GSHW Blog

Lunacon.org
Various GSHW Members will be speaking on a wide variety of topics at Lunacon 3/20-3/22.
Speakers: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Gary Frank, Neal Levin, Hildy Silverman

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Gaming 3/21/2009 2:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 3:00:00 PM Odelle
Title:  Religions in a Gamer’s World
Description:  Flesh out your game with viable-sounding religions, rather than the cookie cutter ones we see in the manuals. Actually, not much is said in the manuals on religion, cults, folkways, etc. For instance, your cleric might worship the assassin’s god of sophisticated death, or the Elvish grass and nut maidens who provide forage for animals of the forest. You’d want some kind of pantheon, as well as knowledge of how to please your deity/ies and invite him/her/it/them to listen to your prayer/invocation/ritual.
Participants:  Alexandra Honigsberg, Neal Levin, James Daniel Ross, Jane T. Sibley[M],

 
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Gaming 3/21/2009 4:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 5:00:00 PM Poplar
Title:  Game Designers’ Roundtable
Description:  Game designers of various RPGs talk about particular challenges of design and worldbuilding.
Participants:  Leigh Grossman, Neal Levin, Aaron Rosenberg[M], James Daniel Ross,

 
Sunday Total Events This Day: 2 
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Gaming 3/22/2009 1:00:00 PM 3/22/2009 2:00:00 PM Poplar
Title:  A Tribute to Gary Gygax
Description:  The biggest name in the development of roleplaying games, and one of the few recognizable names in a low-profile field, Gygax was always a lightning rod for many people’s views about gaming, both from inside and outside the field. A look back at Gygax’s life and influence on the field.
Participants:  Neal Levin, Aaron Rosenberg, James Daniel Ross,

 
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After Dark 3/22/2009 12:00:00 PM 3/22/2009 1:00:00 PM Brundage B
Title:  E-Publishing Seminar
Description:  There’s growing e-book market for paranormal romance, fantasy, and science fiction. What should writers (and readers) know about the way the e-book field is developing?
Participants:  Bianca D’Arc, Michele Lang[M], Neal Levin, Jim Minz,
 
Saturday Total Events This Day: 1 
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Literature 3/21/2009 2:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 3:00:00 PM Elija Budd
Title:  The Broad Universe (BU) Rapid Reading
Description:  Broad Universe is a woman’s organization founded to promote the works of women authors in the speculative genres. A variety of BU members will read 5-10 minutes of their work, followed by Q&A. Participants include Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Sarah Avery, Racheline Maltese, April Grey, and Gail Z. Martin
Participants:  Danielle Ackley-McPhail,
 
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Literature 3/21/2009 2:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 3:00:00 PM Brundage B
Title:  Ghosts in Fantasy
Description:  Why should ghosts frighten us? Are we prejudiced against the metabolically challenged? Where do we get our ideas of ghosts? What different conceptions of ghosts do we see in folklore, literature, and media?
Participants:  Pauline Alama[M], Ginjer Buchanan, Gary Frank, Marvin Kaye,

 
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Literature 3/21/2009 6:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 7:00:00 PM Brundage A
Title:  What’s Next When the Zombies are Gone?
Description:  Now that even Jane Austen characters are fighting zombies, have they jumped the shark? What will take their place in pop culture if the thundering herds of zombies go the way of the passenger pigeons.
Participants:  Gary Frank, Kim Paffenroth, Steven Sawicki[M], Micah Schneider,

 
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After Dark 3/21/2009 9:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 10:00:00 PM Brundage A
Title:  What Would Cthulhu Do?
Description:  Fascination for all things Lovecraftian extends to many people who have never read Lovecraft - such as the audience for the satirical advice column DEAR CTHULHU. What is it about Cthulhu that resonates so well to a twenty-first century audience?
Participants:  Gary Frank, Kim Paffenroth, Nick Pollotta, Patrick Thomas[M],

