On January 3, 2019, I took a huge leap and launched the Follow Your Curiosity podcast. Five years later, to no one’s amazement as much as mine, I’m still going strong. I wanted to look back at what I’ve learned since 2019, so I asked my friend Domenic Sciortino, who interviewed me back then, to come back and do it again. Together, we look at how the show got started, what initially gave me the idea for a podcast, what curiosity is, who my “dream guest” might be, why you should start where you are, and more.
Episode breakdown:
00:00 Amazed by 5-year podcast journey, started spontaneously.
06:34 Audio editing discovery: listen while doing tasks.
08:19 Podcasting with a full-time job.
12:41 To run ads, or not to run ads?
15:37 Curiosity is asking questions, being connected, wanting to know more.
19:51 Prepare questions but have a natural conversation.
20:56 Explore unexpected places in conversation, be flexible.
27:02 Embracing uncertainty.
29:36 Sometimes things just fall into place.
32:13 Go-to interview example of the podcast.
36:33 Emphasis on untold stories, expanding podcast.
38:02 Creating 1 on 1 program to reconnect creatively.
42:21 How a story about Sam Neill led to the podcast idea.
45:04 Choosing authenticity over conforming to others’ expectations.
47:44 Overcoming doubts, starting small leads to success.
Please leave a review for this episode and in it, tell us about a time when you took a leap to try something new.
Want more? Here’s a handy playlist with all my previous interviews with guests in writing.
Show links
Nancy’s website
Subscribe!
You can subscribe to Follow Your Curiosity via the handy links at the top of the page for Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, and YouTube. If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to tell your friends!
Transcript: Nancy Norbeck
Please note: This is an unedited transcript, provided as a courtesy, and reflects the actual conversation as closely as possible. Please forgive any typographical or grammatical errors.
Nancy Norbeck [00:00:06]:
Welcome to Follow Your Curiosity. Ordinary people, extraordinary creativity. Here’s how to get unstuck. I’m your host, creativity coach, Nancy Norbeck. Let’s go.
Nancy Norbeck [00:00:19]:
On January 3, 2019, I took a huge leap and launched the Follow Your Curiosity podcast. Five years later, to no one’s amazement as much as mine, I’m still going strong. I wanted to look back at what I’ve learned since 2019, so I asked my friend, Domenic Sciortino, who interviewed me back then, to come back and do it again. Together, we look at how the show got started, what initially gave me the idea for a podcast, what curiosity is, who my dream guest might be, why you should start where you are, and more. I hope you enjoy this look back as much as I did. Welcome back to Follow Your Curiosity, Dom.
Domenic Sciortino [00:01:01]:
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me, Nancy.
Nancy Norbeck [00:01:04]:
You are so welcome. So anybody who hasn’t listened from the beginning or hasn’t listened for a while to the original interviews that that I did 5 years ago may not remember that you were one of my first guests, and you also, at my invitation, turned the tables on me and interviewed me about my creative journey. And you did such a fantastic job that I wanted you to come back and talk to me about what I’ve learned in the last 5 years from doing this crazy thing because, frankly, me sitting in front of a microphone talking to no one sounded not interesting to me at all. So thank you for agreeing to do that and for jumping in here, and I’m going to leave myself in your very capable hands for the next hour as we explore this adventure that has been this podcast.
Domenic Sciortino [00:01:55]:
Okay. Great. I I should I introduce you? Or no. This is Nancy, and I’m going to interview Nancy about what she’s learned about her podcast. And, I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna adlib it, but, I’m all about spontaneity. So You and me both. Good things happen with spontaneity.
Domenic Sciortino [00:02:16]:
So any any opening remarks you wanna start with? A little about yourself, a little about yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:02:23]:
I’m amazed that it’s been 5 years already. I’m amazed that I’m still doing this 5 years in. I think when I started it, it was kind of I mean, it was a lark. Right? It was it was something that I was curious about doing, but it was also speaking of spontaneity, something that had kind of popped into my head, literally, like, in the shower at the gym 1 night. And I hadn’t really gotten past that initial, hey, this sounds kind of fun stage. When I went to a Doctor Who convention in Baltimore in March of 2018, happened to strike up a conversation with Robert Shearman who wrote one of the most highly regarded episodes of the new series called Dalek. And just as we were talking about whatever, you know, it was one of those conversations where, frankly, if exhaustion hadn’t stopped us, probably nothing else would have. And and I thought, I should ask this guy to be on my podcast.
Nancy Norbeck [00:03:26]:
And I was like, what? The podcast that doesn’t have a name that I don’t actually have? That? And I said, yeah. Yeah. I should totally ask. If he says no, it’s no big deal. If he says yes, run with it. You know? And so I did, and he said yes. And that is honestly the reason, you know, we recorded that episode on my iPad in a hotel room before I left, and if I hadn’t done that, I’m not sure I would have this podcast. Because once I had done that, then I had to actually do something with it.
Nancy Norbeck [00:03:59]:
You know? I mean, he may have forgotten about it, but I wasn’t gonna forget about it. And so it was like, okay, now this thing is real. And I think it was about a month later that you and I met up in York.
Domenic Sciortino [00:04:11]:
I remember the story. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:04:12]:
Yeah. And and so we we did our 2 interviews. I interviewed a bunch of other people. And then at the end of of 2018, I started putting it together into actual episodes and launched it in January of 2019, which is just like it seems like yesterday and and, like, forever ago. But but, yeah, that’s that’s basically the story of how this podcast happened. It was just a chance conversation with an interesting person who happened to say yes. So that’s why I’m 80. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:04:43]:
And that’s why I’m such an advocate for yeah. Ask. You know?
Domenic Sciortino [00:04:47]:
What, do you have you counted how many interviews you’ve done?
Nancy Norbeck [00:04:54]:
I have not, but it’s been an interview every other week for 5 years with 2 replays every year at the holidays. So Okay. It’s about, so there’s 52 weeks in a year. Every other week is is, what, 20 6, something like that, minus 2 Okay.
Domenic Sciortino [00:05:21]:
Times I’m not good at math.
Nancy Norbeck [00:05:22]:
I’m not That’s a lot. But it’s something like that.
Domenic Sciortino [00:05:24]:
That’s a lot.
Nancy Norbeck [00:05:24]:
Yeah.
Domenic Sciortino [00:05:25]:
It’s a lot. That’s impressive. I applaud you.
Nancy Norbeck [00:05:29]:
It’s amazing.
Domenic Sciortino [00:05:30]:
Does it feel like work?
Nancy Norbeck [00:05:34]:
Doing the interviews does not feel like work at all. How do they? Doing the interviews is always fun because I literally and and I did not realize when I came up with the podcast, came up with the title, anything, how true this was gonna be, but I literally follow my own curiosity throughout every
Domenic Sciortino [00:05:52]:
interview. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:05:54]:
So, so that’s always interesting and exciting. Editing’s not necessarily my favorite, but I have discovered ways to make it feel less like work.
Domenic Sciortino [00:06:07]:
Oh, wow. So Explain that.
