Last week I saw the new production of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical “Into the Woods.” It is part of this summer’s Shakespeare in the Park and runs through August. The tickets are free BUT they will cost you a boatload of time. The tickets are given out starting at one, but people start lining up before six in the morning. A dear friend of mine got there at a quarter to eight. He had his phone, Kindle App on his iPad and computer with an Internet hotspot to keep him company. He figured out that, at his
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The Worry Monster
It took a while, but the second Candy’s Monster is out in the universe — AKA available on Amazon. Now, I’m facing the “Worry Monster.” What am I worried about? Everything! I’m worried because once again I’ve written something that falls between genres. It’s not a paranormal romance or horror, but what is it? There are comedic elements, but it’s not straight out comedy. It has aspects of psychological suspense, but I wouldn’t characterize it as a suspense novella. There’s definitely a shaggy dog component — two, if you count the shaggy dog in the story. The protagonist’s internal monologue
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Outside the Splash Zone
On Thursday night I went to see “Re-Animator” the musical. It was part of The New York Musical Theater Festival and is on its way to fame and fortune at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The musical was based on the 1985 cult classic film, with a script derived from an H.P. Lovecraft story, which was, in turn, obviously inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Storytellers inspired by other storytellers in a daisy chain of variations on similar themes. The theme of “Herbert West — Reanimator” (H.P. Lovecraft’s 1922 story) is monstrous. The cool and calculating genius medical student, Herbert West, develops
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Grandma’s Favorite Books
Lately, I’ve had some interesting conversations about reading. It’s hard for me to imagine, but some people just don’t read. Some only read magazines and others only read for information. They get zero pleasure from books — electronic or otherwise. I come from a family of readers. I always knew that my father’s mother enjoyed books, but it wasn’t until the other day that I learned the extent and depth of interest in literature. She was born in 1898 and read many of the books I studied in school, and think of as classics, as they came out. My dad
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Room for Monsters
My college roommate was in town this weekend. We’ve stayed in touch for all the intervening years and often compare the differences in how our lives have turned out. She’s an urban planner and handles some dicey zoning issues for the local government in one of the wealthiest counties in the country. She always has great stories about land use controversies and, like any New Yorker, I love to talk real estate. We even saw “Clybourne Park” on Broadway. It’s the Tony-award winning play about race and real estate. There’s a connection between monsters and real estate? Yes, absolutely. The
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The Vampire Next Door has Moved In
Bram Stoker’s Summer Sublet is now available for your Kindle — or other device using the free Kindle Reader App! It’s only .99 all summer. http://www.amazon.com/Stokers-Summer-Sublet-Monsters-ebook/dp/B008K7E394 My regular blogging will resume as soon as I catch my breath. I’ve been chasing a vampire around Greenwich Village for days. Time to kick back and relax with a good ebook.
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Monsters Lurk is Plain Sight
Other than the MONSTROUS heat wave turning New York City into a large oven, I didn’t think I’d encounter any MONSTERS over the weekend, but…. Surprise, surprise, MONSTERS lurk in plain sight. On Saturday, I was having lunch with a friend after we attended a daytime Tango dance. We went to a very nice Spanish restaurant on 19th Street. This time of year a salad and a glass of white Sangria is the perfect weekend lunch. We sat at the bar because the bartender is very nice and seems to know when to chat and when to walk away and
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Short Story Madness
Any good athletic trainer will tell you to mix it up. Fitness isn’t about doing the same thing every day. If you always run, get on a bike or go swimming. Writing is very similar. Mixing it up stretches and strengthens your creative muscles, while enabling you to experiment with voices, styles and genres. If a novel is a marathon and a novella is 10K, short stories are sprints and, sometimes, tricky obstacle courses. Writing a lot of short stories is boot camp. I LIVE in writer boot camp. I write a lot of short stories. For years I’ve posted
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Strange is the New Normal
One of the best ways to frame a scary story is to set it in a completely “normal” environment. Everyone expects a ghost in the attic of an old house, but it’s weird when one shows up in the garage adjacent to a suburban ranch or in a Starbucks. It’s the contrast between the NORM and the EXTRAORDINARY that makes the weirdness click. But what happens when you live where strange is normal? You have to get creative. What do I mean by strange? Well how would you describe a man casting his fly fishing rod on 12th Street between
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