The Life of A Storyteller

Storytelling As A Business – Let’s Focus On What’s Next

Almost 100% of my family’s income is derived from live performance. A small percentage comes from my published work, and a small percentage comes in through my husband working PRN as a social worker twice a month. The rest of it? Live Performance. Within days of the Stay At...

Normal Doesn’t Mean Anything – Let’s Focus On Moving Forward

  The Past Time! Normal – adjective 1. conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected. “it’s quite normal for puppies to bolt their food”         Next – adverb adverb: next 1. on the first or soonest occasion after the present; immediately afterward.     I know that many people are...

Making Sense of Time in Quarantine – Some Suggestions

Back when I was touring…you know, a month ago…I had this odd thing that happened regularly. Most of the time, I was on the go. I had shows in the morning, afternoon, evening or all three, and they could be anywhere in the country. The odd thing that would...

Adjusting To Life As An Artist During A Pandemic

Three weeks ago I was exhausted. I was on a twelve-week touring jag with a single week off in the middle of it. I was planning to be in Georgia, Florida, out in the Caribbean on a cruise ship, in Colorado, Chicago, and who knows where else. There were...

When Murphy Strikes: The Aftermath

source This has not been a stellar week in the world of storytelling for me. I find myself wondering how children taste if you have the right recipe. I also wonder about the administrators at some of these schools. In the last two days, I’ve been hit by all...

Peaks and Valleys In the Gig Economy

The Gig Economy can rip your heart out. January you have so much work you don’t know if you can do it all, and February you have one gig and it was a ‘take it because I need something’ type of show. March and April are a wasteland, and...

Don’t Let Ridiculous Speed Overwhelm You

Bullet Trains move at ridiculous speed! As a touring artist, most of my life moves at ridiculous speed when I am awake. Ridiculous speed is something many people can relate to. Got a manuscript to my agent on Wednesday. Hooray! A moment to breathe….not so fast. Hadn’t really cleaned...

Sometimes I Forget…..

Storytelling is work Being a working storyteller is a pretty intense job at times. Right now the booking season is in full swing and schools, libraries, conferences and other types of performance and workshop venues are calling for dates and shows. In my brain this translates to the work...

How To Avoid Blundering Into Horrible Gig

source There are few things worse than blundering into a performance situation that is annoying or horrible. We all have types of shows we won’t do. For every performer who runs screaming, another would do the venue at the drop of a hat. Some people like birthday parties. Some...

Where Did January Go?

It is the last week of January, and I am already behind. Only two blog posts this year? Really? Spent about seven days this week ill. Nothing debilitating, you understand, just sore throat and more mucus than any one person ought to have in their body. Oh, and it...