The Twenty Books Jay Recommended the Most This Year – 2020
I was pleasantly surprised to find myself on a year-end list of books. As a writer, reader, reviewer and occasional journalist, Jay has seen a lot of books, and these 20 in 2020 stuck with him.
I recommend a lot of books. Each month, I compile a list of the ten books I recommended most that month. This is very unscientific. I scan my Twitter, email, articles I’ve written, and other corners of the Internet to sort my book recommendations into a countdown. People love lists and countdowns…
Regarding #19 (me) Jay said of WHITE PICKET PRISONS,
Kelli Owen is one of a number of authors who is under recognized for her talent. This book could have easily become a copy of a number of stories that orbit this premise, but Owen very quickly establishes that she is no one’s imitator. It has a great crime fiction feel and a marvelous horror sensibility. I was glad to be reading this story the whole time I was in it.
See his blog post for the other nineteen books you should probably be aware of!
Corona Con
“Life is What Happens To You While You’re Busy Making Other Plans…”
Coronavirus, or rather COVID-19, has disrupted life as well know it. Social distancing is keeping people from their jobs, their families, and well, their plans. Among those plans being changed and/or cancelled are a number of conventions, which is what sparked this idea…
You see, Scares That Care does a convention in August in Williamsburg, VA every year, and this year they were expanding with a spring convention in Wisconsin. Covid had other plans. And as soon as Wisconsin was cancelled (for the safety of everyone), those of us who were planning on attending thought maybe we could do something for the overall morale of con-goers and guests alike. Initially I thought it would be a short, cute, live Q&A… it’s turned into something else entirely.
Horror authors, reviewers, and even Joe Ripple himself from Scares that Care were on deck Saturday, April 18th for a LIVE streaming day full of readings, panels, giveaways, and more!
It was a smashing hit! Here’s what “Something Ghoulish” had to say about it.
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The event was recorded and posted to youtube |
Guests included: Jonathan Janz, Mary SanGiovanni, Robert Ford, Tim Meyer, Matt Hayward, Wes Southard, Somer Canon, Wile E. Young, Stephen Kozeniewski, Aaron Dries, Bracken MacLeod, Brian Keene …with moderators: Sadie Hartman (MotherHorror of Nightworms), Bob Pastorella (This is Horror), Steve Pattee (Horror DNA), and Shane Keene (Ink Heist)
The schedule was planned as follows. Please note these were just guidelines, an order to the chaos. The actual times on the video are posted on the youtube page.
9:45 am — Kick Off: Joe Ripple of Scares That Care
10:00 am — Reading: Bob Ford
10:30 am — Panel: “Finding New Readers” Stephen Kozeniewski, Mary SanGiovanni, Aaron Dries, Wile E. Young, moderator: Steve Pattee (of Horror DNA)
11:30 am — Reading: Brian Keene
12:00 pm — Panel: “Collaborations” Bob Ford, Matt Hayward, Somer Canon, Wes Southard, moderator: Sadie Hartman (MotherHorror of Nightworms) 1:00 pm — Reading: Aaron Dries
1:30 pm — Panel: “Characters likable vs. compelling” Bracken MacLeod, Kelli Owen, Tim Meyer, moderator: Bob Pastorella (of This is Horror)
2:30 pm — Reading: Jonathan Janz
3:00 pm — Reading: Stephen Kozeniewski
3:30 pm — Panel: “Versatility and cross-genre” Brian Keene, Jonathan Janz, TBA, moderator: Shane Keene (of Ink Heist)
4:00 pm — Reading: Bracken MacLeod
There is a finite amount of time and far too many people to include, so yes, it’s very very likely there will be a second one later this summer if cons continued to get cancelled…
Stay home, stay safe, and to quote George Romero, “Stay Scared!”
Women in Horror Month… the hangover
So February was Women in Horror Month. Did you promote scary creepy horror creating women? Did you read them? Watch them? Offer them sacrifices?
Here’s a brief summary of the places and ways I participated in the yearly event… and I’m posting it now, in March, because it shouldn’t be on your mind during February only. You should always be aware of us… and maybe a little afraid.
— Promote Horror did a lovely quick little interview with many of us, here are my answers to those questions.
— I popped on over to Stephen Kozeniewski’s page (Manuscripts Burn) for a quick and dirty Q&A, here are my answers to those questions.
— And there was an essay… It didn’t get printed. It was voted “a bit harsh.” Part of me is a little proud of that. The other part of me wants to say, “Oh yeah? Here, hold my beer…” On the upside, it sounds like it may have found a home and will be seen outside of the constraints of February and Women in Horror Month. It might be June, just because. I’ll let you know.
Meanwhile, check out the two above. For those interested, most of my interviews and other external adventures have been posted on the Press page. Enjoy!
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