Night at Bull Dog Pub

 

This is me as a mafioso

NOIR STORIES AT HALLOWEEN

 

There were seven of us writers reading stories at the British Bulldog Pub on Halloween night. I read “Waitiing at the Back Door,” a story about a woman who has a major-time grudge against her sister.

 

Phil Lenski stole the show with a story about parishioners in a church who are concerned about the drop in attendance. Only gradually do you realize the church members are all vampires.

 

I dressed as a mafioso and was the only author in costume. One reason I love Halloween is the fun of dressing up and becoming somebody else for a night. My dream is to have a Halloween party only for persons in costume.

 

Today I worked in the house, packed away Halloween and took out Thanksgiving. I’m doing lots of stuff but not much writing. 

 

 Photo L to Rt. Raegan Teller, Paula Benson, 

Irene Stern, Phil Lenski, Carla Damron, Warren Moore, and me.

 

Noir @ the Bar

 

WHAT'S THAT IN YOUR EAR?

 

Ever feel like there's a spider in your ear? Ever feel a bony finger on your neck or hear somebody groan under your bed? Come to Noir @ the Bar Thursday night and you'll get an earful.

 

Eight writers will be reading Halloween-like stories. Is there a difference between a tense story and a scary one? Doug described my story for Thursday night as tense, not necessarily scary. It wasn’t my first attempt at writing a Halloween story. I put a ghost, bloody teeth, freaky noises, and crawly moonlight together in a story thinking it would be scary. It wasn’t.

 

To get blood-curdling ideas to inspire me, I watched Halloween movies on Prime. The only thing I saw was blood and gore, which is supposed to be frightening, I guess, but that doesn’t scare me. Just makes me wonder who watches those movies.

 

The story I’ll read aloud Thursday is about siblings, neither of them stellar characters, but one has a grudge against the other that leads to, well…come to the British Bulldog Pub.

 

Readings start at 7:00 PM, but if you plan to order food, that’s available 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm. Here’s the author list and the order of readings:

1) Phil Lenski

2) Cathy Blake

3) Irene Stern

4) WarrenMoore

5) Paula Benson

6) Bonnie (ME)

7) RaeganTeller

8) CarlaDamron

 

British Bulldog Pub is located at 1220 Bower Parkway, Columbia, SC (near Columbiana). I’d love to see you there!

 

 

Newberry Harvest Festival

 Newberry Harvest Festival

$40 entry includes 10 wine samples

Next weekend (Oct. 12), I’ll have a tent at the Newberry Harvest Festival (10:30 am – 6:00 pm) at the Enoree River Winery, 1650 Dusty Rd, Newberry, SC.

 

Actually, this might well be called a wine festival with arts&crafts as well as live music (Colton Beasley & The Mad Dogs; and Time Pirates).

 

Cost of admission is $40 at the door and this will buy you 10 tickets for wine sampling. Pouring begins at 12:00 noon and ends at 5:30 pm. Youth tickets are $10 but no wine. Under 5 years, free.

 

This is my first venture into appearing at this Newberry festival. I’m looking forward to it! Come by my tent and we’ll taste some wine and talk books.

Cayce Fall Fest

 

I enjoyed talking with readers.

 

SUNSHINE AND SALES

 

We had hot sales at the Cayce Harvest Fest. Sold out of Kedzie, St. Helena Island Slave. Given the modest size of this festival, it draws more traffic than you’d expect. Doug and I wasted no time selling books. Of course, we took turns going to the food kiosks for Cokes, dumplings, and ice cream. One improvement I’d like to see next year is more and better food vendors, or at least one that sells hot dogs and hamburgers.

 

Doug tried out a python at the petting zoo. Lots of kids. Lots of contemporary music. Lots of fun.

 

Doug going too far at the petting zoo

Next weekend (Oct. 12), I’ll have a tent at the Newberry Harvest Festival (10:30 am – 6:00 pm) at the Enoree River Winery, 1650 Dusty Rd, Newberry, SC. Details online:

https://www.lakemurraycountry.com/event/newberry-harvest-festival

 

 

 

Cincinnati Reds lost to Chicago Cubs

SPORTS REPORT

 

I’m not a sports fan, but some knowledge of sports is necessary to participate in family conversations. To give you an idea about how much I understand baseball and football, I know a first-down only happens on a football field and a pop-up only on a baseball diamond.

