Aspen Avenue Press

People are wondering, what is Aspen Avenue Press? Well, it's the name that Marilyn Nielson and I decided we wanted to have for our own publishing company. What's the significance behind it? Well, I'll tell you!

Marilyn and I both grew up on a street called Aspen Avenue. My house was at the top of the street, at the edge of the dead end. Her house was in the middle of the street. We spent countless hours with our other friends on that street, playing in the gutter, the apricot orchard across from my house, front and back yards, night games, and we had our meeting spot where we'd run to at all hours to meet up or where we'd part ways and run away, our bare feet racing to see who would get home first in the darkness.

When we grew up and were 18, we both still lived at home but we met someone new, who moved into the basement of my next door neighbor's house. His name was Sam. He invited us over to watch our first DVD, and the three of us went to dinner together and laughed a lot. He was an artist, and he later became Marilyn's husband.

So, when Marilyn and I decided to write Complementary Magic together, and to have Sam illustrate it for us, it was evident that we find some connecting link, and it made perfect sense to have it be Aspen Avenue. And even though we've all moved away from there now, that street will always be a beloved place to me, and us. And as Sam and Marilyn say, the logo he designed for our publishing company is special. "It looks like a leaf or flower press, conveying the idea of preserving experiences and things you love, and the leaves are oriented upward, reminiscent of two houses or two family trees crossing over each other, like Marilyn and Rachael and where they overlap.