Issue #9 (May 2011)

The Epitaph
Journal of the New England Horror Writers (NEHW)

The NEHW Board of Directors:

Dan Keohane – Co-Chair
Tracy L. Carbone – Co-Chair/Director of Social Events
Tim Deal – Director of Publications
T.J. May – Treasurer/Director of Events
Jason Harris – Director of Publicity/Webmaster
Stacey Longo – Secretary
Danny Evarts – Member at Large
L.L. Soares _– Member at Large

Opportunity for NEHW Members for Meet & Greet and Book Signings:

The NEHW has been approved for a booth at the Hebron Harvest Fair, to be held Sept. 8 through 11, in Hebron, Connecticut. This will be an opportunity for NEHW members to sell some of their books or illustrations and gain some publicity. Two of our members have a house in Hebron and are offering it up as a “home base” to store merchandise, relax away from the fair, and as sleeping quarters for some members (bed space is limited!) The cost to NEHW members is $25 per writer/artist to help cover the cost of the booth.

We will be contacting local media regarding the booth as two of our members, the May brothers, are originally from the area. Don’t miss out on your chance to get your name out there!
Interested members can contact Jason Harris at dudley228@gmail.com for more information!

THE FIRST NEHW ANTHOLOGY:

The New England Horror Writers’ first anthology is still looking for art and poetry submissions from NEHW members. The deadline is June 15. The artwork should be original/unique/ horrifying/ terrifying/ disturbing/ inspiring/ creepy/ and damn good. This includes photographs, paintings, drawings, digital pieces, or any other 2D format. It would be prefered that the artwork should be unpublished works, but previously published pieces that may fit the theme and have no copyright entanglements will also be considered. Artwork can be spot illustrations or full page. The book will be 6″x9″, full bleed, black and white/ grayscale interior. Those selected will be paid a nominal fee of $10 per image, and will receive credit with their image, along with a bio in the volume similar to those of the authors. Artwork can be submitted to NEHWsubmissions@newenglandhorror.org with the subject line SUBMISSION: Artwork TITLE and your NAME. Please submit in .JPEG or .TIF format, at least 300 dpi.
A small selection of poems will also be considered at $5 per poem. Please submit to the email listed above.

NEHW WRITING OPPORTUNITIES:

From D.G. Sutter:

Seven Archons Press has an OPEN SUBMISSON for an anthology Writings on the Wall:

What if your identity was a prison and self-destruction was your freedom? For Writings on the Wall, Seven Archons is looking for original transgressive tales involving highly developed characters who are nihilistic, anti-social, and seemingly mentally ill. These characters should feel out of touch, not only with themselves, but with the world around them. Give us your grittiest, unbound fiction. Stay to the point, but nothing is off limits. However, keep in mind we do want quality writing. If it is purely for the sake of shock value, it will be rejected.

Deadline: July 1
Please submit in Rich Text Formatting
12 Pt. Courier
Underline Italics
1 Space after Punctuation
Double Spaced
Please, No Auto-formatting

Most genres are acceptable. However, we don’t want erotica or romance (unless it is a SERIOUSLY flawed relationship)
Word count is 2,000 to 5,000
No previously published stories
No multiple submissions
No simultaneous submissions
First North American Serial Rights
Considering this is our first project, we are unfortunately only able to pay in the form of exposure.
We hope to be able to offer pay for our next anthology.

Send submissions to sevenarchons@gmail.com
In the subject line, Submission: Story Title/ Last Name/ Word Count
Please do not query until thirty days after the deadline. Consider joining our forum over at www.sevenarchonspress.lefora.com

From Trisha Wooldridge:

Call for Submissions for UnCONventional, a short story anthology edited by Kate Kaynak and Trisha Wooldridge.

The editors are looking for stories that take place at fantasy/sci-fi conventions or any other gathering in which the convention/conference itself is just the cover for something supernatural or fantastic. Imagine time travelers using a steam punk con to cover their attempt to open a portal to return to their own times, werewolves holding a beauty pageant at a dog show, or vampires holding a treaty summit at Dragon*Con.

Suggested length: 3,000-7,000 words. Up to 10,000 words is possible, but it will be a HARD sell.

Due Date: July 1.

Submission Guidelines: Please email your submissions to editor@SpencerHillPress.com.
Put your story into the BODY of the email (no attachments, please!) and put “UnCONventional” in your subject line along with the title of your story.

