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Nature writer Leigh Ann Henion has spent countless hours uncovering mysteries of the darkness. 

Witnessing the beauty of synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains inspired author Leigh Ann Henion to turn off her porch light and discover the vast natural world that thrives in darkness.

Darkness makes even the most familiar places unfamiliar. But Leigh Ann Henion finds this exciting, not scary — night reveals a magical, wondrous world.

Leigh Ann Henion has stepped through the looking glass. You can too, she says. Simply turn off the lights and venture outside. That's the promise of Ms. Henion's new book. In it, she details her own journey to become reacquainted with darkness...The result is a nature lover's guide to the dark that unfolds like a novel. 

Leigh Ann Henion, 37, spent two years witnessing some of the world's most amazing natural sights, including the aurora borealis in the Arctic and Catatumbo lightning in Venezuela. The writer, who lives in Boone, NC, explores awe-seeking travel in her book, Phenomenal: A Hesitant Adventurer's Search for Wonder in the Natural World.

Leigh Ann Henion tells us about juggling motherhood with swimming in bioluminescent oceans, standing at the edge of active volcanoes, and witnessing vast animal migrations. 

Leigh Ann Henion chats with us about writing Phenomenal, in which she combines her experiences as a parent with a panoramic tour of the world's most extraordinary natural wonders.

Leigh Ann Henion is a writer from North Carolina who has written a kind of Eat, Pray, Love—next generation. She's traveled the world to be in the presence of the phenomenal—natural happenings which evoke unbridled wonder...In Hawai‘i, she studied the phenomenon of infrasound, low frequency sounds created by volcanoes.