This is the second round of The Storyletter Meet & Greet.
We’ve got twice the number of community members since the last M&G, so I figured I’d extend another opportunity to get to know each of you.
After your intro, try to respond to another Storyletter member’s comment to keep the discussion going. Can’t wait to learn more about you!
Here’s my intro:
Hello, I’m Winston. I live in Utah, but I’m originally from the east coast (TN/FL). I was active duty Air Force before joining the Air National Guard. I have a miniature schnauzer named Vinnie who is 3 years old. I’d love to write fiction full-time. I started a publishing company this year in order to learn the ropes and help others in the process. My goal is to get better at storytelling by experimenting with different genres and styles via short fiction, while building a community of like-minded readers and writers who want to talk shop.
I’m extremely grateful you’re here! Thanks for sharing your story. ~ WM
Hello Storyletter community! My name is Matthew but I go by M. S. Arthadian. I am the Creative Director of Arthadian Anthologies and have been laying the foundation for an expanding, speculative universe known as the CORE. For it I've developed an Online Tabletop RPG and have a 3 Season long Podcast where I personally dive into the details of the CORE along with some cinematic style audio-storytelling. I also have a Livestream of the Tabletop RPG coming very soon alongside the 4th Season of the Podcast which is going to be even bigger than the previous 3 seasons. My future goal is to bring on more creators into this massive universe I've developed, to make new worlds, regions, stories, all flowing inside it. I'm inspired by what Winston has done here with the Storyletter and I believe that this is the start of a new type of publishing industry!
Hello 👋🏻 everyone, I’m Sandra. I’m One of 6 children with a couple of kids of my own. I’m retired from owning and operating my own beauty shop up in Tennessee. My mother was a writer of poems, songs and music, and so is my sister and her son. Both of my sons write, which is inspiring me to think of a story I would like to tell someday. I’m shy about doing it so that’s why I’m listening and learning all about you guys, to build my confidence. I really like Winston’s interviews because a lot of my questions get answered by them and it’s very interesting to learn how everyone gets started writing. Good luck to all of you and keep the stories coming.
Hello, I’m Dave. I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, FL. I left Florida when I joined the military (Army) at 23 yrs old. I lived in TN after getting out of the service when I was 26 yrs old and worked for the civil service, then transferred over to the post office and worked there for 13 yrs.. After having my son, I moved back home to Florida and was involved in starting a manufacturing company that made custom interior & exterior doors and hardwood mouldings. I’m now a independent manufacturers rep. and have my own business. My son gave me a journal about 13 yrs ago and asked me to write my life story in it, then eventually my daily thoughts. Unfortunately, I don’t have the writing bug as he does and at this point I’ve only written one sentence. Over the past two years and more recently, I’ve started to take the time out of my busy schedule to read “The Story Letters” short stories and poems. After seeing all of these wonderful comments about his work, this has given me the inspiration to take the time to start writing in the journal that he will have one day. He knows my life history and will probably end up writing a adventure/comedy novel about his old man. 🤞If you haven’t figured it out yet, Winston is my son. As of today, I’m a very, very proud father, not only for his military service but how awesome is it to sit back and watch your son in his life journey become successful right before eyes. After a unsuccessful attempt to live my baseball fantasy through him, (tidbit: he’s very athletic) I’ve told him many times, once you find something you love doing, the success will follow. He obviously loves reading and writing, since he was five yrs old I would have to frequently check on him in his bedroom to see if he was still alive, only to find him using his imagination playing out dramatic scenes with his dinosaurs and Pokémon for hours. I can’t wait to see where this writing venture takes him, keep up the great work along with being an inspiration to others. Love Always, Dad.
Hi everyone! I’m Elly. I live in Washington state, but I’m originally from upstate New York. I’m a full-time artist and mother of two kiddos. I work in both traditional and digital mediums and have done book illustrations if anyone is interested in commissioning me.
I have lots of updates. On the art front, I’m going to be showing (and hopefully selling) some of my ink drawings at a local art exhibition October 8-16th, I’m matting and framing pieces to submit to a juried museum exhibition, and I’m looking into print and canvas print options so I can sell them at a local gallery I’m in talks with as well as at art festivals.
