There was the usual crazy mix of weather, flurries (although it’s obvious that Blue Mt. got more than that), buckets of rain, and one day of sun. Perfect weather to me. Enjoy.
And finally, on the way home…
Was on vacation for a long weekend and forgot to say anything. Sorry about that!
For Halloween this year, I give you a weirdly appropriate post from author Carrie Vaccaro Nelkin. Hints of creepy, folks.
By the Hungry Sea—Guest Post Carrie Vaccaro Nelkin
If you want to spend time in the sun to escape the encroaching seasonal chill, you’ll find my short story “By the Hungry Sea” in the upcoming Winter issue (no. 39) of Supernatural Tales. But I warn you, the heat and sand and salt water will not comfort you. If unease is what you desire to get your juices flowing, do slip into this tale of a man who loses himself bit by unsettling bit. Then enjoy the other disquieting offerings in this awesome publication. Let yourself be haunted.
Issue no. 39 will be available soon. In the meantime, check out previous issues of Supernatural Tales at http://suptales.blogspot.com/p/buy-supernatural-tales.html.
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Carrie Vaccaro Nelkin is author of the novel Snare (The Waiting Dark: Book 1) and has published short speculative fiction in various places. She has a poem in the upcoming Winter issue of Mirror Dance and another story slated for the April 2019 issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly.
Are you ready?
Into the woods.
I thought I’d recommend a few ghost stories but could only find two on my shelf. So, two it is. Why is it so hard to find good ones? Part of me thinks it’s because we’ve become so jaded in this modern Wi-Fi world—we’ve read more, watched more, and know all the tropes. And it is hard. Ghosts are defined as the spirits of dead people who can be seen or heard by others. Why is that scary?
Here are two completely different but riveting takes that are good for shivers. While they’re young adult, they hold up well for those of us over the age of majority.
I went to the Pleasantville train station this weekend to pick up a friend and there was a farmers market set up in the parking lot. I’m a sucker for farmers markets. They always give me the feeling of a tiny village congregating to do their daily shopping, with the scent of fresh dill and apples in the air.
I’m going to continue taking archery lessons (when my schedule permits) so I decided to invest in a glove to make it easier on my fingers.
Simple, right? Not if you don’t wear leather.
Last weekend I celebrated the formation of The Penheads—25 years of writing in our group. Over dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Greenwich Village, we discussed our current writing projects and looked back at our past.
As I’ve said elsewhere, we didn’t immediately form into a perfect group like some mystical key-in-a-lock connection or love at first sight. We met when we all worked in the same office, the publishing division of a financial organization. It made sense: we gravitated toward fiction and it was a natural progression to form a writers’ group.
We’ve had only a few rules, but they’ve stood the test of time:
Keep the group number limited to five people. Sometimes it’s difficult finding time to meet, and a larger number would increase the difficulty.
All of us meet or none of us do. We each have different viewpoints and are necessary to provide well-rounded critiques. (There have been rare times when we didn’t adhere to this rule, but the lack in our dynamic was obvious. We’re all needed.)
As with any group, there have been ebbs and flows in the work we’ve done, but we’ve persevered. Writing is life.
May all writers be as fortunate to find a group that tells the truth when something sucks and gives suggestions on how to fix it.
Here’s to at least 25 more years!
R.G. Emanuelle
J. M. Levinton
Carrie Vaccaro Nelkin
Arielle Prose
Anne E. Wagenbrenner
* Photo by Nickgesell (Pixabay)
Today is Labor Day in the U.S., a holiday that celebrates workers.
Happy Holiday!
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