Monday, December 31, 2012

     Here's an action scene from The Urchin, illustrated by Russell Dauterman. I happened to see a glimpse of Russell's portfolio at Comic-Con one year and immediately struck up a conversation.
     I love in the third panel how Vance is shown through the drawn bow of Dave. Very clever, Russell.
     For more information on Russell and an indepth look at his art, view his website at:

russelldauterman.com

     The Urchin is a full length novel about boys from an isolated boarding school who struggle for survival in the post-apocalypse as they battle their former teachers and classmates who have been transformed into vampires.

     It's about friendship, survival, betrayal and yes, there is even a romance told through Vance's backstory. If you're curious and would like to read the first chapter, go here.
     The Urchin is available on all ebook platforms for 99 cents.


Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Archaia All-Ages Sale - Down at Fraggle Rock

Yes, it's time to experience the wonder of Fraggle Rock in a new and accessible way. That's right! We're talking downloadable.

ComiXology is having a sale of all Archaia all-ages titles. This includes Fraggle Rock, volume one. (Hey, hey - yes, that's the one where I have two stories). So, if you want to get downloadable on Fraggle Rock, go here now:

http://www.comixology.com/Archaia-All-Ages-Sale/comics-collection/872

Okay - I can't find any of the Fraggle illustrations, so here's a fire that happened a few months ago. Yes, we had to evaculate, no we were not harmed and suffered no damage beyond loss of a night's sleep.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Victoria Secret - The Auschwitz Collection

I ordered some comfy lilac stripe pajamas from Victoria Secret and was surprised to receive a pair of gray stripe pajamas instead. I called their customer service to straighten things out and was informed that they actually were the lilac that I ordered, they just looked gray. Something about the pjs really turned my stomach. I couldn't place why I would find such a simple article of clothing so off-putting. I showed them to my husband and asked "What do these remind you of? It's really bothering me." He replied without hesitation, "Why don't they just slap a yellow Star of David on those things? They look like what they made the prisoners wear in the concentration camps." He was right. That was exactly why they were bothering me, but I couldn't place it

There are very few iconic pajamas out there, good or bad, but I think if you are a designer of sleepwear, you should some sense of history. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but should Victoria Secret really be putting out an Auschwitz line? These are definitely going back to the store. Creepy, to say the least.

Friday, September 21, 2012

50 Free Copies of The Urchin

I'm giving away 50 Kindle copies of The Urchin to the first 50 requests. (Okay, I've already given away about 20 copies, but there are still plenty left.) All you have to do is email adrianneambrose "at" gmail "dot" com with your email.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

The Urchin - Chapter 1



The Urchin is my 95K word novel now available as an ebook on Amazon for 99 cents and soon to be available on all ebook retailers for the same price. (Check to see if it's been posted on your preferred carrier.) Here's the blurb to pull you in:

Since the End came, leaving the United States a confused and desolate wasteland, what is left of society has been trying to pick up the pieces and put itself back together. Nick Miller is willing to do whatever it takes, and is flying a top-secret mission over the devastation when he is forced to make a crash landing. Luckily, he is rescued by the brooding, enigmatic Vance Amherst and his dubious crew of teenage boys, who are eking out an existence in the remains of their boarding school. But Nick quickly realizes that something is very wrong at Stanton Academy: the school has been turned into a fortress bristling with giant spikes; the boys, armed to the teeth with wooden stakes, exude a desperate, fearful discipline; the teaching staff is conspicuously absent. And night is falling…

Here is a sample chapter to get you started:





