Jan 17 2014

January Sale at Books and Boos

Books & Boos, an independent bookstore in Colchester, CT. is having a sale, which started this past Tuesday and runs through the end of the month. You buy three used books and get the fourth one free (of equal or lesser value). They offer used books of all genres.

The bookstore also sells new books by local, Connecticut, and New England authors including Dale T. Phillips, Stacey Longo, Dan Waters, Jan Kozlowski, and Kristi Petersen Schoonover to name only a few. They carry over 50 plus authors on consignment.

The bookstore also sells Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games bookmarks made by a local company, zombie Poe t-shirts, and other interesting items.

Game of Thrones booksmarks.

Hunger Games bookmarks.

Books and Boos’ Zombie Poe t-shirt.

You can find everything mentioned here in the physical store, but some of the items are available through the bookstore’s website. If you are looking for a particular book, they can work with you through Paypal or put it on the website for you. Just give them a call at (860) 861-6214.

Books & Boos also has an Amazon storefront.

You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Jan 9 2014

M.J. Rose Captivates with Newest Novel, ‘The Collector of Dying Breaths’

By Stacey Longo

The Collector of Dying Breaths is the latest offering from M.J. Rose, and marks the return of Jac L’Etoile, the heroine we first met in The Book of Lost Fragrances. If you haven’t read Fragrances, don’t worry: Dying Breaths is set up as a stand-alone novel, and you’ll quickly become enchanted with Jac, her brother Robbie, and her former lover, Griffin. Jac is quickly engulfed in a quest to create an elixir that will bring souls back to life using a person’s last, dying breath. Her patrons are the mysterious Greek heiress, Melinoe and Melinoe’s stepbrother, Serge, whose sibling relationship raises many questions for Jac. As Griffin assists Jac in her pursuit to recreate the elixir following notes left behind by Rene le Florentine, the two are drawn into the past life of Rene, his lover Isabeau, and the dynamic, manipulative Catherine de Medici.

The novel intertwines flashbacks to the life of Rene with the present-day difficulties that Jac must deal with, and mysteries surround both. Will the malicious Cosimo Ruggieri, advisor to Queen Catherine and dabbler in the dark arts, bring an end to Rene’s favored position with the queen? To what lengths will the eccentric Melinoe go to find the rare, ancient ingredients needed to recreate Rene’s elusive potion? And how many lives will be lost as both of these plans are carried out?

The Collector of Dying Breaths creates suspense and intrigue with every page, making it difficult to put down. Rose captivates us with a story about relationships past and present, and the basest of human emotions: love, greed, and betrayal.

The Collector of Dying Breaths will be published on April 8.

Jan 2 2014

Stacey Longo Enjoys Ron Jeremy’s ‘One-Eyed Monster’

By Stacey Longo

ONE-EYED MONSTER (2008, Liberation Entertainment) is the tale of an alien that comes to Earth to possess porn star Ron Jeremy’s penis and seed the Earth. If that statement didn’t make you giggle at least a little bit, then this movie might not be for you.

A delightful horror/comedy romp, this B-movie stars Amber Benson, Veronica Hart, and Charles Napier, with Ron Jeremy as himself. The film opens with a group heading off to the mountains to film an adult movie. Jeremy laments that he’s not in shape anymore, and Hart (also playing herself) is upset that she just might be too old to be in porn, despite her impressive Kegel muscles. However, these concerns take a back seat when Jeremy’s penis is possessed by an alien and detaches itself, only to set off on a murderous rampage.

The beauty of this movie is that the characters know the plotline is ridiculous. They’re stunned and incredulous that Ron Jeremy’s penis is hunting them down, one by one. The director made a wise choice in not showing the menacing member for three-quarters of the movie, which results in a heightened sense of suspense—a technique used effectively by Steven Spielberg in JAWS and replicated here.

Ron Jeremy of One-Eyed Monster. Photo by Jason Harris.

