Author: Stefanie Snider

Novelist, wife, vengeful harpy.
The Blanket

The Blanket

Stefanie Snider

I’m not exaggerating when I tell people it’s like Halloween every day in this house. Some people have an abiding love of angel knickknacks. Some collect fine porcelain. Me? If it has a skull on it, odds are it will find a place in my home.

That being said, it’s not all gloom. There’s a sugar skull, embellished and dainty. There’s the vodka, the cut-glass bottle gleaming like crystal.

And now there’s this:

skullblanket

 

It took me about four months, during which time I had to teach myself to crochet. It weighs a ton, and the colours are even more eye-searing in real life. It’s gaudy and kitschy and I’m so damn proud of myself for finishing the thing.

And now that winter is kinda, sorta finally here, I plan to spend my lazy Sunday afternoon curled beneath this Technicolor monstrosity, book in hand and coffee at the ready.

(To give credit where credit is due, I stole the idea from Granny Mania via Pinterest. But those 630 squares? All me, baby.)

IT’S ALIIIIIIVE!

Stefanie Snider

…by which I mean, I’m alive. How the time flies when you’re slacking off on your blog.

Sorry ’bout that.

So. Uh. Long time no see. Since the last time you saw me, we’ve welcomed a new niece into the world. I’ve started a new DayJob (same company, but I moved on up to the fourth floor). Oh, and I wrote my first novel. It’s still in the roughs, but as we speak I have a real, live, full-length novel sitting on my desk. It’ll be out in the next month or two.

I’ve done some deep thinking about where I want my writing career to go, and about what that looks like, in terms of the day-to-day. I think what made the blog fall apart before was that I was focusing so hard on new content that the actual writing stopped. It stopped for a long time, actually. Completely. Cold. I have never felt worse about myself; conversely, while I was writing the novel this past Fall I was the happiest I’ve ever been.

So, a balance. A fresh start. I have no idea how often I’ll be blogging; I have zero schedule in mind. Because at the end of the day, the effort needs to be about the writing, not the talking about the writing. That being said, I think I can pull off more than once every two years, if I hold my tongue just right. Who’s with me?

 

-Stef

 

 

This Week in Sniderville: 22

Stefanie Snider

It’s been a while, yes?

I feel a little rusty, coming back to the blog after letting it languish for so long. When I was keeping up with the Sniderville posts it was easy to update you: I may have a memory like a goldfish, but I can remember all the goings-on of the past week. But I got busy doing everything else, until it all became a blur. I’m probably missing a ton of news, but here are some highlights:

– I knit half of a blanket that proved I should never do math unattended: rewrite the pattern? Sure thing, easy peasy, oh shit this thing is huge what am I doing. Let’s just say the width is longer than I had intended the length to be. Swatches are for sissies.

– I experienced my first Black Friday sale, wherein I gained a tablet for wondrous write-anywhere purposes and (temporarily) lost the feeling in my toes. Turns out it was -14 degrees Celsius that morning. Toes, schmoes, now I can write in bed while my husband sleeps!

– I picked up my long-dusty Tarot deck and have begun doing readings again.

I can’t promise I’ll be around much until after the holidays: I’ve pledged myself to an absurd amount of baking and knitting and might not sleep until January. But I wanted to stop by and say hi to you guys.

How was your week?

Will “The Conjuring”s Annabelle Have Her Own Movie?

Stefanie Snider

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She might, according to IGN.com.

I’m not easily spooked; growing up Horror does that to a kid. But when I saw this movie this summer, and that fucking doll came on the screen… There’s just something about dolls, y’know? They’re everywhere, tiny lifeless versions of ourselves.

Lifeless, that is, until Hollywood gets ahold of them, and the next thing you know you’d better watch your back.

It happened with Chucky. It happened in Puppetmaster. And there’s something about Annabelle that’s just… off.

Look at that smug grin. She knows too much.

And hopefully, she’ll be coming to terrorize us again.

(Read IGN’s article for more info, and check out my own personal creepy Annabelle story here!)

Tattoos Last Forever… and Ever… and Ever…

Stefanie Snider

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From (the sadly defunct?) KnuckleTattoos.com:

“Much to the disappointment and horror of my Mother, I had these done last week.. inspired by one of my favourite films, The Shining. I wanted a tattoo based on the Shining, and I saw SO many ‘Heeere’s Johnny’ tattoos that I thought I wanted something a bit different. So this is what I came up with.
They have had mixed reviews, people who have seen the film absoloutely love them, people who have not seen the film just think I’m gross.
I am a tattooist so my boss at work did them for me, she had neve seen the film so didn’t quite get why I wanted it, until I checked the stencil in the mirror and she saw it said ‘Murder’.
The image on top is how people would see it, saying Red Rum.. However because i only ever see it in mirrors, to me it says Murder.”

The Art of Jeremy Mayer: Typewriters Reimagined

Stefanie Snider

I love typewriters. (Like, REALLY love them.)

Part of the appeal, I suppose, stems from nostalgia: I banged out my first childhood stories on a monstrous electric typewriter that weighed almost as much as I did.

The other part is the romance of the typewriter: the mental image of a struggling writer hunched over clattering keys in a cozy attic office (with rain on the roof and endless cups of steaming coffee, natch).

I was admiring the pretty typewriter pictures Google had to offer when I came across the wholly unexpected:

jmayer

jmayer2
Says artist Jeremy Mayer:
“I disassemble typewriters and then reassemble them into full-scale, anatomically correct human figures. I do not solder, weld, or glue these assemblages together… I do not introduce any part to the assemblage that did not come from a typewriter.”

He makes the most incredible wildlife, too:

jmayer3jmayer4

I find them eerily beautiful.

There are many more stunning pieces where these came from: check out JeremyMayer.com or the artist’s tumblr, which is where these photos were sourced.

All photos in this post are copyright Jeremy Mayer.

“Elevator”, New Horror from Stefanie N Snider

Stefanie Snider

elevatorv2

It’s late at night, and one by one the after-hours crew is sneaking out of the office.

Which would be fine, except now Sammi’s working alone.

And something is waiting in the dark…

Available on Amazon and Smashwords.

It’s “Only” $225

Stefanie Snider

alexander-mcqueen-silver-skeleton-key-ring-product-1-7799654-366160431_large_flex

I have notoriously expensive taste.

When we went shopping for my engagement ring, I knew nothing about diamonds. I simply went to the case, pointed at a pretty, and the nice lady behind the counter let me try it on. It was lovely. It was $10,000. It went back in the case.

I have a fetish for purses. A big one. Show me a well-crafted bag and I get the sweats. Drop me into any Winners store, leave me for five minutes, and I’ll home in on the most expensive bag there, which of course will be crazily above my budget and will have to be left behind. It’s a gift, and a curse.

So then I found the keychain above. I spend a lot of time online (give me the interaction of the internet over cable any day), and followed a link to a link to a link til I ended up seeing the above picture. He’s so cute! Lookit his little articulated limbs! I need him, and more than that I think I feel the beginning of infatuation. He’s perfect. So I click the little picture and goddamnit he’s by Alexander McQueen and costs TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS.

I guess his virtual presence will have to suffice.

(If you have a bajillion dollars to blow, find him here, which is also where I snagged the photo.)