Here I sit, October 30th, anxious and giddy as most kids get for Christmas. I love Halloween. I always have. Even before I came out of the broom closet as a witch and a Pagan, I loved it. Never for the candy or the costumes (though…hey, free candy and a chance to dress up! Score!) but because I am now and have always been a history geek. And a story geek. I grew up in a haunted house and have lived in them off and on since leaving home. I have heard stories of haints and spooks and specters since…well, forever. I’ve seen ‘em, talked to ‘em and hidden from ‘em. I write about ‘em now, maybe in some attempt to corral the spookies in my head in to some form of order? I know that, as I sit here and finish Wild Hunt and Maxwell’s Demon and work on edits to some short stories, no amount of work can keep my thoughts from turning from the fictional ghosts and demons and things that go bump in the night to the ones that I heard about my whole life and I wonder if those pinpricks on the back of my neck are just my mind playing tricks, or if I have an unseen editor looking over my shoulder, silently critiquing my depiction of what lies across the veil. Even now, writing this, I can feel them peeking in, wondering when I’m getting back to the faeries and wights and leaving the ghosts alone for a bit!

Since it’s Halloween, I thought I’d share with you a classic scary story, one passed down from storyteller to storyteller and can be found in many books on folklore. This is one particularly popular in the South, where I’m from and where my family has lived for several generations, since all sides immigrated here ages and ages ago…

Once, there was a young man walking home from courting his sweetheart some ways away. He got caught in a sudden downpour and decided to hole up for the night in an old, abandoned house. Carefully, he made his way across a rotten old porch, dodged some nasty spider webs and finally managed to get into the old parlor. Furniture stood, dusty and faded, facing the ancient hearth. It took some doing but he managed to get a fire going with the remnants of the woodpile the long-gone owners had left inside. Soon, there was a merry blaze going and he was drying off and warming up. He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew, a small black cat was before him.

“Is Bill here?” the cat asked, surprising the young man and making his heart race.

“Uh… no, he sure ain’t.”

“Mmm.”

The young man could only stare! It must be a dream, he decided, and pinched himself. Nope, he was wide awake! A few moments later, a larger black cat came in and sat down next to the first. “Bill here?” the larger cat asked. “Nope, said the first. Not yet.” The young man was paralyzed with fear! The cats stared at him with bloodshot, yellow eyes, licking their lips. Soon, a third cat joined, this one big as a hunting dog. “Bill here yet?” it asked. “Nope,” the first two replied. “Mmmm…” Now three cats were staring, licking their lips, waiting… A fourth cat lumbered in, it’s steps so heavy it shook the floor. This cat was the size of a pony! It shook dust off it’s fur and smelled of blood and the grave, it’s eyes big as dinner plates as it sniffed the young man from head to toe and curled it’s lip. “Bill here?” it rumbled.

The young man shot to his feet and ran out the door. “No! And tell him I couldn’t wait!”

Happy Halloween, poppets!

Marya is the most beautiful woman in the world, but she is cold and hard, though with good reason. Brutalized by her father, bent into the shape of his choosing, she has become her father’s greatest ally and a vicious enemy to any who oppose him. In this story of once-upon-a-time in Russia, Marya sacrifices a young virgin girl on the Solstice of every year. The sacrifice is to Kupalo, to help their crops grow and make their land and bodies fruitful, but the soul of the girl is fed to Marya’s father, Kaschey, the Undead.

Ivan, a young man questing to put an end to the virgin sacrifice, falls in love with Marya at first sight. His gentleness makes Marya believe him a fool, but when she confronts him she finds him a tougher enemy than she imagined. Ivan’s hidden strength – and the forces that aid him – challenge not only her powers, but the very foundation of her beliefs.

To achieve their ‘happily ever after’, Ivan must fail, and Marya must face her darkest desires. Only then will Kaschey’s unnatural power be broken over them all.

Please note: Ivan-and-Marya contains dark sexual and violent situations. It is true to its origins, a tale of terrible love, betrayal, death, and valiant deeds.

Anna Kashina expounds on why she finds the Fool an irresistible character type to work with.

I’ve got a new Faerie Blood character sketch up, about what happens when Jude Lawrence shows up for her first day at work.

David Sklar ruminates on how finding the Fool in yourself is more difficult at forty than at twenty.

Angelia Sparrow has some things to say about the Holy Fool, including a reference to a fine song by S.J. Tucker.

Please come around to all our posts and say hi, you guys! Bonus points if you bring with you a bit of Foolery of your own–and be on the lookout for what we’ll get posted next time. As always, thanks for coming by!

