‘Tis December…

I received an ear.ly Christmas gift from Jim recently to help “fancy up” our outdoor tree set up: a new bird feeder from Pauline’s Gifts on Essex Ave! It’s gorgeous and a great complement to our holiday outside decor. I’d been bugging him to get the bird seed replenished and he’d been holding off because he had the new bird feeder hidden away. Apparently the poor songbirds in our yard added to the chorus and he relented and presented the gift early. I’m glad to have such a beautiful locally made item displayed proudly for this holiday season. Thanks to all who have been shopping locally. It means a great deal to each and every shop. Special thanks to Pauline for her wonderfully creative gift ideas.

Shop- https://gloucesterapparel.square.site/

Aidan’s website-

http://www.lilhomeslice.com

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Zen…

It would be great if you could post a bit about our Holiday Art Sale on Rocky Neck! For TWO DAYS, Saturday/Sunday, Dec. 14&15, 11-5, artists affiliated with the Rocky Neck Art Colony will offer their paintings and drawings, and glass and ceramic works, at irresistible prices for holiday gift-giving. 

We invite shoppers and Art Trekkers to visit Cove Gallery, 37 Rocky Neck Avenue, to find the perfect unique handmade present. 

What could be better than an early winter stroll, with art + drinks + snacks?

Shop local! Give the gift of art! 

Participating local artists include: 

Susan Alvey

Paula Borsetti

Jennifer K Brown

Matt Cegelis

Barbe Ennis

Elizabeth Gauthier 

Stephen Gondert

Nancy Gorman

Mel Higgins

Ann Lafferty

Carmela Martin

Vanessa Michalak

Jennifer Pinck

Deborah Quinan

Grace Vasta

Funny writer wins serious award

What if you’re the only one who thinks it’s funny?

That’s the worry that plagued longtime GMG fan Doug Brendel, known for his Outsidah.com humor site, after he wrote his novel Praying for Mrs. Mombasa.

“Even after your family and friends read it and laugh,” he says, “you still wonder if they’re just being polite.”

But then the book began winning awards, a total of seven, including a Global Book Award for Humorous Fiction, and the Gold Medal for Humor in the Reader Views Literary Awards competition (sort of the Olympics for self-published books).

“Eventually you say to yourself, Yeah, it must be funny,” Doug says.

Now the novel has received award #8: the International Impact Book Award for Contemporary Fiction.

“This award is extra-satisfying because it recognizes the book not just for its humor but for its place in our culture,” says the author. “I wanted this novel to make a strong statement against racial and sexual stereotyping, and especially with this recognition, I’m beginning to believe that the book accomplishes that.”

Noted as “a hilarious, surreal, irreverent look at how hope works,” Praying for Mrs. Mombasa has defied description by reviewers because it doesn’t fit easily into any conventional genre. The story’s neurotic narrator, for example, gets into testy tiffs with the characters.

Mombasa has also been controversial because “it features ethnic stereotypes, then turns them on their head,” Doug says. “Also, it seems there’s a 6-year-old who smokes Virginia Slims. Shocking, I know.”

Some North Shore bookstores have declined to carry the book. But it’s available in paperback at Dogtown Book Shop in Gloucester as well as Tidal Pages Bookshop in Ipswich, with the paperback and Kindle editions and the audiobook (read by the author) available on Amazon.

For more information, contact the author via Outsidah.com.

[book cover photo caption]

Cover design by Kristina Grundmann

[author photo caption]

“Praying for Mrs. Mombasa is a beyond-clever story, inside of a play that’s not actually occurring, in front of an audience that doesn’t actually exist. It will blow your mind, and assumptions, away.” —from the Reader Views Five Star Review

(photo by Cynthia August Images)

Stop by! Joey will be manning the shop today!

Dusk was falling quickly on a recent afternoon and the special effects of the lighting on our Man at the Wheel Memorial statue struck me as being strikingly beautiful. Thought you might agree.

Fire Chief Eric Smith is asking community members to call 911 in the event of an emergency and no longer use direct phone lines to reach the Gloucester Fire Department.

For many years the Gloucester Fire Department could be reached using a direct phone line, but on Wednesday that phone line stopped operating correctly. 

Chief Smith and the Gloucester Fire Department direct anyone reporting an emergency situation or fire to call 911.

“The direct landlines for the Fire Department that many people in Gloucester still use are not functioning properly, so everyone must dial 911 in the event of any emergency,” said Chief Smith. “Our 911 lines continue to fully function.”