There are only three copies left of the hardcover version of Alice Walks, my first novel with the lovely artwork by Sam Araya. Centipede Press did a fabulous job with this, and to sell out the run of initially 300 pieces at $60.00 each, now marked down to $50.00, would be a huge milestone for me. I had a wonderful review for this piece in Locus, and generally, many feel it is my best, most complete work. One reviewer who picked it up by chance (based on the cover) said that reading it was like going on a blind date and she turned out to be a supermodel with a doctorate.
I planned initially to write this as a short story, better explaining the vague (and short) legend of Bloody Mary. It was a cold November night of early snow falling lightly outside and I suddenly had a strange, beautiful, horrific image come to mind. I pictured a mausoleum at the south end of a huge graveyard, and a spirit floating in the cold night air before it, a young girl maybe fourteen in her green and off-white burial dress with the drawstrings in front. Her face was covered with a veil, maybe because the cemetery workers were keeping her above ground to deteriorate her faster, and each time she breathed, the silky cloth stuck to her face like Saran Wrap showing the outline of the skull, then falling loose showing nothing but cloth when she exhaled. Then, for some reason, there was someone throwing rocks at her, making her bleed symbolically, crucifying her so to speak.
Suddenly in the real world, my son burst into the den where I was thinking about this, scaring the shit out of me.
“Dad!” he said. “I need some Red Bull!”
“You’re thirteen,” I said. “What do you need that for?”
He rolled his eyes.
“Nick and Will are sleeping over, and the first one to fall asleep gets oatmeal in his shorts!”
I grinned. I had my rock throwers. They went to the graveyard on the first night of snow to smoke weed in the tool shed and tell ghost stories. They had the key because one of their dad’s was the grave digger. Then, when they go down to look at the body, they waken her.
Help me celebrate this work. If you want a lovely book that’s scary and engaging, give it a try!!
Michael Aronovitz's Blog 