On the writing front, I’ve been digging through my old short stories and giving them some much needed overhauling. I have two more recent ones posted and I’m putting the final touches on a longer, multi-chapter one as well as doing some illustrations for it. I try to post on Fridays, barring crazy life issues.
Hi, my name is LJ, which necessitates the additional fact that I'm a woman. I live north of San Francisco, and write a little bit of everything: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, even a play or two. In writing, I worked formerly as a staff reporter in Colorado. My main interest in regards feedback and publication is similar to this 'meet & greet' - that is to encourage participation in readings and in-person writers' groups. Sharing and talking shop with other writers is highly productive, in my experience... which includes print publication and, long ago, production of a play, a very exciting fluke. Retired now but still writing, which for many of us is impossible to stop. :-D
Hi there, I'm Leigh. I write mostly horror and historical fiction short stories, but I have a novella on the back burner as well. I'm a contributor to the Outside Art Short Story Collection, a small indie writers collective here on Substack. I'm interested both in supporting other indie writers and hopefully finding an audience as well. It's nice to meet you. :-)
Hi Winston, you and I may have faced a Substack story challenge before! I’m a UK based writer interested in the confluences of faith and fiction. I’ve serialised a novella (The Pelican Crossing) here on Substack and am currently exploring having it published on Amazon & in book form. The plan is to birth a novel from that same story world. I also side-write Scriptourer here on Substack which is an exploration of storytelling and the Bible. Had I been born in the high Middle Ages, no introduction would’ve been necessary but, alas, modern literary fiction is my tiny molehill. Good vibes to all in the struggle and respect to you Winston for the sterling work here.
Hi! My name’s Daniel. I’m from Indiana, but I travel a lot for work and am currently residing overseas. I write magical realism set in different historical periods, but I also write horror stories and science fiction. I’ve started dabbling in literary essays on Substack. (I’ve only been on Substack for a month, so I’m still learning the ropes.) I wrote a novel called “Snakes and Ladders” earlier this year, which is set in a multiverse. It’s been entered in a contest, so I’ll see how it goes. If nothing comes out of the contest, I may post the novel here on Substack. I’m in the middle of a novella I started last month called “The Witch in the Mountain Pass,” which is set in northwestern Greece in the 1930s that’s available on my page, “Lamp Post in the Marsh.” After I finish the novella, I plan to get back to working on a series of novels that I have planned out. The series will be called “The Infinite Wall.” It starts out in 1920s Germany. It’s about a clairvoyant Ruthenian woman who’s a silent film director living in Weimar Berlin. She’s married to a Viennese mathematician and befriends a young boy who is unaware that the woman is his aunt. Separately, I just spent the morning fleshing out a science fiction horror story that I hope to post next week...It’s been fascinating reading about all the projects people are working on!
Hey Winston. Nice to virtually meet. I’m a short story writer and autobiographical novelist as well as developmental book editor. I was in New York City until last year but now I’m in Santa Barbara. I’m digging the Substack community. My material is very raw and authentic, aka not politically correct. I think art is sacred and has no connection to people feeling comfortable or safe. Art always has been, is now, and always will be rebellious and transgressive.
Hi All, I'm Jacquie. For the past 20 years, I've been a professional horse trainer, and specialize in rehabilitating mistreated horses on my farm in the Hudson Valley. I'm currently finalizing a training manual for homeschooling horsemen. I work full-time as a communications director for a non-profit organization. My background is in anthropology and archaeology, and that's what most inspires me to write, both fiction and nonfiction. My main project is a historical fiction trilogy set among the Scythian nomads of the Pontic Steppe (present-day Ukraine). I'm serializing the first volume on my Substack and seeing where that leads... Beyond that, I'm just hoping to improve my writing, read some great stuff, and meet some cool people :-)
Hey everyone. Just found this place today. Seems like a great community. I’ve had a Substack account for over a year, but couldn’t decide on a specific topic on which to focus. I like too many things. Right now, I work as an illustrator doing book covers for self-published authors, but I’m trying to get into writing more. Has anyone figured out a set of ‘best practices’ for posting fiction to Substack? I don’t think you could get by with dropping a 40k novella into a single post. So, I guess you’d have to break it up into chapters? Do people feel cliffhangers are necessary to keep readers coming back? Any thoughts?
