bennett 5:14
Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 5:15
And now I have like before I did this, I didn't have author friends and now I have author friends, which is crazy. It makes it feel like more real. 

Rich Bennett 5:21
Right? 

Piper Thomas 5:21
worried. Like I actually have a world to like step into after this. 

Rich Bennett 5:24
I'm not 

Piper Thomas 5:25
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I learned that working. 

Rich Bennett 5:27
When I see other good thing, not just the fact that you're talking to other children's authors, but authors in general, you can learn a lot from each other. 

Piper Thomas 5:36
For sure. 

Rich Bennett 5:37
Because let's face it, marketing is probably the hardest thing. 

Piper Thomas 5:39
Marketing's the worst thing I've ever done today. 

Rich Bennett 5:42
But you're setting up the bookfairs. And correct me if I'm wrong, you have been to other places since the book fair, Belle 

Piper Thomas 5:50
Yeah. So one of my other friends 

Rich Bennett 5:55
is a newscaster, huh? 

Piper Thomas 5:56
One of my friends is a newscaster, so yeah, she just had me on the news the other day. 

Rich Bennett 5:59
Who's that? 

Piper Thomas 6:02
Her last name. What's 

Rich Bennett 6:05
chat? What station? 

Piper Thomas 6:06
She was not that one was a different book fair. 

Rich Bennett 6:08
Oh, okay. Okay. 

Piper Thomas 6:09
Yeah. My soul name, 

Rich Bennett 6:13
her. Yeah, you can if you want to. 

Piper Thomas 6:14
Her name is Alex Keane, but it's not felt like Keane. Because like, KUHN, there's a H somewhere. 

Rich Bennett 6:23
Okay. So, but she's not on a local TV here. 

Piper Thomas 6:27
DC. 

Rich Bennett 6:28
DC. That's good, though. 

Piper Thomas 6:31
Yeah, it's pretty cool. I'm like, wow. this just from like talking to someone and talking to someone is the hardest part. And especially like authors are like naturally introverted people. 

Rich Bennett 6:41
Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 6:41
Yeah, so no one wants 

Rich Bennett 6:43
Find 

Piper Thomas 6:43
to 

Rich Bennett 6:43
it. 

Piper Thomas 6:43
do this. Yes, everyone. Talking, but we have to do it. 

Rich Bennett 6:49
Yeah. So here's the funny thing about that. And you're right. It seems like almost I'm gonna say, probably 90% of the that I've had on they are their introverts. They don't like talking, but when they come on the show, they'll talk 

Piper Thomas 7:04
for sure. 

Rich Bennett 7:05
and at book fairs, they'll talk. It's weird. And I don't know if it's because you have to 

Piper Thomas 7:11
100% 

Rich Bennett 7:11
or if you get more comfortable doing it. No. 

Piper Thomas 7:18
Because I have 

Rich Bennett 7:19
even 

Piper Thomas 7:20
like before. I had to take so much caffeine, just so I can make sure I'm talking it for this. And then like I was listening to our episode from the book fair. And I'm listening back. I'm like, girl, I am shouting. 

Rich Bennett 7:33
Well, there were how many thousands of people there. 

Piper Thomas 7:37
And I was just like so excited. Like so much adrenaline from like having to like put my best self out there and make sure I'm able to like sell to the parents of 

Rich Bennett 7:44
Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 7:44
the children. And then I'm like, wow, this time I can finally be a little relaxed. There's only to two people in the room. 

Rich Bennett 7:49
Oh, so let me ask you this because this is only your second time doing a podcast, rig? And you've done TV once? 

Piper Thomas 7:55
Yeah, it's just not out yet, but I'm excited. 

Rich Bennett 7:57
Have you done radio yet? 

Piper Thomas 7:59
No. 

Rich Bennett 7:59
Okay. Are you a lot comfortable now than when you recorded the first 

Piper Thomas 8:05
cats? Yeah, the first time 

Rich Bennett 8:07
time as of all the 

Piper Thomas 8:09
just 

Rich Bennett 8:09
don't but that's okay. 

Piper Thomas 8:11
Yeah. No, I choked my tea. And then I took a walk. And I was like, I got to even it out because I don't want to be too excited. You know. 

Rich Bennett 8:18
definitely 

Piper Thomas 8:18
But more comfortable now, especially because I haven't had to be on all day in celery mode. I can just be like normal, like personality mode. 

Rich Bennett 8:27
Alright, Piper, I'm afraid to ask this question. When you said caffeine, you're talking about coffee, right? 

Piper Thomas 8:32
Well, I mainly drink a lot of tea. Coffee is a bit short. 

Rich Bennett 8:35
Cafe native tea. 

Piper Thomas 8:36
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:37
How many cups a tea? 

Piper Thomas 8:38
you 

Rich Bennett 8:39
Did 

Piper Thomas 8:39
get so, I'm just like really weak to caffeine. It's just the one cup of tea. But if I didn't do like four jump jacks after that 

Rich Bennett 8:46
cars, 

Piper Thomas 8:46
and a couple of 

Rich Bennett 8:46
I'm 

Piper Thomas 8:47
not, I'm not doing it. 

Rich Bennett 8:49
was a 32 ounce cup though. 

Piper Thomas 8:51
It 

Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 8:54
All right. So now, when you did the first book fair, because I knew a lot of people that go to it, they don't have all the stuff, like they don't have a tablecloth and all that. Did you at least have all that for your first book fair? 

Piper Thomas 9:07
Yes. The booze was the only thing I had together. Yeah. Cause it's just you need like an interesting pitch. 

Rich Bennett 9:15
Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 9:16
I don't have one. 

Rich Bennett 9:16
so, 

Piper Thomas 9:17
And like, 

Rich Bennett 9:18
it's 

Piper Thomas 9:18
I'm winged at every time. I'm like saying something to someone. And I'm like, okay, if they're receptive to that, I'll take that and I'll bring it into the next one. And it was this lady. killing it. She's so confident. She got a dumb down pat. It's the same script every time, but it's working. And I'm like, Oh, okay. And that's something you learn by doing the events. I don't know what's the best intro sentence for like my booth. 

Rich Bennett 9:38
All right. Let's say I come up there and what's the ages for your books? Would you say four? No, was it five to like 

Piper Thomas 9:47
I haven't five to seven 

Rich Bennett 9:48
five 

Piper Thomas 9:48
on 

Rich Bennett 9:48
to seven? 

Piper Thomas 9:49
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 9:50
So I'm bringing my five year old, I come up to your booth with my five year old daughter. Let me hear your pitch. 

Piper Thomas 9:57
Gosh. 

Rich Bennett 9:59
Why? Why should I buy the littlest library for my daughter? 

Piper Thomas 10:03
I sit in writing 

Rich Bennett 10:05
at five. 

Piper Thomas 10:06
I mean, yeah, whenever it starts, whenever your interest on reading a writing starts, 

Rich Bennett 10:12
she do 

Piper Thomas 10:14
Because this book specifically is for about children who are into writing. 

Rich Bennett 10:19
it. Okay. 

Piper Thomas 10:19
And like, so like whenever you're like singing or dancing, you're forced to listen to that person because it's so loud in your face. But when you're writing, it's so quiet. And like whenever someone listens to you and reads your writing, it's so personal. But 

Rich Bennett 10:32
Right. 

Piper Thomas 10:33
people often overlook it because it's not in your face. And that's like essentially the plot of this book. 

Rich Bennett 10:38
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 10:39
So if she was in the writing, I would say that would be the perfect book for her. And if you guys want to do a little bonding activity in the back of it, um, 

Rich Bennett 10:46
I love this. 

Piper Thomas 10:47
The main character makes tiny books. And then you guys can make tiny books at the end of it. And if the written tutorial doesn't make sense, 

Rich Bennett 10:54
there's 

Piper Thomas 10:55
also a video tutorial. So like you'll know how to these books. 

Rich Bennett 10:58
We met what? 

Piper Thomas 10:59
It's on the other page. But. 

Rich Bennett 11:01
Oh, look at you. You even had Susan. 

Piper Thomas 11:04
You know Susan? 

Rich Bennett 11:06
Yes. Susan's been on the show. 

Piper Thomas 11:07
No way. 

Rich Bennett 11:07
Yes. So you had Susan actually write a, uh, not a tribute to like a testimony in the back. But Susan, I'm gonna get it wrong. I don't want to even try to pronounce her last name, but been on Susan. Mawadi Daraj 

Piper Thomas 11:25
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 11:26
Okay. So how do you know Susan? 