Nancy Norbeck [00:06:12]:
So I think I’m gonna preface this by by reminding people that, you know, this this is a homegrown podcast. I I literally, like, reverse engineered other people’s podcasts to figure out how to do this. I I do all the editing myself, which means I’ve had to learn how to use Audacity to a certain extent,
Domenic Sciortino [00:06:34]:
which
Nancy Norbeck [00:06:34]:
has been cool. But there’s also, I am quite sure, a ton of stuff that I don’t know that I don’t know. And so probably somebody if if somebody who has actual audio editing experience is listening to this, they’re probably gonna have a heart attack in, like, 5 seconds. But what I have discovered is that if I put the interview on my phone and then listen to it while I do something like going for a walk or cleaning my kitchen or something like that, then I can listen for all of the things that I need to edit out, and I mark them down in a note on my phone and just race through the whole thing that way. Race is a wrong word. You can’t speed it up. But but it makes it feel less like I I’m I’m not sitting there staring at a waveform for an hour or so.
Domenic Sciortino [00:07:27]:
Yes.
Nancy Norbeck [00:07:28]:
Right? So it’s possible that I miss things that way, but anything that I miss is not that big. And so it makes actually sitting down in Audacity and going through and finding those things, I can do it in 5 or 10 minutes. And it’s just like, yes. I am done, and it didn’t feel like work. So is it proper audio editing? No. But it works.
Domenic Sciortino [00:07:51]:
No. Yeah. But it works. You were working a full time job when you started this?
Nancy Norbeck [00:07:57]:
Mhmm.
Domenic Sciortino [00:07:57]:
Was it ever overwhelming? Did you have to set goals and deadlines, or did it flow naturally?
Nancy Norbeck [00:08:07]:
It wasn’t it’s never really been about well, okay. I wanna say it’s never really been about goals and deadlines, but that’s not really true as I think about it because, obviously, there’s a deadline Every Wednesday, an episode goes out.
Domenic Sciortino [00:08:18]:
Yes.
Nancy Norbeck [00:08:19]:
So what kind of happened is that I have fallen into this rhythm where Saturday Sunday, my weekends are usually, especially if it’s an interview that’s coming up, that’s that’s podcast weekend, which is part of why I came up with this other way of editing things because then, like, I could listen to it while I was, you know, taking a 10 minute break walking around in the hallways at work or something like that. You’re not gonna get through the whole thing, but you get through part of it. You know? Because, otherwise, when I first started it, it really was, like, my weekend is editing the podcast and putting all of the stuff up and creating the blog post that I do for each episode. So, like, when I discovered that there was a a plugin that would clone posts on WordPress, one of the best days of my life because it was taking me forever to recreate these things from scratch every week. And now I just clone it, and I change the names to protect the guilty. You know? Wow. Just change the information. The format is already there, so I don’t have to do that.
Nancy Norbeck [00:09:31]:
But, otherwise, it was, you know, an hour or so, maybe more depending on how much I needed to do to the episode to sit down and edit it staring at the screen, and then, you know, putting it all together and then get dealing with the host and dealing with posting it and all of that stuff. But now now it takes a lot less time because I’ve discovered things like that and how to edit it while not feeling like I’m editing it. Yeah. But the deadline is always there, and I am the kind of person who does really well with a deadline that I know I have to meet. As long as I’m not the only one who cares if I meet it. If I’m the only one who cares if I meet the deadline, forget it.
Domenic Sciortino [00:10:13]:
But if
Nancy Norbeck [00:10:13]:
I know that every Wednesday, this thing has to go out because people are expecting it, it’s gonna go out, and it’s gonna be ready to go. It could be that the blog post is a little late, but that episode will be ready to go.
Domenic Sciortino [00:10:24]:
And that has never been oppressive to you. It has it has been a joy probably.
Nancy Norbeck [00:10:32]:
Mostly. Yeah.
Domenic Sciortino [00:10:32]:
So Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:10:33]:
Yeah. I mean, it’s that, it would be nice to farm this part out to somebody else. And yet, you know, when I think about that, I’m not entirely sure that I would wanna farm it out to somebody else because I do enjoy listening to the episode again, especially, when, like, sometimes I record a whole bunch at the same time. And so it’s been a couple months between recording and releasing, so I’ve forgotten a lot of it. So it’s really cool to get to go and listen to it again. So, you know, I don’t know. Would I really wanna farm it out to somebody else? Yes and no at the same time. I’m I’m not sure.
Nancy Norbeck [00:11:09]:
But that I don’t make enough money off of this podcast because I make no money off of this podcast, to hire somebody to do that. So it’s me.
Domenic Sciortino [00:11:22]:
That’s interesting. I was gonna ask you a question as to after the interview has ended. On average, how many times do you listen to that interview again with the editing process? Just once, or is it more than once? Yeah. So you can usually get it done.
Nancy Norbeck [00:11:38]:
Yeah.
Domenic Sciortino [00:11:38]:
If you, let me ask another question. If if you were at a mixer, a party, or whatever, and you were working your full time job, and you were doing this podcast, and somebody came up to you and said, hi, Nancy. What do you do? How would you answer that question?
Nancy Norbeck [00:11:59]:
Oh, that’s always such a good question. I think, you know, I’m trying to think of an instance where that’s happened in the last couple of years. Of course, there haven’t been as many parties and mixers in the last couple of years because, you know, we got locked down. But I think my my instincts at this point would be to go podcast first.
Domenic Sciortino [00:12:19]:
Yeah. Right on.
Nancy Norbeck [00:12:21]:
You know? Just because it’s the thing that I love. And then, you know, if somebody says, oh, do you make enough money to to do that? And then I’d be like, oh, heck no.
Domenic Sciortino [00:12:34]:
I think the proper answer to that is not yet.
Nancy Norbeck [00:12:36]:
Not yet. Yeah.
Domenic Sciortino [00:12:37]:
There you go. Yeah. That that plants a seed, doesn’t it?
Nancy Norbeck [00:12:41]:
Yeah. It kinda does. It kinda does. And, you know, I was just talking to a friend yesterday who was like, you know, you need to monetize your podcast, and you need to, like, do ads with it. And so I was like, can I just tell you how much I really don’t wanna break my my podcast up with ads? You know, I’ve thought about it, and I’m just like, it annoys me when I listen to other people’s podcast. And I mean, I know this is what people do, and it’s not exactly abnormal or whatever, but when it’s yours, I think it feels different. And I’ve just been like, I
Domenic Sciortino [00:13:13]:
don’t really That’s the best podcast, in my opinion, do not have ads. You’re correct. And I know we’ve had a little discussion of, art versus commerce and, like, how that fits together or not. But, first of all, would you consider your podcast art?
Nancy Norbeck [00:13:35]:
Oh, nobody’s ever asked me that, and it seems like the most obvious question you could ask me. Right? In a way, yeah, I think it is. I don’t I don’t always think of it that way, but I think there is an art to having conversations with people, and there is definitely an art to listening. And I really did not appreciate how much of an art there is to listening and especially how much we don’t listen to each other until I started doing this podcast.
Domenic Sciortino [00:14:11]:
Oh, how wonderful. I a 100% agree with that. And let me just make a side note. I’m assuming you’ve read the creative act by Rick Rubin.
