All the To-ing, All the Fro-ing

Autumn always winds up this way: conferences, events, readings, and more. This year’s been no exception.

Though it’s hard to believe, the 2023 James River Writers conference was already nearly two weeks ago. It was a great time, from talking with friends old and new to thought-provoking panels to hearing about new books. The panels I moderated were (he said modestly) outstanding, and the audience was clearly into it. If there was a picture of the grants, awards, and residencies panel, I haven’t seen it, but here’s the crew after Things That Go Bump In The Night:

J. T. Glover, Chad Luibl, Mark Oshiro, Alma Katsu | photo courtesy Alma Katsu

Barely a week later, I found myself at Williamsburg’s newest bookstore, Turn The Page Bookshop, celebrating the release of Dark Corners of the Old Dominion. It was a delightful (and spooky, naturally) afternoon with a bunch of ardent horrorists, and we did indeed sell copies of the anthology and more.

William R. D. Wood, Joseph Maddrey, James L. Hill, Valerie B. Williams, J. T. Glover, Charles E. Wood, Sidney Williams, Stephen Mark Rainey, Michael Rook, D. Alexander Ward | photo courtesy Joseph Maddrey

Post-func reprobates | Courtesy D. Alexander Ward

And last night I had the pleasure of attending the release for The Goth House Experiment, new out from Richmond author S. J. Sindu, whom I work with with my day job hat on. It was held at the always-excellent Fountain Bookstore, and the seats were full! I came home with the aforementioned title, as well as S. A. Cosby’s new one, All the Sinners Bleed, which has been in my sights (and my library hold list) for a while, and for which I finally couldn’t wait any longer:

New buds, joining the pack.

See you in Williamsburg?

Saturday the 14th I’ll be signing with some of my fellow authors in Dark Corners of the Old Dominion at Turn The Page Bookshop. We’re there in the afternoon, signing a bunch of stock. Not having a pile of books of my own to sell, we’ll see how long I last (it’s been a long couple of weeks), but I’m looking forward to meeting my fellow authors and any of y’all who come out!

JRW 2023 Registration Closing Soon

For those in, near, or willing to travel to Virginia, registration is closing soon for the 2023 James River Writers Conference. Registration information is available on the conference website, and these are the panels I’m moderating:

Saturday, October 7, 9:30 a.m. Awards, Grants, & Residencies: Putting Yourself Out There

Some authors seem like they’re always earning awards and getting accepted for retreats, residencies, and grants. Beyond being talented, dedicated writers, do they also know something you don’t? How do you find out about these opportunities, and what are best practices for applying? 

Panelists: L.D. Lewis, Mia P. Manansala, Bethanne Patrick

Moderator: John Glover

Room: E10C

Saturday, October 8, 10:45 a.m. Writing That Goes Bump in the Night

Join our panel of horror experts to learn how to send chills up your reader’s spine. How do you write “dread-soaked pages” (Alma Katsu) and illuminate “life’s darkest horrors” (Mark Oshiro), and what makes a particular horror novel a good sell (agent Chad Luibl).  

Panelists: Alma Katsu, Chad Luibl, Mark Oshiro 

Moderator: John Glover

Room: E10D

The smell of author copies in the morning…

Yesterday I taught late, so it was only this morning that I got to feast my eyes on these lovely author copies. You can pick up Dark Corners of the Old Dominion wherever finer books are sold, including Barnes and Noble, your local indie, or Amazon.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to #AmQuerying

Turn left at the widening gyre…

You’d like to think that things could be easy, right? Or even straightforward? But, no, often it doesn’t work out that way, at least in my experience.

Yesterday I sent out the first wave (of five? the only? of seventeen?) of queries to agents for the novel, and so I’m officially #AmQuerying. At this point I’ve jokingly referred to it as UNTITLED FUTURE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND PULITZER PRIZE WINNER so many times, that should have been the dang title! Alas, however, it’s something more conventional.

This book started life a little over three years ago, with similarities to what went out in the mail yesterday, but it was a different book. It’s a short novel, about 70,000 words, and various drafts have been shorter, longer, and/or somewhat different in format. At one point I lost faith and shelved it, but after letting it marinate for months, I got perspective and solved some problems.

Is this my first novel? Not by a long shot. I’ve finished—as in completed and tied a bow on—two novels previously, one of which I thought good enough to seek representation. I also have some almost-novels that ranged from “abandoned at 20,000 words and an outline” to “wound up a novella, not a novel.” If UNTITLED FUTURE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND PULITZER PRIZE WINNER finds a home, I’ll be thrilled for it to be my debut novel, and I’ll also be able to say comfortably that it wasn’t my first novel. For all that I wanted Novel # 1 to be The Book, I’ve always admired authors who persist, and here’s hoping I’ll wind up in that rank.

Most of my readers know me for my short fiction, or sometimes the essays, scholarly or otherwise. Believe it or not, my long-term goal and general preference as a reader is novels! The spring of 2020 meant many things, but when this book started, it seemed as good a time as any to focus on writing what I really wanted to write. Did we wind up barricaded in our houses for five years? Thankfully not, but the time to focus did seem to move me in a good direction, though I didn’t really write about the pandemic in this book. The next novel, however, is another story…