Piper Thomas 11:29
She was my English teacher. 

Rich Bennett 11:30
Come on. 

Piper Thomas 11:31
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:32
Are you serious? 

Piper Thomas 11:32
We spent the whole semester going back and forth on this book. 

Rich Bennett 11:36
That is, oh man, I wish I wouldn't known that. I would have asked her to come on. 

Piper Thomas 11:40
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 11:41
probably in school. Is she still teaching? 

Piper Thomas 11:43
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 11:43
Okay. Why does she want to be able to? All right. So we give you the ideas of those of you listening. I'm looking at her book, The Little Us Library. And in the back, she has projects like where the kids can create their own little book. So where'd you come up with that idea? This is, I mean, this is perfect. I love that. 

Piper Thomas 12:07
The tiny books. Um, they're, they're like a thing that people do a lot. they'll have a, like a clear piggy bank. And sometimes people who like read a lot don't make tiny books and then put it in the piggy bank to like make a visual reading log and everything. But like until you know, you don't know how to do something. I'm like, um, sorry, a whole lot of thoughts here. 

Rich Bennett 12:29
That's right. 

Piper Thomas 12:30
And I think it's so cool to have something like from the book because when you're watching like, uh, movies or something, they're eating a meal. You're like, that meal 

Rich Bennett 12:37
delicious. 

Piper Thomas 12:37
would be 

Rich Bennett 12:37
Oh yeah. 

Piper Thomas 12:38
Right. So when you're reading the book, you see her do that. And you're like, wow, I get to do what it what she does. And it's already 

Rich Bennett 12:44
in the 

Piper Thomas 12:45
book. Like I wanted you to do this. You have all the materials up front. And so when she, thank you, when she started making the books 

Rich Bennett 12:52
tiny 

Piper Thomas 12:52
for her I was like, wait, I know how to do this, um, because prior to this, I had did a like advent counter countdown of book recommendations on my 

Rich Bennett 13:00
author, and 

Piper Thomas 13:01
I made tiny books. So I can like out this vending machine and just unwrap them and put them out there. Something like I could put this in the book of just having tiny books. And then she's making tiny books, I'm making tiny books, you're making tiny 

Rich Bennett 13:13
We're 

Piper Thomas 13:13
books. 

Rich Bennett 13:13
all doing that 

Piper Thomas 13:14
now. 

Rich Bennett 13:15
All right. Are all your books like that? 

Piper Thomas 13:18
will be. They don't all have activities. They all have a hidden worm 

Rich Bennett 13:21
They 

Piper Thomas 13:22
game, but now I'm going to add activities going further. 

Rich Bennett 13:25
Okay. All right. So the little is library. How many of the will we get them wrong? The tiny libraries? You know, like you see in the parks and everything? 

Piper Thomas 13:33
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 13:34
Have you put the, any of your books in there? 

Piper Thomas 13:36
Yeah. Wherever 

Rich Bennett 13:36
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 13:36
I can find a little free library, I'm putting something in there. 

Rich Bennett 13:39
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 13:40
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 13:40
A little free library? 

Piper Thomas 13:42
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 13:42
Yeah. I knew that. I was just testing 

Piper Thomas 13:43
it. 

Rich Bennett 13:44
So with, so the little is library. And you said you've written three books, two 

Piper Thomas 13:49
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 13:49
to write. What are the other 

Piper Thomas 13:51
two? Black books, you, a tale of frog with allergies. 

Rich Bennett 13:54
What were we, me back up? What was that? 

Piper Thomas 13:57
It's a frog with allergies. He's allergic to bugs. It's like a whole thing. 

Rich Bennett 14:00
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 14:01
And then the other one is called What If a Book Where a Balloon? It's like an exercise in imagination. 

Rich Bennett 14:07
Let me guess. Let me make animal balloons. 

Piper Thomas 14:10
No, they're not. There's animals on the balloons, 

Rich Bennett 14:12
Oh. 

Piper Thomas 14:12
but they're not animal shaped, 

Rich Bennett 14:13
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 14:14
but they're lettered shape. 

Rich Bennett 14:15
Eh, eh, ehm, yeah. Well, obviously in school, but how were you when you really got interested in writing? 

Piper Thomas 14:23
I think the Lewis library is my strongest book by far because of There's always like so much people like supporting you and be like, yeah, you're doing good. You're doing good So like that's all I was hearing on my first two books, right? And like as much as I'm like I stand behind my books I know there's always room to improve but the Lewis library is the first time someone told me like, no, this could be better and that was Susan Susan 

Rich Bennett 14:47
Really? 

Piper Thomas 14:47
I was like, thank goodness. 

Rich Bennett 14:48
So in high school when you were in high school. Yes, Susan's high school teacher, right? 

Piper Thomas 14:52
No, she's college. 

Rich Bennett 14:53
I 

Piper Thomas 14:54
mean, she might have done high 

Rich Bennett 14:55
I- 

Piper Thomas 14:55
school, but not when 

Rich Bennett 14:55
So you met her in college? 

Piper Thomas 14:57
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 14:57
You didn't start writing until college? 

Piper Thomas 15:00
Yeah, I, yes out 

Rich Bennett 15:02
Get 

Piper Thomas 15:02
when I started producing the books, but I've been writing like my whole life. 

Rich Bennett 15:06
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 15:06
Yeah. I Don't think you can get by without. Well, I couldn't get by without it. There's so many words my head. They got to go somewhere 

Rich Bennett 15:13
So I so you've been writing all your life, but not books. 

Piper Thomas 15:17
not but I would write like short stories and any type of like writing class you would have during grade 

Rich Bennett 15:22
Yeah 

Piper Thomas 15:22
school I would always go crazy on. That was always my favorite subject and even one of my friends I would write short stories and then she would draw pictures for them So this was like always something on my mind and then I finally just like at a certain point I'm like, why don't I just do it? 

Rich Bennett 15:37
Yeah, 

Piper Thomas 15:37
Yeah, like you're old enough. I know how to do things I can read contracts if I need to like I have all the tools I need to actually start doing it. Sometimes we just do it 

Rich Bennett 15:45
So if all this stuff you were writing there at all these years even the short stories have you saved them to possibly publish them 

Piper Thomas 15:53
I don't think I published them, but I'm saving them to like reference to frame my mind when I had it because like children are so dramatic Yeah 

Because I'm 

also really in the journaling There's a lot of letters that I wrote to my teacher's mothers because I didn't like how they were teaching me So like feelings like that I would like to hold on to like that mindset as I continue to write from children Because it's from a brainwave but at your child 

Rich Bennett 16:26
Yeah 

Piper Thomas 16:27
But post them as is would probably be rocky 

Rich Bennett 16:31
All right, you say you're into journaling. Yes 

If you don't mind me ask how long have you been journaling? 

Piper Thomas 16:38
Oh also a while, but that's before I before I understood the constantly journaling and like this was something people did I was just right whatever was like stuck in my head that day on a piece of paper and then like probably throw it away And then even one time I haven't seen the movie mean girls, but I've been told I should 

But I wrote I was disgruntled As a fifth grader is and so I made a page for like everybody in my class of Reason why I didn't like them and then someone took it out my backpack and I'm ready and I was like obviously I'll never journal again Wow 

And mind you, I was popular in fifth grade so it tore up the school So then you know after that you know 

Rich Bennett 17:22
You 

Piper Thomas 17:24
know because I issue I 

Rich Bennett 17:27
wow well not my thought with that what is because Your books are teaching people kids and adults But I think even kids middle school even elementary school if they learn how to journal I think that's a big plus for them. 

Piper Thomas 17:45
agree 

Rich Bennett 17:46
Have you thought about creating a children's book that teaches journaling 

Piper Thomas 17:51
and I'm trying to like sneak it in in little ways Because the last thing you want to do is like your lesson to feel like a lesson it 

Rich Bennett 17:59
yeah 

Piper Thomas 17:59
kind of has to yeah, so I'm trying to put it in especially I'm working on an activity book and in the activity book I have journaling prompts, but like casual one 

Rich Bennett 18:09
Okay, 

Piper Thomas 18:09
so they don't feel like they're doing too much because the second I feel like homework You're not going to do it 

Rich Bennett 18:14
Yeah, when you're young, that's true. 

Piper Thomas 18:17
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 18:17
get older you don't mind doing a homework. 

Piper Thomas 18:18
that Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 18:19
You'll learn 

Piper Thomas 18:20
it's it's kind 

Rich Bennett 18:20
fun. 

