The Untold Women Who Shaped the American Outdoors with Heather Hansman

The Untold Women Who Shaped the American Outdoors with Heather Hansman

Kelton brings on one of her favorite outdoor writers: Heather Hansman, award-winning journalist, contributing editor at Outside Magazine, and author of Downriver and Powder Days. Heather's newest book, Fierce Country, uncovers the stories of three women — Grand Canyon guide Georgie White, environmental philosopher Dolores LaChapelle, and wilderness guide Anne LaBastille — who shaped how we think about public land, conservation, and who gets to feel at home in the outdoors. Their stories were largely ignored. Heather spent years in archives fixing that. The conversation covers what it actually takes to build a freelance writing career in the outdoor space (grindier than it looks), how Heather knew Fierce Country was a book and not just a great magazine piece, what it was like to report on women who left no living children and whose archives were sitting in a stranger's spare room, and why she thinks the key to pitching is making the editor's job as easy as possible. She also talks about her morning commute ritual, Ann Friedman's advice to "kiss sideways," and why she initially resisted the idea of writing about women at all. Plus: Kelton and Krisserin close out the season with listener shoutouts, survey news, and summer goals — including Kelton's Caribbean rom-com that plotted itself out in one feverish afternoon. Books Mentioned in this Episode: Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns, and the Future of Chasing Snow by Heather Hansman Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West by Heather Hansman London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe Horses by Jake Skeets  Daytime Moon by Kerri Schlottman Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman  Off Campus Series by Elle Kennedy   Follow Heather: Website: heatherhansman.com Instagram: @hhansman Pre-order Fierce Country at your local indie bookstore or Bookshop.org [https://bookshop.org/p/books/fierce-country-the-untold-story-of-three-women-who-ignited-america-s-love-for-the-wild-heather-hansman/7cadb59aded8d9cb?ean=9781335013439&next=t] — pub date July 14, 2026 📋 WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Pen Pals has a listener survey and we need your feedback to make the show even better. Fill it out at: https://form.typeform.com/to/kIosWT3L [https://form.typeform.com/to/kIosWT3L] — it takes just a few minutes and means the world to us. Write to us: officialpenpalspod@gmail.com Follow us: Instagram: @penpalspod [https://www.instagram.com/penpalspod] TikTok: @penpalspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@penpalspod] YouTube: @PenPalsPod [https://www.youtube.com/@PenPalsPod] SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com [https://penpalspod.substack.com/] Follow Krisserin and Kelton: TikTok: @krisserin [https://www.tiktok.com/@krisserin], @keltonwrites [https://www.tiktok.com/@keltonwrites] Instagram: @keltonkin [https://www.instagram.com/keltonkin], @keltonwrites [https://www.instagram.com/keltonwrites] Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs [https://shangrilogs.substack.com/] Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com [https://krisserin.substack.com/] Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

The Case for Abandoning Your Book (For Now)

📋 WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Pen Pals has a listener survey and we need your feedback to make the show even better. Fill it out at: https://form.typeform.com/to/kIosWT3L [https://form.typeform.com/to/kIosWT3L] — it takes just a few minutes and means the world to us. In this late-season check-in, Krisserin and Kelton answer a listener letter from Paige, a new mom asking whether to return to her pandemic-era novel or start one of her shiny new ideas. Their answer surprises even them — and leads to an honest conversation about burnout, creative momentum, and how to use stolen writing time when life refuses to pause. Plus: Dungeon Crawler Carl, and the listener survey you really should fill out. Books mentioned in this episode: - Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - Nora Goes Off Script by Annabelle Monaghan - Unstuck by Ramona Ausubel  - The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - The Easter Parade by Richard Yates - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry Write to us: officialpenpalspod@gmail.com Follow us: Instagram: @penpalspod [https://www.instagram.com/penpalspod] TikTok: @penpalspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@penpalspod] YouTube: @PenPalsPod [https://www.youtube.com/@PenPalsPod] SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com [https://penpalspod.substack.com/] Follow Krisserin and Kelton: TikTok: @krisserin [https://www.tiktok.com/@krisserin], @keltonwrites [https://www.tiktok.com/@keltonwrites] Instagram: @keltonkin [https://www.instagram.com/keltonkin], @keltonwrites [https://www.instagram.com/keltonwrites] Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs [https://shangrilogs.substack.com/] Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com [https://krisserin.substack.com/] Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

