The New England Authors Expo Happens July 30 in Danvers, MA.

By Jason Harris

The 2013 New England Authors Expo. Photo by Jason Harris.

The 2013 New England Authors Expo. Photo by Jason Harris.

The New England Authors Expo will be attended by authors, artists, booksellers, publishers, and many more guests, companies and organizations, which makes it the perfect time for readers to meet and talk to authors and others in the publishing world about books and the written word. For an entire list of who will be there, click here.

Some of the authors and artists in attendance are Stacey Longo, Rob Watts, Dale T. Phillips, Vlad V., Michele McPhee, Nicholas Conley, Eric Dimbleby, Guntis Goncarovs, Edith Maxwell, Ursula Wong, A.J. Kane, and S.L. Johnson.

The bookseller, Books & Boos, will also be in attendance selling used and new books. There will be a few authors at its table. The authors are Longo, Michael Evans, and Kurt Newton.

The Expo operates from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and takes place in the Harborview Ballroom at the Danversport Yacht Club. The yacht club is located at 161 Elliott Street (Rt. 62) in Danvers, MA. There will be a free gift bag to the first 100 visitors. This event is FREE.

You can follow the Expo on its Facebook page here or on Twitter (@neauthorexpo).

WWE’s Kane Still On Fire

 

By Stacey Longo

 

WWE Wrestler Kane a.k.a. Glenn Jacobs

WWE Wrestler Kane a.k.a Glenn Jacobs

 

WWE superstar Kane was on hand at TerrorCon at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Sunday, June 8 to meet fans and participate in a Q & A session with a packed crowd in attendance. Glenn Jacobs, who is the man behind Kane’s mask, was friendly, personable, and humble as he answered questions from the audience.

The first question from the moderator was about a failed character from Jacobs’s past, the ill-fated Isaac Yankem, DDS. Notorious for not liking to discuss this past gimmick, Jacobs did admit that he felt the personality’s failure was “mostly my fault. I didn’t like [the character], and it showed.” Jacobs was next asked who his favorite opponents have been over the years. His response listed some of the most well-known faces in wrestling from the past two decades, including The Undertaker, Mick Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Shawn Michaels.

One fan in the audience asked Jacobs about his reputation in the wrestling locker room as one of the “safest” opponents to face. Jacobs shrugged and explained “it’s mostly just about being a professional. You want to stay safe and keep your opponent safe.”

Jacobs was asked to reflect on his character’s evolution over the past 17 years. “Most guys go out to the ring doing the same thing night after night,” he said with a smile. “Kane’s different. He’s been able to evolve and develop as a character. I think it keeps him interesting.” He recalled different phases of Kane’s career, including a time when Kane had to use a voice box to communicate and when the Big Red Machine’s mask first came off. “It was hot under that mask,” he admitted. When asked who made the decision to unmask Kane, Jacobs said “two people: me and Vince [McMahon, WWE CEO].”

Jacobs fielded the questions from fans with good humor and grace. When one audience member asked him to comment on a current storyline about the Shield and Evolution, a storyline Kane is not involved in, he responded kindly: “I think it was a surprise, and that’s what you want, right?” Another fan asked about Kane’s experience getting Pete Rose in a Tombstone pile driver at WrestleMania 14 in 1998. “Pete Rose is like us,” Jacobs laughed. “He doesn’t take himself too seriously. I was just surprised when the crowd started cheering me.”

After the Q & A session, fans lingered to shake Jacobs’s hand and thank him for the opportunity to talk to him. “The best part about this business is you guys, the fans,” Jacobs said humbly, which is yet more evidence showing why Kane continues to be a fan favorite among wrestling patrons of all ages.

Pictures from Terror Con, Part 2

 

By Jason Harris

 

Musician Cherie Currie.

Musician Cherie Currie.

Jim Dyer of Fenham Publishing.

Jim Dyer of Fenham Publishing.

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Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story)

Naomi Grossman (An American Horror Story)

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Michael Jai-White (Arrow, Spawn)

Michael Jai-White (Arrow, Spawn)

Author Stacey Longo with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Author Stacey Longo with Captain Jack Sparrow.

The fun-loving Dee Wallace (E.T., Critters)

The fun-loving Dee Wallace (E.T., Critters)

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Me and Kane Hodder.

Me and Kane Hodder.

Frankenberry

Frankenberry

Musician Lita Ford

Musician Lita Ford

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Butch Patrick (The Munsters)

Butch Patrick (The Munsters)

Pat Priest (The Munsters)

Pat Priest (The Munsters)

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Author Stacey Longo having a scream at Terror Con.

