“But Why Is Horror”

It’s been a long and busy year, y’all! Since last month, I tied a bow on the revised & expanded outline for THE NEXT NOVEL TO BE NOMINATED FOR ALL OF THE AWARDS, modified after much thought and struggle to develop better tension and spread the viewpoints around. What had been a mostly-from-one-VP novel has become a symphony of characters, making it both more entertaining and more complicated to write.

A couple weeks back, I went to Philadelphia for the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association conference. My first time in Philly for years, and (of course) the cheesesteaks, reubens, gelato, etc. were delicious. My conference paper (“Genre of a Thousand Faces: Uses of Art-Horror in a Decaying World”) was another in my series of “but why is horror?” pieces, and it seemed to go well. I’m working on a related article and hope to give another paper elsewhere next year, so… apparently I have a “but why is horror?” research agenda. Who knew?

Didn’t have too much time for sightseeing in Philly, but I made an exception for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As far as I know, it’s the largest art museum anywhere nearby and south of New York I haven’t visited, and it was a delight. I look forward to visiting again, plus seeing The Barnes Foundation collection.

Pop-up winter garden adjacent to city hall in Philadelphia. Why the bears come, I do not know.

The Charlatan, by José Chávez Morado 

And who, of course, could forget Halloween? A busy month meant we didn’t get around to everything that’s normal for us for the season, but we distributed candy to the usual masked press gangs, as well as touring around the weekend before in search of frightful yards. Great stuff out there in RVA, but #TheDabneyHolidays took the (bloody) cake.

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.

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.

Coming Soon: Dark Corners of the Old Dominion

Do you like horror? How about Virginia? The forthcoming anthology Dark Corners of the Old Dominion, edited by Joseph Maddrey & Michael Rook, with a foreword by Brian Keene, combines both, with stories set all around the Commonwealth. I was happy to be asked to contribute to this anthology, a charity gig from Death Knell Press benefitting Scares That Care, and my short story “The Song Between the Songs” will appear in it. I’ll post more about that in due course, as well as dropping some more links here. Pre-order at B&N, Amazon, and Kobo.