The Christmas season is a busy time for Ed Calkins, the Steward of Tara, since he dons a read suit, lugs a pack of presents, and replaces limericks with a steady stream of "ho, ho, hos!" while making the circuit of children's Christmas parties.
The beard, however, is real.
And you can read more on Ed's Christmas activities on this post.
And you can learn the entire back story of how a real person became a character in the BryonySeries "drop of blood" trilogy - and then an author in his own "write" for the same series by watching this video.
Now the only Ed Calkins "Santa" photos I had for many years were from a 2012 book signing in the former newspaper distribution center in Rockdale, where we both had worked.
Yes, I am going to share them with you. And then I will share the updated photos (and a little story) from WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party at the Joliet Public Library.
Oh, and you can buy the fifth anthology here.
And you can buy all the back issues here.
Ed Calkins, again, prepares to sign a copy of holiday Visage for a customer.
Ed Calkins signs another copy of Bryony for a customer.
Ed Calkins poses with my oldest son Christopher.
Ed Calkins posts with Prime Minister Dan. (Remember, the distribution center was Ed's kingdom).
A bucket of Ed Calkins candy canes, which he always distributed in December to the newspaper carriers.
And here is a closeup, just in case you've never actually seen any Ed Calkins candy canes.
Ed Calkins, check in hand, is ready to distribute candy canes.
Ed Calkins is persuading me (the photo bomb in the corner) to recreate our former "here are your customer changes for the day" pose, back when I was a carrier and worked for him.
So Ed Calkins hands me a candy cane, on his knees, since my nickname was Paper Goddess, later shortened to simply "Goddess." Ed bestowed that name on me because I took out the most newspapers out of that center every single night (with kids to help me).
I've accepted the candy canes, but Ed is still on his knees because I'm too busy laughing and forgot to give him permission to stand.
And here is the now-famous photo that became the book cover of the first book I published for Ed, in honor of Calkins Day 2018. You can buy it here.
And now for the (drum roll), updated photos...with a quick story to go with them.
Here is Ed Calkins posing with Rebekah who was only fourteen when we first met him. Time flies!
Now, as you can see from that photo, Ed insisted we take pictures with the facemasks off. But it's still a pandemic, so I held my breath the photo.
But then, Ed decides we should get one more. I'm still smiling, and still holding my breath, and thinking, "What? Is he kidding me???"
But the asthmatic lungs held out. So here I am, still not breathing.
Well, I am the Goddess.
Or as Ed writes in Ruthless.
Then, the Goddess walks in with her teen son and
daughter. The Goddess, so named when she did me a favor, and so called over the
phone where her teens could hear as her phone was on speaker, does lots of
favors. Someday, I should compose her myth. Myth-making is a duty of mine as
I’m of Irish descent. She would be the goddess of favors, eternal energy, the
written word, and newspapers. In this realm, however, she simply has no time as
she is both carrier and freelance reporter for the same paper.
The "goddess of favors, eternal energy, the written word, and newspapers." Wow...
Finally, Ed Calkins autographs a copy of Ruthless in the parking lot of the Joliet Public Library before heading home. Timothy caught this great shot!
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from all of us on the BryonySeries team.
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