Notable performances include Jason Graham as Jonah, who is quick to accept that yes, a possessed penis is what they’re fighting here, and it’s a serious matter. Add to this Napier’s slightly crazed Vietnam vet, who has seen this kind of thing once before. His speech about the penis in ‘Nam that wiped out his whole platoon would come across as silly and trite if not for Napier’s ability to deliver it like a man who has seriously been traumatized by these events that “boot camp never prepared me for.”

Our heroes try to trap the murderous member, but their first attempt fails, and the survivors race to a radio tower to try and get help. Veronica Hart regains consciousness at this point (she’d been knocked into unconsciousness when Ron’s penis first attacked during their sex scene) and tries to catch up on the action.

Veronica: “Who’s in me?”

It is Veronica, and her fabulous Kegel muscles, that eventually save the day.

This movie is not for the faint of heart, young children, or your mother. Overall, it’s fun, chock-full of one-liners and laughs, and definitely worth watching. Check out the DVD extras for a fabulous five-minute mockumentary on the movie’s special effects for one last laugh after the film ends. ONE-EYED MONSTER is a must-see for all “so bad it’s good” movie fans.

Editor’s Note:

This review originally appeared on the Cinema Knife Fight website. You can see it by clicking here.

Dec 30 2013

Resolutions for 2014

It’s that time of year again when people start thinking about what their resolutions will be for 2014. According to Wikipedia, resolutions are a secular tradition more common in the West. The U.S. government even has a page on its website mentioning some of the most popular resolutions. Some of the more popular ones are quitting smoking, volunteering to help others, getting a better job, managing debt, and saving money. You can see the entire list here.

The biggest one that people choose for their resolution is to lose weight. If this is yours, I would suggest finding a 24-hour gym to add to your routine. I belonged to Anytime Fitness a number of years ago and the flexible hours were perfect for my schedule. Like the name implies, it’s open 24/7 for its members. I went at 4 a.m. a couple of times and there were a few people there even then. It was convenient and I didn’t have to wait to use the machines I wanted to use.

This year my resolution isn’t to lose weight, but to read more, a resolution I’ve made in the past. 2013 was not a big reading year for me; in fact, I read more in 2012. Here are just a few of the authors I want to read in 2014: Stephen King, Dale T. Phillips, Vlad Vasyln, Stacey Longo, Joe Hill, Jeff Strand, Clive Barker, Bracken MacLeod, Daniel G. Keohane, Rob Watts, David Price, Monica J O’Rourke, and Melissa Crandall. It won’t be the first time reading some of these authors, but all have been on my author-to-read list because I either know them or someone has recommended their work to me.

My other resolution is to get a full-time job to get cracking on managing my debt. Do I want to make that resolution and face that challenge? Just thinking about it gives me a headache; so I would rather just think about the magical places the authors on my list will take me when I crack open their books and start reading.

Happy New Year!

Dec 15 2013

Author Stacey Longo Talks Writing and the Habits of a Writer

by Jason Harris

Author Stacey Longo spoke to an attentive audience at the Douglas Library in Hebron, CT on Wednesday night about being a successful writer. Longo knows what she is talking about since she has sold over 20 stories and has been in over a dozen anthologies. She also has published a children’s book, Pookie and the Lost and Found Friend, and a collection of 12 tales, Secret Things,which was released in October. Along with writing, she is also an editor with a number of successful edited books including Wicked Seasons: The Journal of New England Horror Writers, Volume II.

Before she began her horror writing career in 2010, she was selling articles to newspapers and magazine such as The Island Crier and The Works. She was also a humor columnist for the Block Island Times. She has also just been hired to review B horror movies for the Cinema Knife Fight website.

The habits of a successful writer include writing a lot, Longo said. A writer should be setting realistic deadlines and goals. If these deadlines and goals are not realistic, you will just be defeating yourself and setting yourself up to fail. Stephen King writes 10 pages a day. Ernest Hemingway wrote 500 words a day.

“Thomas Harris took 10 years to write the sequel to Silence of the Lambs. Robert James Waller wrote The Bridges of Madison County in 6 weeks. Both were NY Times bestsellers.”

