Vampire Posts Extravaganza

Hi, "Make Mine Mystery" readers!

I want to thank Morgan Mandel for inviting me to be part of the writer's team here at M3. I am more of a spiritual/inspirational author, but a BIG lover of and a well-read fan of the mystery book genre, so hopefully my input here will be of some benefit and entertainment for all concerned. I am also working on a new novel that is a comedic detective whodunit with soft underlying spiritual messages, so there is some nifty overlap between the genres in that work. More on that as the work draws toward publication.

Yesterday was of course Halloween. If you'd like to get your belated fill of lots of really great and creative Halloween and vampire posts, many of which you may not have been aware of, try bopping over to this post at My Friend Amy's Blog. Amy is a marvelous marketing blogging socialite maven and she started this wonderful literary holiday Halloween festival. Great stuff.

Also, if you missed my entry in the frolicking fanged-creature fray, you can read my original vampire story I wrote and posted yesterday by clicking on its title below. It's an example of the cross-over genre novel I'm working on that I mentioned above, with the main character featured, in the rollicking, ghoulish, frightful and funny story-

Detective Snoop and the Case of the Selfish Thirsty Vampire.

That's it from Transvestite today. Enjoy! I gotta jet.


Marvin D Wilson, author of:
I ROMANCED THE STONE(Memoirs of a Recovering Hippie)
And
OWEN FIDDLER (A Modern Day Parable)

Bwah-ha-ha-ha

Well, the little trick or treaters will be here soon -- both of them! We have the pumpkin carved into a jack-o-lantern and set where they'll see it as soon as they enter. We have a selection of candy and McDonald's coupons for them! We're in the country, and although there are a few youngsters on the road, I think they all go into town to trick or treat with their friends, or at their relatives' homes!

Our god-children have always come, though, and they're always so cute in their costumes! It makes it worthwhile getting everything ready.

Libby McKinmer
Romance with an edge
www.libbymckinmer.com
libby@libbymckinmer.com

Happy Halloween!

My favorite time of year and my favorite holiday. It will be a quiet Halloween, watching horror movies with Dave and our friends...pasta shaped like jack-o-lanterns for food, Zombie Zinfandel for wine. I have a spooky skull shaped candy bowl which, if you press the nose, releases a skeletal hand to scrabble in the candy and attack anyone reaching for a piece. This is just in case we have any trick-or-treaters. We probably won't, if last year is any indication...but I can use it on my friends too.

I enjoyed reading the other Halloween posts today about trick-or-treating experiences when kids used to actually go house to house rather than group together at malls or schools for supervised, 'safe' trick-or-treating. There's something comforting about hanging out (even in cyber space) people who share similar memories and experiences. I will be raising a glass of my Zombie Zinfandel in all of your honors tonight, fellow Make Mine Mystery writers!

Trick or Treat?

Just reminiscing about Halloweens past. One thing that always comes to mind was the care my mother took when I was young to make homemade treats for the trick-or-treaters. My favorite was popcorn balls. Of course, back then you had to really pop the corn (no microwave bag thingies) and she cooked up some syrupy stuff and poured it onto the popcorn and then buttered up her hands and formed the balls. It was hot; we used to swear Mom had asbestos hands. Then we wrapped them in waxed paper and tied a ribbon to hold it closed. Those were the days before the $6 bags of mini chocolate bars; before razor blades were sliced into apples; when kids dressed as ghosts, witches, clowns and hobos instead of Britney, Hannah, the Hulk and Freddie Krueger (and I apologize if I misspelled Mr. K's name, never was a big fan.)

My dad got into the act, too, by donning a scary plastic mask to answer the door. They both got a big kick out of Halloween, and Mom would even keep a pad and pencil near the door to actually keep a tally of how many kids we got. There were usually well over a hundred. I went out, but always got back in time to help answer the door for awhile. I loved that part almost as much as getting the sweet loot.

Sadly, our doorbell hardly rings, despite the colorful pumpkin lights and jack o'lanterns we put out. Our street is a bit isolated, most of the children have grown and moved out. Some folks complain when the trick-or-treaters are teens, but I don't mind at all, as long as they are in costume. My own sons participated into their teens, and I loved that they still cared.

I still dress up myself, matter of fact. It's a natural, I think, for fiction writers to want to step into the role of a character, just for one night.

Have a fun night tonight, mateys!

The Dread Pirate Anne

See my blog for Halloween birthdays!