Dan Antion

Doors and Doors

Welcome to Thursday Doors! This is a weekly challenge for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post each (or any) week and then share a link to your post in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). If you like, you can add our badge to your post.

As you may know, this is a very special week for Thursday Doors. I have teamed up with Cee and her Fun Fotos Challenge (Places People Live) so please welcome those entries to our challenge AND please link your Thursday Doors post to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge. To better accommodate Cee’s participants, we will be accepting doors until midnight on Monday. Posts linked by noon Saturday will appear in this week’s Sunday Recap. Posts linked between Saturday and Monday will be added to next week’s recap.

Since it’s a special day, I decided to feature some special doors. And, if you know something about these doors, you have a chance to win one of my books. Of course, if you know something about these doors, you may already own one of my books. Don’t worry, there’s an opportunity for everyone to win (as long as you consider one of my books to be a prize).

If you’re interested in playing, there’s a form for you to complete. There are four questions and there will be one winner, selected at random, from the correct answers to each question. The prize will be a Kindle copy of the book you choose. If you already own all three books—thank you very much—you can select as your preferred prize a copy of what is likely to be the last book in this series (which will be released September-ish). For those of you in countries outside the US, you will receive an Amazon gift certificate to cover the cost of the book you choose.

Note: I’m asking for a leap of faith on that last bit. Amazon customer service says I can buy you a gift certificate by logging into your Amazon marketplace. If that works, that’s how we’ll proceed. Of course, you’re on your honor to use the gift certificate to buy my book. As far as I can tell, there is no way for me to actually gift you a copy of a Kindle book. If the gift certificate process doesn’t work like they say it does—sorry.

Whether you choose to play or not, I hope you enjoy the doors in the gallery. Some are actual doors. Some have been modified to be included in one of the book trailers. All are (or are based on) my own photos.

I also hope you will take a few minutes to look at the doors of other participants, and I invite you back on Sunday for the recap.

Pittsburgh Police River Patrol
Inside the Pittsburgh Baseball Club. The FBI had Zach shadow a suspect here but never visited themselves.
Amber’s Bar. Agent Slocum met Zach here in The Evil You Choose
Rescue?
Easy Pieces. Zach visited this bar in person (not in a dream) and observed here several times.
Cathedral of Learning – University of Pittsburgh. Zach visited the computer center here when he was in high school. It was also featured in When Evil Chooses You
Italian Corner Restaurant – Buffalo, New York Agent Slocum had a meeting here in The Evil You Choose
Sextant Club. Zach visited this library in When Evil Chooses You
Library in Sextant Club. Zach visited this library in When Evil Chooses You
Eat’n Park’s biggest fan.
Patsey’s Back Entrance. Zach, Mike and Billy have been going here since they were kids.
Door to the Sacristy. This is featured in the second and third book, with Cynthia Leman and Pastor Richie,
Warehouse in Ohio
Federal Building – Scranton, Pennsylvania
Allegheny Essence, as played by the Empress II. Billy worked on this boat in high school, and the FBI visits in the other two books.

If you are in a hurry and don’t wish to scroll through the comments, click to Jump to the comment form.


If you like magical realism with suspense, action and a bit of family sarcasm, you will enjoy these books:

Knuckleheads
The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You

Series page on Amazon

My profile page (and books) on Lulu

All available on Kindle Unlimited!

131 comments

  10. Great photos, Dan. The first photo with the yellow bridge — Pittsburgh Police River patrol is a study in contrasts for me: land linkages to water. Bridges are always a favorite for me, after trains, of course..
    The firetruck is fantastic… I like the closeup photo!
    Great photo collection all.
    Thank you, too, for linking with Cee’s Fun Foto challenge!
    You sure have done a lot of work also, including the challenge/survey. Thank you for your hard work!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • I’m glad you liked these photos, Suzette. The bridge (one of three identical bridges in that area) is one of my favorites in a city that has over 400 bridges! Bridges, trains, cranes, firetrucks – all favorites of mine.

      Your post is another wonderful mix of your creativity and that of artisans 1,000 years ago. Thanks for joining Cee and me today.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  15. Lots of door personalities here. I think we’ve seen Patsey’s before, yes? But from a different angle maybe? It’s a great back entrance. The wood in the Italian Corner Restaurant is absolutely beautiful, but I think the best for me is that Cathedral of Learning. Isn’t that where your writing started? Seems to me any place that makes your eye move up like that would make words stir all over your brain. What a place to study/daydream! But now what’s up with $20 fried chicken?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • That’s a bucket of fried chicken ;-)

      You are correct, I spent a year studying in that cathedral, and I held a brief stint writing editorials for the campus paper – imagine me, having an opinion… Sitting in a study carrel on the second floor along the perimeter of that grans Commons was inspiring. Unfortunately the Managerial Finance I was supposed to be studying wasn’t.

      We have seen the back entrance to Patsey’s before, but I think a slightly different view. I had to visit that local (Hartford) tavern several times to get the right photo. That’s the length I’ll go for my readers ;-)

      I hope you have a great day and a nice weekend, Maureen.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  18. The Cathedral of Learning is spectacular. The Italian Corner Restaurant is no slouch either! Fire trucks are amazing beasts and they have enough doors for several posts. Faith looks more than ready to enter that door to Eat’nPark! Patsey’s has a great back entrance!
    Ginger

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Ginger. Faith is always ready to enter Eat’n Park, and Abbie (my main character’s daughter) shares the love of that restaurant. The memories of these doors helped me picture the scenes I was trying to write.

