The Eric Metaxas Show - CR Stewart

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

Author CR Stewart shares his latest book in his Britfield series: Britfield & the Eastern Empire, Book IV. The series is based on family, friendship, loyalty, and courage that is written for pre-teens, Y/A, and readers of all ages.

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This is that time when we get to talk about our friends. We get to talk with our friends at Americans for Prosperity. Today, we're speaking to Megan Novak, who's in Wisconsin with Americans for Prosperity. Megan, welcome. Thank you so much for having me, Eric. What is going on in Wisconsin with the Wisconsin Supreme Court? I get the impression that everybody in America should care about what's going on with the Wisconsin Supreme Court. They absolutely should. We have an election for Supreme Court coming up on April 1st. And what's at stake? It doesn't just impact Wisconsin. We have a progressive liberal candidate who's running for this seat, who is participating in fundraising calls, who are talking about gerrymandering two congressional seats in the state of Wisconsin to give them to Democrats to end the Republican.

majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Okay, so gerrymandering. I'll let you explain what that is. Right. They want the court to redraw the congressional maps in Wisconsin and wiggle those lines around a little bit more so that they can ensure Democrats win two more House seats that are currently held by Republicans in Wisconsin.

Okay. And so who is Susan Crawford? Where does she figure into Wisconsin politics? Susan Crawford is the liberal progressive candidate running for Supreme Court. She's a current Dane County judge. She was the former legal counsel for Democrat Governor Jim Doyle and General Counsel for Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin before that. Okay. So this kind of thing could happen all over the country, which is why Americans for Prosperity is focused in on what's happening in Wisconsin because this is the threat around the country. It's just happening right now in Wisconsin.

Absolutely. thing that we know is such a threat around the country is the lawfare that's happening that we're seeing pop up in other states. And I like to tell people, because it's true that lawfare was perfected in Wisconsin. Progressive has, progressives have been unable to win in the legislature here in Wisconsin for over a decade. And because of that, they have moved to the ballot box through the Supreme Court to try and institute their agenda, their progressive agenda through lawfare instead of through. the legislature because they just can't win there. And that's what they're going to be doing across the country. We're seeing it already out in Washington, D.C., and it's coming to a state near you if we can't stop it in Wisconsin. Okay, so the opponent of this leftist Susan Crawford is Brad Schimel. Is that pronounced correctly?

Yes, Brad Schimel. And what is he? I mean, this is, I guess, when is the election? April 1st. Okay, so this is coming. up pretty soon here. And how does it seem right now? I mean, does he stand a chance? Because this is pretty wicked stuff we're talking about. Yeah, he absolutely does. Brad Schimmel is the trustworthy candidate in this race. When we're out talking to voters on the doors, they remember him as

attorney general standing up and fighting for our constitutional rights. They remember him as a district attorney and a prosecutor who stood up for victims and put the criminals in jail. He is the guy that families, especially in parents, trust to keep their communities safe. And we're hearing that repeated all across the state. Well, so this is happening, obviously, in a few weeks, this election, but this could throw the balance of Congress in the hands of the Democrats. That's, I guess that's why this is so unbelievably urgent. I wish it were not, but it is. Yep. And it's, it's kind of wild to think about the fact that a Supreme Court race in Wisconsin in April could be the decider of the House majority for the entire country. It shouldn't be that way. And it sounds like

progressive lunatics around the country, activists are pouring a lot of money into this Wisconsin Supreme Court race. They are. They've got billionaires coming in from George Soros to Illinois governor, J.B. Pritzker, Reed Hoffman. We know exactly why they're supporting this Susan Crawford. They know that she will use the bench and the Supreme Court to turn Wisconsin into California and Illinois and Minnesota. And as a Wisconsinite lived here almost my entire life, I simply don't want it. We can't afford it. It's just unconscionable to think about what she would do to our state if she got the chance to on the Supreme Court. I'm looking in my notes here. I just want to make sure that people can visit AFP, okay, AFP, of course, stands for

