I had a baby last month. That baby will not be appearing anywhere on this website. But if you ever find yourself wondering why I don’t seem to be publishing anything, or if you found yourself here while trying to figure out when you’ll get the next episode of Oops! All Bards, please know that this whole parenting thing is actually as tough as everyone says. Tougher, even. I’ll be back to writing and podcasting when I’m back to writing and podcasting.

Five years ago, give or take, I was just wrapping up a run of a play I was in when some of the cast asked if I’d like to join their Dungeons and Dragons campaign, which was being DM’d by the director of said play.

I had previously had no real interest in playing D&D, but I did have an interest in continuing to hang out with this group of people, so I said yes. And wouldn’t you know it? It turned out I actually liked D&D.

That campaign continued throughout lockdown, and then I joined two more, both DM’d by my husband, Ross. And if that wasn’t enough D&D for me, I also started listening to actual-play tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) podcasts, where you literally listen to other people play D&D.

At some point, I decided I wanted to make one of those podcasts myself, and I had a great idea for it: on the day of their university graduation (because canonically, in D&D, all bards belong to a college), a group of bards find themselves the only heroes available to save their realm. If you’re familiar with D&D, you know that bards are a love-’em-or-hate-’em class whose utility to an adventuring party is hotly debated, and—theater kid that I am—I loved the idea of an entire party composed of bards, with all of their quirks and limitations.

Somehow, I managed to convince the awesome Nate Runkel of the Yo! That’s My Jawn podcast to produce, mix, and edit the podcast; several incredible members of the Mission: Rejected cast (and also my equally incredible husband) to perform on it; the extraordinarily talented Eddie Delaney to design the logo and characters for it; and The Porch Room to executive produce and distribute it.

And, after some trials and tribulations, the first episode of Oops! All Bards is out today.

Give it a listen, and like/subscribe/etc. if you feel so moved!

I’ve been lucky enough to be a performer on the Mission: Rejected podcast since its very first episode. Since then, I’ve played dozens of characters, appeared in a pandemic-era livestream, and made some very good friends.

Last year, I came across an article about a divorcing Russian couple who had previously founded Europe’s only cryonics storage center—and who were now snatching cryogenically preserved brains and bodies from one another—and shared it on Facebook. One of the Mission: Rejected co-creators, the brilliant and funny Pete Barry, commented that the premise sounded like a Mission: Rejected episode, and I told him I was calling dibs on co-writing the episode with him.

Had I written an episode of Mission: Rejected before? No.

Had I even written anything like it before? Also no. At least, not in recent memory.

But Pete was confident we could do this, the rest of the team at The Porch Room agreed, and now, here we are. I’m pleased to share Mission: Rejected Season 4, Episode 9: “Eight Heads in a Birkin Bag.” I’m pretty proud of how it came out.

I don’t always cross the streams of my client work and my writing life, but I’m launching a service today that nicely marries the two so it only made sense to talk it up here.

Many people are so focused on selling—their products, their services, themselves—that they don’t stop to think about whether they’re actually saying anything their customers want to hear…or whether they’re even saying anything original at all.

It’s 2022 and a lot of how we do business is different. After two-plus years of seeking human connection in every way we possibly can, a compelling story is going to grab us way more than a hard sell. So: if you sell a product or service, do you have that story?

It can be hard look at your own content and decide, and that’s where my new Jilletante Creative Story Audit service comes in. During this 45-minute live session (scheduled at your convenience), we’ll go through your website or other marketing materials and assess whether you’re actually telling the story you think you’re telling, in a way your audience wants to see it.

In addition to this live one-on-one session, the Jilletante Creative Story Audit also includes:

• A recording of your audit session (available to download as an audio or video file for 365 days!)
• The top three actions you can take to tell a better story ASAP
• A $50 discount on a follow-up session to review your changes since our initial session (good for 30 days after your first audit)

If you or someone you know might be interested in a story audit, feel free to reach out, or use the button below to book a session today!

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