Nancy Norbeck [00:14:20]:
I’ve started it. I haven’t finished it. I’ve seen a whole bunch of interviews with him. I have yet to see anything that I don’t agree with.
Domenic Sciortino [00:14:27]:
It, like, it it kinda blew up. But, I mean, when you’re talking about business podcast art, I think a 100%. When you’re creating, that is art. You know? But, anyways, back on track. I I figured you haven’t heard of it. But, back on track, if you had to give a definition of curiosity, not just a dictionary textbook definition, but what it means to you, what would that definition
Nancy Norbeck [00:14:50]:
be? I’m like, bring in the hard questions, my friend.
Domenic Sciortino [00:14:53]:
I’m like, on on, like, on the fly too. Right? Right. Maybe I have a new little new little, you know, hobby in the works. The interview. You do. Whenever you need a vacation, I can take your spot. No. I’m not I’m not saying I
Nancy Norbeck [00:15:08]:
could do to follow your curiosity podcast. Yeah. But
Domenic Sciortino [00:15:12]:
I’m certainly not I’m certainly not assuming that I could do half as good as you, but but anyways.
Nancy Norbeck [00:15:19]:
Okay. What is what is curiosity? You’re not helping me with the no dictionary definitions, so I’m not exactly sure
Domenic Sciortino [00:15:30]:
Well, you can. You can. But I mean, I want I also want kind of a personal take on the on the word as well.
Nancy Norbeck [00:15:37]:
Yeah. I mean, you know, it’s I wanna say it’s asking questions, but it’s not just asking questions because it’s it’s what causes you to ask questions. It’s it’s being connected, I think. And may maybe this is the link to the listening piece, though I don’t think that I was gonna say I don’t think you have to be listening for, like, every kind of curiosity, but maybe you do, and maybe it’s just not a conventional kind of listening. But, like, you know, little little kids will ask questions about every single thing because they don’t know what the heck it is. Right? And they wanna know. And I think that curiosity at its core is that wanting to know and wanting to know more. And so, you know, when I’m talking to somebody, there’s there’s something that happens in my head that I don’t know how to describe, but, you know, they’ll say something maybe in the first 10 minutes that kind of catches my attention, and then they’ll say something else maybe 20 minutes in, and those two things will link up in my head, and I’ll have to know more about how the one connects to the other.
Nancy Norbeck [00:16:51]:
And so that’s where listening and paying attention fuels the curiosity because, like, wait a minute. Hang on. You were talking about this, and now you said this, and these two things link up. And maybe they link up with this other thing over here that you haven’t talked about yet, but you’re about to, and we’re gonna pull all of these three things together. And I think this is why, you know, not everybody says this, but several people have told me that I’ve asked them things that no one’s ever asked them before. And I’m like, I think that’s why. You know, if you go into an interview the way I used to with a list of these are the questions I wanna ask this person, and you never deviate from that list, you’ll probably have a good conversation, you’ll get the answers you were looking for. But I stopped doing this, and I I talked about this the last time Kelly Flanagan was on the show.
Nancy Norbeck [00:17:43]:
But the first time I interviewed Kelly, I I was not prepared for him to blow through all of my questions in 15 minutes.
Domenic Sciortino [00:17:52]:
Oh, wow.
Nancy Norbeck [00:17:54]:
And I sat here going, holy crap. It’s only 15 minutes. What am I gonna do? And, you know, the wise part of my brain said, you’re gonna listen and you’re gonna have a conversation, and you’re gonna ask questions based on what you hear. And that’s what I did for the rest of that interview. And and the, I haven’t gone back and listened to it lately, but I would bet you that you could tell the difference between the first 15 minutes and the last 45 minutes.
Domenic Sciortino [00:18:22]:
Wow. Interesting.
Nancy Norbeck [00:18:23]:
Because the energy was so different because I wasn’t sitting there looking at a list. And I liked that so much better that I’ve just never done it any other way since. And
Domenic Sciortino [00:18:36]:
so This is before you had titled the podcast?
Nancy Norbeck [00:18:41]:
No. I think at that point, I knew what I was gonna call it.
Domenic Sciortino [00:18:44]:
So you heeded the title?
Nancy Norbeck [00:18:46]:
Yeah. Without really thinking about it, noticing it.
Domenic Sciortino [00:18:49]:
Right?
Nancy Norbeck [00:18:49]:
I did.
Domenic Sciortino [00:18:50]:
It was That’s amazing.
Nancy Norbeck [00:18:51]:
This is this is how this is gonna go. And so, you know, yes, if I’m talking to somebody who has published things or whatever, I’ll go through it, I’ll read the biography, and I’ll I’ll read the stuff that they’ve published and and you know, or at least a good chunk of it, you know? But I’ve talked to people that I basically have known nothing about. And sometimes people will say, you know, but you do so much research for this podcast, and I’m sitting there feeling like, you know, the cheating kid who’s just been caught. Because I’m like No. I really don’t. I just listen and ask questions, and and that’s it. And and I think that’s really to me, that’s what makes a really good interview, you know. And I’ve I’ve talked to a couple people and heard there was Alan Alda has a podcast about scientific communication called Clear and Vivid, and it’s really good, though I am astonished at how much of it he manages to put out.
Nancy Norbeck [00:19:51]:
I can’t keep up with everything. But he did an interview couple years ago, and I think I think it was Anne Patchett, the novelist, and they were talking about interviewing people. And and they both said, you know, they come up with their questions ahead of time and kind of try to keep them in their heads, and then they go out on stage to actually talk to this person, and they really just have a conversation and feed those questions in as it makes sense to to feed them in, kinda hope that they remember all of them. You know? And and maybe it was mostly her talking about this. I I could be a little bit misremembering this, but it’s essentially the same thing. With certain people, there are things that I wanna make sure that we have a chance to talk about, so I’ve got them up in my head. And, you know, keeping an eye on the time and making sure that we still have enough time to talk about this thing. But but it’s it’s sort of, oh, this is a great place to ask this question, so I’ll ask this question, and then we see where it goes, and it can go anywhere.
Nancy Norbeck [00:20:56]:
We can land in all sorts of interesting places that we didn’t expect to go to, which is why I do tell people if we if we go someplace that you’re not comfortable with, just tell me, and we’ll redirect somewhere else. Because I, you know, I don’t want anybody to be on the spot for something they’d rather not talk about. And with this kind of conversation, you could land there without even realizing it if you don’t ask that question. But, but, yeah, I mean, it’s just follow the conversation where it wants to go. Yeah. Which is why sometimes there’s, you know, all sorts of strange places that we end up that we didn’t expect to. And I think that’s the really cool thing about doing this is that you can end up in those weird, strange places that you weren’t expecting because you’re not following a script and you’re not just like, okay. I’m gonna ask these 10 questions and then then we’re done.
Nancy Norbeck [00:21:48]:
It’s an actual conversation. There’s give and take, and that’s kinda how it should be. Right?
Domenic Sciortino [00:21:54]:
Absolutely. So if you’re ready to go to that weird place, I have a couple questions. Like, in the back of my mind, it just popped up.
Nancy Norbeck [00:22:02]:
Alright.
