The Biography of Frank E. Bittinger
Over the centuries, Frank Bittinger has experienced many existences. In this incarnation, Mr. Bittinger is a vegan who lives and writes in historic Western Maryland, sharing his home with a menagerie of pets, several alternate personalities, and the occasional ghost.One of his favorite pastimes is taking walks in old cemeteries in the evening. He lives in Cumberland and can be emailed at lairofthescarabae@hotmail.com.
Since he is eccentric, he has been known to be interested in books, frogs, and Christmas trees, amassing large collections of each—sometimes combining his interests, like the Christmas tree decorated entirely with frog ornaments and stuffed animals. And can get lost for hours staring at fish in an aquarium. Ancient Egypt holds a fascination for him; he has a scarab beetle tattoo between his shoulder blades as well as a collection of Egyptian items in his bedroom and a somewhat large collection of books on Egypt. |
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He enjoys creating stories for his fans to read, saying, “I am a writer, a novelist. I write in the Gothic tradition: strange, dark tales. I wrote about odd things, and I like it that way. Someone once complimented me by saying my second book is ‘Sleek, sinister, and seductive.' I very much enjoyed hearing that.
"I've also been told I am across between Clive Barker and Anne Rice. A compliment, indeed, considering these are two legends of the craft.”
"I've also been told I am across between Clive Barker and Anne Rice. A compliment, indeed, considering these are two legends of the craft.”
Frank believes writing is an art form, whether the writing is great literature or his own writing which he refers to as ‘schlock horror.'
“L. Ron Hubbard said ‘The artist injects the spirit of life into a culture' as well as ‘A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists.' And I firmly agree. You cannot underestimate how important art is to a culture, to a civilization; without artists and art, a civilization cannot exist—it will wither and die.”
Part of the proceeds from the sales of his novels go toward helping find homes for abused, unwanted, or neglected animals. Over the years, he has been able to find homes for cats, dogs, lizards, birds, squirrels, mice, and hamsters, among others like goats and even fish.
The novella A Christmas Canticle, an homage to Charles Dickens and which features a vegan main character, was written explicitly to raise money for animals in need.
Award-winning author Frank E. Bittinger writes of the complex and dichotomous dark world. All his passions, both joyous and otherwise, are woven into missives that horrify and edify fans of this complex genre. His key strokes chill, then warm, then tickle. He's a vegan who writes of blood and shadows. He's an animal advocate, despite the treacherous condition of the human beast. He's a thoughtful Scientologist, by universal design. His cast of characters are either very pretty, or pretty despicable, and we'd expect nothing less of a trained cosmetologist who knows how to paint . . . in the flesh and on paper. And he's funny. All things claustrophobic, sinister and eerie collide, and then drip with humor. Think guilty grins and cemeteries -- and read ahead to unearth the wicked funny bones buried within this black, black "plot."
