58. Millie Florence and millieflorence.com

In today’s episode, we get to spend time with Millie Florence, a prodigious young author from Illinois whose passion for storytelling and delight-directed learning has carved a unique path through the world of middle-grade fiction. From the early whispers of stories under the covers to becoming an influential voice in homeschooling circles and the literary world, Millie's journey is a testament to the power of nurturing creativity and following one’s calling. Join us as Millie shares her experiences with homeschooling, self-publishing her first book at the age of 13, and the serendipitous encounter that led to her partnership with Sarah Mackenzie. Prepare to be inspired by Millie's insight into the delights and challenges of being a homeschooled entrepreneur, author, and lifelong learner.


Connect With Millie
millieflorence.com

Books by Millie
The Balter of Ashton Harper
Honey Butter
Beyond Mulberry Glen

Books
The Secret Garden
A Little Princess
Anne of Green Gables
Warrior Cats

This Golden Hour
Free eBook Course
thisgoldenhour.org

Transcript

Millie Florence: 0:00

And I would say, don't worry too much about that. Every kid is different. Everyone learns at their own pace. I learned at my own pace. If a public school teacher or someone involved in the public school system were to have looked at, like, where I was in all of my education when I was younger. They would probably say I was behind, especially in math um, in, in some areas. And meanwhile, I would be grades and grades ahead in others writing and reading. Every kid is different. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I think you, you need to worry less about where your kids are supposed to be. And instead, if they're where Is like right for them, let them learn at their own pace and give them a buffet of experiences

Timmy Eaton: 0:49

Hi, I'm Timmy Eaton, homeschool father of six and doctor of education. We've been homeschooling for more than 15 years and have watched our children go from birth to university successfully and completely without the school system. Homeschooling has grown tremendously in recent years and tons of parents are becoming interested in trying it out. But people have questions and concerns and misconceptions and lack the confidence to get started. New and seasoned homeschoolers are looking for more knowledge and peace and assurance to continue homeschooling. The guests and discussions on this podcast will empower anyone thinking of homeschooling to bring their kids home and start homeschooling. And homeschoolers at all stages of the journey will get what they need and want from these conversations. Thank you for joining us today and enjoy this episode of this Golden Hour Podcast as you exercise, drive, clean, or just chill. You're listening to this Golden Hour Podcast. In today's episode, we get to spend time with Millie Florence, a prodigious young author from Illinois, whose passion for storytelling and delight directed learning has carved a unique path through the world of middle grade fiction. From the early whispers of stories under the covers to becoming an influential voice in homeschooling circles and the literary world, Millie's journey is a testament to the power of nurturing creativity and following one's calling. Join us as Millie shares her experiences with homeschooling, self publishing her first book at the age of 13, and the serendipitous encounter that led to her partnership with Sarah McKenzie. Prepare to be inspired by Millie's insight into the delights and challenges of being homeschooled, entrepreneur, author, and lifelong learner. Welcome back to this Golden Hour podcast. Today, we are privileged to have with us Millie Florence from Illinois in Southern Illinois and Millie, I think it makes sure that I say this right but consider yourself a middle grade fiction author and a couple of The works that are at least a few I want to mention are the Balter of Ashton Harper, Honey Butter and Beyond Mulberry Glen And then I think you're gonna tell us about something that you're about to do with Sarah Mackenzie. Is that right?

Millie Florence: 2:58

Yes, so I, I am a middle grade fiction author. I started very young. I've been homeschooled my whole life, and I published that first book, Honey Butter, when I was 13 years old, and I just have not stopped since. I'm now 20, and actually, yes. So that one book that you mentioned, Beyond Mulberry Glen, that's the one that I am publishing with Sarah MacKenzie, which is a very fun story. I'm actually republishing it. Originally, I self published it when I was 15, and she discovered it and read it and asked me if they could republish it through Waxwing Books, which is a very fun story how that came about. Yeah, tell

Timmy Eaton: 3:41

us about that for sure.

Millie Florence: 3:42

Sure, yeah. Like I said, I started when I was 13, so I've been doing this publishing books thing for a while and I would always try to do live events specifically, so go to conventions to sell my books and really be able to connect with readers and talk to kids and I always went to great homeschool conventions in Missouri, and I'd been going there for several years. I had a booth, and I would sell my books and talk to people. And last year, 2023, I was at the Missouri convention as usual, and I had finished selling books for the day, and I went to get on the elevator with my my dad and my sister to go get dinner. And we get in the elevator. And it goes down a couple floors and the doors open and Sarah Mackenzie steps on and that was my first time meeting her and we had a about a 30 second conversation in which I was like, Oh my goodness, you're Sarah Mackenzie because I had I've grown up listening to her podcast. And I told her I am an author. And I have a booth in the convention hall and I told her my name and that was all I didn't even give her a business card because I had run out of business cards at the convention. And then fast forward the next day. I am at my booth selling books and I'm signing a book for someone. And then another mom. Walks up straight to my booth and picks up a copy of Honey Butter and goes, Can I buy this? Sarah MacKenzie just told me it was phenomenal. I later learn that after meeting me in the elevator that night, Sarah MacKenzie downloaded the e book of Honey Butter and read it. And was recommending it to people at her booth the next day. So of course I got in touch with her after that. And we met up a couple other times at conventions and chatted through email. And it was only two months later, she offered to republish the book I wrote when I was 15 beyond Mulberry gone.

Timmy Eaton: 5:47

That's awesome, man. So how, but like, how does that work? Like how does republishing that's I haven't. What goes down when that happens?

Millie Florence: 5:55

Yeah, okay, so basically It's going to get a, another round of edits with feedback from Sarah and a couple other editors on her team. And I'll do edits on the book another round because obviously, I published it when I was 15. I've learned a lot since then about writing. So there, there's even some edits that I wanted to make for it for a while. So it'll get new edits. It will also get a brand new cover, which is illustrated by Astrid Scheckels. I have seen it. It's not public yet, but I've seen it and it is great. Absolutely phenomenal. You approve then? Oh yes. Astrid is such a talented artist. I'm so excited for everyone to be able to see it. And yeah, and then the book will be published through her company. Her distribution will ship orders and yeah. I'm going to have a whole new re release for it and pre orders and I'm really excited.

Timmy Eaton: 6:47

That's well good. Oh, congratulations. That's really amazing. Now tell me about the edits. Are there significant edits or is it more minor stuff and then mostly just re rebranding it in a sense? So

Millie Florence: 7:00

it's nothing significant in terms of the structure of the story itself is not changing. It's still the same book. It's mostly edits on more of a line edit level and a little bit of like clarification. And I, I strengthened the dialogue in a few places where I felt like it could use some improving. We've trimmed a bit and yeah, condensed stuff so that it just. comes together a little, it flows a little bit smoother. But it's very much the same story that all of my previous readers know and love. So I'm really excited. Yeah.

