Storybeat With Steve Cuden

Virginia DeLuca is a writer and psychotherapist. She’s the author of the award-winning novel, As If Women Mattered. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Modern Love, The Boston Globe, Vulture, The Huffington Post, the Iowa Review, and The Writer. Virginia’s also a graduate of GrubStreet’s 2020 Memoir Incubator.Her most recent book is If You Must Go, I Wish You Triplets, a candid, funny, and emotionally rich memoir about her divorce and reinvention in her 60s. She published this debut memoir at 72, proving it’s never too late to tell your story. I’ve read If You Must Go, I Wish You Triplets, and found it to be inspiring, particularly regarding not giving up despite numerous challenges in your personal life. Virginia’s book will resonate with readers who may be navigating heartbreak, identity shifts, and the complicated freedom that comes with starting over. Virginia believes emotional resilience is built through humor and friendship, both of which are well expressed in her book.

Haris Orkin is a prolific novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and game writer.  His play Dada premiered at The La Jolla Playhouse. His feature film, A Saintly Switch, was produced by Disney and directed by the great Peter Bogdanovich. Haris has written screenplays for Universal, Sony, Fox, and Paramount.  He’s also has written numerous video games, many of which have been nominated for the WGA and BAFTA Film Awards. Games he’s worked on include Call of Juarez, Red Alerts, Shadow Warrior, Black Hawk Down, and many others.Haris recently released the sixth book in his James Flynn Escapade series, called From Lompoc With Love. I’ve read the first book of the series, You Only Live Once, which is one of the cleverest, wittiest, and most fun takes on the superspy genre I’ve had the pleasure to read. I’m a huge James Bond fan, and I was thoroughly caught up in James Flynn’s hilariously delusional and unexpected exploits. The book series has been optioned by producer Sherry Marsh and Will Arnett’s company and is curre

Debi Derryberry is one of the most in-demand voiceover actresses in Hollywood. She’s perhaps best known for voicing Jimmy Neutron in both the Academy Award-nominated film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and in the TV series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. Debi’s also played dozens of memorable characters in features like the original Toy Story in which she’s one of the aliens, The Boy and the Heron, Despicable Me 2, Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Christmas Chronicles and many more. She’s also appeared in well more than 100 TV series, including Monster High, Sharkdog, Bugs Bunny Builders, Pokemon Horizons, and The Loud House.Debi’s video game work includes Cookie Run Kingdom, Crash Bandicoots, Final Fantasy, Guild Wars 2, Genshin Impact, and World of Warcraft.For Anime, you can hear Debi in Netflix’s Rising Impact, Zatch Bell, Sailor Moon and Glitter Force.Debi’s also written and recorded 5 award-winning children’s music albums. Her 2 most recent are: Go to Sleep-Lullaby Album and Gotta Go Green. Debi’s s

The highly renowned classical clarinetist, David Singer, has performed many times at Carnegie Hall. He was a principal member and soloist with the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for 36 years and is featured on many of the group’s 70 CDs on Deutsche Grammophon. David began with Orpheus when the group was playing for free. He has played with many of the world’s greatest classical musicians, including legends like Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, Rudolf Serkin, and Yo-Yo Ma among others.David has also performed at the White House with Music from Marlboro and The Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society for Presidents Carter and Clinton.  David’s recently published memoir, From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall, is more than a musician's autobiography; its inspiring narrative will resonate with anyone who has faced life's challenges head-on. It’s an ode to the power of never giving up while giving oneself every chance to succeed. I’ve read David’s book and found it to be a fascinating, uplifting re

Mark Mangini is a six-time Oscar-nominated, two-time Oscar-winning Sound Designer. He won his Oscars for Dune and Mad Max Fury Road. Mark’s also well known for designing sound for numerous films, including: Blade Runner 2049, Star Treks I, IV and V, Beauty and the Beast, TheFifthElement, Space Jam, Poltergeist,Gremlins, Aladdin, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, among many more.Mark has spent his 49-year career in Hollywood imagining and composing altered sonic realities for motion pictures. He’s a frequent lecturer, an outspoken proponent for sound as art, and a guitarist/songwriter with compositions that can be heard in sex, lies and videotape, Star Trek IV, and more.Mark believes that all organized sound is music. He sees his work in movies as every bit a composition as those of Beethoven and the Beatles. He just happens to use dissonance, melodic content and arrhythmia to its fullest advantage. His work is no less considered, designed, created or manipulated. It just isn’t usually what we think of as hummable.

