Spotlight
Thursday, August 1st, 2019
By author Joseph J. O’Donnell and photographer Joseph O’Donnell
We decided to set our sites to the South and explore a gem of an area hidden in the Great Smokey Mountains . As avid hikers my son, Joe (our magazine’s photographer), and I have traveled extensively in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. A neighbor, and good friend, had told us that he had vacationed often in the Great Smokey Mountains just to our south, in Tennessee. So we decided to travel there to see what the area offered.
We drove the distance from Northern Virginia to this fantastic location in a drive time of seven and a half hours, taking turns at the wheel and stopping along the way for gas and meals. It wasn’t so bad as the majority of the driving took us along Interstate 81 giving us a mostly direct route with little traffic. (more…)
Posted in News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019
Virginia is unquestionably the most beautifully state for hiking along the Appalachian Trail . The state offers many trails branching out all over the Commonwealth, but its most scenic trails lay along the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Access to the area may be obtained via the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. This 105-mile serpentine roadway runs the length of the mountain chain and offers many places where a vehicle can pull off to the side of the road to let its occupants enjoy the beautiful vistas of the Shenandoah Valley below. The views are spectacular and many photographers flock to these sites to pan the seemingly endless horizon and mountain peaks. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
TAEM- We last spoke with Charles on November 14th, 2013 (see the article by clicking on here). It is hard to believe that it took place so long ago. Charles and I have been in contact constantly on Facebook and I have been privileged to witness his many advancements in both writing and his art work in there.
Charles, tell us about some of your written work after the 2013 issue.
CB- After we last spoke, I completed several more books on the horror film genre, all available on Amazon across the globe. Vampires Everywhere: the Rise of the Movie Undead, Vampires under the Hammer, Werewolves the children of the full moon and Vampires; the Final Hunt. I’ve also upgraded my original book The Romance of Dracula to Dracula; the ultimate Romance last year. I’m still wrestling with a book on the films of Frankenstein, but have been side-tracked – very pleasantly – with a lot of comic book work. (more…)
Posted in News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018
Within the past two months we began a new venture by exploring the world of Hiking ! What seemed like a dire period of bad weather, either roasting hot or a season of monsoon-like rains, we finally stepped outdoors in search of a new story, and a new passion.
The impediments of extreme temperatures , what felt like 103 + degrees in the shade, to one of the rainiest years on record for our area, sunshine and more temperate weather finally kicked in. Friends of ours have been sending us photos of their hiking and camping adventures and they really wetted our appetites for similar field trips. Unlike their extended stays, encapsulated by mother nature, we decided to minimize our explorations by going Day Hiking. In this way we could start building up our stamina along with much needed experience. This included purchasing the correct type of gear and supplies we would need for this purpose. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Monday, August 20th, 2018
Our magazine had trekked south this past week to explore the land of sunshine. Our goal was to explore the fabled city of St. Augustine, Florida, the first true city in North America.
St. Augustine was founded on September 8, 1565, by Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Florida’s first governor. He named the settlement “San Agustín“, as his ships bearing settlers, troops, and supplies from Spain had first sighted land in Florida eleven days earlier on August 28, the feast day of St. Augustine. The city served as the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years. It was designated as the capital of British East Florida when the colony was established in 1763 until it was ceded back to Spain in 1783. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Sunday, July 1st, 2018
We had the pleasure of seeing the new sequel to Jurassic World titled ‘Fallen Kingdom’ . It’s an action packed movie with many fine graphic scenes which thrill the viewers each step of the way. There is a minimum age limit requirement as it is billed as too violent for younger children.
Once again the characters of Claire Dearing ( Bryce Howard Dallas) and Owen Grady ( Chris Pratt) must return to the island to try to save the dinosaurs – again ! Actor Jeff Goldblum ( from the original Jurassic Park) is featured as a narrator in a governmental hearing to plead the case (against) such a venture. (more…)
Posted in Movie Reviews, News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Friday, June 22nd, 2018
This month’s article deals with a visit to The All Star Comic Con held in Northern Virginia’s Tyson Corner. The event took place at the Sheraton Tyson Hotel. Accompanying me was my good friend Alex, who is also an avid Comic Con fan.
