Category Archives: Conventions

AuthorCon V and Cruise to the Edge

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Last weekend I was at Scares That Cares AuthorCon V, a charity horror writers’ convention in Williamsburg, VA. I go every year and it’s a great time. Lots of horror fans, lots of horror authors, and apart from my inflatable Sasquatch costume trying to kill me during a charity event Saturday night, it went great. Always lovely seeing folks there, catching up with old friends and making new ones, and I told the True Story of the Zombie Frog many, many times.

Tomorrow I take off for Cruise to the Edge, a 5-day journey….someplace. I mean, honestly, I don’t care. There are going to be bands I love that I never thought I would ever see live on that ship, and so I’m staying on board the whole time. The real issue, apart from the fact that I haven’t been on a cruise in something like 20 years and have no idea what I am doing, is that I need to figure out which prog rock concert t-shirts I’m bringing. Too obscure might seem like a flex. Too common might seem like I’m a poser. Decisions, decisions….

 

Nevermore 2025

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Last week was the fun-filled Ret-Con, where I shared a table with my friend Holly Morris of Conjured Concepts art, hosted the rambunctious Thomas R. Clark, and got to hang out with folks like the delightful Michael Williams and Nicole Givens Kurtz. I also got to take an elevator ride with Lou Ferrigno, who was in town to do a signing at a local comics shop and who had unfortunately been booked into the one hotel in the area hosting a nerd-fest where he was recognized instantly.

For the record, I directed Mr. Ferrigno to the elevator, rode up to the fourth floor along with him, and wished him a pleasant evening. Absolutely no fanboying whatsoever.

But this weekend, Friday and Saturday, I will be holding down a table at the legendary Nevermore Film Festival at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it’s a 3 day long extravaganza of independent horror films from all over, including short films and feature length ones as well. Last year’s slate included the Zom-Rom-Com All You Need Is Blood, which is possibly the funniest movie I have seen in the last ten years. This year, I once again have no idea about any of these films, but it looks like a great lineup once again.

Hope to see you there!


 

 

Appearance Schedule 2025

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Looking ahead, it’s going to be a busy year. With that in mind, here’s my rough schedule of convention and other appearances going forward:

Ret-Con – February 21-23 – Durham, NC – Guest/Vendor

Game Writing Workshop – March 9 – Hillsborough, NC – Lecturer

Game Developers Conference/Game Narrative Summit – March 17-21 – San Francisco, CA – Advisor and speaker

Scares That Care AuthorCon V – March 28-30 – Williamsburg, VA – Vendor

RavenCon – April 25-27 – Richmond, VA – Guest

Mo*Con – Indianapolis, IN – Special Guest Game Designer

StokerCon – June 12-15 – Stamford, CT – Attendee

Necon – July 17-20 – Goffstown, NH – Toastmaster

 

There are a couple of other possibilities in the works, as well as my first-ever time doing the legendary Cruise to the Edge, but I think this is a pretty good start…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mo*Con News

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I am thrilled to announce that I will be a Special Guest at this year’s Mo*Con, the annual gathering of talented and mighty folks hosted by writer, Afrofuturist, and general man about town Maurice Broaddus. Details of the show can be found here, if you’re interested in attending!

 

 

As October Crashes To A Close….

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…things remain busy as all heck.

Sunday you can find me at the Triangle Terror Con in downtown Durham in the Armory building. I’ll be there slinging books and telling stories about real-life zombie frogs and the like. Come on out and explore the ghoulish festivities!

Tuesday night the 29th, the North Carolina Chapter of the HWA presents, in conjunction with the Durham Public Library and Moon Dog Meadery, MORBID TALES II: A NIGHT OF HORROR AND HEAVY METAL. I won’t be reading, but a lot of great North Carolina authors will be, and I will be there cheering them on. Check it out – come on in, the mead is fine and the metal is finer!

And November 9th, the HWA Chapter will be at the Orange County Library doing a combination lecture and workshop series on writing horror. I’ll be a part of that line up. Hope to see you there!

A Big Thank-You To Pop! Con

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I had a great time yesterday at Pop! Con in Sanford, NC. The show is put on annually by the Lee County Public Libraries and it’s a great time, with everything from cosplay to raptor shows to food trucks to little old me with my books sitting there telling the true story of the zombie frogs, Satchel and Nancy.

Bonus points if you can ID the reference.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that as much fun as the big cons are, I highly encourage folks to go out and support their local shows, too. You might not get the rock star guests, but you’ll probably get exposed to folks in your community who are doing cool stuff, and that’s worth a whole lot in and of itself.