Christopher Fryer is the co-author of the books Jack Nicholson: The Early Years; Bruce Dern: Things I Said, but Probably Shouldn’t Have, and Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder.Chris’s non-fiction work has also appeared in Conde-Nast Traveler, Playboy, and the New York Times.I’ve read Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder, and have chatted about it once before on StoryBeat with Chris’s writing partner, the outstanding author, Robert Crane.  I’ve also read Chris’s short story, Hunting License, which is a very entertaining tale about a hunter who doesn’t like to kill. You’ll need to read it to see how it twists in an unexpected way.  Hunting License is the first tale in the wonderful short story collection, Beyond Where the Buses Run, which was edited by another terrific StoryBeat guest, Theresa Griffin Kennedy.

Joe Wos is the 6-time Emmy Award-winning creator and host of “Cartoon Academy” as seen on PBS affiliates nationwide.Joe’s been a professional cartoonist since the age of 14. Over the past 35 years, as he’s sought new and innovative ways to pursue his passion for the cartoon arts, his career path has taken as many twists and turns as one of his wonderful mazes. For example, he spent 30 years touring the U.S. as a performer, illustrating stories live as he told them. He founded and ran a cartoon art museum here in Pittsburgh called the Toonseum. He illustrated symphony performances live with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. And he’s exhibited his art in museums worldwide. Beyond all that, Joe’s been the visiting resident cartoonist of the Charles M. Schulz Museum for over 23 years.With MazeToons — his unique hybrid illustration that is part cartoon and part puzzle — Joe has fulfilled a lifelong dream to appear in the funny pages.He’s the author and illustrator of a dozen books, including “A-Maze-Ing Peanuts”,

The award-winning author, TEDx speaker, screenwriter, Gestalt practitioner, and patient advocate, Risa August, has been living with a pituitary tumor and the rare disease acromegaly for over a decade.  From being a girl with sparkles in her hair to an Ironman athlete, Risa still has a passion for her bike and barbells. With genuine curiosity and a love for trying new (and old) things, you may find Risa taking Bollywood or Hip-Hop dance lessons, trying out aerial silks, a boxing class, going indoor skydiving, or guiding inspirational workshops in creativity.Through her personal transformation, Risa has learned and practiced removing limiting beliefs, shifting her perspective, and embracing an expansive life unleashed.  Risa shares her insights and perspectives on stage, offering words of inspiration to audiences. Additionally, Risa works one-on-one with clients, guiding them through the many roadblocks of life and toward living in a more fully inspired way.Recently, Risa published her book, The Road Unpaved: B

The rock and roll legend, Billy J. Kramer, grew up in Bootle, a Liverpool suburb.  Upon leaving school, he became a trainee engineer by day and aspiring singer by night, performing under the stage name Billy Kramer. Billy’s performances at local rock clubs around Liverpool soon brought him to the attention of the one and only John Lennon.  John urged Brian Epstein to sign Billy to an exclusive management contract.  Billy jumped at the opportunity to become a full-time entertainer.  Soon after, Billy was summoned to Brian’s office to find John there waiting for him with the suggestion that he add the “J” to his name to give it a “rock and roll edge”.  From that day forward, Billy has been known as Billy J. Kramer.In March of 1963, Billy was the first person to have a hit record with a Lennon-McCartney song, “Do You Want To Know A Secret,” which was written specially for him by John and Paul and produced by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios even before The Beatles recorded it.Billy toured extensively througho

Charlie Adlard has been a veteran of the comics industry for over 25 years. From 2003 to 2019 he spent the majority of his time drawing The Walking Dead through the conclusion of its run as a comic book series. He received many industry awards for his work on the series, culminating in winning the 2019 Sergio Aragonés International Award for Excellence in Comic Art.In his time as a cartoonist, Charlie has worked on many other projects as far-reaching as Mars Attacks, the X-Files, Judge Dredd, Savage, Batman, X-Men, and Superman.He’s also drawn many creator-owned projects closer to his heart, like Astronauts In Trouble, Breath Of The Wendigo, Codeflesh, Rock Bottom, Vampire State Building, White Death, Damn Them All, Heretic, and Altamont. 

