Getting a CLUE

Sometimes you can make peace with your past in the strangest ways.

Nathan and I love board games, and over the years, we’ve amassed quite a few. Recently—in the interests of downsizing becoming not too much longer than a decade away—I decided to go through them, and keep only those we actually played/enjoyed on a regular basis.

We love Clue, and have two versions: the 1972 release, which I got for one of my birthdays—I’m thinking I was 9 or 10 and yes we played the crap out of it when I was growing up; and Disney Parks’ Haunted Mansion Clue in a shiny tin, which we bought on one of our many Disney trips (not sure which one; I’m sure there’s a photo someplace). But then I found another version in the trunk, one that I’d gotten for Christmas of 1985: the Clue VCR Mystery Game.

CLUE VCR MYSTERY GAME ORIGINAL BOX

The CLUE VCR MYSTERY GAME box. It’s in really good shape for being almost forty years old, although I did tape up all the edges with clear packing tape to reinforce it, because I plan on using it a lot in the near future.

I was actually shocked Read the rest of this entry

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

Hello everyone!

We wish you a happy, healthy, and safe 4th of July!

— Krissi, Charles, Nathan, and Mikey the kitty

HAPPY 4TH 2023 CAKE

It’s always Tiki Time…

Me and Elaine Gen-X

Writer Elaine Pascale and I cocktail it up at TT’s Tiki Bar in Punta Gorda, FL. Photo by Michele Ingram

…when you’re a Gen-Xer! When I was in Florida, fellow writer and I Elaine Pascale got together at TT’s Tiki Bar down in Punta Gorda and had some serious fun with icy tropical cocktails and a few of the anthologies in which we share a Table of Contents.

If you haven’t already, join the party and get your copy of the Generation X-ed anthology full of short shocking trips down memory lane by Elaine, me, and a formidable f-ton of horror-slinging Gen-X writers edited by Rebecca Rowland today—AND you can even get it in good old-fashioned hardcover if you wish!

Generation X-ed short story anthology

What the hell’s that pretty blue think I’m drinking? It’s called an Under the Sea Colada.  Elaine had herself a Tiki Tai (that’s like a mai-tai. YUM!)

TT's Frozen Drink Menu

34 ORCHARD taking submissions for the Autumn 2023 issue!

34 Orchard is now considering work for our Autumn 2023 issue! We will only be open from July 1 – 15, 2023, so if you’re planning on submitting, please keep in mind that anything after July 15, 2023, will be deleted unread (and yes, we adjust for all worldwide time zones. So that’s after July 15 at 11:59pm wherever you are).

Please refer to our guidelines for information on how to submit. Check that out here at https://34orchard.com/guidelines/, and we look forward to reading your work!

HARD RESET!

My bags (how cool are THESE that my hubby bought me for my birthday this year?) are packed!

FLORIDA 2023 LUGGAGE

The last three years have been thrilling and blessed—they’ve also been overwhelming and SO workaholic that I’ve been barely able to keep up (and yes, the blog is the first thing that goes to the wayside). Couple that with some personal and health issues, and the fact that I haven’t been on a “real” vacation since 2018 (one that wasn’t a writer’s retreat, which is fun, yes, but also, work)… I’m burned out. It’s time for what I think of as a hard reset. No writing, no editing, no work of any kind, no THINKING about writing, editing, or work of any kind. After polishing and subbing one last short story before I shut everything down, it’s brain erasure time, people!

So, I’m off to visit my friend Michele in Florida, and we have a whole week of NOTHING planned. The pool, lunch at a Tiki bar with a fellow writer (okay, we’re doing some Insta/promo pix, but we’ll be drinking while we do it, so that’s not work except making sure I don’t look like a slob), and other than that, hanging out. Except for maybe an airboat ride to fossil hunt if the weather cooperates (and if we don’t just decide that doing nothing is better on that particular day).

I will have some VERY big announcements I haven’t yet made here on the blog because I’ve been too busy to get to it, so there’s a chockablock of good news coming your way.

Stay tuned, have a great week, and see you on the flip!

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7 HAS BURST ONTO THE SCENE!

IT’S RELEASE DAY!! I’m thrilled to announce that 34 Orchard ISSUE 7 is here! Heralding the coming of spring and the concept of the fresh start, Issue 7 has another winner from Nigeria’s Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí (Issue 1’s “Christmas Chicken,” about which we STILL get mail!) and a few other 34O alums, as well as work by others familiar and brand-new.

