Speaker 1: Hello, Sally, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2: Good morning, good eaton?
Speaker 1: Actually I should say how are you doing in my
new tomorrow that hasn't arrived yet, because you're down there
in Australia.
Speaker 2: That's right, it's a great day. You love it.
Speaker 1: Hey, congratulations on Transfigured c. You have come up with
the most creative way to promote the beauty and the
love and the atmosphere of the ocean without saying this
is a journalist's job. I'm going to talk like a journalist. No,
you share a story.
Speaker 2: Yes, it's a story. It's been cold and challenging. It's
a story of two women who live in the sea.
And you'd probably say, how can they breathe underwater? Well,
one of them, called Laura, signs a special counch show
on the beach. It's just like this one and you
see that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and.
Speaker 2: It's very beautiful and she puts it in her pocket
and keeps it with her and it helps them breathe underwater.
It directs them to where they have to go from
one ecosystem to the next, just like a GPS, and
it gives them information about all the beautiful and amazing
sea creatures that they meet. Just like Wikipedia.
Speaker 1: You know, that's very interesting the way that you just
describe that in the ecosystems that they meet, because a
lot of people think it's just one giant ocean, when
in fact there are many different layers and levels of
an open sea.
Speaker 2: Oh, yes, definitely, there are many different ecosystems. Just at
the coast, there's the mangroves, the estuary, the rocks, the
sandy beaches and all thoughts. And then of course when
you get underwater, there's the shallow water, the coral reef,
the deeper water and Antarctic waters which are different again,
and then there are the deep waterhs that go down
several kilometers.
Speaker 1: One of the things you put I was gonna see.
One of the things that you put a lot of
focus on is the fact that it's authentic. You're being
very transparent because you really do bring together the essence
of what you've learned as a student, and now you're
teaching us through these paragraphs of a storyline.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's right. It's a story about the women whose
relationship is a bit shaky. So they think that if
they work on their own sells to improve their own
psychological makeups, that their relationship will get better, and it does.
And while they're doing this inner exploration, they're also doing
an outer exploration of the ocean and meeting lots of
wonderful sea creatures in the process. So the book is
nature writing, which means that the natural environment is given
just as much attention as any other of the main
characters in the book. And that's why it's kind of
two books in one.
Speaker 1: Oh, I'll give you that right there, right there, because
it is because I mean, being a lover of the ocean,
I do take it, you know, take it as the
way that you're telling me the story of the ocean.
But at the same time, I'm also in love the
story of these two women that have come together to explore.
I mean, you're right, it is two books in one,
that's right. How did you keep them separated in the
way of you know, because when it comes to continuity,
you've got to stay true to it. Was it difficult
to write like that? Was it? Two separate personalities inside
of you, Sally?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't think I've found it difficult. Because a lot
of the things about the state creatures, their shape, their form,
their behavior. It often parallels behavior of human beings, and
so throughout the book, the state creatures were a parallel
for the women, and towards the end of the book
that becomes very significant.
Speaker 1: A lot of our listen have never been beneath the
surface of the water, and that's one of those things
that when I went down beneath the water, that changed
my life forever. And that's what I like about this.
When she goes into the water and she's able to breathe,
you give us that atmosphere of wow. Now you can
see what everything has always been written about. You can
experience it yourself. Oh.
Speaker 2: Yes, there's nothing life a coral reef, A healthy coral reef, Yes,
with all its colors and textures and shapes, it's just
a wonderful thing. And every minute the fish does in
from the other side, and then some other fish a
different color comes from the other angle and it's just amazing.
And it's Fir said that the Great Barrier reef in
Australia is dying. The coral is bleaching, and that is
because mainly of climate change.
Speaker 1: I's going to ask you about that. Yeah, I was
going to ask you about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because because with an extra CO two in the
atmosphere that acidifies the water and the coral can't tolerate that.
And also the increase in temperature can't be tolerated by
the smaller organisms in the sea like the coral, and
so that's why they're losing their color and all the
beauty is gone.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you a question when it comes to
the coral in situations like that, would you say that
the coral today is the dinosaur of yesterday?
Speaker 2: Oh? I hope not.
Speaker 1: Oh, okay, I do hope. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, because
it just seems like nobody wants to really delve in
and really bring out the true message of saving the coral.
I mean, it's not on the conversations of so many
people here in America. It's like, save the planet. What
are you talking about? The climate? It's out of control?
