2012

flax-golden tales: unexpected aftermath of a school bus accident

unexpected aftermath of a school bus accident

The house is one of those beautiful old types with creaking doors and long dark hallways that looks like it should be haunted but it isn’t. The realtor assured us as much when we moved in, even showed us the historic records. I think she did it mostly to prove there were no records of any deaths occurring within the house’s walls despite its age.

We didn’t have any strong beliefs about ghosts one way or another, so we bought the house more concerned with the plumbing and the electrical system than anything else.

In retrospect I wish we’d at least thought to inquire about the yard.

We started seeing them not long after we moved in. Little glimpses of bright white shadows caught through windows or out of the corner of eyes while on the front walk or out in the garden.

They’re small. They like to play games, like hide-and-seek or ring-a-ring o’ roses.

At first they’d disappear if they saw us looking, but lately they’ve been lingering and I have a feeling once all the boxes are unpacked and they know we’re going to stay a while they might ask us to play.

 

About flax-golden tales. Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.

By erin, ago

happy nanowrimo!

Happy November! November is National Novel Writing Month!

I am not going to write a long involved post about NaNoWriMo. I will instead say a few short things and give you links to long involved things that I have written about NaNoWriMo before.

Here are the short things:

  • The Night Circus did indeed begin life as a NaNoWriMo project. In fact, the *idea* for the circus turned up unexpectedly in a NaNo project the year before.
  • I have not participated properly myself since ’09, though I’d love to do it again sometime. I did a single day of solidarity last year and wrote 5k or so. I am considering taking a handful of days in November and seeing what I can manage.
  • I do not and will not ever understand the general anti-NaNo sentiment that crawls around the internet, hissing, this time of year. I understand not liking that people query NaNovels on Dec 1 (there’s a lot about that in one of the linked posts below) but the general dislike for it baffles me. It encourages people (like me) who might not have actually sat down to write otherwise to sit down and write.
  • To reiterate: I cannot fathom disparaging anything that encourages storytelling. Yeah, I bolded that, even.
  • To all of you 2012 NaNo-ers, I salute you. I wave flags of encouragement and wish you happy writing and delicious snacks that don’t make your fingers sticky for ease of typing and I hope you surprise yourself over the next 30 days.

And here are links to things:

Happiest of Happy Autumnal Novembers to everyone, because I am all about the happy-wishing lately.

By erin, ago

happy hallowe’en!

So tonight I was actually supposed to be in London but instead this afternoon I was virtually in London thanks to the wonderment that is Skype. It went fairly well even though it was very odd from my end because I couldn’t see the audience and Audrey was a lovely disembodied voice, though I suppose it would have been weirder if I could have seen myself all giant and looming over everything.

Not to give too much of a peek behind the curtain, but I was sitting here and y’all were pretty much on my stove:

And I really did meant to carve my pumpkin but I got all distracted with the lovely conversation and I forgot. Which was good because when I did carve it afterwards it shook the whole table rather loudly and also it took me ages to carve even a fairly simple design so it was likely for the best.

Now it is all proper All Hallow’s Evening here and I have wine which I will raise later in a toast to Herr Thiessen which I have done this evening for a few years now and I find it lovely that more people will know what it means this time around. Also there is chocolate and a properly carved pumpkin.

The cloak I am wearing is my favorite Hallowe’en costume which I am glad I got to wear since it wouldn’t have fit in my suitcase as it is floor-length and rather heavy. (It was made, I believe, by a friend of my mother’s sometime in 70’s when such things were acceptable for everyday wear.)

I wish you all a very Happy Hallowe’en, a Blessed Samhain & a Merry NaNoWriMo Eve!

By erin, ago

not in london

A little story about weather and travel:

Last year on October 29th I was supposed to be flying from Toronto to New York and then there was a blizzard. I actually got on the plane which was supposed to land at 1pm, but instead circled and circled and was then diverted to Connecticut and then delayed and then moved to the next day, so then I took a cab in which I thought I was going to die because the roads were so snow-terrible in order to get elsewhere in Connecticut in order to get on a train which then stopped (still in Connecticut) for hours and this is already too long for the little version of this story but it involved tears and kindly Amtrak guys and strangely empty trains crawling toward the city in the dark and getting to my hotel in NYC just before midnight. It was a long, horrible day.