Americans for Prosperity, AFP Wisconsin.com, AFP Wisconsin.com. AFP Wisconsin.com. Yeah, so this is very, very serious. Can people outside Wisconsin weigh in on this, or is this just something that Wisconsin's have to vote on? Or can people, uh, you know, send money? What can people around the country do? You know, one of the biggest things people around the country can do is, first of all, if they have family and friends in Wisconsin, they need to make sure that those family and friends are coming out to vote on April 1st for Brad Schimel, then they can get loud on social media. One of the biggest things we can do to fight the progressive left is make sure that we have a united front against them, supporting the rule of law,

supporting constitutional rights. So getting loud on social media and support of Brad Schimel is super helpful. And then if you go to that website, AIFPwisconsin.com, you fill out the volunteer form. We're able to host and train you on phone banking to make calls directly into Wisconsin voters to help educate them on why Brad Schimmel is the right choice for Wisconsin ahead of April 1st. And we would love all the help we can get to save our state and save our country. I mean, yeah, this is about saving the country, folks. This is about saving the country. but sometimes you have to home in, not home, home, H-O-M-E, you have to home in on a particular race, particular state,

because it will affect everything. It will affect the whole nation. So right now we're asking people to go to A-F-P-Wisconsin.com, A-F-P-Wisconsin.com. And I have to say that I, you know, I don't know how to put this. It's kind of like in my lifetime, Megan, I'm probably twice as old as you are. I had never seen anything like this until recent years. And it did really shock me.

The lawfare, the liberal judges, this kind of, I mean, it's corruption, but they're gaming the system, basically. And because there's legitimate gaming the system. I mean, gerrymandering, you know, you can do it politically. But people have to wake up because what can happen is really antithetical to what most Americans care about and believe in. And, you know, I'm just, I'm thrilled that you're coming on here to talk about this specific case because so many times people feel helpless. Tell us a little bit more about Brad Schimel because I know that that's who you want people to vote for. Absolutely. Brad Schimel, like I mentioned, former Attorney General for the state of Wisconsin,

he really took the fight to the federal government as Attorney General was constantly engaging in lawsuits to shut down some of those bad laws and regulations coming from the Obama administration. He's been 20 years as a prosecutor bringing justice for victims in Waukesha County, which is in Southeast Wisconsin. He's in a rock cover band. He plays bass guitar for a rock cover band. He's a dad. He's just the normal Wisconsin guy who wants a better future for his kids, and he's going to fight tooth and nail to protect our rights because he knows it's at stake for his family and families like mine as well. So talk a little bit about how national Democrat donors like George Soros and the Pritzkers

are doing this. Because again, this is something that's pretty new. It's very devious. They've kind of figured it out. And it's why we need to counter them. But I mean, when did that start? Because it just, it's, you know, it's fairly recent. They figured out a couple years ago here in Wisconsin that they can pretty much put unlimited

money into the Democrat Party of Wisconsin and then transfer that money directly to candidates. And so we have right now J.B. Pritzker, George Soros, and the likes, really doing that because they think that they can buy Wisconsin voters through engaging in this capacity. Fortunately, fortunately for us, unfortunately for those donors, Wisconsin voters are a lot smarter than that. And they know that they want the authentic Wisconsin candidate who is going to fight for them. And that has not been a single Democrat that they've backed in recent years. It's definitely not Susan Crawford. This is why I'm so grateful for Americans for Prosperity.

So folks, the call to action, please go to AFP Wisconsin.com. That's AFP, Americans for Prosperity, AFP Wisconsin.com. Let's take action, AFP Wisconsin.com. Tell your friends about this important race. Megan, thank you. Thank you, Eric. Numbers don't lie. The impact that balance of nature makes every single day is astounding.