By A. M. Ambrose



Chapter 1

The sun was skimming the horizon as Nick guided his Stearman north towards New Washington. It would be dark soon. Too dark to fly. He would have to find a safe place to touch down for the night. The wind tugged persistently at an errant lock of his sandy blond hair that had escaped the confinement of his leather helmet. Annoyed, Nick shoved the curl back into place and adjusted his goggles as he scanned the landscape. He used to love to fly. Getting up in his father’s old biplane was one of the true joys of his childhood. Of course, that was back when flying in an open cockpit meant there were things to look at. Now there was just mile upon mile of nothing. Over the last hour, he’d seen the hulls of a few blasted out buildings and a handful of brutally scorched trees. Sometimes he could even make out where a road must have been, but his compass was really the only thing he could rely on to guide his way north.
There was a soft thud and the Stearman wobbled, unsteadily. The plane felt off balance. Had he hit something? Nick couldn’t imagine what there was to hit in the middle of the barren wasteland, but the Stearman’s stick was off somehow. It felt like the right wing of his plane was dragging something weighty. But what?
Nick saw it, far out there, hanging on the very edge of the wing. A figure? A face? “What the hell? What is that?” he blurted in alarm. When flying so close to the ground, it only takes a second of lost concentration to cause an accident and Nick spent several seconds staring at the large mass dragging off the tip of his wing. The wheels of the plane drew too dangerously close to the crumbled remains of a building and Nick clipped it. “Damn it,” he yelped.
The ground came up quick and hard. “No! No! No! Shit!” The pilot narrated the crash, his teeth rattling as he tried to avoid the larger pieces of debris that blanketed the wasteland. Sizable chunks of cement, twisted pieces of rebar, random battered personal items of people who had been vaporized off the face of the planet in an instant all threw themselves in his path. He got the Stearman down, but it was limping jerkily along like a three legged dog. Suddenly, the plane lurched sharply to the right and spun out. “Whoa.”
Nick knew without looking that the wheel that had clipped the building was busted. “Un-fucking-believable,” he chastised himself, shaking his head. “There’re three standing buildings in the whole state and I hit one of them.” It hadn’t been much of a building, more like a teetering ruin, but there was enough of it left to do damage to a plane with a pilot who had lost focus.
As soon as the Stearman stopped moving, Nick yanked his goggles off his face and sprang up in his seat, twisting to look at the wing. Whatever was snagged there must have been knocked off during his derailed rollercoaster landing. Nick felt a chill across the back of his neck. “Some kind of debris that got kicked up in the wind, I guess,” he tried to reassure himself. Scanning the barren wasteland surrounding him, he added, “Or maybe a mutant Big Bird.”
Nick sat back down in the cockpit and tried to think of what to do next. He hadn’t so much as seen a remote outpost for at least the last hour and a half. “I am so screwed,” he muttered to himself. “There’s nothing here.”
A faint squeaking sound caught the pilot’s attention. He scanned in all directions. Where was it coming from? The sound was familiar, mechanical in some way. The image of hot summer afternoons and chasing the ice cream truck popped into his brain. From out of the west, a group of teenagers, all boys, road towards him on mountain bikes that were badly in need of a little oil. In unison, they skidded to a stop several feet from the plane. Nick gawked at them as they returned his look with cool stares. There were a half a dozen of them, scruffy looking, ranging in age from thirteen to sixteen or seventeen, Nick estimated.
“Hello,” he called out, trying to keep his voice low to hide his nervousness. “Uh… I had a bit of a problem.”
This announcement brought little reaction from the guys. They seemed to be scrutinizing him. Unwilling to be intimidated by a pack of snot-nosed punks, Nick defiantly met their gaze. They were all dressed in snug fitting motorcycle leathers that appeared to have been stitched from mismatched pieces of material. It looked as if most of them had cannibalized bits of luggage and maybe even an old couch to construct their garments. They were also all carrying multiples of some type of tools on broad strips of leather, bandoleer style, crossing their chests. Like teenage banditos on bicycles, Nick thought with some discomfort. One of the older guys, the one with dark hair, suddenly barked, “Get down off that plane. Make it quick.”
Nick pulled back slightly. That wasn’t what he was expecting to hear. To make matters worse, he had just realized what the weird implements were that the boys were carrying. They were all heavily armed with sharpened wooded stakes, what appeared to be wooden flails and several other weapons that he couldn’t readily identify. Plus, they were each carrying a bow and a quiver crammed full of arrows slung over their backs.
They wanted to be tough, apparently, but Nick wasn’t in the mood to be menaced by a pack of grubby teenagers. He was never in that kind of a mood. “Don’t get pissy,” he said, forcing his voice to come out deep and steady. “I’ve just had a bit of plane trouble. Fetch an adult for me. I need talk to someone about getting my wheel fixed.” At twenty, he knew he probably wasn’t that much older than the largest boys, but he thought it was best to proceed with the air of authority.
The boys visibly bristled, exchanging looks. The dark haired one checked the time, using an old pocket watch that was connected to one of his belt loops by an ornate chain. With his eyes on the dial he said, “The sun’s almost gone. There's not much time. You'd better hurry up and get down from there.”
“Listen kid, enough with the attitude. I just need to talk to your dad or someone in charge.”
The boy glanced up while putting his watch back in his pocket. “Kid…?”
“Vance is in charge,” an older guy with dirty blond hair snarled, jabbing his thumb in the dark haired kid’s direction. “We're about all the authority you're going to find around here.”
“Take it easy, Dave,” Vance said in a quiet voice. “He doesn’t know what’s what.”
A small, wiry kid with wavy hair, who looked about thirteen, was unable to stay still. He kept nervously switching his feet on the pedals of his bike and scanning the sky behind Nick. “You'd better come with us, Mister,” his pubescent voice was like a reed whistling in the gloaming. “It's almost dark and they'll be coming soon.”
“Martin!  Control it.” Vance barked, glaring fiercely at the younger boy. Martin registered a hurt look of surprise, but immediately hardened his face.
“Who's coming?” Nick asked, his mind immediately flickering back to the dark mass he had glimpsed hanging on the wing of his plane.
“Some of our night dwelling friends,” Vance replied, his lips curling into a bitter smile.
Nick wasn’t sure he liked the look of his new acquaintances. There was something about them, almost feral in nature. “Okay,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. “Thanks, but I'd better just stay with my plane.”
“Suit yourself,” Vance gave a callous shrug.
“But,” Martin was startled, “we can’t just leave him here.”
“He’s not part of us,” Vance said, stiffly. “He can do what he wants.”
While the boys turned their bikes around, preparing to leave, Nick scanned the barren landscape that spread out from all sides of the plane like the Atlantic Ocean engulfing a lonely boat. A night spent alone in this wasteland was not an inviting prospect. Neither were the boys, for that matter. Nick examined his circumstance. He had no food and no water. He was teetering on the brink of a total day hiker’s nightmare scenario and he was turning away the only offer of aid he was likely to encounter. The sun was about to plunge below the horizon. With a creeping feeling of dread, Nick knew that staying with his plane would be a mistake. A very big mistake. “Now, wait a minute,” he called out as the kids were about to leave. “Maybe I'd better come with you.”
Vance snapped his head around and glared at the pilot. “Either you're coming or you're staying, but make up your mind quick because in another five minutes you're going to regret both decisions.”
“I'll come with you,” Nick decided, gingerly hoisting a canvas satchel to his shoulder and struggling out of the cockpit.
“Hurry up.”
Vance and Dave swiftly rigged what looked like a large plastic cutting board between their bikes. It had been modified with notches cut out of both ends so that it could be snapped onto the frame of two bicycles like a toy train track. “Have a seat,” Vance told Nick, curtly gesturing towards the board. “And make it snappy.” Vance squinted towards the setting sun. “We've got to go.” When the guys started pedaling, Vance called out, “Scott, Kelly, take rear guard. Rick, alert the Urchin.”
The larger boy, the one called Rick, sped ahead of the little band. Scott and Kelly slowed their bikes to a stop. The pilot looked over his shoulder to see what they were up to. He assumed Kelly was the one with dark curly hair and the Irish complexion. Scott was probably the one with darker skin and black hair. The boys waited, scanning the skies while the others faded into the distance. Finally, keeping his voice casual, Kelly wondered, “Do you think they have enough of a lead? We should get started.”
“If you’re nervous, we can get going,” was Scott’s smug reply.
“I was just concerned for you. I know how you get when you’re away from home.”
Scott tightened his grip on his handlebars and blew air out his nose. “Don’t worry about me, Sunshine. I can wait as long as you can.”