 
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Craft of Writing 3/21/2009 10:00:00 AM 3/21/2009 11:00:00 AM Brundage B
Title:  The Future of Short Fiction
Description:  There have been troubling signs recently, like the loss of Realms of Fantasy, F&SF switching to a bi-monthly schedule, and declining subscriptions. At the same time, there’s the rise of online magazines, the recent rebirth of anthology series, and more. How is the short fiction landscape in SFF changing.
Participants:  Linda Anfuso, Neil Clarke[M], Marvin Kaye, Hildy Silverman, Shane Tourtellotte,

 
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Business of Writing 3/21/2009 12:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 1:00:00 PM Grand North
Title:  Magazine Editors’ Roundtable
Description:  What are magazine editors looking for, what are they seeing too much of, what annoys them, and what makes some writers a pleasure to work with.
Participants:  Christopher Cevasco, Neil Clarke, Marvin Kaye, Hildy Silverman, Gordon Van Gelder[M],

 
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Literature 3/21/2009 4:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 5:00:00 PM Grand South
Title:  Revisionist Fairy Tales & Other Retellings
Description:  Why are authors drawn to retelling familiar tales? What makes a retelling creative enough to attract interest even from those who know the original?
Participants:  Alma Alexander, Sam Butler, Josepha Sherman, Hildy Silverman[M],

 
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Science & Technology 3/21/2009 5:00:00 PM 3/21/2009 6:00:00 PM Odelle
Title:  Online Learning
Description:  Weren’t we all supposed to be educated from home in our own private learning pods by now? A look at what’s going on in online learning in various environments (academic, business, etc.).
Participants:  Kevin DiVico, Hildy Silverman[M], Elisabeth Waters,

 
Sunday Total Events This Day: 1 
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Media 3/22/2009 1:00:00 PM 3/22/2009 2:00:00 PM Bartell
Title:  Is LOST Lost?
Description:  So, was the addition of time travel to the series helpful or shark bait?
Participants:  Kathleen O’Shea David[M], Kim Kindya, Perrianne Lurie, Hildy Silverman,

Author of “Classic” Horror Novel to Discuss Folklore

Legends linger in the dark places of the earth, legends as old as fear itself.

At noon on Saturday, November 8, 2008, Robert Dunbar (author of THE PINES) will appear at the Monmouth County Library in Manalapan, New Jersey to address a meeting of the Garden State Horror Writers. He will give a talk entitled “Real Folklore/True Fiction.” Dunbar – who has two novels being published in the next few months as well as a collection of short stories – has based much of his work on indigenous American myths. Real Folklore/True Fiction will address the social and psychological realities underlying many cherished legends … and their uses in crafting meaningful contemporary literature.

THE PINES was the first novel to explore the lore of the Leeds Devil (one of America’s oldest oral myth traditions), and though heavily expurgated, it created something of a sensation. This year – just in time for Halloween – Leisure Books will release THE PINES in its first unabridged paperback edition. “Publication of this restored edition gives the book’s current fans cause to rejoice,” raved Weird New Jersey Magazine, “and will help Dunbar’s powerful novel find the place it deserves among the classics of modern horror.”

What inspired the book? “I practically grew up on the legend of the Jersey Devil,” explains writer Robert Dunbar. “I heard the stories everywhere as a kid, on every camping trip. Every summer at the shore.” Over the years, THE PINES has attained a fiercely partisan following (making it a “cult” favorite among horror fans) and garnered the kinds of reviews most authors only dream about. The Philadelphia Inquirer called it “dark, foreboding, menacing, eerie … seductive.” And Delaware Valley Magazine said it was “not only a superb thriller but a masterpiece of fiction.”

Was he surprised by the reviews? “Hardly. The American horror novel represents a venerable tradition, founded on the works of literary giants like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville,” says Dunbar. “In other words, it’s meant to be serious art. Scary but serious. Hey, I’m on a quest here. It’s only recently has horror literature has been ghettoized as pulp fiction. I mean to fix that.” This new paperback edition of THE PINES will be the definitive version, with all previously censored material restored.

Dunbar has been a poet and a playwright. He has worked for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines and has also written and produced for television. He has often lectured at schools and libraries and has been a guest on numerous television and radio programs, discussing both THE PINES and THE SHORE (a sequel also due out shortly in paperback), which moves the action from the pine barrens to a New Jersey beach town. For more information about Robert Dunbar’s work, visit his website at www.DunbarAuthor.com.

