Happy Halloween, my friends.
May ghosts haunt your footsteps.
May bats come out to play.
May jack-o-lanterns wink at you from around every corner.
May candy corn fall down like rain.
May you get treats instead of tricks.
And, if things get too scary, may your mummy be there to make you feel safe again.
Happy Halloween, Everyone!!!!
If you haven’t had a chance to grab a copy of The Claiming Words yet, then be sure to hop over to Read to my Heart’s Content where you can win a free, signed copy!
http://readtomyhearts.blogspot.com/
While you’re there, be sure to read Amy’s book reviews. She has an awesome blog and I would highly recommend it.
Note from Tricia: Today there’s no doubt about it. We definitely have a treat in store for you. I’m blog-swapping with the brilliant and talented A.F.E. Smith. So, sit back, grab a handful of candy corn, and read on…
Trick or treat? by A.F.E. Smith
Welcome, everyone, to my second excursion into the realms of guest blogging. It’s wonderful to be here – a thousand thanks to Tricia for agreeing to the swap!
Ever since Tricia suggested that I write something about Halloween for her blog, I’ve been trying to figure out why I don’t like this time of year as much as I think I ought to.
On the face of it, Halloween is the most Fantasy-ish event in the calendar. By the time October reaches its close, the evenings are spookily dark. The days have begun to smell of woodsmoke and winter. The line between living and dead, normal and paranormal, reality and unreality is becoming increasingly blurred. The stage is perfectly set for mysterious and fantastical events to take place – ideal for any lover of fantasy, horror or the supernatural.
So what’s the problem?
Well, when I was in my teens there wasn’t one. I loved Halloween. I loved the sense of magic in the air and the shivery feeling of coming home from school when it was already dark. My sister’s birthday falls at the end of October, so every year my mother and I would throw a themed party for her. We called them Quest parties, and they consisted of a series of interlocking party games/puzzles that the guests had to solve to find the prize. There’d be a map of the house that gave the rooms names like The Forbidden Forest and The Perilous Pool, and the whole place would be decorated with candles and cobwebs and strange arcane runes that held a hidden message. Over the years, I got to dress up as a dragon (classic fantasy quest), the cat goddess Bast (Egyptian quest) and Fawkes the phoenix (Harry Potter quest). It was a huge amount of fun.
But as I got older, the magic of Halloween faded. I began to associate it with other things: tacky plastic toys, lurid sweets made of pure sugar, children in cheap masks knocking at the door and extorting treats out of you with the threat of egg on your doorstep. It’s hard to feel a pleasant tingle down your spine at the thought of ghosts and witches when they leer out at you from the shelves of every supermarket. As an adult, I’m fully aware of how commercial an event modern-day Halloween has become. And once you’ve looked behind the scenes in the haunted house, it doesn’t thrill you any more.
Sadly, of course, this is the price we have to pay for growing up. Every event that seemed so simple and heartwarming to me as a child – Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day – has been gradually tarnished with my adult awareness of consumerism and the art of making money. And now that I think about it, perhaps that’s why I love fantasy so much. Because in fantasy as in no other genre, the pure emotions of childhood – the sense of wonder and excitement – shine through, allowing us jaded adults to experience them afresh once more. I can find my way back to a time of magic by reading books I loved as a child. I can rediscover my Halloween in Diana Wynne Jones’s Fire and Hemlock or Susan Cooper’s The Grey King.
Now that’s a real treat.
A.F.E. Smith is currently working on several fantasy novels, but keeps getting distracted by reading other people’s. She would still like an excuse to dress up as a dragon or a phoenix, but thinks it might earn her some funny looks at work.
I’ve been suffering from a nasty case of the common cold for the last several days. I feel congested, fatigued, and generally crummy. But, despite the annoying physical discomfort I’ve been experiencing, it’s nothing compared to the growing sickness in my soul. It’s an illness borne of despair, frustration, resentment, and above all, guilt for feeling frustrated and resentful.
I shouldn’t put this on the internet for everyone to see, but writing is where I turn for comfort, especially these days when some of the people who I normally turn to are the people who planted the seed of disease that continues to fester inside me.
Trying to talk myself out of my deepening depression would probably be about as effective as trying to talk myself out of this annoying head-cold. At least with the cold, I know there’s an end in sight. The common cold lasts seven to ten days. One of the situations that’s plunged me into the depths of despair has a much, much longer duration; the other is just the way things are. There’s no way to change it, and there’s no clear culprit, except maybe my own motivations and expectations.
Maybe, like the common cold, I need to let my current situation run its course. I need to remind myself that nothing lasts forever, that no situation is permanent. Trouble is, I need lots and lots of reminders because I seem to experience unpleasant emotions several times a day. It makes it hard to focus on things that are going well, or to find happiness in things that should bring me joy.
I hope when my yucky cold goes away, my emotional ailments will leave as well. See? I’m still able to hope. I’m still able to wish for something better. Maybe I’m not quite as sick as I thought.
What is the working title of your book?
Family stories I’ve heard since childhood about the real murders of family members.
Viggo Mortensen would be Jackson and Naomi Watts would be TessI hope everyone will take some time to stop by Amy’s blog at A Blue Million Books
According to the rules for The Next Big Thing, I am supposed to tag five authors to participate next week. Many of the authors I contacted have either already participated in The Next Big Thing, or they already have something else scheduled. Since I’ve already bent the rules, I’m going to tag these authors regardless of whether or not they’re able to participate. After all, this blog hop is about sharing and making new friends, right? I urge you to visit the following blogs. Read their posts. Leave comments. Follow these blogs. It’s always good to make new friends, and who knows? One of these authors could be The Next Big Thing.
Michel Prince
Melanie Dent
Gregory Hart
Kate Jack
Kay Kauffman
Sophie Tallis
Will MacMillan Jones
AFE Smith
As many of you know, my first novel, The Claiming Words, officially launches on Saturday, October 6th. If you’re in the St Louis area, please stop by Main Street Books in St Charles between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00. I’m sure you can imagine how excited I am. This is truly a dream come true.
To help me get the word out about my new book, my friend and fellow author, Amy Metz, has been featuring The Claiming Words on her blog all week long. If you’d like to read in depth interviews with my characters, excerpts, and a Q&A with me, please stop by her blog.
Amy is also hosting a giveaway, so if you’d like a chance to win, please leave a comment on her blog:
Hi, I'm Tricia Drammeh, a wife and mother of four children who lives in the St. Louis area. My published works include The Claiming Words and The Fifth Circle. I'm currently working on my seventh novel. When I'm not writing, I can be found devouring books, interviewing up-and-coming authors, and drinking vast amounts of coffee.
