I was younger than my own daughter is now. I had the same ravenous appetite for literature as she, and books were my escape from the bullying, as well as the sometimes overwhelming banality of the outside world. I had just returned from a trip to the local drug store with my mother. I had shiny quarters, nickels, and dimes in hand when we left on the excursion – my allowance earned by taking out the trash and other odd jobs around the house. Now that we returned the lion’s share of that allowance was gone, but now I held in my hand a paperback book from the spinning rack at the corner of the pharmacy. I had already devoured a chapter or two while my mother waited for her prescription to be filled and while on the ride home. This was a new kind of book. A new kind of genre. And it spoke to me.

Upon arriving home I showed my prize to my father, exclaiming with excitement that I had discovered a new type of book. One that he had surely never heard of before – Science Fiction. He looked at the paperback and scanned the back cover.

“You know, Science Fiction was around when I was a kid, too,” he told me.

I was in awe. This stuff had been out there? Why hadn’t I been informed? “Really?” I asked.

“Sure,” he replied. “H. G. Wells, Jules Verne… The list goes on and on. You know what? There’s a book I think you’d enjoy…” He rummaged around in the shelves and pulled out a copy of The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, then told me, “This was always one of my favorites.”

…And thus was my introduction to one of the greatest SF/Fantasy authors of all time.

I was fortunate enough to have met Ray Bradbury many years ago when I was still an “aspiring author in search of a publisher,” and he was on a book tour. I not only had him sign a book for me, but one for my father as well. I will always remember that.

Mr. Bradbury died this morning at the age of 91. He will be sorely missed, but he left this world a far more interesting place by being the man who illustrated it for us with his words.

http://io9.com/5916175/rip-ray-bradbury-author-of-fahrenheit-451-and-the-martian-chronicles

As you all know, this blog – Brainpan Leakage – is mostly for me to blow off the silly that runs around in my head, along with the occasional opinion piece. However, since the #COFFINHOP only has a couple of days left, I thought I’d post about it over here as well…

AND SO, LET’S GET TO THE #COFFINHOP!

1. Links for a free e-book, discount codes on other e-books, and entry into the book giveaway can be found after the daily Halloween picture…

In honor of said bouncing about betwixt coffins – what with this being all about Halloween and such – I am going to toss some silliness out there each day. It may be a picture of costumes from some of our more legendary parties, or it may be something altogether textual… say, for instance, why I actually like candy corn. You just never know. HOWEVER, there are a couple of things which shall remain the same throughout:

1. The strong – and I do mean STRONG – suggestion that you HOP around to all of the coffins on the circuit. You can do this very easily. Simply click on the COFFINHOP Badge below (the pumpkin impaled by a stiletto, courtesy of my wife) and there you will find all sorts of information, including a list of the COFFINS (author blogs) on the web tour. Each of these fine authors has something to say about Halloween – maybe scary, maybe informative, maybe funny… you just never know. However, you owe it to yourself to swing by and scream trick-or-treat, because not only will you discover a whole slew of new authors, most – if not all – of the stops will have a chance to enter contests for spectacular prize type stuff: Autographed books, swag, and what have you… So, DO IT, or I’ll let my wife get hold of you, and you can already see what she’s capable of doing to a poor, defenseless Jack-o-Lantern that she liked. Just imagine what she might do if she’s angry…
2. I will be running a contest here on M R LAND as my part of the COFFINHOP. See details after each day’s Halloween oriented post (as in, keep scrolling down). Right now I will definitely be giving away an ARC of IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER (due in bookstores 11/18), and even some selected books from the Rowan Gant Series, both paperback and electronic.

COFFINHOP HALLOWEENAGE FOR BRAINPAN LEAKAGE

COFFINHOP CONTEST DETAILS FOR M R LAND

Enter the random drawing for a chance to win an Autographed ARC of In The Bleak Midwinter, my latest novel, which will be released 11/18 – To enter, email me by clicking this link: COFFINHOP CONTEST

And…

• If you have an e-reader, be sure to check out the special discount codes for epub and mobi versions of all the Rowan Gant Investigations novels HERE
• Get a FREE e-novella – MERRIE AXEMAS: A Killer Holiday Tale HERE – Use Coupon Code: MS74K
• Check back often. More cool stuff could happen… Seriously.

There you go… Make sure you visit all of the other CoffinHoppers!!

More to come…

Murv

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