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Plus, orders over $75 ship for free. Go to MyPillow.com. Use promo code Eric or call 800-978 3057. MyPillow.com promo code Eric or call 800-9783057 to order now. MyPillow.com. Folks, welcome back. I have a new guest on. His name is C.R. Stewart. C.R. sounds suspiciously like a pen name, which makes, which leads me to believe perhaps C.R. Stewart is an author. And guess what, of course, he is? C.R. Stewart, welcome to the program. Oh, thank you. I'm privileged to be on. Well, listen, you and I have a lot in common, a love of C.S. Lewis to begin with. How do you sum yourself up? I hate to do that. I always let my

guests kind of talk a little bit about who they are. You're in California? Correct. Yes. Yeah, I could do a quick overview, if that's all right. Originally for Newport Beach, California. And then I was back east in Wellesie, Massachusetts for 16 years. Did my undergraduate in British literature, European history. It was actually pre-law, but thank goodness I didn't go down that route. And then went on to postgraduate graduate school. And then actually was an investment banker for about three or four or five years, worked for three Fortune 100 companies. And it was 12 years ago when I had an idea for Brittfield and the Lost Crown, I was down at this boring seminar in Providence, Rhode Island. I think it was insurance. I had to be there. It was a

weekend and I was trying so hard to pay attention. I sat up at the front seat, taking notes, and then I started to doodle because it was so boring. Then I doodeled a circle three lines, a basket, a boy and a girl, and I wrote the boy in the balloon. And for some reason, that idea really stuck with me. I went home and on one page of paper to start to outline this story and idea. Excuse me. You mean you wrote the first. raise the boy and the balloon. Yeah, that was the working title that eventually became Brittfield and the Lost Crown.

Uh-huh. And so basically, you know, just on one page of paper, you can appreciate this. When you're outlining your ideas, kind of the general thesis of the whole story starts up in Yorkshire, Northern England. I think the most important thing is that it starts in current time because we have all this post-apocalyptic, futuristic, all this, frankly, rubbish that's out in literature and movies that disconnects kids from reality, right? it makes them feel less than they are if I was just if I just had magic if I was just had

superpowers I think every child is amazing and so to write a book that takes place in present time we don't use any of those devices and these books are as authentic as can be so I sat down took me four years 2,500 hours to write Britfield lost crayon book one of what is now a seven book series and then we officially launched in August 2019 book one and from that concept and doodle to launching it was over 10 years, 10 years of building the team, the business plan, raising capital. We were going for really a global change. We were trying to elevate literature to another level. That's what Ritfield's trying to do, if that makes sense. Go ahead. I'm astonished that our paths haven't crossed before because, you know, what you're saying resonates very powerfully with me.

I, too, in my own way, am trying to, you know, let's just say change the world. change the culture. And there's so much to it. It's not just about electing the right people and throwing the wrong people out. That's just the baseline. Now we have the culture, which has been eroding for, you know, depending on how far you want to go back, 150 years, 60 years, depending on what you want to talk about. So, you know, when people say, oh, I just wrote a novel, not everyone can write a novel. I have never written a novel. That's a big deal. And I'm in awe of what it takes to pull that off. So how did this start for you? Because, you know, you said that you were, you had an interest in British lit. Was that as an undergrad? Undergrad, yeah, British literature, European history.

And then I was, I lived in England off and on for two years. And I'm always asked, you know, because book, so book one takes place in England. Book two is in France. Book three is in Italy. and then we just launched book four, which is in Eastern Europe. So it starts in Vienna and ends in Russia. And real quick, as a side note, I mean, what these books are trying to do is not only be a fast-paced, you know, fun book to read. Our youngest reader is 7, our oldest readers, 93. 55% of our global reading audience are adults. But we incorporate family, friendship, loyalty, courage, and hope.

And we also educate with geography, history, art, architecture, and culture. I mean, I go out of my way. It's like in every book, we have some beautiful, buildings, we have art, we have history that's kind of woven throughout. And so we're really educating the next generation of children. Our beachhead has always been the next generation of children. Well, it's just, it's wonderful. And when you studied British, where did you study all these things as an undergrad? And I went, yeah, I went to Brown University for my undergraduate. I hate Brown. But it's okay. That's okay because I hate all the Ivy Leagues, particularly Yale,

where I ended up. You went to Brown and you studied, like, who were some of the authors, you know, in literature? Right. Yeah, I really love Dickens. I'll never forget a class that we had. And the first book we read was The Pickwick Papers. And that wasn't one of his great works, but it was a big work. But I'm a big Dickens fan.

