Last Tuesday was my fiftieth birthday. I’m still a little taken aback by that fact, because so far, fifty doesn’t feel anything like I expected it to. Regardless, my wife, Jennifer, surprised me with gifts on a quinquagenarian theme, items that also turn fifty in 2018: A box of Ziploc bags, an ornament of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, a documentary on Mr. Rogers and Barbarella on Blu-Ray, the Beatles’ White Album. But the big gift was something special, thoughtful, and reflective of the community we’ve managed to build over the last few years that we’ve been running Word Horde. Jennifer contacted the authors (and others) we’ve been working with since Tales of Jack the Ripper, asking them to send a few thoughts, reflections, and well-wishes that she could pass along to me. The response was astonishing. Not only did folks send along messages (which Jennifer put together into an amazing scrapbook), but some sent original stories, artwork, and gifts.

This is a busy season, and with Thanksgiving and the busy commotion of working in the bookstore as the Holiday Season ramps up, I haven’t had a chance to pause and properly say thanks yet, so: THANK YOU. To Jennifer in particular, but also to the following:

Joe McDermott, Nicole Cushing, Tony McMillen, Liv Rainey-Smith, David James Keaton, Silvia Moreno Garcia, Nikki Guerlain, Edward Morris, Amber Fallon, Nathan Carson, Jeffrey Thomas, Pete Rawlik, Nadia Bulkin, Autumn Christian, Alan M. Clark, Mercedes M. Yardley, Shannon Page, Paul Tremblay, Walter Greatshell, Patrick Tumblety, Richard Gavin, Amber-Rose Reed, Matthew Bartlett, John Langan, David Peak, Orrin Grey, Wendy N. Wagner, G. D. Falksen, Scott R Jones, Justin Steele, S.P. Miskowski, Laird Barron, Chris Reynaga, and so many others who took a moment out of their busy lives to send birthday wishes. You rock!