Timmy Eaton: 7:35

Congratulations. That's excellent. Maybe tell us about like when you, cause you said you published at 13. So that means you were writing obviously and working on things and then, learning the process of doing that to take us, cause your first book that you published, Was the balter of Ashton Harper. No, that's my most okay, so I have, so is it Honey Butter that was

Millie Florence: 7:56

the first? Yes, Honey Butter was my first published book, yes. Yeah, so leading up

Timmy Eaton: 8:01

to that, take us through

Millie Florence: 8:02

that. Yeah, of course. I always like to say there has never been a time in my life when I didn't want to be a writer. Literally my earliest memory is of laying under the covers at night whispering stories to myself when I was supposed to be asleep. At Probably age like four or something. I don't know exactly. But I've always been obsessed with telling stories before I could write or like type very confidently on my own. I would pace my room telling stories. I would draw out stories with like little stick figure comic books. One Christmas, my parents got me a recorder, just like an MP3 recorder that I could tell my stories aloud into. And I would also tell stories aloud, I would dictate them, and my parents would type them for me. So even before I was confident enough in my writing and spelling and typing abilities, I was just a storytelling machine to the point that my parents got a little overwhelmed with it. And we had a mother's helper at the time, this older teen who had, come to help my mom chop vegetables and fold laundry and stuff. And at one point they'd hold her, Hey, for the next hour, can you just sit and type Millie's stories because she will not leave us alone.

Timmy Eaton: 9:20

That's amazing. That's so cool. That, so that's like something not everybody has that, not everybody has that. Just, it was from the beginning that I knew my. My calling or my mission and then so good for you for having that happen and then like when did you write honey butter?

Millie Florence: 9:34

I wrote honey butter in nine months So I was 13 the entire time from like the beginning to writing the first draft of publishing it but honey butter was actually One of the very few books that I actually finished a draft of, because I had always struggled with not being able to finish things. I get so many creative ideas that I get so excited about, but they're very fleeting, right? And then I would lose motivation and I would go on to the next shiny new idea, shiny new thing.

Timmy Eaton: 10:08

I can

Millie Florence: 10:08

imagine. Yes. I realized that wasn't working because I always knew I wanted to be an author. I think it was age nine that I decided I was like, I love telling stories. What do you do when you tell stories? You write them in a book and you share them with people. It just felt like a very natural next step, and it was around that age that I decided, okay, if I'm going to do that, I actually need to finish something because right now that's what I'm struggling with. About age let's see, so it was right before I wrote Honey Butter, so I would have been 12, I was working on this super complex sci fi adventure story, and it was just very much above my writing level because I was there, I was still learning a lot and I recognized that fact and I realized, okay, if I'm actually going to finish something, I think it needs to be something simple and I think it needs to be something short. So then I decided that the next book I would write would be really short, really simple, not include magic, just like as simple as I could make it so that I could learn how to finish something. And

Timmy Eaton: 11:10

Did you come to that on your own or did somebody help you with that realization? Yeah. I

Millie Florence: 11:14

don't remember exactly. I, it was mostly me coming to it on my own. I'm sure I had discussions with my parents about it because I was always constantly talking to my parents about the stories I was writing and the thinking behind them. And, that was a huge part of our homeschool experience was just the conversations we would have and how open they were to listening to me and how passionate I was. I'm sure it's the sort of thing that I figured out through the years. discussing with my parents. But one thing that I specifically had in mind when I came to this realization was something my ballet teacher had once said because I took ballet when I was younger. She said, I'd rather see a clean single than a dirty double. And When she said that, of course, she was referencing PK turns, which is a type of spin you do in ballet. And she's saying, I'd rather see a dancer do one spin and do it cleanly and nail it, do it really well, then attempt to do two spins in attempt to do something more impressive, but make it do it well. Yes, exactly. Yeah. It's

Timmy Eaton: 12:16

it's like the, it's it's like somebody who, is trying to dunk all the time and all you got to do is make a layup and you

Millie Florence: 12:21

still get the points. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So that was my thinking behind it. And then it was also around that time that my parents were repainting part of our house. And they took me and my siblings to the paint store a lot when we were on errands. And while we were there, I just started reading the names of the paint cards, the little paint sample chips that you'll find at a paint store. And it was things like Lion's Mane, Ribbon Dance Swimming Salmon, or whatever. And I was able to as I was reading this, I realized This is amazing. It's just a couple words, but they invoke this image in your mind, right? So I started collecting paint cards, and that is what inspired Honey Butter, because Honey Butter is about a seven year old girl who is obsessed with collecting paint cards. And that was the beginning of that idea, was reading those paint chips while I was bored on errands with my parents.

Timmy Eaton: 13:19

That's awesome. What were you reading? What kind of stuff was informing your ideas? You obviously had ideas, I don't know, innately or something but what was, what were you reading? What kind of stuff was informing your thinking and writing?

Millie Florence: 13:33

So there were three audio books that I remember listening to on repeat, just over and over again, loop. When I was young, it was probably. They were my comfort audiobooks, basically, and it was just free audiobooks from the public domain of Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, and A Little Princess, so that's Anne of Green Gables by Ellen Montgomery, and then A Secret Garden and A Little Princess are both written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and it was those three That I generally attribute to my foundation in literature because I just listened to them so many times. Yes. And I, I think that was very Informing for me. But I also want to say this because I know that not all parents have kids who want to read the classics, right? I was also reading Warrior Cats, okay? I was obsessed with Warrior Cats which is basically just a cat soap opera, middle grade fantasy adventure. Yeah. I know it sounds like super impressive and I'm like, I was reading, all these classic books on audio from the ages of 7 to 11. It was other stuff too. And I think I learned, I always like to say you learn just as much from reading a bad story as you do from reading a good story. Not to say that Warrior Cats is entirely bad, there are definitely good qualities about it. But you learn so much from reading good stories. Any kind of story, like reading at all will always inform you, so it was a lot, but those three audio books. And then

Timmy Eaton: 15:01

How would you describe the evolution of your reading? What do you find yourself reading mostly now? Or do you, would you say that as an author, I don't know if this is true for everybody, but would you say that it is constant reading that bears thoughts in your mind and in your mind and that it gives you ideas and that informs your style of writing. Are you, what are you reading currently or recently? So

