By Jason Harris
Once more, I got to travel to another world or a lot of them, by attending Granite State ComiCon, organized by Double Midnight Comics. I was one of two authors at the Books & Boos table. The other author at the table being Stacey Longo. We were signing books for fans, new and old.
It was an amazing time at a well-run con, with thousands of fun people enjoying themselves and sharing their special likes of comics, TV shows, books, films, graphic novels, games, and cultural icons of all sorts.
You get to see people like The New England Brethren of Pirates.
The Ghostbusters of New Hampshire
The New England garrison of the 501st Legion.
All three groups make appearances to help raise money for charities. These people put a lot of time and effort into their outfits and shows, and they deserve a big hand for what they do.
You get to see celebrities, like Sam Jones (of Flash Gordon and Ted fame) and tough-guy actor William Forsythe, both of whom were
extremely gracious and kind to the fans. You also see the people behind the voices of your favorite animated characters such as Richard Horvitz, who voices Zim in Invader Zim, .
You get to meet writers such as Gordon Bean, Rob Watts, Katherine Silva, and Scott Goudsward, who are all members of the New England Horror Writers.
Author Matthew Bartlett, another NEHW member, was also signing books at the organization’s table.
Besides the NEHW and Longo, Chris Philbrook, another author, had his own table at the convention.
Author Chris Philbrook.
During my time at the convention, I also met author John Murphy, who was recently heard on the Sci-fi Saturday Night podcast. I can’t wait to hear their interviews with the cast members of Game of Thrones.
Speaking of which, lots of folks were Game of Thrones cosplaying to honor the cast members who were there.
Arya of Game of Thrones.
Arya of Game of Thrones.
Miltos Yeramelou (Syrio on GoT) hosted a Water Dancing class to teach beginning fencers. I watched some of it, and thought it superb– and I’ve been a fencer for over 35 years.
You get to see about every superhero and supervillain you can think of.
And many other costumes. A guy who plays Mr T. emceed the huge costume contest. I sure wouldn’t want to judge that one, because there are so many
cool costumes, it would be too hard to choose a winner!
Two days of fun, and we just saw a small part of it. It’s a total experience, with panels, parties, and participation.
Haunted Acres is New England’s most exciting haunted attraction, with Maniac’s Midway, live bands, a beer garden, and lots of food and ride vendors.
Mr. T with author Stacey Longo, holding her book Secret Things.
Me with author Rob Watts.
Disney Princesses.
Performers from Fright Kingdom.
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.
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.
Author Rob Watts with the Iron Patriot.
Emily and Jeremy Drouin of Eplis Comic.
Author Stacey Longo
Author Dale T. Phillips holding his book, Crooked Paths.
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.
I have been to many craft fairs as a patron and as a vendor. I use to set-up events at craft fairs and open air markets for the New England Horror Writers (NEHW) organization. These events were very successful for the NEHW so I have continued setting-up events like these for my bookstore, Books & Boos, which I co-own with my wife. Along with these shows, I also set-up events such as conventions and comic book shows for the bookstore. You can find out about these Books & Boos’ events here.
At the 41st Annual Craft Fair held at the Keefe Technical School in Framingham, MA. yesterday, there were the usual jewelry sellers, dog stuff, and handmade wooden bird houses. There was one unusual seller at this craft fair. The vendor was Frankenstein Medical School, which is owned and operated by Jerry Stiles. He sells finger hooks, coffin-shaped keepsake boxes, and interesting magnets.
Stiles has a site on Esty, you can check it out here.
It’s February and the third annual Queen City Kamikaze is upon us once again. It’s one bright spot during this cold and snowy month. The one difference this year is that this anime, video game, comic book, cosplay, sci-fi, and fantasy convention takes place on a Sunday. For the past two years, it happened on Saturday.
There will be over 25 vendors at this convention including Dandelion Studios, Books & Boos, and Harrison’s Comics.
Mark Wholley, one of the Four Horsemen who founded Anthocon, Northern New England’s only multi-genre literature and arts convention, will be at QCK for his second time to promote Anthocon. He will also be selling copies of Anthology, an anthology that debuted at Anthocon. He wants to make some vendor contacts and meet some artists, Wholley said.
