F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction (New Weird) Author

ERO

Kirschner Cover Art: Grace, By Howard Owen

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Grace, By Howard Owen. Release Date October 2016, from The Permanent Press
Grace, By Howard Owen. Release Date October 2016, from The Permanent Press

Together with Lon Kirschner—who did my cover art for ERO and Voice—I’m launching a new series of posts that will discuss Lon’s cover art. I first ran into his efforts with The Grievers, a novel by Marc Schuster. Marc’s cover just grabbed me. Long story short, Marc put me in touch with Lon and I’d loved his work so much I’d commissioned him to do two of my covers. So, I thought, hey, why not highlight and discuss some of his work? So this marks the first in series of posts that will do just that. These may be bi-monthly…it may be quarterly…or it just may be whenever Lon and I can get-together to githerdone….

Today’s initial post is for Grace, by Howard Owen, which has an October 2016 release from The Permanent Press.

Originally, I was going to start out with another cover (but don’t worry, I’ll still get to it, and one of them is again another Howard Owen cover!), but as I reviewed the images Lon had sent, this one just jumped out at me. Continually. Maybe it was the key…maybe it was the desiccated wood grain behind it…maybe it was just having come off of Voice and the 1880s house I used as its setting…but it was probably all of it. When I looked at this cover over and over it was like I could actually feel that key…the rough, grainy wood. I have a key very similar to the one in the image from the Lake Clear, NY house I grew up in (that abovementioned late 1880s house served as the setting in Voice and ERO), and the wood in the image reminds me of the barn we had behind our house. How many times I’d run my hand over the barn’s weathered boards…caught a splinter or two…sandpapered it…painted it. Threw snowballs and rocks at it.

In short, it brought up all kinds of ancient memories. Memories that are getting ancienter and ancienter the older and older I get.

And isn’t that the point with cover art—or any artwork, for that matter? To illicit some kind of visceral experience? To trigger…a feeling? Any feeling?

To make us think?

Every time I look to this cover it slams me back to that barn. It’s darkened interior. It’s weathered and worn exterior. When I look at that key it takes me back to that house…to its original condition when we moved into it in the mid-to-late sixties before my dad gutted and reworked it’s interior. I am transported to that place and time…a displaced 1880s in my present time’s mind. I think I have wood splinters in my soul….skeleton keys in my heart. I had a great childhood there. Loved where I grew up. Think about it often. I incorporate so much of it into my work…and didn’t quite realize to what degree until I started publishing my novels over the past couple years….

But, that’s what Lon’s cover for Grace did and does to me.

Where it brought me—for good or ill—and whether or not my story has anything to do with Howard’s story behind that artwork…I don’t know—but, does it matter? If I saw this book on a shelf I’d pick it up and thumb through its pages and drink in its cover (in fact, I know I’d rub my hand over its cover, expecting to feel the wood grain, the metal key…).

Lon and I e-mailed back and forth a little about some of this, and here’s some of his responses:

“I had to smile when I read this [FPD: as in picking this cover as the first to discuss]. Grace is probably my favorite cover of the group and coincidentally, the easiest one to design. The manuscript had that Aha moment when I knew exactly what the cover would look like, it was one of those covers that ‘designed itself’ (referring back to my post on The Permanent Press blog).”

To this Lon also added about how the covers in this series of books:

“…organically morphed into a basically black and white design. When I did the first, I didn’t know it was going to be a series so that first cover is color and a bit more in the scary horror genre.”

The funny thing is Grace is not black and white…though Lon thinks of it as if it is!

Another funny thing is that I actually picked up on the above before Lon answered my question (i.e., that I figured he saw the cover as “black and white” even though it wasn’t; I mean, he could have said, “Yeah, I didn’t mean to write that, but…,” but he didn’t):

Me: Lon…but Grace is not black and white.

Lon: You are correct, Grace is in color but for me it functions as black and white. A dark background with a bright highlight. When I think of this cover, in my mind’s eye it is black and white. Maybe this is subliminal. You do raise an interesting point. I designed the cover and even I think of it as black and white. I guess we can persuade our mind to think of things very differently than what they are in reality. It brings to mind the story of police interviewing eyewitnesses to a crime. While all of the witnesses saw the same event, their stories and recollections can be very different. I didn’t even think twice when I referred to it as black and white.

Interesting isn’t it?

