Ep170: Courage in Story Telling with guest Anne Abel

Writer Craft Podcast

Thank you to our existing patrons for believing in our work offline and here in the podcast.

Become a patron of the arts at Patreon.com/valerieihsan for books, writing instruction, coaching, and planning. Go to Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Segment 1 (Announcements/Author Updates):

• (Accidental Stranger Book 2 out) Print out NOW! On Amazon.
• Write in the Harbor (Erick teaching.) (Valerie will be at Write in the Harbor in Gig Harbor, WA this year, too!
• back from Ghost Story Weekend in Rainbow, OR. (Erick)
• https://wordcrafters.org/unlock-the-heart-of-your-memoir/ (Valerie's teaching a class in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday, December 7, 2024; 10am-5pm.)
• EMBODY (fit and intuitive) on Patreon.
• writing new short stories from Ghost Story Weekend inspiration (Erick)
• re-thinking Patreon (Erick)
• (Anne) first book published in April (She Writes Press); next book on September 2025; writing third book; social media IG went viral just from showing off apartment. Tip: do videos/reels.

What are you reading?

• Valerie: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman; The Year of the Puppy (Alexandra Horowitz) Roland Rogers isn't Dead Yet (Samantha Allen); A Happy Pocketful of Money (David Cameron Gikandi)
• Erick: The October Country (Ray Bradbury) The Great When (Alan Moore) (Shout out to local bookstore: Parallel Worlds; NE Portland, OR); Safe Enough (Lee Child)
• Anne: The Wedding People (Alison Espach); I Hope This Finds You Well (Natalie Sue)
• Segment 2 (Resources/Tips/Tidbits):

• Tidbit #1:
• Tidbit #2:

Segment 3 (Mindset-Craft-Biz Check):

Segment 4 (Main Topic):

Anne Abel

Anne Abel’s story about unwittingly rescuing an aggressive dog, Milo, won a Moth StorySLAM in New York City. She has won two additional Moth StorySLAMs in Chicago. Her credentials include an MFA from The New School for Social Research, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a BS in chemical engineering from Tufts University. She has freelanced for Lilith; Philadelphia Daily News; The Jewish Exponent; Philadelphia Weekly, Main Line Life and Main Line Today, and formerly wrote a weekly column, “The Homefront,” for Main Line Welcomat. She also taught English and creative writing at the Community College of Philadelphia. Anne lives in New York City with her husband, Andy, and their three rescue dogs, Ryan, Megan, and Chase. She grew up outside Boston, MA.

Suffered from depression and writers block, and start telling stories is what saved her. Following Bruce Springsteen's tour for the structure.

Started writing stories through emails for hours a day.

Storytelling open mic. Worked on seven minute story. 7 minute story framework. MOTH is 5 minutes.

Don't question what comes out.

Positive immediate feedback.

Use story beats. Outline.

Tell myself the story over and over. (Absolute key points.) (Tell them what they don't expect.)

Everyone sees art in a different way.

If Bruce Springsteen was saying, "How do we get through the day?" maybe I can do this.

Australia changed the trajectory of my life.

Blinded by the Light. (Movie about a British-Pakastani teen who discovers Bruce Springsteen's music.)

A lot of courage and connection. The courage led to the connectivity.

"I live outside my comfort zone."

She tried and she tried and she tried. (For my tombstone.)

"I don't let fear stop me."

"What's the worst? Just do it."

anneabelauthor.com (Listen to a couple of Anne's stories from the MOTHSlam.)

Next episode:

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