The terrain was rough, littered with crushed refrigerators, rotting shoes and glinting shards of glass, the wreckage of a civilization that had abruptly disintegrated.  Rick and Martin were nimble enough on their bikes, darting and swooping around the debris, but with the board balanced between them, Vance and Dave’s progression was significantly slowed. Martin was having trouble keeping pace with the other two. He kept pulling ahead, apparently intent to get to wherever they were going, but then he would look over his shoulder, note the large distance between them, fall back to ride at Vance’s side.
Nick clung to the board, trying to keep his balance with his satchel cradled in his lap. It wasn’t easy. Looking over at Vance he estimated his age to be about sixteen or seventeen. He had a pale, but handsome face with steely blue eyes set in dark lashes. His jaw was clenched as he stood up on the pedals, using his whole body to propel the bike forward as quickly as possible. “Wwhhat aaare yoouuu kiddsss doooingg heerrreee?” Nick tried to ask as he was jounced along, but his query went ignored. On the other side of him, Dave was equally intense, his body bobbing back and forth with his effort to pedal, his hands gripping the handlebars so tightly his knuckles were white. Even though the bikes were locked together by the board, Dave surreptitiously kept glancing in Vance's direction every few seconds.
After several minutes of enduring his uncomfortable conveyance, Nick noticed something in the distance. It was a building, strangely out of place in a landscape of devastation, but large enough that, in full daylight, he would have probably seen it from his plane. The whole image was strange and discomforting; as if he had just been transported into the heart of a Dali painting where incongruous objects have been dropped by an absentminded giant into a monochromatic desert. Someone had erected a bizarre scaffolding of wooden spikes all over the structure so that it appeared like an enormous sea urchin bristling in a tide-less wasteland. “Whhhy...?” Nick chattered, mostly to himself, realizing that no one was likely to take the time to explain the building’s appearance.
Rick was waiting at the building’s rusting front gate. He’d dismounted his bike and flung it on the ground to the side of the entrance. He’d taken his bow from its quiver and had an arrow nocked and ready to fly. Martin, unable to reign in his fear any longer, sped ahead to join him. Vance and Dave skidded their bikes to a halt and Nick was propelled off his perch, only catching himself from falling with a few running steps. He peered through the bars of the gate to see that dozens of boys were crowding the front windows of the spiky building. Turning to Vance, Nick asked, “Why’s this thing covered with ...?”
“Stakes?” Vance supplied. “Call the rear guard,” he told Dave before giving Nick a spare glance. “It keeps our old friends from coming home to roost.”
“Oh, well that explains it,” Nick mumbled to himself.
Dave put two fingers to his lips and blew a loud, shrill whistle. “Should we take the new-comer inside?” he asked, lowering his hand.
“No, stick to procedure.”
Dave’s face tightened as he looked into the encroaching night. “Where are they? They'd better hurry.”
Vance pulled out his pocket watch and flipped it open. Standing at his shoulder, Nick was able to get a good look. A window in the face of the time piece represented a.m. and p.m. with a sun and a moon that slowly rotated with each passing minute. At 6:12 p.m., the watch was just about to move forward to totally eclipse the sun and only show the moon.

