This just in: “New York Curiosities” was held at gunpoint while traveling on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad. The suspects are thought to be part of the “Loomis Gang,” aka the Mystery Company of the Finger Lakes, a known gang of bandits/actors who “rob” the Thendara-to-Carter line on Wednesdays in July and August.  

Lissen up, book. This here's a stick up ...

When he's not robbin' trains, this bandit likes to curl up with a good book.

I'm not going to hurt the book. Naw, I just want to scare it a little ...

Y'know that "mighty purdy" part? Yeah, that's us!

You can read more about the Loomis Gang train robberies in my book.  A huge thank you to my friends Sandy, Chrissy and Doug of Marcy, NY, for sending the pictures.

I know, I know. They always say, don’t judge a book by its cover. But please, please judge my book by its cover! Bret Kerr’s redesign of the cover for the “Curiosities” series is amazing. It jumps off the shelf! As a writer, that’s so important: Your words are nothing if no one pulls your book off the shelf to read it. And now it’s official: Bret’s redesign won a 2008 Graphic Design America award from GD USA magazine. Congrats, Bret. Yeeeeeeeow! So well deserved.

Wondering how he came up with the design? Check out a blog post by Bret in which he explains how he came up with the idea and the over-the-river-and-through-the-eBay adventure that ensued to make it happen!

After all of the bad news in my family lately, you can imagine my reaction when my mom called me at work on Friday out of breath: Omigosh, what now? 

“I just came back from Barnes & Noble!” she exclaimed. “They have your book — a whole bookshelf of them!”

Aside from the obvious relief, this was an amazing moment to share with my mom. This book is as much hers as it is mine. First of all, she believed it would get done – even when I was skeptical. Plus, she was my partner in crime for several curiosities in western and central New York. Quite honestly, if this book were “Survivor,” she would’ve outwitted and outlasted everyone – even me! She was caught in the middle of an international manhunt (seriously, I’m really sorry about that), had a reading by a medium, ate a “garbage plate,” went to a chicken-wing festival that was “like a fraternity party” and nearly had her car stolen – and that’s only her first page of notes!

I sent her back to Barnes and Noble the next day to take pictures. But this time, I said, don’t tell them your daughter wrote the book. Open it to the dedication page, point and say, “That’s me!”  

And, in 5-4-3-2-1 … OK, we’re back! Thanks for tuning in. As you may have noticed, the blog went dark in August. I overheard the blog, which is very into its Polish heritage, mumble something about being on “holiday.” OK, blog, you’re in America, now. Time to buckle down, OK?

 OK, OK. Enough blaming the blog. What happened, as many of you know, was that my family got hit with a double whammy of devastating events just as “New York Curiosities” was hitting store shelves. I had to cancel the book-launch party and return to Rochester to be with my family. A giant thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers. I’m proud to report that we’re on the road to recovery now and everyone is doing well.

And now, it’s fall, my favorite season. With my family situation stabilized, the blog and I can pick up where we left off: celebration and shameless self-promotion!

The second most frequently asked question I get is, “How did you get the book deal?” 

Well, I had written a humor column for a paper in Queens a few years ago. When the paper folded, I wasn’t sure where or how to pitch my special brand of humor next. So, I signed up for a humor-writing class with Lynn Harris, co-creator of Breakup Girl and author of the comic novel “Death By Chick Lit,” at Mediabistro in Manhattan. (The class was awesome – you should take it!) 

After the eight-week class was finished, the TA, Dylan Stableford, asked me to write a testimonial on Mediabistro.com for an upcoming class he was teaching. The acquisitions editor at Globe Pequot Press, Gillian Belnap, was browsing the Mediabistro site looking for someone with a strong journalism background and experience or an interest in humor writing. She came across my testimonial, Googled me and sent me an email asking if I wanted to write the New York installment of their Curiosities series!

Wait — before you go canceling my college speaking tour, know that there’s more of a lesson to be learned here than sit around and wait and the book deal will find you. The lesson is: More than one road leads to publishing. Beyond pitching books directly, take a class, network, do a favor for a colleague and anything else you can think of because you never know where it will lead. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go look at my name on the cover. I’m a little behind today – it’s only been 257 times!

The question I’m most frequently asked is: How did you find the curiosities for the book? Well, I can tell you that Googling “curiosity,” “weird,” “odd” or “bizarre” doesn’t really work. (Believe me, I tried!)
 
My starting point was the state and local tourism bureaus. They’re the ones on the ground and they know where the bodies are buried –- sometimes literally -– and even where their ghosts are said to dwell! And, when it came to local lore, I went to town historians. The truth is out there, and they’ve got the documentation!
 
I also read a lot of newspapers -– on and offline -– and told everyone I knew that I was writing a book about curiosities. Before you knew it, friends were telling me about curiosities –- even curiosities were telling me about other curiosities!
 
You know that old story — If a butterfly flaps its wings on the other side of the world, it will start a chain of events that ultimately comes back to you? Sometimes it was like that. My favorite butterfly chain started with my friend Emily flagging an article she read in New York Metro about a junk museum in Brooklyn. I went there and the guy I was interviewing said, “Hey, do you know there’s an angel or something in that Brooklyn cemetery on the waterfront that’s waving back to the Statue of Liberty?” When I arrived at the cemetery, I asked a maintenance guy where the office was and, of course, told him I was writing a book. He told me where to go then said, “Hey, do you know about the wild parrots in Brooklyn?”
 
So, my advice is: Always be curious and don’t be quiet about it –- tell everyone you know!

This book was truly a labor of love. I spent the better portion of three years – and my savings – traveling around the state in pursuit of the most interesting people, places and things this state has to offer. I met some amazing people along the way and I’m thrilled to be able to share their stories.
 
It’s a great arm-chair read and will give you tons of material for your next watercooler show. I hope it also inspires you to get in the car and drive. Sure, I’m an amazing storyteller (hey, stop laughing) but some of these things you just gotta see yourself!
 
People always want to know how I found the curiosities and which ones were my favorites. I’ll answer those questions, plus tell you some of the hilarious stories behind the stories in this blog.
 
First, please buy a copy of my book. Also, remember it makes a great gift for family and friends! Then, check back with my blog, where more hilarity will ensue.
 
Thanks for stopping by. Come again!