Storybeat With Steve Cuden

Marcia Peck is an award-winning writer and accomplished musician, celebrating over 50 years as a cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra. Inspired by the rhythms and sounds of music echoed in language, her debut novel, Water Music: A Cape Cod Story, combines all her passions – music, writing, and Cape Cod. The book has received critical acclaim and numerous book awards, including Literary Titan Gold, National Indie Excellence, New England Book Festival Regional Lit, and the Feathered Quill Reviewers Choice Awards. I’ve read Water Music and can tell you it’s a phenomenal exploration of the tribulations of a young girl on the verge of becoming a teenager, growing up in and around an emotionally challenging family, all while working to discover herself within that stressful mix.Marcia's many articles have appeared in a variety of magazines. And her short story writing has received multiple awards from various groups far and wide. A cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra for her entire musical career, she’s inspi

Steven L. Sears began his career as an actor. He moved on to become a writer, story editor, producer and creator in TV, film, digital media, and animation. He’s worked on such TV series as: Riptide, Hardcastle & McCormick, The A-Team, Stingray, Walker-Texas Ranger, The Highwayman, Hollywood Detective, Grand Slam, Jesse Hawkes, Superboy, S.H.E. Spies and other popular favorites.  He produced Swamp Thing for the USA Network, Raven for CBS, Co-Executive Produced Xena, Warrior Princess, co-created and Executive Produced Sheena, and has had many pilot and development deals with various major studios. Steve’s animation work includes Itsy Bitsy Spider, Transformers Rescue-Bots, and the short film The Gift of the Hoopoe with legendary director Don Bluth. His prose work includes The Non-User-Friendly Guide for Aspiring TV Writers; the graphic novel Stalag-X with Kevin J. Anderson; stories in such anthologies as Jeff Sturgeon’s Last Cities of Earth and Alien Vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey. Steve recently published th

For our 350th episode, we present to you the fantastic, world-renowned Rock ‘n Roll singer-songwriter-musician-poet and author, Suzi Quatro, who happens to be making her second appearance on StoryBeat. Suzi’s been writing and performing music since she was in her teens and is widely considered to be one of the most influential rock bassists and singers of her generation.Suzi has sold over 55 million records, putting out such hits as 48 Crash, Devil Gate Drive, The Wild One, She’s In Love With You, If You Can’t Give Me Love, and her duet with Chris Norman, Stumblin’ In.Suzi’s also well-known for playing Leather Tuscadero on the hit TV Series, Happy Days, as well as for her various other TV appearances.Suzi turned her bestselling autobiography, Unzipped, into her one woman show, which premiered at London’s Hippodrome in 2007.A prolific poet and writer, Suzi has published such books of poetry as Through My Eyes, Through My Heart, Through My Words, and Through My Thoughts. Her first novel, The Hurricane, was rele

Writer-director Jonathan L. Bowen started a film review site in high school, which he continued into college, ultimately posting more than 600 movie reviews. After moving to L.A. to pursue a film career, he started making independent music videos, then established a production company, JLB Media Productions, that specializes in business-to-business marketing and web videos. His music videos, short films, and features have been screened at more than 50 film festivals nationwide. His work includes: "The Devils Matchmaker," a short that won Best Short Shorts Comedy/Romance at the Eugene International Film Festival. Jonathan wrote and directed Amy Alyson Fans, a feature-length romantic comedy. I’ve seen his most recent movie, The Comic Shop, which he co-wrote and directed, and can tell you, as someone who’s written more than a few superhero cartoons, I found it to be a funny and emotionally rich story about folks struggling to survive in the dog-eat-dog world of comic books. Jonathan’s also written two

Christian Schu is a dedicated filmmaker who sees filmmaking and advertising as storytelling arts. Since becoming a commercial filmmaker in 2015, he’s focused on creating narratives that deeply engage viewers through emotion.Christian’s career includes working in virtual studios, sporting events, and collaborations with popular German business speakers. Since 2019, Christian has been producing visually stunning content for top hi-fi brands including Focal Naim, Bowers & Wilkins, and Bang & Olufsen. His passion for storytelling began with childhood Lego play, now translating into impactful, award-winning cinematic work.www.christian-schu.com

