Storytelling--A Dying Art?

Everyone has a story to tell, so the saying goes.

It’s funny how things work out. Almost ten years ago I was writing my final thesis on the art of storytelling--considering its role in cultures around the world and questioning whether or not North American society was still fostering this powerful form of communication today.

Never would I have guessed that I’d become a storyteller in my own right. At that point, writing wasn’t a passion; it was barely an interest. (Let’s be honest--writing for pleasure was a foreign concept to me entirely.) My curiosity in storytelling stemmed from the progression of a story as a means of effective communication, to how it often translates into oral retellings or theatrical performances, handed down for generations.

So, needless to say, I’m perhaps more surprised than anyone that Writer is the title of my day job, and even still, that I’ve now found a story of my own, clamoring to be unleashed.

Cliched but true--sometimes you never can tell which direction you’re actually headed in until you’re there.

Having recently finished my first novel under my own name, as opposed to one commissioned for someone else, I’m embarking on the intimidating publishing route.

Academically, I’m still on the fence about whether we embrace or even really teach storytelling anymore, but now in the query trenches with so many others, it seems like there are plenty who have something to say.

Stay tuned for details on my contemporary YA tale UNKNOWN ELEMENTS that has a liberal dash of action, mystery and romance. Think Jason Bourne action, Dan Brown mystery, and sweet young love.