Kelly and Scott were both gripping the handlebars of their bikes for all they were worth, but that was the only indication either of them was willing to concede that he might feel tense in any way. The sound of Dave’s whistle piercing the air made them both sit up just a little, but besides that neither immediately reacted to it. “There’s the signal. Ready to go?” Scott finally asked, his voice casual.
If you’re afraid, go ahead,” Kelly replied.
Scott gestured in the direction of the Urchin with a half bow, “No, no, after you.”
“No, I insist. Age before beauty,” Kelly countered.
Scott kicked off and began madly pumping his bicycle’s pedals, raising a small cloud of dust. He called over his should back to Kelly, “Pearls before swine.” After stalling for a moment, Kelly started furiously pedaling in pursuit of his friend.
Back at the Urchin, Martin was trembling. He stood as close to the gate’s entrance as possible. “The others are coming. I can feel it,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Why won't they hurry?” Without looking at him, Vance reached out and put a steadying hand on Martin’s shoulder.
“Here they come,” Dave said with some relief.
The rear guard made their appearance in the distance, using the full weight of their bodies to cranks the pedals, but still managing to zigzag dexterously around the larger fragments of rubble as they headed towards the gate. “And our buddies are right behind them,” Vance added, knowing the truth more than seeing it.
“Who?” Nick asked. He could barely make out Scott and Kelly on their bikes. There didn’t seem to be anyone following them.
As the sun was completely engulfed by the horizon, three enormous birds rose out of the darkness, flying through the air at an amazing speed. They appeared to be pursuing the boys.
“Fuck.  It's Old Gym,” Dave muttered, half under his breath.
Nick could feel Rick and Martin shifting on the ground behind him in agitation. “Asshole,” he heard Rick utter.
Vance fixed Nick with a steely glare. “We shouldn't have waited for you.”
“What are those things?” the pilot asked, too mesmerized to take offense at Vance’s words. “Birds?” No one answered him. They were intent on the efforts of the rear guard.
The creatures looked so peculiar. Not like birds at all. They didn’t flap their wings, or even appear to have wings, for that matter. An idea occurred to the pilot. “Men?” he wondered aloud. “Are those flying things men? How are they…?” he couldn’t even think of the words to finish his sentence. “What are they doing?”
The rear guard was getting closer, but so were the flying creatures. “Should we go inside?” Dave asked, his voice carried an edge like a scalpel.
“No,” Vance was firm. “We stand our ground until we can all go inside.” Turning, he thrust something into Nick’s hands. “Here, you might want this.”
Nick looked down at the sharpened wooden spike that had been pressed upon him. “What? Why?”
“Hurry!” Martin shrieked at the rear guard. Even though they were pedaling with all their might, their progress felt painstakingly slow. All of the scouting party had their bows nocked and ready for action.
Finally Scott and Kelly were nearing the gate, but their pursuers were almost upon them. “Get ready to close,” Vance shouted to the numerous faces watching from the windows.
Nick could feel the waves of tension radiating off the guys. “What the fuck are those things?” he demanded in frustration.
The largest of the three creatures swooped out of the sky and snatched a shrieking Scott right off of his bicycle.
“Vampires!” Vance shouted.


