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Today I finally got to meet my first book editor and long time friend Amy Eye face to face. She happened to be in town for the Kansas City Renaissance Fair. She owns a booth there for the company she owns with her husband, Le Loup Garou Alchemy. They sell absinthe kits. As a bonus, I also bought two kits :)

It was good to connect face to face, but it hardly felt new. We’ve had so many long conversations and shared projects over the years it felt… normal.

We’ve known each other since my first book, End of Mae, which she edited. We co-hosted JournalJabber, a radio talk show about authors. We’ve published together. We have a history.

The Renaissance Fair itself was a blast and I wish we had more time to play there. Next year I expect we will get season passes. I love the raucous nature of things like this. The colorful chaos appeals to me as long as I can be my same, uncolorful self.

Of course, I took a ton of photos. I’ll try to post them in the morning. Until then, be sure to check out the absinthe kits from Le Loup Garou Alchemy. In about a month I’ll let you know what I think of absinthe.

Happy Friday the 13th! To celebrate this special day, I have two quick announcements. The first is that a new version of Monsters Are Everywhere is available on Amazon.

Now part of the Everly Everywhere books, it was the book that really started the series. Officially, it’s book #3.

More exciting news: the 2017 HWA Poetry Showcase Volume IV is about to go live on Amazon! A yearly tradition, this poetry collection features some of the finest writers of dark verse. I’m included again this year with The Resurrection of Snow.

Interesting Wiki trivia: Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year.

In 2017, it occurred twice, on January 13 and October 13. There will be two Friday the 13ths per year until 2020, where 2021 and 2022 will have just one occurrence.

The fear of the number 13 has been given a scientific name: “triskaidekaphobia”; and on analogy to this the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning “Friday”), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning “thirteen”).

The superstition surrounding this day may have arisen in the Middle Ages, “originating from the story of Jesus’ last supper and crucifixion” in which there were 13 individuals present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday.

While there is evidence of both Friday and the number 13 being considered unlucky, there is no record of the two items being referred to as especially unlucky in conjunction before the 19th century.

So happy Friday the 13th! Two new books on the shelf for those that favor the other side of things.

I just received an opportunity to get back into the newspaper business by freelancing for The Kansas City Star.

With a circulation of one million readers, that is definitely a byline I covet. Ernest Hemingway wrote for this newspaper and attributes the Star for making him such a good writer.

There is a really interesting history of the Star online.

From their website:

October 1917: Ernest Hemingway gets a job through family connections as a reporter for The Star but leaves the next April to drive ambulances in Italy. Hemingway credits a Star editor, C.G. “Pete” Wellington, with changing his verbose high school writing style into clear, provocative English. The author referred to this admonition from The Star’s style sheet: “Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative.”

An article of faith at The Star is to aim for the readership of the 30,000 “best people” in Kansas City — the schoolteachers and preachers who love its restrained appearance. But concealed behind the genteel exterior is a newspaper full of human-interest stories: the country girl wronged by the city slicker; the failing Union Avenue druggist who wrote a note and then stuck a revolver in his mouth; the Anti-Vice Society complaining about women loitering in cigar stores on 15th Street enticing male customers into the adjoining saloons. Because photographs reproduce poorly, pictures are turned over to staff artists and turned into line drawings.

Other famous Star employees:

• Harry S. Truman

• Theodore Roosevelt

• Walt Disney

• Wilson Hicks

• Eugene C. Pulliam

• Bill Vaughan

• William Rockhill Nelson

• William Allen White

You can read all about them here.

Most of you are probably not surprised by the news that we have decided to stay in Kansas City indefinitely. I went and put a deposit down on an apartment yesterday and hired a truck for moving. We put the RV up for sale.

There are a few reasons we have decided to do this, but the biggest is family. My second daughter moved here a few months ago and loves it. My second son has also decided to relocate here. That’s half my kids in one place. I’m working on the other two.

Another reason is the plethora of opportunity up here. I came up here with my son to work a seasonal job and make a boat load of extra money to catch up on a few things. I’ve been offered five or six jobs now, each competitive and with perks. I worked 54.5 hours in my first week. That’s fast and furious opportunity.

Then, of course, are the other perks. Free Google Fiber internet everywhere. KC is considered a tech smart city. I already told you about the brewery (free beer!), the art museum (free admittance!) and the Money Museum at the Kansas City Federal Reserve (free shredded money!).

The cost of living is cheap here and the wages are high. There are also a lot of free perks here (beer, art, money!) so you get to keep more of those high wages. The apartment I found is right by my daughter’s and offers a free Google fiber internet, free water, valet trash pick up, washer/dryer/microwave/dishwasher included, fireplace, swimming pool, full gym, dog park, fitness trail, lighted tennis courts, free DVD library, free themed breakfasts and lunch on holidays such as National Waffle Day and regular, monthly resident parties with giveaways such as televisions and free rent. Mostly free rent I’m told. I’m so cool with that, and I’m not exaggerating.

I’ll be back in Florida for a day on Nov. 12 so I can help pack up and move and I’ll try to visit as many people as I can that day. Maybe we will even try to have a party. Until then know that we haven’t made this decision lightly. It was truly a wrestle between doing something to finally get ahead financially or stay in a fiscally depressed area to be closer to people we love.

It was a tough choice, but in the end we decided Kansas City was not only our best bet, but it may be a way for us to have both options. Wages are high and flights are cheap :)