I read a lot. When it comes to fiction, my preferred genres are Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror. I also enjoy Urban Fantasy, but that feels like a subset of one of those first three. It’s good to meet all of you. I look forward to getting to know you all better.
Hi, I'm Elle. I'm currently writing a utopian novel and a collection of essays imagining a more beautiful future. So nice to meet such an inspiring group of writers on Substack!
Hello Storyletter community! My name is Matthew but I go by M. S. Arthadian. I am the Creative Director of Arthadian Anthologies and have been laying the foundation for an expanding, speculative universe known as the CORE. For it I've developed an Online Tabletop RPG and have a 3 Season long Podcast where I personally dive into the details of the CORE along with some cinematic style audio-storytelling. I also have a Livestream of the Tabletop RPG coming very soon alongside the 4th Season of the Podcast which is going to be even bigger than the previous 3 seasons. My future goal is to bring on more creators into this massive universe I've developed, to make new worlds, regions, stories, all flowing inside it. I'm inspired by what Winston has done here with the Storyletter and I believe that this is the start of a new type of publishing industry!
Hello 👋🏻 everyone, I’m Sandra. I’m One of 6 children with a couple of kids of my own. I’m retired from owning and operating my own beauty shop up in Tennessee. My mother was a writer of poems, songs and music, and so is my sister and her son. Both of my sons write, which is inspiring me to think of a story I would like to tell someday. I’m shy about doing it so that’s why I’m listening and learning all about you guys, to build my confidence. I really like Winston’s interviews because a lot of my questions get answered by them and it’s very interesting to learn how everyone gets started writing. Good luck to all of you and keep the stories coming.
Hello, I’m Dave. I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, FL. I left Florida when I joined the military (Army) at 23 yrs old. I lived in TN after getting out of the service when I was 26 yrs old and worked for the civil service, then transferred over to the post office and worked there for 13 yrs.. After having my son, I moved back home to Florida and was involved in starting a manufacturing company that made custom interior & exterior doors and hardwood mouldings. I’m now a independent manufacturers rep. and have my own business. My son gave me a journal about 13 yrs ago and asked me to write my life story in it, then eventually my daily thoughts. Unfortunately, I don’t have the writing bug as he does and at this point I’ve only written one sentence. Over the past two years and more recently, I’ve started to take the time out of my busy schedule to read “The Story Letters” short stories and poems. After seeing all of these wonderful comments about his work, this has given me the inspiration to take the time to start writing in the journal that he will have one day. He knows my life history and will probably end up writing a adventure/comedy novel about his old man. 🤞If you haven’t figured it out yet, Winston is my son. As of today, I’m a very, very proud father, not only for his military service but how awesome is it to sit back and watch your son in his life journey become successful right before eyes. After a unsuccessful attempt to live my baseball fantasy through him, (tidbit: he’s very athletic) I’ve told him many times, once you find something you love doing, the success will follow. He obviously loves reading and writing, since he was five yrs old I would have to frequently check on him in his bedroom to see if he was still alive, only to find him using his imagination playing out dramatic scenes with his dinosaurs and Pokémon for hours. I can’t wait to see where this writing venture takes him, keep up the great work along with being an inspiration to others. Love Always, Dad.
Hi everyone! I’m Elly. I live in Washington state, but I’m originally from upstate New York. I’m a full-time artist and mother of two kiddos. I work in both traditional and digital mediums and have done book illustrations if anyone is interested in commissioning me.
I have lots of updates. On the art front, I’m going to be showing (and hopefully selling) some of my ink drawings at a local art exhibition October 8-16th, I’m matting and framing pieces to submit to a juried museum exhibition, and I’m looking into print and canvas print options so I can sell them at a local gallery I’m in talks with as well as at art festivals.
On the writing front, I’ve been digging through my old short stories and giving them some much needed overhauling. I have two more recent ones posted and I’m putting the final touches on a longer, multi-chapter one as well as doing some illustrations for it. I try to post on Fridays, barring crazy life issues.