Domenic Sciortino [00:22:05]:
What’s the opposite of curiosity? Just answer that, and then I’ll ask part 2.
Nancy Norbeck [00:22:12]:
The first word that popped into my head was apathy.
Domenic Sciortino [00:22:16]:
Oh, wow. Okay. I was thinking certainty. So that is really interesting.
Nancy Norbeck [00:22:21]:
That’s true too.
Domenic Sciortino [00:22:23]:
But now you’re the podcaster. So so now part 2 of the question is, would Follow Your Apathy make an interesting podcast at all?
Nancy Norbeck [00:22:35]:
Is even if you asked if it was follow your certainty, I I can’t really see where that would take you anywhere either way.
Domenic Sciortino [00:22:44]:
I think there’s podcasts doing it now. You’re
Nancy Norbeck [00:22:48]:
probably right.
Domenic Sciortino [00:22:50]:
We’re right. We have all the answers, and here’s the podcast about it. Yeah. We’re not gonna go further on that subject. But Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:22:57]:
But that’s an interesting question.
Domenic Sciortino [00:23:00]:
Right. So, you know, I’m all about the yin and yang and the opposites. And the reason I asked that is, because I wanted to ask the question is, like, why is curiosity so essential to us as artists, as interviewers, as human beings? That’s a really big question, I know, but I know you’re gonna come up with a great answer. And that’s why I asked
Nancy Norbeck [00:23:22]:
it.
Nancy Norbeck [00:23:23]:
Layer the pressure on there, Dom. No. No. You know, I I am not sure, especially because you’ve just brought up apathy and certainty, and I think that they’re both good answers to the opposite of curiosity. I think I don’t know if you can can you grow without curiosity? I don’t think you can. I I think you would just be a robot.
Domenic Sciortino [00:23:51]:
Oh.
Nancy Norbeck [00:23:51]:
You know? In in one sense or another, I I think it would just be, I’m I’m told I’m supposed to do this thing, therefore, I’m gonna do this thing, and I’m never gonna ask a question, and I’m never you you know? And and that’s that is, like, the antithesis of being human. You know, every human being asks questions, at least up to a certain point until somebody beats it out of them or tries to, you know, because certainly there are teachers and parents and all sorts of people who don’t wanna be bothered with your questions. Stop asking questions. Why do you ask me questions all the time? And some people just learn to stop asking, which I think is That’s a bit tragic.
Domenic Sciortino [00:24:28]:
You need to write down without curiosity robot. That’s an amazing quote because it really is. And if I could I don’t wanna I don’t wanna hug up the interview, but I just have to put in 2 points here. I I heard a pastor say once that one of his congregation members came up to him and said, oh, I can’t wait till, I die and go to heaven. In that way, I know everything and how it all works. Don’t you wanna know and every and the pastor goes, oh, God, no. That would be awful. Right? Like a life without curiosity.
Domenic Sciortino [00:24:57]:
Right. But the second thing I wanna mention, and you can edit this out. I don’t know if who Robert Sapolsky is. He’s a behavioral No. Psychologist. Like, he wrote a book called Behave, which is about why we fight really thick book but very, you know, pop psychology. Mhmm. He just finished a book that just was released.
Domenic Sciortino [00:25:13]:
I have not read it yet. It’s causing a lot of stir. It’s called Determined. And he said he puts out this the, psychological case that we have no free will. And, yeah. So I was having a conversation with somebody about that, and they said, well, there’s always the thing under the thing. Like, sure, you could say, as human beings, we just follow whatever neurons are firing or whatever pathways that have been established through our DNA or whatever, but there’s something underneath that. And I think, your podcast is a good example of that.
Domenic Sciortino [00:25:49]:
Like, you don’t have to have a spiritual path or an idea about, you know, supernatural things. You just know that we don’t have all the answers, and that’s why curiosity is important. Right?
Nancy Norbeck [00:26:00]:
Right. Right. That’s a lot.
Domenic Sciortino [00:26:03]:
So thanks for letting me insert that. No. I know. I’m glad you did. I actually downloaded the book. I’m dying to read it. I just I need to know. But, anyways, sorry to diverge.
Domenic Sciortino [00:26:12]:
That’s what Donald
Nancy Norbeck [00:26:13]:
It’s okay. You know, that that reminds me of of something that I have noticed with this podcast for the last couple of years, which is that there, you know, there were things in life that are work, Right? Like you you’re have to constantly be putting out the fires or hurting the cats or or whatever. There is something about this podcast that has a life of its own that I do not understand. And and it just you know, every time that I’ve thought, oh, man, I don’t have a guest for, you know, 3 weeks from now, what am I gonna do? You know, or something like that, something happens. Somebody contacts me. I know. Somebody refers me to somebody else. Something happens.
Nancy Norbeck [00:27:02]:
If the moments when I have ever panicked about something like that are few and far between and never lasted very long. And it just a couple years ago, I I started, you know, I told somebody. I said, this this podcast in my head is like a kite. Right? The kite is flying up in the sky, and I don’t know where it’s going. I don’t know what it’s about to do. I am just hanging on to the tail of that kite for dear life, waiting to see where it takes me next. And it just it just has always worked that way, and and it’s like the weirdest thing. It’s like, you know, if anybody ever suggests, you know, are you sure you wanna keep doing this? Like, it has it hasn’t let me down yet.
Nancy Norbeck [00:27:49]:
So, yeah, because I don’t know where it’s taking me from here. And so, you know, and some of the people that I’ve had the chance to interview, I never would have imagined that I would be talking to when I had that conversation with Robert Sheeran in 2018. You know? Never. And so and and that’s not necessarily just some of the more famous people, but, you know, I’ve talked to people that aren’t very well known who have given me, you know, some of the most fascinating conversations I’ve ever had in my life. I’m talking to one of them right now. Oh,
Domenic Sciortino [00:28:24]:
thank you for that.
Nancy Norbeck [00:28:25]:
Your your episode is still one of my all time favorites. But Oh, thank you. Just like it’s it’s doing its thing. It knows what it’s doing. I don’t question it. I let it go where it wants to go and see where it takes me. And, you know, I I don’t have a name for that. I’m sure somebody has a name for it.
Nancy Norbeck [00:28:43]:
I mean, serendipity maybe, but it feels like a little more than that somehow. But but yeah. No. I don’t I don’t argue with the podcast. I don’t let the podcast tell me what it’s doing, and and I go with it. That’s it.
Domenic Sciortino [00:28:56]:
That’s wonderful. I love the whole I’d like, everything falling into place. Though, you know, they’re like, it just happens. I think that just happens when you do something you love. I think you’ve you’ve connected with some kind of, I don’t know, like, going back to the Rick Rubin book, like, some kind of source that is the source of creation. I’m not talking god. I’m not you know what I mean? Just saying there’s there’s just a unique way it works that’s inexplicable.
Nancy Norbeck [00:29:26]:
Yeah.
Domenic Sciortino [00:29:27]:
Cormac McCarthy actually talked about that after he, No Country For Old Men was made into a movie.
Nancy Norbeck [00:29:36]:
Mhmm.
