Hey there, friends, and welcome to episode 330 of Just the Zoo of Us. This week, I am joined by one of my absolute favorite creators, writer and poet, Jared Kay Anderson. You may have seen his posts online or listened to his podcast as The Crypto Naturalist. You may have seen his posts online or listened to his podcast as

the Crypto Naturalist, or like me, you may have read one or two of his books. And he has joined

me to talk about the ways that nature and wildlife can inspire our creativity and shape our stories,

particularly the enticingly unknowable cryptids. We discuss being raised by a witch,

the natural poetry and scientific facts about starfish, the value of enthusiasm, caked-up mothman,

and the tragic squank getting emmoted on by skunks, the surprisingly complicated history of dandelions,

a vulture named potato, and so much more.

Just the Zoo of Us presents cryptids and ecology of the imagination with the Crypto-Naturalist,

Jared K. Anderson.

Music naturalist Jared K. Anderson. Hi there, everybody, it's Ellen Weatherford with just the Zoo of Us, your favorite animal review podcast. I'm so excited. We have a brand new friend to talk to this week who is maybe a new voice for some of y'all, not a new voice for me. We were just talking a second ago about how I feel like I've been, you know, following you on social media. I've been reading your work for years. And I feel like I have gotten to know you quite well through your works already. So I'm very excited to finally get to talk to you. This is Jared K.

Anderson. Say hi, Jared. Hi, Ellen. Thanks so much for having me. Good to be here. Thank you so much.

Jared, you are coming to us from the world of poetry and fantasy.

And I feel like a world that I have been spending a lot of time in over the last few years.

I feel like I'm like a late in life reader.

I was one of those kids who was really, really into reading, like, as a high schooler and then fell off of it.

And now I've had to get reacquainted. And what better time

for a fantasy novel to come into my life, especially one so sort of tailored to my interests

and the things that I find joyful about reading than the novel Strange Animals. Jared, what got you into your work writing? Were you

always a writer? Was this a recent thing? Oh, geez. I'm one of those writers who have like a very

specific moment I can point to. Oh, that's perfect. Which I think is, it's a little rare.

But I didn't really grow up among books. Like my parents weren't big readers. But when I was in

fifth grade, 10 years old, I just had one of those life-changing teachers named Miss Woolard.

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