Sophia Kelly Audiobooks Podcast - People of the Rock

This scene shows the future transportation and we get to know Marija (pronounced Ma-REE-dja) a little better.

For much of human history, commercial and passenger transportation was done using wind power on sailboats. I imagined that given that fossil fuel would be exhausted in 500 years (or we’d smartened up about it) local water transportation in a sustainable, hyperlocal, gift economy society would revert to this easy to implement transportation type. Enjoy!

I’d love it if you would restack this post or any others you like…

Some notes: a 30 foot sailboat can reliably be expected to go 6-8 knots per hour, which is about 15 kph. The distance between Bowen Island and Vancouver is 22.4 km, so a trip between Bowen and Vancouver by sailboat would take between 1.5-2 hours in total, well within reach for a ferry sailboat to make a couple of trips a day. A larger boat has less drag and might go a bit faster.

Permission is expressely forbidden to use any of my voice recordings or content anywhere, but including the recording and content on this page, to train artificial intelligence, or to publish it in any format in whole or part elsewhere without my express and informed consent.

This is a very short but key scene in which we learn a secret. Also set on Bowen Island - called Bone Island in the future.

Note: The entire chapter as one audio file will be coming out soon. The single file will be available to those who subscribe to this podcast. Free listeners will still be able to listen to the scenes one at a time.

This is a very short segment, so I’m posting two today. In this one we get a small glimpse into the mind of Marija (Ma-REE-djya).

Also, I wanted to let you know that if you like to listen to the entire chapter at once, I will be posting the entire chapter as one audio file soon. This premium content will only be available to subscribers, but you will still be able to listen to the scene by scene recordings for free. If you subscribe you can opt to receive an email when the recording is posted.

Link to the next segment: Rosemary

In this scene - Lucy decides whether to go on, or back to the rock.

Some notes:

* Always lift with your legs when you are carrying a full pack.

* Waxed cloth makes great sandwich wrappers

* Permission is expressely forbidden to use any of my voice recordings or content anywhere, but including the recording and content on this page, to train artificial intelligence, or to publish it in any format in whole or part elsewhere without my express and informed consent.

* Here’s more information on the quiet and sturdy mud (cob) buildings Lucy spent the night in. Cob buildings can last 500+ years.

* I’d love it if you would restack this post or any others you like…

An example of a 500 year old cob building in France

This is a short scene introducing the title character, the Rock, who is, literally, a rock. A rock with a rich internal life and some interesting skills that are key to the story. When I say the Rock, in this segment, think of the word ‘rock’ to be capitalized, like a name. The Rock would scoff at such fine niceties, but would appreciate the affection behind them.

I have always been an animist, a word the Cambridge English Dictionary defines as “a person who believes all natural things, such as plants, animals, rocks, and thunder, have spirits and can influence human events”. When I was little this looked like talking to trees and rocks. As an adult, it looks like respecting the natural world and writing stories with main characters who are rocks.

Animism is part of many faiths and spiritualities including Indigenous North American spiritualities, Aboriginal Austrailian spiritualities, West African traditional religions, Siberian Shamanism, Shinto, Balinese Hinduism, Druidry and my own faith (and that of Lucy) which is part of modern Paganism.

* Permission is expressely forbidden to use any of my voice recordings or content anywhere, but including the recording and content on this page, to train artificial intelligence, or to publish it in any format in whole or part elsewhere without my express and informed consent.

In this scene Lucy enters the culture of the future, and learns about what is going on with the rock people from a very very old woman. When I wrote it, I wanted to get my head around what it would be in a future where women’s oppression seemed like a quaint old custom, and where natural building was normalized.

Interested in the whole book, the study guide, or info about the author and my other books? visit www.sophiakelly.ca

Michael doesn’t realize it, but although he’s doing the right thing, he might be getting himself in trouble… this is the 7th segment of my novel People of the Rock. You can purchase a copy here: www.sophiakelly.ca if you want one, or just keep listening. Thanks for subscribing. Got questions? I love comments.

People of the Rock

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Closeted ex girlfriendHot historianTime travelling lesbians160 year old descendentSentient time-travelling rocksIrish goat paparazziPost apocalyptic hopeQueer parentingChosen familySet in Vancouver

Where the heck is Lucy? No one wants to know more than she does. Following Marija down the path reminds her of some spicy and non-spicy paths she’s followed a beautiful woman down before. (This episode is lightly spiced). Listen from the begining at: https://sophiaamazon.substack.com/podcast

Below, Georgia O’keefe’s painting Black Iris, https://access-ok.okeeffemuseum.org/object/8629/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=190508952

This is one of my favourite scenes from the book - where Lucy emerges in the future, naked and feeling good, and has a happy, sensual moment in the forest before being discovered by a beautiful stranger. We all emerge naked into our future don’t we? Reborn?

I stopped mid-way because it’s a very long scene. I mispronounced Marija’s name for some reason. It’s not Maria, but MarEE - dja. Sorry, I’ll do better in future. The rest was so perfect I couldn’t bear to re-record it.

Recording copyright (C) Sophia Kelly 2026, all rights reserved. No AI use or training permitted. Text copyright Sophia Kelly 2025.

This recording is really short - but the concept is important to understanding the recurring themes of interconnection at a distance between different people, different times, different events throughout the book. Once connected, even separated, there is a mystical, scientific, or quantum mechanical way that things are entwined, entangled with one another. I do not claim to have written this meme, for which I did not find an author, but here is a representation of the equation (the Equado de Dirac means Equation of Dirac). I don’t have the source for either of the following memes, unfortunately. Memes about this equation are very prolific.

More info on People of the Rock, a hopeful story of time travelling lesbians, quantum entanglement and goats is at my website www.sophiakelly.ca where you can buy a signed print copy if you want one. Or you can subscribe to this podcast and get the audiobook version as I upload it.