But! This month’s topic, aside from general introductions of various authors, is “best and worst experiences with works in progress”. And this month’s lineup of posts is as follows:

Nora Fleischer is hosting Brandon Bell, with a post right here. Brandon is hosting posts by Sarah Avery and Nora here and here.

Anna Kashina is hosting a post by author Gayleen Froese, here. Gayleen in return is hosting a post by Anna here.

John Rosenman and I are both hosting Hamish MacDonald, a true self-published author. My link for him is here, and John has his version of the post over here. In exchange, Hamish has posts up for both me and John!

Our own David Sklar is exchanging posts with Angelia Sparrow. David’s post on Angelia’s blog is here, and David has Angelia’s post up on his LJ over here.

As always, thanks for reading these posts, y’all, and I highly encourage you to visit all the posts on the tour. Drop comments and say hi, and tell the authors I sent you! We’ll be back again in another month or so, and we hope to expand the scope of where Drollerie authors visit. Watch this space for more details!

(Crossposted between Drollerie Press and angelakorrati.com. Please feel free to comment in either place!)

I’ve now posted on her behalf over here! Do give her a read.

Happy holidays to all and see you in January for our next round of blog posts!

• John Rosenman visits Sarah Avery’s place, and shares with us the tale of a book that cost him two jobs

• Elisa Diehl is hosting David Sklar, who writes of angering his college paper and the birthing of monsters

• Sarah Avery drops by Nora Fleischer’s journal to post about how her first foray into writing was dangerous–to herself

• At Imogen Howson‘s site, Nora Fleischer explains the danger for her of writing paranormal romance: telling others what her story is about

• I’ve got a post from Imogen Howson all about Hades and Persephone and the dangers of how to write for a YA audience

• Heather Ingemar visits John Rosenman with a post about how writing itself is inherently risky

• And lastly, David Sklar hosts me, with a bit about one of my short stories

As always, thank you all for coming by, and we hope you enjoy our posts! More to come in 2010 with the new year!

All you have to do to win the reader is buy a book in our bookstore or register on the blog to download one of the free stories, any time between Dec. 25 at midnight until Jan 5 at midnight US Eastern time. Every download and purchase counts as one entry for the entire 12 days (no more than one download per person per available story). The drawing is open to readers worldwide (void where prohibited), and the drawing will be held on the 6th of January.

And if you’re still shopping for the avid reader, don’t forget that we offer gift certificates in the bookstore, and customizable gift pages with the book of your choice in the download format of your choice. Check out the page on Holiday Giving for more information.

Click here to learn more about the jetBook Lite +/-

Anyone who, between now and November 30, A) Posts in the DP forum (you may need to register to do so, if you are not already a member.  When you register, please also send an e-mail to drollerie_interact@yahoo.com with the words “forum name” in the header and the name you registered in the body of the text) and B) Guesses one of my top two favorite forum posts as DokodemoElisa will be entered in a drawing to win one of two copies of Kinlea Keeper OR (if you can’t wait until the end of November to read Kinlea Keeper) a copy of the Curse, the second book in the series, which will be coming out by February.

HINT: NEITHER of my favorite posts are posted in the Word Association thread.

You can post your guesses along with your forum name as a reply to this post or e-mail it to me at dokodemoelisa@yahoo.com.  Happy forum-going!  -E.G.D.

And without further ado…

Sarah Avery is hosting Heather Ingemar’s post about how her first writing mentor helped her get serious

Nora Fleischer has my own little character vignette about a moment of encouragement in the early life of my heroine from Faerie Blood

On Meredith Holmes’ blog, Heather Parker talks about how a pair of cats and one well-timed remark from her husband gave rise to Middlewitch

Jessica Howe has a guest post from John Rosenman, who wants to give credit to several people who have helped his writing career

Imogen Howson is hosting Catherine Schaff-Stump, who describes her reaction to Sweetest Day

Heather Ingemar has a visit from Fraser Sherman, who sings the praises of people who may surprise you–or not, if you’re a writer yourself

I’ve got Sarah Avery, who tells us about one of the nicest things her husband ever did to assist her writing

At Heather Parker’s blog, Nora Fleischer gives thanks to the first author who ever gave real praise to her work

John Rosenman hosts Meredith Holmes, who thanks several people important to her and her writing efforts

Catherine Schaff-Stump has a post from Jessica Howe, who wants to tell us about the land where her muse has gone to play

And last but not least, Fraser Sherman hosts hosts Heather Ingemar, who finds that Sweetest Day has something in common with her own writing efforts

Thanks again all for reading all our posts. Which, we daresay, is all part of the theme this month!