His reasoning is kinda “cousin” to my thoughts in the cover image itself. Our minds both went into tangential directions around the same cover….

And that’s a major point of cover art: to make you pick up a book. Purists (like me) will also say the point of cover art is to also give you something relating to the story, something to “hold” onto about the story within…[most traditional] publishers: they just want to get you to buy the damned thing.

Lon also went on to say that:

“Howard, who is usually fairly reserved, made a point of contacting me to tell me how much he loved the cover and thought it was spot on…has written me the most sincere and warm email about it.”

That—from my experience—is rare! We’re talkin’ tartare rare!

Most authors seem to take issue with their covers. Complain that many publishers “slap” on a cover with little to no thought incorporated. At least in the traditional publishing world. Usually a cover artist at a Big Five would get a brief description of what the book is about, maybe an outline, then they’d have to come up with something. Lon…is a different breed….and The Permanent Press is a different breed of publisher that allows Lon this “luxury”: Lon actually reads all of the manuscripts for the covers he does!

From Martin Shepard’s (head of The Permanent Press) June 17, 2015 blog post, Martin tells how he met Lon. Lon is not an employee of The Permanent Press, but is a “consulting creative director/designer.” This is how Martin remembers meeting Lon (and I do have Martin Shepard’s permission to use the following):

“Back in 1989, I received a flyer from Lon Kirschner and was mesmerized by his book cover designs. As I’ve said in a previous blog, I had my own art background. My beloved father, Mac Shepard, was an artist whose subway sketches are always featured on our catalog covers, while I was an art major at the High School of Music & Art in Manhattan during the late forties and early fifties. I was dazzled by his work, and Lon’s been designing covers for us for over 25 years. What a joy it is to both work with him and see what he comes up with. Any publisher, large or small, looking for a master cover designer would do well to get in touch with him by email.”

And that’s how I feel about Lon’s work: I am mesmerized…dazzled by it!

I am in awe of his work…which is why I’m highlighting him in my blogs. It all started with The Grievers, and it continues today (he did all my bookmarks and Voice book signing posters). In fact Lon told me that my review of The Grievers was the first time his cover art had ever been mentioned in a book review. I found that so hard to believe!

And if you haven’t yet read it, read The Grievers! It’s hilarious and had me laughing out loud so damned hard my mouth hurt. C’mon, Marc, write more funny stuff!

As I get to know Lon more and more through our correspondence these past couple of years, I am coming to find out what an absolutely terrific guy he is. We no longer just talk about writing and cover art or bookmarks and posters; our conversations have morphed into topics such as lawn mowing, trips, and movies. The man always tries to “do right” by his clients, and he’s so easy to work with. And, good God, is he talented. Maybe one day we will finally meet!

But for now, we trade e-mail, anecdotes—

And really cool covers!

*******************************************

Lon Kirschner may be contacted at:

Telephone: 518/392-3823

E-mail: info@kirschnercaroff.com

Site: http://www.kirschnercaroff.com

Tattered Cover Book Store, MileHiCon, and Bookmarks!

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Paranormal Fiction Bookmarks (© F. P. Dorchak and Kirschner Caroff, 2014)
Paranormal Fiction Bookmarks (© F. P. Dorchak and Kirschner Caroff, 2014)

Yesterday, I’d received an e-mail from the Tattered Cover Book Store informing me that they want to take on consignment of my novels Psychic, ERO, and The Uninvited! There’s a one-time consignment fee per book, and it’s a 90-day contract. They’ll go in the Local Author section. Let’s see, 90 days…what‘s within the next 90 days…

Oh, yeah, Christmas!

So, hope this works out in a stellar way (happy dance!), cause Tattered Cover is a legen-(wait for it…) dary book store. Thanks, Tattered Cover!

I’ve also been informed I will be attending several panels at the upcoming Denver MileHiCon this month (October 24-26th)! I’ll be sitting on the following panels (barring any last-minute changes):

  1. Friday, 6 p.m., Self-Pub Part 1
  2. Friday, 7 p.m., Self-Pub Part 2
  3. Friday, 8 p.m., Autograph Alley
  4. Saturday, 3 p.m., Threat From Above
  5. Sunday, 11 a.m., What If: Alternate Worlds/Readings

Aaand…I’m having some really cool bookmarks done up by Lon Kirschner, of Kirschner Caroff! Lon did my ERO cover. I’ll have them with me at MileHiCon. Do look me up and say “Hi!” Hope to see you there!

