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What Do People Fail To See Under An Indiana Sky From Author Lynne Hugo · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: I know it always seems kind of fun just to
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  Speaker 1: jump onto Spotify or iHeartRadio and, oh, there's my favorite podcast.
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  Speaker 1: But what would happen if that one author that you've
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  Speaker 1: got for a podcast host is actually hosting 21 different podcasts?
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  Speaker 1: It's the thing. We're all doing a network of podcasts.
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  Speaker 1: That's why I always say go to their websites, arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net.
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  Speaker 1: It's that one place where you can find four stories.
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  Speaker 1: You've got your favorite park. You've got your favorite place
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  Speaker 1: of solitude. Where are you writing this down to preserve
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  Speaker 1: for a future self? A little bit too heavy for
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  Speaker 1: you today? Oh, it's not when you go to Forest Stories.
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  Speaker 1: Only on Arrow.net. A-R-R-O-E dot net. Enjoy your exploration.
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  Speaker 2: Hello, Arrow. Thank you so much for having me on
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  Speaker 2: your show.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. You've got to sit down and share with me
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  Speaker 1: how you came up with this project because it feels
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  Speaker 1: so real. It's almost like you pulled it from the
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  Speaker 1: pages of your own chapters.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I did not. But I'm very glad it feels
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  Speaker 2: so real because it's a very realistic novel that that
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  Speaker 2: I definitely agree with.
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  Speaker 1: I always wonder what Mark Twain would say these days
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to this, because, I mean, he was
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  Speaker 1: always about, you know, writing about the fantasy or the
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  Speaker 1: or the of the world that we did not know.
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  Speaker 1: But he was going to bring it to us. And
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  Speaker 1: when you've got a book like this, you're going, I
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  Speaker 1: feel like I'm right here right now and I'm living this.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm so glad that you reacted that way. Thank you. Well,
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  Speaker 2: as you probably know from my bio, I am a
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  Speaker 2: practicing licensed therapist, and I have lived this with a
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  Speaker 2: number of my patients. I don't treat chemical addiction, but
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  Speaker 2: I definitely have worked with a lot of family members,
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  Speaker 2: and so I'm very in tune. with what they go through.
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  Speaker 1: You know, one of the things that I wanted to
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  Speaker 1: talk about, because under the Indiana sky is something that
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  Speaker 1: deals with truth, and it also deals with a community
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  Speaker 1: coming together. I've been that guy who spoke at opioid funerals,
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  Speaker 1: and every one of them, they said, do not talk
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  Speaker 1: to the guests in the way that you would normally
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  Speaker 1: do at a funeral. I need you to talk to
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  Speaker 1: the abusers who are sitting back there in rows number six, seven, eight,
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  Speaker 1: and nine that know they're using the drug, and they
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  Speaker 1: need to hear the truth inside their soul.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. Well, I can understand that. Um, there's a tremendous,
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  Speaker 2: tremendous amount of denial. And that's based on the stigma
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  Speaker 2: that's attached to addiction, the shame and the fear. And
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  Speaker 2: one of the things I really aim to do with
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  Speaker 2: this book is to, um, To reduce the, well, to
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  Speaker 2: increase recognition, acknowledgement, acceptance, truth-telling, but with compassion, with compassion.
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  Speaker 2: I think if you give people a way to process
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  Speaker 2: the experience of involvement with addiction through a realistic story,
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  Speaker 2: it's helpful.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but don't you think, though, that when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to healing and stuff, we've got to quit saying words like,
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to an overdose, it was an accident. Really?
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  Speaker 1: I've never seen it as an accident. And sometimes I
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  Speaker 1: think that people just excuse that and say, oh, well,
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  Speaker 1: we'll just keep growing forward. And I'm going, no, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: we need to figure out a solution here so that
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  Speaker 1: this can stop. But how do you feel about it
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  Speaker 1: when they go, it was an accident?
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  Speaker 2: I hear what you're saying, and I resonate to that.
