Hi, my name is Wardan and I’m a storyist. That means I tell stories, make stories, study stories, refurbish old stories, and in every way I can, help the world of stories to grow. I started out as a faery tale lover. I read the complete works of Grimm, Italian faery tales, South American faery tales, and Norwegian faery tales. I eventually tried writing my own tales—faery tales, folk tales, and tall tales. Sometimes, I told new ones I made up. Sometimes I studied the different versions of old faery tales. I always wanted to find the original version, the real version, but I learned that stories grow and change almost like people do and I think that makes them better. I’m not a full-time writer, but I love stories so I think I’m pretty good at telling them. Have you ever told a story? \tSometimes, I wrote stories that nobody wanted to read. Sometimes, I told stories that were so great that people wanted me to tell them again and again. Sometimes, I improvised stories. That means I made up the story as I told it and then forgot it when it was done. I can never tell those stories again, but they were funny while they lasted. Then one day, the kids that I told stories to asked me for a scary story. More and more kids. Again and again. I hardly ever read any scary stories before. Just a little bit. But I felt obliged to give the kids scary stories. It’s like they needed it. And I like to be honest with kids. And I think part of honesty is sharing the darkness that lurks in the world. I was always afraid of getting in trouble with parents. Not everyone wants their kid to be scared. And scary things are often violent or bad in some way. I don’t blame the parents who don’t want their kids to read scary stories, but I don’t believe in teaching wisdom through ignorance. So I tell the ugly stories and let people choose to read them or not. I love all stories—romantic, funny, historical, and adventurous, but I write scary stories for kids because so few people will. This is my gift to the world. It’s not a big shiny gift. But I hope you like it.