Some stories start as a plan. Others start as a punch to the chest. My guest’s journey is both: she went from joining the military to earn the GI Bill, to teaching, to becoming a principal, and eventually building an alternate school in rural Texas for students who are behind on credits but still deserve a real path to a diploma. We talk about what’s changed for kids over the last decade, why anxiety feels so much more common after COVID, and how flexible education can still hold high standards when it’s built around real life circumstances.

Then we go somewhere more personal. She explains the emotional origin of her first book, sparked by multiple losses to suicide and the insights found inside a young girl’s diary. We sit with the hard question many parents and mentors carry: how can someone who seems “okay” be fighting a constant internal war? Her answer isn’t a slogan, it’s a story-driven attempt at understanding, written to help families feel less confused and more connected.

We also shift into pure craft and curiosity: how a trip to Salem lit the match for her historical fiction witch series, why accurate history can act like an outline, and how research into herbal remedies and early medicine adds texture without turning the books into lectures. If you love creativity, discipline, storytelling, and the strange ways grief can become purpose, you’ll take a lot from this conversation. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves books, and leave a review with the most meaningful story detail that stayed with you.

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Elsa Kurt: You may know her for her uncanny, viral Kamala Harris impressions & conservative comedy skits, but she’s also a lifelong Patriot & longtime Police Wife. She has channeled her fierce love and passion for God, family, country, and those who serve as the creator, Executive Producer & Host of the Elsa Kurt Show with Clay Novak. Her show discusses today’s topics & news from a middle class/blue collar family & conservative perspective. The vocal LEOW’s career began as a multi-genre author who has penned over 25 books, including twelve contemporary women’s novels.

Clay Novak: Clay Novak was commissioned in 1995 as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and served as an officer for twenty four years in Mechanized Infantry, Airborne Infantry, and Cavalry units . He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2019. Clay is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and is a Master Rated Parachutist, serving for more tha...