Domenic Sciortino [00:29:36]:
And, you know, he was really, like, broke and destitute, but he just kept writing. And he was writing Blood Meridian, probably his most herald novel, and he was waiting on a grant to get that book written. And he gave an interview where he said he was so broke, he couldn’t even afford a toothbrush. And he says, I just stopped worrying about it and just kept working. And within 3 days, Colgate apparently was sending free toothbrushes out, and one landed in his mailbox. So, I mean, it’s the same kind of thing. It’s you know? And he he talked about that. You know? There’s just something to following your curiosity, following your love, that things fall into place.
Domenic Sciortino [00:30:16]:
Sorry. I’m off track again because I did have another Yeah. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:30:20]:
Not at all. Because I think that’s right.
Domenic Sciortino [00:30:21]:
I mean, I I mean, I think it’s I think it’s I don’t wanna say I know it’s right for everybody, but I wanna say I think if more people followed that, don’t you think the world, not just a little bit, America specifically, would be a better place?
Nancy Norbeck [00:30:39]:
I I think anything would be a better place because, because it’s, it’s like, to me, it’s like a sign that you’re doing the thing you’re supposed to be doing, you know, because it just, it just falls into place that you sit there going, okay. I don’t get it, but I’m not gonna argue with it. I’m just gonna go where it is.
Domenic Sciortino [00:30:59]:
Gonna be curious about it, but I’m not Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:31:02]:
Yeah. It’s like, I don’t know where I’m going next, but I bet it’ll be interesting. And and, yeah, I mean, it’s it’s it’s a it’s a really unique weird feeling because I don’t think anything in my life has ever really come together in exactly this way. So that like, there may have been little glimpses of it in different places over time, but but this is, this is a tall whole own little special beast, whatever whatever words go with it. I don’t know. But but that’s kinda what it is. Yeah.
Domenic Sciortino [00:31:36]:
So let’s go back to that party where they ask you what you do. So you take away Robert Sherman, you take away me. If you had to explain to somebody your podcast, is there an interview that you would always go to as an example of what you do? Oh. So that would be if you if you pick Robert and me, there would have to be the 3rd yeah. I know.
Nancy Norbeck [00:32:02]:
Oh.
Domenic Sciortino [00:32:05]:
Alright. You could pick me and Robert if that makes it easier.
Nancy Norbeck [00:32:08]:
No. Thinking, like, John Rodell comes to
Domenic Sciortino [00:32:12]:
mind. Okay.
Nancy Norbeck [00:32:13]:
He’s been on twice, but especially the first time, but also the second time, because he is a guy who never set out to be a poet, and now his poems go viral on the Internet all the time. And and he just he writes these beautiful things, and his story is basically, you know, my high school English teacher told me that I was never gonna be able to write, and here I am with poems that go around the world in, like, 24 hours. And he also is a student of improv, and so it’s kinda kinda the same thing that I was just talking about with with doing this podcast. He somebody comes up to him and says, hey, do you wanna do this? And he says, sure. You know, it’s like he lives the yes and, and he’s certainly not the only guest that I’ve talked to who has a yes and story. Jennifer Nesta Zafutti comes to mind. Her story is amazing. And but, you know, there’s there’s something about that discovery when you’re, I don’t know how old he was, but I would guess, you know, like, in his forties when he first started writing this stuff and and people started paying attention.
Domenic Sciortino [00:33:26]:
Wow.
Nancy Norbeck [00:33:27]:
And all of a sudden, you know, you’re off on this this trip because you said yes, and it’s exactly the opposite of where you were told you were gonna be, or in his case, weren’t gonna be. And, you know, so when people have asked him to do workshops, he said, Yes, I don’t know how to do a workshop, but sure, I’ll come and I’ll figure out how to do a workshop for you, you know? And and so it’s just and and he’s just such an interesting guy too. He’s he’s though, I don’t think I would say anything anyone that I’ve talked to isn’t interesting, but he’s got such an interesting story because this is, you know, he’s from Cheyenne, Wyoming. His family ran a pharmacy. You know, this is completely not where he ever thought he was gonna be. And so, you know, that’s just how how he’s done his whole life when they found out that his son was autistic. Okay. Yes.
Nancy Norbeck [00:34:19]:
And what do we do? You know, it’s the same same kind of thing. So he he comes to mind as one that would be a good example if I can’t point to you or Rob. Yeah. But
Domenic Sciortino [00:34:31]:
I think he should move ahead of me. It sounds like he has that. How do you find your guests? Do you follow your curiosity? I mean, is the most obvious answer, but yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:34:45]:
So sometimes, I always ask people who’ve been on the show to send other people to me if they think of someone they think would be a good fit.
Domenic Sciortino [00:34:54]:
I remember that.
Nancy Norbeck [00:34:55]:
And and really, I thought at the beginning that that was how it was all gonna happen. Because it’s like, I don’t I don’t you know, how many people do I know? Yeah. And so so a lot of people have been referred to me by somebody else that I’ve talked to. There’s also a couple of websites that are sort of like dating sites, but for podcast hosts and guests.
Domenic Sciortino [00:35:18]:
Wonderful.
Nancy Norbeck [00:35:19]:
And I’m on one of those. I don’t use it a whole lot because I haven’t needed to, but I found some really interesting people that way too. And then I I will go up and talk to people at, you know, book fairs, at doctor who conventions, you know, any place that that stuff like that’s going on. And so I’ve had a couple of people that I’ve met that way, and sometimes people find me. You know? Sometimes somebody will send me an email and say, hey. I really like your show, and here’s what I do, and I’d like to be on it. And generally speaking, we make that happen. So, you know, it kinda depends on how overloaded I am at any given.
Nancy Norbeck [00:36:03]:
But but, yeah, you know, it’s like, sure, you sound interesting, come talk to me. And honestly, I mean, almost everybody has an interesting story whether they know it or not.
Domenic Sciortino [00:36:15]:
I would agree with that. Absolutely.
Nancy Norbeck [00:36:18]:
You probably know more about that than I do because you talk to so many people all day.
Domenic Sciortino [00:36:22]:
I I do. Yeah. Some things I don’t wanna learn.
Nancy Norbeck [00:36:27]:
For those who have not heard Tom’s
Domenic Sciortino [00:36:29]:
previous review,
Nancy Norbeck [00:36:30]:
he’s a barber, so he talks to all
Domenic Sciortino [00:36:32]:
sorts of people
Nancy Norbeck [00:36:32]:
all the time.
Domenic Sciortino [00:36:33]:
I do. A lot of untold stories that you wish were told. You know what I mean? Like, the emphasis we put on, other things, you know, not that not that I may, but I just think there’s a lot of people that do not have the exposure that you wish people could hear what they have to say. So speaking of that, wishing you could hear what have people to say, are there any plans, and I’m not talking from a commerce standpoint, to expand your podcast somehow, to delve into other media, follow your curiosity. Has that been if it’s not if it’s not out of bounds, has there been any thought to a book or a or a workshop like you were talking about? You know?
Nancy Norbeck [00:37:15]:
I haven’t thought about delving into other topics really seriously just because this what I already do takes up enough of my time and so, you know, that that hasn’t really had room in my brain. I have kind of casually thought about turning the pep talk episodes into a book.