Millie Florence: 15:23

A couple thoughts here. First of all, my style of reading and what I read has not changed too much since I was younger because I do write middle grade fiction, which is for kids. And I love middle grade fiction. I absolutely love that there's this element of whimsy. Kids are much better at suspending their disbelief than adults. So you can get away with much more creative plots in middle grade fiction and fiction for kids. So I still primarily read middle grade fiction and middle grade fantasy and adventure. The genre has not really changed. Of course, I have continued to, embark on those classics. So Charles Dickens, Jane Austen. That's. Something I've always been intentional about ever since my teen years. I always tried to be really intentional about reading books that would be an education for me as an author. Because, that's what I wanted to be. And I felt like I could really, I could find a mentorship that transcends time through all of those classic authors, J. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis and all of that. A lot of, yeah, a lot of that, a lot of classics, a lot of middle grade fiction is mostly what I read. That said, you mentioned Oh, do you get your inspiration from books and you must be reading a lot. I actually don't read very much. Which I feel a little bit embarrassed to say. I'm not a super fast reader. And, I can when I want to be. It depends on the book. But, no, I'm not the sort of person who will read a book in a day. I, It'll often take me months to read one fiction novel and part of that is just because I spend a lot of the time writing rather than reading. Yeah. Because the stories that I'm obsessed with are the ones I make up in my head. That's true. I tend to get more Inspiration and ideas from my real life experiences, but I do think I, I get a lot of motivation from reading fiction. If I'm ever in a writing slump, I'll start reading a book. I like and remember oh, this is why I do this. For this magical feeling, and it makes me want to play with words and get back into my manuscript,

Timmy Eaton: 17:26

and do you, and are you consuming books typically through audio or through reading? Like what, do you still do both or?

Millie Florence: 17:34

Yeah, I still do both. The only medium that I tend to avoid is ebook. I, it's, for some reason it's really difficult for me to get into reading an ebook. But other than that, yeah, I love audiobooks. I really like listening to Jane Austen books on audio rather than reading them. Especially if there's a voice actor doing the audio for Jane Austen novels. Because so much of Jane Austen's writing is dialogue. With very few dialogue tags to describe how they're sounding, so I really like it when there's a voice actor that brings some life into all of that dialogue. For sure. But I would say I read more just physical paperback copies of books, but a decent amount of audiobooks as well. I

Timmy Eaton: 18:16

always ask people in these episodes, but have you ever heard of the Yodo? I have not. What is that? Yodo player. Like basically the short story is that my wife and I always struggled with the audio thing, because a lot of times it was on a device and we just, we didn't want our kids doing that. And anyway, my wife is a very good researcher for a curriculum and resources. And she found this thing called the Yodo player. YOTO. Mm-Hmm..And anyway, our kids, the only thing I would say, and I don't know if it's a problem, I think time will tell, is that they just are they're so immersed in the Yoda and listening to books on the Yoda that they don't our younger three, our first three read way more books. Reading the book, hefting the book and reading it. And our second group of three, they they tend to listen to way more and I'm saying. You talk about a book a day like that is realist because they'll listen to it on three or four times speed. And I don't even get that. I couldn't do that. And I don't know. I don't know. Anyway, there's probably research that needs to be done. I don't know if that's healthy or not but but the Yodo I do feel like is amazing. And so anyway just a thought. Maybe you could tell us a little bit So when you were writing, you had this idea of writing and stories since you were four years old, like you said, whispering. I saw that on your website. I loved that description. But what, how would you describe the other subjects and how did they work their way in? And were you or your parents that concerned if they knew that you were so committed to writing and the future that kind of could have held for you? I know that you can't know that when a child is five or six maybe but I guess maybe just tell us about how you navigated the other subject material or other things that you were learning along with reading and writing.

Millie Florence: 19:49

Yeah, absolutely. So my parents have this homeschooling philosophy they call it delight directed learning, which means that all of our subjects tend to feed into what we love most. So it's not even so much of, oh, how did they work the writing into my schoolwork? It's no, how did they work schoolwork into my writing? Because that is what I loved. Yeah. And yeah, there are dozens of ways, there's so much about writing that is just inspiration from the real world. So I saw a lot of the other stuff we did, the science field trips, walking, hiking in the woods and learning about nature and learning about I don't know, history. All is just inspiration and inputs into my writing, really. And we read a lot of living books as well, as my mom would describe it, so I didn't really read textbooks very much. We used very few textbooks. It was mostly just like fiction and storytelling and we would explore the subjects around that. I read some historical fiction, And okay, I feel like I should probably also clarify, because I know a lot of homeschool families, they hear homeschooling and their first question is what curriculum did you use? We, we did not have a set curriculum yeah. So we were very eclectic. We used a lot of different approaches and resources, it all depended on what worked for each kid. I got really into learning Latin at one point Because I wanted to include it in one of my stories beyond Mulberry Glen, actually, because I decided, it's so cool that there's this language that nobody speaks anymore. So I'm going to learn it and I'm going to make it the official language of the fairies in this book that I'm writing. Cool. So we did, yeah, tons of books, lots of free time, especially when we were younger, lots of field trips and hands on learning, book clubs, co ops, travel. The whole idea was like, let's integrate this into what you love

Timmy Eaton: 21:48

first. A phrase that I love that you said it that way and a phrase that I hear some people that I've talked to use is like chase your interests, right? Let the, let your interests form or dictate like the path that you're going to trod and I love that idea. I think that and I really, You used the term living books. Is that Charlotte Mason philosophy or is that? Yes. My

Millie Florence: 22:05

mom is a Charlotte Mason fan. Yeah.

Timmy Eaton: 22:07

And that really, I think is behind a lot of homeschool philosophy. People do different things. And I liked that you said eclectic. Cause I think that might be the, I don't know. I just feel like that fits a lot of it's hard to compartmentalize But is it, cause sometimes you want to ask people, so were you an unschooling family? Are you a homeschooling family? Are you a structured homeschooling? Are you just doing school at home? And I'm just so reluctant more and more to, to compartmentalize because it is just it's so unique to the family. So I'd rather talk about principles of learning and living. And how does that apply to the Florence's? And

Millie Florence: 22:39

yeah, absolutely. And it's interesting. I love that you said oh, you don't compartmentalize, because I think the advantage of homeschooling is that you don't have to compartmentalize. No, you don't. You, the subjects can get mixed together, and you can be learning about don't know, just for an example, at one point, my sisters were out in the woods, Behind our house and they found this really weird looking shape on the tree bark. And they're like, what is this? And I took my mom out to see it and my mom was like, I don't know, let's look this up. And we looked it up and we found out it's like eggs from this particular bug that made this formation on the tree. And we got to learn about that together. So it's stuff like that is just. More naturally integrated and a walk into a walk in the woods. PE can turn into a science lesson can turn into learning about Latin because you look at the Latin like roots for words can turn into like storytelling and history and just integrating all of that together works really well. And one of my dad's. He says this is like his proudest homeschooling moment, is when I was younger, an adult found out I was homeschooled and asked, Oh, what do you do for homeschool? And I went, Nothing! That's so

Timmy Eaton: 23:50

common.