If you've enjoyed what you read, you can download the full novel of The Urchin on Amazon (and other ebook retailers) for only 99 cents.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Green Eggs and Waaaiiiillll!

Pleasing a cranky baby is like acting out Green Eggs and Ham:

Do you like it in the car? Do you like when we drive far?

No, I do not like it in the car. I do not like to be driven far.

Do you like it in the sling? Are you happy in the swing?

No, no, no, I do not like it, no I don't. I will not sleep, no, no I won't.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

What I Learned on Listmania

Here's something fun I stumbled across. Someone made a list of leadership books and check out number six - Yes, that's What I Learned From Being a Cheerleader tucked in there with all that non-fiction. Fun! And unexpected. This puts me in a good mood for the day.


Saturday, May 12, 2012

Free Comic Book Day Photo

Free Comic Book Day in Review - The Archaia hardcover, James (owner of Isotope) Ted Naifeh (creator of Courtney Crumrin) and me.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

More FCBD info at Isotope


Looks like we're signing from 11:00 - 3:00 and here's some cool info about Isotope and Free Comic Book Day.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Free Comic Book Day at Isotope!

Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday, May 5th. Archaia Entertainment has pulled out all the stops and is giving away a free hardcover entitled Mouse Guard, Labyrinth and Other Stories. Ted Naifeh and I co-wrote the Labyrinth story and, if I do say so myself, it turned out pretty darn cute. I do wish most articles would mention that I actually worked on the project, but Ted has the bigger name, so them's the breaks.

