Halloween

Between Superstorm Sandy and Election 2012, Halloween feels almost like an afterthought this year, but the people of Baltimore haven't forgotten it. My day has already been brightened by a bicyclist wearing a Viking helmet (a biking Viking!) and the Big Bad Wolf who stood before me in an early-voting line.

As I wrote in a piece called "Being the Not-Me" (published earlier this month at Baltimore Fishbowl), I love that Halloween lets us step outside of ourselves for a little bit. It also lets us think about what we're spooked by. Today at the Lucky 13s blog, I shared a few of the stories that make debut authors (and writers generally) shiver, stories of everything from unattended readings to unenthusiastic replacement editors.

Happy Halloween, everyone, and continued forbearance to those of you still dealing with Sandy's aftermath.