Here's my schedule for StokerCon, 2018, to be held at the Biltmore, Povidence, Rhode Island on 1 -4 March, 2018.
THURSDAY, 18:00 L’Apogée
Reading Slots
Dan Rabarts and I will be reading from our collaborative novel, Hounds of the Underworld. We’ll be sharing the reading slot with the hugely talented and charming Brian Matthews, author of Conveyance, who’ll be treating us to a reading of his short story from Christmas Lite VII. I’m looking forward to that!
FRIDAY 12:00, Salon 2
Knock Out Fight Scenes
This how-to panel will dissect the elements of a kick-ass fight scene, with insights and suggestions from real-life experts to have you writing visceral, realistic action. Covering all manner of weapons from ball-points to ballistics, and arming you with blow-by-blow writing techniques, this panel will give your hero all they need to know to take on a soldier, a section, or a supernatural being.
Lee Murray (moderator), Alan Baxter, J.H. Moncrieff, James Moore, Teel James Glenn, and Tim Waggoner.
FRIDAY 15:00, State Suite B
Beyond the Borders: Writing and Reading Outside the USA
Discussing the challenges, pitfalls and opportunities of writing outside in the U.K., Canada, and the far-flung edges of the planet, namely New Zealand and Australia, and learn how the experience of an outside perspective can help writers in the U.S. broaden their own horizons.
Dan Rabarts (moderator), Alan Baxter, Chris Marrs, Lee Murray, and Ramsey Campbell
FRIDAY 18:00, State Suite B
Writing from a Dark Place: Writing from Depression, Trauma, and Grief
Horror master Clive Barker stated, “Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep.” What influence can depression and trauma have on our writing processes and on the quality and nature of the work produced? How has depression shaped the work of some of horror's most iconic writers?
Lee Murray (moderator), Brian Kirk, Brian Matthews, Eric J. Guignard, James Arthur Anderson, and
Leslie Klinger
SATURDAY 13:00, Ballroom
Panel and pitching. I’ll be listening to pitches as an Acquiring Editor for Omnium Gatherum.
SATURDAY 17:00, State Suite 3
Unspoken Clichés
Horror fiction is laden with familiar, beloved clichés. Lonely haunted houses inherited by hapless protagonists. Killing vampires with a stake through the heart. Psychic children linked to the supernatural. Ghosts who vanish when their bones receive a proper burial. What are the new and emerging clichés? What trends and tropes in horror fiction are newly overused and why? What can authors do to shake them up, refresh them, or avoid them?
J.H. Moncrieff (moderator), John Palisano, Lee Murray, Mathias Clasen, Theresa Braun, and Ed Kurtz
And of course, I'll be attending the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet on Sunday evening.
Informally (by the numbers):
822 cups of coffee I've promised with colleagues over three days.
200 Te Korero Ahi Ka postcards to give away so everyone knows where New Zealand is.
45 meals promised with colleagues over three days.
25 friends and colleagues who I'll be missing because they can't attend this year
6 seats that must absolutely be saved for colleagues to sit next to me at the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet.
3 panels I desperately want to attend in every 1 hour time slot.
2 minutes between panels, given that I'm good at getting lost and I usually need to stop by the ladies room.
1 husband to be lent out to colleagues as required for reading slot rent-a-crowd purposes.
To my social media friends. Sincere apologies in advance if I don’t recognise you from your profile picture cartoon. Please, please stop me and say hello!
StokerCon logo by Greg Chapman
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