Crime fiction (by a Saratogian named Saratoga) and nonfiction (cold case: closed).
PLUS: Spooky season week at a glance, including events for ghouls of all ages.
Saratoga podcast gets dark with a local author named…Saratoga
‘Destination Saratoga’ finds an aptly-named author and goes deep with a fan favorite rom-com guy. Let’s get into it.
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“I’m at a writers workshop and everyone’s favorite speaker is from Saratoga Springs.”
Love seeing the Spa City’s name in lights, this time from a fancy writer friend in Seattle. The charmer in reference? Nicolas DiDomizio, a three-time author with a seductive flair for romantic comedy. In fact, he recently lit up the Saratoga Book Festival with a Saturday evening happy hour about — you guessed it — “rom-coms.” And he kicked off a jam-packed podcast episode that also starred an author named Saratoga who lives in Saratoga. But first…
The very much engaged DiDomizio’s most recent book, Nearlywed, is about a fun romp of an early (as in pre-”I dos”) honeymoon.
“I definitely modeled the couple after my fiancé and myself,” the Saratogian of five years tells MacKenzie Zarzycki on the Destination Saratoga podcast, available for streaming now. “So there’s definitely a lot of personal inspiration — but it’s a totally fictional, highly dramatic story that not based fully on real life.”
The opera fan who grew up in Connecticut also dishes about the shuttered Saratoga restaurant he misses the most, where to get the best pâté in town, and the ripple effect of being timid instead of putting yourself “out there.”
Flip on the podcast for the full interview — DiDomizio switches gears for his next book, out this April — and to meet Saratogian author (real name) Saratoga Schaefer.
“I’m from Brooklyn originally, but my mom has been coming up to this area since she was a kid,” Schaefer tells Zarzycki. “And when she met my dad, she brought him to the area and he fell in love with it. Then she kind of suggested naming their firstborn Saratoga as a joke and he took it very seriously. And now here I am.”
The debut author of the fast-paced thrill of a book Serial Killer Support Group dives into a world where — as the name suggests — serial killers have a support group.
“I did a ton of research on serial killers and especially on female serial killers because Zyra, the main character, pretends to be one in order to trick these men and infiltrate her way into the group,” says Schaefer.
What did she find out about what goes on in the minds of these murderers? Destination Saratoga is streaming now, and the aptly-named author’s second book, Trad Wife, comes out in February.
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Bad news/good news
If you didn’t know that Stephan Smerk once lived in the Capital Region, just know that he’s now incarcerated for life. The CBS true crime juggernaut 48 Hours highlighted his case Saturday night — including video of one of the most chilling confessions I’ve seen on TV: “I am a serial killer who’s only killed once,” he declared at a Niskayuna police station after turning himself in. The brutal and senseless murder, in front of the woman’s baby, occurred in Springfield, VA in 1994. The case went cold as Smerk relocated to upstate New York and raised a family with his wife. Genetic genealogy and persistent investigation eventually found him, bringing justice for the long-time cold case of Robin Lawrence.
Bills Mafia at the summit
One of my favorite Saratogians has been raving about a recent yoga retreat she and another Cap Regionite went on this fall — and now their teacher is in the news. Saratoga Today’s Jonathon Norcross sits down with Sheryl Campbell, a Clifton Park yoga instructor whose memoir Climbing the 46 High Peaks follows her journey to becoming a 46er — during which she flew a Buffalo Bills flag at every summit.
Halloween Week Events Calendar
Eager for some mischief? Saratoga’s got activities all week long for ghouls of all ages.
Tuesday, October 28
11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Make a ghost jump with the power of physics at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga.
5:30 p.m. to close
Artisanal Brew Works’ Nature’s Edge Reserve has turned its forest trail into a “glowing Halloween adventure” for the first time ever. The Spooky Trail welcomes a tamer version for the first hour for the littles.
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Register online to join in a game or two of “Blood on the Clocktower” at the public library — a social deduction game for lovers of intrigue.
Wednesday, October 29
5:30 p.m. to close
Artisanal Brew Works’ Nature’s Edge Reserve has turned its forest trail into a “glowing Halloween adventure” for the first time ever. The Spooky Trail welcomes a tamer version for the first hour for the littles.
6 to 8 p.m.
Sip some vino and paint something spooky at a special Halloween Paint & Sip with Alexis Herzog of Black Dot Tattoo at Broadway Coffee.
Thursday, October 30
11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Use watercolor and a white crayon to uncover the ghost hiding in your spooky masterpiece at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga.
5 and 7 p.m.
Haunted Canfield Casino Ghost Tours depart every 20 minutes at the Canfield Casino, Saratoga Springs History Museum.
5:30 p.m. to close
Artisanal Brew Works’ Nature’s Edge Reserve has turned its forest trail into a “glowing Halloween adventure” for the first time ever. The Spooky Trail welcomes a tamer version for the first hour for the littles.
Friday, October 31
11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Discover the power of the Van de Graaff generator and see what this electrifying invention can do, at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga — it may be shocking!
5 p.m. to close
Celebrate the 31st for $31 — with a French twist — at Halloween Night at Chez Pierre, where a special prix fixe menu will be on hand, as well as cocktail specials such as a Spider Web Cosmo.
5:30 p.m. to close
Artisanal Brew Works’ Nature’s Edge Reserve has turned its forest trail into a “glowing Halloween adventure” for the first time ever. The Spooky Trail welcomes a tamer version for the first hour for the littles.
7 to 10 p.m.
Join a masquerade party at the stunning (haunted?) Victorian mansion that is Libby Supper Club at the Union Gables Inn.
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Go Bills! ❤️