STORYBEAST

Welcome to another episode of Storybeast, where Courtney Shack and Ghabiba talk about the transformational power of story.

This episode is a little different to our usual whimsy. In it, we discuss:

• how storytelling is more than just books. It's community, it's, "I see you, I believe you, I am here."
• how narratives shape our society
• how we can move the narrative in a direction that allows for change and what that means in terms of the ways we tell story
• the positive (!) role of social media

If you or a friend are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, 24/7, confidential support.

Thanks to the amazing Deore for our music. You can find more of her work on Spotify.

If you'd like to support this pod, please consider leaving us a review.

Stay beastly, friends. Your rage is valid.

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 S.A. Chakraborty.

Shannon Chakraborty is the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of The Daevabad Trilogy and The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages and nominated for the Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy, Crawford, and Astounding awards. You can find her online at www.sachakraborty.com or on Instagram at @SAChakrabooks.

In this episode:

• Shannon discusses her past and forthcoming work, including her recent release, The Tapestry of Fate
• We chat about motherhood, middle aged characters, and how we feel oddly similar to the mother-pirate, Amina, as she balances family life and adventures
• Shannon gives insight into her research process when it comes to historical fantasy work
• We discuss the importance of writing responsibly for stories that take place IRL and how that does not mean the end of creativity

• We hear the worst piece of writing advice, according to Shannon
• Shannon threatens to send us pictures of historical ships, but we actually like it
• We have a terrifying storybeast revealed
• A long, scintillating discussion of chocolate ensues

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!

Your beasts are back and ready to kick off Season 6 with whimsy and swords!

In this episode, you'll hear Ghabiba and Courtney chat about:

- Storybeast's upcoming Romantasy conference (use code STORYBEASTRS26 to get $30 off the early bird price)

- Your new (and thrifted) beasts

- biological shifts that can change your perspective

- calling the GUARDS!

- Courtney's peaceful endeavors involving pirates, poison, and assassins.

- and of course, our summer snacks!

A special thank you to Deore for our music. You can find her incredible work on Spotify.

The Storybeast podcast is where you'll find Courtney Shack and Ghabiba chatting about the transformational power of story (and snacks).

Thank you so much for being here! If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love if you could leave a review.

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 Nisha J. Tuli.

Nisha J Tuli is a New York Times, USA Today, Sunday Times, Indie Next, and Spiegel bestselling author. Her book, Trial of the Sun Queen, became a BookTok hit, selling over a million copies and finding its way into the hands of readers around the world.

Her most recent book Storm Breaker is currently in development with Amazon MGM for a TV series and features a dystopian Manhattan ruled by elite societies, where one forbidden romance could tear it all apart.

She’ll also be releasing her next contemporary romance, Too Cold for Comfort, in November 2026. Set in northern Canada, a sunshine photographer must find a way to get the shot she’s after, while also melting the heart of a grumpy lodge owner when they find themselves snowed in together.

When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found in the gym or the kitchen (to eat, not to cook) or maybe knitting scarves to survive a Canadian winter. She lives in Manitoba with her husband, their two kids, and their fluffy Samoyed.

In this episode:

• Nisha talks about her journey with STORMBREAKER
• What's next for the series (STORMCALLER)
• What to do when you feel fear
• What writing to market means to Nisha and how she does it

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!

Welcome to another episode of Storybeast where Courtney Shack and Ghabiba Weston discuss the transformative power of story.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Brief writing updates
• A chat about Build Your Author Empire coming Summer 2026
• And tons of trash talking for the snackdown (ever want to eat a slowburn romantasy with sides of wound tending and training sequences with tension in an academy setting?)

Tune in to see if the friendship ends and this is STORYBEAST's last season. DON'T tune in if you hate delicious food and story.

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!

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 Zeyneb Holdridge.

Born in Vancouver, B.C., Zeyneb Holdridge was raised to embrace her Turkish Iraqi heritage, which has informed her passion for infusing her lifelong love of storytelling with elements of Turkic culture. Growing up in an immigrant family and always on the move, she often found her imagination running wild, and books became for her a home and getaway. Her experiences as a neurodivergent Muslim woman have further fueled the direction of her writing to include a variety of misunderstood characters with complex identities.

***Look out for the forthcoming A THOUSAND NIGHTS anthology, hitting shelves September 8th, 2026!***

In this episode:

• Zeyneb does the first ever Storybeast dance intro
• Zeyneb shares her advice on writing complex characters without overcomplicating the plot
• discover what Zeyneb needs to know before she starts a story and how her approach could inspire your own
• Zeyneb dives into the value of understanding character motivation
• Zeyneb shares her 3 layer editing approach
• Ghabiba exits the conversation when Zeyneb and Courtney bond over germs
• hear the fruit knives story that will make you want to stay on Zeyneb's good side
• Zeyneb shares how writing from your own experience can help you fall in love with your identity
• the trio discuss prejudices in the publishing industry
• get ready to laugh more than you ever have!

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!

Welcome to another episode of Storybeast where Courtney Shack and Ghabiba Weston discuss the transformative power of story.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• the brain hack guide Ghabiba and Courtney are putting together for you
• naming your resistance
• challenging your resistance!
• personalizing and framing your hack approaches
• our favourite hacks from the guide
• being in conversation with yourself

And, of course, the snackdown trash talk starts early!!

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!

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 Pascale Lacelle.

Pascale Lacelle is the New York Times bestselling author of CURIOUS TIDES and STRANGER SKIES. A longtime devourer of books, she started writing her own at the age of thirteen and quickly became enthralled by the magic of words in both French and English. She lives in Ottawa, Canada with her loving dog and an ever-growing library of books waiting to be read. You can find her online at PascaleLacelle.com or on Instagram.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• how the Drowned Gods went from being a duet to a trilogy
• the change in copy edits that will save readers many tears
• the lesson Pascale learned from pantsing a series
• Pascale's writing journey
• navigating burnout
• worldbuilding joys

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!

Welcome to another episode of Storybeast where Courtney Shack and Ghabiba Weston discuss the transformative power of story.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• the balance of ambition and mom guilt
• phases and emulation teaching you your boundaries
• how your creativity changes through different phases
• celebrating and mourning at the same time
• writing in the cracks of life
• feedback on our writer persona experiment
• journaling through change

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!

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 Ruth McKell.

Ruth McKell writes haunting and hopeful tales she hopes will make your heart ache, just a little bit. Her debut, HONEY IN HER VEINS, has been described as "cottagecore with teeth." Steeped in Celtic folklore and set in the hills of Appalachia, this second-chance romance (releasing April 2026) stars a magical beekeeper with volatile magic and the death-touched man who broke her heart.

When she's not channeling her passion for mental health awareness into magic-touched worlds on the page, you can find McKell in the mountains, thrifting second-hand treasures, or sipping on tea from her novice apothecary.

*HONEY IN HER VEINS is out this April 7th*

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Celtic folk lore inspiration
• McKell's debut, HONEY IN HER VEINS
• McKell's research process
• writing mental health
• second chances
• love in all its forms
• garden story analogies

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!