I think he's the closest to what I'm trying to do with literature in the sense that he wrote, number one, he wrote incredible stories that had a Shakespearean cast of characters. all separate at the beginning and all somehow connected at the end. I love how he does that. And he wrote what was happening in current times. And so he was a big influence on me, like Little Dorrit, our mutual friend, great expectations. I love Jane Austen. In fact, when I was living in England, I was in Hemp, I was in Liss.

And it was about four, I was four miles from Jane Austen's house. So that was pretty cool. Very inspired. I love the Bronte sisters, Wethering Heights, and Janeir. I mean, just classic sort of. of these gothic romances. And there's a reason why Brittfield starts up in Yorkshire, Northern England. So it's kind of a tribute to that.

And been there, visited their house. And I don't know if you've ever, if you follow any of that or visited the house. But to me it was kind of profound. And it was like this Sunday morning where it was foggy and damp. And I was driving in. I could barely see. And there's the Moors out there. You always hear about the Moors.

And I'm driving up in a little medieval town, cobblestone road. The church where their father used to teach, the bells were because it was Sunday and I park. And then I walk over to their house, which is behind the church, and their house is surrounded by a graveyard. And I just thought, wow, like, that's pretty intense. You know, if you're growing up and you're surrounded by a graveyard, I'm like, that tells a lot about the authors and that they had to literally walk, you know, from their house through the graveyard to get to the church because that's where they were schooled and stuff. So anyway, I just love that sort of authenticity. And I try to bring that real life authenticity into my Britfield novels.

Well, it's great to get this background. And I think it's interesting because C.S. Lewis says at least one place that fairy tales, for example, are really not just for kids. They're for everyone. But something happened at some point historically where they began to be perceived as being only for kids. I did not read the Narnia Chronicles until I was about 30, and I could not get over how profound and great they were. I was absolutely astonished by them. And I think that, you know, the kind of writing that Lewis did, that, of course, you're trying to do, that Dickens did. This is, it's very, very important.

And I want to talk to you about that. the importance of creativity, the importance of thinking on that kind of level is vital. It's vital really to the best of Western civilization. And we have drifted from it, obviously. And it's part of what – so, you know, you're – I mean, it's one thing to write novels, but you do think of this as a larger project for some reason, not just the project of writing novels and stories. I do. And I'm a big Lewis fan, as we mentioned.

And I mean, it's so funny about Narnia is that those were written for adults. as you well know, your audience might not. But it's like it's the celebrated children's series, but he wasn't writing it for the kids. He was writing it for adults because he wanted to bring that fun. And I think that's a lot what I'm doing with the Britfield series. I mean, we've had some quotes. It's C.S. Lewis meets Dan Brown.

Or it's compared to, oh, there's a great quote from an older woman that read the series, and she said, it reminds me a lot of James Bond, but with a bigger cast and a greater purpose. And I thought, what a great line. But no, creativity is at the core of what we're doing. I mean, it's our movement, just as a lot of, A side note, when I launched in 2019, I went on a national school tour. And I drove 9,000 miles.

I visited 23 states, presented over 200 schools in front of more than 40 to 50,000 students. And you're looking like at 4th, 5th and 6th graders and up, you know, rooms of 3 or 400 kids. And it was wonderful. I never had an issue or problem at any school because I wasn't in there trying to sell them bunk, you know. I was in there trying to inspire them. And creativity was at the core of it, the importance of creativity. And so that is our number one most important thing. And I think every Britfield book has the four Cs, creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.

This is all what's been taken out of the schools. And it's what we're trying to put back in with the series. Well, this is powerful stuff. Got just a minute left in this segment. So where can people find you and the books? Sure. I mean, the best place to go is our Britfield.com website. If you want to get a signed book, I'm still doing that.

I'll probably be doing that for another six weeks. I'm just getting extremely busy. We're in pre-production of the first of seven major motion pictures right now. But the website's great, or you can just get it online at Amazon or any other platform, pretty much. Movies. You're in pre-production on movie versions of these books. Yeah, here's a finished script, seventh draft, finished script of Brittfield Lost Crown, two-hour, ten-minute movie.

