10 years

Yesterday marked my ten-year wedding anniversary.  My husband and I went out for an amazing seafood dinner last night to celebrate.  It’s amazing how time flies when you’re having fun!

Book Review: V is for Vampire by Adam-Troy Castro

V is for Vampire: An Illustrated Alphabet of the Undead by Adam-Troy Castro provides a humorous description of everyone’s favorite blood-sucking creature.  A complete compendium from A to Z, each page offers characteristics and cautionary clues that shed light on our fascination with vampires.  Beautifully illustrated by Johnny Atomic, each white on black (with just a hint of red) page captures an image of the undead with a touch of horror and tongue-in-cheek comic reflection.

Beginning with “A is for Arterial Spray,” Castro points out:

“Some ladies adore the vampire when he’s posing in the moonlight, or going on about the children of the night, or even when he’s inserting those fangs of his into the soft expanse of their throat. But the vampire has the most affection for you when you’re hemorrhaging. That’s why he chooses the throat. There’s a major artery there; punctured, the spray achieves some stellar distance.”

If you’re looking for a gift for the vampire-lover in your life, this book might be just the thing.  Other books by Adam-Troy Castro include Z is for Zombie, as well as numerous award-winning science fiction and horror titles, such as Emissaries from the Dead and The Third Claw of God.  He has also written several novels starring the Marvel Comics favorite, Spider-Man.

Illustrator Johnny Atomic has created and illustrated comic books, including the popular Choose Your Doom interactive story series and the comic book series featuring Simon Vector.

Greetings from Redwood City, CA

I’m in California this weekend.  The primary purpose of the trip is to go through some stuff that my father had in storage out here, but I’m fortunate enough to combine it with a visit among best friends.

Missing Brian Murphy

Perhaps my last post (and the assumption that the lightning storm of tragedy was coming to a close) was a bit premature.

My friend Brian Murphy recently passed away.  His light, his humor, and his innate ability to make every situation vibrant will be greatly missed.

Returning to Writing

You may have noticed I got sidetracked from my writing.  This past year has been difficult.

My father moved from California and in with us when he retired.  We had visions of him spending time with his grandkids while my husband and I had more time to ourselves.  He was an active and outgoing man who played golf every week.  He enjoyed fishing and camping and was extremely outdoorsy.  Determined to instill a love of sports in his granddaughters, he took them to sporting events at the local high school and bought a large basketball hoop for our driveway.  He bought them golf clubs and took them to the driving range and putting green at the golf course.

Then, a few months after moving in with us, he was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer.  As in everything in life, he put a smile on his face and attempted to fight the disease with a positive attitude.  A cruel and ironic twist resulted in him besting the cancer, while succumbing to the chemotherapy.  His scans during chemo came back clean and cancer-free.  In the end, it was not the cancer that killed him, but a toxic reaction to one of the chemo drugs.

A massive amount of my energy this past year has gone into either caring for him or grieving his loss.  Though I feel robbed of my father in my life, and I still grieve and will never be the same, I am attempting to return to my writing.  Before this, I had finished the rough draft of my first novel and was in the process of making revisions before submitting to agents.  I did numerous book and product reviews, did some freelance journalism, and blogged regularly.  I always had a journal or my laptop within reach to jot down ideas for story lines and the wheels of future writing projects were constantly in motion.

I’m not really sure you can call it writers block.  It was more a sense of emptiness, a lack of the mental and emotional energy required to write.  I was simply drained and left without the inspiration and drive to write that has always been a part of me.

Recent inspiration has come, however, in the unexpected form of a friend’s recent success with her writing.  It was as if, in my joy for her, I turned to listen once again to that familiar siren’s song calling me back to the thing I love.  It’s faint, but it’s there, and growing stronger.

I opened up my novel and began reading through it, fresh with new ideas for rewrites.  I’m blogging again, and I have a stack of books piled up on my desk, already finished and awaiting the reviews that I intend to write.  I jotted down some notes for a couple of future story ideas.  I’ve begun to attempt, ever so cautiously, to put down into words some of what I’m feeling about the loss of my father.  Perhaps writing will help serve as a healing tool through all of this.  I feel as if I’m slowly returning to myself once again.

Hooray for Amy Gail Hansen!

In follow up to my recent post, congratulations are once again in order for my friend and fellow writer, Amy Gail Hansen.  Her debut novel, The Butterfly Sister, will soon be published by HarperCollins, whose label includes so many of my favorite authors, such as Neil Gaiman, Michael Chabon, Joe Hill, Meg Cabot, Christopher Moore, Kim Harrison, Ray Bradbury, and Wally Lamb, just to name a few.  The Butterfly Sister will be part of the William Morrow collection, an imprint of HarperCollins, and the foreign rights are already being optioned by other well-known publishers across Europe.

From the moment I first reviewed the initial rough draft, I knew Amy’s book would be a hit.  The story is not only a page-turner, but Amy’s writing talent is evident throughout every chapter.  Rarely do I have the pleasure of reading such a strong and fluent voice and writing style in a debut novel.  Amy’s success is well deserved, and it absolutely couldn’t happen to a nicer person!

I’ll post details as the book hits bookstore shelves.

Team Papa’s Pumpkins

My step sister and her family are walking to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, in honor and memory of our father, Richard Damian, who passed away two weeks ago.  Please consider sponsoring them, “Team Papa’s Pumpkins,” in their effort.  To learn more, click here.  Thank you.

My Father’s Obituary

Richard Joseph Damian

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CALIFORNIA – Richard Joseph Damian, 70, of California, passed away Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, in Barrington.
He was born Aug. 16, 1941, to Andres and Amelia Damian, in Guam.
Richard was an avid golfer and fisherman. He cherished the time he spent with his grandchildren and will be missed by many.
Richard is survived by his children, Mark Damian, Greg Gurtowski, Lisa (Stephen) Kidder, Julie (Kevin) Raak and Heather (Skip) Meyers; his grandchildren, Ian Gurtowski, Alexei Gurtowski, Talia Kidder, Simone Kidder, Kennedy Maionchi, Shelden Maionchi, Preston Raak and Morgan Raak; four brothers; four sisters; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family.
He was preceded in death by a brother; a sister; and his parents.
A memorial service and burial will be held privately.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, www.lls.org.
For information, call the Davenport Family Funeral Home at 815-459-3411. Send online condolences to the family at www.davenportfamily.com.

Congratulations Amy Gail Hansen!

A friend and fellow writer, Amy Gail Hansen, has recently signed with Weed Literary Agency to represent her first novel.  When I had the pleasure of critiquing the first draft of her novel some time ago, I found it difficult to put down and had no trouble picturing it on bookstore shelves.  Amy Hansen is also the author of two nonfiction books about the singer Taylor Swift.  I will post again with more details once her book is published, as I have no doubt it will soon be.  Congratulations Amy!

Warm Bodies Being Made into a Movie

Isaac Marion’s zombie romance novel, Warm Bodies, is being made into a movie.  That’s right, a ”zombie romance” and also a philosophical existential exploration about what it means to be human.  Click here to read my review of the book.

As you can tell from my review, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I can’t wait to see the movie when it comes out.  Click here to read the USA Today article about the upcoming film.