About
The Oddity Prodigy Story
This is the true tale of how it all began ...
Oddity Prodigy Productions began six years ago during a lunch break at a Chili’s restaurant A few of us worked at the same office at the time and would often get lunch together. One particularly lousy day at work we got to talking about the idea of creative fulfillment, something you don’t generally find doing office work in the IT industry.
All of us that were at lunch that day are creative people. We write, sing, dance, draw, and a find a dozen other different ways to express ourselves. Over the years we have all had different outlets for our energies, but always individually. The idea we arrived at on that dull work day in that dull chain restaurant was forming a group with a few other folks to help mutually support each other as we grew and developed as artists. I can’t swear by it, but I’m pretty sure we even decided on the name Oddity Prodigy Productions that afternoon.
Meet the Creators of the Collective
The OPP are split into two creative factions, the oddities or wordsmiths are all accomplished authors blazing new paths of literary excellence in their field. And the prodigies, or visual imagineers, are all accomplished artists sparking joy on a cosmic scale. Get to know each member of the collective individually so you can see the organic strength of the whole as it combines like Voltron:
The Oddities
JACOB JONES-GOLDSTEIN
Internationally Published Author
Jacob Jones-Goldstein is a fiction writer and sports journalist. His short stories have appeared both in the US and abroad. Mostly focusing on the horror genre, he dabbles in magical realism and fantasy. He covers professional sports for a Philadelphia regional news site, TapInto.Net, including a weekly column about the 76ers, ‘Winning Culture’. His nuanced and thoughtful takes on the Sixers have earned him acclaim all around his house, and occasionally at his office where he works in the IT industry.
WEBSITE
J. PATRICK CONLON
Author, Editor, Podcaster
Patrick is a genre fiction author currently living in Bear, DE. He is a member of the Written Remains Writer’s Guild as well as a fellow Oddity in Oddity Prodigy Productions. His writing focuses on fantasy and speculative history themes. He has appeared in anthologies and magazines, most notably as Associate Editor for “Beach Pulp,” a collection of pulp fiction put out by Cat and Mouse Press.
WEBSITE
NICK LEAMY
Author, Historian
Nicholas Leamy is a well-known miscreant who has lived in Northern Delaware all his life. Working as a supervisor for a web hosting data center, with a B.S. in Computer Science, he is well outside his wheelhouse when it comes to writing fiction. He has decided, however, that his minor in philosophy makes him interesting enough to pull it off. He also happens to be a lover of board games, horror movies, and anything bizarre.
WEBSITE
The Prodigies
SHASTA SCHATZ
Costume Designer, Marketing Genius
Shasta Schatz is an eager reader, occasional writer, and lifelong fan girl, the latter of which translated into a costuming obsession in her adult life. Her B.A. in English laid the groundwork for Shasta to become an addicted hobbyist with professional leanings. Between HEAs, TPBs, and NDAs, Shasta is a hot mess wife and mother with a penchant for coffee and organized clutter. While she prefers not to be associated with these people, their links can be found on her costuming blog, GreenLinenShirt.com.
WEBSITE
MARCELLA HARTE
Award-Winning Illustrator
Marcella Harte (Conlon) has been fascinated with art and illustration since childhood. The same passion and attention to detail that won her school a sizeable arts scholarship followed her to the University of the Arts, where she earned her bachelor of fine arts in illustration. She is currently working on a children’s literature project. Her publishing credits include the anthology The Stories in Between by Fantasist Press, a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories published in 2009; cover art for the All-Out Monster Revolt Online Magazine in 2015; and most notably The Mermaid in Rehoboth Bay, a national award winning children’s book published in 2016.
WEBSITE
JEN MARANG
Illustrator, Designer, Werewolf
A semi-professional werewolf who occasionally masquerades as a graphic designer, environmental educator, writer, and illustrator. She has worked in many weird and wonderful places - including a ski resort, a national park, a nature center, and a music school - and lived in a country that many think is solely out to kill you. (hint: Australia, and no, it is not).
STEVE MYERS
Cartoonist, Designer
Steve Myers is an award-winning cartoonist and graphic designer who lives in Bear, DE. He spends his days working as a Search Engine Optimization professional, and his evenings running a hyperlocal news website in Lower Merion Township, PA. In between all of that, he draws comics and cartoons, including The Adventures of Superchum.
WEBSITE