Spring Chicken
It’s finally warm— between 75 and 82 during the day and in the fifties at night. I am in my happy place. I ordered some Muppet-like keychains to bring joy into the universe and my neighbor brought me a belated birthday gift that included a spring chicken in vibrant yellow. He dances with the vibrations…
Vampire Bridge (more on the history of Fashion and Fiends)
Last year, we released cosmic horror, Lovecraftian-with-hope novel Deadlights by Hugo Yelagin. He was in middle school when he started that novel. He published it at age 17. I was 16 the summer I wrote “Vampire Bridge.” And they say you should burn your first novel because it’s awful. I think, in many ways, I did “burn” this novel, but I’ve…
The Fashion in Fashion and Fiends
Circa 1990. Somehow, I stumble upon Elsa Klensch on CNN and get a subscription to Vogue. Read Elsa’s obituary here on CNN. Haute couture becomes an obsession of mine. Why? I have no clue. I saw beauty, and creativity, and France. I was in my early stages of learning French, thinking French would be something my mom and I shared. That’s…
It started with vampires
I can tell you the exact moment in time when I became obsessed with vampires. It was summer-ish time, circa 1990, and I discovered a campy Canadian television show, Dracula: The Series. The actor who played Max went on with his entertainment career to be a part of something you might have heard of Heated Rivalry. I discussed more of this…
Hometown Heroes
For the last few months, I’ve been working on a project with the Historical Society in Stewartsville, N.J., to transfer their hometown hero banner project into a commemorative book. The historical society held a launch party and book signing at their American Legion post on Saturday. Art director Gayle Hendricks and I were honored to…
Summer of 1968
Larry Sceurman, author of Coffee in the Morning and The Death of Big Butch and children’s titles, Bookworm’s Magical Journey and Frog and Crow’s Conversation, wrote a lovely newsletter on Sunday honoring Memorial Day: Decoration Day & Reflections of Summer of ’68 I had to deal with some health issues, so I haven’t been in a creative frame of mind lately. This morning, my…
Memorial Day has me thinking…
Because I have an academic background in world history and two undergraduate degrees that include the study of French, certain family members have accused me of being unpatriotic and comment that I probably want to leave this country. These family members, of the MAGA variety, disowned me after my father’s death, before the last presidential…
Countdown Lists
I am looking to compile my own COUNTDOWN LISTS. I have a list of ideas in my notebook, but I’m nervous how comprehensive my research has to be for a successful list. When I stop overthinking it, I’ll put some stuff together. I consider this the next phase of the 50 books in 5 years celebration.…
Update on Living Florilegium
I met with Sarah Samala yesterday, the editor of our Living Florilegium anthology that we will be working on this summer. The submission window closed over the weekend, and she is currently combing through the works and prepping her acceptances. Contributors will receive a free copy of the book, and have the opportunity to order author copies at cost…
Meeting Abigail Michelini
I met with the new supervisor of NCC’s creative writing program, Abigail Michelini. She revealed that she is initiating a campaign to make the certificate into a full-fledged associate’s degree. This is exciting news. She is also a published poet. She has a chapbook with Lehigh Valley publisher, Thirty West. She is also a past recipient of…
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