Author Stacey Longo having a scream at Terror Con.

A scorpion at Terror Con.

A scorpion at Terror Con.

 

There will be one more entry with pictures from Terror Con tomorrow.

How a Horror Fan became Miss Terror Con

 

By Jason Harris

Sarah Michelle. Photo courtesy of Sarah Michelle.

Sarah Michelle. Photo courtesy of Sarah Michelle.

 

Sarah Michelle is a model, actress, and wrestler. She has also been named Miss Terror Con. When she first heard about the newest horror convention in New England, it was as “a fan of horror,” she said.

“I was very excited that there was something like this going to happen in my hometown because it’s the first one,” Sarah said. “This is exactly what Rhode Island needs.”

She wanted to be involve in some capacity whether as a spokesmodel, helping out with flyers, or anything else she could do to help out the horror convention.

“I knew I could be beneficial to them.”

She sent the organizers an email and they responded with the idea of Miss Terror Con.

This isn’t Sarah’s first time in the spotlight. She started modeling about seven years ago when she was helping out a friend who was going to school for photography.

“I was really tomboyish. I still am at heart so the whole fashion, glamour thing was really new to me.”

After Sarah started her modeling career, she liked what she doing and was having fun doing it. Within the last few years, she started taking it seriously, she said. Since she loved horror, she started to wonder if there was anyone who would be interested in taking horror photos.

“I found out that there were a lot of people interested in that.”

Through her horror work, she started doing fetish work. When she started, she didn’t realize it was fetish work. She was working with the production company, Damsels in Distress Visual Productions. During the production, there were a lot of close-ups being taken of her legs, which were stuck in the mud. All she was thinking at the time was that it was a job and that it would give her a chance to practice her acting. After being told it was a fetish work, she was fine with it.

“I have always been very curious about different fetishes and things like that.”

After that first experience, she found out about different types of fetishes like bondage and vore, “which is essentially someone being eaten by something.”

She focuses mainly on fetish and horror photos and videos now. She handles her own business. She gets projects through Facebook, Twitter, and email. She has a shoot coming up in New Hampshire, which she got after the photographer saw some of her work on Twitter, she said.

“I enjoy doing it,” she said about fetish work. “It’s a lot of fun. I get to travel.”

Her work has taken to different states and overseas to England where she filmed a quicksand fetish for Damsels in Distress Visual Productions.

“I never thought in a million years I would be going to England especially not for fetish work.”

You can find Sarah’s work by clicking here.

You can meet her in person this weekend at Terror Con, which runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pictures from Hartford Comic Con, Part 3

 

By Jason Harris

 

Larry Thomas, the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld.

Larry Thomas, the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld.

The man on the Office Space movie poster.

The man on the Office Space movie poster.

Poison Ivy, Batman, and the Joker.

Poison Ivy, Batman, and the Joker.

Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones.

Green Arrow

Green Arrow.

Catwoman.

Catwoman.

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Man in the Moon.

Man in the Moon.

Mr. T

Mr. T.

Nick Fury and Pepper Potts.

Nick Fury and Pepper Potts.

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Iron Patriot with a convention-goer.

Iron Patriot with a convention-goer.

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The Batcycle.

The Batcycle.

This is the final post of pictures from Hartford Comic Con. I hope you enjoyed them.

Pictures from Hartford Comic Con, Part 2

 

By Jason Harris

 

Deadpool.

Deadpool.

Author Estevan Vega.

Author Estevan Vega.

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.

Frozen's Elsa the Snow Queen.

Frozen’s Elsa the Snow Queen.

Green Goblin.

Green Goblin.

Brando Eaton (Cabin Fever 3)

Brando Eaton (Cabin Fever 3).

The woodcarvings of  Christopher Letarte.

The woodcarvings of Christopher Letarte.

Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman.

Merida from Brave.

Merida from Brave.

The Green Hornet's Black Beauty.

The Green Hornet’s Black Beauty.

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She-Hulk.

She-Hulk.

J & S Collectibles.

J & S Collectibles.

Gotham City residents.

Gotham City residents.

Artist Mark Morales.

Artist Mark Morales.

Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

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Pictures from Hartford Comic Con

 

By Jason Harris

 

This past weekend Hartford experienced the debut of Hartford Comic Con at the XL Center. There were long lines before the doors opened at 10 a.m. From what I saw, this convention will be coming back to Connecticut.

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Batman, Poison Ivy and Donatello.