That is all.

Bookmark Front (© F. P. Dorchak and Kirschner Caroff, 2014)
Bookmark Front (© F. P. Dorchak and Kirschner Caroff, 2014)
Bookmark Back (© F. P. Dorchak and Kirschner Caroff, 2014)
Bookmark Back (© F. P. Dorchak and Kirschner Caroff, 2014)

 

 

Going Indie—What I’ve Learned (So Far)—Part 11

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Forge Your Own Way. (By Morrowlong [CC-BY-SA-3.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0] or GFDL [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons]
Forge Your Own Way. (By Morrowlong [CC-BY-SA-3.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0] or GFDL [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons]
It’s truly never-ending.

When you’re doing everything yourself—and by “yourself” I do mean having a team, but though you do have a team, you’re still in charge—you never really get a break. And that’s okay, because, in this instance, it truly is a labor of love.  But, you can only push yourself so far without adversely affecting your health, relationships, that kind of thing. It’s like I’ve said before, you can only do what you can do. Don’t fret about it…but do your best.

Indie publishing.

I’ve been working on my Psychic manuscript since before 2000. I’d originally started notes and chapter one around 1994, actually, when I’d discovered that our government claimed to have disbanded a classified remote viewing program. It gave me a story idea, so I began notes and such, but it wasn’t until 2000 that I sat down in earnest and began the task I’m still trying to complete. This month, I hope to finally complete it. And though I’ve been working on this project for a large frigging part of my life (surprisingly, this is the manuscript I’ve worked the longest, good God—20 years, if you count when I started taking notes—man that just hit me as I write this!), the difficulty has largely been the timeframe of the book. I’ve had to change the dates and ages and technology numerous times in trying to get this thing out there. And, as I’m wrapping things up, I’m still discovering little nit-noy shit (even though I have a proofreader), like the age of my antagonist at certain events, or the need to again change his weapon of choice. It’s become maddening. I am, however, finding this stuff before my proofreader will find it (she’s still reading and not yet at the end), but it’s frustrating! So, once again, I have to go back in and make corrections. But, that’s the way this works. Unless you do have another set of eyes…and even perhaps despite that, you may still find errors, because no one knows your story like you do.

Good Lord, 20 years?

Hopefully, what you find are not egregious errors…but even so, remember, even with the Big Dogs (the Big Five/Whatever) readers find errors. We’re human, and we make mistakes.

So, here is my latest round of things I’ve discovered:

  1. We’re human, we make mistakes. Accept that, but do your best. Have a thick skin, and readers…be kind. Understand this, fact, too.
  2. Blurbs? As I’d written in a previous post, I’m no longer seeking them…but to those I’ve already gathered, I’m going to use. Again, I reiterate: all those who have written me a cover blurb have actually read my work.
  3. Copyright your work! There is a really good post on this, and it got my ass in gear, now all my work is copyrighted. I always meant to do this, it got lost in the shuffle, so, thanks, Susan (Susan Spann has been most helpful to our writing community)!
  4. Don’t respond to e-mails with your favorite (or any, for that matter!) music blasting away! You could get carried away! There, I said it. You think that’s a stupid thing to say, but I love rock and roll, and, well, yes, sometimes I can get a little carried away with the energy of it. Music can and does change your state of mind, and you don’t want to get cocky. Just sayin’.
  5. Putting a price on your cover. When I first noted this item, I was of the mind to put a price on your book when printing the cover (if you can). It’s been mentioned a couple times on sites/sellers of books. I’ve asked my community about it, and I don’t remember anyone responding, so I don’t take it as being all that important. The more I thought about it, the more I came up with: why? In today’s world, that only really seems applicable to brick-and-mortar bookstores. So, I’m backing off the need for that. I don’t think you need to have that anymore. That’s old school (unless someone reading this can give me a good reason to do so). Everyone discounts books, even the brick-and-mortar stores. Indie authors cut deals left and right. Why would this be a necessity anymore?
  6. Be quick to apologize! Never be afraid to say you’re sorry for something you may have done, even if you’re not sure you’ve actually done something wrong. I am constantly amazed at how few people in the world actually apologize for anything, especially men. You got it. Men, friggin Man-the-HELL-up and take goddamn responsibility for your actions. I see it so much in my day job it pisses me off (and had another experience with exactly this just yesterday!). I forget why I’d originally included this item, but the point is salient. Get off your Ego Podiums!
  7. WP blogging: check that your saves are actually saved! Good Lord, this bites me more than I care to consider—and other WP bloggers! Yet, every time I contact WP about this, it’s like the first time they’ve ever heard about it! It’s not, WP, so please, fix the damned issue! Below the post window, on the right, there’s a “Draft saved at…” timestamp, and below that is a “Revisions” history. Checks these areas frequently!  Can’t emphasize this enough! Check them every time you save, to make sure your save—whether it’s a “Ctrl-S” or “Save Draft” selection—that they actually have taken. Especially if you’ve completed an initial post then been away from that post for a long time, like hours or days, and come back. Copy your text into Word or Notepad as you’re working. Highlight and copy into your clipboard what you’ve worked on periodically. If you happen to get a message that has the words to the effect “Do you really want to do this“…it’s too late. You’re screwed. You’ll keep what you last entered and saved, but anything after that last “official” save is forever gone.
  8. Cut your losses. If something’s not working out for you, detach yourself from it. Remove yourself from it. I recently had to do that with something with which I’d been associated for a very long time. It’s going  its way, I’m going mine. C’est la vie. Move on. Don’t keep the “bad energy” in your Weltanschauung. Don’t bad talk whatever it is…just move on.
  9. Not all advice is good. Everyone has an opinion, just like me, but not everything we give will work for you. And—I have to say this—not everyone knows what they’re talking about! Not everyone truly understands Indie publishing! And…some are actively trying to still discredit Indie publishing, because they’re in Traditional publishing, are pissed, scared, Old School, whatever, and are trying to interdict, spoof, and (argh, I’ve forgotten the term!) intentionally direct you away from your chosen path. Be aware. Consider all you hear with a block of salt. And remember this: there are always a million reasons not to do something…but, you only need to find one reason to change. Make the break and create a new path for yourself. This, however, is one guy who has his shit together: Bob Mayer. Read his stuff.
  10. Not everything you write is publishable! This should be obvious! Going Indie may give you license to publish everything you write, but everything you write is not necessarily publishable.
  11. Keep writing.

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ERO v. Extant

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ERO (© F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner, 2013)
ERO (© F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner, 2013)

Okay, let’s have some fun!

Based on the trailers alone, for this new TV SF series that starts tomorrow, I’m going to begin comparing my novel, ERO with Extant. I see some basic similarities, so I’m going to start a tweet campaign. I’m gonna keep it light and fun, and try to stick to “the facts.” I urge all of you to do the same! Feel free to tweet any similarities or miscompares between the two items!

So,I’ll begin, here:

ERO has a solo astronaut in a space station…Extant has a solo astronaut in a space station.

ERO has a hot chick, Extant has a hot chick.

Extant is produced by Steven Spielberg…ERO is produced (and written) by…uh, ummm…me.

Extant is a movie…ERO, my readers say, should be a movie!

ERO has a creepy guy in a space station…Extant also has a creepy guy in a space station.

So, okay, that’s the idea! Have fun and tweet away! Let’s see what kinds of comparisons we can come up with!

My Twitter handle is @fpdorchak

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UFO Watchtower…Revisited

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UFO Watchtower, Hooper, Colorado, June 28, 2014
UFO Watchtower, Hooper, Colorado, June 28, 2014

Well, this is kinda funny.

This past weekend I’d posted about the UFO Watchtower, a place I’d visited about once a year since 2005, then hadn’t been to for a couple years. I’d talked of trying to make my way down there this year, for certain. Well, no sooner had I posted that post, when my wife says, “Do you wanna go today?”

I’d never even considered it, and had, in fact, been looking to head down there in a couple weeks.

I looked outside.

Mow the lawn and yard work, standard weekend chores…or a fun, spontaneous road trip?

We day-packed the car, made our hotel reservation, and sped out about an hour-and-a-half later.

There’s nothing like a road trip…heading out on the open road, leaving the cares and chores of everyday life for asphalt (or concrete) and rolling scenery. It was a gorgeous Saturday. Blue, sunny skies, mid-to-upper eighties. We only ran into one glitch, with a temporary delay just south of Colorado City. A pickup truck and it’s camper had flipped and gone off the Interstate. As we’d approached, I’d seen the Flight-for-Life chopper heading north, low, off to the right of us. The accident had happened before we’d driven by, so we didn’t have much of a delay. Was a heck of an accident, but, so far, both people have survived. The truck ended up pointing north, but was on the southbound side of the Interstate. Must have been quite the flip. Was sad to see so many personal effects scattered about, like a cat carrier (what happened to the cat?), clothes, and any of the standard items people take with them on vacation, spread out alongside the road. We wish them well.