Kiesha Lalama is an internationally recognized dancer, choreographer, and teacher who has created works for stage, film and TV. She is currently Point Park University’s interim Dean of Theatre, Film and Animation, and the Executive Producer of the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Kiesha co-founded and has choreographed 15 years of Broadway’s the Jimmy Awards, which has reached over 120,000 students annually. She choreographed the feature films, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and “Sorority Row,” the documentary series “Broadway or Bust” for PBS, and two critically acclaimed TV series, “Outsiders” and “American Rust”. Her international concert dance works continue to be performed throughout Europe and Asia, including: Shed, Catapult, Alegria, Kinex, Aftermath, Wish, Jolt, Unsung Moment, and Vicious Cycle. She’s also created three critically acclaimed full-length dance theater productions including The Bench: Journey into Love, HeartShakes, and Bound in Before.Kiesha’s regional theater highlights include: All Shook Up

Bestselling historical fiction author Sharon Virts is a successful entrepreneur and visionary who, after more than twenty-five years in business, followed her passion for storytelling. She’s received numerous accolades for her commitment to historic preservation, earning national recognition for both her business achievements and philanthropic endeavors.Beyond her business acumen, Sharon is a gifted visual artist, intertwining her artistic expression with extraordinary storytelling to breathe life into intricate characters and vivid settings that captivate the heart and ignite the imagination. She has authored two bestselling novels, Masque of Honor and Veil of Doubt. Sharon's latest book, The Grays of Truth, was recently published. I’ve read The Grays of Truth and can tell you I was immediately swept up by the suspenseful historical murder mystery set in 1867 antebellum Baltimore, where some of the city’s elite suffer mysterious deaths amidst a backdrop of scandal. If you like historical thrillers, I hi

Drew Brody is an award-winning writer and producer whose films, web series, stage plays, and other live events in Los Angeles and New York have featured Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Jenny O’Hara, Bill Pullman, Sara Rue, Martin Sheen, James Gammon, and French Stewart, among many others. Drew has produced dozens of world premieres for the stage including two plays by Pulitzer Prize winning playwrights: It Wasn’t Proust by Sam Shepard, and Tight Pants by Beth Henley. Drew won back-to-back “Excellence in Producing” awards at the New York International Fringe Festival, where his production of Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies also earned an award for Best Ensemble and was named Best of Fringe.Among the movies Drew has produced is the horror film, Desert of Blood. I’ve seen Desert of Blood and can tell you it’s a sexy, noirish, fun vampire thriller that isn’t for the faint of heart.In addition to writing and producing, Drew has worked as a story consultant and coach to Hollywood writers for more than two decades. For

The journalist Richie McGinniss has always craved action. As a reporter he’s found it – and a lot more – in the chaos of the streets, embedding himself with protestors to cover the most divisive and violent demonstrations in American history.Richie may be a media professional of the new era, posting his intense, on-the-ground videos on social media, but he brings an old-school newsman’s credibility from his extensive professional experience and globe-trotting life story.Richie studied Arabic and Middle Eastern history at Georgetown University and subsequently traveled to Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt’s Tahrir Square less than a month before it became the flashpoint for the widespread protests and revolutions that erupted during the Arab Spring. Richie has worked at the Al-Jazeera program, “Min Washington,” broadcasting to households in Arabic throughout the Middle East, at NBC News’s Washington Bureau as a production assistant, and as the video director at Daily Caller, where he built a team of t

Cleo Childs released her spoken word poetry album, “Moving With” in May 2024. And her book, also called “Moving With,” is soon to be released. Both projects are the culmination of years of writing about the journey of grief Cleo experienced after losing her mother to Alzheimer’s when she was 28 years old. Cleo’s mom was an English major in college and her grandmother, who is also one of her editors, was an English teacher for 30 years, so she came naturally to writing as a grief processing tool. With her work, Cleo hopes to show the path her grief took from having her mother, losing her mother, and the peace and acceptance she feels now. She also hopes to authentically and honestly look at what her grief felt like so other people going through their own grieving don’t feel alone and have a sense of community. You can learn more about Cleo and her various projects at cleochilds.com.

