Weekend Fun!

On Saturday we met up with Chris Wegner and his son at a book sale at the Fullerton library.  We exchanged book tidbits and he found a book for Kyle and I found a book for him.  It was quite fun scouting out all the books.  I scored a few.

We then headed over to the Matador and dined on delicious Mexican food.  Kyle and I also rocked our awesome CAS shirts designed by Peter Scartabello!  You can ordered them here.  

On Monday we had the lovely pleasure of seeing Will Hart again and his wife Jean.  They took us to a delicious lunch at the Black Bear Cafe and Will gave us a show of various card tricks.  He also bestowed us with awesome gifts.  He gave Kyle and I both the Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire translated by James McGowan.  He gave me a spare of his favorite Tarot deck, the Druid Craft Tarot Deck, and gave Kyle a MP4 player with over 400 hours, I believe, of audio books.  Kyle and I had a blast.

HWA LA Chapter Meeting

Kyle and I finally were able to go to our first HWA LA Chapter meeting in North Hollywood but first, to kill some time, we visited the Museum of Death.  I was so excited to take Kyle there, for that was his first time, but he didn't have the same level of enthusiasm as me.  I could spend all day in there but Kyle had a shorter attention span.

"Reopened in Hollywood, California, the Museum of Death houses the world's largest collection of serial murderer artwork, photos of the Charles Manson crime scenes, the guillotined severed head of the Blue Beard of Paris (Henri Landru), original crime scene and morgue photos from the grisly Black Dahlia murder, a body bag and coffin collection, replicas of full size execution devices, mortician and autopsy instruments, pet death taxidermy, and so much more!

Also on display are videos of autopsies and serial killers, the Heaven's Gate Cult recruiting video, and the infamous Traces (not Faces) of Death video, all real (not re-enacted) death footage."

It is quite a fascinating museum and I love going any chance I can get.

Afterwards we headed to the meeting where we ran into Kate Jonez, who welcomed us and walked us in.  We sat at a little table across from Nicholas Diak and Michelle and talked for a bit.  We ordered shakes and enjoyed the meeting.  It was awesome to finally meet Facebook friends in real life and even made some new ones.  Robery Payne Cabeen gave me another book of his poems because mine had fallen apart.  I didn't think he'd remember me!  So that was a pleasant surprise.  He also invited us to a Halloween party.  We were invited to submit to a winter holiday antho and as of today, I am officially a HWA supporting member.    

Ellen Datlow's Full Recommended Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven

My poem, Carathis, published in Spectral Realms No. 1 by Hippocampus Press, made it onto Ellen Datlow's Full Recommended Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven!  I am so honored to be among all the great writers on this list!  You can order Spectral Realms No. 1 here as well as a yearly subscription of the journal and/or the rest of the issues.

 

The Will Hart Adventure!

Kyle and I met Will Hart yesterday for the first time and he, and his lovely wife Jean, took us on a crazy, fun, mysterious adventure.  He first presented us with awesome gifts which include HPL bookmarks he made for a con, tape recordings of him reading Fungi from Yuggoth, little Cthulhu pieces, the Annotated H. P. Lovecraft by Leslie S. Klinger, and he gave me a Dunwich Horror movie poster!

He then whisked us away to Porto's, a cafe and bakery, and treated us to a smorgasbord of savory finger foods and delicious sweets and drinks.  It was amazing Cuban food.  So good!  After we waddled out of there, he gave us only hints of where we were going next and ended up seeing the 2nd street bridge in L.A. and the surrounding sound stages that they use to film movies with the bridge in the background.  We then visited the L.A. County Coroner's gift shop and I took home a few goodies! 

We next went to downtown L. A. and visited the Grand Central Marketplace, the Million Dollar Theater, and the Bradbury Building where parts of Blade Runner was filmed.

We had a blast talking about all things Lovecraft, authors, books, movies, cons all through the car rides to each locale.  We also listened to his recording of Fungi from Yuggoth and heard the specially composted music to go with each of the 5 or so sonnets that were recorded so far.  It was amazing.  You can find his readings on youtube on his page here.

Clark Ashton Smith Documentary Interview

Yesterday Kyle and I were interviewed for a Clark Ashton Smith documentary by Darin Coelho Spring.  Darin found out about us through our work in Spectral Realms and after finding out where we lived and that we were a couple, he wanted to interview us on CAS and his poetry.  He told us that he was intrigued that we were both young and fans of CAS and wanted to include that aspect in the film.

(Touching up on my CAS a few weeks prior to the interview.)

We all met at Kyle's house and then from there, we ate lunch at the Matador in downtown Fullerton, which had the most amazing carnitas by the way, and where he gave me the Shadow of the Unattained: The Letters of George Sterling ad Clark Ashton Smith as a gift.  During lunch, we talked about different topics so Darin could get a feel of what to ask during the interview and what we could touch upon.  He also brought us his copies of Spectral Realms for us to sign.

After lunch, we headed to a park where we sat on some autumn-leaf covered stone stairs.  We discussed many fascinating topics.  Let's see if I can remember everything.  We held up Spectral Realms and talked a little about who we are and how we're influenced and/or inspired by CAS and Kyle talked a little bit about his book.  We discussed how Kyle and I's relationship started over poetry and how CAS fit into subject matter and writing and how we share him as a common interest.  I read the Witch with Eyes of Amber and explained why it is my favorite poem and how it's awesome.  I had to read it like 3 times though because I was a tad nervous.  Kyle and I touched upon a few of CAS's stories such as the City of the Singing Flame and the Isle of Torturers.  And I was asked to give my opinion on why women might like reading CAS.  That was a curve ball for me.  I didn't think I'd have to speak for a whole gender.

(Gotta look good for the camera!)

This was an extremely fun and hopefully successful interview (we had some wind that might've affected the sound).  Definitely not bad for our first interview!

I really look forward to seeing this documentary come to life.  Other interviewees include S. T. Joshi, Wilum H. Pugmire, Donald Sidney-Fryer, and Harlan Ellison.

Darin hopes to get this played at the HPL Film Festival and that would be amazing if that happens.