Hello. My name is Elle, and I’m a serial fixater. In today’s blog post, I’ll share useless information about a few of the hobbies I have spent entirely too much time on, and talk about how they influence my writing.
Here are my top 5 most recent weird hobbies…
The inside of a jackfruit, which it turns out I hate
Weird hobby #1: Tasting & growing obscure fruit/veggies. Yep. You didn’t think I meant that random, but I diddly did, and you’re welcome. So I’m into this stuff because, inexplicably, I find it utterly fascinating that there are tons of edible fruits and vegetables out there that most of the people around me have no idea even exists. And so much of it is extraordinarily good (good tasting, good for you, good for edible landscaping, etc.). One of the resources that has supported my fascination (in addition to visits to the local nurseries) include the Weird Fruit Explorer’s YouTube Channel, where you can learn about various exotic fruits while vicariously living through the travels of the “Weird Explorer” Jared Rydelek. You’ll see the occasional weird fruit or veggie pop up in my writing, and a lot of these are either based on actual obscure items, or an invented item inspired by reality.
Weird hobby #2: Permaculture gardening. As an apocalyptic writer who obsessively researches doomsday scenarios, I love the idea of self-sufficiency and off-grid living. The key to this is gardening, and staying connected to the process of producing food for our families. Some of the resources that have served as inspiration and education include Jon Kohler’s GrowingYourGreens YouTube Channel and Jake Mace’s Off Grid Athlete YouTube Channel. These guys have some great information about their own adventures with growing their own food in challenging climates, taking the concept of the Victory Garden to the next level. Decentralized food production is, in my humble opinion, a wise practice for any resilient society, and such an important skill to pass onto the next generation. The principles of permaculture ensure, in essence, sustainable farming that integrates into everyday life. When considering how society might withstand or rebuild after a devastation-level event, permaculture offers hope for survival, and my characters that have this knowledge put it to good use.
Weird hobby #3: Urban foraging. Like permaculture gardening, urban foraging is both rewarding and a valuable skill to have for me personally (see: doomsday writer). My characters often find themselves traveling and doing what they can to survive. Having valuable knowledge of safe foraging practices in an urban environment helps them survive, and requires tremendous amounts of research on my part! One of the resources I’ve used is FallingFruit.org (the website and the app). FallingFruit provides an interactive map where you can view locations of fruit-producing trees in public locations around the world. You can even add locations if you know of any places (like parking lots, malls, etc.) where fruit is readily available. I live in a Mediterranean climate here in coastal California (as do most of my characters—go figure), which means I have access to incredibly rich urban foraging opportunities. I’ve found strawberry fruit trees to be particularly delicious and prolific producers in my area. I’ve also found black mission figs (which were named for and planted along historic Spanish mission routes), feijoa shrubs (also called pineapple guavas), Monterey Bay brush cherries, pickleweed, wild-growing grapes, and a shocking number of fruit-producing plum trees. Imagine how valuable being able to recognize these resources would be if you couldn’t visit the supermarket!
Weird hobby #4: Aquarium-keeping & Aquascaping. I love, love, love marine life and aquariums! My husband and I were even married at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I think my obsession with aquarium keeping started because my mom was allergic to dogs and cats and I was desperate for pets, so all I could have were fish. As an adult, I forayed briefly into saltwater aquarium keeping, but quickly returned to the freshwater hobby when I learned about the art of aquascaping. My (probably) oversimplified definition of aquascaping is that it is really just the practice of underwater gardening with the goal of achieving aesthetic and ecological balance. Aquascaping often requires an eye for design, and an enthusiasm for working with live plants and other decorative items (branches, sand, rocks) to mimic nature. As an added bonus, aquascaping allows the aquarium keeper to minimize waste, and thereby reduce the required maintenance (like water changes) as the natural cycles keep aquatic plants and critters comfortable. You can see how this has similar principles to permaculture, and although I haven’t had the weirdly obsessive aquarist character in my writing yet, I feel him (or her) waiting to emerge from the back of my brain!
Weird hobby #5: Mermaiding. I think I saved my favorite (and most weird/delightful thing) for last. Yes, you read it correctly: mermaiding. As in a verb. A thing you can do. Yes, you can buy a fully swimmable mermaid tail (or merman tail, or something in between; we’re very inclusive in the mermaid community), and you can join mermaid meetups and events, or even just enjoy the sweet, sweet satisfaction of actually being what you said you would be when you grew up (I told you so, Mom!). There’s so much to unpack about this fantastic hobby, and so much to talk about. For now, suffice to say that for me, owning and swimming in my myriad of mermaid tails from the Mertailor has been an absolute delight. Swimming with a mermaid tail has also genuinely helped with novel research. Even better, it's expanded my horizons with a new community of like-minded weirdo friends.
In conclusion: Writing, along with my ever-expanding list of hobby fixations, has brought a tremendous amount of joy and magic into my every day life, and I hope maybe I can share that with all of you by incorporating it into my work. Even just the research for writing allows all of us to experience something new, whether you’re trying weird fruits, exploring new places, or swimming in a mermaid tail. I am grateful for the experiences and the opportunity to share, and appreciate the patience of my husband, encouragement of friends and other family members, and am overjoyed that my daughter is too young to be embarrassed by my antics!