6-minute Stories

Bill Donohue is a Winston Salem writer who has chronicled many of his family’s medical speed bumps. Recognizing his own aging leaks, rusts, and mold, this story is the first capture of his newest frailty and the beginning of his journey with cancer.

Jennie Boulden lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, and is a member of the Memory Makers writing group. She has had a life-long love of the written word. Both sides of her family have deep roots in North Carolina and have been a constant source of enriching stories.

Erika Hoffman lives in Chatham County, North Carolina. She is a member of The North Carolina Writers network, The Triangle Area Freelancers, and Carteret Writers. Her stories have been featured over 430 times in anthologies, ezines, magazines, and newspapers. For sale on Amazon are compilations of some of her published pieces. In addition, two small traditional presses published her novels. Her first, Secrets, Lies, and Grace, was produced by Comfort Publishing.  A pseudonym was used: Riki Vogel. In 2019, Library Partners Press of Wake Forest University published her mystery, Why Mama.

Cindy Martin is a retired West Virginia educator who now resides with her husband, Wayne, in Mount Airy, North Carolina. She has written freelance for West Virginia South Magazine and Yadkin Valley Magazine for over 20 years. Her work has also been featured in the Raleigh Register and the Mount Airy News. Cindy is involved in the Read Aloud Program and is totally committed to furthering the love of books and the written word.

Ellen Zaroff lives in New York City and has recently published three books, "A Layered Tress", "A Tree's Tale", and "Once, Upon Reflection". She runs a small foundation and travels trying to help community projects while collecting stories and sharing stories from around the world.

Jo Parillo, of Concord, North Carolina, consults with pharmaceutical and medical device companies. She is an Oncology-certified Registered Nurse and holds an MBA. Joanne’s principal writing experience has been for scientific journals and magazines. In 2017, she published a faith-based, nonfiction, large-format book and workbook titled, Have You Been Pruned? She is currently revising both for possible re-release this year while pursuing a doctorate in theology. During the past ten years, Joanne has begun writing more for personal enjoyment. She is a member of Charlotte Writers Club.

In his career as professor and academic administrator, Joel Stegall wrote more than 35 journal articles, book chapters, opinion pieces and other such. None of these gained him widespread acclaim. Since retiring to Winston-Salem, NC, he has written a family history tracing his ancestry back to 1735. Though documentation is elusive, he has found considerable evidence that his ancestry began even earlier. Several of his stories, often about his ancestors, have appeared in the Personal Stories Publishing Project. Joel continues to write because he likes to.

Suzanne Cottrell, a member of the Taste Life Twice Writers and NC Writers’ Network, lives with her husband in Granville County, North Carolina. An outdoor enthusiast and retired teacher, she enjoys reading, writing, knitting, hiking, and Pilates. Her prose has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including the Personal Story Publishing Project, Inwood Indiana Press, Quillkeepers Press, and Parks and Points. She’s the author of three poetry chapbooks: Gifts of the Seasons, Autumn and Winter; Gifts of the Seasons, Spring and Summer ; and Scarred Resilience, and Nature Calls Outside My Window, A Collection of Poems and Stories.

Charles Bruce McIntyre, or “Bruce” to those who know him, is a retired business owner and cancer survivor. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is a member of the Charlotte Center for Literary Arts and the Charlotte Writers Club. Bruce believes in storytelling and “story listening” and how it is in listening that we start to understand. He began posting his stories at www.choicesdomatter.org, a weekly blog that ran for four years. There Are No Answers Here, Only Questions is his first published work. Learn more at www.charlesbrucemcintyre.com.  

Lisa Miracle Ballard lives in Huntersville, North Carolina. An active volunteer and advocate in her community, her heritage inspires her writing which has been shared in community publications, newspapers, schools and churches. She is currently working on a collection of essays, poetry, and short stories reflecting her Appalachian roots. Her story, “The Gift,” appeared in the 2018 Personal Story Publishing Project anthology Bearing Up.