Piper Thomas 18:20
of 

Rich Bennett 18:20
Get older. Yeah All right, so you became a children's author but 

There are other things you would like to do as well right? 

Piper Thomas 18:34
I mean like authors for other books, but if I can make a career on for this then no 

Rich Bennett 18:39
When I'm talking about because you mentioned to balloon animals earlier. 

Piper Thomas 18:42
Oh, yes That would be fun. If I ever got invited to a circus 

Rich Bennett 18:48
But you don't want to be a clown 

Piper Thomas 18:49
Because I don't want to travel and oh, they're all traveling 

Rich Bennett 18:53
is 

Piper Thomas 18:53
circus 

Rich Bennett 18:54
Yeah, but you could do like kids parties. 

Piper Thomas 18:58
Yeah, I have done ballooning. I'm most out of few parties. 

Rich Bennett 19:01
Have you really? 

Piper Thomas 19:03
Yeah, I do love me a side hobby. 

Rich Bennett 19:06
We got you into balloon animals. 

Piper Thomas 19:08
Um, so like I think the human body is so capable of many things until just not learned the skills it could do. I'm like wasting my time because like, you know, I like to have my hands busy and I'm like, okay, this is so simple, I could just knock this out. It's something else I can do with my hands. The human body is so capable of it. Why not? 

Rich Bennett 19:25
For a minute there, I thought you were going to tell me you were like as flexible as those balloons and you could twist and make 

Piper Thomas 19:31
-- 

Rich Bennett 19:31
yourself 

Piper Thomas 19:31
If 

Rich Bennett 19:31
into 

Piper Thomas 19:31
I could, I 

Rich Bennett 19:32
all 

Piper Thomas 19:32
would. 

Rich Bennett 19:32
over the Holy cow. Don't scare me like that. Now, but you're no longer in college, right? Or are you still in college? 

Piper Thomas 19:42
I'm still in college. I'm 

Rich Bennett 19:43
Really? 

Piper Thomas 19:43
working on my masters. 

Rich Bennett 19:44
Uh-huh. 

Piper Thomas 19:45
I'm working on my masters. 

Rich Bennett 19:46
Master's in what? 

Piper Thomas 19:47
Creative writing. 

Rich Bennett 19:48
Creative writing. Nice? Okay. You got what, how many more years? That's what, what, four-year-degree? 

Piper Thomas 19:55
I only have two years at this point. 

Rich Bennett 19:57
Two years. Okay. But that is a four-year-degree, right? 

Piper Thomas 20:00
I think it would have been, but I transferred in so many credits. 

Rich Bennett 20:03
Yeah, and you're going to what, um, a Harvard Community College? 

Piper Thomas 20:06
No, I'm going to some school online. 

Rich Bennett 20:08
Okay. Okay. Because I know what you said, Susan is one of your -- or was one of your teachers? 

Piper Thomas 20:14
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 20:15
And Debbie Jennings, I don't know if you know her or not, D. A Jennings, another local 

Piper Thomas 20:19
-- 

Rich Bennett 20:19
children 

Piper Thomas 20:19
Oh. I know she has a reading coming up. 

Rich Bennett 20:22
Yeah. And she does creative writing at Harvard Community College. 

Piper Thomas 20:26
I didn't know she was a teacher there, that -- okay. 

Rich Bennett 20:28
I think she's still doing it. Debbie, if you're not, I'm sorry. 

Piper Thomas 20:32
[laughter] 

Rich Bennett 20:32
No, I believe she's still -- yeah, I believe she's still doing it. And -- she's I keep wanting to take her class, and I just -- I can never find the time for it. All right. So, now that you're finally out there, speaking to people and everything, have you gone to any daycares or schools to read to the kids yet? 

Piper Thomas 20:53
Um, I did go to -- there's a elementary school that I've been going to for the past three years. And I'm trying to get into more elementary schools. It just comes down to like timing, I guess, 

Rich Bennett 21:05
Really. 

Piper Thomas 21:05
of like when they are available to have it in. I'm trying so hard to get into schools during March, because March is National Reading Month. 

Rich Bennett 21:13
Ah. 

Piper Thomas 21:13
And it's also National Women's Month, and I'm like, okay, that's me. 

Rich Bennett 21:16
Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 21:17
Yeah. So I'm trying to get in there. 

Rich Bennett 21:19
Now, you just looking at the public schools or are you looking at private schools as well? 

Piper Thomas 21:23
Just the public schools for now. Private schools are a bit more difficult. They're just more strict with whatever they're letting 

Rich Bennett 21:29
Uh, 

Piper Thomas 21:29
in. 

Rich Bennett 21:30
yeah. That is true, I guess. I never thought about that. So, how many books are you working on now? 

Piper Thomas 21:36
I'm just working on the activity book for now, because especially since I'm going back to school, I don't want to be overloaded, especially overloaded and in the book takes the hit. I rather my grades take the hit. Like, I won't let them, but like 

Rich Bennett 21:49
to 

Piper Thomas 21:49
this is going 

Rich Bennett 21:50
be a touch, my name forever. 

Piper Thomas 21:51
So, 

Rich Bennett 21:51
Right. 

Piper Thomas 21:52
I'd rather have as much as I can put into it. 

Rich Bennett 21:54
Alright, so when you fit, because you're going for your masters in creative writing. So, once college is finished, what is it, is that what you want to be an author pernor? 

Piper Thomas 22:04
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 22:06
Really? 

Piper Thomas 22:07
Yeah, that'd be the goal. Um, I could do an office job. I don't think I'd be fulfilled, but I'd be paid. So. 

Rich Bennett 22:14
But, you know what? No, I love the fact that that's what you want to do, um, and I don't think they teach this in creative writing, but have you or are you planning on taking like a business management class as well? 

Piper Thomas 22:29
So, I actually have a bachelor's in business. So, like, I have the practical, like, safety plan. But now that I know I could do something with, like, if I want it to, now I have like the fallback, if my, I don't think my dreams are going to fail, but like, let's say they did, I have something to fall back on. 

Rich Bennett 22:46
Oh, the thing is too. I think it's important, especially as an author pernor that you have that, um, God. I just said it and went out my head that quick, 

Piper Thomas 23:00
with the business school. 

Rich Bennett 23:01
Think yes, um, my God, the education in business, because you are running a business. And I think that's something where a lot of authors kind of miss the boat. 

Piper Thomas 23:19
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 23:19
Don't know how to manage the business, they don't know anything about business management. The other thing that I found out, and I, at this point, I don't understand a lot of, I've met probably a little over a handful of authors that have written books, 

but, and, and published them, but they didn't do it to make money. 

Piper Thomas 23:41
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 23:42
It's like, then why did you? 

Piper Thomas 23:44
It was for some people just for the love of the game. 

Rich Bennett 23:46
Yeah, I know, but if, I mean, you're getting on, these people are getting on podcast and everything to push their book, but they'll give them a way. They say, "What? No, sell 'em." Especially if they're good books, too. 

Piper Thomas 24:00
No, it's hard too and especially because like a lot of writing comes from the love of like reading and just storytelling. Something like no, I rather you like just read the story and like the urge to not give away like I want to give away my books, but I won't. I need to make money. 

Rich Bennett 24:16
Right, 

Piper Thomas 24:16
(laughs) 

Rich Bennett 24:17
you have 

Piper Thomas 24:19
It's 

Rich Bennett 24:19
to. 

Piper Thomas 24:19
so, but because as much as you're like, yeah, I can just give you the book. Like everyone, if literature was free, that would be ideal because like then that's like every author's like dream like read my books for free. I guess not every author, but most of them just read for free have the like resources you need at your fingertips. But now we're like now we have to make money so now I have to charge you. So like if I can give it away for free, so like I I'll give it away as much as I wanted to be paid for, you know, like you giving you take. 

Rich Bennett 24:49
True, but there's nothing wrong with giving your book away. It's just who you give it to, what they're going to do with it. Because if you could give it to one person, but then they could recommend tens, hundreds, you never know to get the book. Or you give it to the right person, could be a business owner. And they like the fact they got a kid that goes elementary school. And I got this idea from Debbie Jennings. Then they may buy a bunch of your books as a sponsor. They'll sponsor your books and donate them to the school, especially because we, well, you know it's important that we hit these kids. And you can think as they're in daycare and pre-K to get them to learn how to read because once they get into middle school high school, it's hard. 

Piper Thomas 25:45
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 25:46
a lot of them, you know, they don't have the interest anymore. You gotta get them when they're young. And now with that being said, did you have you taken a class of marketing as well? 

