The Tale of Ol' Split Toe
Date Published: 03-31-2026
Narrator: Dan Ellens
Run Time: 10 hours 6 minutes
Split Toe witnesses two hundred years of conflict building between modern humans -- who fight to control the natural world -- and Mother Nature, who repeatedly reaches for balance. He wonders whether human ways will ultimately overpower Mother Nature, until he meets a boy who changes everything.
Tell us about your current release
Forest Legend: The Tale of Ol’ Split
Toe is an adventure that sweeps through
time from the Ice Age into the future to tell the story of ecological change to
our forests from Nature’s point of view; through the eyes of a time-traveling
deer – Ol’ Split Toe. The story takes place in Michigan. Split Toe is a deer born during an eclipse and
chosen by spirits of nature for a special education – to understand the intricate
inner-workings of a forest. Split Toe travels through time for his lessons.
The story begins in 1409 AD with a
young Ojibwe hunter pursuing Split Toe through a tag alder swamp and Michigan’s
white pines forest. Action, suspense, and close calls lace the adventure. Split
Toe time traveles to the Ice Age, where he sees soil forming for the first time.
He recognizes it as the birth place of the forest – Split Toe’s lesson. But
Split Toe also has an Ice Age encounter with a mastodon and is chased by dire
wolves back through the time portal, and into Michigan’s logging era, with modern
humans clear cutting the white pines that were his once his home.
Split Toe steps through time, engaging
in the pioneer era, the family farm era, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, the
time when infrastructure is added to Michigan’s rural and agricultural land.
Roads straighten and improve. Ditches and power lines follow roads. Split Toe
sees the human view of land use and ownership change. He sees the rise of the
corporate farm. He sees civilization encroaching on wild places. Through it all,
Split Toe observes humans and tries to understand how they fit in the natural
order of things. Split Toe watches humans try to control everything about the
world around them. He also understands
that Mother Nature reacts to everything happening by steadfastly reaching for
balance. Split Toe wonders if humans will overtake Mother Nature. He needs to
find out.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I never really ‘wanted’ to be a
writer. I simply evolved into one. Now I
write to connect people with nature – books and a blog. I write because I have things
I want to write about. My first book, Turning Ten: Great Adventures in the
Great Lakes came out in 2000. Forest Legend: The Tale of Ol’ Split Toe
is my fifth book and my debut into the world of fiction.
Have you published any
previous books?
There are five books in my back trail:
·
Turning Ten: The Tale of Ol’ Split Toe
(2000)
·
A Time for India (2006)
·
Building the Bunkee: A Photo Anthology
of Custom Log Cabin Construction and One Man’s Retirement Dream (2021)
·
Treehouse Letters: The Unabridged
Michigan Forest Life Journal (2022)
·
Forest Legend: The Tale of Ol’ Split
Toe (2026)
What can we expect to see from you in the future, any books on the backburner?
I have a number of book ideas that I am not ready to discuss. Right now I am using all of my energy to introduce Forest Legend.
Meanwhile, I still write
the Michigan Forest Life blog when I am at my treehouse in Winterfield
Pines Nature Sanctuary. Later this summer I hope to launch a series of YouTube
videos with me reading short excerpts from Forest Legend.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
When I am not writing or talking to groups about Forest Legend, I am caretaker of Winterfield Pines Nature Sanctuary in Clare County, Michigan. I live half time in an off-grid, electricity-free treehouse with woodstove heat, handpump water, and oil lamp lighting. I spend quite a bit of time maintain trails, setting up a guest log cabin, and preparing for off-grid winter life. It is a charming lifestyle that inspires me.
I also cherish my
family time with my spouse, adult children, and grandchildren.
Did you learn anything from writing your book? What was it?
I learned a writing project does not reach its true potential without feedback. Writing always benefits from constructive observations. But an author needs to be receptive to feedback. It is up to the author to use the feedback to improve the written product.
I also learned that
writing the book is the easy part. Finding a publisher and promoting the book can
take more time and effort than the writing. It can be an intense slogs for the
author. Persistence is the most important thing to reach a conclusion.
Some writers have something playing in the background, do you and what?
I am often in
the forest when writing, in a treehouse without electricity. I open the windows
and listen to the sounds of the forest – birds, insects, frogs, squirrels
chattering, wind in the trees, and the heartbeat of my cuckoo clock. It is
nature’s symphony
Tell us a little about yourself. Perhaps something not many people know about?
Since retiring from a full career in industry, I am really leaning into my relationship with nature. My home is in a rural setting, but I leave it often to spend a few days in the forest. About half my time each year is spent in the wilderness.
I am an amateur artist. I am also passionate about
rescuing abandoned fine art, restoring it when necessary, and finding a
respectful new home for each piece.
What do you hope your writing brings to your readers?
I write books to connect
people with nature. I hope readers go away with that. I hope they feel the
natural connection. Smell it. See it. Taste it. I hope Forest Legend makes
them think about their own place in the natural order of things. I hope as they
read the adventure, a better understanding of the whole life of a forest rubs
off, and when they turn the last page, the story sticks with them.
Dan Ellens is an outdoor enthusiast who is passionate about connecting people with nature.
He spends nearly half of each year off-grid in an isolated, hand-built, electricity-free treehouse nestled within Winterfield Pines Nature Sanctuary with woodstove heat, handpump water, and oil lamp lighting.
Dan was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in southeast Michigan. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from Calvin University and an MBA from Michigan State University. Dan is retired from a full career in industry and international business.
During 1996, 1997, and 1998, his family lived as expatriates in Bangalore, India, the inspiration for “A Time for India”, Dan’s second book, now in its second edition.
When Dan’s children were small – 10 years old - he took them each on an outward-bound, father-child adventure. The journal of those four trips became Dan’s first book, “Turning Ten: Great Adventures in the Great Lakes”, now in its second edition.
Dan is an accomplished woodworker and carpenter. His lifelong love for old-school carpentry inspired “Building the Bunkee: A Photo Anthology of Custom Log Cabin Construction and One Man’s Retirement Dream”. Dan is a hobby artist who is passionate about rescuing, restoring, and finding new homes for fine art. In the wilds, he sees cooking and baking without modern conveniences as their own adventure and creative expression. “Treehouse Letters: The Unabridged Michigan Forest Life Journal” includes entries about his art and his back-woods cooking … and many other things that one might think about while in a tree.
“Forest Legend: The Tale of Ol’ Split Toe”, Dan’s upcoming novel – his debut fiction piece written while sitting in his treehouse nest - brings experience from decades of life in the forest together with a rich understanding of mid-Michigan’s pioneer history and changing landscape. In this sweeping adventure, Dan explores the resilience of nature through the eyes of a majestic, time-traveling deer.
