Novel, short story and memoir writer Carolyn Flynn says story is her abiding love. "Nothing makes me braver, more buoyant and more authentically myself than to be in pursuit of story," and that's what we do in The Story Catalyst one-on-one and group book coaching and writing retreats such as the Ireland Writing Retreat on the Wild Atlantic Way and the Seventh Heaven Writing Retreat near Zion National Park, Utah. She is the winner of the 2014 Rick Bass/Montana Prize for Fiction and a semifinalist for the 2016 Elixir Press first novel award. Her creative nonfiction piece "Pound of Flesh" was published in 2011 in The Tampa Review and receiving a glowing review in The Review Review for its inventive take on the spiritual cost of rampant capitalism. Her creative nonfiction piece, "Resurrection," was published in January 2015 by Fourth Genre and won second place in the 2013 Pinch Journal creative nonfiction contest, judged by Abigail Thomas. An earlier version was a finalist for the 2014 Steinberg Essay Prize. That piece is the genesis of her memoir-in-progress, "You've Gone Too Far." She holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University, consistently rated one of the top 10 brief-residency programs in the world in Poets & Writers magazine. Her work has appeared in Ellipsis, The Crescent Review, Albuquerque the Magazine, Wilde Frauen and the Albuquerque Journal. She is the co-author of seven books published by Penguin Putnam. A 2015 TEDxWomen speaker on the topic of "Tell a Better Story, Live a Better Life," she was editor of Sage magazine for 16 years. Find out more at www.carolynflynn.com.