6-minute Stories

Phyllis Castelli returned home to Henderson, North Carolina, after retiring from her music career. She spends time with her lifetime special interests: writing, music, photography, a pollinator garden, and Black Labrador Retrievers. Phyllis loves to create projects that knit together the beauty of those favorites.

Phyllis’s poems and essays have appeared in Quillkeepers Press, The Avocet, Scarlet Leaf Review, and Tar River Poets, among others. As a child poet, she published Gentle, I Think, a book of poems with pen and ink illustrations.

Joseph Brown is a native of North Carolina, born in Yadkin County and reared in Davie County. He now resides in the Bethania area of Forsyth County and has lived all his life within 40 miles of his birthplace. In February 2020 he retired from 50 years in the construction industry. Most of his previous writing has been daily journals on his mission trips to Kentucky, Canada, and Ecuador. His earliest published stories appeared in 2019, 2020, and 2021 Personal Story Publishing Projects.

Kay Harper Windsor leads reflective writing sessions for Trellis Supportive Care in Winston-Salem and for community groups. She served as a national mentor for journalism teachers after four decades of teaching. For 20 years, she has been part of the Farther Along writing group, and her writing is included in Farther Along: The Writing Journey of Thirteen Bereaved Mothers and at fartheralongbook.com.

Kay is a mother of three children and a grandmother of seven grandchildren, all storytellers. Writing friend and story catcher Susan encouraged Kay to share this story.

Karen Sleeth lives in Durham, North Carolina. She is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network and the Renegade Writers Group. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Main Street Rag, Potato Soup Journal, 2022 Best of Potato Soup Journal, Café Lit Magazine, and others. Currently she is attending Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. She will complete an MFA in Creative Writing in May of 2023.

Patricia Joslin lives in Charlotte NC. Her essays have appeared in the Personal Story Publishing Project—That Southern Thing, 2020, Luck and Opportunity, 2021. Her poems are included in the Kakalak 2021 and 2022 anthologies. Patricia’s poem, “Today at Low Tide,” was selected by the NC Poetry Society for its 2023 “Poetry in Plain Sight" poster program. Her chapbook, I’ll Buy Flowers Again Tomorrow, a collection of poems about loss and healing, will be published in 2023 by Charlotte Lit Press. When not writing she works to improve her golf game.

David Inserra and his wife, Ellen Titus, recently celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary. They enjoy life on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina with their dog, Mindy. David’s most recent work appears in the PSPP release, ‘Twists and Turns.’ He is a member of the Island Writers Network and works at the local Unitarian Church. David’s first novel, a speculative thriller titled ‘In Your Own Backyard,’ is currently being queried to agents. He is also a musician who has written over 400 songs, most being about his wife. Visit davidinserra.weebly.com. 

Rebecca S. Holder lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and is a member of Winston-Salem Writers. With the advice and guidance of the Westenders critique group, she is working on a short story collection centered on the fictional town of Braidy Creek. When not immersed in fiction, Rebecca indulges in personal essays and poetry. Her story “A Tap at My Door” appeared in the PSPP anthology, Twists and Turns. Most recently, she was a finalist for the 2022 James Hurst Prize for Fiction with her story “Virgil Thompson's Salvation”.

Bob Amason is a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who was a college professor for 25 years. A member of the Florida Writer’s Association, Bob writes under his pen name, Frank A. Mason. Bob’s works include historical novels, most recently Four Women of the Revolution, and Blue-Green for the Grave, a modern suspense novel. His writing has been published in two anthologies as well as academic journals and books. Bob lives in Florida with his overachieving wife, a professor who is author of a series of children’s books.

Growing up in the South means learning life lessons from family stories. Ginny Foard learned a few things that way. She also found out that later you get to tell stories, too. Depending on who’s in the room with you, you might need a few hours to get to the bottom of what all happened. Ginny likes exploring, sharing, and listening to the stories around her. She lives in a little post office box on Sullivans Island, South Carolina.

Suzanne Cottrell, a member of Taste Life Twice Writers and NC Writers’ Network, lives with her husband in Granville County, NC. 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 a hybrid book, Nature Calls Outside My Window, A Collection of Poems and Stories (Kelsay Books).