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  Speaker 2: I think sometimes the accidental part, at least in recent years,
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  Speaker 2: comes from the fact that a lot of street drugs
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  Speaker 2: are being cut with fentanyl. And the fentanyl is the
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  Speaker 2: deadly part, and the users are not aware that it
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  Speaker 2: has been cut with fentanyl. And then it becomes deadly.
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  Speaker 2: And that part may make it accidental.
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  Speaker 1: The name of the book, Under an Indiana Sky. We'll
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  Speaker 1: be right back with Lynn Hugo. This isn't somebody who
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  Speaker 1: sat down with Chad GPT. Lynn Hugo has lived it.
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  Speaker 1: We are back talking about the book Under an Indiana Sky.
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  Speaker 1: So what was it like for you to be able
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  Speaker 1: to write about this? Because, I mean, you're having to
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  Speaker 1: relive things that were on your path. I mean, that's
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  Speaker 1: the thing about it. You're pulling stuff back into your
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  Speaker 1: life again. That's got to be some heavy-duty weight there.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. But I think one of the things that
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  Speaker 2: I have learned is to look at this head-on, realistically,
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  Speaker 2: and without the judgment.
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  Speaker 1: That's a tough walk. That's a tough walk.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. Yes, it is. But the judgment is not. It
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  Speaker 2: just isn't helpful.
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  Speaker 1: I see what you're saying. I see what you're saying.
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  Speaker 1: I see what you're saying. The outreach on this, you
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  Speaker 1: know that people are going to be coming up to it,
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  Speaker 1: and it's going to be that one person that has
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  Speaker 1: either toyed around with popping some pills or doing things,
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  Speaker 1: or it's going to be a mom and dad who's
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  Speaker 1: trying to understand their own family or a community that's
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  Speaker 1: trying to understand. What is that one thing that you
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  Speaker 1: want them to pick up on? Because I want people
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  Speaker 1: to really take in this book like I have. Because
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  Speaker 1: Angie and Brock, I mean, come on now. We're all
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  Speaker 1: going to sit there and go, I know them. I
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  Speaker 1: know them. And yet they're inside the book here.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. Exactly. I'm so glad. Thank you for that.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for seeing that. And I want people to
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  Speaker 2: take away the importance of recognizing denial. Yes. In both
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  Speaker 2: addicts and those who love them or just who care
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  Speaker 2: about them. I'm hoping people will take away increased recognition
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  Speaker 2: and acknowledgement and truth-telling. And I hope to increase compassion
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  Speaker 2: and reduce judgment and help people through a well-told story
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  Speaker 2: to give people a way to process the experience of
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  Speaker 2: involvement with addiction, the whole process from the beginning, one
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  Speaker 2: way it can start, and then see the whole process
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  Speaker 2: all the way through.
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  Speaker 1: You've done that. You've seen it. Yeah, I do. And
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  Speaker 1: you've lived that. I mean, it's almost like, you know,
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  Speaker 1: as the preacher man would tell us, you've been to
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  Speaker 1: the fire and you've come out saying, hey, you ain't
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  Speaker 1: going in there and I'm going to do everything I
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  Speaker 1: can to make sure you don't go in there.
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  Speaker 2: Well, if the novel has that effect, that would be
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  Speaker 2: really a great bonus, yes.
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  Speaker 1: When you take your profession and you put it inside of,
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  Speaker 1: of a book, now you're relinquishing the book. That means
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  Speaker 1: your creativity, your experiences now belong in the hands of
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  Speaker 1: those that are picking up the book. What is that
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  Speaker 1: like for you mentally as a creative person, knowing that
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  Speaker 1: the book kind of belongs to us now?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, what a good question. I really haven't thought of
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  Speaker 2: it that way. Um, What is that like? Honestly, I
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  Speaker 2: have to let go of it and answer questions and
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  Speaker 2: answer questions and just hope that I've done my job well. Right, right.