Millie Florence: 23:51

Yeah, because for me, it didn't feel like I sat down and did school. It was just a part of life, like learning was a natural part of life for the most part, especially when I was younger. Now of course, once you get older, once you get into the high school years, we did some more structured stuff. Math has always been a struggle for me. So there were absolutely stuff there that I had to, at some point you just have to sit down at the table and work, fill out a math worksheet. So it's not always that ideal. I like idyllic scenario that I just described, but I think my parents tried to lean into that delight directed approach as much as they could. So

Timmy Eaton: 24:27

I really liked that phrase, delight directed. In fact, I think my wife uses that word delight and delight directed. And I think it fits when you were talking about walking in the in the woods and discovering the eggs on the tree and the P E thing, like what it made me think of is, if I were to talk to homeschool families right now, I think, after 16 years of doing it and seeing two kids go all the way through the whole, the whole time homeschooling, I would say just keep documenting everything your kids do, and then worry about where it needs to be. Directed as far as for a transcript or for portfolio later. If you want to structure something now, that's fine, but just don't get unduly concerned about that because the fact is those experiences and the rich learning, natural learning, the organic nature of that, and just having tons of interest based experiences is going to be more impressive on anything anyway. And you'll be able to, you'll be able to articulate that in the way it needs to be done for whatever university or career that you choose to pursue.

Millie Florence: 25:27

Yes, exactly. Because ultimately that try that high school transcript is just documentation, really. And actually. I did not add up any of my credits for my first two years, two or three years, yeah, doing high school. And then, at age, I was 16, and my mom was like, we should probably add up your credits. So we did. And I was only missing, I was only half a credit away from graduating.

Timmy Eaton: 25:57

Yeah. So just don't worry, carry on, just love learning and learn how to learn. And and you, that response of what do you do for homeschool? Nothing that all that's some parents would definitely panic in that situation and homeschool families. That probably is telling in that you just, you didn't feel like you were being, you weren't doing school at home. And so that's probably a beautiful thing. Yeah. So what are you doing now? Are you doing anything post secondary or like when somebody hits the level that you're at, as far as authorship, do you go to school or do you just work on your business? And that is education. I'm

Millie Florence: 26:30

working on my business and that's my education. Yes. I think it's different for everyone, but for me, I feel like I would get a better education for cheaper through real life experience than going to a college or a university especially, where I am with my books and how much I've learned. This is one of the huge advantages of homeschooling as well, is you learn how to teach yourself. I published, I self published a book when I was 13. I had to figure out how to do that. I had to go from being like, I love telling stories, to how do I put it in a book? And how do I put it somewhere where people can buy it? And how do I get people to find that book and buy it? Yes. Yeah.

Timmy Eaton: 27:10

If I were you, Millie, I would put next to my credential, Millie Florence, and I would just put PhD. I'm serious. Who cares? Like I'm still, you should seriously put it because are you kidding me? Seven years, totally immersed in the world of writing and publishing. You have a PhD, just put it down. If the world cares about a PhD, put it down. Seven

Millie Florence: 27:31

years is technically a. The 10, 000 hours required to become an expert. That's what

Timmy Eaton: 27:36

I'm saying. So if it's letters that people are looking for it, I think you've qualified. So I don't know, you've got my permission to do that.

Millie Florence: 27:43

Thank you. I am

Timmy Eaton: 27:44

honored. That's really cool. So

Millie Florence: 27:46

honorary PhD from the Golden Hour podcast. Yes,

Timmy Eaton: 27:49

yes, indeed. No, for sure. Like we, we will award that to you today. So congratulations. So can I just pepper you with some homeschool questions? Yeah, absolutely. Go for it. So based on, and I love that. I love that. This is the student perspective because I haven't had a lot of that. I talked to your friend Nadine Laufer on here and that was so fun to talk to her and I've taught youth and young adults for 20 years. And so this is my group and I love Chatting with the students, but what would in your memory and in the way that you understand it, what was the first exposure that your family had to homeschooling that led to your parents making that decision?

Millie Florence: 28:21

So I was not born yet when our family first had our exposure to homeschooling. Because my parents, so originally they were actually missionaries in China for a while. And because of That was partially what got my mom to start researching homeschooling, because she felt like that would just be the easiest if she was going to be raising kids in a country. Abroad. Yeah. So that, that was the beginning of her research, but even just the more she researched it, and even after my parents came out back to the US when I was a toddler she just felt like it was, Worked better like she really liked what she was seeing about homeschooling and so she decided to continue with it. I know both her and my dad can remember being unsatisfied with their public school educations. They have memories of well, I finished my work, but now I have to wait for the rest of the class. So I'm just sitting at my desk. So I think they just started researching it and they really saw the value in it and they decided to go for it. So that, that was the first exposure, which is a story I have heard secondhand because I was not born yet. Yeah.

Timmy Eaton: 29:24

No, that's why I like to hear your perspective. And then and I like, because a lot of times today, the rea people's reasons and everyone has their own reasons and that's totally fine. It's a, sometimes it's a reaction to the system. It's, they see where things are heading. More and more people are leaving the public system and choosing alternative options, including homeschooling and homeschooling has grown like crazy. And so it, it is interesting to find out this is probably, people would probably go, really, you're going to ask that? But I think it's a, I think it's a telling question. I just want to hear your definition. What's your current definition of what homeschooling is and homeschooling, because that's a hard one because there's so many different references for home education, unschooling, world schooling, road schooling, car schooling. There's so many. Yeah, there's a lot. And the word schooling itself carries a lot of it evokes a lot of feelings. And so how would you define homeschooling?

Millie Florence: 30:09

I would probably give it a pretty broad definition because I know a lot of people have different ideas. So I would say it's teaching children at home where the parents are the main educators. So I think that would be my broad definition. I think, yeah. Yeah, I think that would be my general definition, yeah.

Timmy Eaton: 30:26

Yeah, and I guess I've talked about it a lot in these episodes because the idea home, a lot of times it's not at home for people that are homeschooling. And a lot of times it's not schooling at all in the sense that it doesn't look like the school. And so I always struggle with that term. I get it, and right now it's hard to change it But it is interesting just to see how do people view that? What would you say has been the biggest challenge or what was, what were like, what would you consider to be like, Oh man, these this was like a tough part of the way that we chose to pursue learning in our family, like our education. What did you remember as a challenge or even a problem?

