Issue #8 (April 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
Morven Westfield – Webmaster
T.J. May – Treasurer/Director of Events
Jason Harris – Director of Publicity
Stacey Longo – Secretary
Danny Evarts – Member at Large
L.L. Soares ¬– Member at Large

THE FIRST NEHW ANTHOLOGY:

The NEHW Board is still looking for submissions for its first anthology! Tentatively titled Epitaphs, this anthology will feature Tracy L. Carbone as its editor and will be published by
Bram Stoker nominated, Milton, NH-based, Shroud Publishing LLC. We’re looking for your best original dark fiction. Our goal is to showcase the fine talents of our writers and artists, and the theme is only limited to these three words: “damn good writing.” We’re hoping our members will rise to the challenge and send in their most spectacular work!

Stories should be 1000 – 5000 words (if your fabulous story is longer, please query first.) Contributors must be NEHW members. As we do not collect fees for membership in NEHW, our budget for this project is limited, and so we can offer only semi-pro rates of $25 for stories, as well as one contributor copy and discounted pricing on additional copies. Payment will be made within 30 days of publication. Open submission period is April 1 to June 15th. Please include your full name, contact info, and word count in the document. No simultaneous/multiple submissions. Please format in accordance with industry standard guidelines. Files should be in .RTF format and should be attached to an email with the subject line SUBMISSION: Story TITLE and your NAME. Please include a brief biography (@ 50 words) in the .RTF file at the end of your story. Submissions can be sent to NEHWsubmissions@newenglandhorror.org.

We are also looking for original artwork that is unique/ horrifying/ terrifying/ disturbing/ inspiring/ creepy/ damn good. This includes photographs, paintings, drawings, digital pieces, or any other 2D format. We would prefer unpublished works, but previously published pieces that may fit the theme and have no copyright entanglements will also be considered.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.

Shroud Publishing intends to release the anthology in time for the AnthoCon 2011 (anthocon.com) conference in Portsmouth, NH, where its authors will participate in a group signing.
Carbone will employ a team of NEHW readers to select recommendations for the anthology
and then will make final selections based upon those recommendations. Now get your embalming creative fluids flowing and show us what you’ve got!

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!

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 Andrea Perron:

Perron has visited Florida recently where she was signing books, making videos, planning and executing plans and making the MOST of her seven days there! She has met some truly extraordinary souls in her travels…the kindness and generosity has been astounding. When she returns to Georgia, she plans to inform everyone about her trip up by adding information to her YouTube channel. During her trip, she went to a flower show in Winter Garden then had an excursion to the beach. She saw the ocean again, which she hasn’t seen in a long time. Her trip allowed her to see her sister Nancy and baby Selena (her first grandchild), which was delightful.

From David L. Tamarin:
Tamarin writes the column “Ugly World” for the Severed Cinema website, www.severed-cinema.com/uglyworld. The new column should be up by the end of April or the beginning of May.

He has an article, “Interesting Paraphilias” in the new issue of Girls and Corpses. The magazine now sells a card for your wallet that says, “if I die, cannibals and necrophiliacs can have my body.” He developed the idea and sold it to the magazine. The cards can be purchased at www.girlsandcorpses.com. He writes film reviews for www.horrornews.net. His current reviews are of The Manson Family and Seven Days.

He co-wrote the screenplay for Countess Bathoria’s Graveyard Picture Show, which debuted at the Festival of Fear in Quebec. Since it was decided to add more to the film, there is a new scene that he wrote and acted in. In the scene, he is tortured and killed by a doll, which was filmed in Canada a few months ago. The film is in advanced post-production status and will be available on DVD in the future.

He can be seen in the film, Beg, portraying a drunken frat guy dressed like a scarecrow. There is no release date yet. It stars Tony Todd and other genre legends.

Along with movies, he can be seen eating cake in the premiere episode of ABC’s Body of Proof, which aired in March.

He has acted in another film, Legless, which premiered last month. He also acted in the video, Legless, which is the movie’s theme song by Sorrowseed.

