I call them ‘the bluesy circle of friends’ and it’s not a group you can join. The bluesy people are those people you meet again and again because of your common interest in blues music. And in time, those people become friends regardless of any exchange of Calling Cards or joining any particular group.

I can’t tell you the first time I saw Destinova Ducatillon, but he’s been a member of the bluesy circle of friends since I can remember. I remember him carrying on as bluesy peeps do at Junkyard Blues, and I remember Dest & Gracee’s wedding, but only recently I discovered that he’s also a writer. In fact, Dest is a writer of things dark and skeery. In fact, Dest has a story scheduled for publication in an anthology. So, I figured we needed a photoshoot to capture Dest at his writing desk inside his man cave.

While we were doing our photoshoot,
I managed to snap this shot of Dest
with Edgar Allen Poe looking over his shoulder,
from the grave and beyond… /me laughs insanely.

A few days ago, I received a preview copy of Dest’s book in Kindle format. And on a dark and stormy night I curled up with the book and read his new story. I knew when I glanced at the book’s blurb, “The light has failed: the era of man is at its end”, I was headed right into the realm of darkness and the monstrous. And before I finished the first page I was totally engaged.

This is a short story, so I can’t reveal many details, but I must say John is the hero. And I was really rooting for the love of John’s life, hoping she’d overcome the nightmares facing them. Her name is Salena and she came into John’s life with beauty and hope. The story has twists and turns, and the ending had its own twists and surprises. That’s all I’ll can you, but let me add that Dest writes beautifully, with a classic style reserved for the telling of tales of horror.

Dest writes under a pseudonym, his real life name, Timothy Baker and the story’s title is, The Long Death of Day©. It will be published in an anthology titled, FADING LIGHT– AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE MONSTROUS© (cover on right), edited by Tim Marquitz.

The book is scheduled for publication in September by publisher, Angelic Knight Press. It  will be available in paperback for $16.95. It will also be available in e-reader formats at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Check the blog and Facebook.

There are many stories in this collection and I’m savoring them on those nights when I need a dose of being frightened senseless. /me laughs a monstrous laugh.

I think it’s wonderful to discover friends doing cool things, like writing books. If you look around though, I think you find many friends who’ve found new forms of self-expression in our Second Life.

This is a photo someone must have shot
while we were preparing for our photoshoot.
That’s Gracee sitting on Dest’s desk,
giving him all kinds of inspirations. *giggles*
Bottom, me zooming in with my camera.