Chris Delyani's Blog

Norma and the Blue Hour - Launch Date in One Week!

I can’t believe that the day is almost here: the publication date of my fourth novel, Norma and the Blue Hour.

Click the icon to read the advance reviews:

Norma and the Blue Hour

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon at the introductory sale price of just 99 cents. Paperback versions will be available on Amazon or $12.99 on pub date. Click to pre-order here:

https://www.amazon.com/Norma-Blue-Hou...

Thanks to you all for your support!

Chris

Breaking the ICE in Oakland

I hadn’t planned to design another anti-fascism poster so soon after the gigantic October 18 No Kings protest marches. Then I saw online, or thought I saw online, a notice for democracy-lovers to gather at any branch of the Oakland Public Library at 5 p.m. on Friday, October 24, only six days after No Kings. The OPL’s Temescal branch library, a quaint brick building at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and 52nd Street, is about a five minute walk from where I live. But it’s a small library. Would there really be a protest in front of that library at 5 p.m. on Friday night? I walked over there thinking no one would be there, that I must’ve made a mistake.

Click to read what happened:

https://chrisdelyani.substack.com/p/b...

Year-Round Halloween

My fourth-grade self would much more enjoy a field trip to the Salem as I found it this past summer, on a blazing hot day in June. The anti-witch crusaders of 1692 would no doubt be horrified to discover that their project to eradicate witches from Salem has had the opposite effect. Thanks to their paranoia, Salem is today a veritable Las Vegas Strip of all things witchy—a never-ending Halloween party, running all year long.

Click the link for more pictures:

https://chrisdelyani.substack.com/p/y...

No Kings in Oakland

I attended the No Kings rally in Oakland last Saturday. My third protest of the year. You know a movement has broad appeal when even the middle-aged word nerd crowd shows up. Click for pictures of my favorite signs:

https://open.substack.com/pub/chrisde...

Riding the Gray Puma

I first learned of the existence of Lake Titicaca the way I think most people growing up during the 1980s learned it—as the giggle-inducing answer to the Trivial Pursuit geography question, “What is the world’s highest lake?” That’s how I remember the question, anyway. Turns out that Lake Titicaca, at around 12,000 feet above sea level, as the world’s highest navigable lake, straddling the border between Peru and Bolivia. After nearly two weeks of hiking mountains and wandering around Inca ruins, we finished our Peruvian odyssey on a boat, cruising the placid sapphire waters of Lake Titicaca.

https://chrisdelyani.substack.com/p/r...

The Peruvian #FlowerReport

Over two weeks of hiking in Peru, I collected flowers that became a diary of the trip. In our starting point of Cusco, my flower-gathering began early with the ubiquitous flower known as qantuta, the red trumpet-shaped blooms that were once sacred to the Incas and are now, according to our Cusco guide, Peru’s national flower.

Click for wild orchids and other flowers from Peru:

https://chrisdelyani.substack.com/p/t...

Machu Picchu in the Mist

Our Peruvian trek took us from the chilly heights of the Salkantay Pass to the warmer and thicker air of Aguas Calientes, the town nestled at the base of Machu Picchu. By then, I was certain that the number one highlight of our Peru trip was behind us. I already knew what Machu Picchu looked like. The tourists thronging Machu Picchu would no doubt take away from the experience. How could Machu Picchu top the majesty of Salkantay Mountain?

Click for more:

https://chrisdelyani.substack.com/p/t...

Peru’s Salkantay Trek

I couldn’t deny that my pounding headache and my nausea at dinner could be anything other than altitude sickness. That night my heart pounded if I so much as turned over in bed. I lay awake and wondered if I’d be able to achieve the main object of our trip: a hike to Machu Picchu via the 15,200-foot-high pass of mighty Salkantay Mountain.

Click to read how I did:

https://chrisdelyani.substack.com/p/p...

The Japanese Kit Kat Taste Test

I have eaten more Kit Kats this summer than I have in years, maybe ever, and Halloween is still a few weeks away. Which one did I like the best?

https://chrisdelyani.substack.com/p/t...

New NetGalley Review

Another nice review today for ‘Norma and the Blue Hour.” Click to read more:

https://paddylastinc.com/2025/09/28/b...