I am super big on party favors. I always tell myself I’m not going to do them, but then I always do–when I was a kid, the TRULY magical part of any friend’s party–as well as my own–was the goody bag. I decided to print photos of some of the “monsters” in the book, and this way, each guest would get to “take a monster home.”

A close-up of the party favors. The green photo behind the sign is kudzu overtaking a home–the kudzu is the monster in the story “Under the Kudzu.” To the right is a piranha with a cigarette in his mouth–you’ll learn more about that monster in the tale “Attempted Delivery.”

Copies of THE SHADOWS BEHIND (if you’re wondering, I did sell out of all of these, which was a total surprise, actually), surrounded by the guest book and a few photos of the monsters readers will meet in the stories in the book.

These little “baby hand” cookies Becca made are my favorites. Totally creepy!

These hand cookies were pretty cool, too. I was completely surprised by these–I had thought, from the photo Becca sent me, that she was only making the square book cover cookies. This was a thrill to see!

My sister-in-law, Becca, made these lovely cookies for the event. She is very talented and spent HOURS making them. She is amazing!

I always put candy around where people will be sitting at my parties. Great use of accoutrements!

The basic theme of this party, from the beginning, was black and white. I bought white table cloths and decided to dress them up with hearts cut from black oak tag, symbolizing, as in many of the stories, that monsters can come from inside us. I crossed this with palms to represent the tropical foliage present in the Congo, which is where Conrad’s HEART OF DARKNESS is set. Some of the major themes in HEART OF DARKNESS match themes in my stories. I don’t know. It sounds like a mess, but in my mind, it worked.

Decoration for the bar table.

We had quite the spread! When I throw larger parties like this, I cater from my local supermarket, Shop Rite. Their food is AWESOME. In the foreground is what they called a Mezze Platter, although for the purposes of clarity I called it Mediterranean Delight on the placecard.

The bar table.

At 17, my cat Poe has certainly seen his share of parties! Photo by Heather Tierney.

My husband, Nathan, co-wrote the short story “Deconstructing Fireflies” with me, and he signed each copy of the book on the story’s opening page. Here, he takes a moment to flip through a copy; he hadn’t had a chance yet to really look at the books.

My cousin Maryanne was the model for the protagonist in “Attempted Delivery,” so her party favor was a photo of the “monster” from that story.

My cousin, sister and I were messing around taking photos before everyone arrived. Don’t ask me what my sister is trying to do. I think it’s supposed to be some kind of elaborate photo bomb.

Me and my friend Heather from college (at URI). We have known each other nearly 30 years, and she came all the way from Baltimore to celebrate with me.