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.
The first Amazon review for Dear Folks came in overnight, and I’m jazzed! Five stars and a lovely comment. Dad would be wowed. If you’ve received your copy and have had a chance to read it, please add your review online. It really helps get the word out about a new book. Thank you!!
On Wednesday, August 28, I ordered three boxes of my new books. The printer, in Ohio, promptly shipped them, simultaneously, each with its own tracking number. The first box arrived six days later. I'm okay with that. The tracking report revealed an interesting itinerary. It visited White Bluff and Nashville, TN on Wednesday, then traveled to Gastonia, NC, and Greenville, SC on Thursday. My box took in the sights in Weaverville and Charlotte, NC on Friday, then returned to Gastonia. Maybe it wanted to retrieve something it lost there the day before. On Saturday, it went back to Greenville, where it sat over the Labor Day weekend. It finally landed at my local post office on Tuesday, September 3rd. The slightly damaged box had managed to protect all but one of the books.
It’s here! In honor of my late father’s 100th birthday, the long-awaited collection of his letters home from World War II is now in print. I know he would have been proud to share these stories with the world.
Anthologies are a fun way for authors to get their work out into the world. Some of you may have seen my May post about my piece the Personal Stories Publishing Project anthology, Now or Never. Old Mountain Press in Sylva, NC also has an anthology series to which I’ve been regularly contributing. My story, Stopped by the Curb, appears in the latest one, Good Old Days.
My friend, Chris Helzer, dropped another good blog post this morning. The Joy and Gratification of Strategic Prairie Restoration ostensibly discusses his extensive and admirable work of converting low-productivity row crop fields to high-diversity prairie. But beneath his exquisite photos and dynamic descriptions lies a poignant reminder of how small-minded humans can be.
Warning: This post is for word nerds and journalism aficionados.