Evening’s Kingdom

Evening’s Kingdom, written & read by Paula Schmidt. A true story about a spell. My adventures - and misadventures - on the wing. Thank you so much for listening. Please share and enjoy :) EveningsKingdom.com

“I’ve danced at the birth of stars, and cloaked myself in oceans as they chastened to sands…” Evening’s Kingdom, by Paula Schmidt Hello travelers, We meet again on the bridge between our minds. Welcome to Evening’s Kingdom, where I’m reading installments of my epic fantasy, Evening’s Kingdom, books one and two, and interviewing other artists and thinkers… If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to scroll down in your app and click five stars - maybe share the show with a friend, let them know how much you love it! In today’s episode: When worlds collide, kingdoms come… and kingdoms go. Every ending contains a new beginning as Ouma meets her story’s narrator - the descended goddess, Naomh. Evening’s Kingdom, written & read by Paula Schmidt. We continue! Please share and enjoy :) EveningsKingdom.com

In today’s episode: I turn the conversational tables on myself and explore new questions I have for artists in upcoming episodes. Links mentioned: Portrait Studio: Reginakelly.com Dalva, by Jim Harrison Legends of the Fall, by Jim Harrison The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz Immunity to Change, by Robert Kegan (apologies, I called him Richard during the show!) Gluten Free Teff Bread Recipe Rucking Outlive, by Peter Attia, M.D. Doi Suthep Monk Trail, Chiang Mai Thailand ASMR Sungenomics - Custom Probiotics Thank you for listening. Please share and enjoy :)

In today’s episode: Ouma raises an otherworldly army and alliances begin to shift… Evening’s Kingdom, written & read by Paula Schmidt. This is Paula Schmidt… We continue! For more free stories, interviews and meditations, please visit EveningsKingdom.com Thank you for listening. Please share and enjoy :)

In today’s episode: As the Chiriklo rebels storm the castle Ullalea, Yang soldiers and their families reel beneath the attack - and respond with their own. Ouma discovers a power beneath the sands, greater than any she has ever known… We continue… For more free stories, interviews and meditations, please visit EveningsKingdom.com Thank you for listening. Please share and enjoy!

In today’s episode: Ouma discovers a surviving Wutar who escaped the long ago genocide of their people... by doing the unthinkable. As they prepare for battle, Fern and Owain fall more deeply in love. And the warrior-executioner Talu is in his element as the Chiriklo rebels storm the castle Ullalea from occupying Yang forces. Thank you for listening ~ please share & enjoy! For more free stories, interviews and meditations, please visit EveningsKingdom.com Please stay tuned. More from me is… Just down the road :) Love & stories Paula

“Think of it as a game. A game of energy…” - Paula Schmidt, Evening's Kingdom. Hello, travelers.... in today’s episode: Ouma has a vision, and the great gathering of Chiriklo from all across the kingdom make their crossing to Ullalea, to seize the ancient castle back from the occupying Yang forces. Thank you for listening ~ please share & enjoy! Love & stories Paula EveningsKingdom.com

Do you want a more satisfying daily routine? Use this thought exercise to examine your habits of identity and desire, and create a more meaningful life pattern. Create goals that truly inspire you, and a life design that sparks joy. Listen before journaling, taking a walk or on a day when you can give yourself space to reflect. Want more? Voyage Into Energy with guided meditations, journaling prompts and embodiment practices for sleep, meditation & healing: Buy my new course, Alchemizing Anxious Energies to experience powerful insights and deep calm. Created for artists, highly sensitive people of INFP, INFJ/ 4w3 and 4w5 varietials, these practices are luscious, integrative tools to support anyone experiencing feelings of stress and overwhelm. Thank you for listening ~ Please share & enjoy! Love & stories Paula EveningsKingdom.com

For paired journaling prompts for this meditation, visit EveningsKingdom.com. Please share & enjoy!

