BryonySeries at the North Pole Christmas Market

So my "wish list" event for many years was participating in the North Pole Christmas Market at Joliet's annual "Light Up the Holidays" event, which is held every year in several downtown locations the day after Thanksgiving.

The Joliet City Center Partnership hosts a wonderful event with live entertainment, ice skating, horse-drawn carriages, visits with Santa, ice sculpture demos, children's Ferris wheel, slide, tree lighting (canceled this year due to construction downtown), and a large parade towards evening.

Usually by the time I had my family holiday schedule (who was doing what, when, and where), I'd run out of time to apply.

This year I was smart (it happens sometimes), and I applied early. And I was accepted!

So needless to say...

Bertrand and Uncle Barty are super excited to attend, especially since I was asked to also be part of the entertainment and read some Christmas stories to the children (with a special giveaway, details on Monday).

And we also have some special "extras" planned at my booth.

The main one is a BryonySeries miniature backpack, which is doubling as a swag bag for the event. I'll be giving twenty of these bags away from my booth during the event. I'll share the details of that bag on Tuesday.

But we also have two more giveaways.

For any book purchase in the $15 dollar-ish range, you may take home one of these purple music roses (while supplies last), created by Joliet Public Library Youth Services Clerk Jan Stack.

And we also have crocheted mice for adoption for adoption for those who purchase three Bertrand books for $15, which is discounted from $7 for each book, one mouse per three books (while mice are available).

Bertrand knows each and every one of them, and he can assure you they will make lovely companions, all of which will be very thankful to have a new home for the holidays.

Happy Thursday!

Lovely Notecards from Barbara Eberhard

I've told my daughter that when I retire, I want to be like Lockport artist Barbara Eberhard.

Not only is Barbara a very talented photographer, artist, and storyteller in her own right, she supports just about every art-related event in the Will County area and beyond. Some day, I hope to immerse myself in local art events the way she does.

Barbara attends (and often brings a few friends) to WriteOn Joliet's annual anthology release party, a good many of WriteOn Joliet's mic nights, and nearly every book signing I myself have held.

Last year, Barbara even saw WriteOn Joliet's radio play TWICE. 

Twice, Barbara has invited me to tell a story at her monthly storytelling event at Nik & Ivy's in Lockport. (and I had to take the day off work to make sure I'd get there on time!)

On Saturday, Barbara came out to the Joliet Public Library's Local Author Fair, bought three Bertrand the Mouse books for a gift and then gifted me with a lovely set of her original notecards.

Maybe you could like some of your own. Her email is on the bookmark in the photo.

For more information about Barbara Eberhard. visit barbaraeberhard.com and storiesrus.fun.

Stories R Us 2023: Come Join Us

When Barbara Eberhard re-started her monthly storytelling event last year, she invited me to be part of the October lineup of storytellers.

Barbara also said I could read one of my fiction stories, as opposed to telling a personal life experience. I agreed and a had a great time.

A few months ago, Barbara invited me to return in October and tell an actual story this time, adding that she's certain I have plenty of stories I could tell. Well, this is true.

And then this nice thing happened Saturday night at Panic at the Plaza.

Someone actually came up to the booth and asked if I was still telling a story on Oct. 18, that she was looking forward to it. That was definitely a sweet bit of encouragement.

Again, I won't be reading a story this time. I will be telling a true story from my life. And so will the other four storytellers that evening, including our hostess Barbara Eberhard.

I will also have BryonySeries books (and a nice giveaway with select purchases) for sale before and after the event.

Admission to the event is free. Please come join us.

For more information about the storytelling event, visit storiesrus.fun.

For more information about BryonySeries books, visit bryonyseries.com.

A Wonderful Opportunity from "Stories R Us" and Barbara Eberhard

If you like stories and want to hear me babble, come out to "Stories R Us" at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Nik and Ivy Brewing Co.at 1026 S. State St. in Lockport.

Storyteller and photographer Barbara Eberhard is hosting the monthly event, and I am honored to be one of the artists at her opening night. Barbara asked me to read from one of my novels, and I have an excerpt ready to go!

I will also have my BryonySeries books for sale, along with other titles for sale, too.

Every person who buys one (or more) of these combinations will receive a $5 gift card to Nik and Ivy Brewing as a "thank you" gift while supplies last.

Gift cards are not limited to one per customer. But for each additional gift card, you must still purchase one of these four combinations.

1) One "regular" young adult or adult BryonySeries book (choices include any book in the "drop of blood" trilogy, Lycanthropic Summer, The Phoenix, Call of the Siren, Ruthless by Ed Calkins Steward of Tara or any of the Before the Blood books) or Nine Months of Kindness.