Millie Florence: 31:00

Math. Yeah I've. I'm very creatively minded, as you can tell, and I think when God created me, he gave me a lot of creativity and a lot of motivation and not as much skill in math and more yeah, numbers in general are not my friend. So that, that is what I remember being particular struggle with my education. And Even now, having gotten through high school, I don't feel like I have the best answer. Ultimately, I think pushing through a algebra and high school mathematics taught me discipline more than anything else, and It taught me that I could do hard things, because a lot of the other subjects just came very naturally and very easily to me. But math, no matter how hard I tried, it was always a sticking point. Learning to have the discipline and the motivation to do something, even though it was not something that I enjoyed, I think was still a very valuable

Timmy Eaton: 32:10

lesson. Let me, and I want to explore something with you maybe just for a minute. So tell me about your your view of math in running a business. What, how, tell me about that. And like where the actual purpose of math. Where the rubber meets the road. Because you have a business, you have numbers you have to deal with all the time. I do, yes. And do you struggle with

Millie Florence: 32:31

that? I actually don't struggle with that as much when it's in a context of my own books. Partially because the equations I'm actually doing are not usually algebra. It's usually pretty, pretty simple stuff for now. It will probably get more complicated as my business grows. But I can use the calculator and my dad has taught me how to use spreadsheets and one fun experience that I've had in terms of math and numbers is I did take a coding course at one point on how to like they taught you how to make like very simple, very mini like video games. So that was a very positive experience I remember having with math and. Doing math for my business has felt similarly to that because it's working towards a creative end. Yeah. There's

Timmy Eaton: 33:15

some relevance there and it's enjoyable to see. And it has a, it has a meaningful I just point that out because, we put the subjects in a box and say, this is what it is. But the fact is you probably have enough math. To to last you your lifetime and I hope so based on, because you're going to be having maybe somebody else do the accounting and somebody else doing that. And again, I'm not saying it's not, it's good to learn things, but sometimes we learn what you need, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I think, you're, I have three, Postgraduate, or I have three degrees after high school, and I, not one of them involves math. I'm saying directly, and I, and I, but I enjoy math, and I enjoy doing it with my kids. What about benefits? If somebody said, hey, what are the actually, before I go on to benefits, would you say that social was a problem, social life? No,

Millie Florence: 34:04

I don't think so. I think I don't think it was any harder than it is for any other kid or teenager. I think it's just different. Yeah, it's different. I'm not going to say there wasn't points in my life when I didn't struggle with making friends and having a friend group. But I don't think that was ever because I was homeschooled. I think that was just You know, kids in general and being awkward and learning how to communicate with peers and all of that. I don't think going to public school would have fixed anything.

Timmy Eaton: 34:37

I agree with you. I keep saying the term apples and trees. Guess what? Kids come from their parents. And, and I know that's not everything and, but as far as healthy socialization, I can hardly endorse the public school system for that end, if that was what I was shooting for. And I agree with that. What about like just being around your family a lot?

Millie Florence: 34:56

I actually think being around my family so much was a huge blessing. And social. like experiences in general in homeschooling. Something I want to talk about specifically, and this does lead into the like family thing, is you learn how to interact with people who are very different from you. In my book, Honey Butter the main character, Jamie, who is seven, becomes best friends with a 13 year old girl. And I've done school visits for this book before. Schools have had me come and talk to their class about my book. I've seen pictures. Yeah. Yes. And one of the questions that I get surprisingly frequently from public school kids is how can they be best friends? They're, like, way different ages. And that really surprised me as a homeschooler, because I was friends my friends were, There were very few of them who were, like, exactly my age. I would say at least half of my friends were at least a year or younger or older than me. So I think, in some ways, being homeschooled opens up those social opportunities. I was much more used to interacting with people of different ages, from different backgrounds. And with the age thing, like my siblings, I was used to being around lots of, kids who were younger than me because I'm the oldest in my family and learning how to get along with people like that. So I don't know. I think the social dynamic is interesting because and I think I said this on another podcast interview, but if you, if there's an adult who works from home, no one asks them, how do you make friends? In fact, in the adult world, if your only friends are from work, people might look down on that. I don't know, it's a little bit surprising to me, that public schoolers There's this idea that all your friends are from school. And so then if you're homeschooled, how on earth are you making friends? Yeah. How are you doing that? I was in sports and theater and I met people at the library and the park and I had multiple homeschool co ops. I was in and we went like on field trips, the museum together. So yeah.

Timmy Eaton: 37:01

No, that's a great, that's a great response. I, we have a daughter your age, and I've taught, I talked to you about this before the interview, and we want you guys to be friends just because we think you would connect. But the fact is when she was like, she played the cello and she continues to play the cello and and her cello teacher, where we live in Southern Alberta is, I don't even know how old she is approaching 50 or somewhere in there. And honestly, one of Jane's best friends and and truly Like a mutual relationship. Obviously they have different experiences and are different stages. But and I noticed that she made friends with people of all ages, but typically older. And so I love what you just said there. I think that principle is fairly consistent among homeschool students. What would you say are. We were, I was going to talk about benefits and we've been talking about that kind of throughout. So maybe we could just incorporate that into some of these things. But what would you, how would you describe your biggest family priorities when it comes to education and lifestyle? And that kind of informs even the decision to choose, when a family says, I want to homeschool or whatever definition they use. Outside of the conventional system, it's really their family priorities about education and lifestyles that's driving that decision. So how would you describe that in your situation?

Millie Florence: 38:10

I think my family's main priorities were individual, individualized education, which I gave an example of that of delight directed everything I did was it informed. My writing, right? And it was very centered around that. For my siblings, I have a brother who is now a professional drone pilot. So he was very into like tech and robotics and a lot of the stuff they did informed that. I have another brother who loves soccer. I have a sister who loves to draw and bake. And my youngest sister also loves drawing and storytelling. So we The education that we had was almost completely different. Yeah, tailored to the individual. Yeah, tailored to the individual, yes. So there was a big emphasis on that was a big priority. Conversation was also a huge priority in our family. I didn't really write essays until high school. Until I was high school age and I was a teenager. I didn't get assigned essays. Instead, I would sit and have long discussions with my parents about the books I was reading, about the history stuff we discussed, the movies we were watching, about current events in politics and religion. And Just anything that I was interested in, I would have a random question and it would turn into a two hour conversation while my mom made dinner and my dad like cleaned the living room.

Timmy Eaton: 39:26

I love it. That resonates so much with our experience and more and more people that I talk to, especially I'm finding, especially from the student perspective, those family discussions is where so much of the integration of learning, and it's not like this formalized, like deliberate, we are going to integrate all that we've learned. But it's more like natural, organic discussions with a family that spends a bunch of time together. And it's not like homeschool families are the only ones doing that, but that it is it's just more frequent. They got more time together and then they share so many experiences together. So I like that. Anything else on that as far as priority family priorities?

Millie Florence: 40:05

I think also free time was a huge priority. Because obviously, if I was going to write a book, I had to have the time to do it. They really allowed us, especially when we were younger, like that was a huge thing for my mom when we were younger, to let us play as much as possible. Because she wanted us to figure out what we loved, and give us the time to pursue that, right? I, you said at the beginning of the podcast, oh, it's so amazing that you discovered that you love writing this much when you were so young. The truth is I could have known that I liked writing, but it wouldn't have gone anywhere if my parents hadn't encouraged me. To pursue what I loved and given me the time to do it. I maybe would have liked writing, but never figured out how much I actually liked it and how much I could do with it.