Gabby Gruen spent most of his professional life as a writer-producer inside the country’s most prominent ad agencies. After twenty years of elevating the brands of some of our most prestigious advertisers, and with the help of a Screenwriting MFA from UCLA, Gabby started writing screenplays. His original scripts found homes inside a major motion picture studio and on assignment for several less prominent purveyors of the cinematic arts. With the recent publication of his first novel, “The Uniform,” a thriller that takes place during the Holocaust, Gabby has begun his fiction writing career. I’ve read The Uniform and can tell you it’s an intense trip through a nasty piece of World War II as experienced by David Korda, a young doctor and Jewish labor camp prisoner, who’s become an enslaved road crew worker destined for a death camp until he comes upon the body of a murdered Gestapo officer. David contrives to use the officer’s bloodied uniform as a means of escape. I was riveted by this chilling page turner. If

The very busy actress, Laila Robins, was recently seen in Ryan Murphy’s anthology series, American Horror Stories. She also has a recurring role as Colonel Grace Mallory on the hugely popular Amazon series, The Boys.  Laila starred opposite Amanda Seyfried in the Apple+ limited series, The Crowded Room and opposite Joshua Jackson and Alec Baldwin in the Hulu limited series, Dr. Death.  She also recurred memorably as Katarina Rostova on the hit NBC series The Blacklist, and she had a major arc playing Pamela Milton on the final season of AMC’s The Walking Dead.  Among, Laila’s many film appearances are: Eye in the Sky, Side Effects, Blumenthal, Concussion, The Good Shepherd, An Innocent Man, Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael, True Crime, and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  You may have also seen her in such TV series as: The Handmaid’s Tale, Homeland, Deception, 30 Rock, So Help Me Todd, Bull, Person of Interest, Blue Bloods, Damages, In Treatment, The Sopranos, Law and Order, and the series lead in Gabriel’s Fir

Making a return for his third appearance on StoryBeat is the great jazz and world flutist, Michael Mason.  Michael’s been a professional musician and composer for forty years, while simultaneously working in the fire service of the Downers Grove, Illinois Fire Department, recently retiring at the rank of Lieutenant. Michael is one of the first responders from the Chicago area who flew to New York City just days after the destruction of the World Trade Center. He helped the New York City Fire Department and Port Authority for many weeks. In 2024, Michael released his latest album called “Luminosity,” which follows up 2023’s, “Impermanence,” “Transcendence” in 2022, and “Human Revolution” in 2021. All are original jazz and world music compositions which received approval for voting from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for Grammy Award consideration.Michael’s musical influences come from James Newton, Ian Anderson, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Sun Ra, Yusef Lateef, and James Galwa

Doctor Tom Stein recently published his first book, Gratitude Is Not Enough, The True Story of a Belgian Family Forever Changed by a Band of American WWII Soldiers. The book focuses on the Remember Museum ‘39-‘45 in Clermont, Belgium that was opened by Marcel and Mathilde Schmetz, better known as the M&Ms by soldiers in a U.S. Army Company of the First Infantry Division who were briefly quartered on Marcel’s family farm in December 1944 before the Battle of the Bulge.  Marcel saved many of the items the soldiers left behind, what he calls “treasure,” and which became the core of this special collection dedicated to the Americans who helped liberate Belgium from four years of Nazi occupation. The Museum, which is adjacent to the M&M’s home, contains the requisite "stuff" of a museum, but importantly, tells the soldiers’ stories, many of whom became lifelong friends with Marcel and Mathilde.  I’ve read Gratitude is Not Enough and can tell you it’s a powerfully written account of what the peopl

Robert Monroe worked for more than a decade as a New York casting director and talent executive. His credits include projects with the Walt Disney Company, the John Houseman Theater, the Annual MDA Telethon, and the United Paramount Network.  Robert won a Clio Award for casting the Best Performance for Children for a Dole Pre-Cut Vegetables commercial.Robert eventually moved to Portland, Maine to pursue a career as a photographer. Exhibitions of his work include the Biennial at the Portland Museum of Art, Photographing Maine: Ten Years Later at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, and Return to Peyton Place: Photographs by Robert Monroe at the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts. And he’s a founding member of the Bakery Photographic Collective. Recently, Robert published his debut novel, Bungalow Terrace. I’ve read Bungalow Terrace and can tell you it’s a beautifully written tale about four boys growing up to become a powerhouse rock ‘n roll group who endure all the breathtaking highs of success and harrowing