What Breathwork Unlocks for Writers with Amanda Fletcher

Krisserin and Kelton are running on fumes — sleep-deprived, burned out, and staring down a summer deadline that feels impossible. Enter Amanda Fletcher: writer, breathwork practitioner, PEN Center USA Emerging Voices fellow, and one of the most magnetic people in the Los Angeles literary community. Amanda shares her winding path from born storyteller to mathlete to kinesiology major, and the losses that knocked her off course — including her mother's death by suicide when Amanda was 24. What followed was over a decade of addiction, a broken neck, and eventually the writing classes and recovery community that brought her back to the page. Amanda explains how she discovered breathwork in early sobriety, why she believes our stories are imprinted on our nervous systems, and how the same limiting beliefs that block our creativity can be unlocked through intentional breathing. She guides listeners through a simple breathwork exercise they can use before a writing session, and makes the case that getting unstuck as a writer might start with getting out of your head and into your body. Follow Amanda: Instagram: @theamandafletcher Email: theamandafletcher@gmail.com Website: amandafletcher.me [http://amandafletcher.me/]Amanda's upcoming virtual breathwork sessions: Tuesday, June 2 at 6pm PT [https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/gzyeziJzRS-cjGyRA5kV7A] Saturday, June 6 at 8am PT [https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ONtdZOY7RxaGSOX5LFrAXQ] Saturday, June 20 at 8am PT [https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/O9kaObATQ9y3_9MZTtVrXQ] Saturday, June 27 at 10am PT [https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/_CCKC7cySCyTXVkCvnoFAg] Tuesday, June 30 at 6pm PT [https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/TFBT1CwrQl-sNVUIJ9Rp3w] Books Mentioned in this Episode: "The Ogress and the Orphans" by Kelly Barnhill  "Piranesi" by Susanna Clarke  "White Oleander" by Janet Fitch  "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield  "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey  "Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter" by Heather Fawcett Write to us: officialpenpalspod@gmail.com Follow us: Instagram: @penpalspod [https://www.instagram.com/penpalspod] TikTok: @penpalspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@penpalspod] YouTube: @PenPalsPod [https://www.youtube.com/@PenPalsPod] SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com [https://penpalspod.substack.com/] Follow Krisserin and Kelton: TikTok: @krisserin [https://www.tiktok.com/@krisserin], @keltonwrites [https://www.tiktok.com/@keltonwrites] Instagram: @keltonkin [https://www.instagram.com/keltonkin], @keltonwrites [https://www.instagram.com/keltonwrites] Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs [https://shangrilogs.substack.com/] Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com [https://krisserin.substack.com/] Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

ER Visits, Cozy Reads, and the Grace of Not Writing

Krisserin checks in from a Kansas City hotel room fresh off an unexpected ER visit in St. Louis — chest pains, a CT scan, and a lot of unanswered questions — while Kelton battles a household plague of sickness, broken blow-dryers, and postpartum burnout. The two trade brutally honest book reviews: Krisserin DNFs the buzzy bestseller Yesteryear (great concept, rough execution), while Kelton grinds through the literary sci-fi of The Other Valley and falls head over heels for Heather Fawcett's Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter. They dig into what makes good writing actually good — from research depth to character arcs to the controversial no-quotation-marks device — and commiserate over nepo babies in Hollywood, the guilt of not writing, and the importance of just taking care of yourself when life is beating you up. This week's goals: a spa treatment in Vegas and some middle grade fiction in the mountains. Books Mentioned in this episode: "Yesteryear" by Caro Claire Burke "The Other Valley" by Scott Alexander Howard "Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter" by Heather Fawcett "Piranesi" by Susanna Clarke "Dungeon Crawler Carl" by Matt Matt Dinniman "The Ogress and the Orphans" by Kelly Barnhill "The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden Write to us: officialpenpalspod@gmail.com Follow us: Instagram: @penpalspod [https://www.instagram.com/penpalspod] TikTok: @penpalspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@penpalspod] YouTube: @PenPalsPod [https://www.youtube.com/@PenPalsPod] SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com [https://penpalspod.substack.com/] Follow Krisserin and Kelton: TikTok: @krisserin [https://www.tiktok.com/@krisserin], @keltonwrites [https://www.tiktok.com/@keltonwrites] Instagram: @keltonkin [https://www.instagram.com/keltonkin], @keltonwrites [https://www.instagram.com/keltonwrites] Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs [https://shangrilogs.substack.com/] Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com [https://krisserin.substack.com/] Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios

Alli Hoff Kosik on Writing Christian Influencers with Heart in Too Blessed to Stress

This week on Pen Pals, Krisserin and Kelton sit down with debut novelist Alli Hoff Kosik to discuss her buzzy new novel, Too Blessed to Stress — a sharp, funny, and unexpectedly tender story about Christian influencers, megachurch culture, and the complicated women behind perfectly curated feeds. Alli shares how a pandemic-era fascination with influencer culture inspired the book, why she wanted to approach her characters with empathy instead of judgment, and how social media, capitalism, faith, and performance intersect online. They also discuss writing motherhood into real life, balancing creativity with burnout, MFA programs, multiple POV novels, and the challenge of building a writing life while raising small children. Plus: Secret Lives of Mormon Wives comparisons, parasocial internet rabbit holes, writing routines, podcasting, and whether Krisserin and Kelton actually sound the same. Books Mentioned in This Episode The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard The Giver by Lois Lowry Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid Come and Get It by Kiley Reid Maame by Jessica George Love by the Book by Jessica George Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella Long Bright River by Liz Moore Nightshade by Eli Raphael Find Alli Hoff Kosik Website: Alli Hoff Kosik Official Website [https://allihoffkosik.com/] Instagram: @allihoffkosik Substack: https://allihoffkosik.substack.com/ [https://allihoffkosik.substack.com/] Podcast: Is This a Thing? [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-this-a-thing/id1819214635] with Abby Wolfe Buy Too Blessed to Stress [https://bookshop.org/p/books/too-blessed-to-stress-alli-hoff-kosik/aa6dfb993b9448b2?ean=9781538771969&next=t] on Bookshop.org Write to us: officialpenpalspod@gmail.com Follow us: Instagram: @penpalspod [https://www.instagram.com/penpalspod] TikTok: @penpalspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@penpalspod] YouTube: @PenPalsPod [https://www.youtube.com/@PenPalsPod] SubStack: penpalspod.substack.com [https://penpalspod.substack.com/] Follow Krisserin and Kelton: TikTok: @krisserin [https://www.tiktok.com/@krisserin], @keltonwrites [https://www.tiktok.com/@keltonwrites] Instagram: @keltonkin [https://www.instagram.com/keltonkin], @keltonwrites [https://www.instagram.com/keltonwrites] Kelton's Substack: Shangrilogs [https://shangrilogs.substack.com/] Krisserin's Substack: krisserin.substack.com [https://krisserin.substack.com/] Music by Golden Hour Oasis Studios