Every Coffee Mug Tells a Story

On my personal Facebook page, I greet the virtual world with a Bible verse and a fantasy coffee photo.

On My BryonySeries Facebook page, I greet the virtual world with a fantasy coffee photo.

On my personal Twitter page, I greet the virtual world with a Bible verse and a photo I've taken (or one that one of my kids have taken).

On my BryonySeries Twitter page, I greet the virtual world with my real cup of coffee that's sitting beside me.

Ah, my collection of coffee cups.

When the kids make a cup of coffee for themselves, they jokingly complain they don't know which cup/mug to take.

Now the cupboard is full of mugs. But they're not allowed to use the "special" ones - the mugs people have given to me as gifts.

If fact, the first decision I make for the day is selecting the right mug for the mood from the vast array of cups that stare back at me, hoping that today, I'll choose them..

Here are a few of them along with their stories.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. It's just that these photos were readily available on my computer this morning.

And here we go!

Sue Midlock, the illustration for The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series, gifted me with this cup because she said it reminded her of me. I love the vintage blue - and I can feel like I'm sipping coffee inside Simons Mansion!

This is one of the last remaining pieces from a set of dishes someone had given us when we were homeless and moving into an apartment back in 2014. I love the blue and white, and it's perfect for that small, pick-me-up cup of coffee.

By the way, isn't that BryonySeries mouse pad great? Rekekah surprised me with it.

This mug was a gift from Rebekah. The colors don't show up that well, but it's in blue (my favorite color) and BryonySeries purple.

This mug is part of the first "real" set of dishes Rebekah and Daniel bought for the house - when we could finally afford to buy dishes of our own.

A couple of years ago, I was invited to be "Principal for a Day" at Joliet Public Schools District 86. This mug was part of my swag. I use it a lot on Saturdays when I'm working on vampire fiction because the color combination inspires me.

You can't tell from the picture, but this was from a set of little mugs Timothy rescued from the trash at one of his workplaces. The mugs featured an image of the Mona Lisa. All of them have broken except this one.

And if you don't know Bertrand the Mouse, you can make friends with him on Instagram: bertrand_bryonyseries.

This mug was a Christmas gift one year. It's blue (of course), but it also has a copper band. I love the color copper. 

When I was in second grade at the former St. Bernard's School in Joliet, I often borrowed the copper crayon from my seatmate who had a box of Crayola 64 crayons. I only had a box of 48 (which only had gold and silver) but really wanted the 64 because of the copper.

Eventually, my parents did buy me a box - and I was super happy.

This holiday mug was a gift this year. Isn't it pretty with my tealight snow globe? How can anyone mind working at the computer early in the morning with this serene combination?

This is one of the plain white mugs that I keep at the office for whenever I (or a client or a co-worker) needs a cup of coffee. 

I'm a fan of white mugs - at least, white inside. I like the color contrast of a dark roast against the white, which adds to the pleasure of drinking the coffee. We feast with our eyes, too, right?

Jasmine brought me this mug last month. It came in my favorite shade of blue, and the child in me adores the metallic, a very attractive way to enjoy coffee in the early morning.

Daniel tends to walk off with my Nosferatu mug a lot because it holds a larger cup of coffee and not all the mugs in the house can hold that much.

The bottom is full of scratches from spoons where Daniel has stirred in his cream and sugar.

It features the classic Nosferatu scene of sunlight streaming through the window. Except the caption reads, "Must have coffee," and to the right, someone is indeed handing him a cup.

It's perfect for those mornings when I just can't wake up.

If I can find it. If it's not sitting in Daniel's room.

I won this at The Herald-News for a trivia contest (I think) early in 2014. It reminds me of a former co-worker who died quite unexpectedly a couple years ago since he presented it to me. I believe "Galaxy" was the name of a newsletter he helped write for the company that featured this logo.

Anyway, I used to talk to this co-worker when he took "smoke breaks" outside the building, and I took computer breaks by walking around the building.

I was invited to present at a career fair at this Lockport school a couple of years ago. This mug was part of the swag. It's very heavy and holds the heat well, perfect for keeping coffee warm.

This is a Saturday, writing darker fiction mug, also a present from Jasmine.

This is a good, all-purpose coffee mug whenever I need inspiration with my coffee, whether I'm writing features or fiction. It was a Christmas gift two years ago from WriteOn Joliet.

So there you have it! Some of the mugs that keep me company at my computer when I'm writing.

The Magic Apple

"Support indie" are buzzwords often heard today, and people live that out in ways ranging from not at all to promoting their friends' work or their favorite artists on social media.

But this isn't a post of how you should support indie, or how I support indie (except as an aside) or that you should support me (although I'd be thrilled if you did).

Instead, it is a story about Celtic mythology, my imagination, homemade tropes, and how I use those in a small way to promote indie artists I do not know, and how they're work has enriched my life, although they will never know it, either.

In concise terms, this means that, ever since I have figured out Twitter basics, few years ago (I've had the BryonySeries account over a decade; I just didn't know how to use it), I post a combination of my own content and curated content, all underscoring BryonySeries themes.

One of those posts is always for product on Etsy.

It's a fun, creative exercise of searching the platform by a BryonySeries theme (or item or trope) and then sharing a description and photo of the item on Twitter, along with a link, so anyone who is interested can buy it.

Has it led to sales? I have no idea because, with the except of Holly Coop's greeting cards, I don't know any of the vendors; I find them and their products through searching by topic.

But I stick with Etsy almost exclusively because most of the vendors are indie artists from all over the world.

Now recently, this has led to some gifts from my children to me.

