Follow “Truth Be Told…” on Facebook!

brandiwills — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:51:23 +0000

“Truth Be Told…” is a monthly storytelling show in St. Louis, featuring 10 performers telling their own original stories.

Our performers are amateurs, professionals, writers, comedians, teachers, preachers, and just plain old good storytellers. Although every story must adhere to the evening’s theme, not one is alike. It’s an evening of entertainment, culture, and intellectual stimulation…peppered with some swearing here and there for good measure!

You can follow “Truth Be Told…” on Facebook to get updates on future shows, monthly themes, and watch video from past shows. Just click here.

“Truth Be Told…”

brandiwills — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:11:24 +0000

I have teamed with local poet Kristin Sharp and local comedian Mike McGuire to start St. Louis’s first monthly Storytelling event open to the public.

Each month, we ask 10 storytellers to perform an original story based around a central theme. December was our first show, and we were all blown away by the caliber of talent on the stage. This month, our performers will be telling stories related to the theme of “change.” Should be an interesting evening.

Join us at Atomic Cowboy (4140 Manchester Avenue), Thursday January 14 at 7:30pm for this month’s show. It’s going to be great!

My photography in juried show — November 13&14

brandiwills — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:29:38 +0000

I dabble in photography as well, from time to time. Two of my pieces have been accepted in a juried show called “ReMastered” at the Soulard Art Market in St. Louis. The opening reception is November 13&14 at SAM, 2028 S. 12th St. That’s at the corner of 12th & Russell, across from McGurk’s Pub.

From the SAM website:
Imagine Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” if it were painted by Van Gogh. “ReMastered” is your chance to re-imagine famous artworks of the past; yesterday’s masterpieces as created by the masters of today. Artists from our region will be challenged to create reproductions from these artistic greats in their own unique style.

This show is a two exhibition consisting of one month each. The first part of this exhibition will run from November 13, 2009 through December 6th, 2009 and the second part of this exhibition will run from December 11th, 2009 through January 10th, 2010. Definitely an exhibition not to miss and quite a treat for that art lover. After-all ’tis the season for giving.

You can check out my photography here. Hope to see you there.

Reading: Poems, Prose and Pints — December 1, 2009

brandiwills — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:00:40 +0000

I will be reading at December’s “Poems, Prose and Pints,” a monthly literary event held on the second floor of Dressel’s Pub in the Central West End. This is a great show with 4-5 poets and writers, plus a different musical guest each month. December’s guest is Anthony Michael Philip (my boyfriend). And I’ve heard there will be a very special “Poe-et” present that evening. Details are below. Hope to see you there!

Poems, Prose and Pints
Dressel’s Pub, 419 Euclid Ave., St. Louis
December 1, 2009
7:30-10pm
No cover, excellent food and drinks available!

Oh yeah, so I’m on Facebook.

brandiwills — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:25:00 +0000

I’m a bad blogger. I forget to do it. But I’m going to try to do a better job of it from now on. (I’ve made the same claims about not eating McDonald’s and going to the gym three times a week…I wouldn’t hold your breath). So in my fit of poor self-promotion, I forgot to mention it when I joined Facebook a few months ago. And here I am now, not only years late to the Facebook party, but months late to the Blogging about Your Facebook Page party.

Yet, I have arrived. So come one, come all to Brandi’s Facebook page. Just click the link below and friend me!

Goodbye Story of the Week

brandiwills — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:35:45 +0000

The summer edition of “Story of the Week” has come to an end. The page has been removed and the stories have been placed in the brandiwills.com vault. But don’t cry, there are lots of exciting things in the works at Camp Brandi.

Thanks for tuning in over the last 7 weeks to read each new story. What would you like to see next on this site? Lemme know!

FINALLY! Story of the Week #6

brandiwills — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:56:45 +0000

You’ll notice there was no SotW during week 5. It’s just one of those great mysteries of life.

This week’s assignment was to write a submission for an upcoming issue of Sun Magazine. I chose the theme of “The Beach.” It’s a short, almost flash-fiction memoir piece about learning your place in the world. Click here to read it while it lasts.

Enjoy!

Story of the Week #4: “Stabbing Vonnegut”

brandiwills — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:55:25 +0000

The assignment: Choose a writer that interests you. The writer can be literary or not–novelist, self-helper, whatever… Read one of their short stories, or the first five to ten pages of a book. Notice as you read how long their sentences are, what proportion of their prose is dialogue vs. scene-setting vs. philosophizing. Notice if they tend to use more words with Latin roots vs. Anglo-Saxon roots. Do they use fancy words or street language? Notice what tense your sample pages are in, and if they are written in the first, second, or third person. Now, endeavor to write a story or vignette in their style.

The result: “Stabbing Vonnegut” is my attempt at writing a first chapter in the style of Kurt Vonnegut, specifically based on his novel “Sirens of Titan.” In my chapter, Maximus Eiffel

is a drone for the advertising industry, and like everyone else, he fills his life with material objects, fear of the unknown, and a desire to be unique. Until one day when he and his boss, the cold and predictable Ursula, are given a task that will change the future of life as they know it.

So what happens next? You tell me. What will the Master reveal to them, if anything at all? How do they change the world? What is their purpose?

I’d love to hear your ideas!

Story of the Week #3: “Seize the Dei”

brandiwills — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:09:45 +0000

This week’s Story of the Week is about the unexpected ways in which you bump into your faith as a child, never realizing it was there all the time.

Click on “Story of the Week” and let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

Loud Mouth Open Mic, Tuesday July 21st

brandiwills — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:59:44 +0000

I will be performing my first-ever public reading at the St. Louis Writers Guild’s “Loud Mouth Open Mic” on Tuesday, July 21st from 8-10pm. The event is at The Mack, 4615 Macklind Ave.

Hope to see you there!