What I love most about Halloween, aside from the candy and decorations, is seeing how creative people get with costumes. It’s an artform, really. The details. The ingenuity. The time. And I just love seeing it come to life. 

When my kids were little, I would meticulously plan our family costumes. We’d pick a theme that could fit the four of us (plus our dog at times), and Jon and I would gather materials and chip away at them—sometimes for months. Could I have saved time and just bought them? Sure. But that took the fun out of it (no offense, Spirit Halloween). It was kinda ridiculous how much time it took. But when we strutted out with our creations, it was always worth it. 

Here are some of our favorites:

Now that the kids are older, we don’t do the family ensemble anymore. But my younger son caught the DIY bug and took it upon himself to make Halloween decorations and his Terminator outfit—and even build a spooky animatronic. 

​If you’re out and about today with all of the monsters, ghouls, and goblins, take the time to notice the creative problem-solving behind those costumes. 

Happy Halloween!

Writing Updates: 
We had a lot of fun at the San Diego Comic Fest last weekend! In addition to sharing our book with new fans, we met so many talented creators.

​We’ve booked the following appearances:
11/3- Author Day, Anaheim Public Library
11/16- Author Day, Fullerton Public Library
11/23- Barnes and Noble Book Signing, Victorville
12/14- City of Walnut Winter Wonderland

If you’re in the area during those events, feel free to stop by or let a friend know. 

Also, we’re onto illustrating Book 2 of Three Bee Honey! Here’s a behind-the-scenes video of Jon setting up a page. 

If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you can find Three Bee Honey for sale on our website. 

If you’re on Instagram, you can find us here for more updates: @st.amantstories

Recent Read: Dancing at the Pity Party, by Tyler Feder

This graphic memoir is about a woman’s grief journey as she processes the death of her mother. Dancing at the Pity Party flows chronologically, starting with her mother’s oncology appointment and terminal cancer diagnosis. While I also experienced the loss of a parent under very different circumstances, this book felt cathartic to read. I found myself crying on one page and smiling on the next, as Feder weaves through the many emotions that come with such a loss: the pain, the anger—but also the love. This is not just a story about facing death. It’s about celebrating a loved one and the impact they have on us. I highly recommend this very moving and eye-opening book. 

Pet Pics:

Lilo with her new toy. 

Cats in cuddle mode. 

Sanity Corner:
We often find ourselves in places where we have to interact with strangers. And while that can be intimidating or outright scary, it can also pleasantly surprise us. For the few hours we find ourselves at an event, a bar, or even waiting in line, I’ve noticed that I sometimes and completely accidentally strike up a conversation with a random person. 

We chit chat about our lives, maybe share a few jokes about our current situation. And then we both go our separate ways with no expectation of staying in touch. No forced long-term connection. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s more than okay—these small, positive interactions keep us from becoming too cynical about humanity. 

That’s all for October. Thanks for reading! :) 
​
Feel free to share this newsletter with your bestie! 

Take care,
Desi

​October is here, and the gross heat is finally breaking. People started stretching spider webs across their fences and yards, settling lopsided pumpkins in porches and walkways, and sticking silly, pun-filled tombstones around their yards. Seeing these decorations go up as I drive home has got me feeling like: 

​As much as I love the decorations, my absolute favorite activity this month is dressing up for Halloween. I cannot emphasize this enough: I LIVE for this. 

When I was a teenager, I made a promise to myself: always dress up for Halloween. Even when I’m 95 years old and unable to walk, I still want to slap something on myself--even just a headband with bunny ears, if nothing else. 

This promise wasn’t about winning a prize or gaining clout on social media (which didn’t exist when I was a teenager--thank goodness). 

This promise was about having fun, first and foremost. And what better way to have fun than to put on a silly costume and pretend you’re some other character for one day?

And when I became a mom, I took this commitment to the next level: we upgraded to FAMILY costumes. 

To my delight, we were all in during those early years. Well, actually, my kids were too little to say “no” or protest, but they seemed equally excited about the idea of dressing up as a family. We’d collaborate on costume ideas: sharing our favorite movies, shows, and characters, whittling ideas down to the most “do-able” options. 

For instance, our kids discovered Star Wars, so we had a family Star Wars costume. And when we got into Adventure Time, we each chose our favorite alter-ego from that show.

​For a long time, I felt like the “cool” mom, strolling around the neighborhood in our awesome, unified, homemade costumes. 

But now that my kids are older, they want to assert their independence. Establish their own style and interests. Totally understandable, right? 

But their first act of independence was swift and brutal: they wanted to shed the family costume.

*GASP* 

I balked at first, more stung by the idea that they didn’t want to associate so closely with me, their parent. But I had to put my own ego aside and recognize that they were right: it was bound to happen, and it came sooner than I expected. 

Another life lesson: the “cool mom” to “cringe mom” pipeline is real, folks. 

Of course, I respected my kids’ wishes and let them choose their own costume, even if it was a mass produced “Scream” costume we bought at Target (no bitterness here, I swear!). 

Regardless of my new “embarrassing” mom status, I will embrace my cringe-y ways and put on my beloved Minnie Mouse ears. 

Time to go back to having fun this Halloween! 

Inspirational Quote:
"The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living”--Marcus Cicero

In addition to celebrating Halloween, we also celebrate Dia de los Muertos as a way to honor family members who have passed. This is a bittersweet event because we miss those who have died, and we always feel the pangs of grief that will never go away. This year, I will honor my dad on our altar. I never had the chance to say goodbye or to heal our broken relationship, which hurts me deeply. I'm still gutted by the shock of his death. Nevertheless, I am also grateful for the chance to reflect on the positive memories and wish him well in the spiritual realm. For all of our family members who have passed on: we remember you and keep you in our hearts. 

Current Read: Honolulu, by Alan Brennert

This is a lush story with rich imagery that transported me to Honolulu during the early 20th century. It features a Korean woman named Jin, a former picture bride, who immigrated to Hawaii and must find her way through this foreign and exotic land. Brennert loaded his narrative with research about life in Korea, in addition to intertwining Jin’s journey with real Hawaiian history and cultural references. Honolulu’s immersive details kept me grounded in the story. Brennert also wrote Moloka’i, and I would LOVE to see one of his books adapted into a film.

Writing Update: I attended the SCBWI SoCal Chapter Fall Conference on Saturday, October 2, and learned so much about how to improve my writing craft. We listened to engaging presentations from agents, editors, and published authors, who all took the time to answer our questions afterwards. Moreover, I was able to follow along with live critiques of our talented fellow members’ first pages, learning a lot about what makes a first page grab a reader’s interest. If you have aspirations to write children’s books, I highly recommend joining SCBWI and attending events like these. 

Garden Update: We planted this Asian pear tree years ago. Even though it never bore fruit, we’d water it in the hopes that we’d be fortunate enough to get homegrown pears some day. I’m excited to say that that time has finally come! I was watering this week, and discovered some little pears on our tree. Yay! 

​Phew! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more stories and updates. In the meantime, feel free to reach out, share this with friends, and/or comment on this post. I truly appreciate hearing from you! :) 

Take care,
Desi