 

Last weekend I, along with family members, went to a baseball game in Chicago between the Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds. My son and family (from Cincinnati) are avid Reds fans. Doug and I lived in Chicago for about 9 years and we have fond memories of the Cubs. The Cubs won, which put my son and family in a funk.

 

The reason for our visit to Chicago wasn’t the baseball game. Four family members participated in Chicago’s Half Marathon. All of them ran with success. I walked my legs off trying to meet our runners on the marathon route and cheer them on.

 

Runners in Chicago Half Marathon

Runners now have GPS trackers which allow us to see their exact location, well, that’s the claim. However, the tracking device for runners in the Chicago race was unreliable, and my daughter-in-law and I had trouble finding our runners. At the Iceland Marathon in August a better GPS device was available, which was accurate and easy to use.

 

Doug and I are home after driving from Cincinnati to Lexington, SC. The storm Helene washed out sections and downed trees on Interstate 40, which was closed east of Knoxville to Interstate 26 near Hendersonville. Detours in the mountains meant bumper to bumper traffic on two-lane highways. It's rumored that Interstate 40 through the Smoky Mountains will be closed for years for repairs.

 

Though I live in South Carolina I missed Hurricane Helene because of our trip to Cincinnati and then to Chicago, IL. However, when we got home, a 60-foot tree had been blown down in our back yard.

 

 

barnyard lowbrow

"SLOP"

Some words give you an idea of what they mean, aside from describing sounds. I’m not talking about onomatopoeia (words such as buzz or boom). I mean words that hint at their definition. Take for example doldrums. It sucks at the back of your throat and shreds off traces of optimism. Or flimflam, which is flippant on your lips, a signal that it’s surface-deep and likely to deceive. Or quirky, which brings a pout to your lips and makes you think of something stretching off somewhere beyond your mouth.

 

What I’m getting to is slop. Judging by the sound, it could be something to stick to the bottom of your shoe and stink up the place. Well, that’s not exactly proving my point. Slop, as any farmer in the 20^th Century could tell you, is food for hogs and it contains scraps from the kitchen, cooked and uncooked.

 

I wrote a poem about slopping the hogs and Main Street Rag has published it (Vol 29, Number 1, Winter 2024) though it’s not yet posted on their website. The poem, “Barnyard Lowbrow” is facetious while describing a moment of recognition that life includes multifarious forms, more than just human, and is better for it.

 

In the same issue is Mark Brazitis’ short story “In the Midnight House,” which begins in an adult-care home where death seems superficial and memory loss sabotages reality. Though you’d think it would be depressing, somehow Brazitis keeps the tone upbeat.

 

The winter issue is not yet available online, but check back in to get a copy. Here’s the link https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/ 

Upcoming issue Winter 2024

 

 

Iceland

 

Shops snag tourists like me.

COOLING OFF IN ICELAND

 

A vacation in Iceland is worth the mortgage you’ll need to pay for it. The landscape of lava fields with tails of steam escaping from the ground will give you an idea what it’s like to be on another planet.

 

I was in Reykjavik last Saturday for the annual Culture Night, though it’s actually a Culture Day and Night. In the morning, my husband Doug ran the half-marathon and son Jason ran the full marathon—nice weather but the previous day was 45 degrees and rainy with winds up to 45 mph. 

Doug, Jason, and me after race

This was my second visit to the Reykjavik Art Museum, and I’d love to see what they’ll do next time I’m there. On this visit I experienced a black-out room with sounds and suggestive lights, the art of Jonsi. On a previous visit, I was puzzled by a brush pile on a gym-like floor until, by watching it, I discovered it was moving very slowly. Some people may question whether this is art, and the approach is unusual, but can’t art be an experience that makes you conscious of your own perceptions?

Dried fish heads at the Maritime Museum

 Our reservations at the Blue Lagoon (a geothermal pool) were cancelled due to the nearby eruption of a volcano, so we went to the Sky Lagoon, which is less well known but even more interesting. The abundance of underwater springs of hot water provides most of Iceland’s energy needs. 

 

If you're interested in architecture, Harpa is where you'll find an innovative construction.

Sister Nila and Jason at Harpa

Before returning to 90 degree weather in SC, we visited Snaefellsjokull National Park. Remote living exists here.

So do mountains, streams, waterfalls, and lava caves; much coastline with black beaches. However, there are no trees.

Doug at a black beach

We visited a black beach that was littered with wrecked metal that had washed ashore from boats that sank. 

 

The few trees you'll see are beautiful even if the leaves seem to be shivering in the cold air.