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Michael Massee of The Amazing Spider-man

The crowds at Hartford Comic Con.

The crowds at Hartford Comic Con.

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Chronic and Bluntman

Chronic and Bluntman

Brighton Sharbino and Kyla Kenedy of The Walking Dead.

Brighton Sharbino and Kyla Kenedy of The Walking Dead.

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Michael Myers

Michael Myers

Beaker

Beaker

Spider-man

Spider-man

Disney Princesses

Disney Princesses

Maleficent and Anakin Skywalker

Maleficent and Anakin Skywalker.

Katrina Law of Arrow and Spartacus.

Katrina Law of Arrow and Spartacus.

An Umbrella corporation soldier.

An Umbrella corporation soldier.

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Ghost Rider.

Ghost Rider.

Jim Dyer of Fenham Publishing.

Jim Dyer of Fenham Publishing.

Marvel superheroes.

Marvel superheroes.

There will be a few more entries with pictures coming in the next few days.

Pictures from the Jaycees Fourth Annual Spring Fair

The bookstore, Books & Boos was involved with the Jaycees Fourth Annual Spring Fair on Sunday, May 18. Normally, this event is held on a Saturday, but the organizers decided to move it to the rain date this year since the weather wasn’t looking too good for May 17. Click here for the previous article about this event. Click here for pictures from the 2012 Spring Fair when I, Jason Harris of Jason Harris Promotions, organized a vendor spot for the New England Horror Writers organization (NEHW).

Click here to see pictures on the Books & Boos’ website from this event.

Author Dale T. Phillips also posted pictures from the event on his website. You can find them here.

Pictures from the Rock Comic Expo

 

By Jason Harris

 

The first Rock Comic Expo happened yesterday at the Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire. The Expo was created by J. Moulton. It ran from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. It was a day of people in cosplay and talking with authors and artists.2014-05-09 23.53.05

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Author Rob Watts with the Iron Patriot.

Author Rob Watts with the Iron Patriot.

Emily and Jeremy Drouin of Eplis Comic.

Emily and Jeremy Drouin of Eplis Comic.

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Author Dale T. Phillips

Author Dale T. Phillips holding his book, Crooked Paths.

Author Rob Watts holding his latest book, Left-Hand Path.

Author Rob Watts holding his latest book, Left-Hand Path.

Crystalia Amaquelin of Marvel's The Inhumans.

Crystalia Amaquelin of Marvel’s The Inhumans.

Authors Rob Watts and Dale T. Phillips

Authors Rob Watts and Dale T. Phillips

Author Stacey Longo talking with a expo attendee.

Author Stacey Longo talking with an expo attendee.

Authors Vlad Vaslyn and Dale T. Phillips behind the New England Horror Writers table.

Authors Vlad Vaslyn and Dale T. Phillips behind the New England Horror Writers table.

Moulton plans to make the comic expo a two-day event next year. He is also involved with Vermont Comic Con, which debuts in October.

Award-winning Photographer turned Horror Writer

By Jason Harris

F.M. Kearney1

F.M. Kearney, an award-winning photographer, has written his first horror novel, They Only Come out at Night. Today, he’s talking  about his career, New York Subways, and writing his first horror novel.

JH: How long have you been a fine art nature photographer?

FK: I’ve been a fine art nature photographer for about 20 years.

JH: What awards have you won for your photography?

FK: I’ve won numerous awards from various magazine and online photography competitions, ranging from First Place to Honorable Mentions.

JH: In the 80’s, you worked as a photojournalist for various New York City newspapers. What newspapers did you work for? What were you covering for them?

FK: I’ve worked for a number of local papers such as Town & Village, City Limits, The Phoenix, The City Sun and The New York Tribune. I mainly covered news pertaining to the particular neighborhood or borough that the paper serviced, but I also did hard news as well. I’ve done ride-alongs with FDNY and NYPD undercover units. I covered the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. I’ve also photographed many famous people, such as Bill Cosby, Mayor David Dinkins, Fred Lebow (founder of the NYC Marathon) and several sports celebrities in one-on-one sit-down interviews.