It did take us a little over 3 hours to get to the Alamosa area. We had to eat, but the restaurant we frequented while there, Dos Rios,

UFO Enchilada, Calvillos Restaurant, Alamosa
UFO Enchilada, Calvillos Restaurant, Alamosa

had been bought out and renamed, so we went to Calvillos, instead. We’d been there before, and the food was great. The maître d’ was extremely attentive.

Of course, I had to have the “UFO Enchiladas.”

We then backtracked and took a left on Highway 17, up to the UFO Watchtower.

Well, though it’d been a few years, turns out not much had changed. We did find that the green alien sign that had been on the right side of Highway 17 was no longer there. Those (Judy Messoline, owner and operator of The UFO Watchtower, had later told us), had been removed at the behest of the Colorado DOT. It had all been part of the Lady Bird Johnson Beautify America “act” years ago. No advertising billboards in non-industrial areas—even though Judy owns the land upon which said billboards resided. Apparently when land has a road bisecting it, you cannot put up any signs that advertise and tell drivers to “turn here.” Okay, I get that. This stretch of Highway 17 isn’t busy, so drivers can (and probably do) simply stop and backup to see the signs at her entrance. Makes for a good story….

Anyway, the road to turn left on, off of Highway 17 into the Watchtower, indeed remains a dirt road. Once off Highway 17, Judy has her little alien directional signs to the Watchtower, and most things there remain the same. The Garden is much more packed with visitor trinkets. Once section was of particular note, given I’m a writer: there were tons of pens and pencils jammed into the earth (I’d meant to take a picture of that, but got sidetracked, so never did…).

Judy isn’t smoking as much anymore, and, in fact, never lit one up once, while we were there. She says she no longer smokes as much, and is actually using e-cigarettes now. But her patio table and chairs remain outside, under the Watchtower’s mesh platform, and she still has several dogs, one of which was there when we’d last visited. Another she’d lost to an illness, if I remember right. Had a couple new ones.

Judy Messoline, Owner/Operator, UFO Watchtower
Judy Messoline, Owner/Operator, UFO Watchtower

And, Judy remains as friendly and outgoing as ever!

Judy’s gift shop is a little more sparse. She no longer has her horses or cattle. Too expensive to care for, et cetera, so she had to let them go to someone who could give them adequate care and attention. All I could think was the same applied to her gift shop. Things are just more expensive now, is all. She showed me some new additions to her notebook on strange incidents, like how one visitor took pictures of the The Garden, her pictures had shown orbs in them…her camera had malfunctioned (actually stopped working)…and when she’d returned home, The Garden pictures had disappeared from her camera. Okay. As you can see, below, my picture remained…and no orbs. Inneresting, as my Man With No Name character would say….

Another funny thing happened: while as I was setting up my books for consignment in Judy’s gift shop, from behind me I heard someone hail me by name. I turn around, and it’s Ron Cree, a writer friend of mine. Of all places to meet someone who actually knows me…it’s usually my wife who runs into people she knows, since she was essentially raised in Colorado (an early transplant)! I haven’t seen Ron in some two years, since the last writer’s conference I’d attended (and he mentioned he hadn’t seen me at the last one). He and his friend had been on a road trip, and were heading north. So we chatted a bit, took some pictures, and off they returned to their road trip. On his way out, Ron had gone back to his car to fetch something for The Garden. On his return he called to me to show me what he thought would be perfect for him to leave as a “Garden gift”: a writer’s conference pen. We both chuckled, and he stuck it in the ground, by one of the so-called “vortex centers.” Was good seeing ya, Ron! He mentioned he’d just sent his next novel manuscript to his agent. Be on the look-out for that. He writes for young adults, but mostly 30-something women seem to like reading his work.

It was cool finally “delivering” on my promise to give Judy a copy of ERO…and to leave a few (signed!) copies behind for

The Garden, from Atop Watchtower
The Garden, from Atop Watchtower

consignment, and some ERO business cards. I also left copies of Sleepwalkers and The Uninvited. Be interesting to see how they do, especially given her upcoming UFO Conference, July 26th and 27th. One thing we forgot to do was sign in at the gift shop’s register, dang it.