Domenic Sciortino [00:37:35]:
Oh, wow.
Nancy Norbeck [00:37:36]:
But I haven’t gone any further with that. So I
Domenic Sciortino [00:37:40]:
would totally read it. It’s it’s a possibility. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:37:44]:
I mean, I think I think this past week’s was number 75, talking of things that I can’t believe I’ve done that many of.
Domenic Sciortino [00:37:54]:
I’m not
Nancy Norbeck [00:37:54]:
Yeah. Because at first I was like, there’s no way I’m gonna do more than like 20 of these because I’m gonna run out of ideas.
Domenic Sciortino [00:38:02]:
And here we
Nancy Norbeck [00:38:02]:
are with 75 of the little buggers. So That’s cool. Yeah. So thought about that. I am working on creating a 1 on 1 program to help people reconnect with their creative spark right now. So so, yeah, I’m I’m talking to a lot of people to figure out, like, what that might look like for them, what they would need, what would really be valuable, and try to take all of that information and use it to create something. So so that’s that’s in the works, but I haven’t thought about it as an extension of the podcast, but I guess maybe it kind of is because it’s all it’s all the same subject. It’s all
Domenic Sciortino [00:38:42]:
It’s on brand. It’s on brand. Yeah. The book should have the follow your curiosity at the bottom, the workshop.
Nancy Norbeck [00:38:50]:
Yeah. And I did start, a Substack newsletter this last summer that Wonderful. Oh my gosh. It’s just like whatever I feel like writing. It’s it’s breaking all the rules of doing an online newsletter, you know, where people are like, well, you need to pick your niche and you should tell people what they can expect from you all the time. And I’m like, dude, that’s what a full time job is for. I don’t wanna do that. I wanna And
Domenic Sciortino [00:39:15]:
that’s and that’s actually the antithesis of curiosity. Like, we talked about before. Certainty, like, I’m this I’m this corner.
Nancy Norbeck [00:39:23]:
Yeah. Yeah. That that to me is, like, go to the widget factory and make widgets all day. You know?
Domenic Sciortino [00:39:29]:
I think so. Yes.
Nancy Norbeck [00:39:30]:
It’s like, no. I wanna do this to have a place to experiment with my own writing and just write whatever wants to be written at any given time. And sometimes that’s a poem, sometimes, you know, it’s it’s a a thing about something that I’ve just done. Sometimes it’s me ranting about artificial intelligence, which I’ve done more than I thought I would because people keep doing stupid things with it. Should you use AI to create a George Carlin comedy special? No. No. You shouldn’t. And the people who did are getting sued.
Nancy Norbeck [00:40:03]:
So, you know, so that that’s out there too. And that’s just kind of you never know what you’re gonna get.
Domenic Sciortino [00:40:12]:
It jumping in the AI thing because I just have to add this. I read something really interesting that said that, you know, AI was supposed to take all the menial jobs so that we could free ourselves to create art. And what’s happening? AI is creating art, and we are doing the menial jobs. And part of that is because we’re not paid well enough to do the menial jobs, so we are cheaper than a robot. And that’s Right. We’re just gonna leave it at that. Right?
Nancy Norbeck [00:40:35]:
And also, it’s creating bad art, people. It is creating bad
Domenic Sciortino [00:40:40]:
art. Horrible.
Nancy Norbeck [00:40:41]:
Have you looked at these things, you know, where people have 3 legs or 8 fingers or, you know, whatever it is?
Domenic Sciortino [00:40:46]:
It was a Super Bowl commercial. Yeah. That had that. Yeah. It’s awful.
Nancy Norbeck [00:40:49]:
Not creating good
Domenic Sciortino [00:40:51]:
art. And it never
Nancy Norbeck [00:40:52]:
will because it’s a machine.
Domenic Sciortino [00:40:53]:
I mean, Hollywood said, like, hey. We’ll just clone we’ll just get your image and add infinite. So it’s something the thread is already there. It’s like, wait. I thought machines were supposed to be packing boxes and making machine parts. You know? And we were supposed to be doing the drawing and the painting and the filming. And, anyways Yeah. Live with that.
Domenic Sciortino [00:41:09]:
I’m getting on track.
Nancy Norbeck [00:41:11]:
Series that has ever gone there. Right? Every 16th series that has ever gone there has showed you how AI can screw up everything. Yep. Even even Star Trek, you know, Data has the evil twin. I mean, come on.
Domenic Sciortino [00:41:27]:
Absolutely. Right?
Nancy Norbeck [00:41:28]:
It it’s
Domenic Sciortino [00:41:29]:
piano, Kurt Vonnegut, you know, like, so much like
Nancy Norbeck [00:41:33]:
sci fi
Domenic Sciortino [00:41:35]:
is so right.
Nancy Norbeck [00:41:37]:
Yeah. I mean
Domenic Sciortino [00:41:38]:
How is sci fi you know, there’s a you talk about science fiction and art form, you know, is actually shaping like, predicting the future. Kinda like the Simpsons as always predicted. Right? It’s weird. I would like the Simpsons to have
Nancy Norbeck [00:41:54]:
been wrong about more things, but and, hey, Star Trek may be predicting the Irish reunification of 2024 from the sound of things, so you never know.
Domenic Sciortino [00:42:07]:
Really? Wow. Yeah. I didn’t know that.
Nancy Norbeck [00:42:09]:
I don’t think it’s gonna happen this year, but I think it’s getting closer. No. Yeah.
Domenic Sciortino [00:42:15]:
What’s your dream interview? Now you can’t say Sam Neil. I already know that one.
Nancy Norbeck [00:42:21]:
Sam Neil would be great. Yeah. Actually, it was a story about Sam Neill that that inspired the idea to do a podcast in the first place. Yeah. He was I can’t remember where I heard this anymore, so I hope that I haven’t completely rewritten this story in my head, but he was at boarding school as a kid, and his dad was a major in the army and would call the boarding school and say, make sure he’s playing rugby and, you know, doing all of these manly things. And, apparently, you know, the the folks at the school would say, absolutely, major Neil. We’ll we’ll get right on that, major Neil, and they’d hang up the phone and turn to Sam and say, so we’re gonna do this play we thought you might wanna audition for.
Domenic Sciortino [00:43:05]:
Oh, my gosh.
Nancy Norbeck [00:43:06]:
And I was just thinking, I love stories like that. I love people who are smart enough to do that. And if they make a difference to a kid or somebody who is, you know, still in that kid like stage with whatever it is that they wanna do, and they’re just like, sure. We’ll we’ll make sure he plays rugby, but we’re gonna have him audition for this play. And I just wanted to hear more stories about that, which is part of why I ask people about being a creative kid, you know, because if there’s a story like that, I I wanna hear it. Dream interview. I mean, I’ve I’ve kinda done a couple of dream interviews.
Domenic Sciortino [00:43:44]:
Oh, yeah?
Nancy Norbeck [00:43:45]:
But, yeah, I mean, I never would in a 1000000 years would have guessed that I would get to interview Paul McGahn for 2 and a half hours.
