Family heirlooms are particularly special in my workshop and this bible is no exception. A Dutch ‘Bijbel’ printed and bound in 1910, survived the long journey across the Atlantic with the Kuiper family (now the Cooper family) and needed some work to bring it in to the new century.

This book has a special place in my heart. I acquired this book at an estate sale, where many jewels lay hidden among the piles of old books and manuscripts. It is not often that something like this is found at estate sales, but when they are it’s truly a treasure.

The Story of Siegfried, Old Norse Sigurðr, is an infamous tale of heroism and tragedy. It is one of the most detailed tales that’s survived since the Viking Age and it’s been captivating audiences for many generations. This specific version of the tale is told through a Germanic perspective, written by a German-American immigrant from the early 1900s and adapted for English speakers. My immediate thoughts behind wanting to do this project has more to do with legacy than it does my own personal enjoyment. Much like Baldwin states in his dedication, I, too, intend for this book to be enjoyed by my children; giving them a perspective into their hereditary past and sharing the tales that their ancestors might have over a fire on a cold night. 

This is a first for me and what a fun project it turned out to be! The entire collection of the Darth Vader 2015 series, written by Kieron Gillen and Illustrated by Salvador Laroca and Edgar Delgado, is now compiled into a single leather-bound volume. 

Late in 2020 I enrolled in an online course offered by Atlas Obscura about Facts Based Worldbuilding and taught by Moiya McTier, an astrophysicist and folklorist. I was immediately enthralled by the content and loved being a part of building my own world. Since space and other planets are so varied, it was a lot of fun building something completely new and populating it with species specifically adapted the the harsh conditions being set by my fellow students. The challenge was both fun and creative.

At the beginning of the course, I was pretty confident that I’d want to make a special journal to take notes in and continue my own set of worldbuilding creations. I am an ardent fan of J.R.R. Tolkien and have loved his work since I was a small child. I knew when I was very young that I’d wanted to make my own world and write stories about it and this journal will probably be the place I centralize those ideas.