Okay, but what is it really about?

One of the hardest things to do is write a good synopsis that correctly describes your book without giving away all of your big reveals. If you were to read my synopsis and then ask me what it was really about, I’d have to say, “it’s a supernatural mystery involving an angel, a werewolf, and a wiener dog. What’s not to love?”

That gives you a little more without giving up too many of my secrets.

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Trunk or Treat is Killing Halloween

Nearly every house on my block was lit up and decorated for Halloween when I moved in fifteen years ago. There was a steady stream of trick-or-treaters from an hour before sundown until nine o’clock. Every year since then fewer houses have been decorating, and to make matters worse, every year we also see fewer trick-or-treaters. This year we had a grand total of five groups of trick-or-treaters approach our door. Probably no more than twelve total children.

I know kids didn’t stop liking candy. So, where did they all go? They went to the many Trunk or Treat events all over the city. Churches and other groups set up these events in their parking lots and draw in all of the neighborhood children, leaving the families with Halloween spirit and decorated lawns with full buckets of candy in their entryway. I, myself, had three gallons of candy left over this year.

The problem is that media hysteria has parents terrified that if their kids go door to door, they’ll get poisoned candy or an apple with a razor blade in it. Real talk time, folks. NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN POISONED ON HALLOWEEN! This is an unfounded fear that’s been taking the form of various urban legends for decades. No one is injecting gummy bears with AIDS. No one is handing out cannabis candies to children. Do you know how much those things cost?! It would cost a fortune to hand those out in place of regular candies. Ain’t nobody got time or money for that. The very notion that someone would just hand those out to random children is ludicrous. No one is trying poison or drug your children!

For that matter, no one is trying to kidnap your kids either. The chances that your kid is going to get kidnapped by a stranger is about one in three hundred thousand. Now, keep in mind that the chance your child will choke to death are one in thirty-five hundred. Your kids are eighty-five times more likely to choke than to go missing on Halloween, but you don’t see these Trunk or Treat events set up with a Heimlich Meneuver station, do you? Of course not, because even one in thirty-five hundred is a negligible risk.

Long story short, Trick or Treating IS SAFE! Not only is it safe, it’s an American tradition. If you want to take your kids to a Trunk or Treat, fine. Do it. Whatever. But don’t stop them from also visiting the neighborhoods to Trick or Treat! Some of the best memories of my childhood are running door to door in  a costume. Don’t deny your children these same precious memories. Don’t let Trunk or Treat kill Halloween. If you send the children back into the neighborhoods, the houses will start decorating again. The communities will come back out into the night to share in the Halloween spirit.

On The NecroNomNomNomicon series

Food for thought… 🙂

Professor Porkchops' Lab

I was asked recently, “How can I call my series Lovecraftian, when the world is seemingly humor based?”

I admit, it was a good question, and although I know the answer, I never brought it up with anyone other than my brother Travis.

Here’s the f’real deal.

The original Lovecraftian world is dead serious. As well it should be. Folks don’t often get out alive or sane. And that’s kind of a problem.

A group of mages who were tasked to prevent Mythos type uprisings realized that the very nature of them tended to completely ruin a normal person’s life with just a glance. Sure they were usually fine themselves, but that’s what they’re trained for, but not the average guy.

What to do.

So they took it upon themselves to change the world in a very literal way. They molded pop culture, and guided technology to essentially jade the…

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Review by Piers Anthony

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I was honored today to receive a book review from the greatly esteemed Piers Anthony. His review reveals a bit more than I have up to this point, but there aren’t too many spoilers. Without further ado, the review of Names of Power: The Angel…

 

“You might take this for a juvenile, as the protagonist Ren is sixteen, with a brother Bo, fourteen, living with their father, perfectly ordinary teens. There’s no sex or sexually suggestive material. But it might be stiff going for a juvenile, because they get into serious mischief. It starts when a new neighbor moves in, with a couple of dachshunds, that is, wiener dogs. Few things are as they first seem, and the story quickly escalates into an ugly mystery: something is killing people by breaking their legs and eating their hearts and brains. It turns out to be werewolves, and worse, Bo becomes one. Every full moon he has to go out to feed on folk. Ren—well, she’s the angel of the title, but she’s not exactly angelic in the innocent sense, and her process of self discovery is difficult and not always pleasant. Before she is done she must become a martial artist and be ready to kill. This is one wild, hard-hitting fantasy with a constant chain of surprises. By the end Ren is ready for future challenges; I suspect other names of power will come on the scene in subsequent volumes.”     -Piers Anthony

 

The First Rule of Book Club

Had a great time tonight at the Arlington YA Book Club. The club is run by 3 librarians from the Arlington Public Library. I only found out about the club two days ago, so I didn’t have a chance to read this month’s book, The Haters, which is apparently about a small group of teens who are trying to win some sort of band competition, and end up on a crazy weekend adventure.

I was able to give a copy of The Angel to Miranda, the leader of the club, to take home to review for possible inclusion on the reading list for the group. I was pleasantly surprised to find out she is also working on some library events for which she would like to invite local authors to participate. Looking forward to that!