For Westfield Author, Halloween's Not Over Yet

WESTFIELD, NJ — Peter Lyons has been living in Westfield for 12 years — and has spent longer than that thinking about a book he's wanted to write for Halloween.

"The story was inspired by actually seeing a werewolf, a witch, and an ape walk by me on a Halloween night as I exited the subway in NYC about 20 years ago," Lyons said in an email this week. "After writing it, it was in a manuscript pile in the back of my closet for years."

But then he had new inspiration. "I dusted it off when I had children," he said, "and their teachers were kind enough to let me read a story without pictures."

For the last two years, he's been working on self-publishing it with an artist he knows from high school (Loyola in New York City) — Palmer Murphy. "His artistic skills and humor helped bring this story to life," Lyons said. "Michele Tupper, the book designer, brought everything together. Due to covid we had to do everything via the internet and phone."

Writers sometimes self-publish their books to maintain creative control and to avoid the long wait of publishing, but that also means they have to publicize their creations themselves, not always easy.

"The book will be out in time for Halloween next year but I thought kids could enjoy the video today and tomorrow," said Lyons, who posted it Friday as Westfield schools were closed due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Zeta.

Watch the video version of the book here.

Got news? Email Caren.Lissner@patch.com. Want to be the first to get news alerts with breaking stories in Westfield, or to get a free local newsletter each morning? Sign up for Patch breaking news alerts or daily newsletters.