“Working on a yacht is one of the best ways to travel the world, earn cash, and live on a floating palace on the water (for free!)” - Baker Manning Hello travelers, Today’s conversation is with my very dear & lovely friend, Baker Manning from Below Deck, the Bravo reality TV show. Baker shares how mourning her beloved father led her into a life of world travel… and thrill-seeking became soul-seeking. We discuss plant medicine, music as medicine, and how she unlocked her greatest superpower: joy. The queen of ‘adventure -income,’ Baker teaches adult hip-hop choreography in Charleston Diva Dance parties, and is the author of the Yacht Job Handbook, your complete guide on how to break into the yachting industry.* Her handbook is perfect for anyone in transition. Especially any hard-working thrillseekers you may know who are interested to stockpile some cash for a rainy day… maybe even pay off some debt! (As a crew-member, all your living expenses are paid.) I can also testify - it makes for equally great armchair travel, too :) Once upon a time, I daydreamed about working as a masseuse on a yacht. I love my life, but I wonder - in some other life, maybe she and I are crewmates in some sunny isle :) Are you there with us? Who knows? Take a daydream (here) & (here) as you listen in. *Showlinks available via EveningsKingdom.com under the Interviews tab. Thank you for listening. Please share and enjoy! ​ love & stories, Paula ​EveningsKingdom.com ​

Hello travelers, For today’s episode, I’m elated to share my conversation with the extraordinarily talented Justin Booher! Please enjoy as Justin shares his adventures cheffing for retreats around the world. We discuss energy work, ways to clear out space to let more wonder and alignment into your life; structuring a dinner party to delight all the senses, Justin's delicious wellness remedies and more. Justin is currently on LotusWei’s Flowerlounge tour. If you’d like to experience his art and magic firsthand, do book your ticket now, as they are bound to sell out. Thank you so much for listening. Please share and enjoy :)

“Home is a feeling.” - Evening’s Kingdom Hello travelers, In today’s episode, we go deep into Fern’s world, as she falls head over heels for a lovely someone… And I have a big announcement. Evenings Kingdom, Books One and Two, are coming to Kindle this fall! Calling all fantasy lovers: would you like a free reviewers copy? Please visit EveningsKingdom.com and let me know. I’d love to hear from you. Thank you so much for listening. Please share and enjoy! With love & stories, Paula

Hello travelers! Today I felt like sharing something a little different :) Firstly, I’m seeking early readers for my new, epic fantasy series for adults and will soon be sending out a call via my email list soon. So if you would like to number yourself among them, please do sign up to my email list here. Today’s show is about a long-running love of mine: journaling. I’ve been sharing journaling prompts with my email subscribers, and the response has been so lovely that I wanted to share some of these practices here as well. So in today's episode, we cover: How to start a journaling practice; a few quick journaling prompts to get you started and 3 journaling frameworks for Gratitude, Grief, Anxiety, Stress and more. Thank you so much for listening. Please share and enjoy!

Evenings Kingdom: the Conversations. Wide-ranging conversations with artists and thinkers on their work, their life; their adventures, processes and routines. Hi travelers! I’m thrilled to present you with my conversation with Justen Ahren, the 2017-2019 poet laureate of Martha’s Vineyard. Justen is a dear friend, poet, photographer, musician and teacher. He served as poet laureate of Martha’s Vineyard from 2017 to 2019, and is the founder of Devotion to Writing, helping people around the world cultivate their daily writing practice and awaken creative abundance. Justen has published two poetry collections, A Strange Catechism and A Machine for Remembering. His work has been exhibited at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, set to music by Grammy award-winning composers, commissioned by national dance theater groups and adapted and performed on stage. You can find him on Justenahren.com, and on Instagram and all socials as @justenahren. We take a moment to get going and have some audio misadventures, my fault - but our conversation catches fire, so please do stay with us! If you are an artist also, there is a great deal for you here, as we discuss: - The secret, parallel fantasy life that helped Justen survive a very tough childhood - - Art as a coping mechanism, a lover, and, ultimately, a spiritual practice - - Beauty witnessing us, just as we witness it - -​ The magic of Intention, and how we may manifest our longings, for, as the ghost of the ancient shaman called Yaeel tells Ouma in EK: “That which you seek is also seeking you.” - How stories choose us... - And I reveal the wild, midnight ceremony which unexpectedly brought Ouma, and the entirety of Evening's Kingdom, into me. Thank you for listening. Please enjoy!

