STORYBEAST

By STORYBEAST

A podcast for story lovers, Storybeast explores how we weave tales and why we love them. Co-hosts Ghabiba Weston and C. Shack chat with each other and legendary guests about different elements of vari... more

5

55 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about STORYBEAST:

How many episodes does STORYBEAST have?

The podcast currently has 94 episodes available.

STORYBEAST episodes:

February 20, 2025Episode #93: FANGIRLING OVER ARCANE + Corruption Arcs
Welcome to a special FANGIRLING episode, in which your Beasts (Courtney and Ghabiba) discuss Season 1 of Arcane with the incredible ⁠⁠Ruth Mckell⁠⁠.
In this episode, you'll hear:

Major fangirling!! And spoilers!!! Don't say we didn't warn you!

Different corruption arcs in Arcane and how we view them

Jinx apologists defending her

Theories for season 2

Thank you for joining us on this mini series. We hope to do more. If you have special requests for future FANGIRLING topics, let us know!
For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribe ⁠to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!
A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.
As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.
Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
28min
February 13, 2025Episode #92: On fiction, framing devices, and lady knights, with Legendary Alix E. Harrow
Welcome to another LEGENDARY episode of Storybeast! Our Legendaries are special guests who are an expert within their area of storytelling. In this episode, Ghabiba Weston and Courtney Shack have the pleasure of interviewing legendary Alix E. Harrow.
Alix E. Harrow is the NYT-bestselling author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Once and Future Witches, Starling House, and various short fiction, including a duology of retold fairy tales (A Spindle Splintered and A Mirror Mended). Her work has won a Hugo and a British Fantasy Award, and been shortlisted for the Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus, Southern Book Prize, and Goodreads Choice awards.
She's from Kentucky, but now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with her husband and their two semi-feral kids.
Her writing is represented by Kate McKean at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.

In this episode, Alix
shares how she approaches short vs long form fiction
talks about her writing process
shares advice on honing your writing skills
gives us a delightful intro to a 1926 novel that revived her story joy. A witch who runs off to the woods? Deals with the devil? Please and thanks.
delves into how she likes to use framing devices in her writing
tells us her fav fairy tale and tropes
indulges Courtney's need for secrets by telling us more about her forthcoming "lady knight time travel" book (Fall 2025)
points out what happens as the Tamora Pierce girls are coming of age: i.e. more lady knight books to look out for soon

For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ subscribe to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!
A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.
As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.
Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
53min
February 06, 2025Episode #91: FANGIRLING OVER ARCANE + Strong Female Characters
Welcome to a special FANGIRLING episode, in which your Beasts (Courtney and Ghabiba) discuss Season 1 of Arcane with the incredible ⁠Ruth Mckell⁠.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Major fangirling!! And spoilers!!! Don't say we didn't warn you!

What makes a strong female character

A discussion of various characters and if they qualify as "strong"

Different types of strength

Join us for final (for now) FANGRILING OVER ARCANE episode to discuss corruption arcs. Are you ready?
For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribe ⁠to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!
A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.
As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.
Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
43min
January 30, 2025Episode #90: On milk candy and writing books for bold, bi, brown women with legendary Gabriella Buba
Welcome to another LEGENDARY episode of Storybeast! Our Legendaries are special guests who are an expert within their area of storytelling. In this episode, Ghabiba Weston has the pleasure of interviewing legendary Gabriella Buba.
Gabriella Buba is a mixed Filipina-Czech writer and chemical engineer based in Texas who likes to keep explosive pyrophoric materials safely contained in pressure vessels or between the covers of her books. She writes adult romantic fantasy for bold, bi, brown women who deserve to see their stories centered. SAINTS OF STORM AND SORROW is out now, DAUGHTERS OF FLOOD AND FURY coming your way July 2025.
In this episode, you'll hear about
getting ATLA's prince Zuko (Dante Basco) to narrate Saints of Storm and Sorrow

writing as a BIPOC author

giving yourself permission to write from a place of inner truth

Ghabiba's take on what makes fan fiction so popular

finding validation in stories that resonate

Gabriella's incredible book looks and her product recs

Gabriella's publishing journey

the power of spite

the dark side of publishing for marginalized authors

the one thing Gabriella learned about the publishing process that she didn't know going in

the book 2 struggle bus

Gabriella's favourite snack

For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ subscribe to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!
A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.
As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.
Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
1h 14min
January 27, 2025Episode #89: FANGIRLING OVER ARCANE + Character Foils + MAJOR SPOILERS
Welcome to a special FANGIRLING episode, in which your Beasts (Courtney and Ghabiba) discuss Season 1 of Arcane with the incredible Ruth Mckell.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Major fangirling!! And spoilers!!! Don't say we didn't warn you!

Character foils

Relationship foils

Storytelling strategies and how these relate to theme

Join us for the next FANGRILING OVER ARCANE episode to discuss strong women. After that...corruption arcs, anyone?
For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribe ⁠to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!
A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.
As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.
Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
45min
January 16, 2025Episode #88: On the power of boredom, horror, and purple pens, with Legendary Katherine Arden
Welcome to another LEGENDARY episode of Storybeast! Our Legendaries are special guests who are an expert within their area of storytelling. In this episode, Ghabiba Weston and Courtney Shack have the pleasure of interviewing legendary Katherine Arden.
Katherine Arden is the New York Times Bestselling author of books for adults and children, including The Winternight Trilogy, The Small Spaces Quartet, and The Warm Hands of Ghosts. She lives in Vermont.