 

Necon – This Year and Next

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I just got back from an utterly fantastic time at Necon, held this year in Goffstown, NH. I saw old friends and made new ones, did a panel with luminaries like S.A. Cosby and Clay McLeod Chapman, hung out with the remarkable Gabino Iglesias, ran the improvisational writing game show Write Club to thunderous approval, shared good scotch with good folks, sold a bunch of books and bought a few as well, got some fabulous advice on my writing, and generally had a wonderful time.

Also, I got named Toastmaster for Necon 43 next year!

See you there!

Upcoming Appearances

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The calendar has gotten quite full for the next few weeks. This past weekend was spent at the SAGA Writers Conference/ConGregate in Winston-Salem, which was a wonderful experience, but that’s just kicking things off.

This Thursday I head to New Hampshire to make my annual pilgrimage to Necon. This year, I’ll be on a panel with S.A. Cosby, Clay McLeod Chapman, Trish Wilson and Shannon Grant, moderated by the effervescent Michael Arruda, on how horror has changed since COVID. I’ll also be running a horror-themed variant on the ever-awesome Write Club – we will see if horror authors have what it takes to come up with the write stuff on the fly!

Two weeks later, I fly to Indianapolis for the magnificent chaos that is GenCon, where I will be participating in the Writers’ Symposium. As an added treat this year, I have a story in the Symposium’s anthology, Interdimensions, published by Atthis Arts!

Then the 13th of August, I join a lineup of local horror authors for Monsters In the Mead Hall, 7 PM at Moon Dog Meadery in Durham. It’s a showcase event for members of the North Carolina chapter of the HWA, and we will be bringing unseasonable chills and thrills to the heat of summer.

That Saturday is Pop!-Con down in Sanford. August 17th. I’ve never been to Sanford, but I’m looking forward to sharing my spooky stories with a new audience!

So it’s going to be a busy few weeks, but I’m looking forward to it. See you here, there and everywhere!

 

Carolina Fear Fest And More!

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Starting tomorrow evening, I will be vending at the 5th iteration of the Carolina Fear Fest, held at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. If you’re in the area, want to meet Heather Langenkamp or David Arquette,  or otherwise want to get spooked – the evil-clown-to-normal-human ratio is waaaaay off at this thing – come on down!

Also, June 29th I will be taking part in a group reading at Larema Coffee in Wilson, NC at 7 PM. Join us for an evening of spooky goodness. I’ll be reading a new story I just sold entitled “Last Supper”.

And come July, I will be a guest at ConGregate 10/SAGA Writing Workshop in Winston-Salem, NC. Come for the genre writing workshops, stay for the panels!

But wait, there’s more!

My first novel, Clan Novel: Lasombra for Vampire: The Masquerade is now available and back in print! The fine folks at Crossroad Press have resurrected the Clan Novels and much more, so if you missed the saga first time around, now is your chance….

And I’ve had the good fortune to sell not one, not two, but three stories of late, including a new tale of Reb Palache and a tale of a visit from Santa in South Philly gone horribly wrong. That one, believe it or not, is based on a true story….

Catch you soon….

 

Upcoming Goodness

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So a lot has happened recently, and there’s a lot coming up that I can’t give you all the details of. But here’s the basics:

1-I’m going to be doing 2 readings in March in North Carolina. The first one will be on March 7th in Rocky Mount. The second will be March 26th at Quail Ridge Bookstore at North Hills in Raleigh. More details on both as soon as I have them.
2-I will be in the dealer room at Ret-Con in Cary March 1-3, selling books and telling the hidden stories behind the stories to anyone who will stand still long enough to listen. Come on by – it’s a great small con!
3-Once again in March I will sojourn west to San Francisco for Game Developers Conference and the Game Narrative Summit. During the main conference I will be running 2 days of Narrative Round Tables for all and sundry at the conference to attend.
4-April 12-14, I will be heading back to Williamsburg. VA for AuthorCon III, where I will be sharing a table in the dealers’ room with the award-winning horror author PD Cacek. Check out her stuff – Leavings is my favorite of hers, with Sebastian close behind – and swing by!
5-The speakers at GenCon’s Writers Symposium have been announced, and I’m one of them. More details as we get closer to August.
6-I will also be attending Necon and StokerCon this year. Everything else is up in the air.
7-An astonishing writing opportunity has come my way, and I am energetically exploring it. It’s something completely new that I’ve always wanted to try, though my past attempts haven’t really gone anywhere. When the time is right, I will reveal all.

And that’s all for now.