Evenings Kingdom: the Conversations. Wide-ranging conversations with artists and thinkers on their work, their life; their adventures, processes and routines. Kind of an ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’ meets ‘The Tim Ferriss Show,’ these Conversations will, no doubt, wend their ways into my writing. In stories from me in years to come, you may well recognize characters and ideas first discussed here. ​Accordingly, today's episode features my dear friend Pat Gault. He is an artist and waymaker, and a military veteran. In this conversation, we consider the many different kinds of possible cognizance - that of trees, rivers, mountains, even rocks - how this informs the worldviews of many traditional cultures like the Alaskan Dena’ina, who recognize these multiple dimensions of consciousness, all of which thoughts and the wind could traverse… Pat became a Pararescueman (a PJ) at 18. He is also a writer, exploring alternative treatment methods for PTSD and depression, such as meditation and psychedelics. But it is his growing relationship with the Alaskan backcountry which has truly transformed his life. Accordingly, he founded the Alaska Institute of Curiosity and Exploration or ALICE to help redefine our understanding of nature as the original entheogen. You can visit him at AliceQuest.com to learn more about the Alaskan quests he guides - and I do recommend it to your attention! :) Recently Pat was connected with the Heroic Hearts Project, which offers veterans psychedelic treatment options to heal their PTSD. The Heroic Heart’s program guides veterans to help them get the most out of their time on retreats, while also setting them up for success when they return home. This is Pat’s story. Please share and please enjoy! ​ Love, Paula

“My lady, I am but the tongue that bridles an unruly mind, and would see it brought quiet.” Weir Rathwau, Evening’s Kingdom. Nor loses hope: the oligarchs destroy his efforts to save Tensingland, and the priestexxes of Oculus vanish without a trace. Ouma holds a ceremony for a dying medicine woman of an enemy tribe. And as the Chiriklo prepare to retake Ullalea from occupying forces, Fern meets a boy… Written and Read by Paula Schmidt. Thank you so much for listening. Please share and enjoy!

“In the name of Goddexx!” - King Nor Tensing, Evening’s Kingdom. Written and Read by Paula Schmidt. Book Two of Evening’s Kingdom begins! As the drought continues, Nor’s reign comes into jeopardy and Ouma performs a healing for a dying medicine woman from her enemy tribe, the Yang. Today’s episode also includes some very personal confessions from me. As I live and grow alongside the story, Evening’s Kingdom brings intimate challenges from my past to my surface. Please stay tuned after the show, as I discuss the 1 simple habit that helps me notice and address old patterns - and the tribe I’m calling in! These struggles may resonate with many of you, too. I’d love your advice, as well as your thoughts on this new format. Please let me know in a review. I read each one, and knowing you’re out there means the world to me :-) Thank you so much for listening. Please enjoy! May you be inspired, enchanted & free. With love from the wind, Paula

