Monday, August 29, 2016

CT HorrorFest 2016 Was Amazing

I traveled down to the Matrix Conference Center in Danbury, Connecticut on Saturday for the third annual CT HorrorFest. Rob and Christine Caprilozzi and all of the crew over at the Horror News Network put together another fantastic show. I saw some old friends, made some new ones, and had my best day of book sales ever.

I should have known the day was going to be great, when it began with meeting some of the stars of one of my all-time favorite franchises. I had just finished setting up my table when I saw Ellen Sandweiss and Theresa Tilly--Cheryl and Shelly from Evil Dead. They were looking for their table and I was more than happy to get them to where they were supposed to be. We got to chat for a couple minutes and they are both super nice. And, when I found their table and dropped them off, I got to meet Zach Galligan of Gremlins and Waxwork! So, my day was pretty much made from the get go.


When the show actually started, I had steady traffic coming by my table all day. I saw some people I haven't seen since last year (author Jess Rougeau and my pals from Metal Dogz), and had some great neighbors (Lisa of Happy Kitty Studio and Sam Costello of Split Lip).

One very cool and somewhat surreal experience was seeing people who have bought books from me in the past come by to pick up the latest ones. Whenever someone tells me they are a fan of my writing, I am blown away. Every time. I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear someone enjoyed something I wrote. So, thanks to everyone who stopped by the table to say hi.

Oh--I sold books, too! I covered my table cost and then some, and it was a successful debut for my short story collection, Intrusive Thoughts. My best show sales-wise for sure.


The capper on an amazing day was getting to meet one of the greatest horror creators of all time--George Romero. I have to give a huge shout out to Chris Conway from Horror News Network, as he encouraged me to go over and say hi to Mr. Romero, and he watched my table when I did. Getting to tell him how much his work means to me was a great moment, and he was extremely nice.

So, another wonderful CT HorrorFest is in the books, and I can't wait to go back again next year. Thanks again to the HNN crew for all of their hard work--it paid off big time.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Come See Me at CT HorrorFest This Weekend!

One of my favorite shows of the year is this weekend! Connecticut HorrorFest, put on by my pals at the Horror News Network, will be happening this Saturday at the Matrix Conference Center in Danbury, CT.


The lineup of guests is amazing, and includes George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly (Evil Dead), Tyler Mane (Halloween), Zach Galligan (Gremlins) and a ton more.

AND, I'll be selling books at the show! Not only will I have all three books in the Parted Veil Trilogy:


But I will also have my band new collection of short stories Intrusive Thoughts, which is not even available online yet!


This collection features two stories that are connected to the Parted Veil series, including the origin of one of the characters. It also features the origin story of a major character in Orchard Pointe, the new book Jolene Haley and I will be releasing soon. All of the stories are standalone however, and there's a little something for horror fans of all types in this one.

So, if you're in the CT/NY area, come out to Danbury for Connecticut HorrorFest this Saturday. And if you do, make sure to come by my table and say hi!


Monday, August 22, 2016

TerrifiCon Was a Blast!

What a weekend!

This year's TerrifiCon at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT was amazing. Matt Herring and I were exhibiting at the show for Secret Identity, doing interviews for the podcast and hosting and moderating panels all weekend.

There were so many highlights it's hard to pick just a few, but here goes:

My son and I got to see John Wesley Shipp (The Flash) again and meet Katrina Law (Arrow) for the first time. Both were super nice and were great to my son, which makes me even bigger fans of theirs.

Matt and I hosted two panels on starting your own podcast. I love talking about podcasting and especially love to talk with people who are just starting their own show. We met a ton of great people who had questions, feedback and some really great ideas for shows. I can't wait to check out their podcasts when they launch.

On Sunday, I got to moderate my dream panel. Anyone who l knows me knows that I am a lifelong Spider-Man fan (my son's name is Parker). I was lucky enough to moderate a panel called The Amazing Spider-Man: 35 Years of Writing Spider-Man. A veritable Mount Rushmore of Spidey writers were on the panel--Dan Slott, J.M. DeMatteis, Roger Stern and Peter David.