      We’re almost done with another week/month. I hope you have a great weekend.

      Like

      Reply

  20. Hi Dan, what a good idea to include a form with questions and a prize of your books. Very clever. I already have them all so I have not entered. I like your doors and will post tomorrow, if time permits – rough work week – or no Saturday.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  26. Easy Pieces! Cathedral of Learning! I felt like I was on familiar ground, though I’ve never been to any of your places. lol If I ever visit your neck of the woods, I’ll have to take a Dreamers’ Alliance tour. The Chamber of Commerce DOES have a Dreamers’ Alliance tour, right? My doors are random, from around and about: https://marianallen.com/2023/03/thursday-doors-around-and-about/#church#LouisvilleKentucky#dogs#hound

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  28. The Cathedral of Learning–wow! I wouldn’t learn a thing, though. I’d be too awestruck to stick my head in a book and read. 😆
    Easy Pieces–what a great name for a restaurant.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Everything I know about accounting and finance, I learned in the Cathedral. In other news, my wife still won’t let me try to pay the bills or balance the checkbook. It was a great place to daydream.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • When we first started dating, I took one look at my (future) husband’s checkbook and decided then and there that whatever happend, he would NEVER handle the banking. All these years later, he is happy as a clam that I take care of it. Your wife is very smart. 😉

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        • She watched me “balance” my checkbook. First, I was working with 2 or 3 months worth of statements. At the end, I scratched out my number and wrote in the bank’s – that’s the last time I was part of the process.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          • Oh my goodness! Please high five your wife for me and tell her I said, “Same here!” ‘Balancing the checkbook’ that way has gotta be a guy thing. Lawd. Lawd.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

  33. Dan, very nice to see a shot from inside the Baseball Club on Opening Day 2023. I have seen the Cathedral of Learning at Pitt only from the outside, so it was nice to see a shot of that as well. I was intrigued by those mini-shelves at the top of the walls inside the Sextant Club library also featuring “doors” which the main bookcases have. Very cool look.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I was trying to find a way to work baseball into the post. I hope the Pirates can scrape together a better record this year, but I’m always glad when Opening Day comes. Doors on bookcases always move things up a few notches, don’t they?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  34. I like the look of Amber’s Bar but you have a great eclectic group today. The firetruck is another favorite and I want a library like that at the Sextant Club…at least that size. :-) I’m back in California today as I was archive diving as I attempt to get photos off my iPhone and onto my laptop and discs, not the simple task it sounds. At any rate, here they are: https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2023/03/30/thursday-doorswith-decorations/#HermosaBeach#beachdoors#stainedglass#decorativedoors.

    janet

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • All of these are favorites of mine, but that library is lovely. I’d like one just like it. Phones and digital cameras make taking pictures easy, but keeping them organized…that’s a challenge.

      I saw your doors earlier. Very nice!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  44. Sooner or later I’ll get to your books, Dan. These questions are a bit hard, I’m afraid. But if you have based your novels on your door photos, all credit to you. That Cathedral of Learning is hard to beat, but the biggest fan does just that. :)

    Excellent double challenge, just right for my 9th blogoversary. Thank you, both, for making me make a compilation of my favourite houses, and doors, of course. https://manjameximexcessive6.wordpress.com/2023/03/30/thursday-doors-30-3-23-cffc-things-people-live-in/#Tuscany#Rome#Slovenia#compilation

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I am so glad the timing worked out for this celebration, Manja. I keep trying promotional ideas. I’m trying to get ahead of the curve for this next book, but I really don’t want to push people. I very much appreciate your support of Thursday Doors.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Patsey’s back door is the door on the left of that photo. Actually, that’s the back door of The First and Last Tavern here in Hartford. I use it as a prop for Patsey’s and, as a service to my readers, I have conducted extensive research in that establishment ;-)

      The yellow bridge is one of “The Sisters,” three identical bridges in Pittsburgh that are my favorites.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • That library would certainly be my place to relax after dinner, Brenda. I really liked the doors you shared from Vienna. What an amazing building. I hope you have a great weekend.

      Like

      Reply

  48. […] I spied another red door through this narrow arch and had to explore further but I’ll leave that until my next post. If you would like to see the front and interior of this grand old house The Irish Aesthete has a wonderful post about its history with some great photographs. Many thanks for joining me on part 1 of this tour of Florence Court and if you haven’t had your fill of red doors yet I’m sure Dan has one or two over on his Thursday Doors blog. […]

    Like

    Reply

  49. That photo of the bridge and river patrol is a winner for me, Dan. Love it. I’ve added a link to Cee’s FFC on my blog post.

    Like

    Reply

    • This is Jean Reinhardt if your wondering who Anonymous is, Dan. I don’t know how that happened but it’s probably my end as the internet is going a bit nuts today.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Thanks for joining both Cee and me this week, Jean. That’s one of my favorite bridges. I loved your post today – you have so many things that I like to see.

        Like

        Reply

  57. The Cathedral of Learning is exceptional! I quickly googled it, and now I’m even more amazed – by the vision, the structure itself, and its enduring contribution. Wow. Your other photos are incredible as well, Dan. Looking out from the Pittsburg Baseball Club is quite the shot. Have a great day!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Gwen. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had classes in the Cathedral for an entire year. The place felt like home to me, and it was inspirational. I hope to have enough time on a future visit to sit and write in one of the study locations. We only get to one baseball game a year, so we usually treat ourselves to club level seats. I hope yo have a great week.

      Like

      Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.