"IN LOVING MEMORY is an elegant, elegiac poem by Roxanne Hoffman, illustrated by Edward Odwitt in a style reminiscent of classic Edward Gorey. This somber, tender and darkly ironic verse is about the ceremonies of death and grieving...as well as their parallels to the rituals of abiding love and remembrance. IN LOVING MEMORY should be on everyone's shelves as it reflects on one of the darkest human experiences with insight and humanity in a charmingly gothic presentation." -Garth von Buchholz, Author, publisher and member of the National Book Critics' Circle "Roxanne Hoffman has been a whirlwind of poetics for some time now. IN LOVING MEMORY is not only a worthy addition to her oeuvre but an original, deeply human-and warmly humane-vision of the rites of final passage. Of course there is trauma, that of irreconcilable loss, but here Roxanne brings the full coin of her poetic mind to bear. In sustained elegiacal rhyme she paints a methodically wrought landscape that is beautifully subjective yet utterly universal. The portraiture is further enriched by the stark, almost child-like illustrations of Edward Odwitt. The sum effort is a melodic, imaginative riposte to the reverberations of loss, a moment heartbreakingly, heartwarmingly wrought into poetry." -Adam Henry Carriere, Publisher of "Danse Macabre"
About the Author: Roxanne Hoffman left her old haunts on Wall Street to answer a patient hotline for a New York home healthcare provider, and observes that most folks would rather be dead than broke. A member of the Vampire Empire, the Bram Stoker Memorial Association and the International Society for the Study of Ghosts and Apparitions, she's always had a yen for Death and the unnatural. Her poems and stories have been sighted, on and off the net, appearing and reappearing in literary journals-"Champagne Shivers," "Danse Macabre," "Dark Eye Glances," "Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine," "Hospital Drive," "House of Horror," "Lucid Rhythms," "Mirror Dance," "The Pedestal Magazine," "Scarlet Literary Magazine" and "SNM Horror Magazine"-and can be heard during the 2005 indie flick, "Love & The Vampire," directed by Dave Gold. Her take on divorce, "Macabre! Macabre!" was selected for inclusion in "House of Horror Best of 2009 Anthology." The lyrics to "Rattle Them Bones," a song celebrating ghostdom, were selected for "House of Horror Best of 2010 Anthology" and nominated for a 2010 Pushcart Prize. Edward Odwitt is an enigma. As an independent author/artist, his portfolio veers from symmetrical illustrations to graphics and pastels, as well as cartoons drawn primarily in black pen or pencil. His first book "Head for the Hills" is an illustrated book of poetry written for middle school audiences, and can be found on his website www.edwardodwitt.com. He is currently compiling a collection of his artwork into a book due out by the end of 2011.