26 titles from award winning author, Ed Okonowicz

Myst and Lace Publishers Inc.

Within a week of the appearance of headlines in several newspapers stating: “Guy Wants Ghosts,” I received more than 24 letters and phone calls from people with tales to tell. The result was Pulling Back the Curtain, Vol. I of the Spirits Between the Bays ghost/folklore series. As the years passed, we kept receiving leads—through the mail, over the phone and at book signing and storytelling events. The series, whose titles led readers through a literary haunted house, continued: Passing through the open Door, into the Vestibule, and Parlor, and Kitchen, Up the Back Stairway, into the Horrifying Hallway and ending in the Bedchamber (with Vol. IX). Additional ghost story books continue to be made, but they now focus on themes (Ghosts), topics (two volumes about Terrifying Tales of the Beaches and Bays) or geographical areas (such as Baltimore Ghosts: History, Mystery, Legends and Lore, published in 2004, and Civil War GHOSTS at Fort Delaware, released in April 2006).

The company’s proudest achievement came in the summer of 1997, with the release of Disappearing Delmarva: Portraits of the Peninsula People. This hardbound, coffeetable-style book with photographs and stories, received two national first-place awards (in both the general book and the photography categories). During its production, we were honored to meet the wonderful people who live on the peninsula and contribute to its distinct regional culture, traditions and folkways. In 2003, we published the sequel, with the help or co-author Jerry Rhodes, entitled Friends, Neighbors and Folks Down the Road.

Myst and Lace also produced two murder mystery novels—FIRED! and Halloween House—set in the fictional state of DelMarVa, featuring “tough on crime” governor Henry McDevitt and police commissioner Michael Pentak. This series is planned to continue at some point, with the publication of Hostage, but no date is set at the present time.

In the spring of 2002, with co-author Jerry Rhodes, a friend and excellent writer, our company published the biography of well known Delaware sportswriter Matt Zabitka. This hardbound book, entitled Matt Zabitka SPORTS: 60 Years of Headlines and Deadlines includes anecdotes, columns and photographs.

Since 2000, all of our books are available through Amazon.com, and the Myst and Lace web site offers direct links to that Internet bookstore. Myst and Lace also offer books directly to individuals, and these may be ordered through the catalog on the web site. All books are autographed and sent out within two working days.

Baltimore Ghosts: History, Mystery, Legends & Lore was released in the fall of 2004 and has been well received, and it is available at such major tourist sites as the USS Constellation, Fort McHenry National Monument and Shrine and the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum.

In the spring of 2005, we released our first book entirely by another author. Lighthouses of New Jersey & Delaware: History, Mystery, Legends & Lore. It is written by my friend, lighthouse historian Bob Trapani, Jr., who is executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation in Wells, Maine. His book contains pictures and stories of 20 lights in the mid-Atlantic region in the two states. His sequel, Lighthouses in Maryland and Virginia, was published in 2006.

Major chain stones, as well as independent bookstores and gift shops, may order our books from Washington Book Distributors in Alexandria, Va., visit [washingtonbk.com] or phone 1 800 699 9113. They also can be purchased through Amazon.com

We also send out a periodic newsletter through e-mail to those who request placement on its electronic mailing list. This informs readers of new books and scheduled events and signings.

For those without Internet access, there is a paper newsletter, usually sent out twice a year.

Since in 1994, Myst and Lace Publishers has focused on regional topics that both entertain and inform readers about the history, folklore, culture and legends of the region. In each of the books, whether they focus on ghosts, mystery, personalities or folklore, readers learn interesting facts about Delmarva’s and the mid-Atlantic's past and present.

We appreciate your interest in our work and thank you for buying our books.

Ed Okonowicz