“Quirky Quandaries” issue is out!

Click on the picture to jump to the Fall 2025 (Volume 4, Issue 3) or HERE for PDF or HERE for Magazine Style (through Calaméo).

Autumn is here, but the twilight lingers, and it is still warm enough to take leisurely evening walks. Someone asked me recently why I became a storyteller. I wish that I had a snappy answer, but I had to think about this one. I turned it over in my mind during an evening stroll. It wasn’t for the money, although I am still tickled that folks pay me to tell stories. It wasn’t for the fame, as most folks look at me funny when I say that I am storyteller. Maybe it was a higher calling? I drank heavily and awaited divine inspiration, but nothing came to me, so that wasn’t it. Then like a Cosmic Dope Slap, it hit me. Sort of like when in a Roadrunner cartoon, Coyote steps on a hoe, it smacks him in the forehead, and he sees stars. It dawned on me that it might have something to do with connecting with others.

I believe that in our modern, busy electronic-filled lives, we do not experience a lot of 100% present human presence and connection. If you get five minutes of your spouse’s undivided attention a day, I feel that you may be blessed. (Some may not want that kind of attention, but that’s another story.) We are often too preoccupied with what to say next, or contemplating what to have for dinner, or wondering if it is garbage day, to stop and be fully present with someone.

I believe that it is a true need and that we all hunger for true connection. When I tell a story, I am 100% present and am in the story with the audience. When I perform in schools, kids may not be able to name it, but they feel that difference and they want more of it. We may not even be aware that we are longing for connection in our own way. When we truly connect with someone, even for a moment, it is like a soothing balm to our hectic lives, and we want more of it. When I open up and connect with the audience, we both get to experience the other, and we are all nurtured. Connection is why I tell stories. 

The Story Beast is your quarterly e-Publication forum and is your place of community. Please share your creative works –poems, stories, artwork, or articles with us and let your friends know about The Beast. Let us know what you think and send your contributed works to storybeasteditor@gmail.com.

The deadline for contributions for the next issue of The Story Beast is November 15 for the Winter 2025 issue. The Winter issue’s theme is Frosted Glass. Thanks for reading. Have a Spooktacular Fall!

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The Story Beast is produced with the support of Artists Standing Strong Together (ASST).