Hallo, liebe Freunde

Yes, that would be "hello, dear friends" in German. Maybe we were inspired by the fantastic showing at the first PenTales Vienna last month, where organizers Nini and Lieschen and their friends celebrated Austrian Crime & Punishment stories and songs..

Feeling like celebrating some stories of your own? We think it's high time you organize a LIVE PenTales event in your town - whether you bring together 5 friends to talk about LOVE, or 60 friends to swap stories on FREEDOM, your stories need some telling. Check out our full list of topics and how to get started!

While you're planning your first gathering, we hope you'll enjoy very talented (and at the time very pregnant) writer Lauren Frey Daisley's story, shared at the most recent PenTales New York.

Bis nächste Woche, Saskia, Stephanie and the entire PenTales Crew hailing from 20 cities around the world.

PS - PenTales will be at the South by Southwest conference in Austin next week and we hope to see you there. Follow our techie/musical/cinematic adventures there on Twitter
PenTales Pick of the Week

Lauren at PenTales NYC

Beats any Toy by Lauren Frey Daisley

After my parents’ divorce, our family’s house became Dad’s house. Weekends there became not normal weekends, but very exciting trips. Mom had taken our beds with her when we moved out, so at Dad’s my brother slept on the couch and I got to fold my three-year-old body into one of those chairs from the 70s that was shaped like a half sphere. We’d go to IHOP Saturday morning and then to K&B where Dad would buy us each a toy of our choosing. My poor mother...READ ON

Behind the Story with Lauren: "With which fictional character do you most identify? --> Pizza the Hut.
Created in New York City by two childhood friends who loved to swap tales, PenTales empowers people to share stories (in photography, illustration and writing) on the topics that unite us all.