As we hung out at the watchtower, I was up on the platform, just hanging out, when I see this “interesting” bird fly low, over the tops of the brush, some distance out from us. I grab my binoculars, and home in on it…and find a whole parliament of ground owls! I counted seven! And they were so funny, the lot of them just hanging out at this one location, just messing around with each other, hopping on and of brush, branches, and each other! So, we figured, they must have been young ones. One of them seemed larger, probably the mom. We didn’t have any “long lenses,” just our little digital camera, which took far better pictures than I’d expected,given the distance, even if blurry. But, maybe the photos were blurry for a reason? Were they really ground owls…or “screen memories”…memory images (or photographs…?) of aliens replaced by something familiar or perhaps friendly (owls or deer are typical screen memories of aliens). We watched them for quite a while, it was the coolest thing!

But, alas, no UFO sightings.

We had a great time talking with Judy, and a couple other visitors who stopped by while we were there, but come around 7 p.m., she had to part company.

Ground Owls...or "Screen Memory" Aliens Keeping Watch....
Ground Owls…or “Screen Memory” Aliens Keeping Watch….

We then drove to Monte Vista, to The Best Western Movie Manor hotel we always stay at. The rooms are named after movie stars, and we stayed in room 102, this time, the “Paul Newman” room. The movies were Dragon 2 and Transformers. From within the hotel rooms, you can only see one of the screens, and the one we could watch was Dragon 2. Didn’t do anything for me, so only watched part of it before calling it a night. That didn’t keep us from getting some popcorn and (for me) a hotdog, though. This really is a unique hotel…there’s no other like it that I’m aware of in the US, anyway. Do check it out if you can! You can call ahead to see what movies are playing, and if you want to see the other screen, you can hop in your car and drive in to the other one, for free. We love drive-ins, and do try to make at least one drive-in a summer. When we had our dog, Mac, and our truck (and the local drive-in that is now a Wal-Mart…), we used to back into the drive-in slot, and all pile into the truck bed, blankets and sleeping bags and watch in the open air! So, try to support you local drive-ins, if you can!

So, the trip was fun, not much had changed, and it was good seeing Judy (and Ron!) again. If you’re ever “in the neighborhood, do make a trip down to Hooper-way, and tell them we sent ya!

By the way, as I post this, it is the 67th anniversary of the Roswell Incident, July 1-4, 1947. Again, I hadn’t planned this. Funny how it all happened, though. Synchronicity.

Blanca Peak. Only Thing I Saw Disappear Into It Was Melting Snow....
Blanca Peak. Only Thing I Saw Disappear Into It Was Melting Snow….

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UFO Watchtower

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UFO Watchtower, Hooper, Colorado, c. 2005
UFO Watchtower, Hooper, Colorado, c. 2005

The place, 2 1/2 miles north of Hooper, Colorado (about 40 minutes north of Alamosa, Colorado).

The mission?

Well, the mission is similar in scope to the  likes of Area 51 or the Marfa Lights Viewing Area. Located in Saguache County, Colorado, in the heart of the San Luis Valley—where all the “weird shit” one hears about in Colorado originates (e.g., cattle mutilation, UFO sightings)—is this interesting little destination run by Judy Messoline, called the UFO Watchtower.

Near as I can tell, my wife and I made our first excursion there back in July 23, 2005, the same year Judy’s book, That Crazy Lady Down The Road, came out. I forgot about how or when I’d first been made aware of the Watchtower, but once I’d heard about it—and the Best Western Movie Manor hotel, with its own drive-in theater you can watch and listen to from your hotel room—I had to go there.100_0328

Alamosa, Colorado is located about 3 hours southwest of Colorado Springs, west of the Great Sand Dunes National Monument (also a great place to visit!). When you hit the town of Alamosa (if you take the I-25/Highway 160 route), you take a right on Highway 17, and head north. About 22 1/2 miles later, just north of Hooper, Colorado, you might see (if it’s still there), off on the right, after you past the Colorado Gators Reptile Park (I told  you, this is an interesting place, didn’t I?), a little green alien waving at you (I can’t remember if we’d been told the little guy had been stolen or not, but, in any event, it used to be there…). A half-mile later, you’ll take that left (on our first trip there, my wife had played the X-Files soundtrack, as we pulled up to the place; it was surprisingly—or not so surprisingly—apropos to the mood!). You’ll be able to see the Watchtower from the road at that point. Out in the middle of your average, everyday Colorado plains. You’ll then follow a side road (I think it was a dirt road when we last went) around to the right, veering away from the campground entrance off on the left, and end up in the little dirt parking lot. If Judy’s not immediately there, she’ll eventually catch up, maybe like she did with us, in her golf cart, with her “little friend.”