I was just up in Beverly Hills on Saturday, meeting with my producer and some of my team. talking about the movies. We're now into pre-production and hoping if all goes well to be filming in England in spring of next year, but we'll see. With a hopeful tentative date of launching globally in November, 2006, it could be 2007. So I'm always over-optimistic. That's amazing. Gosh, Britfield.com.

We'll be right back. Folks, welcome back talking to C.R. Stewart, who is the author of The Britfield. field books. I want to get into it with UCR. Do people call you CR? Well, you can call me, Chad. It's Chad Robert Stewart. You can call me Chad. Chad. Okay, I want to get into the plots of these books. Sure. What is the plot of the first book, Britfield and the Lost Crown? Yeah, it's great, because in every book, like Tom and Sarah, the main characters, just as a quick overview, it starts up in New Yorkshire Book 1, Ripfield Lost Crown. About Tom, he's an orphan, 12 years old, but an orphaned his whole life. He's been at this horrible orphanage called Weatherly for six years, and this year he's going to

escape. And that's stated within the first couple of pages. So it's like, you know, it's not a book about an orphanage, about getting out of an orphanage. But he's not going anywhere without his best friend, Sarah. Somewhere along the lines, the Commodore Hard Air Balloon, where they start flying all through England. They go from, they crash in Oxford and Windsor, London, and finally down to Canterbury. But they're chased by the illustrious detective Gowerstone, who's renowned for capturing runaway orphans. But there's this idea of Britfield and the lost crown, this sense of royalty. And somehow, before Tom leaves, two things. One is he finds out his parents might still be alive. So imagine being an orphan your whole life and suddenly realizing your parents might be alive. And number two, this one clue of Brittfield. And I don't want to give too much away, but it is this massive, sort of layered, intense, fast-paced story. And really, Britfield Lost Crown Book 1 just introduces you. 384 pages introduces you to this world. And then I start in book two, Britfield and the rise of the lion in France. It's now six months later, Thomas Sare now 13 years old. And so in every book, they do age by one year.

And we all know at that age for kids every year, every year's like a decade. Because that's a huge, right, from 12 to 13, 13 to 14. And it's fun for the author too, because they're more mature and it just changes the whole scope of it. Plus, every new country that I come into has that landscape. I mean, if all seven books was in England, it frankly would get a little bit boring.

Well, unless you set them all in London, because once a man is just tired of London, of course. life. Thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. Johnson. So you, I mean, it sounds what you just said, you know, when you talk about, oh, he's an orphan, he's escaping from an orphanage. It does sound like 19th century or even 18th century, but you're saying it's set in the present. It's set in the present, yeah, and it's at this sort of old Renaissance sort of castle building and on the estate are Mr. Mrs. Grievous, who take care of it, and they're totally fraudulent, and they live in a beautiful Victorian house. Meanwhile, the orphanage. And, you know, orphanages are

still used as a term. And even in England, it's still used as a term. But you can call it whatever you want, you know, kids that don't have parents live in a certain place, you know, halfway house or whatever facility, we call it an orphanage for the sake of argument. But once they're out of there, and it's very gloom, it's Yorkshire, it's during December, this whole thing takes place over seven days, ending on Christmas, which is very cool. And it becomes a Christmas classic. The movie will eventually become a Christmas classic. But it's just sort of high-octane, intense,

and it just builds and builds and builds all the way through as things unravel. Huge twists and turns. Oxford is a very cool scene where they meet Professor Hainsworth. The balloon has crashed. They're at their end of the ropes. He decides... Not every kid knows how to commandeer a hot air balloon,

nor would anyone I know know where to find a hot air balloon? How do you solve that? Oh, yeah. I mean, it's very common. What happens is they're being chased once they escape and they come across this field and there's a hot air balloon. And it's because they're preparing for a carnival, the gentleman that has the hot air balloon and it's raining.

