“The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra” StoryWalk in Michigan

It’s such a treat when an initiative I think is excellent collides with a book I happened to write. 

The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra is currently featured on a StoryWalk that the Caro Area District Library in Caro, MI installed in a nearby park. 

Another StoryWalk is on library grounds.

The library put up both StoryWalks as part of their summer reading program in 2020, when the building was closed due to the pandemic. About once a month, the staff rotates the books.

Thank you, Caro Library. Honored! 

Combining reading and nature is win-win.

Photos courtesy of the library’s Instagram account and the library directly. 

DC Comics villains who headlined their own series

This is simply a gallery of the first issues of DC Comics ongoing series or limited series starring a villain. 

I did not count one-shots (New Year's Evil), teams (Secret Society of Super-Villains, Suicide Squad, Crime Syndicate), series where a hero is a co-headliner (Batman: Run, Riddler, Run), or anti-heroes who have had their own ongoing series multiple times (Catwoman, Deathstroke, Harley Quinn, Lobo). 

key:

bold character names = ongoing (albeit most did not ongo for long)

* = member of original Legion of Doom (i.e. Challenge of the Superfriends version)

Am I missing any?

The Joker 1975 (of course he is the first)

The Joker 2021

Man-Bat 1976

Man-Bat 1996

Man-Bat 2006

Man-Bat 2021

Kobra 1976

Deadshot 1988

Deadshot 2005

Raʼs al Ghul 1988 (reprints only)

Eclipso 1992

The Shade 1997

The Shade 2011

Anarky 1997

Anarky 1999

Toyman * (and Batman) 1998

Lex Luthor 2005 *

Scarecrow 2005 *

Klarion 2005

Klarion 2014

Black Adam 2007

Black Adam 2022

Solomon Grundy 2011 *

Penguin 2011

Penguin 2023

Talon 2012

Larfleeze 2014

Sinestro 2014 *

Bizarro 2015 *

Bat-Mite 2015

Poison Ivy 2016

Poison Ivy 2022

Bane 2017

The Batman Who Laughs 2019

Black Manta 2021 *

King Shark 2021

Riddler 2022 *

Zod 2023

Sinister Sons 2024

Two-Face 2024

Cheetah * and Cheshire 2025

Clayface 2026

Superman villains:

Lex Luthor

Bizarro

Zod

Toyman

Batman villains:

Joker

Penguin

Riddler

Scarecrow

Poison Ivy

Two-Face

Bane

Clayface

Man-Bat

Bat-Mite

Deadshot

Batman Who Laughs

Talon

Anarky

Peter Scolari, Emmy-winning actor, 1955-2021

Emmy-winning actor Peter Scolari, who co-starred with Tom Hanks in Bosom Buddies and later appeared on Newhart, Girls, and the Batman-adjacent show Gotham, died 10/22/21. He was only 66.

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Peter about his guest role on Family Ties. This man had 1,844 more important things to do yet he took the time to leisurely answer questions about a 24-minute show he appeared on once in 1986.

After, he wrote "Do you think you could send me a copy of that book about Mr. Finger? Think of it as a late birthday present...oh, and if you could sign it, that would be so cool." 

Then he actually read it, and made a point to tell me. What's so cool now?

Of the hundreds of pop culture figures I've interviewed, he was one of the most genuine and most gracious. A bosom buddy I never met in person. Thank you and RIP Peter.

School visit in an underpass

I feel so fortunate that my job has enabled me to travel to a dozen countries to speak, yet after the past 18 months, I already look back at this as equally memorable: presenting at a school 25 minutes away...outdoors...in an underpass. (Or is that a breezeway?)

Booze and picture books?

Today, which happens to be three years to the day when Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story was released, I learned that the book was (coincidentally) part of an event held last night at the annual conference of the Virginia Association of Teachers of English.

A wine/chocolate/book pairing.

I'm told passages of the featured books were read while wine was sipped and chocolate nibbled.

Picture books and booze don't normally go together. 

But, of course, this was an adults-only affair. 

I don't know why my book was chosen, but I am honored by its inclusion, especially because it is among such distinguished company (meaning the other authors/illustrators, though I'm sure the wine and chocolate were also great).