Tough One

This one was hard on me, both in reading, formatting, and trying to find an image.

Jim Wisneski's sensitive and tragic story, "A Pile of Dinners" is about an Alzheimer's victim and a family member who has had to live with the horrible changes that the disease causes.

I don't think I did the story justice, but my all-too-recent experience with my mother's decline into Alzheimers made it hard to work with.

Almost a Cover Image

Me, not keeping a clear line of communication open, and he, not keeping track of Upcoming Issues, well, Jonathan Scott and I did not know that I was cobbling up a cover image to go with his story, nor did we know in tandem that he already had a graphic to go with it.

"Ever So Slightly Mangled" is a fine representation of a storyteller's art.

I included my illustration in the later part of the text.

Narrative [1]

M.J. Nicholls' cover story, "A Modern Narrative [1]" inspired this bizarre work.

Nicholls' story made me want to run in circles, shout "hahahahahaha" maniacally, whack my head with a stout book, and run into bookstores to risk arrest while madly toppling junk-ass-written best sellers to the floors.

At the same time, I sympathized with the fragility of a writer's ego -- all it takes is one person to hurt that ego so much that it never forgets.

Which is not to say that no one should ever say anything bad about others' writing, not by any means, but ... if you're not supremely confident about your writing (or any other art), mean words do hurt.

Hmm, supremely confident, or ... raking in the big bucks.

Haha!

This one was a lot of fun to do, and I chose a flexible-tip ink pen for the lines.

The illustration is for Dan Mulhollen's poem, "The Man With Red Tights."

Gazpacho, The Dish

So delicious, so nutritious -- Gazpacho.

I modified the recipe a little from the one I received from my friend Melissa 30-some years ago.

Surly Kid

Cover image for Matthew Dexter's story, "Summer School."

I have no idea why the sky ended up looking banded. I didn't try to do that, and Photoshop gave no indication it would happen.

Different Dragonfly!

Then there was this animal, who allowed me to take multiple photos.

Never saw any dragonfly like this in my life. A dragonfly with granny-panties!

This species isn't even supposed to be in this area, according to Bernie's research on the web. I haven't seen it since July 5, but I'll watch for his relatives from now on.

Blue Jay

Okay, get ready for a few posts.

This one was the cover for Mark Lyon's beautifully written, "He Sure Do Want To Fly."

What a story! When I first read it as a submission, I was so moved I couldn't be sure of my opinion. I sent it to Cheryl, our Poetry Editor and Voice of Reason. She, too, was impressed, and I sent Mark an acceptance letter. In the mean time, Bernie took my printed-out copy with him to work to read, and after he read it, one of his co-workers snitched it from him, becoming so engrossed she hid the manuscript in a bin of parts so that she could read it while she worked!

Yeah, it was a good one.