And so he's kind of waiting for the rain to die, but he's keeping the balloon in place. And they jump in and all of a sudden the cops are kind of surrounded. them. It's at night. Flashlights are flubbing. Do you want, you know, what are we going to do? And it's like, let's get out of here. And they cut the two ropes and they shoot off in the balloon. And so it's a lot of, it's a lot of fun. I do try to be as authentic as possible. I do take a little bit of liberty with the balloon. But they're kind of at the mercy of the weather. What I love about hot air balloon, and then they

end up kind of over by Oxford, there's a balloon carnival. The exact area that it happens is, is a place where there is a balloon carnival in England. So, you know, ballooning, balloon carnivals, all that stuff is very, very common. Here in San Diego, in Ranch of Santa Fe, I mean, at certain times at night, you can see six or seven balloons in the air. You know what I mean? That's happening all the time, as we also know, like, in Arizona and other parts of the country. So it's not totally uncommon, but it is something that is very unique about hot air balloons.

I mean, I'm not reinventing the wheel here, but I think there's something that's simplistic but powerful about a hot air balloon. You could be driving, and it's just, you see it, and it's just very cool. And what I love about it, to me, it's the ultimate of freedom, you know, even at this horrible orphanage and you're up, you're up thousands of feet looking at the beautiful landscape of England. But you're at the absolute mercy of the weather because you don't really have much control over it. And there's nowhere to pee. Exactly. That's a real problem.

I don't want to get into that. But that's, there's something obviously romantic and it seems anachronistic, even though you're talking about the present. In other words, if you're talking about the present, there are, you know, everybody has a cell phone. It's a different kind of world than it would have been even 50 years ago or less. And do you elide those kinds of issues so that it feels a little bit outside of time? Oh, no, yeah, but we'll be, I mean, we bring it in like at the very beginning, Speckle, he's the caretaker. he's kind of a new caretaker of Weatherly. Like he's on his laptop and then there's this couple cell phone scenes.

So we immediately bring it into the present so you know that it is present. But it does have that undercurrent of, you know, the past. And in many ways, I mean, you've probably been to England and probably have lived in it. I mean, in some ways they're doing incredibly well in certain areas in some places. They're like so dated by decades. It's like you guys are still doing that or you don't get that. And so there's that blend of it. And I think what's so unique about England too is that, my gosh, I mean, it's like,

the history there is everywhere. There's not a street you can't walk down or town that you don't go into and there was some battle or 400 years ago or this castle or this, you know, I mean, Hadrian's Wall. You know, it's like 2000. Actually, we're going to pause. We'll come back for a final segment and we'll talk about Hadrian's Wall and other things talking to CR Stewart, author of the Britfield books. Folks, welcome back. I'm talking to CR. Stuart, I have not had the fun, sounds like a lot of fun, of reading his books, but, Chad, you said you'd read one of my books at some point. I did, I did. I'm very excited to talk about it. I read your Luther when it came out. I was at my church, which is Horizon Fellowship in Rancho Santa Fe, and I remember them mentioning it, and I bought it there. And this is, I guess, about seven, eight years ago, maybe a little bit of part of it. Loved it. I mean, really well written, of course, but fascinating. I mean, I'm familiar with him. I've been to Wittenberg.

I've been to the church. And it's interesting, too, because it's a tiny little town of nothingness. You know what I mean? And that's where the spark started. I mean, I love that. And to actually have visited the church, the doors, which have been replaced. But reading your book was, I mean, it was intense and amazing. And I think the thing that grabbed me the most was how much Luther suffered in his life physically, too.

And I think the stomach and things that he was going through, I mean, just, just agonizing suffering. I mean, of course, he was on the run for his life. He was being put up in certain castles and stuff. But it was amazing. It was gripping. And I love biographies. I'm a big biography reader and stuff. So I really appreciated your work.

Well, yeah, that's very kind of you. I didn't expect us to talk about my book. It's kind of funny because people often ask me, do you have a favorite book? And of course, the answer is no, because everyone is different. But there is something about the Luther book. I don't, I'm not. we're not here for me to talk about that today, but there is something about that book that I found his story very, very entertaining.

There's a lot of humor and crazy stuff. And in any event, I'm glad people are reading it. It's very important, let's face it. The story of what happened there, boy, it gives us the world in which we currently live. But back to Britfield, I can just see you sitting down and thinking, I need a name. Britfield sounds like the perfect made-up name. I mean, I have to give you credit for that. Yeah, and I've done that with some of my characters. There's Professor Haynesworth. And so what I tend to do is I take the beginning of one word and the ending of another word like Haynesworth or Brit, B-R-I-T, like British.