“I like the show because of it diverse audience it draws in, It’s local to me and I like to support other shows when I can. I enjoyed last year so I decided to attend again this year,” Wholley said.
At the Books & Boos‘ tables, there will be six authors: Stacey Longo, Dale T. Phillips, Vlad Vaslyn, Tony Tremblay, David Price, and Gordon Bean. They are all members of the New England Horror Writers organization. These authors will be selling and signing their books. This will be Longo’s third time and Tremblay’s and Price’s second time attending the convention.
“I love this convention and meeting a younger generation of readers,” Longo said.
Along with selling new and used books, Books & Boos will be presenting two panels: Horror in the Movies (1 p.m. to 2 p.m.) and Where Authors Get Their Ideas (4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.).
Horror In The Movies: authors Gordon Bean (Dawn of Broken Glass), David Price (Dead in the USA), Stacey Longo (Secret Things), and moderator Jason Harris will discuss the best and worst, darkest and most disturbing, scariest and silliest examples of horror on the big screen on the Horror in the Movies panel. From the golden age of Nosferatu to the modern-day Conjuring, this panel will cover it all. Questions from the audience are encouraged throughout the discussion.
Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas? Authors Dale Phillips (Shadow of the Wendigo), Vlad Vaslyn (Brachman’s Underworld), David Price (Dead in the USA), and moderator Stacey Longo (Secret Things) will answer the number one question writers hear from their readers: How do you come up with this stuff? From disturbing first dates to summer camp adventures gone awry, audiences will learn how the most innocent of memories and experiences can be turned into scary stories and best sellers. Questions from the audience will be encouraged throughout the discussion.
There is a third panel: How to Create, Publish, and Promote Your Own Comic, which will happen during the convention, but isn’t sponsored by Books and Boos.
The Queen City Kamikaze takes place at 1 Crusader Way in Manchester, New Hampshire from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16. There is a $10 admission price.
Editor’s Note:
Author David Price won’t be able to attend the convention. A family issue came up.
The Les Daniels Blog Tour by Matt Bechtel of Necon E-Books, which started at Brian Keene’s website last Thursday, continues today at the New England Horror Writers’ website.
Bechtel’s entry today is titled, “Location! Location! Location! Les Daniels’ Place as an Icon of New England Horror.” He writes, “Above all else, it’s Les’ ties to New England horror that establish him as a legend in the community. After all, as I mentioned, the man lived most of his adult life on Benefit Street in Providence, literally blocks away from 135 Benefit Street, a.k.a. “The Shunned House” which helped inspire H.P. Lovecraft’s short story of the same name. His contributions to and influence upon the Necon Convention would take pages upon pages to list …” You can read the entire blog entry here.
The entire blog tour schedule can be found here.
Taking a page from Patty Cryan’s Blog. I will explain my involvement with the New England Horror Writers (NEHW). I have been a member of the NEHW over five years. It started with me putting together the organization’s newsletter every month. From newsletter editor, I became the Directory of Publicity, which is the position I held from October 2010 until April 2013. During this time, I was promoting the organization through numerous events from conventions to craft shows. Throughout that time, I continued putting together the newsletter, The Epitaph. The old NEHW website is archived on this site, Jason Harris Promotions. This archive includes the past newsletters as well.
-Jason Harris
The third Anthocon has come to an end. All we have left are good memories and pictures until next year’s convention. Anthocon is organized by the Four Horsemen ( Timothy Deal, Mark Wholley, ZjOhnny Morse, and Danny Evarts). It’s an excellent convention where there are panels, author readings and vendors selling everything from books, t-shirts, wooden bookmarks and even lemon curd.
From left to right: authors Morven Westfield, Errick Nunnally, Trisha Wooldridge, and Jennifer Allis Provost.
The final front and back covers for the second New England Horror Writers anthology, Wicked Seasons, edited by Stacey Longo and debuting Nov. 9 at Anthocon have been released.
The cover was done by Mikio Murakami.
This is the second NEHW anthology and the first from NEHW Press.
Longo congratulates all of the contributors, and gives many thanks (and her unending gratitude) to Jeff Strand and Holly Newstein Hautala for providing the foreword and cover blurb, respectively.
You can read the TOC here.