Shamrock Shuffle

Celtic Shamrock Color

For the holidays, our tradition is to explore different recipes related to that special day. We tend to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day because it’s so close to my birthday and my partner is Irish. This year, I’m making Shepherd’s Pie, Irish soda bread, and blackberry custard with liqueur for dinner. I picked up a cappuccino stout to go with, too, and will likely be diving into Skyrim after the work day is done.

We’d definitely like to visit Ireland some day and visit with friends and family. The island has a rich history and, like many countries, I’d like to read more about it. Funny how the holiday has changed so much from its 17th century origins as a religious feast day (there used to be a LOT more of these) to a pseudo-celebration of the Irish culture. That’s what time and our ever-expanding civilization does, I suppose!

Hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!!!

    Mood: Monday madness
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Currently caffeinated
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: I relaxed. It was goooood.
    In My Ears: My brain is very loud today.
    Game Last Played: Skyrim
    Book Last Read: A huge pile o’ reference books.
    Movie Last Viewed: Sexy Evil Genius
    Latest Artistic Project: National Craft Month
    Latest Fiction/Comic Release: Last Man Zombie Standing
    Latest Game Release: Freedom Flyer
    What I’m Working On: Primarily tie-in games work and novels.


Happy Holly-Daze! And a Free eBook!

The Grinch Avatar

Scramble, scramble, scramble… Happy Holly-Daze! I hope you’re enjoying whatever flavor of winter feasts and festivities you happen to celebrate. In my house, we have traditions that last pretty much all December and through the New Year. Some of which are related to nom, nom, nom, noms. (I’ll make every attempt to share pictures when I get a chance. Knee-deep in cinnamon and flour and edible flowers and meat purses and bleach and beads and tape and stamps… Yeah, you get the idea.

Anyhoo, while every Who down in Whoville may be enjoying the finer presents of a merry sort… I’ve got a surprise for YOU. Well, it’s a touch on the bloody side, but… Um… You are talking to a writer who’s joyest joy of joys this year was to pick up The Twelve Terrors Of Christmas

Varney the Vampire Remix CoverAnyHOO. Remember that Galleycat contest I told you I won? Guess what? You can find a copy of the re-mix at no charge!

You can now download the entire Varney the Vampire: A Literary Remix eBook FOR FREE from Smashwords.

Yay! Here’s a link to the announcement at GalleyCat. More yay!

Before I go, the amazing, iconic, one-and-only SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE has released Christmas carols heavy metal style! A YouTube! sample for you of the songs available on iTunes below. Enjoy!

Thankful Thanks for Thanksgiving

Celtic Wheel

To those of you in the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving! May this be a day of culinary delights and subsequent naps. We’re having a hipster Thanksgiving; no turkey here today. Instead, we’re having marinated steak tips with portabella mushrooms, pumpkin cheesecake, monkey bread (a holly-day favorite here in our house), mulled apple cider, and other savory treats. (Oh, and some other vegetables, too. But we won’t talk about those. OH NO.)

Let’s see, something deep that I’m thankful for. . . Not related to house or home or cats or friends or love. . . I am thankful for new beginnings! Yay!

There. Mission o’ thanks accomplished. Off to the eatering!

    Mood: Hungry. Feeeeeeeed me.
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: What? I swear I didn’t drink all the coffee!
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Walkin’. Jivin’. Spinnin’.
    In My Ears: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
    Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Origins
    Movie Last Viewed: Spiderman the new one.
    Latest Artistic Project: In progress!
    Latest Release: “Fangs and Formaldehyde” from the New Hero anthology through Stone Skin Press

Ah, “Satanic” Halloween.

Halloween 2011 Pumpkins by Yours Truly

Every year, I hear someone accuse my favorite holiday of being “satanic.” And, well. . . Halloween is no more satanic than a piece of candy corn or a glass of milk. To me, the holiday’s history is crucial to the understanding of culture and how these beliefs develop. Our world, cultures, beliefs, and nuances will shift and shift again. One day, Halloween may very well be the night of the proverbial devil — but it is not right now.