Field, Britfield. I love that sound. We've trademarked it and, you know, copyrighted and locked that name in and stuff. But it is. It has that wonderful, royal sort of field to it. You say Britfield and you think of Britain. And that's really kind of where the foundation of book one starts. And then you get into France, book two, Italy, book three. Book three is Return of the Prince, and it's 575 pages. And then we launched book four in January this year. Britfield and the Eastern Empire, starts in Vienna, ends in Moscow, Russia. And it's a new parallel for us with the next four books, where it's taking place in multiple countries.

We include 11 countries in book four. And I brought the whole book in at 437 pages, which I'm still stunned that I was able to do that. Because what happens is... Yeah, go ahead. So how many books are there now? There's four out. And then I'm actually starting today on Book 5, which is Brittfield and the Lost Treasure, which takes place in Asia. It'll start in Siberia and then make its way to South Korea and then all through Asia.

Book 6 will be South America. Book 7, I bring back to the United States. That'll end the series. Tom and Sarah are now 18 years old. probably start somewhere in the West and end in Boston because I think that's very poetic. That is poetic. I'm fascinated by how people plot and think about these things because I don't do that. I mean, you know, you mentioned my Luther book. I mean, I find these things where the plot is already there. I don't have to invent a plot. There is a plot. There is a story. I just need to

tell it as well as possible. But to create plot, is that something. Is that something? that you've always had an affinity for? I mean, when you were a young man, did you think I might write? It's interesting. I had a great sixth grade class, and I've talked about this a lot because the importance of elementary school teachers bringing creativity into the classroom. We had a wonderful teacher, and we had an assignment, and I think it was worth a third of our grade, and we had to write a book. And that's a lot for a kid. And again, at the time, it had to be like 20, 25 pages, and it could be a paragraph and a picture. But still, it's like that's a huge undertaking. And that's when I learned the gift of how to write a great book. You write about what you know and you write about

what you love. And I love James Bond movies. And so my first quote unquote official book was James Bond, Eat Your Heart Out. I was a 12-year-old secret agent working for the British government, living in Hampshire, and a beautiful Victorian or Tudor-style house. And you'll appreciate this. My partner was Jacqueline Smith from Charlie's Angels. And I had a convertible red Ferrari. and I was tasked with finding this criminal that was, you know, all through Europe. And then it's funny, and it's like I finished it and I loved it. I mean, kids will never know what they have inside them until you give them an opportunity to bring it out. And fast forward almost 40 years later, Britt Field and lost crown.

And so those seeds were planted. But when I was younger, about 18, I got into professional script writing and was working with a lot of professionals. And I did that for decades. More as a, you know, as a creative outlet. But it taught me economy of words. It taught me the three-act structure. It talked me about entering late, leaving early, starting on the action, ending on the action. It taught me all the skills and tools that made Britfield Law's crown, book one, such a fast, riveting book.

I mean, 90% of the feedback, it says it reads like a movie or I feel like I'm there. I just got feedback, a text from a friend the other day that gave it to his grandson, 11 years old. He goes, I felt like I was in it. He goes, I felt like I was one of the characters. And that's a great compliment. And we- Well, definitely, people don't realize the craft of writing. I mean, you obviously were born with an eight talent.

I mean, not many sixth graders are able to do what you did. I certainly was not. And I don't know that I am now. So you had that. But the craft, honing that craft, that talent, that's a very big deal, learning the structure, the narrative. that's just that's just a huge thing and so you've been doing that for quite a long time which explains your ability to write these books I have and then again as I said in beginning I mean this took me four years 2,500 hours and it doesn't necessarily get easier it gets funer or more fun because you know like you're getting better at it but because you're getting better at it you know you're raising the bar and it's difficult like with book four because now I've got like a cast of 14 characters that I have to all bring in to book four

which we just launched in January, and keep those stories going and have a character arc for each of them. And just give you an idea. So what I do is it's really 20% writing, 90% rewriting. That's very accurate. And what comes to my mind, as you've heard before, the difference between a hobby and a profession