Timmy Eaton: 40:51

Oh, if the bell was always ringing, if the bell was always ringing and interrupting your being lost in that world, that could have really caused some problems. Yeah. To where you are now. And did you say earlier when did you actually start writing? Yeah. Per se you were storytelling, but when did you actually go, no, man, I like writing. Because that's different. Storytelling and writing are different things.

Millie Florence: 41:13

Yes, ah, I'm trying to think. Again, there was so much integration because even my storytelling would become part of me and my siblings were playing a game and I would be like, guys, this should happen because then this, right?

Timmy Eaton: 41:26

Did you write scripts and have your siblings and you act things out? I did

Millie Florence: 41:30

not write scripts, it was a lot of improv. But in terms of like writing, I think it's because we were reading so many living books that felt like the most natural outlet for my storytelling, and There was I have this very specific memory of there was a really old computer at my grandma's house, and it could not access the internet. It was very old. It could run almost nothing, but it had word docs on it. And I would just sit there typing out stuff, even though I wasn't the best speller, just trying to put something together. And I was like, this is cool. I have The ideas in my head, I've turned them into something that other people can read as well. Oh,

Timmy Eaton: 42:13

just as you're talking, I'm just, I love that you were just fostered and cultivated and nurtured in a way that could really let your interest flower, but at the same time, it makes me sad to think of how many kids are not able to do that or, would have, but just can't because you just can't do that with, unless you have it just teaches me that a major principle of lifelong and learning and the love of learning is to let it be interest based. Was there a time when your parents were okay would you have been lost in the writing? Reading storytelling world as long as you like, as long as you would have, or did you go, no, I'm, I want to do something else now. Or did your parents have to be like, okay, you actually do have to do something else now. Or did they just say, no, keep rocking because you're into it. question? I guess what I'm asking is did they ever feel like they had to interrupt? Sometimes you'll hear parents say, if I let them, they would read all day in their room. Yeah. Or if I let them, they would just write all day. And sometimes I'm like, because I don't have any kids that would do that as, as much, but and we were probably, we probably got in the way, we probably still get in the way more than. Just letting them do stuff. But it's anyway, there's lots of factors there, but

Millie Florence: 43:23

was I ever so passionate about it or so hyper focused that it became problematic? Is that what you're asking?

Timmy Eaton: 43:29

Or at least in the view of your parents, did it seem like it was problematic, but they're like I think you really do have to do some math and you have to eat something and that sort of stuff or were you not that crazy into it that you couldn't. Break away from it and

Millie Florence: 43:42

I don't have any specific memories of them being like, okay step away from the story Not really. There I think I remember being called for supper a lot and they're being like, okay, we, family dinner is important. We all have to eat together. You have to come sit with us. And I, again, like I said, I remember math being a struggle, but I don't really remember them like ever pulling me away from my story for math. I, and any of the other subjects, I remember it being more like I don't know, like I might be working on my story and my mom would come over and be like, Hey, what are you working on? I'll be like this and I'm struggling with this and this character is, I don't feel like they're quite where they want to be. And then we would have a little discussion, right? And then my mom would be like, Hey, do you want me to read a chapter of this? History book to you that we've been going through. I was like, yeah, that sounds like a good break because I'm trying to work through this thing anyway, and it's not quite where I need to be. And,

Timmy Eaton: 44:31

and I, and again I, what I'm hearing is there's just like good communication between you and your parents and I think that's just. Again, that's another underlying principle that really is what matters, and so I love to hear that. So can I throw out at you a few questions that are like rapid fire questions and you have to give kind of pointed answers. Is that cool?

Millie Florence: 44:49

Okay. I'll accept the challenge. Yes.

Timmy Eaton: 44:52

So the first one has to do with favorites and you've already mentioned books. Did you want to mention any more favorite books?

Millie Florence: 44:58

Yes, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It has got to be my favorite modern middle grade book of all time. Absolutely amazing. Go read it. Any

Timmy Eaton: 45:09

others?

Millie Florence: 45:10

Lord of the Rings, but that's obvious.

Timmy Eaton: 45:12

All right. What about favorite curricula? Because I know that you, just like us, we use curriculum, but we don't focus on one in particular. I hear a lot of people talk about IW and Thomas Jefferson education. There's lots. Any in particular that you would, that is be noteworthy of mention?

Millie Florence: 45:30

Charlotte Mason and Brave Writer. I quite enjoyed Brave Writer. I did. I just talked to Julie Bogart.

Timmy Eaton: 45:37

Yes. Yeah. I just had her on here just recently. So that was, oh man, she is so fun. I told her in the interview, I said, I didn't realize you were this spunky. And she started laughing and she loved the word. And so I was like, yes. Julie Bogart. I like the word I used. Favorite blogs?

Millie Florence: 45:53

Ooh the ones I'm going to say are just going to be related to writing because I don't really read homeschool blogs. Helping Writers Become Authors by K. M. Weiland. She's also wrote several books on writing. I really like her blog. Yeah, I think that's the main blog that I keep up with. Favorite

Timmy Eaton: 46:10

podcasts, podcast. Don't feel like you have to mention mine.

Millie Florence: 46:16

Read aloud revival, Sarah McKenzie. Yeah. Brave writer, Julie Bogart. Let's see. Again, K M Weiland, who also has the blog helping writers become authors. She also has a podcast,

Timmy Eaton: 46:27

any podcasts outside like the your homeschool or writing world. Ooh,

Millie Florence: 46:31

Oh, I can't remember the name, but there's specifically this, there's this kid's podcast that It's I need to look it up.

Timmy Eaton: 46:39

You can tell me. I can put it in the show notes later if you want. Okay,

Millie Florence: 46:41

okay. I can't remember the name, but it is a kids storytelling podcast. So it's these voice actors who will get stories written by kids. Kids can submit their stories to the podcast. Cool. And they will read them dramatically and be different characters. Oh, I like it. They'll use the stories to inspire some, and then they'll, they also have reoccurring characters and you get like some of their like story from their serial storytelling that's going on to get a little bit more of that each podcast episode as well.

Timmy Eaton: 47:10

That's awesome. If you find that, let me know the name of that and I'll put it in. I will look it up. Any favorite YouTube channels.

Millie Florence: 47:16

Yes. So in terms of writing Abby Emmons on YouTube. Is a wonderful YouTube channel for, she was homeschooled as well, actually. Yes. And she self publishes books and runs this YouTube channel, which is all about writing and publishing and she is delightful and super smart. And I love her story breakdowns.