2) Any two books in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series.

3) Any three books in the Bertrand the Mouse series.

4) All three of our BryonySeries cookbooks.

To check out our books, visit bryonyseries.com/general-store.

Hope to see you there!

Community News: Dec. 17, 2019

Check out upcoming events and the awesome things people are doing.

If you live within the Herald-News' coverage area (most of Will and Grundy counties in Illinois), and you'd like to share your organization's news or upcoming events, email the information to new@theherald-news.com.

City of Joliet holiday lights map returns

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/city-of-joliet-holiday-lights-map-returns/a4dwdjv/


Need a unique gift? How about storytelling classes in Lockport?

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/need-a-unique-gift-how-about-storytelling-classes-in-lockport/aiwr1l8/


Forest Preserve District of Will County announces 2020 lineup 

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/forest-preserve-district-of-will-county-announces-2020-lineup/ayutcho/


Plainfield church blessed new nativity set 

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/plainfield-church-blessed-new-nativity-set/duc1xj7/


Experts offer tips for safe holiday celebrations

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/experts-offer-tips-for-safe-holiday-celebrations/a47fgx2/



NEWSLETTERS

Sign up for the Will County Go Guide

http://www.theherald-news.com/newsletter/will-county-go-guide/#//


Sign up for the LocalLit Short Story Newsletter

http://www.theherald-news.com/newsletter/locallit/


Sign up for The Munsonville Times

https://www.bryonyseries.com/munsonville-times

Photo courtesy of Timothy Baran

Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, March 25 through March 30

Working on an extra-special story for Sunday (be sure to check it out!) so I'm lagging in other parts of my life.

Last night WriteOn Joliet hosted its first marketing roundtable for authors. In my opinion, it was a huge success. Here's why:

1) At least four writers groups were represented.

2) Everyone came to share and listen.

3) Nothing felt "spammy." People were genuine, and everyone left looking forward to building on those first connections.

4) We left with good ideas to try.

To those celebrating religious holidays this week, blessings!

To those celebrating religious holidays next week (such as moi), blessings!

Onward...

Non-bylined features:

Monday through Saturday I assembled my non-bylined works - brief posts and calendar listings - into one convenient file and posting them on Facebook in the evening, so readers can easily choose the ones they want to read.

 One can also find those event listings, the Gotta Do It calendar, as well as the pets, health, faith, and arts and entertainment calendars, under the sections tab on the left hand side of http://www.theherald-news.com/. Click on "features" and the topics drop down.  Gotta Do It runs under "people."

Community news? Again, under the sections tab, under features, and by topic. Updates are posted on these days in print and web (and some only on web on other days as I have the time): Monday (pets), Tuesday (health), Thursday (faith), Friday (arts and entertainment), and Sunday (people).

Social media:

Daily updates: I do post the briefs and calendars on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at www.facebook.com/BryonySeries. And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.

If you're a writer anywhere in the world, you're welcome to jon WriteOn Joliet's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/writeonminooka/?ref=bookmarks. We're based in Joliet, Illinois, but we love to meet and interact with writers outside our area, too.

Books and Such

Information on my books (including where to buy) along with upcoming events is at www.bryonyseries.com.

Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. Your support is greatly appreciated.

More than a game

For 15 years, Plainfield venue hosts a special March Madness reunion 

Find out why right here.

http://www.theherald-news.com/2018/03/20/more-than-a-game/avx2kae/

An Extraordinary Life: Joliet man connected through stories

“Besides the fact he cared about his family so much, he was just the nice guy who would do anything for you,” Dave Rodriguez said about his brother Stephen Rodriguez. “You didn’t even have to be in his family. He gave of himself constantly, with advice, and sometimes he would lend money.”

http://www.theherald-news.com/2018/03/20/an-extraordinary-life-joliet-man-connected-through-stories/akn2xhb/

Joliet Junior College's Thrive prove students can cook with the best 

Service was a little slow (to be fair, the venue was packed, and the students are learning) and our dessert accidentally arrived before our entree, so it was taken back to the kitchen to await its proper return.

