Jonathan Maberry -- February 9, 2008
About Jonathan Maberry
Jonathan Maberry is a professional writer and writing teacher; since 1979 he's sold more than 900
articles, sixteen nonfiction books, three novels, as well as numerous short stories, poetry, song
lyrics, video scripts, and two plays. Jonathan's latest book, The Crytopedia, coauthored with David F.
Kramer is the follow up to Vampire Universe.
At the edge of the known world, demons, monsters, and baffling phenomena abound. To help you
navigate this mystery-shrouded realm where the supernatural mingles with the paranormal,
fright-guides Jonathan Maberry and David Kramer present their indispensable follow-up to Vampire
Universe. Witty and comprehensive, The Cryptopedia divides the otherworldly into chapters that
explain the inexplicable, from angels to poltergeists to UFOs and more. Leaving no Philosopher's
Stone unturned, the authors decode occult symbols, demystify the art of fortune-telling, and discuss
the myriad strange and bizarre forces at work in the universe. Illustrated throughout, this is an
invaluable guide to the Larger World. Don't leave this plane of existence without it.
Visit Jonathan's Cryptopedia website at www.vampireuniverse.com.
Jonathan Maberry is a professional writer and writing teacher; since 1979 he's sold more than 900
articles, sixteen nonfiction books, three novels, as well as numerous short stories, poetry, song
lyrics, video scripts, and two plays. Jonathan's latest book, The Crytopedia, coauthored with David F.
Kramer is the follow up to Vampire Universe.
At the edge of the known world, demons, monsters, and baffling phenomena abound. To help you
navigate this mystery-shrouded realm where the supernatural mingles with the paranormal,
fright-guides Jonathan Maberry and David Kramer present their indispensable follow-up to Vampire
Universe. Witty and comprehensive, The Cryptopedia divides the otherworldly into chapters that
explain the inexplicable, from angels to poltergeists to UFOs and more. Leaving no Philosopher's
Stone unturned, the authors decode occult symbols, demystify the art of fortune-telling, and discuss
the myriad strange and bizarre forces at work in the universe. Illustrated throughout, this is an
invaluable guide to the Larger World. Don't leave this plane of existence without it.
Visit Jonathan's Cryptopedia website at www.vampireuniverse.com.
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Post Meeting Write-up
Our second Face The Fiction outing of 2008 was a big success despite our guest speaker being a
half hour late. Setup began around 7:30 p.m. Once all the chairs were in place, & the tables, books &
mike stands were ready togo, I started our pre-meeting discussion by mentioning that Jackie
Kessler would be sitting in on the discussion of her novel Hell's Belles (not to be confused with the
AC/DC song of the same name) at Suspense Central on Monday night. It was also mentioned that
Todd & Craig have a new article published in Rifter Magazine this month. I also pulled out the
articles on Jersey Diners from NJ Monthly magazine & read off the Top 10 Favorites for the Northern
Region. Most folks felt that the Suburban Diner (right here in Paramus-cheap pop!!!) should have
made the list. I also mentioned some insider stories about the aftermath of the Lonegan arrests &
the Corzine town hall meetings. Around 8:00 pm the floor manager informed us that our speaker had
gone past the mall on 17 North and was in the process of turning around. He arrived about 25
minutes later & we properly began with Master Todd telling us that New Moon Comics had made a
post on this chat site officially welcoming our group to their store (for the Themes meeting later this
month) & urged everyone to check them out ahead of time. He then turned over the reins to me who
welcomed everyone to the meeting & introduced Mr. Maberry as an author of a trilogy of When
Maberry said "Romance?” I explained that it's Romance month in the SFSNNJ (Gene chortled that I
didn't want to get beaten up by Mistress Ann-Marie for NOT mentioning this month's theme). Our
guest speaker then focused on the Cryptopedia book for the remainder of the evening and had an
interactive dialogue with us about the origins of such myths and legends as the Jersey Devil,
Nosferatu the vampire, etc. We finished up by 10:15 p.m.giving folks plenty of time for book buying
(and Master Aubrey to hand out his Valentine's Day presents - Thank you, Aubrey!!!) before most of
us headed over to the Suburban to continue the merriment (Jim & I actually joined the "dirty stay-
outs" this time!!!). Next month our FTF theme is Apocalypse month & our guest speaker is John
Joseph Adams, editor of the APOCALYPSE: STORIES OF THE WASTELAND anthology. See Y'all
then!!! (Steve)
I think that I most enjoyed Mr. Maberry's experiences with Screeching Tree Frogs and the Yardley
Yeti. I am already starting to read some bits of Cryptopedia, it is great fun! (Todd)
Mr. Maberry was fun (in fact, he'd like to get back to us in May when his third book in the Ghost Road
Blue's Trilogy is released! - possible Special Activity...) . He covered so many things and kept us
thinking of new things to add - also discussed was Mothman, werewolves (a personal favorite of Mr.
