I asked fellow The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next week or so.
Each entry gives a taste of their contribution, a little about them, how to contact them, how their story came about, and definitely a link to The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey (which you should purchase because it would make each and every one of us happy.
you do want to make us happy, don’t you?
i mean, considering what we wrote, you want us to know you’re a good person, right?).
Let’s start with an introduction to the anthology as a whole:
“Life is a journey, not a destination.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Emerson’s point has been echoed by many, but in the Land of the Weird the question arises, “A journey to what destination?” At the same time, you might ask, “Is the journey therefore the destination?” The journey may well be an individual’s destination, because it will define them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And in the Land of the Weird, that journey can take twists and turns that amuse, sadden, or horrify.
This trip into the Land of the Weird offers you 39 unique trails to follow, assisted by 35 different guides, each leading you down their own singular paths, manifesting their own view of journey as destination, some laughing, some weeping, and some, eyes wide with fear, shaking as they point out the spectral footpath for you to follow on your way down The Rabbit Hole.A Writers Co-op Production
Stories by: Chere Taylor, Brian R. Quinn, Arthur M. Doweyko, Donna J. W. Munro, Tom Howard, Kayla Whittle, Leslie Muzingo, Pete Barnstrom, Emmie Christie, Thomas Nicholson, GD Deckard, Richard DeRobertis, M.C. Schmidt, James Dorr, Rosalind Goldsmith, Margaret Karmazin, J.W.Wood, James Rumpel, Bill McCormick, v.f. thompson, Fran Tabor, David K. Slay, Joseph Carrabis, Jane Frankel, Alice Baburek, Susan R. Morritt, Bobby Rollins, Lee Clark Zumpe, Denice Penrose, Stephen McQuiggan, H. Donovan Lyón, Anna Ross, Michael Pudney, Beth Gaydon, and Tom Wolosz.
Rick’s contribution is The Saga of McKADE the Sailor. Here’s the opening:
There was a brave sailor I knew,
Named McKade who was feeling quite blue
“A sea serpent’s at large,
Eating ship, boat and barge,
And smacking his lips when he’s through.”
How the story came about:
A college professor told me that “Ring around the Rosies, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, All fall down” was from the Black Plague (roses and posies were charms to ward off disease, ‘ashes’ was meant to imitate coughing), and ‘all fall down’ speaks for itself. Then Tolkien showed how “Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle” was just a contracted version of an old Hobbit song. Therefore, I figured that there was more behind “Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub” than a nonsense rhyme. That always sounded kind of fishy to me and was convinced it was referring to a small boat. I just could not understand why three craftsmen with nothing to do with the sea were out at sea in a stupid little tub. Then I met someone who once knew McKade the Sailor and it all came about.
About Rick DeRobertis:
I live in Hawaii with my wife and golden retriever. Work as a lawyer by day, and try to write at night, now and then when I have something worthwhile (to me at least) to say. I recently finished a high fantasy novel that I conceived as a kid and will start looking for agents. Hope agents don’t think people don’t care about Elves. Elves have been around since Norse Mythology, a point not many seem to understand. BTW: It was Greek and Norse myths that got me into fantasy, Robert E Howard and JRR Tolkien (in that order) came later— the geniuses of 20th Century fantasy in my opinion.
See all The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey stories here.