We'll start signing at 11:00 at Isotope. I'm not sure when we're through, but there's a lot of buzz about this hardcover, so I'm sure they'll go fast.

See you there!

Friday, April 27, 2012

All Women Have Two Jobs, Apparently

I was reading an online article about a woman entrepreneur and when I got to the comments section, I decided to play a little game to see how many comments I could get through before someone mentioned her appearance. To be clear, this was not an ugly woman, this was not a beautiful woman, this was an average looking woman who was successful. Anyway, by the second comment someone was saying she had enough money to get a nose job. (I hadn't noticed her nose) The fourth comment said she was going to be hunted on Wild Kingdom or something like that. And the criticism went on from there. For some reason, no matter how successful or generous or wonderful a woman is, if she isn't beautiful, it makes men mad. Really mad. How-dare-she-be-on-this-planet,-living-her-life,-running-her-business-and-not-be-smoking-hot kind of mad. Even the most hideous, Jaba the Hut impersonator of a man somehow believes that it's a woman's job to look super hot for him all the time, apparently. I bet if I Googled Sister Theresa, I could find a never ceasing bunch of comment about how she wasn't all that good looking and she should have moisturized more while feeding the poor of Calcutta.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Hunger Games - The Movie

I waited for the crowds to clear, but I finally saw The Hunger Games movie. It was... well... kind of boring. This surprised me because the first book is pretty action packed, but I found myself seriously bored before the tributes even reached the arena. Somehow a lot of the flavor of the book didn't get transferred to the screen. I didn't find myself rooting for Katniss and I was disappointed with Hamish. I mean, you've got Woody Harrleson for crying out loud, give him his leash to really play out the character.

I was wondering if I just found the film boring because I'd read the book and knew what was going to happen, but my mom was quite bored too and she had no idea about the story. A lot of the action sequences are filmed with a joggley camera which eventually caused me to simply close my eyes to avoid being nauseated. Maybe it was filmed that way to give you the feeling of being right there, but I found it distancing. I know the Katniss character is very reserved, but she just came off as flat. The only character that is at all endearing in Peta.

After all that hype and really quite a suspenseful book, I personally give it a thumbs down. Even the action scenes were not pulling me in. Pity.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Cleveland Rocks!

Anyone who knows me is without a doubt that I have a soft spot for my home town, Cleveland.

Why?

Because it's awesome. (Open up your mind, you star bellied sneetch, there are more than just three cool spots on the planet.)

Anyway, I was pleased as punch to see Details doing an article that features my honey:

Dredgers Union (Photo: Sean Bilovecky and Danielle DeBoe)Dredgers Union Boutique

Once, Cleveland stood alongside New York City and Paris as a preeminent garment center. While the city is unlikely to reclaim that stature, the Dredgers Union is bringing back made-in-the-Midwest style. Located in a 10,000-square-foot former department store on happening East 4th Street, the 10-month-old boutique does a brisk business in its in-house sportswear lines, which are produced entirely in the heartland: "Our region minus manufacturing equals broken," explains menswear designer Sean Bilovecky, 36, who founded the company with Danielle DeBoe. The store also stocks more than 100 other apparel-and housewares-makers, ranging from the emerging (Lifetime Collective) to the established (Ben Sherman). “In the past, record companies thought, ‘If new acts make it in the Midwest, they can make it anywhere,’” Bilovecky adds. “I think this logic goes for brands and retailers today.”