Maberry), UFOs, crop circles, orbs, Loch Ness monster, Champ - the Lake Champlain monster,
Bermuda Triangle, chupacabra, ghosts, ley lines, pyramids and so many other things previously
thought to be "supernatural. " The field of cryptozoology and what it is trying to accomplish was
covered. He asked the audience about personal beliefs of different "reported" supernatural events - i.
e. ghosts, UFOs - and why we believed certain things but not others. He pointed out how "creatures"
thought to be extinct have been recently rediscovered or simply discovered (giant squid). The idea of
keeping an open mind was prevalent and a good one. He explained that if you don't have all of the
facts or actual visible, irrefutable proof - it's best to keep an open mind - you're thinking could be
wrong or proven incorrect when new evidence is found....... something to think about. Conversation
was fun, lively and varied as we all vied to provide new concepts or monsters. Kate Landis had a
beautiful picture of the Jersey Devil she had drawn in watercolors. Mr. Maberry was so impressed
with it, that he gave Kate his card and wants to possibly use her picture! Kudos Kate - she is a very
talented artist. Around 10:00, Mr. Maberry pointed out that he had a 2 hour ride home, so we
wrapped up, chatted with him and his wife for a bit, then converged upon the Suburban Diner. (AM)
Mr. Maberry was a really nice guy and quite well learned on the supernatural. I flipped through his
Cryptopedia and found quite captivating and entertaining. I loved the glossaries on various gods in
various cultures and religions. There's a section on international takes on ghosts and ghouls from
around the world such as Japan and Russia. A great resource for the Intertnational Themed month
coming up later this year (HINT! HINT! BIG GLARING BLINDING HINT-O-RAMA! ) Yeah, the yeti story
was nice but I liked hearing that reality based science is gradually starting to seriously investigate
the paranormal such as hauntings and UFO sightings. Could we see Fox Mulder's dream of getting
the truth out there finally realized in our time? Ooh, the possibilities! I appreciated the advice he gave
about the wrong way to present unusual phenomena. It's cool to present a theory about alien
visitation but it might hurt the presentation by telling the group that you commune with Elvis in the
Dunkin Donuts restroom every Sunday morning. It was a nice time. (Aubrey)
Our second Face The Fiction outing of 2008 was a big success despite our guest speaker being a
half hour late. Setup began around 7:30 p.m. Once all the chairs were in place, & the tables, books &
mike stands were ready togo, I started our pre-meeting discussion by mentioning that Jackie
Kessler would be sitting in on the discussion of her novel Hell's Belles (not to be confused with the
AC/DC song of the same name) at Suspense Central on Monday night. It was also mentioned that
Todd & Craig have a new article published in Rifter Magazine this month. I also pulled out the
articles on Jersey Diners from NJ Monthly magazine & read off the Top 10 Favorites for the Northern
Region. Most folks felt that the Suburban Diner (right here in Paramus-cheap pop!!!) should have
made the list. I also mentioned some insider stories about the aftermath of the Lonegan arrests &
the Corzine town hall meetings. Around 8:00 pm the floor manager informed us that our speaker had
gone past the mall on 17 North and was in the process of turning around. He arrived about 25
minutes later & we properly began with Master Todd telling us that New Moon Comics had made a
post on this chat site officially welcoming our group to their store (for the Themes meeting later this
month) & urged everyone to check them out ahead of time. He then turned over the reins to me who
