October 2017 - J. M. Levinton

Real Ghosts for Halloween

October 23, 2017
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Along the narrow, twisty road of the Palisades Parkway in New York State lies a small, neat, spooky house.

Okay, not spooky. It’s the Visitor Center. But the one thing I adore about visitor centers is the selection of local or regional books. This year’s buy was Ghosts of Rockland County by Linda Zimmermann.

Rule number one: Don’t read it at night. Learn from my mistakes. While the book is filled with fascinating history about people and places of the area, never forget: It’s a book about ghosts.

From sightings of Benedict Arnold to a young woman named Lily who loved to socialize a decade after her passing to a ghost family annoyed at the current “intruders,” this book makes for a very good read, especially around this time of year.

Less factual in tone but no less interesting is Spooky New York: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore, retold by S. E. Schlosser. It reads like someone telling tales around a campfire and includes other creatures of the night along with ghosts.

So settle in with some hot chocolate, a warm blanket, and a circle of people to regale with stories of things that go bump in the night. Or read them alone—if you dare.

Fiction and Foreign Languages

October 16, 2017
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Photo by quinn.anya

You know what happens. You’re reading a story and a character who doesn’t know your language says something in it. And you cringe, because the word is correct but the nuance is wrong.

Happy Autumn! Happy Writing!

October 09, 2017
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I owe a short story for an anthology so I’m leaving you this week with a touch of the season as I buckle down with pen and keyboard. Happy writing to all who write!

Walking in Rockefeller Preserve

October 02, 2017
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It had been too long since I walked in the woods so I grabbed a friend and we headed to something easy and quiet. Aside from the polite hellos of other hikers (and two on horses), there was a feeling of serenity. May we all have that in our lives.