Lorie Kleiner Eckert thinks of herself as a cheerleader with the message: life is difficult, but you can handle it!For ten years, she worked as a motivational speaker, addressing more than 22,000 people during more than 250 appearances in 11 states. She’s spoken to every sort of group from PTAs to Procter & Gamble. What makes her programs unique is that they’re illustrated by her artwork, quilts with words and symbols pieced into the design.For three years, she wrote an award-winning motivational column that was syndicated in regional newspapers across the United States.Lorie also sells her motivational quilts on Etsy.  In all formats – the spoken word, the written word, and the quilted word – Lorie uses the same M.O. She tells the stories of her life, hoping that her audience will glean life lessons from them.Her fifth book, Chai on Life, was published by Bancroft Press in April 2025. I’ve read Chai on Life and found it to be deeply inspiring in how I think of my life and how I can be a better me. I high

Pia Mailhot-Leichter is a creative partner, published author, certified coach, and entrepreneur. Her path has been anything but ordinary: a recovering nomad, she’s reported as a journalist in Sri Lanka, graduated summa cum laude from NYU, and worked as an award-winning creative director for some of the biggest brands in the world. Now, as the founder of Kollektiv Studio, through creative partnership, from storytelling to coaching, Pia is uniquely positioned to co-create wild visions and ventures.Kollektiv Studio works with founders, leaders, and creatives with a rebellious spirit and visionary tendencies. As Pia puts it, "The outcome isn't just what you create—it's who you become in the process."She recently published Welcome to the Creative Club, a book that challenges everything people thought they knew about creativity. Praised by Google's Global Head of Creative & Innovation as "life-changing," and by iconic fashion designer Betsey Johnson as "a wild ride,"

Barry Greenfield began his musical ride in 1965 when he was just 15 years old. Over the subsequent decades, Barry has become a greatly appreciated, old-school, singer songwriter, with three number one records, twenty-five plus covers, and life as a touring musician and storyteller. He actually walked away from the music business in the mid-70s saying, “it’s not for me,” and yet he remained a dedicated songwriter and performer, releasing twelve LP’s while sharing his music with audiences everywhere.   Barry’s autobiography, My Journey to Blue Sky, was recently published by New Haven Publishing. It covers the intimate details of his professional years, including, standing on the shoulders of various giants that he has known or worked with, like Cher, John Lennon, Larry Carlton, Supertramp, Kenny Rogers, Harry Nilsson, 10cc, and more. Barry’s classic album, Blue Sky, released by RCA, has reached its 50th anniversary. And now with his book, Barry reveals the life changing experiences he received while attending t

Paul Chitlik is appearing on StoryBeat for the third time. Paul is a truly gifted storyteller and teacher who has written screenplays, novels, and non-fiction, including writing for all the major networks and studios in both English and in Spanish.   Paul’s been a story editor, director, and producer in both TV and features. He was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for "The Twilight Zone" and a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Telemundo’s "Los Beltrán.”  And he won a Genesis Award for a Showtime Family movie. He also happens to be one of the best screenwriting teachers in the world.  He’s taught in various MFA programs around the world, including: UCLA and Loyola Marymount in L.A., and in Barcelona, Cuba, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, and Sweden.  His highly regarded book, Rewrite, is one of the essential, must-read books for anyone interested in writing screenplays, teleplays, plays, and even novels. I’ve read his latest screenwriting book, The Screenwriting Sensei, which I thoroughly

This is the second appearance of Scott Christian Sava on StoryBeat. Scott’s an artist, animator, illustrator, writer, director, and producer, whose work over the last 30 years, has brought some of the world’s most beloved characters to life in film, television, comics, and games, from Casper the Friendly Ghost to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to Star Trek to Spider-Man and more. Scott’s unique talents and vision have been called upon by Marvel Comics, Disney, Universal Studios, Nickelodeon, and various others. In 2000, he founded Blue Dream Studios, which, in addition to creating its own line of kids’ graphic novels, has produced work for Star Wars, The X-Files, Aliens vs. Predator, and other franchises. The studio’s first feature film, Animal Crackers, is available on Netflix and was the summer of 2020’s #1 animated movie in the world. I’ve read Scott’s latest book, “Becoming an Artist: How to Make Art Like a Human by Embracing Failure, Discovering Your Creative Voice, and Finding Joy in the Process.” I f