We arrived at approximately 1:00 pm and the parking was already jammed packed. Searching for a parking space was tedious, but we finally found one on the upper level. This particular show was much larger that the previous one I attended, The Nova Com, in Alexandria, Virginia. The venue for this show consisted of Comics, Games, Board Games, Artists, and merchandise. (more…)
Posted in News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Friday, May 4th, 2018
Writers block is a terrible thing for one who takes up the pen. Sometimes it is a brief thing. Other times it comes in stages. When unusual circumstances intervene, long periods of brain mortification can set in.
Usually in the brief term a cup of java, or a short walk, will help the writer regain their poise and will act like a refreshing wind to get their juices flowing again. In dire circumstances a vacation, or alternate hobby is needed to get them back on course. Such was the long term effects dealt to me recently. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Sunday, April 1st, 2018
There are so many new authors with their work gracing the book shelves today, and they surely owe their talents to some of the great authors of our century, and the current generation. To name a few we must conjure up the names of Tolkien, Rowling, Martin, and Doyle.
Each of these writers have spawned, not only written works, but movies, board games, comic books, and television shows . There are also many current writers, whose written topics, mirror these great people and it is comforting to know that written literature has been reborn again. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Thursday, March 8th, 2018
Well, it’s time to dust off the camera and leave the ‘cabin fever’ doldrums behind us. When Winter set in and the weather left us in a state of hibernation, a good book and a cup of hot chocolate beckoned us indoors in front of the fireplace. We threw a comforter around our shoulders and settled in till Spring. Now that Old Man Winter is about to leave us our magazine’s team is searching to explore our surroundings once again. In retrospect we are like bears leaving our dens to see what has changed over the winter months. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Friday, December 1st, 2017
TAEM– Our photographer Joseph O’Donnell has given much to the success of our magazine and has also created our company name of The Eerie Digest that is known world wide. His work is extraordinary and has given our readers a better insight to all our stories. (more…)
Posted in News Center, Spotlight, The Arts | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 18th, 2017
TAEM- The sole purpose of our magazine is to lend guidance and advice to students in order that they can prepare for their future and to follow in the footsteps for all those successful people that we interview. We focus on the education and training these people undertook to achieve their goals, as well as any pitfalls they underwent, so that students can benefit from their experiences.
As writing and literature have been the roots of our publication we believe that those we interview in this realm are of prime importance for communications, social life, and to carry on this endeavor for generations to come. One such author is C.C. (Christy) Krepick who has contributed much to literature and society in general.
TAEM- Christy, please tell our readers about your educational background, and how it led you your successes in writing.
CCK- I earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Master of Education, there was a lot of writing in those undergrad and graduate focuses. I just kept writing after I finished with my degrees. (more…)
Posted in News Center, Spotlight, The Arts | No Comments »
Saturday, October 14th, 2017
My name is Memphis Andromanya. I stand deep inside the parallax flux between yesterday and tomorrow. It is the day after yesterday. It is today. It is the day before tomorrow. It is today. Time moves in static shadows cast forevermore against the solid statue of upward mobility’s downcast eyes. This is the universe I live in. This is a world of torn tears caught in the treacherous jaws of a barbed wire riptide. I stand unzipping the sky, loosing lost demons, carving my voice onto the black of the night in the parallel flux between yesterday and tomorrow. Ear to the hard edge of the wind, I listen for the hollow whistle of the approaching train to nowhere. I am Memphis Andromanya. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, Spotlight, The Arts | No Comments »
Sunday, September 17th, 2017
For sake of a change in scenery our magazine decided to go to nearby Maryland and notably the mountains surrounding beautiful Cumberland City. Our choice was to take an excursion trip on the scenic Western Maryland Railroad.
The trip would take us from the Western Maryland Train Station, located at 13 Canal Street in downtown Cumberland to the mountaintop town of Frostburg. Both of these cities border southern Pennsylvania to the north, and Cumberland also is host to part of the canal system that used to link Ohio with the Chesapeake Bay. This was one of the ‘water highways’ of early America, known as The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. It’s purpose was to create a route to transfer goods and supplies between the East Coast ports and the American frontier. A museum for the Canal system is on the lower level of the Cumberland Train Station. (more…)
Posted in News Center, Spotlight | No Comments »
Friday, September 1st, 2017
At the end of July, 2017, we attended Northern Virginia’s Nova Con, the first such event in the area. It was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in McLean, Virginia.