These four guys are responsible for some of the greatest storylines and  moments in Spider-Man's history--Kraven's Last Hunt, The Death of Jean DeWolff, The Origin of the Hobgoblin, Spider Island and so many more. I was so enthralled with listening to them that I forgot to start recording the panel until about ten minutes in. I'm actually hoping to get a full recording of it (audio of video) so I can share it with everyone, because it was a blast.

On top of all that, I got to catch up with some of my comics friends that I rarely get to see, and we got some great interviews for the podcast. All in all, TerrifiCon was a fantastic show, and i want to thank the man behind that show, our pal Mitch Hallock, who continues to grow TerrifiCon into one of the best shows in the country. I can't wait until next year!



Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Come See Me At TerrifiCon This Weekend!


This weekend I'll be at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT for TerrifiCon! Not only will I be doing interviews for the Secret Identity podcast, but I'll be hosting panels as well. 

On Friday and Sunday, my Secret Identity co-host Matt Herring and I will be doing two podcasting panels. These panels are aimed at anyone interested in starting their own podcast or looking to hear about our experience hosting and producing podcasts for the past ten-plus years. 

Here are the times and places:
Friday 8/19--5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.--PANEL ROOM 2 (Oneida / Penobscot)
Sunday 8/21--1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.--PODCAST / ART CLASS STUDIO (Passamaquoddy)


I will also have print copies of my podcasting book MAKING EAR CANDY at the show.

On Saturday 8/20 from 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. (PANEL ROOM 1 (Nehantic/Pequot/Paugusett)), I will be moderating my dream panel--Amazing Spider-Men: 35 Years of Writing Spider-Man. This panel will feature legendary writers Roger Stern, Peter David, J.M. DeMatteis and Dan Slott, and we'll be talking about some of the amazing moments they've created during their runs on Marvel's flagship character. As a lifelong Spidey fan, I cannot tell you how excited I am for this one.


So come on down to TerrifCon this weekend and hang out! You can find out more at www.terrificon.com!

Monday, August 8, 2016

Updates, Updates, Updates!

Where has the summer gone?!!

Seriously, I feel like it was the end of May like two weeks ago. But here we are. in mid-August, and I've got two book projects coming out this month.

One of the reasons for my lack of updates lately is that Jolene Haley and I have been laser focused on final edits for Orchard Pointe, which should be arriving on August 16th. An interesting aspect of Orchard Pointe (I think), is that it has some French-speaking characters in it, which has added a layer of complexity to both the writing and editing processes. Jolene and I want to give a big shout out to Magali Fréchette, who has been a tremendous help to us in making sure our French dialogue was accurate.

And then of course there is my short story collection Intrusive Thoughts: Volume One, which will be out digitally before the end of the month. I actually debuted some print copies of the book at the Plastic City Comic Con in Leominster in late July, and the feedback has been very positive so far. I'll be taking the rest of those print copies with me to the Connecticut HorrorFest on August 27th.

In addition to those pending releases, Jolene and I are hard at work on the sequel to Harrowed, which is called Haunted. We're around 65K in our draft now, so we have a ways to go, but it's coming along very nicely. We think you'll really like some of the new characters we're introducing, though I can't promise they'll all be sticking around for the duration (*insert evil laugh here*).

So, the summer has flown by, but there's a lot of exciting stuff coming up. In addition to my writing projects, I'm still putting out new episodes of the Secret Identity podcast every week with my pal Matt Herring. We'll be heading to TerrifiCon later this month, where I'll be moderating a Spider-Man panel featuring Dan Slott, J.M. DeMatteis, Peter David and Roger Stern, which is basically a Mount Rushmore of Spider-Man writers for me.

If you're a music fan, Antony Johnston and I just released the latest episode of our music podcast Thrash It Out, in which we discuss Type O Negative's album October Rust.

And finally, if you're into gaming, Nick Merritt and I just posted the most recent episode of the Co-Op Critics Podcast, where we discuss Blizzard's newest game Overwatch.

So as you can see, I've been keeping busy this summer. Now it's time to get back to work on Orchard Pointe, because Jolene and i cannot wait to share it with you.

Stay tuned!