F. KearneyJH: What inspired you to write your first book and what was the idea behind it?

FK: I suppose my inspiration was two-fold. The first, and most obvious inspiration, came from my own personal experiences in the subway. As a photojournalist, I rode the subway all over town traveling to and from my assignments. I lived (and still do) in Manhattan, and up to that point, I had never really been to a lot of the stations in the outer boroughs, i.e., The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. I was really amazed at the total contrast in environments. You see, when most out-of-towners think of the NYC subway, images of Times Square and Grand Central Station will undoubtedly come to mind. These are huge, bustling hubs filled noisy activity and throngs of commuters almost 24/7. They have come to define what the NYC subway is all about. However, stations like these only account for a tiny percentage of the 463 stations of which the entire system is comprised. The vast majority of stations are nothing like that. In fact, I would even say that they are the polar opposites. Many of the stations in the outer boroughs (and even some in Manhattan) are very quiet, dimly lit and sparsely populated…and that’s in the middle of the day!  I can remember being in certain areas of some stations that were sore mote and so creepy that I felt very uncomfortable and couldn’t wait to get out. Many of these areas have since been sealed off to the public…presumably because of the safety risks they posed. I couldn’t help but think that this would be a perfect location for a horror story. To be honest, I’m actually surprised that Hollywood doesn’t use the NYC subway as a regular setting for horror movies.

My second inspiration came from one of the most unlikely of sources…a disco song. In the 80’s, Peter Brown released a single called, “They Only Come Out at Night.” It’s an upbeat tune about people (referred to as “creatures of the night”)  who like to go out clubbing. The song features the haunting sound of a saxophone — the kind of sound one might hear while walking along a deserted city street at night. Between that, and my experiences in the subway, “They Only Come Out at Night“ (the book) was born.
JH: What drew you to writing in the horror genre?

FK: I’ve always been a fan of everything horror related…books, movies, TV shows, you name it. But, I always found one flaw in almost every story. It seemed as though a lot of time and effort went into producing the chills and thrills throughout the story, but the ending was usually somewhat of a letdown. Of course, most horror stories are fiction, but it seemed as though no attempt at all was made to make the story even halfway believable. I wanted to write a story that made sense — a story that, albeit fictional, contained enough factual details one might wonder if it could actually happen.

JH: Why did you use the New York City subway as the main setting?

FK: Aside from the reasons already mentioned, I used the subway because of its familiarity to so many people — even if they don’t happen to live in a major city that has a subway. Most tourists will make riding the subway one of their “must-dos” while visiting. Very few people will ever find themselves in an actual haunted house or a foggy cemetery at midnight. The same can’t be said for a subway. I think the chills are far more intense when you read about scary things happening in a more familiar and commonplace environment. After having read the book, a lot of people have told me that they will never again ride the subway alone at night.

JH: What type of research did you do for the book?

FK: I visited every major location I wrote about with a digital tape recorder. I recorded everything I saw, heard, smelled and felt…things that I (and probably most people) would never even give a second thought. This greatly helped to create atmosphere. I also researched news articles about local crimes committed in the area, and spoke with the NYPD about specific rescue procedures in the subway. As far as the supernatural aspects of the book are concerned, I went online and researched actual case studies and terminology. Lastly, the dates in the book are very important. I went to the library to insure that the days of the week and the newspaper articles I mentioned were correct.

JH: How long did it take you to write the book?

FK: Since I had no deadlines and was basically just writing for fun, I’d say it took about 10 years from start to finish.

JH: What’s been the reaction of some of the people who have read the book?

FK: Chapter One, by far, has received the biggest reaction! Many of my friends have told me that it was the most intense thing that they’ve ever read. Although they thoroughly enjoyed it, I realized that it might be a little too intense for the average reader. Before releasing the book to the public, I considerably watered-down this chapter from its original version. Even so, a number of reviewers have commented on just how violent this chapter is, and a few were even unable to get past it. Make no mistake, Chapter One is not for the faint of heart, but it is necessary to the story as a whole.

JH: Are there any other genres, you want to write in?

FK: As a nature photographer, I’ve considered putting out a non-fiction book about nature photography at some point in the future.

JH: Who is your favorite author/authors and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

FK: I like many of the works from Dean Koontz and Stephen King. I think King’s books are much better than his movies — many of which leave me scratching my head. These writers have a way of painting a picture with words that tends to put the reader right in the scene. I tried to do that with my book as well.

JH: What books have most influenced your life the most?

FK: I don’t know if I can point to any one book of fiction. However, I’ve read many photography books that greatly influence the way I shoot.

JH: Are you working on a second novel?

FK: Not at this time. Many have suggested a sequel to They Only Come Out at Night.  Although it definitely lends itself to a sequel, I can’t see myself writing one. Unless you’re talking about an action series, most sequels rarely live up to the original.

JH: What are your current projects?

FK: I’m currently focusing more on my photography and photography articles.