The event was small in comparison to the larger Comic Con shows in Baltimore, New York and San Diego, but it was well organized and ample parking was available. The show was spread over three floors of the hotel and contained a food court, show room for artists and vendors, and meeting rooms for games and conversations with artists.
One such artist that caught our attention was John Reilly, whose work is titled ‘HERALD : Lovecraft &Tesla’.
TAEM- How did you get involved in writing graphic novels and what is your background for this?
JR-I was a writing professor for a decade before trying my hand at this kind of storytelling. My background is in English and literature and I have a PhD in Composition & TESOL, which sounds far removed from graphic novels but writing is writing. The short answer is, I wrote something I loved and got extremely lucky. (more…)
Posted in Spotlight, The Arts | No Comments »
Friday, September 1st, 2017
This past month we attended the first Nova Con event in Northern Virginia. It was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in McLean, Virginia. The show, although small in comparison to any of the Comic Cons held across the country, was well organized and featured a number of events and artists.
In visiting one of the outlets there we met Kenneth Centers and Rob Farinholt, co-authors of the graphic novel Astropunk. We decided to interview them as their work is relatively new and get some insight into how they developed this entry into the popular world of artistic story telling. (more…)
Posted in Spotlight, The Arts | No Comments »
Friday, August 11th, 2017

We recently attended the first Nova Con held in McLean, Virginia. The event heralded Northern Virginia’s entry into the ever popular world of graphic novel gatherings raging across the country.
It was small in comparison to larger Comic Con gatherings in New York and San Diego, but was ell organized. Nova Con was held in the beautiful Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the displays spread over three floors. These included artist and vendor booths, gaming rooms, restaurants, and small convention rooms where artists met and talked with fans.
One such artist we met had a highly unusual, and some would say gruesome, display of human skulls with beautifully hand crafted carvings. The artist’s name is Zane Wylie, known as ‘The Skull Guy’.
(more…)
Posted in Spotlight, The Arts | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 1st, 2017
At approximately 3:00 am in the morning of July 23, 2015 a fire broke out in the historic town of Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. The calamity resonated far beyond this town of 300, in large part because of Harper’s Ferry’s momentous role in American history and its popularity as a tourist destination. Luckily for the 300 residents who live in this tiny community, no injuries or deaths occurred due in part of an alert community member who was awakened by the outset of the fire. Two residences and eight businesses were destroyed, and most of the inhabitants felt that their town would never recover. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, Spotlight | No Comments »
Sunday, June 4th, 2017
TAEM- Our magazine has been created to cover many subjects that students set their sights on for future careers. These include the Arts, Science, Music, Sports, and Acting. Our interviews are made to give them insight into the success of all those we interview and give them a path to follow to achieve the same success as theirs, and avoid the pitfalls that would be met along the way.
We have decided to explore a new field that many students may follow by opening a new segment of our magazine titled ‘LAW’. As in all the fields that we cover, we have sought those in the top rungs of their industries in order to focus on the success stories that would best guide our readers. Therefore we would like to introduce one of the top New York legal minds, Eric Rothstein.
Eric, first we would like to thank you for spending the time out of your very busy schedule in order to lend your guidance to those students looking to follow in your footsteps. Please tell us why you chose this profession to follow, and who was your inspiration in doing so ?
ER- Truthfully, I do not remember a specific reason why I went to law school. It seemed like a natural next step after majoring in political science in college. I remember when I was young my father once mentioning that law was a good profession to pursue. (more…)
Posted in Law, Spotlight | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017
In the past episode for this story, in the December 2016 issue, I had uncovered my Irish links that originated in Londonderry (now Derry again !) Ireland where my Great-great-grandfather first immigrated to Scotland. Many questions still remained. A few included where the Irish first came from and why the Romans referred to them as Scots. This has piqued my interest even further and galvanized me to dig deeper into the past of this most interesting race.
Two books that have revealed much to me for my quest was ‘A History of Ireland’ by Edmund Curtis. This actually belonged to my uncle Vincent, for his studies when he had originally decided to train as a Catholic priest. He later decided to become a New York City policeman instead and went on to become a professor of law, after retirement, at Fordham University in New York City. The second book is titled ‘The Story of the Irish Race’, by author Seumas MacManus, who went deeper into the Irish origins that answered many, if not all, of my many questions. (more…)
Posted in Guest Authors, Spotlight | No Comments »