One shouldn’t use Harris as an excuse not to write every day or at least a few days a week, she said.

Stacey Longo talking to a crowd interested in writing.

A writer should even read more than they are writing. Reading is always good, but it should be well-written book,s not poorly-written books such as the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, she said. There are two books every writer should read. They are The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White and On Writing by King. A writer needs to know the rules of writing before choosing to break those rules.

If you want to write, you should seek out workshops, conventions, and writers’ groups so as to meet other writers. Longo states that writing is a lonely profession and meeting fellow writers is always a good thing. Other writers can help you or you may be able help them with editing, a potential market, or even with a story problem. “The best way to learn about the craft of writing is to talk to others who have been successful at it.”

Longo met Ken Wood, publisher of Shock Totem, in 2009 at the Northeastern Writer’s Conference (NECON). In 2011, he asked her to write-up an anecdote she had told him about her father so it could be printed in the magazine’s holiday issue.

When it comes to editing, it’s very important to Longo. Everyone needs to learn the basics of sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and verb tenses. If you can do these things in your story, you won’t do it in a query letter, which will lead to no agents or publishers reading your story. This is where your fellow writers or your writer’s group comes in handy. Let them read your first draft and listen to their suggestions. Your first draft isn’t going to be publishable.

“No book on the shelves today is still in the original draft form that the writer first wrote. Everything needs editing,” Longo said.

Another important fact for a writer to learn is the need to be prepared for rejection because the publishing world is all subjective, Longo said. One publisher may reject a story while the another one will accept it.

For more information about Stacey Longo, click here.

Dec 8 2013

Connecticut Author to Discuss Writing and Publishing at Local Library

Author Stacey Longo will be at the Douglas Library this coming Wednesday, Dec. 11, to discuss finding the path to becoming a published writer. Some of the topics she will be covering include writing habits, editing, successful query letters, the importance of editing, and recognizing unscrupulous publishers.

Longo is a former humor columnist for the Block Island Times and the author of Secret Things: Twelve Tales to Terrify and Pookie and the Lost & Found Friend. Her stories have appeared in dozens of anthologies and publications including Shroud magazine, Shock Totem, and the Litchfield Literary Review. She has also edited a number of books including the anthology Wicked Seasons: The Journal of New England Horror Writers, Volume II.

Longo’s presentation starts at 6:30 p.m. The library is located at 22 Main Street in Hebron, CT. Any questions, call the library at (860) 228-9312.

For more information on Longo, check out her website here.

Nov 18 2013

Movie Review: ‘JFK Remembered: 50 Years Later’

By Stacey Longo

JFK Remembered: 50 Years Later, directed by Robert Kline, is one of a trilogy of documentaries that Warner Brothers Home Entertainment released on November 12, 2013 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

The documentary opens by asking why JFK’s presidency is still so memorable. The narrator offers a few answers: President Kennedy was vibrant, charismatic, and full of hope and idealism; however, these are just words. A better response would be “Here. Let’s just show you.”

For show us the documentarians do. The footage begins with a young John Kennedy announcing his candidacy for the presidency. The viewer is treated to rare footage from the campaign trail, and includes a memorable snippet in which the candidate addresses the issue of his Catholicism. “It matters not what kind of church I believe in . . . but what kind of America I believe in.” If you have no idea what kind of man President Kennedy was, you will soon come to realize that he was infinitely, undeniably, deliciously quotable.

The highlight of this section is not the 1960 televised debates in which Kennedy famously comes off as cool and polished while his opponent, then-Vice President Richard Nixon, seems shifty-eyed and nervous. It is instead the audio of one of Kennedy’s campaign ads, a catchy jingle proclaiming “It’s Kennedy, Kennedy, Kenn-e-dy for me!” It is a reminder of what an innocent time 1960 was, a contrast to the slander campaigns of today.