Note to my readers - the different fonts you'll see here are presents from Google, not by my choice.

 

Book Giveaway

 SIZZLING SUMMER DEAL

 

Ground is so hot in SC you can’t even go barefoot. Summer’s sizzling at a 100 degrees almost every day and I have a deal for you!

 

I’m working on a revised edition of Dust on the Bible, which should be released in a couple of months. In the meantime, I have five extra copies of the current edition. If you’re among the first five persons interested in a free copy (yes, FREE!) and fill in the “Contact Me” form on my website (link below), I’ll mail you a copy. Be sure to provide an address where you can receive the book.

 

(http://www.bonniestanard.com/contact.html)

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Dust on the Bible begins in the fall of 1944 and comes to a close the following spring, as WWII is ending. Lily’s father is not a part of her extended family, and she makes little headway in finding out why. A tangled history unfolds as we learn the particulars of the marriage between Lily’s mother and father and the complex emotional tension that has persisted as a consequence. In the meantime her anxiety about death leads to a muddled belief in God which results in her joining and unjoining the church. Lily’s family have little education but they have wisdom that comes with experience.

 

UNDER THE BOARDWALK

Doug and I will get together with our family at Myrtle Beach, SC, at the end of July for a week’s vacation. As a comment on how families live any more, we’ll have relatives coming from London, England; Rome, GA; Augusta, GA; and Cincinnati. Given the new houses going up at the beach, you have little trouble finding one with six bedrooms. SO we’ll all be in one house. My favorite time/place is on the beach when the sun goes down.

 

Only God can make sunsets like this.

Two Enduring Movies

 MY LIFE AS A DOG

 

“My Life as a Dog” just became one of my favorite movies. Since Doug hadn’t seen it, I couldn’t wait to watch it a second time with him for a double-dose of enjoyment. It is currently streaming on Prime. 

 

My Life as a Dog is in the Criterion Collection

Doug was restless and could hardly make it to the concluding credits. What is to me a realistic movie that captures the strength and creativity of a youth in calamitous circumstances was to Doug a melancholy movie about a boy with no home. It made him sad.

 

“My Life as a Dog” inspired me and reminded me that genius filmmakers exist (or have existed), though you might not think so, given the usual pablum showing at Columbiana. This is a Swedish movie released in 1987. Some things never grow old.

 

Another movie about a boy that makes no notice of the passing of time is “Empire of the Sun,” as meaningful today as when it was made in 1984. It also has sadness, but this underscores a boy’s courage and endurance in the face of everyday disasters.

 

The spirit of these two protagonists is meaningful today. Rather than become victims of harrowing circumstances beyond their control, Ingemar (in My Life as a Dog) and Jamie (in Empire of the Sun) tackle the circumstances of their life as best they can and never lose hope.

 

Pelion High School Alumni

 PHS Alumni & 2024 Scholarship 

Friday at the Pelion High School Awards Program I presented the Alumni Scholarship to Senior Dylan Wright, who has an outstanding school record. He’s planning to go to USC and become a teacher of music education. His smile on approaching the podium so pleased me I almost forgot to give the certificate to him.

 

The PHS Alumni Association has been around since 1996. There were times when we met at the Pelion Community Center. In the photo are supporters, some names I don’t remember. Back row are Joe Dean Craft, Stella Eargle, Rev. Redmond, Farroll Gunter, Miriam Poole, Carolyn Wise. Those sitting were from Swansea and attended many of our meetings.

Alumni meeting at Pelion Community Center

We held rummage sales to raise money for the scholarship, which is also funded by donations from alumni.  Miriam Poole helped at a sale we held at the crossroads in 2003.

 

Miriam Poole at rummage sale

The Alumni Scholarship is in honor of three Pelion educators who inspired generations of students. Principal Roy Nichols, Teacher/Principal Ruth Nichols, and math teacher Ruth Gunter. 

Ruth and Roy Nichols

Ruth Gunter

We organized several reunions. These photos are from the 2002 reunion, which was held at the school. Too many names to try to list them all, but maybe you’ll recognize some of them.

Class of 1956

 

Class of 1959

 

red-faced ranting

 

Me, this morning

RANT ON PUBLISHERS

Sometimes you just have to rant to keep your sanity. My sanity has been put to the test by my publisher's questionnaire regarding the upcoming release of a fiction book. In the list of questions:

 

1) List any potential reviewers, publications, and media outlets that you can contact who might be willing to publish a review, article, or announcement about your book.