In this episode, you'll hear about:
the importance of writer boredom in allowing space for your imagination

Katherine's methods for keeping that space

Katherine's stationery recs

Katherine in danger of purple pen theft by Courtney

the writer moratorium

Katherine's inspo behind the small spaces quartet

horror: dread and fright through atmosphere

horror as a study of emotion exploration without the abstract

the emotional component to building atmosphere

plotting versus pantsing (find out which one Katherine is) and staying true to your characters

Katherine's advice on approaching revision

Tamora Pierce and her formative influence

Katherine's advice for creating vivid scenes for the reader

the worst writing advice Katherine's ever heard

For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠subscribe ⁠to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!
A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.
As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.
Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
46min
January 10, 2025Episode #87: Happy 2025! New year, new rambles
Welcome back to another episode of Storybeast where Courtney Shack and Ghabiba Weston discuss the transformative power of story.

In this episode of Season 4 Part 2, the Beasts:
get real chatty about things they love, but insist they are not sponsored (really, they are not)

talk about goals and themes for 2025
Courtney says numbers and Ghabiba does the math (it's book related, promise!)

Discuss burnout and how to avoid it this year

Claim Emily Rath as their own and get real into the excitement for North is the Night

Talk about upcoming projects

Allude to a secret that is now out--congrats to McKell Wall on her book announcement, Honey in Her Veins.

Chat about upcoming Arcane episodes with McKell.

Have snacks. Find Courtney's spinach and artichoke dip recipe she liked here or here Ghabiba's kale salad recipe.

For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ subscribe to our newsletter. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!

A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.

As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.

Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
1h 26min
December 12, 2024Episode #86: 'Tis the (end of a half) season! Romantasy Summit highlights and teasers for upcoming Legendaries
Welcome back to another episode of Storybeast where Courtney Shack and Ghabiba Weston discuss the transformative power of story.

In this final episode of Season 4 Part 1, the Beasts:
recount the highlights of the Storybeast virtual conference, 'Romantasy Summit 2024'

share some of their takeaways (one of those may or may not be how to scoop out an eyeball)

share resources non-attendees can access

feel cool because they can now do an Anakin sword spin

recommend a show which they feel is a great study in characterisation

give some hints for who to expect in our Legendary line-up for Season 4 Part 2

For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ subscribe to our newsletter. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!

A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.

As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.

Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
36min
December 05, 2024Episode #85: Legendary Thea Guanzon on the Hurricane Wars, Monsoon Rising, and Reylo
Welcome to another LEGENDARY episode of Storybeast! Our Legendaries are special guests who are an expert within their area of storytelling. In this episode, Ghabiba Weston and Courtney Shack have the pleasure of interviewing legendary Thea Guanzon.
Thea Guanzon is a New York Times, USA Today, Indie List, Sunday Times, and global bestselling author from the Philippines. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, with a specialization in International Politics and a minor in Peace Studies. When she’s not writing, she likes to travel, fangirl over villains, play Dungeons & Dragons, annoy her cats, and drink iced coffee. She currently resides in Metro Manila.
In this episode, you'll hear about:
Thea's author journey

Inspiration for the Hurricane Wars

Reylo as the third pillar of civilization

delicious food

and what to expect from Monsoon Rising (out December 10)

For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠subscribe ⁠to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!
A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.
As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.
Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
1h 3min
November 28, 2024Episode #84: On the lead up to Storybeast’s Romantasy conference and the sharing of secrets
Welcome back to another episode of Storybeast where Courtney Shack and Ghabiba Weston discuss the transformative power of story.
In this episode:
Courtney shares her take on essential Romantasy ingredients.

you'll hear about what to expect from Romantasy Summit's sword yoga guided break

Ghabiba shares a fun sword fact

you'll hear about a gift from ⁠WeaponUp ⁠from Romantasy Summit attendees

the Beasts announce a Black Friday-Cyber Monday sale for Romantasy Summit

Courtney has Lie Pie

A special note for our listeners:
Join us for Romantasy Summit this December and discover our amazing, online conference for writers creating in the fantasy and romance genres. Take a look at our ⁠welcome page ⁠or jump straight into ⁠the course offerings⁠ to see what our incredible faculty are teaching. Registration closes December 4th, 2024.

For more storytelling content to your inbox,⁠⁠⁠ ⁠subscribe to our newsletter.⁠
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk story or snacks!
A warm thank you to Deore for our musical number. You can find more of her creative work on Spotify.
As ever, thank you for listening, Beasties! Please consider leaving a review to support this podcast.
Be brave, stay beastly!
...more
26min

FAQs about STORYBEAST:

How many episodes does STORYBEAST have?

The podcast currently has 94 episodes available.

More shows like STORYBEAST

Print Run Podcast by Erik Hane and Laura Zats

Print Run Podcast

295 Listeners

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

683 Listeners

On the Write Track Podcast by Sarah Mughal Rana, Emily Varga

On the Write Track Podcast

8 Listeners

Turning to Story by Turning to Story

Turning to Story

23 Listeners

No Write Way with V. E. Schwab by V. E. Schwab (Author)

No Write Way with V. E. Schwab

44 Listeners