Tag: covid19

Scares That Care Weekend – VA 2021

SCARES THAT CARE
Charity Weekend VII (7)
July 30-August 1, 2021
Williamsburg, VA

It’s that time of year again! Not just a convention, but a gathering of family—the horror family. Friends, Fans, Authors, Celebrities, Vendors… everyone in this hotel, on this weekend, is a cohesive unit with one goal in mind: fighting real monsters.

Scares That Care Charity Weekend is one of my favorite events, but the weekend is just the gathering, the organization behind it is 24/7 all year long, and is truly amazing. Those real monsters I mentioned? Scares That Care (dot org) is a legit charity who doesn’t toss your donations into the slush pile to pay for postage and maintenance and administrative. It’s run 100% by volunteers, no paychecks. And the funds go to one of four families every year: a breast cancer warrior, a burn survivor, and not one but two kids with childhood diseases, affectionately labeled “Sid’s Kids,” named for the late, great Sid Haig.

This year, I’m delighted to be in the celebrity room next to other amazing authors, as well as a fantastic collection of horror actors, actresses, and personalities. I’ll be there all three days and will have books and goodies galore (including my newest release The Headless Boy and my normal trick-or-treat bags for the kids!)

Come see me. Bring books from home, get yourself something new from the table, and if you previously purchased The Headless Boy but don’t want to bring books from home—because you need that suitcase room for the weekend finds!—I even have bookplates.

After the convention-less year of dread and isolation that was Covid19’s 2020, this year’s STC promises to be a beautiful beacon of light and laughter amid the horrors so many of us have endured, and I hope to see you all there!

 

Note: in the vein of eBay auctions that tell you the merch is from a smoke-free home, all items on my table come from a vaccinated home. 

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!”

 

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