Piper Thomas 25:57
Yeah, I'm taking plenty of marketing classes. It doesn't make it any easier. 

Rich Bennett 26:02
But I'm sitting here, I guess being the introvert part. That could make it hard too because I mean if you could go out and talk to businesses. And I'm sure there's a there are probably you look at a hundred different businesses. I'm going to say probably 99.9% of those businesses have never had an author come in and ask them to sponsor their book. I mean, to me, it's a win win because, you know, you just just give me an idea. Debbie, I'm sorry, but I'm still your idea, because it was brilliant. So like, and this is what Debbie Jennings does. So she'll put a like a sticker in the book, book sponsored by so and so business. And then either the business will donate them to a place or she will. But they've already the books have already been paid for 

Piper Thomas 26:58
yeah, 

Rich Bennett 26:59
because the business bottom. So this way, the business is getting their name out there because it's in the book. The author's already sold books. But now it's going at the places and when the thing is when books are in school. I mean, think about when you were in school. How many books did you read you got at the library in school? You loved it and you went out and bought 

Piper Thomas 27:22
it. Oh, I'm buying them all back now. Not as money. 

Rich Bennett 27:26
I'm the same way more than my favorite books. I'm going to get the name of the book wrong because it was a long time ago. But I remember I think it was caps for sale. The guy where a bunch of caps on top of his head. I love that book and I ended up not. And I didn't buy it when I got asked what bought it like 20 years ago isn't the 

Piper Thomas 27:47
tall. 

Rich Bennett 27:49
book I remember buying because I always read it to my son when he was younger. And his name is my son's name is Danny. 

Piper Thomas 27:58
Another 

Rich Bennett 27:58
So he got older. It's like how I'm going to do it and bought Danny into dinosaur. 

Piper Thomas 28:02
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 28:03
The other book that my daughter loved was Good Night Moon. So certain books, you know, beca it triggers memories. 

Piper Thomas 28:11
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 28:12
And kids love it. My older brother, because I would read to my son. Which was kind of scary if you knew my older brother. And his favorite book to read to my son was Dr. Sousa's one fish two fish. 

Piper Thomas 28:27
That was my favorite book. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 28:28
Get out. Really. 

Piper Thomas 28:30
Oh. That in like the sneakers. 

Rich Bennett 28:31
Oh, they hear my brother read it though. And my brother ended up buying it for himself. Christmas one year or something like that. It's like, but but things. The thing is books don't. If it hits somebody the right way, they keep on selling. And whether you're going to the book fairs, books are actually have you done any book signings yet. 

Piper Thomas 28:56
Uhm, so I'm actually in the process of setting up a book signing at Oddberg Bookshop. 

Rich Bennett 29:02
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 29:03
For, I had to talk to the set of the date. But she gave me the option, and I'm gonna take her. I just had so August was a very busy month for me. Some like now that I'm free, ehm, no schools about to start. Try to find a good weekend that I can have enough time to press everyone I know to show up, ehm, and make sure I have enough time to mark it on social media. 

Rich Bennett 29:23
And there you're gonna be at the Book Fair again next year. Fingers crossed. 

Piper Thomas 29:28
Fingers crossed. 

Rich Bennett 29:29
Okay. Well, if you're not there, it. you're listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

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Let's get back to the conversation. 

June, June 12th of 2027, we did up here, last year was the first year, and now we're doing it on JAP farm rooted, Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, because they got a bigger feeling, I'm flat. Our Alliance Club puts together a community connections fair, which is free for all vendors. 

Piper Thomas 31:34
Wow, it's free. 

Rich Bennett 31:35
It's free. It's our way of giving back, so it's a service project for the Lions Club and for Hartford County living, it's just something I've always wanted to do. I do believe there are a lot of people, not just in Hartford County, but everywhere. They don't know about all the local authors, artisans, businesses, nonprofits, and that's why we're doing it. So people can now. Then you can be there selling your books, set up your table, selling your books, everything, because you're going to have a lot of kids coming through to Mommy. I want to live 

Piper Thomas 32:13
on 

a library. I had the outside proof of my booth, but I would go. 

It's a mess, but I have this mushroom I like to display, and it was windy and then the sun was 

Rich Bennett 32:39
hitting 

Piper Thomas 32:40
How do I figure it out? 

Rich Bennett 32:42
it. Wait a minute. A mushroom? 

Piper Thomas 32:46
It's huge, it's like 

Rich Bennett 32:48
I'm taking it to blow up mushroom. 

Piper Thomas 32:50
No, it's like it's not cardboard. It's like plastic cardboard. That's not exactly the name material. 

Rich Bennett 32:57
Okay, what's the significance of the mushroom? 

Piper Thomas 33:01
It's on the cover of Black LOOK soup. 

Rich Bennett 33:03
It's 

Piper Thomas 33:04
to make my, I want my booth to feel like if I had a brick and mortar store, you're stepping into Piper Thomas the World. That world would have the mushroom from Black LOOK soup. So I want to feel like you're entering a children's book when you come to my booth, so that's why I got the thing. 

Rich Bennett 33:21
Women's, so it's like big enough to walk through, it has a door in it? 

Piper Thomas 33:25
no, the no door. You 

Rich Bennett 33:26
Oh 

Piper Thomas 33:26
just walk up, you see me. 

Rich Bennett 33:29
Well, I'm thinking pretty cool, so you see a booth, there's this giant mushroom with a door you got to walk through to get into your booth. 

Piper Thomas 33:36
No, with the 

Rich Bennett 33:36
of it. I 

Piper Thomas 33:36
size 

Rich Bennett 33:36
would feel like a gnome. 

Piper Thomas 33:39
I would dress as a gnome, if I was doing all that. 

Rich Bennett 33:41
I haven't known them outfit. Oh, he goes with the beard, so I mean... Alright, so John, alright, if it's a big cardboard plastic, whatever cut out. I think it's got- it's on a stand or... 

Piper Thomas 33:59
it's, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 34:00
How tall is this thing?! 

Piper Thomas 34:01
It's like 5-2. 

Rich Bennett 34:03
Oh, it looks so, it fit on her canopy. 

Piper Thomas 34:06
Yeah, but the wind. 

Rich Bennett 34:09
Yeah, okay, so you, with, hmmm. 

Piper Thomas 34:12
'Cause the wind was beatin' me up last time, and I was fed up with the mushroom, but it became a fan favorite so fast. I was like, no, keep it up. I'm like, I don't wanna do this. There was like, no, please! I was like, fine! I'll leave it up. 

Rich Bennett 34:21
Wait, anchor it. 

Piper Thomas 34:23
And that's the thing. We put crates on it, we put a cooler in it, we put everything we could on it, and it just got fallen over it, and I'm like, 

Rich Bennett 34:30
Top 

Piper Thomas 34:30
frustrated. 

Rich Bennett 34:30
heavy. 

Piper Thomas 34:31
Yeah. Like 

Rich Bennett 34:32
what- What if you put like little, drill little holes in it, and you can string it to your canopy, the top of it? 

Piper Thomas 34:41
I don't know, I have to workshop it. 

Rich Bennett 34:44
Welcome to the DIY podcast. So, I don't, so a mushroom, do you have other kind of do you have the frog in there too? 

Piper Thomas 34:53
I don't have the frog, but I do 

Rich Bennett 34:55
have the frog. What?! 

Piper Thomas 34:55
Because people don't know them as much, but a mushroom is more interesting to the eye, 'cause like mushrooms are cool, like they have 

Rich Bennett 35:03
Well, 

Piper Thomas 35:03
a cool 

Rich Bennett 35:03
yeah. 

Piper Thomas 35:03
connotation. 

Rich Bennett 35:04
Which you've been seeing a lot of them this summer too. 

Piper Thomas 35:07
Oh, I did not realize. 

Rich Bennett 35:08
Oh my God. Yeah, you need to get off a post. Oh my God. Yeah, there have been mushrooms, I don't know if it's from the- I don't know what it's from. Well, you range, you get more mushroom. There could be the humidity. But like, certain areas, you're seeing these. 

Piper Thomas 35:23
Oh, yeah, yeah. 

Rich Bennett 35:24
Everywhere, 

and there's one by the daycare where my daughter works, and she calls it a fairy garden, because it's like perfectly round. 

Piper Thomas 35:33
Ooh, do not enter that, but yeah. It's like, it's like, there's like a pokedail about it, about entering, it's called a fairy ring. And if you enter it, it's like, crazy bad luck. I would not go in there. But it's pretty little guy. It's like, we don't go in, did you go in? 