My lovelies, I’m back :) Season Two shortly awaits - But first, as requested by the marvelous Baker Manning, a quick recap of Season One before we begin. The transcript is below for your referencing pleasure. If you are new to Evenings Kingdom, please turn that dial all the way back to Episode 1, because here be spoilers! As you may recall, Ouma, our bold, non-binary hero, is on a mission to murder the King and avenge her vanquished people, but she was on her own until a caravan of outcasts took Ouma under their wing. On their adventures together across the Singing Sands, through villages and ruins, Ouma became a healer - only to be tempted into the dark arts when a powerful, mysterious alien-snake god named Lacqsis appears to her in an enchanted cave. Lacqsis grooms Ouma towards the darkness... gifting her a magical tattoo with… a mind of its own, and Ouma apprentices herself to learn how to destroy the Yang people. Because! Our hero is obsessed with revenge, haunted by survivor’s guilt and self-doubt, and above all things she longs to prove herself to her ancestors. And when we last left Ouma, she was indeed singing with power, and being hailed as nigh god-like herself by the monks of Cloud Abbey. Their caravan finally reunited, the friends are about to return down on their long road to Chalice, where Ouma plans to seek her revenge. Meanwhile! In the capital city of Chalice we also met Nor Tensing, the small but determined boy prince who must eliminate all rivals for the crown - but Nor’s beloved princess Nejmi may be his greatest threat of all. Harem violence escalated in the palace as Nor & Nejmi fell more in love - After a bloody incident with princess Kestrel, the victorious Nor became a royal favorite, and his father, the king, took him on a holiday into the jungle. But when a royal execution at the Well of Skulls incites riots, Nor raced back through the jungle alone to save Nejmi... but the lovers' paths divide across unbridgeable kingdoms when Nejmi takes her own life. (With a bloody nod to my lifelong hero, Cleopatra.) But we have not seen the last of the beautiful Nejmi... “Just as wild plants have the strongest medicine, so do the wildest gods." And there we are my friends… now Book Two shortly awaits - ! As Ouma deepens into the shamanic arts and rises in love, I hope the story inspires you to embrace the indivisible whole which is Life itself - championing equality, and ways of walking lightly together in our world. If you want a little something for your brains to snack on while the next episode gestates, I have new stories & delights available for free on EveningsKingdom.com. On the Journal/Interviews page, you will now find: Evenings Kingdom: the Conversations. Wide-ranging conversations with artists and thinkers on their work, their life; their adventures, processes and routines. Kind of an ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’ meets ‘The Tim Ferriss Show’ - Here you can listen to my conversation with Pat Gault, Alaskan guide, talking about his journey with Ayahuasca. We also consider the many different kinds of possible cognizance - trees, rivers, mountains, even rocks; how this informs the worldviews of many traditional cultures like the Alaskan Dena’ina, who recognize these multiple dimensions of consciousness, all of which thoughts and the wind could traverse… Also coming soon, and perhaps already posted by the time you listen to this, are lots more interviews available for your enchantment, including my exclusive interview with Baker Manning, my dear friend who also happens to be: a reality TV star, the author of Yacht Jobs Handbook and a magical unicorn human who radiates joy and a singular feminine ferocity I adore. As well as Justen Ahren - the poet laureate of Martha’s Vineyard: a gorgeous stillwater soul, an incredibly talented writer, photographer, musician and thinker. He is far-seeing, far out, and a wonderful friend. Also coming soon - Justin Booher: Ayurvedic chef, mystic...

"You cannot remember where you came from. But darkness was your first mother, your first father..." - Evening's Kingdom The snake god, Lacqsis, grooms Ouma towards the darkness... and gifts her a magical tattoo with a mind of its own. Prince Nor's army takes ancient Ullalea, while Talu and Oriaku entertain themselves at the Cloud Abbey... with a fart joke I couldn't deliver without laughing, hee :) This is the Finale to Book One - please stay tuned, the quest continues with Book Two, soon. (ish.) Friends, I recorded this one in our skoolie, so the audio sounds a bit different... we're on the road again! Forgive me. I'll be back to a closet soon to deliver Book Two to you in mesmeric audio installments... but meantime, I'm taking a pause, editing some exclusive extra material for email subscribers only - an erotic horror story for Halloween called The NeverSeas, as well as a guided meditation or two to decorate the edges of your days. Want to hear them? Please visit EveningsKingdom.com and click 'Subscribe' to receive forever-free audio stories + guided meditations, as well as automated updates when each new episode of EK is up. I can't wait to bring you the rest of the story... this is a planned 4-6 books series. Much, much more to come. Thank you so much for listening - please review, subscribe, share and enjoy!

"Just as wild plants have the strongest medicine, so do the wildest gods." - Evening's Kingdom Ouma, Oriaku and Talu journey into the mountains to trade with the famously reclusive monks of the Cloud Forest. For the first time, we glimpse our mysterious narrator... but when a powerful, mysterious god appears to Ouma, she apprentices herself to his dark ideals to learn how to destroy the Yang. Meanwhile, stationed at the decadent outpost of his mother's native Palmstone, Nor's military insight grows... as do his Yang followers. *Unfortunately for all of you, my dear listeners, this one involves more of my bad singing -! I hope that, when you cringe, heh, it is with a smile :) Well... anything for the story, yes? (I apologize, Talu.) Thank you so much for listening. Please share and enjoy!