Road Trip to Providence

Providence, Rhode Island, is one of my favorite cities.

I first traveled there six years ago, on my way to Roger Williams University, in Bristol, where I would attend my first NECon (one of the best-kept secrets in the world of writer’s conferences). 

As a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take the walking tour of his old haunts. To this day, I can’t shake my first impression of how red the city is, especially when viewed from I-95 just before you pass over Collier Park.

Yes, Providence, Rhode Island, is one of my favorite cities. I’m even surer of this now, after spending the weekend there with my two amazing new friends: illustrators Kelly Murphy and her husband, Antoine Revoy. I was there with a crew of students from my non-fiction production class to shoot a short documentary about her work on my book, “Behind the Bookcase,” which comes out next fall from Delacorte Press (an imprint of Random House).

Selling this book was one of the reasons I decided to rename my Web site. But when my editor told me she wanted to have it illustrated -- by Kelly Murphy, no less -- I was speechless. I’m sorry that so many words in our language have been misused to the point of reducing their meaning. So I dare not say Kelly’s work is “incredible” or “awesome” because these words just don’t do her justice.

Let’s try “astonishing” instead. 

Kelly studied at Rhode Island School of Design (where she now teaches!) and published her first picture book only three years after graduating (“The Boll Weevil Ball”). She’s got too many credits to fully appreciate in this small space, so let’s leave it at this: her first job doing black-and-white interior illustrations for a chapter book was for the New York Times best seller “Masterpiece” and won her an E.B. White Read-Aloud award. (Gee, I hope some of this magic rubs off on me. We did hug goodbye, after all.)

We’re in post-production on the documentary now, cutting the footage together and finding the right music. It should be up for viewing by Halloween, along with some other goodies, over at the “Behind the Bookcase” Web site.

Until then, hop on over and click the film frame marked “1” to see how Kelly drew her way to the final cover for my book. If you aren’t as astonished as I am by the final result, I might have to question your humanity.

"Dark Shadows" From Childhood

Few things are as elusive as childhood memories. Are we really remembering things exactly as they happened? Or have those memories distorted to a point where they become more like fiction than the reality they are supposed to represent?

Take me, for instance. Some of my memories are crystal clear. Such as those around the glow-in-the-dark Aurora monster models my older brother had. Each night, these models had to be covered with handkerchiefs and hand towels because all I could see in the darkness was floating heads and clutching hands. No way I could sleep under those conditions.

 

                                

 

Or what about “Famous Monsters Speak”? The cover of that LP was burned in my memory so deeply that when I finally ran a Google search late last year and found it again, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my memory had been accurate in its recollection.

 

 

But there was another memory that was much more misty. It was of a board game. And all I could recall was the distinct imagery: a bloody hand reaching up from murky waters; spaces marked with knives and bats; a vulture perched on a tree.

 

 
Using the Internet, I began searching board game nostalgia sites. I relived a lot of other childhood memories during my searches (seeing “Which Witch” again was especially fun). But I could not find the game I remembered. When my search proved fruitless, I took to writing the owners of these Web sites, describing what few details I could recall.

Someone finally suggested that I was thinking of a “Dark Shadows” game, based on the TV series which is now being remade into a feature film by Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. That rang a bell with me, but when I searched for a “Dark Shadows” board game, I only found something that involved collecting skeleton pieces. And then, at last, I found what I was looking for. It was indeed a game called “Dark Shadows” (the other was actually called “Barnabas Collins”).

I quickly found a copy to buy on eBay and I am pleased to say it was everything that I remembered. And more. Since then, my family (my wife and three children, aged 14, 11, and 8) have played “Dark Shadows” too many times to count. It’s a welcome respite from the onslaught of videogames based on movies and TV shows to sit with the family and make some more childhood memories.

But know this: if you plan on following in my footsteps,  you better hurry. I suspect that once Johnny Depp steps on screen as Barnabas Collins, all things “Dark Shadows” will suddenly become real “collector’s items.”

Lo Fi has arrived at Chang Shao Trading Co.

I'm proud to say that I've been friends with Glenn Chadbourne for a few years now. For those of you who don't know Glenn, he has been responsible for some of the most amazing art anywhere. (You can find his Web site linked to the left under "Friends" or  just click www.glennchadbourne.com.) His graphic adaptations of Stephen King stories (the "Secretary of Dreams" books from Cemetery Dance publications) are incredible.So when I had an idea for a "mascot" to represent Chang Shao Trading Co., I knew Glenn was the right man for the job. I didn't know how right I was. Our mascot's name is "Lo Fi," and he is what is known as a "jiang shi," which literally means "stiff corpse" and it feeds, not on blood, but on the "chi" or life-force of still-living humans. They have lots of other powers and they can be stopped by a variety of methods, the most common of which is the application of a talisman (called a "fu") to the forehead. This freezes the "jiang shi," rendering it powerless. A whole series of movies (the core of which are the "Mr. Vampire" films) has blurred this definition to the point where most people think of a "jiang shi" simply as a "hopping vampire." That's fine. Lo Fi is all of this and more. Glenn has created an amazing portrait of Lo Fi for us and now you can buy buttons and shirts featuring both Lo Fi and the Chang Shao Trading Co. logo. Just click the button with the "$" on it on the front page at www.changshaotrading.com.

Visit Kelly Murphy

I'm very pleased to add a link to the Web site for Kelly Murphy. She is the incredible and talented illustrator who will be bringing the world of "Behind the Bookcase" to life. Kelly's work can be seen in many best-selling books. But you can do your eyes a favor right now and head over to http://www.kelmurphy.com/

Welcome to the new home of marksteensland.com

If you're here, and you've visited this address before, you're probably wondering what happened to the old Web site. Yes, it's gone. And I'm switching over to this new format. The other version was simply too cumbersome to maintain. I also didn't feel like it was as personal (or personable) as I wanted it to be. I hope this new format changes all of that. So please bear with me as I continue making changes and get into the habit of posting here on a more regular basis. If you're looking for links to my film work, check out my company Web site at http://www.changshaotrading.com/ where you can find a direct link to my YouTube channel. Thanks for visiting and come back again soon.

What is "Behind the Bookcase"?

The teaser page for "Behind the Bookcase" (my fantasy adventure novel for middle-grade readers) is now live at http://www.whatisbehindthebookcase.com/. The book is scheduled for publication in fall of 2012. I hope to have lots of stuff going on over there, such as games and contests, so check it out now and bookmark it for later.