The latest is this golden apple, which I am wearing for the first time. The reason why it's important is slightly because of Ed Calkins, whom I was supposed to meet for lunch today to discuss his progress on Ruthless (hoping "lunch" still happens via phone call).

Without going into too much backstory, I've legally fictionalized the "real" Ed Calkins, which led to the subtle incorporation of Celtic mythology into parts of the BryonySeries, especially in Staked!.

In this third book of the young adult "drop of blood" vampire trilogy are frequent allusions to a magic apple. These allusions refer back to a story Ed Calkins supposedly tell the protagonist, John-Peter, which John-Peter tells his young nieces one Thanksgiving Day as they prepare apples for a pie.

           “How come you like apples so much, John-Peter?”

            He reached for another. “Hoping for a magic one.”

            Deanna lifted her chin in disdain and shook her head. “There’s no such thing as magic, and you know it.”

            Fawn ran back into the room, waving her dripping hands. John-Peter handed her a napkin, tossed the cores into the garbage, and began working on another apple.

            “Surely you’ve heard what happened to Connla the Fair. Ellie, watch your nose.”

            Ellie moved her face away from the apple. “What 'fair?'”

             “'Fair' means he had a light complexion and was very handsome. He was the son of Conn, the Hundred-Fighter.”

             “He’s making it up,” Deanna said.

             Ellie stuck her tongue out at Deanna. “Well, I want to hear John-Peter’s story.”

            John-Peter handed Deanna the peeled apple.

            “One day, when Connla the Fair was sitting with his father on the Hill of Uisneach.”

            “A pretend place,” Deanna scooped the slices into her hands and set them before Ellie.

            “Tell that to the ancient Druids. They considered it to be the very center of Ireland, the ancient seat of the Kings of Meath.”

             “What’s a doo-rid?” Ellie said.

            “A very wise man.”

            “I still think you’re making it up,” Deanna said.

             “There is a huge limestone there that resembles a cat watching a mouse. Someday, I’ll show you the picture.”

            Fawn looked at John-Peter with large, round eyes. “Tell the story, John-Peter.”

            John-Peter watched as Fawn laid the slices onto the pie crust. She began to pop her fingers into her mouth, looked at Deanna, and grabbed a napkin instead.

            “While Connla the Fair was sitting with his father and his father’s druid, a beautiful woman appeared and said, "I belong to a race of people called the Sidhe…'"

             “What’s shee?”

            “Fairies, Ellie.”

            “Oh.” She stuck her face close to the paring knife.   

             “Ellie!”

            “Sorry.” She edged away.

             “The woman said to Connla, ‘We dwell in a land of peace where death does not exist. Connla, if you follow me, you will always remain young and fair.’”

             Ellie scooted closer to John-Peter as he cored another apple, and he nudged her away with his elbow.

            “Now Conn could not hear the woman’s voice, but the druid did. He noticed how she bewitched Connla so he uttered magical words--yes, Deanna, real magical words-- against the power of her voice. She vanished, but not before tossing an apple to Connla.”

             “Where'd she get the apple?” Fawn asked.

            “Be quiet, Fawn,” Deanna said, curiosity overtaking her superiority, as she sliced her apple.

             John-Peter set down his knife, smiled, and continued.

            “For the next month, Connla refused all nourishment except the woman’s apple, yet the apple never diminished in size or in its ability to satisfy him. At the end of the month, the woman returned in a crystal boat and once again extended her invitation for him. Although Connla loved his people, he loved the enchanting woman more.

            “Did he go with her?” An apple slice slipped from Ellie’s hand and splashed lemon juice onto the table.

            “He did,” John-Peter said and bit into the last apple. “No one ever saw him again.”

Buy this golden apple HERE.

And then check out these stunning vintage earrings very "Bryony," which I will share on Twitter on Monday. These earrings are from the same vendor. They make me wish I wore earrings.

Timothy also bought me this wonderful piece of changeling art, which is almost exactly the way I picture the changeling in that trilogy. The post has a link where you can buy that one, too.

Of course, this all started because Timothy is helping with the BryonySeries website, and he had no idea all this was happening on Twitter. And he decided to gift me with some of these items.

Yet Rebekah really gets to claim "firstie" with this one. She bought me a great Nosferatu coffee mug a couple years ago, after I shared it on the BryonySeries Twitter account.

However, if this item is still available on Etsy (or anythere), I can't find it, not even with a deep search.

Nevertheless, I've gotten some great comments when I've shared it on Twitter.

Teen Vampire Readings

No, I'm not recommending any books, but rambling about the vampire material I read as a teen. As far as I know, unlike today, there was not a mass market of vampire stories directed at young readers. However, since I, mostly, preferred reading to movies, I sought out what was available.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” held a permanent position on my lap during ho-hum eighth grade history and science classes. I read that book backwards and forwards, inside and out. The following year, I devoured nineteenth and early twentieth century vampire stories. At fifteen, my interested turned to the historical Count Dracula, Vlad Tepes, his reign of impaling terror, and how Stoker integrated the "real" count into his novel.

While my friends sighed over teen magazines, I spent sunny, summer afternoons laying on a blanket in the backyard and reading books such as Raymond T. McNally's and Radu Florescu's absorbing, now-classic, “The Search for Dracula." A showing of the orginal "Nosferatu" (in my mind, still the best vampire movie out there) on television was worth cancelling other plans for the night.

Less important to me than Top 40 radio was the knowledge that the castle people referred to as Castle Dracula was really Bran Castle, which Dracula did, in fact, use during his raid. I already knew I wanted to write a vampire story one day, but the idea, at this point, had not taken shape. I did, however, continue to read and research. When the time came, I wanted it to be right.