I went inside to the parlor and found a tree, not as tall as me, was sitting on the table where Lenore usually has Mr. Poe’s books. It even had little sparkly lights on it, red and green and white. On the top was a raven, like the one Eddy wrote about in that poem everybody likes.
On the fifth day of Christmas… Even though those twelve days are supposed to start on December 25 and run to Epiphany, Jan. 6, I want to offer my gratitude for the people and things that make the writing life possible for me. Today, I’m celebrating my family—and yours. Are you a writer? If you…
I had the option of talking about my writing style and habits with Betty—but Donna insisted she wanted to be the star of this blogpost. Donna is a bit headstrong and ambitious so I moved over so she could answer Betty’s questions.
Tyrone said, “Mama had a silver tree covered with red and green balls. Oh, and candy canes. She had this big old light that shone on the tree with a wheel that changed the colors from red to blue to green to yellow. You should’ve seen it. On Christmas morning, we’d come downstairs and there’s be a present or two for us underneath it. That was cool.”
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to read Edgar Allan Poe’s “MS. Found in a Bottle,” a short story he wrote while living in the West Baltimore house. It’s said this story of a storm-tossed ship launched Mr. Poe’s career as a weaver of strange and eerie tales. Much more frightening was opening my own work…
With National Novel Writing Month over, I’m emerging from my writing cave for two really fun events in December—besides the Christmas holidays, of course. First up, Sunday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m., I am the featured reader at the Poe House and Museum‘s monthly Authors Series. I will be reading from Mr. Poe’s “MS. Found…
The International Edgar Allan Poe Festival is returning to Baltimore next weekend. It is held the weekend before the anniversary of his death (October 7) right outside the house where he launched his career as the master of the macabre. It’s remarkable, really, that the streets around this tiny five-room house close down for two…
When I saw Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen, I couldn’t resist. I volunteer at the Edgar Allan Poe House in Baltimore every now and again. One of the things I usually have to explain is how this is the house where he fell in love with the teenager who later became his wife. Virginia, his younger…
Mary K. Tilghman, writer 