Welcome-- or welcome back!

Say goodbye to "expert voice." Let's talk about things we actually love.

We don’t stay still, and neither do our Substacks.

When I started The Story Letter, I thought I needed to JUST give advice and guidance about storytelling. And for a while I truly enjoyed feeling like “an expert.”

But then, after several posts, I got super writer’s block. (I mean, you didn’t hear from me for months!) I love teaching and coaching when I’m literally with people, but when it came to “declaring” something on the internet, I wondered: Who am I to be giving advice when I’m figuring things out myself? Why do I feel like I have to KNOW things to be worth reading, when I really just want to explore along with you?

I started to feel like THIS guy sometimes:

Love Ben Stein, obviously, but I want to share way more of myself than that.

So. Some changes are afoot!

The vibe here is now pretty simple. I’m obsessed with stories, and I want to share that obsession with you.

I will write about the stories I love - romance novels, and USA channel procedurals from the 2000’s, and the Knives Out franchise - through the lens of a true story nerd. What are our favorite stories doing to make us love them so much?

I’ll write about the stories I’m living, like personal experiences or teaching moments.

And I’ll share my process with the memoir I’m currently drafting: what I’m discovering, what’s surprising me, what’s hard.

So if you love thinking about how stories work and why we tell them, you’re in the right place.

To be clear: therapy is also my therapy. But the sentiment stands.

I hope you’ll stick around. I think the biggest change here is that I’m going to let myself be as weird, as vulnerable, as enthusiastic as I am in real life.

Ok bye! I love you.