100_0337Judy runs this little “bubble” gift shop hut, in which she sells all manner of book, posters, and fun “alien and paranormal stuff.” It’s beneath the UFO Watchtower, and the dome-shaped structure fits perfectly in-line with the location’s mission: to promote and observe extraterrestrial phenomena.

And hold stimulation conversations on the patio, beneath the Watchtower.

Along with Judy’s campground is a bed & breakfast, which should have already begun taking reservations (see site). In front of her watchtower is a place, called “The Garden,” which she built in 2002 (again, see the site, and click on “The Garden” link under the “Must See Tower Links”; she has a lot going on at her website, so check it out). The Garden, we are told, is the center of a cosmic vortex…but I have never seen this vortex that others have claimed to see. That’s cool. We all have our superpowers.

Entry to the Watchtower used to be free, with a requested donation (which we always paid), but I now see that she charges a mandatory $2 to enter. Judy (when not doing her chores and all) usually sits out there with any guests and shoots the breeze, as she smokes her cigarettes, her dogs milling about. In the past, she’d occasionally put out cookies or some kind of munchies. She’s very easy to get along with and will chat with you about near anything. I think on our last trip down there, a fiddlist friend of hers, from up Denver way, had her instrument out and played a tune or two for us—then later showed me some basic violin handling. It was fun…sitting out on the plains during that summer, listening to our own private, little concert, then getting a private, mini-violin lesson!

It was also on our first trip there, back in 2005, after we’d left the Watchtower, that we stopped at a couple of locations, in Hooper,

UFO Watchtower, Hooper, Colorado
UFO Watchtower, Hooper, Colorado

and asked around about any strange activity people might have seen. Besides the personal interest in things-paranormal, I was getting ready to begin work on my novel, ERO, so I’d come down here to do what UFO research I could, in my own “backyard,” so to speak. And, surprisingly (or not so surprisingly), we found everyone we talked to open and eager to share their stories of seeing strange things in the San Luis Valley skies. The strangest of these was from one lady who told us of a great-great-grandmother who’d seen a hovering craft flying around over Blanca Peak, to the east of Hooper. It had been above the mountain…then descended down and into the top of it.

Yes, great-great-grandmother. Who’d seen this in the late 1800’s.

Over the next five or so years, we’d gone back to the Watchtower about once a year, and I’d given Judy progress reports on how my UFO novel had been coming along. We had some interesting conversations, about things she’d seen, things others had seen. UFO speculation. Conspiracy theories. You know the drill. She showed me some cool pictures, books, and other things in her gift shop, and I bought an item or two. It has been several years since those annual pilgrimages, and with this year, we hope to make another. I’ve sent Judy a copy of ERO, but have only just done so (am kinda embarrassed I hadn’t earlier—I thought I had, but it had just gotten lost in all the “paperwork” of life…).  Be interesting to talk with her about it, once she’s read it….

That Crazy Lady Down The Road (Judy Messoline, © 2005)
That Crazy Lady Down The Road (Judy Messoline, © 2005)

Now, every year, for I don’t know how long, Judy also hosts a UFO Conference. This year’s conference is July 26th and 27th. On her site is a brochure that can be checked out. The hyperlink is cute. Or, again, check out her Facebook link. She also hosts annual UFO Watches,and has had members of MUFON in attendance.

As mentioned, Judy has also written a book. It’s about her life and the creation of the UFO Watchtower. She discusses what brought her down to the Hooper area, the creation of the watchtower and its “garden,” and of course, aliens abductees, and sightings. I’d read it years ago, and made for interesting reading. Some of the info in there makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, even if you’ve read it elsewhere. It all still makes you think, and will make for great conversation fodder!

Judy and her Watchtower have even been featured on the Travel Channel (2011), with Alejandro Rojas, as well as other interviews. She seems very busy, and in demand, for having been pegged…”That crazy lady down the road….”

Check out Judy’s Facebook  page. She may also be contacted at 719/378-2296, or by e-mail, at ufowatchtower “at” yahoo.com.

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