Tag: aaron dries

The One About Bronzeville Books

In the Great Clean Sweeping of Twitter 2020* I realized that while I want a clean slate going forward, there are things I do not want lost to the annals of history. The Bronzeville debacle is among them.

But likely not for the reason you suspect.

Yes, Bronzeville Books was refusing to pay me (and others) and I took to twitter to shame them into doing what they should do: honor a signed, legal, contract. They did this and that and blah blah, but the beauty of the ten day campaign was how the horror community came together as one, to point and shout and demand they do what was right.

In the end, I was paid, and I immediately paid it forward by purchasing a book from everyone who helped (whether it was their book or their suggestion). The biggest, baddest book haul I’ve ever done in one sweep came out like this:

I encourage you to check out these books and authors. And at the end of the day, remember who has your back, and pay it forward.

*I’m wiping (or already have wiped) over 26,000 tweets spanning 15 years, and you may have noticed this website was also cleaned out. New decade, new direction! Come along for the ride =) 

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.

The event was recorded and posted to youtube 

Click here to watch it on 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!”

 

25 Favorite Books Under 200 Pages

…and Not One Page More.

I was delighted to be included in this favorites list for WAITING OUT WINTER.

This novella was rich with well-developed characters. Instead of following this pandemic tragedy on a large scale, the author zeroes in on a family and the day to day struggles they face. It’s an emotional rollercoaster as the reader engages in the family’s victories and losses. My favorite aspect of this book was how realistic it was. It infiltrated my real life fears-especially when there was a huge, slow fly trapped in the car with me while I was driving. I rolled all the windows down and I was relieved when it finally found its way out!

Check out her thoughts on the other 24 books over here.

 

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