Rich Bennett 35:50
No! 

Piper Thomas 35:51
Yeah, don't do it 

Rich Bennett 35:53
Wait, 

Piper Thomas 35:53
again. 

Rich Bennett 35:54
wait, wait, wait, wait, okay, so with the fairy ring, but all the mushrooms have to be up, right? 

Piper Thomas 35:59
They're just in a circle. 

Rich Bennett 36:00
Because you know, sometimes you could be like a half circle, three quarters of a circle. Because 

Piper Thomas 36:04
mushrooms 

Rich Bennett 36:04
the other 

Piper Thomas 36:05
are still there. I'm not sure of the stipulations, I'm not a fairy, but I would be careful about it. 

Rich Bennett 36:13
Okay, so with, when you're setting up at these things, and if you haven't done anything surprised, do you make balloon animals too? It would attract the... 

Piper Thomas 36:21
It doesn't come up. 

Rich Bennett 36:22
You should. Oh my god, that would pull the little kids to you. 

Piper Thomas 36:25
I would try, I would try to do, like, 

Rich Bennett 36:27
Frog. 

Piper Thomas 36:27
so... Ooh. I haven't learned a frog yet. I only know how to do the ones with one balloon. 

Rich Bennett 36:34
Can't you make a mushroom with one balloon? No, I guess you can't. 

Piper Thomas 36:37
Yeah, it's the two colors, so it wouldn't work out well. 

Rich Bennett 36:40
Huh. 

Piper Thomas 36:42
I mean, I can learn. It 

works exactly the 

Rich Bennett 36:46
think 

Piper Thomas 36:46
way you it is. It's almost intuitive to do it. Well, maybe I'm just going with my hands, who knows. 

Rich Bennett 36:52
I said, now, being a child and how long ago was your first book published? 

Piper Thomas 36:57
2021. 

Rich Bennett 36:59
Now, are you self-published or are you going through a publishing company? 

Piper Thomas 37:01
Self-published. 

Rich Bennett 37:02
Self-published. Okay, and I may have asked you this at the book fair, I can't remember, but the first time you signed a book for somebody, what went through your head? 

Piper Thomas 37:15
It's so crazy because, like, to me, author is a title that you earn, it's not one that you just take. So when someone asks you to sign a book, it's just like, "We're, 'cause, like, for everyone else is given, but for me, I'm constantly working--have the confidence to say this about myself." So then, like, a kid comes up to you, and you're important 'cause someone told you--someone told them you're important. They're like, "Oh, yeah, it's not there. They're like, "No way! It's her!" They're always so excited. So when I'm doing them, like, "This is crazy," 'cause, like, "This is what authors do, but I'm doing it." 

Rich Bennett 37:47
Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 37:47
Like, that's what kind of goes through my mind when I'm in this situation. 

Rich Bennett 37:52
Still hard for you to accept, I guess. 

Piper Thomas 37:55
Yeah, it's something you got to work through. 

Rich Bennett 37:59
But you're a good author. 

Piper Thomas 38:01
Thank you. 

Rich Bennett 38:01
And, I mean, the kids love the books since--twenty-one, so twenty-one, and you've published three books, 

Piper Thomas 38:09
you're 

Rich Bennett 38:10
working on the other one--I guess college got into it. Wait a minute! Twenty-twenty-one. So you were in high school when your first book was 

Piper Thomas 38:15
No. 

Rich Bennett 38:16
published? 

Piper Thomas 38:16
I was in college. 

Rich Bennett 38:18
That's five years 

Piper Thomas 38:20
ago. What? 

Rich Bennett 38:22
I'm in school. Oh. 

Piper Thomas 38:22
[LAUGHTER] 

Yeah. My sister called me a professional student. 

Rich Bennett 38:27
Never mind. Never mind. And then after I get my degree and creative writing, then what's the next thing? 

Piper Thomas 38:33
Hopefully, no more school. 

Change my major like six times. 

Rich Bennett 38:39
Okay. I have to ask you this because your generation, when you were in high school, you're told--and actually, you may have started a middle school, you're told to pick a career path. What was your career path? 

Piper Thomas 38:52
Um. So originally, I wanted to have an apple orchard, and now we're here. 

Rich Bennett 38:59
Really? 

Piper Thomas 39:00
So both my parents, um, they grew up as farmers, and then we moved around a lot and everything. And so my mom, she's also, she used to be like really in the baking, but as you get older, you don't care about cooking anymore. You just eat whatever's in front of you. 

Rich Bennett 39:15
Oh, okay. 

Piper Thomas 39:19
Maybe it's my parents. 

Rich Bennett 39:21
I can't stiff from Binauri. 

Piper Thomas 39:23
So I think it'd be so cool to have an orchard where I grow my own apples. And then you go and pick the apples, you bring them to the bakery, we bake you a fresh pie, and then like, you hang out or something like that. And my mom used to be an English teacher as well. So I was like, we would sell both our books there. 

Rich Bennett 39:39
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 39:40
And that'd be the idea of thing. We'd have tree houses of like sweets that you can go up in and like get married. I mean I'm more dain't. Um, so you can go up 

Rich Bennett 39:48
tree. 

Piper Thomas 39:48
the 

Rich Bennett 39:48
Really? 

Piper Thomas 39:49
I'm telling you, anything you can do, I'm doing it. 

I'm learning a lot of weird things. 

Rich Bennett 39:55
So 

Piper Thomas 39:57
That was originally the goal. And then so the major was agricultural business, 

Rich Bennett 40:01
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 40:01
right? And it's me and about 12 other people in this planet interested in it. 

Yeah. The major guy erased, like everywhere. 

Rich Bennett 40:11
What? 

Piper Thomas 40:11
Yeah. Not exactly like 12 other people were interested. And that's it. Even if I transferred schools, I couldn't. Because no one else cares. So I had to change my major. 

Rich Bennett 40:22
Wow. 

Piper Thomas 40:23
And then uh, get spiraled. I mean, like I always liked writing. I just never seem serious until you start doing 

Rich Bennett 40:28
Right. 

Piper Thomas 40:28
it. 

Rich Bennett 40:30
Have you ever been to like laws or什么? 

Piper Thomas 40:33
But yeah. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 40:33
Oh, you have. 

Piper Thomas 40:34
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 40:35
Should have asked him to teach you. 

Piper Thomas 40:37
I know, but then the pandemic hit and the right. This book. 

Rich Bennett 40:41
Okay. All right. Okay. So you're, but you started college for? 

Piper Thomas 40:48
did. Yeah. And then my major got erased and I was like, oh, I 

Rich Bennett 40:53
I 

Piper Thomas 40:53
need to choose something else. 

Rich Bennett 40:55
All right. So what you choose after that? Was it the variety or no? It's business manager. 

Piper Thomas 40:59
Then I went to business and then I went to art and then I went to business and then I went to English. 

Rich Bennett 41:04
All right. Wait a minute. Hold up. So you did art? 

Piper Thomas 41:06
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 41:08
But we were you already drawing way before that. 

Piper Thomas 41:12
Yeah. Yeah. Um, whenever I get bored, I'm doing something. If I get bored, I'm learning a new talent. And I'll always spend a lot of time of like, um, I like oil painting the best. I think that's the easiest medium. And mainly because like when you're drawing, it's actually a lot of tiny decisions you have to make. And along with the introvertness, you don't like making decisions. But when you're oil painting, the oil paint is so messy. Half of the decisions are made for you. So like, I get to work with the paint. It's like doing everything myself. 

Rich Bennett 41:42
All right. This I'm almost why I am afraid to ask. I mean, you surprised me at the book fair. I think the biggest surprise is the balloon art. But you're surprised at me now of other things. Is there anything about paper that we don't know about that you'd like to do?

Piper Thomas 42:02
Um, stuff I haven't done yet. 

Rich Bennett 42:05
We're  going to throw it even at you doing it. Are you, do you play a musical instrument as 

Piper Thomas 42:09
on. 

Rich Bennett 42:09
well? 

Piper Thomas 42:09
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 42:10
Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 42:10
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 42:10
Oh, come 

Piper Thomas 42:10
come on. I used to play the flute a bunch. I got some awards for it. Uh, I did not stick up with it. So 

Rich Bennett 42:17
why? 

Piper Thomas 42:18
Okay. Um, I was disgruntled in high school. 

Rich Bennett 42:21
O. 