Screenwriter, producer, and podcaster Adam “Tex” Davis is best known for writing the screenplay of the cult rom-com classic Just Friends, which stars Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, and Anna Faris. He also wrote the screenplay for the drama Gardener of Eden, which stars Lukas Haas and was produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way.  A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Tex has contributed to over 25 feature film scripts and served as Co-Executive Producer and Head Writer for the Emmy-nominated series Brain Games.  Tex is also a co-founder of Atomic Entertainment, overseeing projects like the Netflix educational series, Brainchild, and a growing slate of podcasts that he writes or stars in such as Slaycation, Mysteries About True Histories, The Oscars: What Were They Thinking? and Who Smarted?! 

Adam Rosenbaum recently published his beautifully written book, The Ghost Rules. I’ve read The Ghost Rules and can tell you this is a thoroughly charming, fun and funny story about 12-year-old Elwood McGee, who never asked to have “ghost-sight,” but winds up seeing more than his share of drooling, mostly hilarious apparitions. Wonderful, lovable ghosts are everywhere in Adam’s joyful debut novel. Adam’s had a varied career, including operating a sawmill in Kentucky, stocking groceries in L.A., and as a student draftsman at his local power company growing up in the Nashville suburbs, where he currently lives with his wife and kids. For the record, Adam and I met while we were in school together in UCLA’s professional program in Screenwriting. https://www.adamrosenbaumwrites.com/Instagram:@rosenbaumwritesThreads:@rosenbaumwritesBluesky:@rosenbaumwrites.bsky.social  

Documentary film director Laura Gabbert has made critically acclaimed films that deploy humor and emotion to tell penetrating, character-driven stories about American culture and society. Among her documentaries, Food and Country, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in October 2024. Laura’s film, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles, explores chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also directed City of Gold, which is about Pulitzer Prize winning food writer, Jonathan Gold. City of Gold was named by Vogue Magazine among their “65 Best Documentaries of All Time.”Additional feature work includes the documentaries No Impact Man, Sunset Story, and the short film Monument/Monumento. Her TV work includes the Netflix shows Ugly Delicious and Disclosure. Most recently, Laura completed the 6-part non-fiction series, The Power of Film, based on the work of legendary UCLA film scholar, Professor Howard Suber. The series premiered on Turner C

L. A. Starks is the author of the award-winning Lynn Dayton thriller series that includes: 13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy, the multi-award-nominated Strike Price, The Second Law, and the recently released Winner’s Curse.             I’ve read Winner’s Curse and can tell you it’s an exciting adventure into the high stakes world of the oil and gas industry, with corporate intrigue, sabotage, and ruthless, power-hungry characters around every turn. If you like thrillers, be sure to check out Winner’s Curse.L.A. earned a degree in engineering at Tulane University and an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Besides writing high-stakes thrillers, she’s also a paid contributor to Seeking Alpha for her energy investment articles.https://lastarksbooks.com/https://www.facebook.com/LAStarksBooks 

Hal Ackerman is making his second appearance on StoryBeat. Hal spent thirty years teaching screenwriting in UCLA’s legendary screenwriting program. Along with Richard Walter and Lew Hunter, Hal helped launch the careers of many dozens of writers whose work you’ve seen on screens large and small. Hal has sold film and television material to all the outlets. His screenplay Holmeyer’s Bridge, holds the unofficial Guinness record for having been continuously optioned for twenty consecutive years, owned during that stretch by two Academy Award winning producers, two Tony Award winning producers and others.His short fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals. “Sweet Day” was recorded by the late Robert Forster. Concrete Charley and The Golden Boy won the 2020 Sports Literate Sport Short contest.Hal’s written three “Soft boiled” murder mystery novels about an aging counter-culture P.I. named Harry Stein. The first of those, Stein Stung, won a Lovey award for best first novel. Subsequently, he published Stein