For a man who was only president for 1037 days (in comparison, by next September President Obama will have served for twice Kennedy’s term length) a lot happened during his tenure. After the election night coverage in Times Square, the documentary features footage from many of Kennedy’s presidential highlights: the formation of the Peace Corps, the Bay of Pigs invasion, granting the largest tax break in history, the desegregation of southern schools and the civil rights movement, the March on Washington, John Glenn’s space mission, Kennedy’s much-admired and still studied speech on peace and nuclear disarmament at American University, and more. Scenes from his visit to Berlin in June of 1963 are amazing. If you had any doubt that Kennedy wasn’t a phenomenon not only in his country but also around the world, this visit alone will convince you otherwise. The crowds of Germans cheering for him are in the hundreds of thousands—putting the Boston crowds after the Red Sox won the World Series to shame.

The film highlights the Cuban Missile Crisis, and JFK’s press conference announcing the missile activity and the evidence that the Soviet Union had lied is still riveting to this day. Thirteen days later, when the President announces that the crisis has passed, the stress and wear on his face is evident.

Sadly, we all know how this story ends. The documentary doesn’t delve into conspiracy theories, stating only that shots rang out in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. The film ends with footage of the funeral, the grieving family, and reflections from two other charismatic presidents—Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan—remembering the vigorous, vibrant President of an earlier, more innocent time.

I would absolutely recommend JFK Remembered: 50 Years Later not only to those who want to recollect the captivating and engaging president of their youth, but to new generations who just don’t understand what all the fuss was about. John F. Kennedy was a communicator and a leader.

But these are just words. Let me just show you.

JFK Remembered: 50 Years Later is available through Warner Home Video individually or as part of the JFK 50^th Commemorative Ultimate Collector’s Edition.

Nov 12 2013

Pictures from Anthocon 2013

by 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.

Post Mortem Press table.

Author and Books and Boos co-owner Stacey (Longo) Harris.

Authors Thomas A. Erb and T.G. Arsenault’s table.

The New England Horror Writers’ table.

Author Holly Newstein Hautala giving Anthocon’s Keynote address.

Authors Morven Westfield, Errick Nunnaly, Trisha Wooldridge, and Jennifer

From left to right: authors Morven Westfield, Errick Nunnally, Trisha Wooldridge, and Jennifer Allis Provost.

Artist Stephanie Johnson’s artwork in the Art Show.

Author and editor Stacey Longo introducing Wicked Seasons, which she edited for the New England Horror Writers.

Author Kristi Petersen Schoonover reading her story in Wicked Seasons.

Anthocon organizer Tim Deal.

The Gnombies table.

Author T.T. Zuma behind the New England Horror Wrters' table.

Author T.T. Zuma behind the New England Horror Writers’ table.

Paranormal author Jolynne Valerie.

From left to right: authors and NEHW members Morven Westfield, Scott Goudsward, and Gordon Bean.

Anthocon’s vendor room.

Authors John Goodrich and T.T. Zuma.

Authors K. Allen Wood and Catherine Grant.

Secret Things author Stacey Longo reading her story in Anthology: Year Two: Inner Demons Out.

Author David North-Martino reading his story in Anthology: Year Two: Inner Demons Out.

Author Tracy Carbone at the Shadowridge Press table.

Items on the Books and Boos table.

Author Catherine Grant signing a copy of Wicked Seasons.

A lot of activity at the Books and Boos table.

Author Scott Goudsward reading his story in Wicked Seasons.

More artwork in the Art Show.

Author Tracy Carbone reading her story in Anthology: Year Two: Inner Demons Out.

Authors Gordon Bean and Jennifer Allis Provost.

Authors Stacey Longo and Trevor Firetog.

The offerings of Shock Totem.

Author K. Allen Wood.

Authors Laura Hickman and Kelli Jones.

The artwork of Charles Day.

Authors Peter Dudar and L.L. Soares.

Authors Errick Nunnally and Trisha Wooldridge.

Authors Kelli Jones and L.L. Soares.

Authors Scott Goudsward and Kristi Petersen Schoonover.

Author Rob Smales.

Author Rob Smales reading his story in Wicked Seasons.

Oct 24 2013

The Final Front and Back Covers for ‘Wicked Seasons’ Unveiled

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.