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TINA KONSTANT

(helping everyday storytellers write and tell the stories that matter most)

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"Keep The Fire Lit: A human fable about the stories we inherit and the stories we leave behind."

This is a fable...that comes with a workbook, is all about how to find, shape and share your personal and family stories.

COMING AUTUMN 2026

There's something glorious about family and personal stories...

We all have them. Stories about our people, our places, and the lives that made us who we are.

But when we sit down to write them, something seizes up...There's too much to say, or there's no clear place to start. We worry we might get something wrong, or turn a simple story into a family tiff.

The Story Stays is here to help you find the story, start it, and see it through.

"Once Upon A Time Isn't Just For Fairytales" with Tina Konstant

Start with your family story.

Family Stories with Tina Konstant at StoryWrangle

This is a storyteller's guide, not a genealogy course.

We don't begin with timelines, charts, perfect memories, or data. We begin the way stories have always begun: around a campfire, the dining room table, or bedtime.

If you've ever thought any of these things, you're in exactly the right place:

I want to write this down, but I don't know where to start
I've got boxes of things and no idea what to do with them
I don't want to hurt anyone or get it wrong
I want my children to know where they came from
I have a story — I just can't make it come alive

A fireside approach to family stories

My work is driven by one simple idea.

The stories that last (the ones told and retold) aren't the polished ones. They're the human ones. The messy, complicated, strange, sometimes normal, always real ones.

I work with stories the way people always have: one at a time, around the fire, with honesty and a whole lot of care. They're reflective and real. Built to be told, shared, and remembered.

ABOUT The AUTHOR

Hello — I'm Tina Konstant. Storyteller, author, fable-maker, and frequent road-tripper.

I've been doing this since I was eleven years old.

Back when my first story started, I needed something that could help me make sense of things I was too young to understand. I needed a way to put the real world into pictures and forms that I could shape and change, so I could find solutions and test possible outcomes before they happened. The whole story that formed back then was one almighty fable. I didn't realise what it was until much, much later in life. All I knew at the time was that it helped me feel safe and work things out at my own pace.

That was the beginning. After a long, long time of keeping the practice between me and my journals, I wondered if I could help others do the same. That's one of the reasons I started The Story Stays Podcast (previously Waffle-Free Storytelling) in 2020.

Welcome to my world

I grew up in Southern Africa and now live in Scotland, where most days include a walk, a book, a swim in the sea, and a road trip in Calypso (little house on wheels!)

I help people write and share their personal and family stories, a magical part of which is creating fables that help them make sense of the hard things and find a way to say (and understand) what matters most.

You don't need to be a writer or a storyteller to do this. You just need a lesson or a message you want to share, a problem you want to dig into and solve, and a willingness to find the story that fits.

"A fable doesn't force a lesson. It lets you find your way to the truth on your own."

SHOW, DON'T PREACH

There's something magical about stories that change how we think. They're everywhere. A crazy rom-com, a family tale, a fable, a fairytale... When we're looking for answers, we find them in stories. They have a way of slipping past all resistance and overthinking, to touch the heart of things. That's what this site and my work are all about. Finding, writing, and sharing stories that touch the heart of things. Whether it's personal and family stories... fables that solve problems... or just giving ourselves a moment to put our feet up and breathe.

An ancient tool, a real craft

A long time ago, I heard the worst piece of storytelling advice ever. I can't recall who said it. It goes like this: "If you want to deliver a message, use UPS." Blah. In this space, fables are treated as the serious, time-tested instruments they are. For millennia, they've been used to deliver solutions, answers, comfort.... So here, at The Story Stays, fable-making is taught as a craft for grown-up purposes. Never dismissed as just for kids.

A STORY STAYS

One of my most confusing moments growing up was when an uncle (a huge storyteller in our family) told my sisters and me that we were "too old for stories." I was bewildered! It didn't make sense. It's why I changed the name of the podcast to The Story Stays. We're never too old for stories. Personal and family stories always have a place. The fire is always lit.