What are you talking about? I mean, what is it
like for you down there in Australia. You at least
are embracing it, are you not? Oh? Yes.
Speaker 2: A lot of people are aware of environmental issues now,
which is wonderful because when I first got interested many
years ago, there was just a small group of its.
But now most people are aware to some extent, which
is great. They don't always know the best thing to
do to help as far as the ocean goes. On
my website, I have listed the threats to the ocean,
and I have listed things the practical things that we
can do to help protect the ocean. And my website
is Sally and Hunter.
Speaker 1: One of the things that that really is weaved into
this story. We have the story between the girls, and
we also have the story of the ocean. I mean,
there are three main characters in this book that you
put a lot of love and attention on.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's right. And there's a storm at one stage
in the book, and that parallels the relationship between the women.
They are going through a stormy stage of things. And
in fact, I could read your poems.
Speaker 1: Jes I was going to bring up the poetry I was,
I swear to you, I was going to bring it up.
So yes, please, I would like to hear it.
Speaker 2: Yes, because we love the ocean. We love the beautiful
colors in the state that change as the sky changes
from her poise, the blue of different shades. But sometimes
we don't like the ocean when it gets violent. For example,
now Laura has a problem in her relationship with her
mother and this poem is called Mother Sea, and it
depicts the emotional problems between Laura and her mother, mother Sea.
Mother Sea rejected me, did not wash me into shore,
did not cast me away with seaweed and shells. She
threw me jags, heads, lashed me, repeatedly, picking me up
and throwing me onto points. Shreds and tears became food
for the cheese of shark. Already met the passage, My
central self was gone. Shreads of garments gasserts in deep underwaves,
sinking without form, underweight of water phaging.
Speaker 1: Mmm, you embrace that atmosphere, don't you. My goodness, you know,
speaking of the ocean changing, you also put a lot
of focus on how the moonlight affects the ocean as well,
that there is a connection there. And until I read
about that, I didn't realize the moonlight had its own
place in the story.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes it does. And also the sunlight. Yes, the
lusa on the surface of the ocean is similar to
what Laura feels in her heart. It's as if two
mirrors were opening in her heart, and there was a
lot of shining light. And on the first page of
the book, Laura, the mother of the sea. Sprite experiences that,
and she talks to herself. She muses about the nature
of the sea, and the sea is a whisper of
emotion and a memory of intuition. It is a place
of change, It is a dream. It is the fullness
of the subconscious.
Speaker 1: Isn't this story pretty much what we all want to
experience when we go to an ocean shore. We all
want to be able to step into that ocean and
become a part of that journey as well. Because I
really felt like a child, I felt like an adult,
I felt like an explorer. You really plant that seed
in saying you look beyond the pebbles of sand and
step into the water.
Speaker 2: Yes, but there's life in the sand.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes there is. Yes, there is.
Speaker 2: There's life everywhere. And life is pretty wonderful at resisting
and being resilient. But we have to not hinder that
process but help it be part of nature, not opposed
to it.
Speaker 1: In the story are You Laura? Because I love how
confident Laura is and how she expresses her true feelings.
Speaker 2: Yes, she is a poet and a biologist. And yes,
I wrote all the poems in the books.
Speaker 1: It is about you, then, because because I mean, I mean,
you're writing about both characters, and it's and it's like
you do it so elegantly and and so connected. It's
like going, oh my god, I love how she split
these the you know, everything together here and it's like, Oh,
just dive into it. Give me more, give me more.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you. That's wonderful. Is well. People can obtain
a copy of the book Transfigured c from my website
uh so that's Sallyandhunter dot com, and they're able to
find out about the different books I've written, including Transfigurancy
and to uh and to order a coffee of the book,
either from myself or from Bands and Noble or Amazon,
or from their local show as well.
Speaker 1: Wow, you've got to come back to this show anytime
in the future. The door is always going to be open.
I live in a forest. I totally understand nature. I
protect my trees, I protect my soil, and you're doing
the same exact thing when it comes to protecting those
open seas.
Speaker 2: Wow, that's wonderful. Yes, I've read a book about a
woman who lived in the faus. She loves the trees.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes, So please come back to this show
anytime in the future. The door is always going to
be open for you. Sally.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, it's been the pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1: Well, you'd be brilliant today, Okay, thank you