Horror Addicts’ Book Release Party and Supporting the Shock

I used to take off to BayCon in the Silicon Valley on these Memorial Day weekends but haven’t done so in the last three years. If there was any year I should have went it was probably this year, since HorrorAddicts.net had their book release party for TheHorror Addicts Guide to Life there last night. But my day job made things a little unpredictable and so I didn’t plan for it early enough.

I did, however, keep up with the party on Facebook. According to Emerian Rich, founder of HorrorAddicts.net, the party went by great. It was a panel discussion/release party where they were giving away prizes and selling books, including the Horror Addicts Guide. I don’t have the numbers but Emerian said they sold several books, whether that included the Horror Addicts Guide or not, I’m not sure. I know they were selling, or at least displaying, a number of other Horror Addict authors’ books that they set out on their table which looked really neat, the main colours of the banner and cloth being those of Halloween (orange and black; see photo below).

HorrorAddicts.net founder Emerian Rich and author Heather Roulo at Bay Con 2015
Photo Credit: Emerian Rich

For those of you who don’t know what the Horror Addicts Guide to Life is, it’s an anthology of articles by various members of HorrorAddicts.net, including yours truly, that discuss various topics of the horror genre both in fiction and the surrounding culture. If you want to know more about this cool book, go to my post that discusses it. Or better yet, read about it and purchase it at Amazon! 

What is HorrorAddicts.net? It’s a website that discusses everything horror. Just like the Horror Addicts Guide which was inspired by the website. Only, being a website, content is being added daily, and the site’s specialty is Emerian’s podcast which (creature) features some really interesting talks and interviews. I strongly suggest you check it out. I was at the site last night and came across a really neat article about what makes good horror fiction. The article is entitled “Putting Some Cake Under Your Icing: Writing Horror” (no, it’s not a cook book, but you’ll find plenty of that at the site too!), by Selah Janel. Selah discusses what makes good horror and that it’s not simply the scare or shock effect (the “icing”) on the readers (or viewers in film and television). What makes good horror fiction is rooting the story in the human experience. She explains how good horror connects readers to the characters by reminding them what scares us all as human beings. I strongly suggest you read the article.
 

So, what am I doing this Memorial Day weekend? For sure, I’m going to get some fiction writing done. Last night, I finally finished revising a short story I had been working on for several weeks trying to get it just right. And so this weekend I’m going to write a new one. I also plan to get some artwork done, especially for my book cover, which the book itself  I’ve put on hiatus for a while because I’m submitting some short stories to some publications and so need to see which stories I’m going to use for the book. Most publications don’t like simultaneous submissions and that often includes self-publishing. Other than that I’ll catch up on my reading, probably do some book shopping and definitely spend time with family.

So what are you doing for this three day weekend? Feel free to leave your answers in the box below.

Until next time . . .