Domenic Sciortino [00:43:52]:
Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:43:53]:
That was that was amazing. And he’s promised me that we’re gonna do it again when I talked to him last August, but we’ll see how long it takes to track him down. But it’s it’s hard to say because, you know, like, yeah, there are people would I like to talk to Paul McCartney? Sure. Though Paul McCartney has been interviewed to death. So, you know, would he be able to tell me anything we didn’t already know? I don’t know. Who else? Well, Alan Alda, I think, would be great.
Domenic Sciortino [00:44:27]:
Oh, yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:44:28]:
You know? You go. Of course, he’s so busy doing his own interviews that I don’t know if you’d pay any attention.
Domenic Sciortino [00:44:33]:
But Have you reached out to him?
Nancy Norbeck [00:44:35]:
I haven’t, and I should just for kicks because you never know.
Domenic Sciortino [00:44:39]:
You never know.
Nancy Norbeck [00:44:41]:
Who else? Emma Thompson?
Domenic Sciortino [00:44:44]:
Oh, okay. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:44:45]:
Emma Thompson would be really cool. And maybe, like, Helen Mirren. Both of them are so, like, no nonsense that I think it would be really interesting to hear the story of how they got there. You know,
Domenic Sciortino [00:45:03]:
I think that’s amazing
Nancy Norbeck [00:45:04]:
Doing this stuff forever. How did you get to the point where you were able to say, yeah, I’m not gonna remake myself in in your image for you. I’m gonna do this my way. Because I think with actors in particular, that’s really hard because you’re getting paid every day to remake yourself in somebody else’s image. So how does that how does that overlap with your real life, and what do you do to kind of make sure that you’re still yourself on the other side would be really interesting to hear about. Yeah. Those those are the first ones that come to mind. But but yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:45:41]:
But you also just never know which person that you never heard of until somebody sent them your way or you stumbled on them on Twitter because I’ve found people that way too, is gonna be a great interview that you never would have guessed. And so that could end up being your dream interview that you never knew was your dream interview.
Domenic Sciortino [00:46:00]:
Nice. That’s true. Yeah. Especially nowadays with the world is flat with the Internet. You know? Like, you never know who’s going to go viral and, you know Yeah. And it’s not even
Nancy Norbeck [00:46:11]:
about viral. It’s just about who’s really interesting and fun to talk to. Oh,
Domenic Sciortino [00:46:15]:
man. Yeah.
Nancy Norbeck [00:46:16]:
You know? I I mean Absolutely. There there’s a guy now I’m gonna, like, screw up his last name, I think. I think it was Tom Colgan. Something very much like that if I’ve screwed that up. He’s, an editor with Random House. And I found him on Twitter, and I was like, hey, come talk to me about what editing books is about because people don’t understand that it’s not sitting down with a pen and paper and crossing words out and putting different ones in. You know? And and so, you know, we had a great conversation. It was a ton of fun.
Nancy Norbeck [00:46:45]:
And That’s cool. Kevin John Davis who just, you know, he’s a director. He worked as an animator on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and then he directed a bunch of documentaries. And most recently, he’s written a book based on the Douglas Adams archives at Cambridge.
Domenic Sciortino [00:47:01]:
Oh, wow. Oh my gosh. You know,
Nancy Norbeck [00:47:03]:
I found him on Twitter, and he was fantastic. So so, yeah, you just you never know who’s gonna be a really great fun interview that you couldn’t have predicted.
Domenic Sciortino [00:47:15]:
Nice. Is there anything 2024 Nancy would tell 2018 Nancy?
Nancy Norbeck [00:47:23]:
Well, I would definitely tell her about cloning posts on WordPress and how to edit. I love it. Yes. Definitely tell her about that. I think mostly I would just tell her to to just keep doing what she’s doing.
Domenic Sciortino [00:47:43]:
Yeah. Keep going.
Nancy Norbeck [00:47:44]:
You know? Like, the stuff that you don’t know how to do, you’ll figure out, and probably less matters than you think it does. You know, when you start things you get hung up on, but I don’t know how to do this, and I don’t know how to do this and I don’t know how to do this. And like I said, when we started, there’s still a lot of stuff that I don’t know that I don’t know. But, Hey, I’ve had a podcast sitting here for 5 years. Yeah. You know, and, and what I tell other people all the time is to start where you are, which I’m really glad I had the sense to do. Right? I started with an iPad and a spontaneous interview invitation at a convention. And now I’m still sitting here talking to you from the closet in my bedroom because of my studio.
Nancy Norbeck [00:48:32]:
And would I love to have a quote, unquote real studio? Sure. But the commute here is great. And and the fact is it works. Absolutely. You know, if I didn’t tell people I was doing this in my closet, which is such a cliche, but it’s a cliche for a reason because it does work. They wouldn’t know, but I tell people because I want them to know that they should just start with what they’ve got.
Domenic Sciortino [00:48:57]:
Absolutely. That’s that’s such so so 2 things I need you to write down and put them somewhere in your podcast in the tagline is, like, without curiosity, we’re just robots, number 1. And number 2 is start where you are. That’s such great advice. Jack White from the White Stripes, do you know who he is? Mhmm. He’s, you know, he became a mega rock star, and he says, you don’t need that $1,000 guitar.
Nancy Norbeck [00:49:21]:
No. You don’t.
Domenic Sciortino [00:49:22]:
And there’s a there’s a movie, called It Might Get Loud. It’s a documentary about guitar players. And in the opening scene, it’s him and, you know, the near the farms of Michigan, literally a cow field. And he takes an electric electronic conductor, and he nails a string to the, porch post and hooks this up and starts playing slide guitar on one string. You know? And it sounds amazing. You know?
Nancy Norbeck [00:49:51]:
Wow.
Domenic Sciortino [00:49:51]:
But, anyways
Nancy Norbeck [00:49:52]:
Yeah. No. I mean
Domenic Sciortino [00:49:53]:
I have 2 more questions for you.
Nancy Norbeck [00:49:56]:
Okay. Let me just say one thing.
Domenic Sciortino [00:49:58]:
No. Yes. Please. Well, I yeah. Go ahead. This is your podcast. You know, you’re being interviewed.
Nancy Norbeck [00:50:04]:
You know, if I had waited until I had a studio, I still wouldn’t have a podcast. If I had waited until I had a real microphone, I definitely wouldn’t have a podcast because I wouldn’t have asked Rob Sheeran if he wanted to do an interview with just an iPad. Right? It it’s like I have a mic now, but you can also do an interview with your phone. You know? It’s what it’s what you have. So, like, start with what what you have and where you are and worry about the rest of that stuff later. I’m so glad that I did not let them
Domenic Sciortino [00:50:41]:
tell me. Yeah. Amen. So two questions. The first one is, is there anything you’d like to share with your listeners other than what we’ve covered? Anything that, you’d like them to know about the podcast?