Hi, my name is LJ, which necessitates the additional fact that I'm a woman. I live north of San Francisco, and write a little bit of everything: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, even a play or two. In writing, I worked formerly as a staff reporter in Colorado. My main interest in regards feedback and publication is similar to this 'meet & greet' - that is to encourage participation in readings and in-person writers' groups. Sharing and talking shop with other writers is highly productive, in my experience... which includes print publication and, long ago, production of a play, a very exciting fluke. Retired now but still writing, which for many of us is impossible to stop. :-D
Hi there, I'm Leigh. I write mostly horror and historical fiction short stories, but I have a novella on the back burner as well. I'm a contributor to the Outside Art Short Story Collection, a small indie writers collective here on Substack. I'm interested both in supporting other indie writers and hopefully finding an audience as well. It's nice to meet you. :-)
Hi Winston, you and I may have faced a Substack story challenge before! I’m a UK based writer interested in the confluences of faith and fiction. I’ve serialised a novella (The Pelican Crossing) here on Substack and am currently exploring having it published on Amazon & in book form. The plan is to birth a novel from that same story world. I also side-write Scriptourer here on Substack which is an exploration of storytelling and the Bible. Had I been born in the high Middle Ages, no introduction would’ve been necessary but, alas, modern literary fiction is my tiny molehill. Good vibes to all in the struggle and respect to you Winston for the sterling work here.
Hi! My name’s Daniel. I’m from Indiana, but I travel a lot for work and am currently residing overseas. I write magical realism set in different historical periods, but I also write horror stories and science fiction. I’ve started dabbling in literary essays on Substack. (I’ve only been on Substack for a month, so I’m still learning the ropes.) I wrote a novel called “Snakes and Ladders” earlier this year, which is set in a multiverse. It’s been entered in a contest, so I’ll see how it goes. If nothing comes out of the contest, I may post the novel here on Substack. I’m in the middle of a novella I started last month called “The Witch in the Mountain Pass,” which is set in northwestern Greece in the 1930s that’s available on my page, “Lamp Post in the Marsh.” After I finish the novella, I plan to get back to working on a series of novels that I have planned out. The series will be called “The Infinite Wall.” It starts out in 1920s Germany. It’s about a clairvoyant Ruthenian woman who’s a silent film director living in Weimar Berlin. She’s married to a Viennese mathematician and befriends a young boy who is unaware that the woman is his aunt. Separately, I just spent the morning fleshing out a science fiction horror story that I hope to post next week...It’s been fascinating reading about all the projects people are working on!
Hey Winston. Nice to virtually meet. I’m a short story writer and autobiographical novelist as well as developmental book editor. I was in New York City until last year but now I’m in Santa Barbara. I’m digging the Substack community. My material is very raw and authentic, aka not politically correct. I think art is sacred and has no connection to people feeling comfortable or safe. Art always has been, is now, and always will be rebellious and transgressive.
Hi All, I'm Jacquie. For the past 20 years, I've been a professional horse trainer, and specialize in rehabilitating mistreated horses on my farm in the Hudson Valley. I'm currently finalizing a training manual for homeschooling horsemen. I work full-time as a communications director for a non-profit organization. My background is in anthropology and archaeology, and that's what most inspires me to write, both fiction and nonfiction. My main project is a historical fiction trilogy set among the Scythian nomads of the Pontic Steppe (present-day Ukraine). I'm serializing the first volume on my Substack and seeing where that leads... Beyond that, I'm just hoping to improve my writing, read some great stuff, and meet some cool people :-)
Hey everyone. Just found this place today. Seems like a great community. I’ve had a Substack account for over a year, but couldn’t decide on a specific topic on which to focus. I like too many things. Right now, I work as an illustrator doing book covers for self-published authors, but I’m trying to get into writing more. Has anyone figured out a set of ‘best practices’ for posting fiction to Substack? I don’t think you could get by with dropping a 40k novella into a single post. So, I guess you’d have to break it up into chapters? Do people feel cliffhangers are necessary to keep readers coming back? Any thoughts?
I read a lot. When it comes to fiction, my preferred genres are Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror. I also enjoy Urban Fantasy, but that feels like a subset of one of those first three. It’s good to meet all of you. I look forward to getting to know you all better.
Hi, I'm Elle. I'm currently writing a utopian novel and a collection of essays imagining a more beautiful future. So nice to meet such an inspiring group of writers on Substack!
If anyone's interested: Just posted a new short story of mine: https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/the-fish