Piper Thomas 42:22
Okay. Yeah. That didn't work out. I also, it's just because the only reason I end up playing the flute is I really wanted to play Claire a net. Um, but then my mom came home. She's like, hey,my  friend gave me a flute and now I play the flute. So I, I would have learned that. Yes. But, you know, 

Rich Bennett 42:40
what else do you want to do that you haven't done yet? 

Piper Thomas 42:45
Um, I want to be in a cartoon so bad. I wouldn't get into voice acting. I would love theme song for someone to sing for me. And I want to get better at magic tricks. 

Rich Bennett 42:57
Magic was the 

Piper Thomas 42:58
thing. 

Rich Bennett 42:58
other Did. Okay. Okay. Wait a minute. First voice acting. 

Piper Thomas 43:04
I think it'd be so cool. I've always loved cartoons. So to like full circle be in 

Rich Bennett 43:10
and 

Piper Thomas 43:10
then someone 

Rich Bennett 43:10
loves 

Piper Thomas 43:10
else 

Rich Bennett 43:11
it. 

Piper Thomas 43:11
That's the cartoon I'm in. That would be 

Rich Bennett 43:13
Wait 

Piper Thomas 43:13
crazy. 

Rich Bennett 43:14
a minute. Did you, did you also tell me you do or want to do ventriloquism? 

Piper Thomas 43:18
Yes, I 

Rich Bennett 43:19
Oh my god. 

Piper Thomas 43:20
have interest. I have some shadow puppets in the mail and I'm working some somehow. 

Rich Bennett 43:24
I gotta hear some of your character voices then. 

Piper Thomas 43:27
Oh, I'm working on it. 

Rich Bennett 43:30
All right. a 

Piper Thomas 43:31
Yeah. What 

Rich Bennett 43:32
piper. 

Piper Thomas 43:32
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 43:34
I have one. Look, I mean, if I can do character voices, you can. But the characters I do you don't 

Piper Thomas 43:41
anymore. 

Rich Bennett 43:41
know 

Piper Thomas 43:42
Is less of like the characters and more of like emoting with my voice. That's why 

Rich Bennett 43:47
I 

Piper Thomas 43:47
I 

Rich Bennett 43:48
get 

Piper Thomas 43:48
think 

Rich Bennett 43:48
it. 

Piper Thomas 43:48
my voice is interesting enough, and like I think I have an interesting enough cadence to get through to get people to listen. But it's like, 'are you able to hear all the emotion I want you to hear?' Like, if I like start yelling, are you able to tell that my face is frowning right now? I need you to hear that through my voice. That's what I want to work on. 

Rich Bennett 44:07
That's good. That is good. So, do you have recording here at home? 

Piper Thomas 44:12
Yeah. One of my… yes, someone gave some to me. 

Rich Bennett 44:17
said 

Piper Thomas 44:17
You 

Rich Bennett 44:17
they're impracticing everything. 

Piper Thomas 44:18
Yeah, I'm trying to, um, I'm converting my closet into, like, somewhere, 'cause they say that's like one of the best places to record. So I'm just 

Rich Bennett 44:26
Closet 

Piper Thomas 44:26
trying to- 

Rich Bennett 44:27
or bathroom? 

Piper Thomas 44:27
Yeah. Go through all my clothes and sit in the middle. 

Rich Bennett 44:29
Oh, I was going to say, 'so where are you going to put all your clothes if you convert your closet over?' 

Piper Thomas 44:34
Yeah, they have to stay there. I don't have much 

Rich Bennett 44:35
to do. You know there's 

Piper Thomas 44:36
something 

Rich Bennett 44:37
easier to do. 

Piper Thomas 44:37
Oh, what 

Rich Bennett 44:38
it? 

Piper Thomas 44:38
is 

Rich Bennett 44:38
So, if you, like, do you have a microphone stand, like, what we have here? 

Piper Thomas 44:42
No, but, um, we know. It's like, it's like really small. 

Rich Bennett 44:46
Okay, so a tabletop one. 

Piper Thomas 44:47
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 44:48
So, what you can – there's a styrofoam thing that you can buy. It's strictly made for a lot of voice-over actors use it. And it sits on your table. And it's just ushaped. Because it's around the 

Piper Thomas 45:01
microphone. Yeah. So, 

Rich Bennett 45:02
if you have it, what's called a dynamic microphone, like what we're using, it picks up what's dead ahead of it. That sits around, and it mills rolls out any background or noise from the side. 

Piper Thomas 45:15
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 45:15
And, yeah. 

Piper Thomas 45:17
Oh. 

Rich Bennett 45:17
That way you don't have to worry about sitting in your 

Piper Thomas 45:20
closet. 

Rich Bennett 45:20
And you, your mom or dad walk in and be like, oh my God, what is going on with our daughter 

Piper Thomas 45:26
now? No, because my closet door is not even on the closet right now. 'Cause I gotta get in there. So, that'd 

Rich Bennett 45:32
Inquisition. 

Piper Thomas 45:32
be… 

Rich Bennett 45:33
The thing is with voice acting. Um, it's a career that you can make a lot of money from. But it's a fun career. 

Piper Thomas 45:44
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 45:45
And 

just do it because, I mean, cartoons. Books. 'Cause people are always looking for if they want to do an audio book. They don't want AI doing it. Some do. But, and some people don't like doing it themselves, but when you have characters in a book, usually that's one person 

Piper Thomas 46:06
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 46:07
that's doing it and doing it in different characters. Ah yeah, that's a cute one. And then you turn your books into audio. Next thing you know, you're doing all the characters. 

Piper Thomas 46:18
Yeah, I'm definitely looking into the audio books and one of my friends, he has a radio show. So, he said he would be the male voices and then I could do the girl 

Rich Bennett 46:28
A 

Piper Thomas 46:28
voices. 

Rich Bennett 46:28
local radio show? 

Piper Thomas 46:30
Yeah, like he lives here. 

Rich Bennett 46:32
Alright, so, I'm gonna put you on the spot here, Piper. I want to hear the frog. 

Piper Thomas 46:39
Oh my 

God. They don't even live here. It's like a whole new town. I haven't decided what accents they'd have. 

Rich Bennett 46:48
A frog's gonna have an 

Piper Thomas 46:50
What? 

Rich Bennett 46:50
accent? 

Piper Thomas 46:50
He's speaking. So he had... 

Rich Bennett 46:53
I don't even know how would you, how would a frog talk? I mean turtles, he's, don't know what time. Cuz you got to have that crooked air. 

Piper Thomas 47:04
Yeah, but they're also young 

Rich Bennett 47:05
Like, 

Piper Thomas 47:05
frogs. Sure. 

Rich Bennett 47:06
I'm thinking of the book, why is it commercial? But, why? That would be a long recording process, I would think. 

Piper Thomas 47:16
I'm gonna probably take a lot of takes. 

Rich Bennett 47:18
Yeah, cuz you could probably do one word at a time, maybe one syllable at 

Piper Thomas 47:22
a time. 

Rich Bennett 47:23
That would be hard. I don't, 

Piper Thomas 47:27
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 47:27
wow. 

Piper Thomas 47:28
unless you guys like slow it down or something. 

Rich Bennett 47:30
Alright, so voice acting, magic, balloon animals. Well, you don't play the flute anymore. Is there another instrument you play? 

Piper Thomas 47:37
No, that was 

Rich Bennett 47:37
Alright, 

Piper Thomas 47:38
it. 

Rich Bennett 47:38
so what else is it that you want to do that you haven't done yet? Your resume is going to be amazing. 

Piper Thomas 47:45
I would like to be like, if I get really big in the voice acting and then I also would like to do like, well, I started doing like cartoon reviews, but like separate from my authors account, cause like the bigger I get as an author, the 

Rich Bennett 47:57
able 

Piper Thomas 47:57
less you're To like dislike something. Like, I still have like my firm stances, but like, now that I understand the writing process, as much as I do, to like go on another writer, I would never like put you down. 

Rich Bennett 48:07
to do. Yeah. 

Piper Thomas 48:08
You know what I mean? So it's just like, I would like to keep that separate from my author 

Rich Bennett 48:12
account. Okay. 

Piper Thomas 48:13
Yeah. But I would like to be known as like a cartoon reviewer and valued for my opinions on it. And then invite it to a cartoon festival where they're like, yeah, but wait till you hear what she's going to say about it. And I'm like, and I'll put like a thumbs up and I was like, yeah. And then they care about my opinions. 

Rich Bennett 48:29
Yeah, that'd be interesting because I, you see people that review books I'm never seen by ReuCartoonZell. 

