Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Storm
Crystal, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My journey didn’t start in the arts. But, perhaps it did. As a child I was always a story teller. I didn’t know I had ADHD then, so not paying attention in class, writing stories, or zoning out of boring assignments and telling fantastical stories in my head felt normal. The first story I wrote was about a boy and a talking horse that went around solving crime. Best seller that was.
I continued to write for myself through high school, and into college. But I was still convinced I was going to be a lawyer. That did not pan out, and I did so poorly in college they politely asked me not to return. You can guess that my mom was thrilled. (Ha. She was not. I was in so much trouble).
Tail between my legs I returned home and got a corporate job. I did well there for a few years, and I learned a lot. I also learned that was not the place for me. After I left, I turned back to writing and finally published two scifi novels.
I still didn’t know I had ADHD, so I had all the ideas. The hyper focus. The random learning of things about the publishing industry. I made so many mistakes as an indie author, but I kept failing forward. I got into podcasting around 2010, back when Blog Talk Radio was free to use. I loved it and I still do.
After that I drifted for a while. I was a proper GenX/Millenial, on the cusp of the emerging technologies. I knew I wanted to be there, in the content creation space, but I hadn’t yet mastered how. I worked all kinds of jobs to keep myself afloat. I worked at a small luxury hotel front desk. I bartended on Bourbon Street in NOLA. I’ve been a delivery driver. Through it all I was podcasting, on youtube, diving down many rabbit holes. I even freelanced for an indie comic company and wrote some comic scripts for a while.
Eventually I found Web Desgin, and like a true neurodiveregnt taught myself how to make websites in a weekend, then started offering my services. I floated for a while. Life was doing what it does, and I spent a lot of my thirties adrift. Trying, but not quite going in anywhere.
I was in my mid thirties and I still trying to find my path. I republished my books, having learned more about indie publishing. I found twitch streaming, and the community there brought me new members of my tribe, life long friends, and even my fiancee’. But, trauma catches up to you eventually. I was thirty-eight when my mind demanded I deal with wounds of the past. When I had my first panic attack I didn’t know what was happening to me. I’m a touch dramatic, and I don’t do anything small. I had on a full mind-body melt down. But, it pushed me to get the help I needed and I’m grateful for it. I probably could have done is less dramatically, but I like to think that maybe one day the things I went through can help others.
Therapy is wonderful. I couldn’t afford a lot of it, but I got enough to give me tools to help me start healing in a productive healthy way. My partner and I moved into together, we traveled the east coast, made a great youtube series out of it, and headed to New Orleans.
It was there, that one day out of the blue (in typical ADHD fashion of course) I decided that I was going to turn a fan fiction I wrote into an Audio Drama, or Fiction Podcast. The Fan Fiction was a Star Wars one, based off the Star Wars the Old Republic video game.
So I did, and it absolutely blew up. That was when I knew. That was the moment everything clicked. I fell in love with the creative collaborating process. I was able to pull the skills I’d learned over the years into one cohesive thing, the writing, the organization, the leadership, the creativity.
When Legacy was done, the fan base and community that surrounded it was beautiful and I decided this was what I was going to do. That was when I breathed life into the Tales of the Forgotten Fiction Network. We started officially in 2022. Since then we have produced 5 other audio dramas. And of course, I’ve got big, ambitious plans for the future.
We’re going to grow Tales it one of the premier Audio Drama Networks. And we’re not going to start there. Animation. TV and Movies will follow. The arts are so important especially now, and I’m honored and privileged every day to get to do what I do, no matter the hardships.
Here we are, approaching 2025 and my focus is on marketing our current shows, growing our catalogue of shows, and figuring out how to turn Tales into a sustainable business model that employs a diverse and incredible talented collective of creatives. The world is a scary place, but Tales is something that gives me hope and joy, every day.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been the most twisty-turny, Dr. Seuss, Narina, mushroom trippy road.
I mentioned in the previous question my struggles with mental health. It’s a ongoing healing journey, and I still need an official ADHD diagnosis, and some days I really wish I had anxiety meds, but I’ve been raw dogging it so far, maybe I’m just built tough. I’m also blessed that I have a really strong support system around me, and my found family and community are incredible.
After I finished Legacy, we did start Tales, but before that, my partner and I lost our apartment in New Orleans, because of rising rent prices. That was a wound that hit me harder than I thought, and 2023 was really, really hard because of it. We were lucky and blessed really to be able to stay with a friend, but I felt like a failure. The constant struggle for survival takes a toil, and I’m not sure that wound is fully healed.
My partner and I are doing better now, and despite the turmoil we kept telling stories at Tales. We kept moving forward. We’re in our own place now, and it’s wonderful. You don’t realize the toil struggling to stay afloat takes on you until your waist deep (chest deep for me, really I’m 4’11) in it. It’s still a struggle, like many creatives you never know what the next month holds. I won’t lie, I crave stability, but I won’t go back to a corporate job. I have a job. I run the Tales of the Forgotten Fiction Network, and we will find a path forward. I’ll accept nothing less.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a story-teller. I specialize in being able to pull seemingly random bits of storytelling together, pieces you don’t think would fit, and create a fun, cohesive story out of them. Asking me what I’m most proud of it, is hard, it’s like picking your favorite child. I’m just in love with creating stories. I really, truly am. I am in love, with creative collaboration. I love writing a script, but I love sending that script off to my voice actors and watching them take ownership of characters even more. I love being in remote studio sessions with them, and listening to the words I’ve written come to life, under their care. There is nothing, truly nothing like it.
What sets me apart from others is my ambition. I feel alone in it sometimes. I strive towards big goals, I always have. But, I also want to be the best at what I do. One of the best comments I’ve gotten was from one of my VAs who told me that my stories don’t miss, and that’s the type of energy, and drive I bring to every project. But we’re also having a damn good time telling these stories. It’s fun. It’s the reason we’re here, as a people on this planet, truly. To make art. To tell stories. To express our lived experiences, and tell the vision of the future. It starts and ends with us, and I fucking love, being a part of that.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
This a great question, and I don’t know. I’m a spiritual person. Practicing witch. Learning how to flex my fingers and bring in a little magic. I’m learning how to be a conscious manfiestor. (If you know, you know).
Has it been luck? Has it been created? I don’t know. I can say, there were a lot of times I got what I needed (not always in the form I wanted, but I did get it) when I needed it. So, whose to say?
Jury is out on that one.
Pricing:
- No pricing, but if any of your readers want to support our network we’ve got a page for it! https://talesoftheforgotten.com/product/support-the-tales-network/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://talesoftheforgotten.com/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/crystalsimagination.com
- Other: https://crystalsimagination.com/
Image Credits
A Fairy Tale for Adults and Vampire Beginnings Cover Artists is Gerald Hill
Legacy A Star Wars Audio Drama Cover Artists is Fay Lane
