Art: “I Hear America Singing”

Visited the Pizzuti Collection today to see their photography exhibition, “I Hear America Singing: Contemporary Photography from America”. It’s a small exhibit but worthwhile if you’re in the area. The images that particularly struck me related to humans and our impact on the environment and nature, particularly in the American West.

Fascinating to me was that this exhibit was originally created and presented at the national fine art gallery in Amman, Jordan, where it would have explored the themes of diversity within America and our relationship with the land. Here is a link to a description of the exhibition from Ashley Lumb, curator.

Also, it’s such a pleasure to be able to go to art galleries and exhibitions again!

Desert Housing Block, Las Vegas, Nevada by Alex MacLean

I was really impressed by the work of Alex MacLean, Griselda San Martin and Michael Lundgren. Also enjoyed Lucas Foglia’s “Frontcountry” series. I’ve included links to their websites below.

Views from the Arts Festival

Just a couple of images, things I saw from a slightly different angle during last weekend’s Columbus Arts Festival.

A corner of the Cultural Arts Center. Flowers in jewel-colored vases, reflected in a piano.

Main Street Bridge on a blue-sky gorgeous day, 6/11/2022

New Story: “Nightmare”

I’m excited to share that my short story “Nightmare” is live on the NoSleep Podcast’s Sleepless Decompositions feature today. Check out my story and the NoSleep Podcast’s other frightening offerings as they prepare to begin their Season 18 of great stories.

Here’s a link directly to Sleepless Decompositions Volume 9.

Warning, the podcast is for mature audiences only. Stories contain graphic content!

Columbus Arts Festival 2022

The Columbus Arts Festival is back in person on the Columbus riverfront! I love this festival, so that’s good news for me. In addition I’ll be joining several other authors on the Cultural Arts stage at the festival to read from our work. If you’re in the area for this wonderful arts festival, hope you can join us from 3-4 pm on June 11.

Here’s a link to the arts festival website with a lot of information on artists, performances, etc: https://www.columbusartsfestival.org

Hoping for good weather for the weekend!

New Story: Family Curse

I’m excited to share that my short story, “Family Curse”, is live today in the webzine at Dark Recesses Press. Dark Recesses publishes dark fiction and horror in their webzine, which is free to readers. They also publish a quarterly print magazine.

“Family Curse” is at this link. Hope you enjoy the story, and the other great stories at Dark Recesses!

More from the Getty Villa!

It’s one of my favorite places, so on my recent trip to California (my first since the start of Covid in 2020) of course I had to revisit the beautiful Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades. Here are a few random images of art that impressed me inside the building — something different, since I usually focus on the gardens and beautiful views.

An archer made of glazed brick from the reign of Darius I, 522-486 BC. He was one of many decorating the walls of the palace at Susa in Iran. Beautiful colors!

Persian Guard from Persepolis in Iran. 486-465 BC

Awesome and dramatic marble sculpture of Mithras standing on the back of a bull and sacrificing it with a dagger. This Roman sculpture dates from AD 150-200.

Great view of the Outer Peristyle Garden and pool from second floor balcony. It was HOT the day I was there, 95 degrees by noon, and I really wanted to sit in that pool for a while.

The Getty Villa is smaller and more serene than the big Getty Center museum in Los Angeles. Here’s a link to their website for info about visiting. If you’re in the area it’s worth a visit!

“Blood on the Blade” Available!

The new anthology Blood on the Blade from Flinch Books is now available in paperback or as a Kindle ebook! My story, “The Sorceress Maiz”, is one of ten sword-and-sorcery tales about warriors fighting dark sorcery, spell casters, and conjurers who have only power and evil as their goal.

From the Amazon listing: “BLOOD ON THE BLADE chronicles the adventures of these savage yet noble warriors as they stand against conjurers and spellcasters who practice dark magic in their pursuit of power, their lust for fortune, and their demonic desire to watch the world burn. And when it all unfolds, you have a front-row seat for the mayhem and carnage.”

Blood on the Blade is available on Amazon today!

Holiday Extravaganza!

More than 40 authors (including me) will be participating in the Holiday Extravaganza sponsored by Strong Women, Strange Worlds. Live Quick-Reads and round-robin Speed-Date-a-Book events on Zoom (Dec 12) will be accompanied by other December events across the Internet!

Find a new favorite author — discover a new book for yourself or for gifting — even win a free ebook or other prizes in this event. The live readings on Dec 12 will be accompanied by micro-fiction contests on Twitter and other events on Instagram and Facebook.

More updates to come! This online event is free, but you need to register at this link.

Blood on the Blade Cover Reveal

I’m excited to share the cover of the new Sword & Sorcery anthology from Flinch Books! This action-packed cover is by Mark Wheatley. I’m one of ten authors with short stories in the anthology, which will be released later this month. Here is a link to the Flinch Books Facebook page for the full announcement!

Pumpkins Aglow!

A few pictures from the Franklin Park Conservatory’s Pumpkins Aglow! event. We arrived when it was still light but ahead of the rains, so it was a win.