Timmy Eaton: 47:36

And then one more favorite, and that is, and I'm grateful for that tip. That's good. I'll look into that one for sure. Just any websites in particular that you Yeah. Yeah,

Millie Florence: 47:44

Story bird. Storybird. com, actually, is something I used a ton when I was 10 and 11. It is a platform for kids to post their stories on, and they can get comments and feedback from both some professional editors in the industry and from other kids their age who are using the platform. And the great thing about Storybird is that the whole thing is moderated. So you don't have to worry like that there's going to be something inappropriate because you can like filter it by age make sure that you're only reading like stuff appropriate for that kid's age. I used that a lot when I was younger and that was actually one of the things that made me want to get into publishing because I really liked hearing from readers about my writing. So

Timmy Eaton: 48:25

when you were, this is totally an aside and then we'll come back, but like when you were learning about publishing, were you doing that? Mostly on your own or alongside the help of your parents?

Millie Florence: 48:34

All the research I did on my own. Occasionally I would help ask my dad to help me with more technical

Timmy Eaton: 48:39

stuff. Yeah what does this mean or what

Millie Florence: 48:41

is that referring to? Yes, exactly. But the research I did on my own. I used Google and Pinterest and YouTube and just asked all my questions and read a million blog posts and just really immersed myself. In that world. So for

Timmy Eaton: 48:55

you, that's, I love to hear that. And I love this, that again, that's just an illustration of that self directed interest based kind of curiosity that you're pursuing. I love it. And just as another aside, and then again, we'll return. But what, like I, as we've been talking, I've just been thinking about you doing this with Sarah Mackenzie. What does that do for you? I'm saying, what does that do for your business? And to be co publishing or, doing a work with Sarah Mackenzie. Yeah.

Millie Florence: 49:21

I already published something with a traditional publisher, Bandersnatch Books. I published The Balter of Ashton Harper with them. So that was really my first forte into traditional publishing and working with another company. So that was a super interesting experience. And then working with Sarah MacKenzie and Waxwing has been a similar experience, but I've still learned a lot for the differences between different publishing companies. And yeah.

Timmy Eaton: 49:45

And what about in the sense of getting it in front of Giant audience, I would

Millie Florence: 49:51

assume that has been absolutely insane. I would

Timmy Eaton: 49:55

think

Millie Florence: 49:55

when the episode so I was selling copies like signed copies of a couple of my books on my website because I had some stock leftover from the in person events I was doing. And then my podcast came out with Sarah McKenzie and all of that stock sold out within A little over a week. And I was up until midnight, a few nights packaging orders with my mom and my sister.

Timmy Eaton: 50:20

That sounds like a lot of math. Oh, yes. So we return again to that. That's very cool. I, and again, congrats for all that's happening for you in that way. That's good. Those are good blessings. Just a couple more favorites. And then do you have time for maybe two or three more questions? Yes. Okay. And then we'll wrap up. Do you have any favorite like field trips or places that you've traveled to as a family or or just local field trips? Tell us anything about that. I more and more, I love field trips and I regret, I think a lot of homeschool parents feel the way that I do. Like I wish now that we've homeschooled through a lot, I could go back and start with what I know now because man, it was, like you're, if you decide to homeschool and maybe I'll ask you that later. You just carry this kind of understanding and peace and calmness about how it turns out. Because so many of us homeschool parents, we, I would say, waste a lot of time worrying about how does this turn out because, the future seems uncertain for our kids. But now with so much You know, so many examples of the flourishing that homeschool students have when they finish high school and just live life. I just have zero hesitation telling anybody who's wondering no, man, this is a great way to, to live. Each can choose how they want but it's anyway, a lot of that to say favorite field trips, favorite travel places, all those things.

Millie Florence: 51:39

Yeah, so I think general field trips, I would say camping and hiking. And then going to museums. I have a lot of fond memories of those, specifically. All sorts of museums, art museums, science museums. I have so many just core childhood memories from going to places like that.

Timmy Eaton: 51:58

And are you going to St. Louis or Chicago for those, or just everywhere?

Millie Florence: 52:01

We lived up near Chicago when I was younger, so we went to a lot of museums in Chicago there are just fewer near us since we've moved we moved when I was nine but we still go Fairly frequently. There are a couple near us that we like to go to. And then hiking and camping has always been a staple in our family. So I love that. I love like exploring and nature is just so amazing. And I always felt like I was going on a great big adventure, bilbo Baggins and the Hobbits. I'm going on an adventure. So that was super fun. That's yeah, like activities and general field trips. In terms of travel, my family has done a lot of travel. Because we have been fortunate enough that my dad has gotten to go on business trips overseas. And so we often use that as an opportunity to take the rest of our family as well. And so I've been to Italy and Germany and England and those were all just absolutely incredible experiences. I learned so much. I gained so much inspiration And that all happened when I was a little bit older, but I can even see it in my younger siblings and just how much they learn from that experience. And my littlest sister, who is nine now, still talks about the gelato that we ate in Italy and how much she loved the stuff we saw in England. And I just, and she was so young then, but she remembers it so well. So I, I think those travel experiences are great. Just super valuable.

Timmy Eaton: 53:27

And I like that you said that you learned so much, which just totally implies the educational, the education that you gain from travel and exposure to another culture, language, way of living, way of driving. All of that is just, it just informs, that's the kind of learning that you wouldn't say we're doing school right now, but Holy cow. Is that education? A couple more questions. What are, like, what are your particular concerns and questions about future and education, career, family? What, do you have things in your head that you're like, Ooh, man, I'm worried about this. Or what's on your mind? Or even if you can remember what was on your mind before, I guess you were pretty young when you're. Kind of career started taking off, but so maybe it's a unique question to, or you're going to have a unique perspective because a lot of kids when they hit 20 aren't like, yeah, I'm in my career, you

Millie Florence: 54:13

know yeah I've always had doubts, especially. When you're pursuing any creative endeavor, there's so much uncertainty. There's no guarantees in my career path. There never will be, because at no point, no matter how successful you are as an author, will you have a regular paycheck. It all depends on how many books you sell, and what publishing deals you're doing, and what other stuff you're doing around the career, like events and speaking and all of that. For a long time, I That was like a major stressor in my life. And I'm talking like, as soon as I published my first book, age 13, 14, 15, 16 I've always been thinking about that because I really wanted to do this full time. So no, the fact that I was young didn't mean that I didn't think about that. In fact, in some ways, it meant I thought about it more. Earlier. Yeah. Earlier. Yeah. Because I'm confronting all of this. And of course, when I'm researching, publishing and stuff, I'm reading these blog posts by adults, authors who are like trying to figure out how to make money off of it. So I was exposed to that very early. And In the past few years, I think I've come gotten a lot more peace in that area of my life. I Feel very convinced that this is what I'm meant to do with my life. Whether or not it is always my main profession remains to be seen, but I think I will always be a writer. And that's the important part, right? I'm not a publisher, I'm a writer. I'm here to write the words and share the stories. And I think however that turns out. I will keep writing and that is actually the entire um, thematic premise of the Balter of Ashton Harper because the Balter of Ashton Harper is actually a story about what does it feel like to be a young person chasing your dreams? And the main thematic question for that book was are dreams worth dreaming even if they don't come true, right? So writing that I think really helped me. As a person and as an author to process all of those thoughts and worries and emotions and of course, I'm far from perfect. I still worry. I don't think, yeah I am human. But I think I have come to find a lot more peace. In that uncertainty over the past few years.