2043 E 4th St, Cleveland OH, 44115; 216-357-2911; http://dredgersunion.wordpress.com/

Greenhouse Tavern (Photo: Jonathon Sawyer)Greenhouse Tavern

Culinary wunderkinder often leave cities like Cleveland; they rarely come home. But after stints in New York City at the now-defunct Kitchen 22 and Parea, native son Jonathon Sawyer returned with dreams of owning his own place. In 2009, he opened the Greenhouse Tavern, a three-story eatery built with reclaimed materials that serves French-inspired dishes with ingredients—heirloom beans, foraged ramps, freshwater prawns—sourced from within state lines, often accented with Sawyer's acclaimed made-from-scratch beer and wine vinegars. After the restaurant became a hit, the 31-year-old chef opened Noodlecat, a ramen shop inspired by spots in Tokyo and New York, around the corner; its space doubles as the venue for Brick & Mortar Pop-ups, a dining series featuring visiting chefs. “We’re tired of being behind the rest of the country,” Sawyer says. “We’ll open every kind of niche concept to keep our city viable.”

Greenhouse Tavern
2038 E. 4th St, Cleveland OH; 216-443-0511; thegreenhousetavern.com
Noodlecat and Brick & Mortar Pop-ups
234 Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH: 216-589-0007; noodlecat.com

Market Garden Brewery & Distillery (Photo: Sam McNulty)McNulty's Bier Markt, Bar Cento, and Market Garden Brewery & Distillery

When he was growing up, Sam McNulty and his family would go grocery shopping at the century-old West Side Market, then the only reason to come to Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood. "The area was sketchy, but it was so cool—all these empty old brick buildings across the river from modern Cleveland," the 37-year-old brewer and local booster says. "I knew I'd end up back here." In 2005 he did return, opening the Belgian-focused McNulty's Bier Markt in a storefront across the street from the venerable food bazaar. Two years later he partnered with chef Jonathon Sawyer on Bar Cento, an Italian joint next door that pairs a deep beer and wine list with gourmet pizzas, and in 2009 unveiled Speakeasy, a retro cocktail bardownstairs in (natch) a onetime speakeasy. His latest contribution to the now-thriving hood is Market Garden Brewery & Distillery, a bar-restaurant in a former slaughterhouse that lets you store perishables from the West Side Market while sipping one of 32 craft brews made on site (and soon small-batch whiskey, rum, and vodka, too). As McNulty's favorite saying goes: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Bier Markt & Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, Ohio, 44113
(Across from the West Side Market); 216-274-1010; http://bier-markt.com/
Market Garden Brewery & Distillery
1947 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113; 216-621-4000; http://marketgardenbrewery.com/

Friday, April 6, 2012

Best Songs

In general, I'm sick of the music I hear in San Francisco restaurants. Everyone is trying to be ironically hip by playing Rod Stewart.

Stop it! We've all had enough. No more eighties, no more classic oldies, no more overplayed attempts at irony. It's fine if one of you does it, but if you all do it the monotony sets in.

Here is a song that I still love and rarely hear around the Mission:

The Letter by The Box Tops

Yes, Alex Chilton might need a lozenge, but it's still a damn good song.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Launch News!

Okay, word is from that fabulous editor to the North that our fancy graphic novel with Oni Press will launch in December.

December!

Am I allowed to mention the title yet? Not sure. But I can tell you that the lovely and delightful Monica Gallagher is the illustrator and she did an amazing job. Check out her site. She's got some funny stuff posted there.

Yay!Link

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Phoenix Zoellick Interview - Glitter Britches!



Phoenix is launching a new line of sparkly spandex pants called Glitter Britches on Kickstarter. I've seen these pants in action and they are amazing! Super-duper fun and sassy. The cool thing is, by pledging $65 on Kickstarter, you're actually just pre-ordering a pair of pants.

Kickstarter is amazingly easy to use. If you already have an Amazon account, you don't even have to give them any credit information. You just create a name and password, then they bump you over to Amazon. Super slick and a great way to support small businesses while having fun.


I've already pre-ordered a pair of Glitter Britches to sparkle up my rump. Check out Phoenix's interview below and then go to Kickstarter to add a little sparkle to your life.


AA - What was the inspiration behind creating Glitter Britches?