This year on October 29th I was supposed to be flying to London and then there was a hurricane.

I am not in London. I am still in rainy windy Boston. I am now extremely wary of the 29th day of October.

I am sending well-wishes to everyone as the storm continues and cleanup efforts begin and I hope everyone reading this is safe & sound. Especially big well-wishes and hugs to my lovelies in New York and New Jersey. I’m fine and the sun is even peeking out from behind the clouds at the moment.

But, again, I am not in London and I will not be able to get to London before tomorrow’s scheduled event. My flight yesterday was cancelled, of course, and any flights today that actually might depart are booked and truthfully I’d rather those seats go to people who are trying to get home and were previously stranded.

I am truly sorry to not be there for Hallowe’en stories and book signing and chatting with the lovely Audrey Niffenegger. The plan right now is to try to embrace the whole living-in-the-future thing and have me virtually there via Skype though that’s a hopefully and not a definite yet. As far as I know Audrey will be there live and in person though she could be a hologram or other such apparition, I suppose one cannot be certain of such things, especially on Hallowe’en.

I will hopefully get to have a proper London visit without inclement weather at some point in the not-too-far future. And I think I might make some sort of rule about not travelling on October 29th ever again.

By erin, ago

flax-golden tales: long fingers in dark shadows

long fingers in dark shadows

They blend into the shadows but I can see their fingers.

The fingers are easiest to spot, though they can be difficult to distinguish from the tree branches.

I think that’s why they like the trees. Camouflage for limb-branches, gossamer-robe autumn leaves and long, curling finger-twigs.

They rustle the dry leaves when they move in a way that is almost identical to the innocent wind, but if I listen carefully I can tell the difference.

They sound heavier. Heavier and hollow.

I rely more on the sound because they’ve learned how to play tricks on my eyes. They’ll let me catch a glimpse of a hand over my shoulder to make me think they’re farther away when in reality they’re right behind me.

If I’m not careful they reach out and run their fingertips along my spine.

 

About flax-golden tales. Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.

By erin, ago

pumpkin and also places i will be soon

This is the aforementioned fantastic pumpkin that I did not yet have a photograph of when it was mentioned afore, and now I do and you can see what a fantastic pumpkin it is. Also pictured are some pumpkiny friends and a very melty beeswax candle.

The fantastic pumpkin may possibly become a jack-o-lantern but might stay intact and pumpkiny instead.

Partially because the pumpkin will be alone (well, alone with pumpkin friends) for Hallowe’en because I shall be in London. And an unlit jack-o-lantern on Hallowe’en is sad. But my October 31st shall be spent far away from this particular pumpkin reading/conversing/looking fabulous with Audrey Niffenegger at The Prince Charles Cinema. If you are in the London area you should come and wear something dark and decadent and we shall endeavor to be moodily entertaining. I still need to figure out what to wear.

After I get back on this side of the pond I will be heading to Minnesota for Talking Volumes in St Paul on November 9th. You can get tickets on Ticketmaster and I find the fact that you can get tickets for anything involving me on Ticketmaster is strange, though it should be unlike most of my own personal Ticketmaster experiences of refreshing like mad in order to procure tickets to Tori Amos or Florence + the Machine. Perhaps it only works like that for redheads. (Edited to add: I am told you can avoid Ticketmaster entirely and get tickets directly from the Fitzgerald Theater by phone or in person. Remember phones?)

And post-Minnesota I am heading to Toronto for a Read for the Cure event with Vincent Lam and Audrey Niffenegger on November 13th. (I think this season shall live in my memory as the autumn I spent with Audrey Niffenegger.)

And after that I think I am done with airplanes for 2012 which will make me very happy. Also I should be able to hibernate this winter and write a novel, which will be splendid, because the not-yet-novel-shaped thing in my brain badly wants attention. There’s a zombie analogy here I’m not finding, but you probably know what I mean.

By erin, ago