Piper Thomas 48:36
yeah, it's niche, um, I know they're out there, but there's a lot of, like, less of reviews and more of, like, recapping the episodes and then there, I mean, the reviews do exist, but I think I have like, you know, the position of being like a viewer creator. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 48:52
Oh, okay, okay, I knew there 

Piper Thomas 48:54
was. Oh, you mean like 

Rich Bennett 48:55
I thought you 

Piper Thomas 48:56
per 

Rich Bennett 48:56
meant 

Piper Thomas 48:56
cartoon? 

Rich Bennett 48:56
late, huh? 

Piper Thomas 48:58
Newspaper cartoons? 

Rich Bennett 48:59
Oh yeah, that's right, if it's, yeah, cartoons aren't a book, that's a comic, isn't 

Piper Thomas 49:03
it? Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 49:06
That would be a different niche though. 

Piper Thomas 49:08
It would, um, I even got into it more than like Garfield and that guy with the Calvin and Hobbs. That's like, 

Rich Bennett 49:16
oh you're going old school. 

Piper Thomas 49:18
Who, oh, who does it? Unless it's like a graphic novel? 

Rich Bennett 49:21
This isn't even a thing anymore, is it? 

Piper Thomas 49:24
I mean, people still like 'em, 'cause it's like vintage. 

Rich Bennett 49:26
What was the other one that is no longer around? It was all, you didn't have care, it didn't have certain, in other words, it didn't have dedicated characters. It was always like just one comic, oh, man, I can't think of it now. Yeah, all right, so, oh, I got an idea for you. So you want to get into voice acting? You want to review cartoons using a different name I guess? To play 

Piper Thomas 49:52
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 49:53
it safe? 

Piper Thomas 49:53
right now it's just like user 2, 4, 5 or whatever, and I'm okay with that. 

Rich Bennett 49:59
You're 

just doing it online? 

Piper Thomas 50:02
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 50:03
Have you ever, maybe start a podcast doing 

Piper Thomas 50:06
it? I would love to, oh 

Rich Bennett 50:09
my gosh, 

Piper Thomas 50:10
but I would like a co-host for the podcast. Someone who also likes cartoons as much as I do, and one of my friends, we were talking about it, right? 'Cause I write more, but like he draws 

Rich Bennett 50:20
more, so... Right. 

Piper Thomas 50:21
He'll have more insight on like the artistic one, and I'll have more insight on the written one, and we could like really hash it out. So that would be, at least- 

Rich Bennett 50:29
fun, 

Piper Thomas 50:30
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 50:30
can be expensive, 

Piper Thomas 50:31
It's 

Rich Bennett 50:31
well, not really, but I mean, depending on how you do it. 

Piper Thomas 50:35
you had the startup cast and all that. 

Rich Bennett 50:37
Well, You already have part of the equipment, and if you have a laptop, you plug a USB microphone into it, that's all you need. I think the host team... Well, all depends on, 'cause you don't want to do it on YouTube. 

Piper Thomas 50:50
I mean, I don't mind. 

Rich Bennett 50:51
Yeah, but think about it, you don't want to use your name, but you're putting your face out there. 

Piper Thomas 50:56
Oh yeah, I would just block the camera. We're like a lot of people, they'll draw a character that's meant to represent them, and then have like an artist draw that character in like 17 different positions so they can just like have reaction photos alongside of whatever the narrator 

Rich Bennett 51:10
Yeah, 

Piper Thomas 51:11
saying. 

Rich Bennett 51:11
but if you could figure out a way to do it just audio, because the other thing is if you do it video, and then share the cartoon, that can be a copyright infringement thing, I would think. 

Piper Thomas 51:21
Well, I looked it up, because I was scared 

Rich Bennett 51:23
it. Dude, 

Piper Thomas 51:24
about 

Rich Bennett 51:24
man, you're already going- Okay, go ahead. 

Piper Thomas 51:26
Yeah, you can have it up to like a certain amount of seconds, or I'm not even sure, at the second time, even mattered. But the thing I remembered from it is like, as long as whatever you say directly acknowledges the cartoon clip you just showed, it's okay. 

Rich Bennett 51:39
Okay. 

Piper Thomas 51:41
if you're showing it for no reason, then they'll get mad, but if you 

Rich Bennett 51:43
Well, 

Piper Thomas 51:43
can 

Rich Bennett 51:43
'cause 

Piper Thomas 51:44
justify like and whatever speech comes after that clip, they're right with it. So 

Rich Bennett 51:49
what's the name of the podcast going to be? 

Piper Thomas 51:52
I know, it will definitely be a pun, something funny, something that cartoon people are now like, oh, yeah, that's good. 

Rich Bennett 51:59
Or 

who's going to be Bevis? Who's now? 

Piper Thomas 52:06
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 52:08
that way grabbed my attention. I don't think there is- The only thing I can think of is the one a friend of mine has one about Disney. 

Oh my god, sorry, Connor, I forgot to see what your podcast 

is. Poor 

unfortunate podcast, 

Piper Thomas 52:29
Oh, that's good. 

Rich Bennett 52:30
I think. podcast, I believe it is. And him and his co-hosts are what they do is talk about basically everything Disney. And a lot of it's not good. But interesting and very good podcast actually. That could be fun. Now, would you do somebody all of a sudden has a podcast and they're talking the same way about one of your books? 

Piper Thomas 52:57
be open to it. And 

Rich Bennett 52:58
I'd 

Piper Thomas 52:59
especially because fans always connect dots that the creator never considered. And then you're like, oh, yeah, no, I totally meant that. 

Rich Bennett 53:08
Actually, with your books, do you belong to any writers groups? 

Piper Thomas 53:12
No. 

Rich Bennett 53:12
Because I do know, I think there is a one around here for children's authors. I 

Piper Thomas 53:17
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 53:18
think. 

Piper Thomas 53:18
I did not know that. 

Rich Bennett 53:19
Yeah, I think Lindsey Pope might have started it. I might be wrong, um, I can find that though. Which is a great idea because as a children's author, if you're sitting in a writers group with a bunch of people that write novels, kind of hard, 

Piper Thomas 53:37
yes! 

Rich Bennett 53:37
Different, different people critiquing your book and everything, but if you're in it with other children's authors and illustrators, it makes a big difference. So, all right, it's up to very important. Working people good to find your books and your balloon animals. 

Piper Thomas 53:55
(Ellis laughs) 

Rich Bennett 53:55
Flute, and your podcast ate nudge. 

Piper Thomas 53:58
(Ellis laughs) 

Rich Bennett 53:58
Working people good to find your books. 

Piper Thomas 54:00
Uhm, so... 

Rich Bennett 54:01
(Ellis 

Piper Thomas 54:02
Right now, Blackwood Soup and what if a book for a balloon are on Amazon and the littleest library, you can get 

Rich Bennett 54:09
laughs) 

Piper Thomas 54:10
exclusive signed copies from Aubru Bookshop and that's OnStores, and in line, 

Rich Bennett 54:14
Oh, there are- 

Piper Thomas 54:15
or in-stores and online. 

Rich Bennett 54:16
Oh, they have an online site? I mean, 

Piper Thomas 54:18
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 54:18
an online store too? 

Piper Thomas 54:19
Yeah, so you can get a shift right to your house. 

Rich Bennett 54:21
Oh, wow. I didn't know that. I gotta- I gotta get that. Do you own her on here? 

Piper Thomas 54:26
Yeah, she's pretty cool. 

Rich Bennett 54:27
Hmm. All right. So, do you have anything to add before you pick the last question because I know you've been looking 

Piper Thomas 54:33
this. 

Rich Bennett 54:33
forward to (Ellis laughs) I might actually have you pick two questions. 

Piper Thomas 54:36
I think we actually talked a lot more than I thought we were going to, so... 

Rich Bennett 54:40
(Ellis 

Piper Thomas 54:40
laughs) 

Rich Bennett 54:41
All right. Pick a number between one and a hundred. 

Piper Thomas 54:44
Thirty-four. 

Rich Bennett 54:45
Thirty-four. Thirty-four. Why, thirty-four. 

Piper Thomas 54:48
'Cause I was thinking seventeen, but it was too early on, so I doubled 

Rich Bennett 54:51
Oh 

Piper Thomas 54:51
it. 

Rich Bennett 54:51
god. 

Piper Thomas 54:52
(Ellis laughs) 

Rich Bennett 54:54
Oh, okay. What is a lesson you've learned about the nature of change? 

