Spiders and Vampires and Halloween Thoughts

For me, the world is full of fascinating things.  While I would (and just did, as a matter of fact) kill a spider that was in a position to either bite me, or be lost in the house and pop out at the wrong moment, I find spiders fascinating.  I particularly like big spiders, and my favorites are the yellow and black garden spiders, Argiope aurantia, upon which Charlotte from “Charlotte’s Web” was based.  They are also called corn spiders, writing spiders, and zig-zag spiders.  We have been lucky enough to get one or more of these as visitors / squatters every year.

This year, our visitor is right on the side of our front porch.  Last night was really windy, so she moved her entire web in between two of the slats on our railing and made it easier to get a photo.  On her back, the black designs look like aliens to me.  These spiders are fast, they react when you are near them, and seem to have serious personality – though not in a pleasant way, I suppose.  I can watch them for a long time.  The other night I watched her eat her old web and rebuild part of it.

It’s also a time for vampires, giant monster movies, Courage the Cowardly Dog marathons, Scooby Doo movies, and my favorite holiday of the year.  I won’t be writing about vampires this year, but my novel Vintage Soul will come out in December, and there’s plenty of vamps in there.  I don’t know what fascinates me about supernatural characters, but I find them hard to resist.  This November I start the novel “Heart of a Dragon,” which will have a form of Voodoo and, well, dragons.  It also features an artist, and my Private Investigating, book-collecting protagonist Donovan DeChance.  You can read along with the other forty or so people already registered by visiting the website.  You can also get a good discount on Vintage Soul if you pre-order it through me.  Order before November 1st, and you get into a drawing to become a character in Heart of a Dragon – who knows?  It might be a recurring series character.  I never know what will happen in future books until they come to life in my mind.

For now I’m off to do copy edits on yet another book.  No vampire…and only real-life horror involved … but important work.