Legalese: We can only accept previously unpublished stories. Please do not use licensed characters or any trademarked or copyright-protected material without written permission in advance of submission (This is NOT the place for fan fiction). Contributor compensation will include a $10 advance paid upon publication, a contributor copy of the paper version, a royalty percentage split between all contributors, and, of course, bragging rights. Stories should be appropriate for adult and teen readers (age 14 and up); please, no explicit sex or graphic violence!

For more information about the publisher and submissions: http://www.site.spencerhillpress.com/Submissions.html

NEHW MEMBER NEWS:

From Kristi Petersen Schoonover:

Schoonover has been accepted to the Norman Mailer Center’s summer workshop, “When is a Writer’s Work Done” with Veronica Windholz, a manuscript editor of fiction and nonfiction for more than thirty years who has worked with Norman Mailer, E.L. Doctorow, Salman Rushdie, and many others. Windholz, who is on the staff at Viking Penguin, has taught in the publishing program at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and has held positions at Random House and the Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency.

“When is a Writer’s Work Done” will be held at the Norman Mailer Writer Center in Provincetown, Mass. The workshop will have 7 attendees, who were selected based on merit.

Her short story “Wailing Station,” which was a Toasted Cheese contest winner and was included in a syllabus for a course at Wolfeboro, NH’s Brewster Academy last year, has now been added to the syllabus for Composition II: Introduction to Literature at North Shore Community College in Danvers, Mass.

Anyone can read the original version (it has since been tightened up) of the story here: http://tclj.toasted-cheese.com/2007/7-1/petersen.htm.

From Andrea Perron:

Greetings! As all of you know, the book, House of Darkness House of Light, has been out for several weeks now and many of you have already read it. I truly appreciate the many comments I’ve received. The response has been overwhelming and heartwarming. As the book is launched, it is a critically important time to establish its “presence” in the world. Therefore, I am now making this request of those closest to me to help enhance the website destined to become “HOME” for this trilogy. If you would be so kind, I would love to see your assessment and opinion of Volume One “on record” for everyone to see. As you might suspect, many have googled me in recent weeks and I’d like to provide something of substance to read besides the excerpts provided on the site. Please consider taking a few moments to express your impressions of the book here at: houseofdarknesshouseoflight.com.

Feel free to “friend” me on my public Facebook page, too! If you know someone who is currently reading the story, I’d appreciate it if you would pass this message along to them.
Your critiques will become part of the history of this project. Thanks for your time and kind consideration!

I have a new video release that was posted on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/user/AndreaPerron. This video is destined to be a promotional DVD for the book and the text is from the back cover of the book.

I always knew if I told my family story it would inspire the believers among us. The response to the book has been amazing. The bookstores don’t even know how to categorize it because the tale covers so much ground. Among the dozens of companies carrying the book in numerous countries in the few short weeks since its release, I’ve seen it listed as follows:
Biography & Autobiography / Occult / Metaphysical / Philosophy / Religion / Unexplained phenomena / Spirituality / Paranormal / Faith / History / Supernatural / Mind – Body – Spirit

The story was never “genre-specific” but instead touches on many aspects of humanity and our belief systems. It is no ordinary scary story but is rather a mystery…a psychological drama which includes elements of comedy as well. Essentially, it is everything…as complicated as any mortal soul who ventures into its pages.

My YouTube Channel has been completely revamped by Margie Mersky, my SEO Administrator. It has an entirely new look.

I will be departing for Rhode Island on June 10th. Once I arrive, I will have a series of scheduled appearances in the area. I will have an interview with Keith and Sandra Johnson on their longstanding and groundbreaking broadcast “Ghosts – R – N.E.A.R.” I have several other interviews scheduled and a feature article is being written for The Valley Breeze, which spans the communities of northern Rhode Island. The big event for the trip is a book signing at Borders in Providence Place Mall on June 18th at 2:00 p.m. Two events at Barnes & Noble are pending as well and I’m particularly excited about appearing at the Smithfield location, as I still consider it my bookstore. I once lived a few miles from it and was a veritable fixture in the aisles. It will feel like a homecoming in every conceivable way! Times and dates will be posted soon on my public figure Facebook page “House of Darkness House of Light” as well as on my YouTube site and every other place in cyberspace.

