What Makes Us Human? Mythology, Fantasy, and Identity with Darlene Campbell

Darlene Franklin Campbell is a Kentucky author, artist, and national award-winning poet whose work explores the intersection of mythology, philosophy, religion, and psychology. She's the author of The Zhandarian Chronicles, an epic fantasy series that uses an imagined world to explore deeply human questions of identity, belonging, memory, and transformation.In this episode, Darlene shares what first drew her to exploring timeless human questions through fantasy, why her stories focus so heavily on internal struggle rather than just external conflict, and how her background as a visual artist shapes the way she builds fictional worlds. She also opens up about the power of "found family" in fiction and why readers connect with it so deeply.WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT:Exploring identity and belonging through fantasyWhy her stories prioritize internal struggle over external conflictHow power reshapes the people who carry it in her novelsWorldbuilding inspired by real history, culture, and languageThe pull of "found family" themes in fictionWhether visual art and storytelling come from the same creative placeCONNECT WITH DARLENE CAMPBELL:Website: darlenefranklincampbell-author.comFacebook, Instagram & LinkedIn: linked on her profile