Timmy Eaton: 56:30

And in my, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're doing things too. It seems like you have a healthy business mind and that you're teaching courses. And I think that's just awesome. And I, at the end of this, I do want you to let us know about a little bit more detail, a couple more questions, and then we'll let you have the last word and we'll wrap up. What counsel or advice would you give to new homeschool families? I, we talked about it a little bit before the interview, but a lot of homeschool families are joining this homeschooling and there, there's so much information compared to the past. And so it can be overwhelming and it can be intimidating. And what do you say to new homeschool families from a student perspective?

Millie Florence: 57:03

I think that giving your kids a rich and diverse number of experiences is the best education that you can give them. So I think, you worry a lot about staying consistent and, am I, are they where they need to be? And I would say, don't worry too much about that. Every kid is different. Everyone learns at their own pace. I learned at my own pace. If a public school teacher or someone involved in the public school system were to have looked at, like, where I was in all of my education when I was younger. They would probably say I was behind, especially in math in, in some areas. And meanwhile, I would be grades and grades ahead in others writing and reading. Every kid is different. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I think you, you need to worry less about where your kids are supposed to be. And instead, if they're where Is like right for them, let them learn at their own pace and give them a buffet of experiences, I think. Yeah,

Timmy Eaton: 58:10

lay out the feast as Charlotte Mason says. Yes,

Millie Florence: 58:13

yes. That's awesome. I do, I love

Timmy Eaton: 58:15

that. And I like the idea of just that's something I commonly say is these are arbitrary benchmarks and they might indicate something to somebody, but not for me. Like I, take each kid and let them progress and help them and nurture them and love them. And then, and it's all good. You can't go wrong. Yeah, exactly. Do you see yourself choosing to homeschool? I know that you're not married yet or whatever, but do you see yourself choosing that or are you just man, I'm just going to see what it's like, or are you like, no, for sure. I'm going to do some form of unconventional education and lifestyle.

Millie Florence: 58:42

Absolutely. I definitely plan to homeschool if I get to that point in my life, which I hope I do I definitely plan to homeschool, yes, because it was a wonderful experience for me. I also genuinely think that I am the type of person who would enjoy homeschooling my kids. Yes. I, because I love, yeah, I love the exploration of homeschooling. All of that and just it's so beautiful. I don't know, even just now I'll help my mom like homeschooling my youngest sibling. Yeah. And I'll do read alouds and she'll ask me story like questions about writing stories because she also likes to come up with stories. And I don't know, it's really rewarding to me. So

Timmy Eaton: 59:23

absolutely. Julie Bogart was saying, I interviewed her a couple of weeks ago and she was saying how. Her kids are all, beyond high school years and when they come home, it feels like homeschooling because they're just, they do, because it's not about homeschooling. It's about just living their life and learning. And these are just principles, that are ingrained within the fabric of their home. And so they're just natural things. Yeah. So thank you so much. I I did, I was not going to ask. Oh yeah. I was just the last thing I wanted to ask you. And then you tell us where we can find all your good stuff and anything else you want to say is what would you like, what would make you go? No, that's a podcast. I want to listen to what, what would make, what would be topics and things that you would want to be like, Oh, I want to tune in because I know they're going to talk about these types of things at least once in a while.

Millie Florence: 1:00:06

I think homeschooling like entrepreneurs. Yeah, because I'm a homeschooled entrepreneur, so I always love to hear those stories. And there's lots and there's lots of them. Yeah. Yeah. And I also think hearing from. Homeschool teens who are, like, learning how to be self educated and self motivated is super cool because once you get to that high school stage, it becomes More of, trying to think how to explain it. You'll see all the productivity gurus online and Atomic Habits by James Clear, all the self help books. So good. I got quite into that sort of thing in high school and like figuring all of that out. And I find that quite fun.

Timmy Eaton: 1:00:48

I do too. I

Millie Florence: 1:00:49

like that. Yeah. I really like. I really like discussing that type of productivity with homeschool teens who are like managing that education and learning how to be driven and self motivated because I think that's a fascinating topic.

Timmy Eaton: 1:01:04

Excellent. Thank you very much. So tell everybody where we can find you best place. And then, and and I'll definitely include your works in the show notes, but tell us where we can find you and then, and what you're excited about coming up.

Millie Florence: 1:01:16

Yeah, of course. So I would direct everyone to MillieFlorence. com. That is my website. You can find everything you need to know about me there and links to everywhere else. I am on Instagram and Facebook and YouTube and you can find links to that on my website. So MillieFlorence. com. You can also download a free e book and audio book copy of my first book, Honey Butter, which I published when I was 13. Yes! You can find that on my website. You get it for free when you sign up for my email newsletter. And the audiobook is narrated by me. So if you want to hear more of my voice

Timmy Eaton: 1:01:55

Yes,

Millie Florence: 1:01:55

it was. Did you like doing that? Yes well, okay, so I'm a theatre kid. Um, So I love acting. And uh, learning You know, some more of the ins and outs of voice acting and then getting to apply that to my characters and the story I wrote was a super fun experience. Yeah, it

Timmy Eaton: 1:02:10

would probably feel weird to have somebody else do it when you're like, no, man I know what this is supposed to sound like.

Millie Florence: 1:02:15

Yes, yeah. It was very fun. And it's actually something I do automatically with my books is whenever I am, Working on them and editing a scene. I'll read them aloud to help me get a feel for it. My family is really into read alouds and often I'll read them aloud to my siblings to see what they think. So recording an audio book again, it just, it felt like a natural next step and it was a super fun experience.

Timmy Eaton: 1:02:38

Oh thank you so much. This has been Millie Florence and thank you for taking time. And I encourage everybody to go to millieflorence. com and to look up all that she has and to get that free ebook and to Get into her world. So thank you again for taking time, Millie. Absolutely. Thank you. We'll talk to you soon. I hope That wraps up another edition of This Golden Hour podcast. If you haven't done so already, I would totally appreciate it if you would take a minute and give us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps out a lot. And if you've done that already, thank you much. Please consider sharing this show with friends and family members that you think would get something out of it. And thank you for listening and for your support. I'm your host, Tim Eaton. Until next time, remember to cherish this golden hour with your children and family.