Yesterday evening my wife and I moseyed on down to the library in Erie, CO to listen to a talk by Kevin Hearne, author of the Iron Druid series.
Kevin Hearne on the right. Yours truly on the left. Like you couldn’t figure that out. Photo cred: Kate Ford
We had a great time. Mr. Hearne didn’t go with a set script, instead prompting the audience (about a dozen people, I guess—I didn’t count heads) for questions about writing in general and his writing in particular. And so he talked about Iron Druid, and his writing style; and people asked about how he came up with his characters and settings. He often went off-topic, telling us about things that happened while researching his books. I could have listened all evening. If you ever get a chance to catch one of his talks, do.
It was entertaining and educational (I definitely learned a couple of things, particularly about how developing a character can automatically create story—something I’m taking to heart as I develop my currently untitled WiP).
Check out Kevin Hearne’s web site for details about forthcoming events (including signing tour dates for Staked, the eighth Iron Druid story).
NEDERLAND, Colorado—which is about fifty miles from our home—has a yearly celebration based around a bizarre but true story involving a Norwegian guy, frozen solid and kept in a Tuff Shed right there in Nederland. I won’t go into the details but you can read all about it here.
We first heard about this whole thing a few years ago and we’d planned on being there sometime. Yesterday the subject came up and we wondered if maybe we’d missed it (again). And it turned out that it was happening, this weekend. It was a bit late to think about going up there yesterday, so we decided to leave it until today. Accordingly, this morning, early, we hit the road.
The road to Boulder
Being there on the Sunday we probably missed some of the real highlights, but there was still much fun to be had. Highlights…
Breakfast at Dot’s Diner. I had the ham and swiss cheese omelet with hash browns and sourdough toast, and it was superb. They make a damned good cup of coffee, too.
Paid a visit to Blue Owl Books. Lovely little bookshop that also sells coffee. The mocha is made using their own hot fudge, and it’s yummy.
The Frozen T-shirt contest was a hoot. Contestants are given a t-shirt that’s been folded up and deep-frozen. First one to get theirs opened up where they can get get it over their head and arms wins.
Turkey bowling: Six bowling pins, a “lane” made of snow, and frozen turkeys. It’s not as easy to hit the pins as you might think. All the same one guy scored two strikes—I suspect more by luck than judgement.
We took off after that. We would have stayed longer, but I think we’d seen most of the Sunday events by that time and in any case we were both feeling the effects of the altitude, I think. (Nederland is at around 8,200ft elevation). A couple of short stops on the way home to get a picture of the iced-over reservoir and some guys climbing a huge rock, then home in time for tea. All in all a great day.
That paranormal short story you’ve written/partly written/been thinking about? Its time has come, because today Xchyler Publishing opens its doors to submissions for the FALL PARANORMAL SHORT STORY CONTEST. Click the link for details!
Why’s it called a crawl? Because that’s what your skin does at the sight of some of the truly incredible make-up jobs. Here are just a few to give an idea. A great fun evening—I’m seriously thinking of being a zombie when they do this next year.
Pete Ford 