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This week I am talking with Christopher Brown, author of the brand new book, \u201cA Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places,\u201d a blend of nature writing, literary nonfiction, and memoir that is also a manifesto for rewilding our urban spaces as well as ourselves.\n\nChristopher\u2019s other books include the legal thrillers, \u201cRule of Capture\u201d and \u201cFailed State,\u201d and his debut science fiction novel \u201cTropic of Kansas.\u201d Christopher also writes the popular urban nature newsletter Field Notes.\n\nAlso a lawyer and a naturalist, Christopher has worked on two Supreme Court confirmations, rehabilitated a brownfield, built an eco bunker, protected government whistleblowers, taken two companies public, restored a small prairie, raised two amazing kids and trained a few good dogs. And that's just the shortlist.\n\nWe covered:\n\n- Resisting \u201csociety\u2019s pressure to specialize\u201d\n- Balancing multiple careers\n- How a gig at his college newspaper spawned a path that has led to some pretty varied\u2013and cool\u2013places, such as having lunch with a retired German prime minister, playing pool with Frank Conroy, and working at two Supreme Court confirmation hearings\n- Managing your own expectations for how successful you think you ought to be, and by what age\n- Rule number one for staying inspired as a writer\n- The ingenious way he taught himself to \u201ccarve out the time from a busy life of work and family to write novels that didn't suck\u201d\n- How to create the conditions where you accumulate the raw material of the work\n- The origins of his \u201cField Notes\u201d Substack\n\nVisit Christopher at https://christopherbrown.com/ and sign up for his Field Notes newsletter at https://fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/.\n\nFor full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.\n\nThank you for listening!\n\nAnd thanks to this week\u2019s sponsor, Air Doctor Pro. Visit airdoctorpro.com and use code KATE to save 30% off an amazing indoor air filter *and* receive a free three-year warranty (an $84 value).\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices