Tag: amazing

Margerumalia – Survey Country

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – February 13, 2026

Drawing by Eric Margerum

Did you read my drawing credit? I drew that! I’m pretty excited by how it turned out. 

Granted, the top of the signpost is either in a different universe from the base, or it was made from a branch that suffered a difficult youth from which it never fully recovered.

But I had bemoaned my inability to draw just a couple of weeks ago, and that’s not a bad attempt! My cousin Hugh is an excellent artist (hughmargerum.com) and he could probably give me a few pointers, but for now I’m gonna take the win.

Welcome to Survey Country

How many times do you get asked to fill out a survey each week? Last week I had three.

And here’s the thing.

I’ve done my share of rating people over the decades, and I’m pretty good at giving compliments. I taught a lot of classes both as a professor and as a dean for twenty-four years. I also directed plays—as many as five in a school year, but always at least one. I know that people need supportive words to encourage them and to embolden them to keep making progress.

As a dean, I also had to write performance reviews for every faculty and staff member under my supervision. I’ve done a lot of evaluations. 

So why would I fill out yet another survey? I mean, the others were part of my job. I was getting paid to write evaluations.

After I had my teeth cleaned at the dentist last week I got an email asking me to fill out a survey on their service. I feel guilty when I don’t fill out the survey because I’m afraid they’ll only hear from the folks who were unhappy.

Oh, sure, I could complain because my usual dentistry had a burst water pipe and they had to reroute me to another location a few hours before my appointment. But am I gonna throw them under the bus for that? No.

They gave me the same appointment time and I didn’t have to wait. And they were so friendly. Especially to the young woman who was training on a new computer system. The fact that they treated her well, boosted my confidence in how they would treat me.

Okay, okay, I’ve just convinced myself. I’ll fill out their survey as soon as I finish writing this.

When my wife came back from Fresh Thyme Market she had a receipt asking for a survey response AND it offered a chance to win $250 for doing so. That’s not a guaranteed payment but at least they’re offering a tempting incentive. 

Besides, Fresh Thyme let me set up a book signing table in their store and I sold four or five books to their customers. They are also really friendly. I already filled out that survey. 

Many survey requests are just a ploy to get your compliments posted on social media. CVS expects one every time I buy a package of dental floss.

My Science Friday podcast reminds me to rate and review them every episode. But only if it’s positive, haha.

I see where experts on how to sell your indie book, say I should be asking you to post a favorable review of my book on Amazon or wherever you buy books. Apparently that’s the way the world turns. 

So I’ll rate the dentist and maybe score a few more karma points to get some nice ratings for myself.

Welcome to Survey Country.

TTFN

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – Running With The Demon

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – February 6, 2026

When I was in high school, my brother and I painted houses to earn money for college. We listened to a radio that kept playing the same top ten hits all day long and my mind would wander off to a story by Terry Brooks that had captured my attention: The Sword of Shannara.

Having read all the magical adventures of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, the release of the first Shannara book whet my appetite for more adventure. That began a long procession of Brooks’ books that I read for about fifty years. The man has only recently announced his retirement but fortunately his designated successor will continue to carry the torch under his oversight.

When Running With The Demon came out in 1997 I was quick to dismiss it as “not a Shannara book,” but Brooks later acknowledged the Word & Void series as a distant prequel to Shannara. I’m currently listening to the second book in the series, but wanted to tell you about the first one.

The story takes place on a Fourth of July weekend in a small town in Illinois. A fourteen-year-old girl named Nest lives near a park where a magical forest creature teaches her about taking care of the park and staying away from the Feeders that thrive on the fears and vulnerabilities of their human victims.

Nest knows she has magic, and knows that none of her band of close friends can see the Feeders. She protects them as much as she is able but much more dangerous magic is on its way. The demon of the title soon arrives, as does a Knight of the Word, and the Word and the Void have a showdown that includes Nest.

I won’t spoil the story by telling you too much, but I think it’s fair to warn you about one scene that matches the supernatural brutality of a Steven King novel. Brooks describes the gruesome death of a human that the demon has seduced into doing his bidding. If you’re a parent wondering if this story is a good fit for your child, I wanted to give you let you know about that part.

The other aspect of the Word & Void drama is its remarkable parallels to our modern world. The Word is order and the Void is chaos. In this divided world of 2026, as our social media rewards outrage and fear, this fantasy world offers us a staging ground of the many possible outcomes. It feels very current and very real.

I recommend it highly.

TTFN

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Having ended on a dark note above, I’ll lighten the tone with another cartoon from The New Yorker and the caption I submitted for their weekly contest:

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – 15 Things I Learned Watching TV & Movies

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 30, 2026

PHOTO: Photo by Timur Repin on Unsplash

I thought this might be useful for those of you who only read books…

15 Things I Learned Watching TV & Movies

  1. You don’t need to say goodbye at the end of a phone call, just hang up.
  2. Parking spots are always available in front of tall buildings.
  3. Government secrets are best discussed in restaurants where no one will pay any attention.
  4. A hair brush and push-up bra will transform a schoolmarm into a ravishing beauty.
  5. Drinking 3 or 4 shots of whiskey on an empty stomach won’t have any effect.
  6. A musical instrument is easy to play when you want to sing a song to someone.
  7. You don’t need to watch the road when you drive, you can just look at your passenger.
  8. All bullets fired at you will miss when you’re trying to help someone.
  9. You can borrow anyone’s phone because you’ve memorized the number of every family member, friend, and your lawyer.
  10.  If you talk nice to an office assistant, she’ll make sure you get in to see her boss.
  11.  Alien invasions all begin with dark, roiling clouds.
  12.  Guys with acne scars are always packing heat.
  13.  All passwords can be easily hacked in four seconds.
  14.  Dogs know exactly what you need and where to find the person who can help you.
  15.  Never, never go into a parking garage. Only bad things happen there.

I hope that’s helpful.

TTFN

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – A Mother/Daughter Pair

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 23, 2026

It’s very cold outside in the Midwest. I hope it’s less severe where you are. 

Our outdoor cats have us worrying over them when they don’t show up for 48 hours to eat. Tabitha, the mother, finally showed up on Saturday. Then Rocket, one of her kittens from last spring, apparently went into heat because I chased off a large tomcat who was stalking her. The next day she was nowhere to be seen. She came back the day after.

That mother/daughter pair had been sharing warmth in the little cat house we set up for them, but they seem to have abandoned that cozy nook. Meanwhile the temperatures dropped into the single digits. Yikes!

So I’m entering the doors to the track at the Wellness Center and I hold the door for a young mother carrying her baby in a carseat. After my first circle around the track I see her again, cradling her infant while taking a slow walk. She looked like the drawing above but with an infant half that size. 

Two weeks old? Three, I was guessing. It’s been a few years since my daughter was that size.

The mother/daughter pair were the very definition of motherhood and she shared a smile with me as my face reflected that thought. Watching them warmed my heart and reminded me of the kindly looks I got standing in the aisle of an airplane, bouncing my infant daughter on a cross-country flight.

Something in all of us, I thought, wants to keep that infant protected and cherishes those who do.

TTFN

P.S. I’m careful to credit any photos I use in this newsletter to give due credit. In checking the URL of the artwork above, their ending of “.co” is correct. It’s freekidscoloringpages.co (If you try to change it to “.com” it won’t work.)

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This just in…

A fellow named John Raccio posted that on the Baby Boomers account of Facebook. I thought it’d be funny to share in light of last week’s newsletter.

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – A Rorschach Test

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 16, 2026

As the new year got started I was reflecting on what age I would be this year and realized it was an opportunity to make a joke about the whole 6-7 phenomenon. So I posted the message above.

I was surprised, then, to learn that my joke became something of a Rorschach Test giving me insight about the people who wrote responses.

Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach created an inkblot test to uncover the thoughts and emotions of patients by presenting them with ambiguous blotches, all open to interpretation.

Here’s a sample of them: 

I look at these inkblots and see several characters ripe for stories featuring mythological antagonists or ancient warriors. Tells you something about my imagination, doesn’t it? 

There’s an old joke about a psychologist showing inkblots to a patient. The dialogue goes something like this: 

Psychologist: I’d like you to look at a few cards and tell me what you see.

Patient: Okay. 

Psychologist: Here’s the first one. What do you see? 

Patient: I see a man and a woman making love. 

Psychologist: And here’s the second one. What do you see now?

Patient: I see a man and a woman making love. 

Psychologist: Interesting, and the third one. What do you see now?

Patient: I see a man and a woman making love. 

[This continues for two or three more inkblots before the psychologist puts down the cards.]

Psychologist: You seem to be preoccupied with the thought of lovemaking.

Patient: Me? You’re the one with the dirty pictures!

(That dialogue can be made more explicit, depending on your audience.)

When people responded to my social media post, it generated lots playful banter about the 6-7 craze, sober reflections on aging, heartfelt warm regards, and several birthday greetings, though my birthday is still many months away. One helpful person directed me—and others who weren’t in the know—to a short TikTok video explaining the origins of the 6-7 sensation.

I found it to be a fascinating study of people’s reactions to an ambiguous post, and appreciated getting a deeper look at my friends and their personalities.

TTFN

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Last week I recommended books about Paddington Bear and this week I happened to see a deal for the audiobook that begins the series, A Bear Called Paddington.

The company is called Chirp Books and they offer discounted audiobooks with no subscription. I’ve bought several from them and I haven’t been disappointed yet. Here’s a link to this book:

https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/a-bear-called-paddington-by-michael-bond?promotion_id=303194

(Just so you know, I don’t get any money by recommending this audiobook.)

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – Books of Verses

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 2, 2026

I hope you enjoyed my verses last week. I’ve been thinking of writing enough of them to make a children’s book of poetry. How many would make for a modern day “A Child’s Garden of Verses,” I wonder. That book saw it’s 140th birthday last year. That’s quite a publishing run!

Many of my verses make use of idioms and wordplay. In fact, I was originally thinking that I should call it “Verses for the Complete Idiom,” playing off of the “Complete Idiot” how-to series, but I doubted children would get the connection. Also, the number of idioms in the English language is legion! When would such a project even end?

In my days working at Crown Books I was delighted to discover children’s books by Shel Silverstein. His skewed view of the world was nothing short of genius, and his illustrations were of minimalist perfection. Oh, how I wish I could draw! If you don’t recognize the name, seek out “Where The Sidewalk Ends” or “Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book” to get started.

I’m no Silverstein, but his work has inspired me and I thought I might use my poem “Verses Versus Curses” as the title of my book. I think it sets the mood, gives a nod to Stevenson’s “Child’s Garden of Verses” and could be the first poem in the book.

Speaking of idioms, here’s another poem I wrote recently based on the weather “raining cats and dogs.”

Cats and Dogs 

It never did rain cats and dogs 

When I played in a puddle.

It may have showered toads and frogs,

But not one you could cuddle.

A street could flood with pigs and hogs, 

Creating quite a mud-dle.

And clouds that hail down sticks and logs

Will make the children huddle.

But “sticks and stones may break my bones”

Is not a sound rebuttal.

I’m aware that “rebuttal” is not on a child’s standard vocabulary list, but there’s nothing more motivating for learning a word than hearing it used in an interesting way. I was three the first time our family took a sabbatical in Germany and I returned at age four with many new words in my own vocabulary, both German and English.

TTFN

P.S. This is not a New Year’s resolution, just an ambition. 

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – A Moment With Santa Ed

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – December 12, 2025

CREDIT: PHOTOFEST

Ed Asner stood at the end of my gurney and put his hand on my ankle by way of encouragement as he was talking to someone else. He moved on before I could thank him but I sure appreciated the warm assurance. 

You may remember Ed Asner from his portrayal of Santa Claus on the movie Elf. Like my daughter says, the holiday season hasn’t really started until we sit down to watch Elf. It’s a Christmas favorite in the Margerum household and I love to pull my “World’s Best Cup of Coffee” mug off the shelf to salute the holidays.

Maybe you remember Asner as the voice of the curmudgeonly Carl Fredricksen in the animated movie Up. He flew his house to South America by equipping it with balloons.

My memories of him date back much further to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” in which he played Mary’s boss in the newsroom of WJM-TV. 

In the very first episode when she interviewed for her job, he asked inappropriate questions about her personal life and she stood up and reprimanded him for it. In response, he walked around his big desk with a half grin on his face and told her, “You know what? You got spunk.”

She modestly tried to thank him for the compliment but he interrupted her.

“I hate spunk.” 

That got a huge laugh from the live audience and the relationship was established. The series ran for nine years. 

His character, Lou Grant, was one of the few—maybe the only—to get a spin-off from a sitcom to create a drama. He was given the job of City Editor at a Los Angeles newspaper in a series that began immediately and “Lou Grant” would run for five years. Ed Asner won Emmy Awards for the same character in each series.

This was the Ed Asner I knew and loved even though, like Mary, I was a little intimidated by him. 

I was on a gurney donating blood along with many more actors in the Screen Actors Guild and Asner was there because he was the SAG President. Maybe he could sense my fear, actors are practiced at sensing the emotions in other people. I hate needles, and his hand on my ankle was just the reassurance I needed. I breathed a little easier after that. 

The only words he could’ve said to improve on the moment would’ve been: 

“You know what? You got spunk.”

TTFN

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Screenshot

Last week, a few hours after my newsletter went out, I saw a social media post from Judy Norton that an autographed CD version of her Christmas music is available through her website: judynorton.com.

I had only mentioned where I saw it downloadable.

Downloads are handy but so difficult to wrap, don’t you think?

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – Getting Ideas

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – November 14, 2025

Well these weren’t here when I walked down this path on the way to the park. I wonder if someone dropped them or just abandoned them…

I wonder. 

That’s what I do. I wonder. And ideas begin to take shape. 

I showed this photo to my wife—the photographer—and she complimented me on the composition after I described a different version that didn’t include the path in the distance. Isn’t it exciting to realize what you’ve learned from your partner just by sharing interests?

“Now there’s a writing prompt!” she said, reflecting my thoughts back at me. “It makes me think of someone who was so scared he jumped out of his shoes and ran. Or  maybe a huge eagle grabbed him and flew away leaving just his shoes.”

“Right?” I asked, feeling the juices of more stories start to bubble up in my imagination.

In my newsletter from two weeks ago I wrote about a 12-year-old girl who came to my book signing at Main Street Books. She wants to be a writer and her mother encouraged her to ask me questions. As did I. 

Of course, the most commonly asked question of any writer is “Where do you get your ideas?” Especially when the writer has written a fantastical adventure tale! 

Just as the girl asked me that question, a customer walked past, saw my flyer about the kittens, and exclaimed “Awww, they’re so cute!” as she passed by.

“There’s a story right there,” I told her. Maybe she always wanted to adopt a kitten but lives in an apartment that doesn’t allow pets. Or maybe she had a cat who passed away but looked just like one of these kittens. Everyone has a story to tell, right?” The girl nodded. “If you pay attention to other people and listen to their stories, that’s a great way to begin. And then you can start playing around with those ideas by using your imagination.” 

I didn’t tell her that I was a notorious daydreamer in school. My mom told me I was an easy child because she could set me in the middle of the room with a handful of toys and I would entertain myself for hours. She was right! I remember doing that.

My attraction to theatre was a natural extension of that kind of thinking. Hey, Eric, do you want to join a group of students who all use their imaginations to tell stories and then add sets, costumes, props, lights and more? Hey, sign me up! What a perfect activity for a devoted daydreamer!

Taking my own advice, I made a point of asking the girl what she had written and then listened to her story. I could tell we were kindred spirits, dabbling in fantastical worlds and characters. I could also tell that she appreciated having an adult listen to her like an equal while encouraging her aspirations.

So what flight of fancy did my imagination run to when I saw these shoes?

Maybe they’re lying in wait for you to come along and try them on, because they’ll take you into a world where trees talk, birds read your thoughts, and dreams come true. 

TTFN

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Sinking Feeling

Having failed to lure Tabitha into our humane trap, Debbie and I pivoted to catching her kittens instead. Maternal instincts are a pretty major influence so this could be the needed work-around. We only managed to catch four of the five before the early snowfall, but we still hope the last one will give the cage a try.

They’re isolated in our small downstairs bathroom and when I went to visit them, these two were cuddled up together in the sink. That’s like a greeting card photo, right?

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – Halloween Kittens

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – October 31, 2025

Here’s a bit of a fright: five more kittens! 

Three torties (tortoise shell markings), one tabby (already looking like her mother), and one black cat (a Halloween kitty).

If you’re thinking you only see four in the photo, zoom in on the black kitten in the middle of the kittenkaboodle*. Its head is down but if you can find the eyes, you’ll suddenly see the fifth kitten. It’s like one of those Magic Eye pictures. 

While you’re looking closely, check out the paw of the tortie to the far right. There’s a bright white patch on the toe, like a mani-pedi gone awry. But totally adorable. I’ve already started calling her Toe White.

We’re thinking we can drop one in the first five Trick-or-Treat bags that open up when we answer the doorbell. A trick that grows into a treat! Probably throw in a can of cat food for good measure.

So all that time we spent worrying about getting Tabitha back to her unseen kittens when we took her to the vet was absolutely accurate! And she’s now bringing them around for us to take over the feeding of the brood. We’re pretty sure they’re nesting under the deck by way of a small opening at the steps.

In my updates from the last few months I’ve mentioned how streetwise Tabitha is—dare I say cagey—and that she won’t walk into the humane trap we used before. 

I’ve imagined the old fashioned upside-down cardboard box held up by a stick, but you have to be there to pull the string, AND be ready to hold down the box during the thrashing of a frightened feral cat, AND have a way to transfer the cat from the box to a cat carrier. Not very practical.

I’ve also thought about childhood TV cartoons of a dog catcher carrying a big net on a stick. They don’t do that anymore.

Tabitha still needs to get those non-dissolving stitches removed, so stay tuned for more updates and more precious kitten pictures.

TTFN

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I thoroughly enjoyed my Saturday at Main Street Books in Lafayette, made several new friends and got to encourage a 12-year-old girl who already knew she wanted to be a writer. I could see her mother’s gratitude and approval for what I was saying. Their mutual thanks were really special to me.

I also got to reunite with some of the high school students I had directed in plays over the last few years. They were at the Farmer’s Market outside and were so enthusiastic about coming in to see me. They have a play coming up this weekend and I’m excited to see what they’ve accomplished under their new director.

After the book signing, Debbie and I visited one other former high school student working up the street. They are already out of college, also a writer of plays, and we got to talk shop between customers. They work at Scones & Doilies and let me tell you, walking into that bakery, the aroma alone will register an additional five pounds on your bathroom scale. And you won’t object because it’s heavenly! We bought a few treats, including gluten free options that Debbie could enjoy.

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

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*kittenkaboodle—get out your scorecard, Eric has added one more word to the English language!

Margerumalia – Encountering Bradbury

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – October 17, 2025

Ray Bradbury. On campus. In person!

It was my first semester at the University of Southern California where I was working on my Master’s Degree, and one of the great icons of science fiction was coming to campus to speak!

The man who wrote Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and countless short stories. THAT Ray Bradbury. 

And because I was born in October, he clearly wrote The October Country just for me. I had to meet him!

What made me think of him for this newsletter? I’ve been listening to his novel Death Is A Lonely Business, another Bradbury masterpiece that he wrote in 1985. It features a young aspiring writer in 1949 living alone in Venice, California, who gets caught up in a murder mystery that’s rife with haunting metaphors of fog and mist, and a pay phone that rings in the middle of the night only to deliver the sound of a distant person breathing.

Bradbury doesn’t write horror, he writes the stuff that makes you pull your covers over your head to protect yourself from the monsters under the bed. The psychological terror of childhood fears. He’s a poet of anxiety, a purveyor of winds off the graveyard.

In this novel, his protagonist is writing some of the same stories that Bradbury himself wrote in his younger years. An informed reader will hear the echoes of stories like “The Fog Horn,” “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit,” and many more. I was transported to when I had first read these stories and felt like Bradbury was telling me the origin of each story.

In his talk at USC, he pointed through the dark auditorium, his finger penetrating the walls and across the quad. “The library,” he told us, “that’s your most important education of all right behind you.” The university had a huge library. “Go read,” he told us, “anything you can get your hands on. That’s where you’ll learn the most. One book will lead you to the next and the next… Never stop.”

I never have.

While I sat listening to him speak I thought about the many stories he had adapted into short plays, and I wrote him an invitation to see me in my first play at USC, Eugene O’Neil’s “Ah, Wilderness!” I promised to reserve two tickets for him if he could make it.

The other advice he gave about writing was entirely practical: begin by writing short stories. You can spend a year writing a terrible novel and it’ll waste a year of your time, or you can write fifty-two short stories, one a week, and sell at least one. He defied anyone to write fifty-two terrible stories in a row, one of them was going to be good!

A few years later I wrote one story and sent it in to Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. I sent it on paper, through the mail, with an SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope) so they could send me their reply. I still have that story in my files, and my rejection slip. I was too embarrassed to send it out to another magazine, or to write fifty-one more. My bad.

I was also embarrassed when I handed Mr. Bradbury my hand-written invitation to see my play. Others were waiting in line for autographs but I had to run to class so I just handed him the folded paper. 

“Does it have your return address?” he asked, stopping to take me in, probably seeing a reflection of himself in my eyes. 

“No,” I answered, “you don’t have to answer it.” 

I still picture him opening up my note and reading it long after the play was done, thinking to himself “I’d like to have seen that.”

TTFN

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Tabitha is still coming to eat her medicated food, but we’re going to run out. We need to capture her soon. Her son, GG, looks in the window to see if I’ll come out to pet him while he eats. He also lies on top of the picnic table outside to watch TV with us every night.

He’s so ready to be domesticated.

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For anyone who lives around Lafayette, Indiana, I’ll be signing copies of The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles at Main Street Books on Saturday, October 25th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. 

The books make a good holiday gift for children ages 8 to 12. I’ve heard from parents and grandparents who have read the book aloud—the original audiobook—saying they created special memories with the young folk. 

I can sell you a MAMLA coffee mug for your hot apple cider, and I’ll be giving away bookmarks and mazes if you just want to come by and say hi.

October 25th is the last day of the Farmer’s Market for the 2025 season. Always a fun time and just a block away from Main Street Books.

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.