Nancy Norbeck [00:50:59]:
I would like them to know that I don’t know exactly who they are. You know, I’ve never met most of them. I’ve never seen their faces. I see where they are, and they’re in some pretty surprising and amazing places. But wherever they are and whoever they are, that I appreciate them so much because if nobody’s listening, there’s no point doing this. And I would love to hear from them. I really would. I have kind of learned that podcasting is kind of perceived as this one way medium, But, seriously, there are so many ways to get in touch with me, and I would love to hear from people who listen to the show and just hear what their experience is or hear who they think I should talk to or, you know, whatever.
Domenic Sciortino [00:51:42]:
Awesome. That’s great. You ready for the last question?
Nancy Norbeck [00:51:45]:
Sure. Should I break the line?
Domenic Sciortino [00:51:48]:
Is the sequel to the silver child coming out? I’ve been waiting.
Nancy Norbeck [00:51:54]:
Okay. So so true story about the sequel to the silver child. I actually had an
Domenic Sciortino [00:52:00]:
idea on the spot like that. No.
Nancy Norbeck [00:52:03]:
You’re not. That’s okay.
Domenic Sciortino [00:52:04]:
I love I love the book. I think I have reiterated that to you many times. Right? It’s a listeners, if you have not read The Silver Child and you like fantasy, it’s such a wonderful book.
Nancy Norbeck [00:52:13]:
Thank you.
Domenic Sciortino [00:52:14]:
You’re welcome.
Nancy Norbeck [00:52:15]:
So I had an idea for another book to go with The Silver Child, and I I think it was a prequel. And this was, I don’t even remember how many years ago now. And I thought, okay, that would be really cool, but I wanna reread the book to make sure that everything’s fresh in my head before I do anything with it. And I committed the gravest sin that you can commit as an any sort of creative person who comes up with an idea that sounds good. And and if you are sort of the if if you are that sort of person, you probably know what I am about to say. Yes. I didn’t write it down. Yeah.
Domenic Sciortino [00:53:01]:
Well, I I think, like, a 100 listeners just groaned because we’ve all been there.
Nancy Norbeck [00:53:06]:
We’ve all been there. Right? And and I have done it multiple times, and you would think that I would have learned my lesson. And
Domenic Sciortino [00:53:20]:
time. I have no excuse.
Nancy Norbeck [00:53:21]:
The thing is right.
Domenic Sciortino [00:53:22]:
Forgive you, but you know what?
Nancy Norbeck [00:53:24]:
In my hand.
Domenic Sciortino [00:53:25]:
Serendipity serendipity, there is another idea that is going to be greater than that. That’s exactly what just happened. There are no mistakes. Right? True.
Nancy Norbeck [00:53:34]:
I think that’s true.
Domenic Sciortino [00:53:36]:
You know what Eckhart Tolle do you know who Eckhart Tolle is?
Nancy Norbeck [00:53:38]:
Mhmm.
Domenic Sciortino [00:53:39]:
He says, whatever happens to you in your life whatever happens to you in your life, act on it as if you had chosen it yourself. Work with it, not against it.
Nancy Norbeck [00:53:50]:
That’s
Domenic Sciortino [00:53:50]:
good. So that idea went away because there’s another one, a better one coming.
Nancy Norbeck [00:53:54]:
I guess. Yeah. But But
Domenic Sciortino [00:53:57]:
seriously, love
Nancy Norbeck [00:53:58]:
the book. My curiosity is what the heck was that idea? I would love to know. What it was?
Domenic Sciortino [00:54:05]:
Give it to the universe. It’s gonna send it back to you.
Nancy Norbeck [00:54:07]:
Yeah. At, like,
Domenic Sciortino [00:54:08]:
3 in the morning, you’re gonna wake up.
Nancy Norbeck [00:54:10]:
Whenever something hits me that feels like the right thing, I will run with it. But, you know, and actually, I probably do need to reread the book to help make that happen. But but, yeah, I I sat down and I reread a decent chunk of it, and then I was like, wait, what was I gonna do with this?
Domenic Sciortino [00:54:30]:
I’m gonna have to reread it.
Nancy Norbeck [00:54:31]:
Yeah. It was just you gotta be kidding me, man.
Domenic Sciortino [00:54:35]:
I did it again.
Nancy Norbeck [00:54:36]:
I did it again. Dear listeners, write down all your ideas, whether they’re going
Domenic Sciortino [00:54:41]:
or not,
Nancy Norbeck [00:54:41]:
just write them down. Hopefully, someday, I will learn this lesson myself.
Domenic Sciortino [00:54:46]:
Hey. I wanna thank you for letting me do this.
Nancy Norbeck [00:54:48]:
Oh, well, thank you for being willing. I mean, you were the obvious choice, and I’m glad you were available and up for it.
Domenic Sciortino [00:54:56]:
It it, it brightened my day to hear somebody that’s doing what they love because I too often hear the opposite.
Nancy Norbeck [00:55:04]:
It brightened mine to kind of go back and look at it all at one time.
Domenic Sciortino [00:55:07]:
Yeah. And just kinda sort through it now.
Nancy Norbeck [00:55:11]:
Yeah. You ask good questions.
Domenic Sciortino [00:55:13]:
Well, thank you.
Nancy Norbeck [00:55:13]:
You should start your own podcast.
Domenic Sciortino [00:55:15]:
I yeah. I don’t we I actually had an idea for a podcast, and it was about, me and my coworker about pickles and movies. We were going to get together once a week and eat different pickles. Because if you don’t know I’m a pickle fanatic, you might not know that. I’m not a pickle. Freak. So we’re gonna sample a different pickle and and talk about a film, just any film, and call it something like pickles and films or some pickles and picks. I don’t know.
Domenic Sciortino [00:55:38]:
But but finding the time to do that biweekly like you do is very difficult, but I I do have it written down.
Nancy Norbeck [00:55:46]:
Yes. Good. Good.
Domenic Sciortino [00:55:49]:
I carry a pocket note or notebook everywhere. And if I lose that has
Nancy Norbeck [00:55:53]:
not been for not. Don’t recommend data.
Domenic Sciortino [00:55:58]:
Well, thank you so much. Nancy, anything you wanna add? Or
Nancy Norbeck [00:56:02]:
No. I think we’re good. Thank you.
Domenic Sciortino [00:56:04]:
Alright. Nancy Norbeck, thank you so much for your time today.
Nancy Norbeck [00:56:09]:
That is this week’s show. I’m so grateful to Domenic Sciortino for joining me, but even more, I’m so glad you’ve come along with me for these first five years, and I hope you’ll continue to follow your curiosity along with me for the next five. I mean it when I say I would love to hear from you, so please do get in touch. You can also leave a review. There’s a link in your podcast app, which is a quick way to help the show find new listeners. And please do share the episode with a friend. Thanks so
Nancy Norbeck [00:56:40]:
much. If this episode resonated with you or if you’re feeling a little bit less than confident in your creative process right now, join me at the spark on Substack as we form a community that supports and celebrates each other’s creative courage. It’s free, and it’s also where I’ll be adding programs for subscribers and listeners. The link is in your podcast app, so sign up today. See you there. And see you next week. Follow Your Curiosity is produced by me, Nancy Norbeck, with music by Joseph McDade. If you like Follow Your Curiosity, please subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Nancy Norbeck [00:57:16]:
And don’t forget to tell your friends. It really helps me reach new listeners.