M. Carolyn Miller hit gold.
She was a struggling writer when a cold call turned into a 30-year career as a senior instructional designer and writer. Her niche was the use of “serious stories and games,” and specifically board games and simulation games, to change employee behavior. Her past client list is a Who’s Who of Fortune 500 clients, many of whom are household names.
Mid-career, her story fell apart.
Three major life transitions converged, so she ran away—to graduate school. She told herself she needed credentials for her work with story. In fact, she wanted to know why she was so neurotic.
She traveled through psychology, feminist theory, mythology and writing. She reverse-engineered the design of her own story using her narrative design skills. She exposed the plot of power laced through her personal story and the larger social one. She found her answer.
Your story is not your story.
It is a multi-layered mythology that heals us but also games us. The task then is take up the work of story, beginning with your own. She did that. Then, she showed others how to do the same, using a roadmap she created.
Now, years later, she is re-imagining that early roadmap and writing a book to introduce it. Her mission is to show others the power of story in our lives and world, the inextricable link between the two, and the critical role of self-awareness in transforming both.
The End or the Beginning?
Since naming “the gameosphere”—you can get a sense of what that is here—Carolyn no longer develops corporate programs (the end). Today, she publishes articles, cultural criticism and essays, often through the lens of story and games/gaming. She also selectively consults with others doing the work of personal and social transformation (the beginning).
She lives in Portland, Oregon until the next transition sweeps her away to some place magical. Want to come along? Follow her travels here.
The Creds
Carolyn is the author of Entrepreneurship (Weston Distance Learning) and numerous proprietary books and workbooks. Her work has appeared Business Insider, Denver Post, Colorado Serenity and association publications, including the American Animal Hospital Association.
Winner of the 2015 Award for Publication Excellence (APEX) and the regional 2015 American Society of Business Publications Editors (ASBPE) for feature article writing, Carolyn has a MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Authors Guild, and Colorado Authors League.