| 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. |
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
"supernatural/ romance thrillers" as well the Cryptopedia &
Vampire Universe reference books. 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
"supernatural/ romance thrillers" as well the Cryptopedia &
Vampire Universe reference books. 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)
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