IT’S BEEN NINE YEARS since my last World Fantasy Con — which was held in Schaumburg, right down the street from where I work, and was also my first World Con. At that convention, I was still very much a newbie writer, knew no one and had no idea what…
WITH THE BIRTH of my son, Shaun Austin on July 15, I’ve been a little too…busy…to update this journal…but there’s been lots going on. I’ve had a bunch of press hit on my winning the HWA Bram Stoker award (see Chicago Tribune article at right!), and have a lined up…
THIS WEEKEND, Aurora, IL hosted the Midwest Literacy Festival, and Twilight Tales hosted a table there, as well as scheduled live readings. I had a blast hanging out with everyone, signing at the table, and doing my reading. Here are a few pictures from the event! Â
NANCY ETCHEMENDY CAN correct me, but I’m pretty sure my first words to her upon returning from the podium were…”holy crap.” I didn’t expect to win the Stoker Award for First Novel from the Horror Writers Association (HWA) last weekend. Honest. It was an honor to be nominated, but while…
WHEN MY PLANE landed at LaGuardia Airport on April 7, 2005, my heart leapt — it felt like I was coming home. It was the first time I’d been back to Manhattan since I spent a summer there as a magazine intern in NYC 18 years ago, working on 52nd…
UNCERTAINTY. DESIRE. INDECISION. That’s the framework for my Horrorfind 2004 experience, and the reason I ultimately went to the con but didn’t register in time to participate in readings or panels. I’ve wanted to go to the con the past two years, but work commitments always intervened. This summer though,…
IF YOU THOUGHT Kansas City’s World Horror Convention in 2003 seemed the quietest WHC, then you weren’t in Phoenix. Oh that’s right, of course you weren’t. Nobody was! OK, that’s not strictly true. Some of us were. But this was the poorest attended con of any I’ve been to, and…
YESTERDAY, I SPENT the afternoon at Chicago’s Printers Row Book Fair, where the streets teemed with eager book collectors surrounding dozens of tents and tables of local booksellers peddling both old collectible volumes and new small press releases. Twilight Tales sponsored a table, and I did a signing with Robert…
KANSAS CITY’S World Horror Convention seemed a much calmer con in many ways than past instances, perhaps because it was raining and hailing outside most of the weekend, or perhaps because a lot of key players were absent — old friends like P.D. Cacek, Gerard Houarner, Linda Addison, Shane Ryan…
WELL, IT’S TAKEN me nearly two months to finally recap WHC Chicago…but I think I’ve finally recovered! This year I took lots of pictures, since it was on my own home turf…I’ve set this site up so you can click any of the thumbails to see a full-size picture. Hopefully…