Anthony Swofford is an American writer and former U.S. Marine, best known for his memoir, Jarhead, which details his experiences in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War as part of a Surveillance and Target Acquisition/Scout-Sniper platoon. He received the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir for Jarhead.  A feature film of Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes and featuring Jake Gyllenhall, playing Tony Swofford, was released in 2005.Subsequent to his military service, Tony pursued writing, earning a B.A. from UC Davis and an M.F.A. from the renowned Iowa Writers' Workshop. He’s taught at the University of Iowa, Lewis and Clark College, and currently Carnegie-Mellon University.  I’ve read Jarhead and watched the movie multiple times and can tell you Tony’s story is as harrowing as it is darkly funny. I was blown away by the depths of Tony’s beautifully written, dare I say poetic telling of such a deeply personal, nerve-wracking experience. I’ve also read another of Tony’s memoirs, Hotels, Hospitals, and

Susan Gorrell has been the Executive Director of the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival for more than a decade.  This renowned festival has grown under Susan’s direction to become one of the most well-respected film festivals in the indie filmmaking world, attracting filmmakers and film lovers from far and wide. MovieMaker Magazine recognized it as one of the “25 coolest film festivals in the world” and one of the “Top 50 film festivals worth the submission fee.”  The festival is among the Top 100 Best-Rated Festivals on FilmFreeway.com.Susan is also an Indie film producer and co-founder of Oakmill Entertainment. In 2016 she produced the internationally released feature film, Supercon, starring John Malkovich, Clancy Brown, Mike Epps, Tyrus and more. Since then, she’s produced multiple indie features, shorts, a TV Pilot and even a documentary traveling across the United States in an RV.  Susan comes from a musical family that have been in the Christian recording and distribution industry for over 40 y

Tom Ruegger is the fourteen-time Emmy Award-winning producer and creative force behind many of the most popular and successful animated TV series of all time, including: Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid, Histeria, Road Rovers, and the feature film, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Tom also co-wrote the pilot and served as a script editor of the Emmy Award-winning animated series Tutenstein.Tom began his career as an animator at Hanna-Barbera Productions on such familiar cartoon series as Scooby Doo, The New Flintstones, Casper, and Godzilla. Later, as a story editor and producer, he worked on shows like Pound Puppies, and Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. Tom created and produced A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, the first Scooby-Doo series to be nominated for an Emmy.After honing his writing skills working at Filmation Studios on TV series like Blackstar, and Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Tom would subsequently join Warner Bros. Animation where he went on to head up production on Tiny Toon Adventures, beginning a decade-long, wil

Janet Skeslien Charles is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 international bestselling author of The Paris Library, Moonlight in Odessa, and Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade.Janet’s most recent book, The Parisian Chapter, is available as an audio book only.  I’ve read The Paris Library and listened to The Parisian Chapter and can tell you these are both well-written novels of the heart that transported me - to a world I know little about - inside The American Library in Paris as it existed during World War II as well as in more modern times. I had no idea libraries could be such a hotbed of romance and colorful intrigue.Janet’s essays and short stories have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Sydney Morning Herald, and the anthology, Montana Noir. Her work has been translated into 40 languages.JSkeslienCharles.comInstagram: @jskesliencharlesFacebook: Janet Skeslien Charles

Sören “Sulo” Karlsson is mostly known as the frontman of the Swedish boogie rockers, The Diamond Dogs. But he’s also known for being the singer of the UK supergroup, The Crunch, featuring members from The Clash, Sham 69 and Cockney Rejects.  Since the early 1990’s, Sulo has been carrying the torch for early 70’s soulful rock ‘n roll well rooted in British history.Through his career he’s worked with artists such as Ian Hunter, Terry Reid, Robert Wyatt, Max Martin, Crystal Gayle, Paul Young, Maria McKee and more.Besides being one of Sweden’s most prolific singer/songwriters, he’s also an author of a handful of books, including co-writing the autobiography of the former UEFA President, Lennart Johansson, who was one of the most influential leaders of international football, or soccer, as we call it in America.  Lennart Johansson was the brains behind the Champions League. He was also responsible for bringing England back into the European cups with his famous words, “England needs Europe and Europe needs England