Possibly, the reason why Halloween gets its notorious reputation is because some of the activities conducted may not be preferable to those who don’t like the darker elements. Even I don’t like everything the holiday has to offer; I’m not a fan of gore pr0n in the slightest. My darkness tends to be in the shadows, more Victorian, and undoubtedly shrouded in fantastical mystery as opposed to buckets and buckets of blood. This is what fuels my writing moreso than a modern-day horror story. I also cannot bring myself to write stories specifically about violence against groups like women, sexualized or not, children, religious groups, etc. etc. etc. Writing violence for the sake of writing violence is simply writing violence. For me, there’s no story there because it’s not about light overcoming dark, or dark swallowing up more darkness, or dark swallowing light, it’s simply unsettling atmosphere.

Certainly, All Hallow’s Eve gets a bad rap because of gory-and-disturbing images coupled with a misunderstanding of what modern-day Wicca is, but it’s also the red-headed stepchild of holidays because, ironically enough, of its pagan origins. (I say “ironically” because many of the major holidays have pre-Christianity roots dating back to ancient times (Easter/Eostre, Christmas/Mithras Day, etc.) The reason why these feast days are celebrated are often buried beneath the trappings of the holiday — bonfires, brooms, trick-or-treating, potato-pumpkin carving, etc. And, as a storyteller, I’m always about the “why’s” and “what if’s.” So, the wrappings of a particular day obscure the meaning of Halloween, much like some claim the true spirit of Christmas is lost to commercialism.

Halloween marked the end of the harvest and a day to remember the dead. While many know about the Celts, they weren’t the only culture that celebrated a holiday with that purpose in mind. (Almost every culture has some custom, either tied to a specific day or not, that was developed for almost the same purpose at some point during the year. To some extent, that’s what Memorial Day has turned into — a day to honor the dead. And don’t forget about All Saint’s Day!) The day survived in the United States largely due to the mashing of beliefs as Irish immigrants flocked to here, but it also flourished out of commercialism. The image of the witch riding a broom? Popularized by advertising and Hollywood. Black cat? Well, that’s a good example of how advertising tapped into a fear of cats as a witch’s familiar, its “causing” the Black Plague, and the feline’s unique biology that developed to mimic a hungry child. Indeed, businesses often capture and re-purpose older superstitions to fuel new ones. Want to understand a culture? Look not only to its churches or schools or plays or libraries — take a peek at what’s being sold and how.

With so many nuances, ranging from religious beliefs to mundane aspects of our daily lives, you’re probably seeing the reason why I’m drawn to digging for the origins of holidays like this. As an author and reader, I see a lot of stories here that resonate throughout the year. Often, something simple that begins with one intended purpose later means its opposite. Devil masks, for example, were often worn to scare away the devil (and still are, for some holidays like Setsubun), not worship them. Though, some people definitely believe that. That one example fascinates me. How? Why? When?

I’m lucky in that I’m a storyteller so I can explore these questions and more in my sordid tales. That’s what Halloween, in all its myriad forms, has given me. I can’t think of a holiday more mercurial and more hotly contested than this one. Well, maybe Earth Day, but that’s another blog post for a future point in time.

    Mood: Spooky
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Bubbles. Dear stars and stripes. BUBBLES!
    Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: My muscles are revolting.
    In My Ears: The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
    Game Last Played: Dragon Age: Origins
    Movie Last Viewed: The Raven
    Latest Artistic Project: In progress!
    Latest Release: “Fangs and Formaldehyde” from the New Hero anthology through Stone Skin Press

Halloween Pumpkins and (Of Course) Cats!

Here’s some pictures of our Halloween festivities. Our cats are both rescues; Rimmon is a black kitty and Zakar (We call him Zak Zak for short or whiner-butt) is a polydactal manx. No tail and ginormous paws. Statistically, black cats are the most commonly ignored, abandoned, and abused. The current superstition that black cats are evil is a mixture of Hollywood symbolism, American advertising, misplaced superstition and biology. Some cats developed their “cry” to mimic the sound of a human child, which is part of where they got their reputation for being a witch’s familiar back in the day. (Just recently in the UK, they launched a Black Cat Awareness Day to highlight the issue that so many need a home.)

Anyway, sorry I got off on a tangent there. Think it’s crazy that people don’t like an animal (and sometimes people) purely based on its coloring. Our cats definitely have their own personalities! By the way, can you tell the vampire bat was mine?





        Happy Halloween Eve!




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