Piper Thomas 55:01
I 

guess it keeps happening. 

Rich Bennett 55:07
(Ellis laughs) These are some deep 

Piper Thomas 55:08
questions. Yeah. No one truly likes change. We all just gotta deal with it, and yeah, it does keep growing. And it's so crazy, 'cause you'll see, like, a movie- there's like, in two weeks, no one's gonna care about this. You're like, "No. The world is ending. This is it. It's over." And it actually isn't two weeks, no one cares. So, you're just getting through with that sucks, and like, before an actor sucks. (Ellis laughs) 

Rich Bennett 55:30
And you know I gotta ask you seventeen. 

Piper Thomas 55:32
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 55:34
(Ellis laughs) The funny thing is, with these questions a lot of times they aligned with what we've been talking about, or somehow or another, it makes sense. And seventeen, you're gonna like this. 

Piper Thomas 55:49
(Ellis laughs) 

Rich Bennett 55:50
What is a common, well, yeah, running lips here. What is a common assumption? People make about your generation, and what is the reality? 

Piper Thomas 56:01
Um, I think my generations known for being pretty unserious. Um, everyone makes a lot of jokes, and everyone's really silly. But also it's just like, yeah, we're making a lot of jokes, but we actually are doing the things. We just complain a lot. (Ellis laughs) So it's just like, yeah, I'm gonna do it. I'm just not gonna like it. (Ellis laughs) 

Rich Bennett 56:20
It's the Mean Girls 

Piper Thomas 56:21
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 56:21
thing. 

Piper Thomas 56:22
I mean, I guess. I saw him in the movie, but sure. 

Rich Bennett 56:26
You know what I wanted to do one more, are you so pick another one? 

Piper Thomas 56:28
Um, 

Rich Bennett 56:29
between one and a hundred. 

Piper Thomas 56:31
I was gonna say one on four if I never. (Ellis laughs) Um, 

Rich Bennett 56:35
god. 

Piper Thomas 56:37
Seventy-seven. 

Rich Bennett 56:39
Sixty-seven. 

(Ellis laughs) Okay. If you could travel to any point in the future or past, when would you go and why? 

Piper Thomas 56:55
Um, maybe the future of next October because there's a stationary festival in Korea, and I would save my money to go, and I really like stickers, so if I could be there, I'd like it. 

Rich Bennett 57:08
A stationary 

Piper Thomas 57:10
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 57:10
festival? 

Piper Thomas 57:11
Oh my gosh. And it's just 

Rich Bennett 57:13
like, I'm looking at the 

Piper Thomas 57:14
videos and they're coming out with such cool things. I'm like, no way. It's just like, I do a lot of writing, so anything that enhances the writing process, I'm all for. 

Rich Bennett 57:22
A stationary festival? A stationary that you're running on? 

Piper Thomas 57:25
Yeah. I'm like, like, the stamps, the stickers, there's like edge cutters to like shape your paper in a certain way, the pens, the clips, oh my gosh, there's like, there's a whole, they have stationary awards. 

Rich Bennett 57:37
Get out. 

Piper Thomas 57:38
(Ellis laughs) Then there's always like, most innovative, most creative, most helpful, most environmentally friendly, most sustainable, like stuff like that. The stuff that won the stationary award is, I'm all over. I want to sustain one specifically, 'cause like, I journal a lot, but only on recycled paper, 'cause it's like, it's a wasteful habit, so I try to eat, balance it out. 

Rich Bennett 58:01
I dare any other, 'cause I never heard of a stationary festival, 

Piper Thomas 58:04
It is? 

Rich Bennett 58:04
it must be only there. 

Piper Thomas 58:06
They have, they're bringing one to how to grace next year. 

Rich Bennett 58:08
A stationary 

Piper Thomas 58:09
Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 58:09
festival? 

Piper Thomas 58:10
I was looking for local ones, and then I seen that. It's like, I think next fall. But yeah, that would be really cool. 

Rich Bennett 58:21
Okay. Hey? Wow. I guess I have a festival for everything now. 

Piper Thomas 58:25
They do. There was just like a freaking like Michael meet up where all the Michaels no it was Ryan all the Ryan's in the Not in the world, but all the Ryan's met up in this one place and they and you all had to be nine named Ryan and they were trying to break the world record for most people with the same name getting on a roller coaster at the same time. 

Rich Bennett 58:44
What? 

Piper Thomas 58:47
were they all the Ryan's gathered and then they all gone on a roller coaster. 

Rich Bennett 58:51
They 

How in the world do you find out these 

Piper Thomas 58:56
things? They find me. 

Rich Bennett 59:00
Wow, Ryan's festival at a stationary place getting on the roller coaster making blue and animals on the way down and 

Piper Thomas 59:10
Talking 

Rich Bennett 59:11
like frogs. 

Piper, I want to thank 

Piper Thomas 59:16
you so 

Rich Bennett 59:17
much. Oh my god, I have a funny feeling we could have talked for hours. I have a funny feeling. This is not the last we heard from you 

Piper Thomas 59:23
the 

Rich Bennett 59:24
either, and tell doors open and tell Susan I said hi. If you how often do you see her, 

Piper Thomas 59:31
I don't see her that often not after I graduated, but she oh my gosh. She's such a cool person. Yeah, 

Rich Bennett 59:38
she's still writing. 

Piper Thomas 59:40
Yes, 

Rich Bennett 59:40
Yeah, she is. 

Piper Thomas 59:40
she's still writing her. She's winning numerous awards. She's so good on what she does, 

Rich Bennett 59:45
Oh, yeah. 

Piper Thomas 59:46
and she's such a nice person, and it's just always like like the Interappartness comes out. You're like, I don't want to talk to this person, but I'm like, I did talk to her, and I'm like, wow, 

Rich Bennett 59:53
She's 

Piper Thomas 59:53
now my life is 

Rich Bennett 59:54
easy. 

Piper Thomas 59:54
much better. Yes, 

Rich Bennett 59:56
very easy. She makes you comfortable. And yeah, she is amazing. 

Piper Thomas 1:00:01
got 

Rich Bennett 1:00:01
I 

Piper Thomas 1:00:01
a such a cool person. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:03
Yeah, that could be a good one because 

Piper Thomas 1:00:06
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 1:00:06
teacher. 

Piper Thomas 1:00:07
yes, teacher. Yeah, she helped me 

Rich Bennett 1:00:09
the 

Piper Thomas 1:00:09
out a lot with 

Rich Bennett 1:00:10
dude in. 

Piper Thomas 1:00:12
I'm down. I'll 

Rich Bennett 1:00:13
talk to her. to her. 

Piper Thomas 1:00:15
Talk 

Rich Bennett 1:00:15
Piper, thanks a lot. 

Piper Thomas 1:00:17
Well, thank you for having me. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:20
Well, I'm glad Paper and I finally had the chance to finish the conversation we started at the Book Fair Bill there. And even with a full episode, I think we could have kept talking for hours. You know what stayed with me was Paper's point about writing being a quiet form of creativity. When a child writes a story, it doesn't demand your attention the way singing or dancing might. But taking the time to read it tells that child their words matter. That's something worth remembering, whether you're a parent, a teacher or somebody encouraging a young writer. I loved hearing how she brings that idea of life into the littlest library, right down to helping readers make their own tiny books. She's given children a chance to become part of the experience, to use their imaginations and to create something themselves. And there's a lesson here for us adults too. Paper was honest about the challenges of putting herself out there, learning to market her books, and building the confidence to call herself an author. She also shared how valuable it was to have a teacher who offered honest feedback and helped her become a better writer. Encouragement matters, but so does having someone who cares enough to help you grow. Of course, we also had plenty of lives, and somehow found our way from children's books to balloon animals, voice acting, giant mushrooms, and stationary festivals. Curiosity is something I really appreciate about Paper. She keeps finding new things she wants to learn and giving herself permission to try. You'll find information about Paper and her books in the show notes. Take a look. Share her work with a family who loves reading, and if you pick up a book, consider leaving an honest review. At the next time a child wants to share something they've written, give them a few minutes of your attention. You might be helping a future author find their confidence. A special thank you to Freedom of Federal Credit Union for sponsoring this episode and helping us bring these meaningful conversations to you. Until next time, I'm Rich Bennett. Thanks for listening and remember, every great conversation starts with someone willing to listen and someone willing to share. Now it's your turn. Join the conversation by sharing this episode, leave in a comment, or reaching out to me directly. Take care, be kind to one another, and I'll talk with you again soon.