We all have stories to tell. Some of us write them, others relate them orally. Some folks do both. Our stories help define who we are, connect us with our ancestors (and perhaps with our descendants), and the world at large.
Stories can entertain, enlighten, educate, and inspire. They can soothe, terrify, support, tear down, unite, or divide us. We are transitory, but our stories can endure.
The purpose of this website and blog is to explore the world of sharing stories and perhaps inspire you to share some stories of your own.
For me, it all started with the sudden realization that I’ve led an amazingly interesting life. Upon introspection, three major categories shook out:
The short stories are easy. As I recall memorable—often funny—events, I jot them down. When time allows, I return to the list, choose an idea, and flesh out the story. More often than not, this triggers additional memories to add to the idea list. When I have enough of these stories written, I hope to put the collection into book form. Meanwhile, I’ve put a couple of samples on the Short Stories tab of this website.
Nature nuggets are easy, too. Most of my short stories share personal experiences in the great outdoors. Some of them nudge me to dig a little deeper into some aspect of nature that appears in the tale. What I learn by doing this is invariably fascinating and worthy of passing along. Maybe someday I’ll have enough of these collected for a book, too. For now, though, I’m working on adding a Nature Nuggets tab to this website.
Books? This one isn’t quite so easy, other than publishing collections of shorter tales. But I am making significant progress. I've got two under my belt now, and am working on two more.
S. G. (Sandy) Benson writes from her home in the mountains of western North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Barry, and two bossy dachshunds.
Why Out on a Limb? A forester by training, she worked in the woods most of her life. Along the way, she published a real estate magazine and wrote many outdoors articles for newspapers and magazines. Recently, she’s begun "branching out"—sharing tales at local storyteller gatherings and working on several book ideas. She published her first book in 2021: My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia and her second book, Dear Folks: Letters Home 1943-1946, World War II in 2024. See the Books tab for details and ordering information.
I sleepily padded into the kitchen this morning and poured myself a steaming mug of coffee. Allowing it a few moments to cool, I carried it over to the window and looked out at the new day. Autum leaves drifted down from almost-bare hardwoods, framed against a brilliant azure sky. I love fall.
Dr. W. tapped the scab on my nose with a gloved finger and frowned over the top of his glasses at me.
November is National Memoir Writing Month—not to be confused with the more widely-known but now defunct National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo. Since memoir is what I mostly write, I would be remiss if I neglected mentioning it here and now.
Now live on podcast! This ghost story has roots in Nebraska’s Panhandle, when Fort Robinson State Park was a U.S. military outpost. The piece is creative nonfiction, based on an experience I had in 2013 that shook me to the core and changed my attitude toward the supernatural.
I’m thrilled to announce that the literary magazine, Academy of the Heart and Mind, named my short story, Mannequins in the Hobbit Barn, as one of the winners in their “13 Days of Halloween” contest.
This week I had the privilege of sharing some of my “girl forester” stories at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. The monthly event usually features only oral storytellers, so it was an honor for this author to be invited.