PZ - Basically I really, REALLY like shiny things. I wanted some crazy-shiny tights for a costume, and it seemed unlikely I'd find exactly what I wanted in any stores, so I made some. The experience of making the first pair sparked off a design-frenzy, because anything I decide to make I want to make REALLY WELL, and suddenly there were all these things I wanted to do or figure out--how to make them fit the best, how to make the pants as versatile as possible, how to make legs look longer... it grew beyond one meager little David Bowie costume very quickly.

AA - Why does everyone need more sparkle in their lives?

PZ - Well, I don't know about everything else, but my Dad has suggested that there may have been a "magpie in the woodpile", because I have always just loved anything that sparkles. When you wear Glitter Britches, you can't stop looking at your own legs, you're just so shiny, you must be a freaking super hero! They provoke random dancing and kung-fu kicks. Who doesn't need more of that?

AA - What makes Glitter Britches superior to other tights and pants, be they sparkle or non-sparkle?

PZ - Glitter Britches are made with a great deal of attention to fit, look and feel. They're designed with only one leg seam for increased comfort and for an uninterrupted visual line. They're made out of 4-way stretch spandex for the most tush-lifting, never saggy fit. They're higher in the bum, lower on the hips, so they feel secure but not like granny-pants. They have a reinforced crotch seam for safer high-kicking. Also, they're very versatile in terms of style. With an extra-long inseam and a mild boot-cut starting at about calf-height, they can be worn under boots as leggings, over heels as pants or rolled up for yoga or rock-climbing. Also, they're handmade in San Francisco by glittery elves. Top that, American Apparel!

AA - Why did you decide to pursue Kickstarter to finance your business?

PZ - Fashion, at its best, creates community. That's what draws me to it, over other artistic pursuits. Clothing is inherently personal, but can bring people together. When I design clothes, I'm not just making one painting for one person; I'm making something special for many people, and that, particularly if the item is easily recognizable, creates a bond. That sense of, and desire for, community is what brought me to Kickstarter. I love the concept of crowd-funding; it allows people to join the group before the product even exists, and be a very real component in its creation.

AA - What inducements are you offering to get people to participate in your Kickstarter campaign?

PZ - Well, I do have a degree in illustration, so I'll be doing some fashion illustrations of the pants and making postcards of them--basically mini art-prints. Those, and the original art, will all be available, along with some other goodies, on the low end of the spectrum. The main feature, of course, is the pants themselves, and you are able to pre-order your very own pair and help bring them into existence all at once. You can even, if you really want to get involved, choose one of the colors we'll be making for the first run, and we'll name that style after you, with identifying tags and everything. How cool is that... immortalized in holographic spandex.

AA - You also create furry animal hats and tails. How does that tie in to sparkly pants?

PZ - I'm not sure that it does, in any direct way! One of the central mantras of the brand (picture Loki saying this, if you will) is "I do what I want!" I make things that interest me, or that I want to wear RIGHT NOW, and then I figure out how to make them even better, and then I pass them on the world, and hopefully you will love them and do what you want while wearing them. So there. Really, I can't say that furry hats and shiny pants have much of anything to do with each other, except that I enjoy making both, and both are fun to wear and make you look more awesome than you did before. Bam.

AA - Anything else?

PZ - Just thanks to you and to everyone who supports us along the way. We're one tiny company and every bit of support and kindness means the world to me.


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Sassy Confessions of a Virgin SAcrifice Review

Check out this saucy review of Confessions of a Virgin Sacrifice at Team Hellion. The reader definitely got the story.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Glitter Britches



Do you love sparkly pants? (Who doesn't?)

Well, my fabulous friends over at Beast Parlor are making some really cool glitter pants and they're financing their latest endeavor through Kickstarter. Here's the deal, if you pledge, $65 to the Glitter Britches campaign at Kickstarter, you get your choice of pants. You're really just pre-ordering some super fun pants.

Beast Parlor does quality wares, low-rise yet high-rump so you won't be in the bathroom at the club yanking up your glitter. Four way stretch, reinforced seams. They understand the female shape.

So get over to Kickstarter and pre-order your Glitter Britches today!