Carey Burns

Shortly after Christopher Lee died, Michael DeMeng issued a challenge to create a vampire-themed assemblage piece and of course, I jumped at the chance! If you don't know who Michael DeMeng is, visit his website and behold his creations. Swoon over the details of each delightfully dark piece. Go. Now. I will wait. You're back! Good! I decided to alter a 7Gypsies tray I snagged on sale. I'd have a fake vial of vampire blood, maybe a wooden stake, and a Shrinky Dink rendering of Christopher Lee in all his Dracula glory. A not-so-scary Dracula What do they say about best laid plans? I bought a paper doll book of vampires (really, check it out ) and traced him out onto the Shrinky Dink paper. I colored him in and then popped him in the oven. He did not turn out so well. That scrapped the Shrinky Dink idea. Back to the drawing board. I had bought some buttons at the craft store that had hearts with a blade piercing them. Rust was on my mind so I painte...

The end of the semester nears, which means I will be working four 10-hour days soon (we close on Fridays for about 8 weeks).  The lovely 2 hours of writing/revision time I get each day will be gone and I'll be forced to either hole up during my lunch break or stay up later each night.  Decisions, decisions...  But at least I'll have Fridays to myself to write.  (cue the dirty dishes to wash, the laundry to fold, the floor to vacuum, the toilet to scrub...) Last week I screwed up enough courage to send out a totally fresh piece of flash fiction to a market and while I wait, I'm trying to work on another longer piece.  I say trying because the antihistamines are kicking the life out of me.  Yes, that lovely sun allergy has returned along with the pleasant weather.  After finishing the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure yesterday, hives broke out on my hands and face and scalp, etc and I got all swolley.  (yes, I know swolley isn't a word, ...