Plunging into the visceral rip tides of lost love, medieval history, personal agency, folklore, witchcraft, grief, motherhood, and so much more—and rendered in everything from magical realism to soft science fiction, horror, and literary—there’s something for every taste!

Get your free copy here: https://34orchard.com/issue-7/

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7 SAMPLE COVER

Once again, our ToC:

Cover Art: Optic Nerve – Page Sonnet Sullivan

An Old Romantic – Mark Towse

Little Monster – Elin Olausson

The Doe – Brandon McQuade

Wildfire – Alexandra Provins

The Flute – Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí

The Perimeter of Others – Marie-Andrée Auclair

Simulacrum Vehemens – Remo Macartney

Twenty Birthdays with You – Karen Cline-Tardiff

Penelope Learns to Weave a Double Helix – Shelly Jones

The Squealing – McLeod Logue

Where’s Lucy? – W.T. Paterson

The Procedure – Jeff Adams

poisoned earth – Corey Niles

There Is No Tomorrow – David H. West

The Triple G – Gregory Jeffers

I Once Worked There – Christian Hanz Lozada

The Last Day – Elaine Pascale

The Choice – Jenna Moquin

With the Turbulent Flow …  – Angi Shearstone

The Shrine of Saint Amandus – Rex Burrows

How to Make a Vase – Kieran Thompson

A look at MoMA’s CRAFTING DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO exhibit

Crafting Pinocchio exhibit entrance

I’ve been so overwhelmed and deep into projects I’ve barely had time to breathe—but even though there’s light at the end of the tunnel, the burnout is real.

My friend Kristina and I, along with our friend Brigid, had planned a trip into New York City to see the Crafting del Toro’s Pinocchio exhibit this past Saturday, and it turned out to be Read the rest of this entry

HAPPY EASTER!

From our house to yours, we hope that whatever holiday you’re celebrating today–or even just the coming of spring–is wonderful and magical!

Cute Easter Bunnies 2023

Kristi, Charles, Nathan, and Mikey the Cat

Announcing the ToC for 34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7, SPRING 2023 – Coming April 25!

I’m thrilled to announce the Table of Contents for 34 Orchard Issue 7, Spring 2023! Heralding the coming of spring and the concept of the fresh start, Issue 7 has another winner from Nigeria’s Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí (Issue 1’s “Christmas Chicken,” about which we STILL get mail!) and a few other 34O alums, as well as work by others familiar and brand-new.

34 ORCHARD ISSUE 7 SAMPLE COVER

Plunging into the visceral rip tides of lost love, medieval history, personal agency, folklore, witchcraft, grief, motherhood, Read the rest of this entry

Enjoy 34 ORCHARD Issue 4’s cover? Take a gander at the artist’s other work!

If you enjoyed Issue 4 (Autumn 2021)’s cover art—Walter H. Von Egidy’s The Ghosts of the Fair—then you’ll enjoy this post, where you’ll get to see some of his other work.

His 34 Orchard bio:

Walter H. Von Egidy (Cover Art/The Ghost of the Fair) is an American artist, painter and film maker known for his Super 8 photoplays and enamel/oil paintings.

He has had his work exhibited at Gallery 13, The Burnham Library, Housatonic Art League and the White Silo. He has seven finished portrait commissions and private and public collections including a portrait of composer Franz Waxman at Byrd Library, Syracuse University. His work has won first place at various film festivals including the United States Super 8 Film Festival at Rutgers University. He is the owner of New Milford Sign Shop and Von’s Studio. Most recently, his painting “Saturday Night in the Caverns” was chosen as the cover for writer Bob Deakin’s collection, Unruly Mix (Tales of Music, Artists, Posers and Misfits. You can see more of Walter’s work and contact him at www.walterhvonegidy.com.

Welcome Sign - Walter H. Von Egidy exhibit

Every March, Von Egidy holds an exhibit of his works—many of them new—at the Burnham Library in Bridgewater, Connecticut. It’s always a stellar event, with many people we know from town as well as a chance to enjoy Walter’s work up close. One thing about his art—it’s Dali-esque, it’s colorful, and there’s always a good bet you’ll find a piece that speaks to you.

 

Colorful Wall 1

Colorful Wall 2 Read the rest of this entry

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