CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
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Go Out in a Blaze of Glory

February 25, 2027 (permalink)

"Will go out in a blaze of glory."  From the Duluth Herald, 1919.  
#vintage headline #headline
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July 24, 2025 (permalink)

We're honored to be cited in Overcoming Impostor Syndrome by David Sandua.
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July 18, 2025 (permalink)

We were honored to be featured on PBS: https://youtu.be/SBeTSimdUrg?si=i7aVHNfi7Vs9r7gT&t=222
#prof. oddfellow #magic words
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May 26, 2025 (permalink)

Great to spot Viscount Vitchm'call at an Irish wake in Detroit!  Thanks, Christine!
#grave mood rings
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April 27, 2025 (permalink)

We're honored that the Crafty Cowboy (pay no attention to the photo-bombing skeleton) is rocking Penetralia fashions.
#prof. oddfellow #penetralia
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April 17, 2025 (permalink)


We're honored by this 5-star review of Grave Mood Rings: The Novelization over on Amazon:

 
***** Genius literary whimsy

I was already a fan of the web series, and was delighted that there was a novelization of the show. The humor is wonderfully Monty Python-esque, as well as being charmingly literary in the style of one of my favorite authors, Patrick Suskind. To my mind, it is a whimsical must read.

#grave mood rings
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April 15, 2025 (permalink)


We're honored by this 5-star review of our Magic Words: A Dictionary over on Amazon:
***** Unusual, enlightening, and delightful perspectives on the meanings of MAGIC WORDS. —Vicki Miko
#magic words
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April 8, 2025 (permalink)

We're honored that Paul Henderson, who sets crosswords for The Independent, The Times, and The Daily Telegraph, cites our One-Letter Words: A Dictionary in this article about abbreviations.
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March 28, 2025 (permalink)

"Here we have the charming Professor Oddfellow. He always appears to be in some sort of purgatorial void. Clearly it must be a beneficent plane, and he its sole black clad mark, where he becomes the emissary vessel of such brilliant and astounding obscurities." John Dimes
#prof. oddfellow
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March 24, 2025 (permalink)

"Grave Mood Rings is such a wonderfully surreal web series in the Lynchian/Dark Shadows sense. It has quickly become an addiction I long to avoid, simply because I'd go down the proverbial rabbit hole without ever properly seeing the light of day. It's like a fairy dance. Once you've been among them, you'll dance until you die--laughing, or pondering, all at the same time. This is a piece of art inspired by their awe/guffaw inspiring works!" —John Dimes
#vampire #grave mood rings
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March 20, 2025 (permalink)


We're honored by this 5-star review of Grave Mood Rings: The Novelization over on Amazon UK:
***** What is a novelization anyway?  A novelization that interrogates the properties of a novelization whilst adapting the scariest TV show ever made that is not in any way scary.  In other words, a perfect piece of marginalia on the expanding map of Penetralialand.
#grave mood rings #novelization
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March 5, 2025 (permalink)

Thanks to Bunny Galore, the Queen of the Cult Movies, for so entusiastically supporting Grave Mood Rings!
#grave mood rings #horror comedy #bunny galore
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February 16, 2025 (permalink)

Thanks to playwright Fred Bitter for comparing Grave Mood Rings: The Novelization to Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, Don Quixote, Tristram Shandy, and Finnegans Wake
#grave mood rings
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February 14, 2025 (permalink)

Thanks to Dare-g, who calls Grave Mood Rings: The Novelization "delightful and witty—a must read for fans of the show." 
#grave mood rings
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February 13, 2025 (permalink)

Grave Mood Rings: The Novelization actually exists!  A reader in Detroit kindly shared a snapshot.
#grave mood rings
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January 13, 2025 (permalink)

Thanks to Sigfus of Sweden for promoting Grave Mood Rings' "Born to Be Undead."
#grave mood rings
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December 22, 2024 (permalink)

Fellow writers, how about this lesson in patience: 27 years after publication, one of my books snagged its first Amazon review.  The book is long out of print, but now it has 5 stars.  Its lover never bought it, having first photocopied it from the library and then having found a used copy after cockatiels ate the pages.
I first discovered this book in my federal agency's library; I was so impressed with its plain spoken wisdom regarding taking responsibility in the workplace, I photocopied the book in its entirety! Then, unfortunately, my cockatiels got hold of the photocopy and destroyed it! That sent me looking for the book again, which I felt extremely fortunate to find on Amazon!
This book was originally part of a larger series of book on work related topics. Out of the series, this is, by far, the most compelling one! As I say in the headline, if you're fortunate enough to find it, read it to yourself, then share it with your children! It communicates so well, and so succinctly, the importance of taking personal responsibility, one would be hard pressed to find a better articulation, and the fact it's written in plain language, at the 5th grade reading level, actually makes it even more compelling; I liken it to the way Ernest Hemingway might have written it, for he was so plain and straightforward in his writing style!
In closing, I'm glad I have my own version now, and in hardcopy. Every once in a while I take it off the shelf just to revisit its ageless and timeless wisdom.
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December 4, 2024 (permalink)


#grave mood rings
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November 24, 2024 (permalink)

We were delighted to receive this photo from a reader of our Books of the Dead.
#skull #prof. oddfellow #book of the dead #books of the dead
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November 8, 2024 (permalink)

"Book of the Week: Find more meaning in x's and o's with linguist Craig Conley's 'One Letter Words, a Dictionary'. Covering scarlet letters, medieval branding marks, bra sizes, blood types and more, this handy guide offers over 1000 definitions for those 26 letters and is on the shelves at the Little Library."
#one-letter words
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Original Content Copyright © 2025 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.