 

2) List libraries, booksellers, and other venues who may host a book event for you.

 

3) you’ll need to talk about your book to groups and individuals, market your book on your website, social networks, and by other methods.

 

PROVIDE YOUR OWN MARKETING

Maybe I’m overreacting, but my impression is that the publisher isn’t just asking for assistance in marketing my book, it’s asking me to do all the marketing. From my previous experience, none of my publishers called me regarding a possible appearance or a possible interview or book signing. Not once.

 

INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER DILEMMA

The publisher here is a small independent publisher, which is where any unknown writer has an outside chance of getting their book published. Though independent publishers may be struggling to survive in a commercial environment that is toxic, to cut costs by cutting marketing is self-defeating, not just for their authors but for their own financial well being.

 

DO I HAVE FANS?

Do publishers realize that first time authors don’t have fans? We don’t belong to a hundred organizations. We don’t hobnob with literati. We don’t host socials. We have no clout.

 

CLOUT IS THE ISSUE

Publishers have clout, if they choose to use it. Who is more likely to get a book signing scheduled at Barnes & Noble—me (an unknown person) or a publisher (even an unknown one)? The mere fact that a publisher makes the call provides legitimacy, one that no beginning author can muster regardless of how wonderful the book.

 

LONG TERM EFFECT

When publishers cut the marketing department from the budget, their bottom line will look good in the short term, but the long term consequences are dismal. Publishers can only thrive if their authors thrive. And emerging authors can only thrive with marketing support from publishers.

 

An even more disappointing consequence is that some of the most creative and talented writers do not have a chance to reach an audience (despite enthusiastic promises from the self-publishing sector). We’ll blaze no new literary trails given the current environment.

 

 

 HEADING FOR ST. MATTHEWS

 

Me and my booth last time

 

Hope there’s sunshine tomorrow (Saturday, Apr. 20), unlike today. I’m packing books, tent, posters, tablecloths, and other stuff to go to St. Matthews for the Purple Martin Festival.

 

St. Matthews is a typical small Southern town. It dates back to the 1730s. Think about it, that means it began before the Revolutionary War when we were governed by the British (a little perspective). It’s the birthplace of athletes and actors, e.g. Viola Davis, Alshon Jeffery, Eartha Kitt.

 

 

 

Me and the Purple Martin mascot

TAKE A WALK IN THE SUNSHINE

 

Come to see the car show, carnival rides, festival food, but most of all, come by my tent and let’s visit. I’ll be signing and selling my books and talking about writing.

 

Saturday, April 20
Happening: Purple Martin Festival
Location: Calhoun County Courthouse Grounds
Address: 606 F R Huff Drive
City: Saint Matthews, SC
Time: 11 am – 6 pm

 

St. Matthews is about 40 miles south of Lexington, SC (before you get to Orangeburg).

See some really cool cars...

 

You may ask, Why is it called the Purple Martin Festival? Actually St. Matthews is on the path of the birds’ migration from Brazil to eastern USA, a route of some 7,000 miles. This year, the first Purple Martins spotted in SC were in Hanahan in February. They are the largest species of swallow and eat billions of flying insects. Once common in our area, they have been disappearing, have been reduced by one-third in the last 50 years.

 

I hope you’ll stop by the Festival that honors Purple Martins!

 

 

Meet the Authors Day

MEET ME IN AIKEN, SC

An in-person event to meet and greet local published authors! Mingle with writers, rub elbows, find out what’s happening next Saturday, March 2, in Aiken, SC from 11:00 am until 4:00 pm. I’ll be there, as well as 28 other authors. The address is 1310 E. Pine Log Road. Would love to see you with us at “Meet the Authors Day.”

 

Steve Gordy has scheduled a day of activities including round table chats, author readings, and panel discussions. I’m looking forward to the panel “The Present and Future of Writing.” Much controversy today about AI’s impact. Some people think computers will do our writing in the near future. In fact, you can already buy novels on Amazon that have been written by computers. Something to talk about! That panel is on at 11:45 am.

 

If you’ve been thinking about taking up writing, you may like “I Want To Be a Poet. How Do I Get Started?” Panel discussion at 1:00 pm.

 

Aiken is what I think of as “small town America,” in a good sense—A main street worthy of a movie setting and numerous restaurants and cafes. A visit to the Aiken Antique Mall will give you an impression of what our past was like.