Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ann Selene. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ann, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I never thought that I would live anywhere else. That was until 2023, when I packed my bags and moved cross-country to San Antonio, Texas. This was one of the biggest risks I had ever taken: to leave behind everything and everyone I had ever known, to chase my dreams as a writer, as well as for love.

After about a year and a half of living in the American Southwest, my fiancé and I decided to find a place all our own in the US. So once more, we packed up the family and drove cross-country again to Upstate New York.

Both of these moves helped me as a writer by helping the experience life, push past the boundaries of my comfort zone, and learn to interpret the hidden languages of entirely different landscapes.

Texas was a sensory crucible—an intense terrain of sprawling prairies, relentless cicada symphonies, and an unfamiliar ecology that forced me to confront my own internal shadows and find grounding in microscopic observation. It challenged my deepest perceptions, stripping away the familiar, soft safety of my Oregon home and demanding a deeper, more empirical engagement with the world around and within me.

But it is here, nestled within the historic, misty hills of Upstate New York, where my creative and spiritual work has truly found its anchor. Living in our 117-year-old home, nestled within the moody forest and surrounded by deep regional history, provides the perfect atmosphere for diving into depth psychology, ancestral folklore, and the mysteries of the paranormal.

This geographical journey has directly mirrored my internal process of individuation. The displacement allowed me to gather the raw data of lived experience and refine it into structured scholarship. Today, when I look in the mirror, I feel proud of not only who I have become, but who I am still becoming.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an author and researcher devoted to exploring the unseen architectures of the human experience. My work lives at the crossroads of trauma and transformation, folklore and neuroscience, ancestral memory and modern mysticism. With a background steeped in an interest in psychology, metaphysics, and historical inquiry, I try to bring a synthesis to my writing, infusing poetic insight with academic curiosity.

This journey all began back in 2016 when I co-hosted my own podcast called The Caravan, Library of Lore. I had been a lifelong experiencer of the paranormal. Originally I had been homeschooling my children; we were learning about the development of entertainment and electricity. This was when I learned about podcasting. It was fascinating to find the paranormal genre. I could see that I was not alone, and that this platform was or could be a place of healing for not only myself but others who went through the same things as me.

From here, I developed KPNL Radio, which was an online digital broadcasting station. I hosted a lot of people’s amazing podcasts within the paranormal subjects. Both the podcast and the radio station ran until around 2024 when I decided to shift my focus solely to my writing.

Since then, I have contributed to many projects, such as being on The History Channel’s Monster Quest and folklore-based travel writing for different websites, including the publication of two of my own books, the first being Haunted Inheritance, which covers all of my spooky experiences since my earliest memories. The second is Signals from The Elephant Cage, which dives into possible psychic phenomena and synchronicities.

This has been an incredible journey, one that I am deeply proud of. To have the opportunity to help others and walk a path of eternal education is an honor. I hope that I can continue to dive deeper into the human mind, belief, and healing, so that I can give back to such an incredible community.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I loved everything about being the Host and curator of both my podcast, The Caravan, of Lore, and my digital broadcasting station, KPNL Radio. These two took a lot of work, though. For the podcast, there was the research on what your audience needed, who your guest would be and what their message would be, and essential yours by having them on. Then scheduling the interview, editing the episode, and then promoting and airing it.

For KPNL Radio, I had a store, I had music, I made the commercials, and I took care of the daily schedule and arranged each song, podcast, and commercial in their slots. When I was not scheduling everything, I was in meetings and doing talent scouting. Not to mention the research and the analytics.

Ultimately, I learned just how much time and money these two endeavors were costing me. I did not also possess the marketing skills and resources that would properly keep them afloat. So I pivoted.

Within both of these endeavors, I was still writing. It was always clear that writing and storytelling were a strength of mine. So I decided that I would let go of the digital beasts I had created, and slow down and lean into something I had always dreamed of doing- becoming a writer.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I would not call it a market, but rather my community, and that would be hands-down authenticity. I think the number one most important thing that you could do, whether it’s owning your own business, being a public figure, being an author, researcher, etc is to be fully authentic.

Think of it this way: you are uniquely you. You bring something to the table that others don’t. We all have something that makes us magically us. It’s our job to lean into that, cultivate that good relationship with ourselves. Once we can do that, and share that beauty with the world, transformative things happen.

Tell them why: why are you doing what you are doing? Your where- where have you come from, what’s your backstory? These are the authentic and vulnerable moments that will help you connect with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Annselene.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anntomology/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LadyAnnSelene93/
• Twitter: https://x.com/ladyannselene1
• Other: Medium: https://medium.com/@anntomology

  Substack: https://substack.com/@ladyannselene23/posts

Image Credits

Image Credits Ann Selene