Meanwhile, here in Atlanta the publisher and editor of Oracle 20-20 magazine has scheduled an interview with me and intends to spotlight the book in a feature article to be released in either August or September, depending on my availability for the interview.

From Chris Philbrook:

Philbrook’s website, Adrian’s Undead Diary, went over 1,000 registered readers in May, which is a substantial achievement considering it is only 7 months old. http://www.adriansundeaddiary.com/
Also, the first entry of the website has been purchased and published in the anthology, Undead is Not an Option. Here’s the publisher’s link:
http://zombiesurvivalcrew.bigcartel.com/product/zsc-anthology
People can also buy signed copies from him on his website for slightly over cover.

From Rick Hautala:

Hautala sold his mainstream novel, Rough Winds, to Bob Booth at NECON E-BOOKS, to be published electronically and with a POD (print on demand) option. Cover art will be by Glenn Chadbourne.

From Erin M. Underwood:

Underwood, who is Nancy Holder’s assistant, wants to let people know that Holder is coming to Boston in July and will be doing a reading at Pandemonium Books on Thursday, July 7 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The bookstore is located at 4 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA 02139. For more information contact the store at (617) 547-3721 or through its website http://www.pandemoniumbooks.com/index.php?cont=special_events&id=199.
Holder is a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, and her work has also appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, amazon.com, LOCUS, and other bestseller lists. She has also received accolades from the American Library Association, the American Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and Romantic Times. Nancy and Debbie Viguie co-authored the New York Times bestselling series, Wicked for Simon and Schuster. They have continued their collaboration with the Crusade series, also for S&S, and the Wolf Springs Chronicles for Delacorte (2011.) She is also the author of the young adult horror series Possessions for Razorbill. Nancy has sold many novels and book projects set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Saving Grace, Hellboy, and Smallville universes. Nancy lives in San Diego, CA with her daughter Belle. Check out Holder’s website www.nancyholder.com.
Check out Underwood’s website, www.underwordsblog.com.

From Rob Davies:

Davies’story, “The Harvesting of Jackson Cade,” won the Black Static/WHC 2011 Short Story Contest. It will appear in Black Static #23.
A podcast version of my story, Bruise for Bruise, will be appearing at Pseudopod.

From Stacey Longo:

Longo’s short story, “Down the Pike,” appears in Issue 11 of Shroud magazine, available now at Amazon: http://amzn.to/ixSu5N. You can also read her weekly blog – so funny it’s scary! – at http://www.staceylongo.com.

From Eric Dimbleby:

Dimbleby’s story, “Oatmeal Cookies,” will be in the new Holiday Of The Dead anthology from Wild Wolf Publishing. This anthology features stories from one of the Night of the Living Dead writers as well as an excerpt from the Pontypool 2 screenplay! It’s a big anthology with over 500 pages. Click this link, http://ericdimbleby.com/buyme.html to purchase the anthology.

From Tony Tremblay:

Tremblay has his first professionally published story appearing in the Fiction section over at Horror World (http://horrorworld.org/fiction.htm). It’s called “An Alabama Christmas.”

From Roxanne Dent:

Dent’s novel:
The American Heiress can be purchased through the Home Shopping Network as part of the Regency Romance collection or on line as an e-book.
Dent’s Anthologies:
“Miss Luella’s Magic Shop,” has just come out as part of an Australian anthology entitled More Scary Kisses, by Ticonderoga Publications and will also be an e-book.
“Mr. MacCawber’s Christmas Tradition,” is part of a Christmas anthology entitled Christmas Peace on All the Earths, by Whortleberry Press.
“The Ghost on Coffin Street,” is part of a Halloween anthology entitled, Halloween Dances With The Dead, by Whortleberry Press.
“Sasha and the Seven Rossetti Brothers,” is a modern day erotic fairy tale, part of the Spellbound e-book anthology by Ravenous Press.
Dent is now nearing completion of her ninth novel, The Poison Pen Murders, a Victorian mystery.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:

Asher Ellis (VT)

Editor’s Note:

Morven Westfield has stepped down as Webmaster. The NEHW Committee would like to thank her for all her efforts and support.
I would like to ask members to let me know about different conventions they may be attending and if you do attend send me a small report about it for the blog.

– Jason Harris, Editor, the Epitaph: Journal of NEHW
– Stacey Longo, Assistant Editor, the Epitaph: Journal of NEHW