is about 8,000 to 10,000 dedicated hours. And it is very true. Everybody wants the quick success and the bestseller. And it's like, you've got to earn it. And most bestsellers come by your fourth or fifth book, if you're lucky. And it's just because you're honing in your craft. But I spent four months for book four, four months just outlining the story. I wasn't

writing anything. Every single scene, there's 80 scenes in book four. And so like at the end of four, months, you know, 40 hours a week plus, I probably had five to six pages. And all it was is just bullet points. Go ahead. Forgive me. We're going to have to leave it there. But Britfield.com is the website. I've been talking to C.R. Stewart. C.R. Stewart, to be continued. Thanks for coming out. Oh, thank you. Folks, a lot of news to share right now. Okay, real quick, remember I was telling everybody to boycott Target because of what they did. You know the whole story. I think it's time to reverse engines.

Target, you need to reward people when they do the right thing. Target made a huge decision to blow off their whole DEI thing, which is amazing that on a corporate level, a company that's been sort of progressive would totally change their tune and say, we are no longer going to play the DEI game. That is big news. they are being boycotted by all kinds of radical Marxists. There's some insane leftist megachurch pastor calling for a boycott on Target. I am here to say we should reward them.

When somebody totally changes their tune, we need to reward them. So I am today going to buy a TV at Target. Not making that up. Got to get a TV for my mom. I'm going to do it at Target today. We need to reward them. God bless them for changing what they've done. By the way, I wanted to talk more about, you know, Donald Trump's ultimatum in Israel.

It's just amazing. The evilness of Hamas. I can't talk about it because I get so upset. But I wanted to say that portions of this program are sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism on behalf of the government of Israel. But that's not why I talk about Israel. I just want to mention that. But I'm asking you specifically to visit goisrael.com for more. info on visiting Israel. Obviously, now is not the perfect time to go, but to think about it,

everyone I talked to who's been to Israel, they all say the same thing. It's like funny. They go, oh, it was life changing. It was life changing. It was life changing because that's where it all went down. That's where it actually happened. And when you see those things, I was just there briefly a number of years ago, I guess was seven years ago. And even though I was there briefly, I was moved to tears by realizing that Jesus walked here. And so it's a life-changing event for everyone I've talked to. So it's important that we stand with Israel and pray that the horror is going over there end soon.

So I look forward to going back there when I can. In the meantime, visit go-israel.com for more information. Also wanted to mention that we talk about education a lot on the program and how our nation's public schools have been taken over by lunatic ideologues. You know, just like corporate America, I was saying like Target, well, Target has reversed course. We need to take back our schools as well, which is why I'm exhorting you to visit our friends at the Herzog Foundation, Hertzog Foundation.com. They are the trusted source on American K-12 private education. They have a remarkable suite of free resources for parents and grandparents, thinking about making the switch from public schools to a Christian education.

or to homeschooling, which is the best of the best. They have an online publication, The Lion, the Lion, sorry, you can go to readdlyon.com, R-E-A-D-L-I-O-N dot com. They have a podcast called Making the Leap. These guys are heroes, folks. If you've encountered them, you already know they're on the same page as we, and I want to say that it's important that we're aware of them. And again, they're there to help.

Herzogg Foundation.com. Before we end our one, I want to mention that we've got a lot of Socrates and the stuff, Socrates and the city stuff coming up. I've done a whole bunch of Socrates and City interviews in London. We're going to be airing those soon. One is with Ian Herssey, Ali, buckle your seatbelt. So that's going to be all on. Go to Socrates. Go to Socrateson. sign up for Socrates Plus on our YouTube page. Most of the stuff's available. We're doing an event in Lexington, Kentucky, with Hillsdale President Larry Arne.

Very excited about that. That's April 16th, Palm Beach, March 21st. I'm going to interview Senator Josh Hawley. But there's so much stuff at the Socrates and the city website. And then finally, plug for MyStore.com. You can get most of my books, and especially the Donald, the Caveman books, at MyStore.com. Be sure you use the code Eric at my store.com. Donald Drain's the Swamp is there waiting for you.

Donald Drain's the Swamp. Discount code Eric at my store.com.