But the food – oh my, the food! Here's our impressions. (and the photos are phenomenal).

http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2018/03/27/c2726b332e5b494e8706d5b316ff3267/index.xml

Morris church to perform Living Last Supper drama
By Jeanne Millsap

The image of what might have been the emotions on each of their 12 faces was portrayed in Leonardo da Vinci’s fresco, “The Last Supper,” and members of The First Presbyterian Church in Morris brought that piece of art to life the Thursday before Easter.

http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2018/03/28/3abbd5f7b76c45b5a5db4519511fb3dc/index.xml


The story of Good Friday through song
Coal City United Methodist Church music director: ‘It’s not a normal concert’ 

 "It's not a normal concert," Shanan D’Agostino said, director of music ministries for the church, said. "We want the congregation to focus on what Jesus did for us, how he gave His life for us for all our sins. It's the ultimate sacrifice."

http://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2018/03/28/8c0cd51eaf4d4873abc43404718575d3/index.xml

Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage." Follow him at www.facebook.com/artbymattcoundiff or @MattCoundiff on Twitter.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Sarah Stegall and the Magic of Bryony

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Sarah Stegall and the Magic of Bryony

My cell phone rings, and there's a chorus of groans.

"Betcha it's Sarah," one disgruntled adult child says. It doesn't matter which adult child. They've ALL said it. Nary a day passes when Sarah and I don't speak at least once, and one time is on the low side.

That wasn't the case a year ago.

Sarah is my oldest daughter. She lives out of state, but she could have lived on Pluto for all we communicated, mostly by email, even if she had lived next door. Things had been tense at best since her teen years, although we had progressed to some polite, if not friendly, communication.

Then, after the first round of editing, my niece asked to read Bryony. Except for four members of my household, no one else had read it or expressed a remote interest in reading it.

That got the proverbial ball rolling.

My niece loved it and begged her mother, my sister, to read it. My sister told me yesterday she had resisted, certain the story wouldn't be very good. But she read it, to please her daughter and loved it, so much that my parents wanted a copy. They, too, loved it, and my mother said so to Sarah.

That's when my daughter called and wanted to know why I hadn't let her read it. I told her she might, if she liked.

Sarah later told me she only wanted to read it so she could publically and harshly denigrate it. Hoiwever, I already knew that, which is why I couldn't box up a copy and send it out to her fast enough. Bryony was about to face her greatest critic.

A couple days later I received a Facebook message from Sarah: "Where are the other two drafts?" That was all, but she was in, "sucked in," she likes to say. Well, it is a vampire story. It was also a peaceful truce to years of conflict.

Since then, Sarah has created and maintained Bryony's Facebook page and website, helped with the cookbook, and has been the book's biggest champion and promotor. No one, including the author, has more enthusiasm for the story. Sarah has read Bryony cover to cover more than anybody and intends to keep that record, even after the book's release.

I like to think her reaction is a testimony to a good story. Sarah says she'd hate to seeBryony take off and miss her chance at being rich and famous. Hmmm....

Worldbuilding: The Beginning, Not the End, of Storytelling

It's no surprise by now that I like rich layered stories, and my favorite are supernatural, fantasy, historical, and science fiction. I love the unfolding of the seemingly impossible.

Worldbuilding, the creation of vivid settings and multidimensional characters with a factual foundation, is essential to the believeability of all stories, but especially writers who write in these genres. I know writers who take this part very seriously and do vast amounts of research and intense character development to meet this goal.

Your science must feel like real science, and your history timeline must be correct...unless your story has compelling reasons otherwise.

But such steps are only the beginnnig, not the end. The paint and canvas serve the picture, not the other way around. At the core of every story should be a compelling story.

You still need a protagonist your readers will cheer on, an antagonist they will boo, as well as challenges to overcome, dramatic tension to keep the pages turning, victories to cheer, and stakes to raise. If you don't have these, the rest won't matter.

One good question to ask yourself? What is the story I'm trying to tell?

Once you can answer that, the rest makes sense.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Storytelling and Storehouses of Memories

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Storytelling and Storehouses of Memories

Yesterday my oldest daughter recounted a past incident and then remarked how amazed her friends are because her childhood memories extend deeply into her past. I think that's because we are a family of storytellers, and my love of writing only partially explains it.

For instance, both my father-in-law and my grandmother-in-law loved to tell stories about family history. When my oldest children were very young, I didn't have a car, so my father-in-law drove us everywhere we needed to go. As he drove, he talked about his childhood, his military service, his first jobs, and I shared those stories with my children.

My grandmother-in-law didn't drive, so after she retired, she'd sometimes call several times a day just to talk. I'd sit on the floor and nurse the baby, play puzzles with the toddler and listen. I'd share those stories with my children too, and I'm glad I did, for many of these conversations are fading from my memory. I wish I'd written them down, but I had heard them so many times, I never realized I might forget them.

The twelve years our family has delivered newspapers by night has been a rich opportunity for conversation. We talk about the past; we talk about concerns; we talk about future hopes and dreams. Of course, some days are challenging and others just plain silly, but we talk about those things, too.

Naturally, time and perceptions do alter those memories, and these are concepts I wove into Bryony's plotline.