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  Speaker 1: And the reason why I'm bringing that up, because in reality,
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  Speaker 1: isn't writing and creativity, I always call it on iHeartRadio,
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  Speaker 1: it is an addiction. And so when you relinquish it
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  Speaker 1: like that, all of a sudden my mind is going,
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  Speaker 1: and this is where you took me, Lynn, in this book.
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  Speaker 1: My mind is going, what is your addiction? And it's
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  Speaker 1: not just opioids we're talking about. Maybe it's an addiction
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  Speaker 1: to chocolate. Maybe it's an addiction to Pepsi. And that's
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  Speaker 1: where you took me in this book. This isn't just
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  Speaker 1: about one thing. This is about look at your entire
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  Speaker 1: life and see all of your addictions.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's a really good point. You know how people,
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  Speaker 2: so many people are addicted to their phones in a way.
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  Speaker 2: You know, the scrolling, the doom scrolling. Yes. Yeah. But
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  Speaker 2: you're right. It could be, it can be many things.
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  Speaker 2: But those are not, they may be detrimental in our lives,
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  Speaker 2: but they are not potentially fatal.
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  Speaker 1: And what's so fascinating is that you've started the conversation.
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  Speaker 1: That's that's the thing about it. At least you had
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  Speaker 1: the courage to start the conversation with Under the Indiana Sky,
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  Speaker 1: because this way then now we can say, by the way,
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  Speaker 1: did you read? What do you mean? Oh, my God. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I have to read this. I heard about it. I
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  Speaker 1: read about it. Where do I find it? You see
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  Speaker 1: what I mean? There's such a continuation. It's like playing
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  Speaker 1: the telephone game. I just want them to know how
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  Speaker 1: to really get to the other end, you know, and
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  Speaker 1: share the great story.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, thank you. I really hope I have accomplished that
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  Speaker 2: with Under an Indiana Sky. Yes, I really hope I
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  Speaker 2: have accomplished that.
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  Speaker 1: Now, will you travel to other states? Because I know
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  Speaker 1: up in Montana, underneath that big sky, there's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of this action going on. I mean, every state has
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  Speaker 1: to have its own little thing, doesn't it?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. And the title of this novel, I mean, I
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  Speaker 2: don't want people to be fooled by it. This could
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  Speaker 2: take place anywhere. It just happens to be set in Indiana.
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  Speaker 2: This is not an Indiana problem any more than it's
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  Speaker 2: a problem anywhere in this country. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I just love where you're going with this. Where can
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  Speaker 1: people go to find out more about what you're doing?
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  Speaker 1: Because 10 minutes with you is never going to be enough, Lynn,
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  Speaker 1: because I have so many questions about this. This is
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  Speaker 1: such an issue that we all need to face.
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  Speaker 2: It is. Well, my website has more, and it's lynnhugo.com,
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  Speaker 2: and that's L-Y-N-N-E, Hugo, H-U-G-O.com.
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  Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that E because you should have
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  Speaker 1: seen me jump up real quickly. I'm putting an E
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  Speaker 1: on your name. Oh my God. I never jumped so
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  Speaker 1: fast in my life.
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  Speaker 2: I know. My mother's head used to explode when people
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  Speaker 2: didn't add an E to that.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my God. I moved so quickly. Well, you've got
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  Speaker 1: to come back to this show anytime in the future.
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  Speaker 1: And we've got to talk about this more than just
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  Speaker 1: at a, you know, with a book releasing, this is
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  Speaker 1: something that we need to be doing at least once, twice,
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  Speaker 1: three times a year. just to kind of serve as
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  Speaker 1: a reminder to those who are growing with it and
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  Speaker 1: pushing it aside thinking that it doesn't exist.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it does. It does. It does. And thank you
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  Speaker 2: so much for your attention to it.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you be brilliant today, okay?
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. I really appreciate your featuring under
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  Speaker 2: an Indiana sky. I really, really do.