welcomed everyone to the meeting & introduced Mr. Maberry as an author of a trilogy of When
Maberry said "Romance?” I explained that it's Romance month in the SFSNNJ (Gene chortled that I
didn't want to get beaten up by Mistress Ann-Marie for NOT mentioning this month's theme). Our
guest speaker then focused on the Cryptopedia book for the remainder of the evening and had an
interactive dialogue with us about the origins of such myths and legends as the Jersey Devil,
Nosferatu the vampire, etc. We finished up by 10:15 p.m.giving folks plenty of time for book buying
(and Master Aubrey to hand out his Valentine's Day presents - Thank you, Aubrey!!!) before most of
us headed over to the Suburban to continue the merriment (Jim & I actually joined the "dirty stay-
outs" this time!!!). Next month our FTF theme is Apocalypse month & our guest speaker is John
Joseph Adams, editor of the APOCALYPSE: STORIES OF THE WASTELAND anthology. See Y'all
then!!! (Steve)
I think that I most enjoyed Mr. Maberry's experiences with Screeching Tree Frogs and the Yardley
Yeti. I am already starting to read some bits of Cryptopedia, it is great fun! (Todd)
Mr. Maberry was fun (in fact, he'd like to get back to us in May when his third book in the Ghost Road
Blue's Trilogy is released! - possible Special Activity...) . He covered so many things and kept us
thinking of new things to add - also discussed was Mothman, werewolves (a personal favorite of Mr.
Maberry), UFOs, crop circles, orbs, Loch Ness monster, Champ - the Lake Champlain monster,
Bermuda Triangle, chupacabra, ghosts, ley lines, pyramids and so many other things previously
thought to be "supernatural. " The field of cryptozoology and what it is trying to accomplish was
covered. He asked the audience about personal beliefs of different "reported" supernatural events - i.
e. ghosts, UFOs - and why we believed certain things but not others. He pointed out how "creatures"
thought to be extinct have been recently rediscovered or simply discovered (giant squid). The idea of
keeping an open mind was prevalent and a good one. He explained that if you don't have all of the
facts or actual visible, irrefutable proof - it's best to keep an open mind - you're thinking could be
wrong or proven incorrect when new evidence is found....... something to think about. Conversation
was fun, lively and varied as we all vied to provide new concepts or monsters. Kate Landis had a
beautiful picture of the Jersey Devil she had drawn in watercolors. Mr. Maberry was so impressed
with it, that he gave Kate his card and wants to possibly use her picture! Kudos Kate - she is a very
talented artist. Around 10:00, Mr. Maberry pointed out that he had a 2 hour ride home, so we
wrapped up, chatted with him and his wife for a bit, then converged upon the Suburban Diner. (AM)
Mr. Maberry was a really nice guy and quite well learned on the supernatural. I flipped through his
Cryptopedia and found quite captivating and entertaining. I loved the glossaries on various gods in
various cultures and religions. There's a section on international takes on ghosts and ghouls from
around the world such as Japan and Russia. A great resource for the Intertnational Themed month
coming up later this year (HINT! HINT! BIG GLARING BLINDING HINT-O-RAMA! ) Yeah, the yeti story
was nice but I liked hearing that reality based science is gradually starting to seriously investigate
the paranormal such as hauntings and UFO sightings. Could we see Fox Mulder's dream of getting
the truth out there finally realized in our time? Ooh, the possibilities! I appreciated the advice he gave
about the wrong way to present unusual phenomena. It's cool to present a theory about alien
visitation but it might hurt the presentation by telling the group that you commune with Elvis in the
Dunkin Donuts restroom every Sunday morning. It was a nice time. (Aubrey)