From Deb Eskie:

Eskie wants people to know Sinisterotica is available in ebook format at http://amzn.to/kxIxmJand http://bit.ly/k1xblY.

Eskie’s story “Mother’s Sin” is in the next edition of 69 Flavors of Paranoia (http://69flavorsofparanoia.com/).

From Craig D.B. Patton:

Patton is pleased to announce that his poem, “Fishing in the Nightmare Pool,” has been accepted for publication in the Spring issue of Illumen (Sam’s Dot Publishing).

From David North-Martino:
North-Martino has his short story “The Language of Ice” included in the anthology Extinct Doesn’t Mean Forever, published by Dare to Dream Press. The anthology is available for purchase at Amazon (http://amzn.to/lIPD4u), Barnes & Noble (http://bit.ly/jzE4WD), and Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/50769).

From Bob Bois:
Bois regularly posts dark flash fiction on his blog (http://sittingindarkness.wordpress.com/). He welcomes any feedback from his more experienced colleagues.

From Kristi Petersen Schoonover:
Schoonover was busy on the airwaves in late March and April. She was featured on Paranormal, Eh? Radio talking Poe and Haunted Disney (visit here to listen: http://kristipetersenschoonover.com/2011/03/26/miss-my-two-part-paranormal-eh-interview-now-on-archive/) and discussed publishing and other writing-related topics on Author Chat with Lynda D. Brown (visit here to listen: http://kristipetersenschoonover.com/2011/04/08/promotion-publishing-and-pulling-inspiration-on-author-chat-%E2%80%93-listen-here/).

From Matt Bechtel:
NECON E-BOOKS ANNOUNCES TITLES FROM TWO OF NEHW’S FINEST
Spring has finally sprung across New England — the chill has left the air, the trees are in bloom, and the Sox are back to .500 (almost; they will be if they win tonight as I’m writing this, so everyone cross their fingers that I didn’t just jinx them). Even though we’ve reached readers worldwide, we here at Necon E-Books are darn proud of our local roots; after all, we’re based in Rhode Island and “Necon” itself stands for “Northeastern Writers’ Conference.” As such, we’re particularly proud to announce that two of our latest titles (one currently available and one forthcoming) are from authors with whom NEHW Members just might be a tad familiar.
AVAILABLE NOW: Christmas Trees and Monkeys by Daniel G. Keohane
The first volume of collected short fiction from the immensely talented Dan Keohane (and no, I didn’t just write that to make sure this gets included in the newsletter!), Christmas Trees and Monkeys is a fun, harrowing and intoxicating menagerie which includes four original stories and an introduction from the author for each tale. Moreover, just in case you need one more reason to purchase this title, Dan has provided it. In his own words: “As with the print edition, 100 percent of all author royalties earned from the sale of this collection are being donated to the New England Multiple Sclerosis Society, in honor of my sister Anne. I figured I already got paid for most of these stories, anyway, so may as well let someone else benefit from them now — aside from you, dear readers.”
COMING SOON: The Gargoyle by Don D’Ammassa
In the author’s words, “This novel previously appeared in substantially different form as Blood Beast.” When we first approached Don about publishing his work, he insisted that he did not just want to revise his novel, he wanted to rewrite it; in amazingly short order, he returned and absolutely floored us with his newly-titled manuscript, The Gargoyle. D’Ammassa is a true wordsmith and a master storyteller; pick up this latest title of our Necon Classic Horror Library, and you’ll see why.
As always, all Necon E-Books titles are available at www.neconebooks.com and other major e-book distribution sites.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:

Ian Campbell (CT)
Greg X. Graves (RI)
Joseph Weaver (NH)
Jesse Rooney (RI)
Roxanne Dent (MA)
David L. Tamarin (MA)
Karen Dent (MA)
David Goudsward (formerly MA)
Tim Finn (MA)
Stephen Spignesi (CT)

Editor’s Note: When sending in information to the newsletter please write a new subject line. I have noticed that items have been deleted or haven’t gotten in the newsletter when the subject line hasn’t been changed and members are just replying to the email sent out for news.

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