I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that Story Club founder Dana Norris changed my life. When she invited me to her show three years ago, I sat comfortably in the back of the room, watching as performer after performer shared true stories from their actual lives. Back then, there was not a single shred of me that wanted to get up there with them. I believed that the only habitat for my writing was on the page. Dana (along with a few other friends) convinced me that not only could my essays live aloud, they needed to. That's why I'm thrilled to be in the November line-up of Story Club, where the theme, appropriately, is "THANKS."

Be sure to check out Story Club's new website and see how this once tiny show is now reaching across the US, with satellite shows in Minneapolis, Boston, and on the Southside of Chicago.