Mundania Press
Cincinnati, OH
Publication Date: August 2008
Cover Art: Lynn Perkins and Christina Yoder
Cover Design: Danielle McPhail
Trade Paperback: 1594264082
E-Book: 1594264074
$14.00, 6 x 9, 000 pages

http://www.mundania.com/books-tomorrowsmemories.html

Havoc…Destruction…Revenge…

With triumph heavy on their hearts, Kara O’Keefe and the survivors from the battle atop Yesterday’s Dreams rush to Ireland and Tír na nÓg, carrying with them a weapon feared by gods and men. There they seek solace and healing for their warriors, and a miracle for Patrick, Kara’s father, mortally wounded in the battle.

What they find is a siege of ancient enemies. Carmán’s children have returned, united with a foe from the very dawn of the Tuatha de Danaan. Their combined forces threaten to be more than the immortal Sidhe and their human allies can combat.

Still coming to grips with her magical heritage, Kara must once more face ultimate evil and help to save the immortal bloodline from which she is descended.

Now announcing the official release of Tomorrow’s Memories (Mundania Press, September 2008)
This is the long-awaited sequel to Yesterday’s Dreams, an urban fantasy based on Celtic Mythology.

If you would like to order the eBook or Pre-Order a print copy, click the link above. You can also learn more about the book at that link, or at www.sidhenadaire.com/books/TM.htm.

For anyone that purchases a copy of the book through the Mundania site, if you are attending Philcon (www.philcon.org) bring your receipt and your copy of the book and you will receive a free raffle ticket and the opportunity to win a replica Scottish claymore at the book’s official launch party (see below). To learn more specific details of the launch party an raffle, please visit www.sidhenadaire.com/promoTM.htm.

Prize donated by Griffon’s Claw Armoury (www.griffonsclaw.com)
Holder of the Winning Ticket must be present at the time of the drawing and also must have photo id displaying proof of age as the nature of the prize requires the winner be 18 years of age or older.

Thank you, and we return you to your regularly scheduled programming…

Danielle Ackley-McPhail

“Found you.” Those two simple words were like a death sentence to Sally. She recognized the voice, straight from her nightmares. The grotesque thing without a face, the creature that thrived on fear and guilt, had nearly killed her, like it had so many others. But it was dead…wasn’t it? Sally is about to find out that nightmares can become real, that your deepest secrets can prey on you, and that there’s nowhere to hide…for long.

In the small town of Lakehaven something has arrived that can’t see you, hear you or touch you, but it can find you just the same. And when it does, your fears will have a name.

The Howard Phillips building is like any other building. Made of brick, steel, and glass, it stands five stories tall in a small city. Like every office building that exists, it has attracted an entity from another plane of existence that feeds off the energy of the people who work within the building’s walls. They are the entity’s lifeblood, moving through the hallways like blood cells. Yet no one is aware of this entity or any of the others.

Unfortunately, this entity has been infected by a sort of virus of hate, a poison of anger and rage so that as companies move out and the employees dwindle, it chooses to use fear as a means of getting more sustenance.

The employees at Osprey Publishing as well as the other three companies left in the building become prey for the entity’s feeding as it captures and tortures them, eliciting the delicious taste of fear. It is up to Jon Simon, Marcy Browne and Bettie Winters to stop an entity no one believes exists before it’s too late and everyone is dead.

AUTHOR HILDY SILVERMAN TO SPEAK AT GSHW MEETING

Author/Publisher Hildy Silverman will speak at the next meeting of the Garden State Horror Writers on Saturday, October 25, at the Monmouth County Library, Manalapan. Her talk will be on:

“Networking and the Successful Writer”

Hildy Silverman is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Space and Time, a 42-year-old magazine featuring fantasy, horror, and science fiction. She is also the author of several works of short fiction, including “The Soul Cloister” (2003, Wild Child), “Play Misty for Me” (2004, The Adventures of Mist and Vale, Ordover, ed.), “Picky” (2008, Dark Territories, Frank and SanGiovanni, eds.), “The

Darren” (forthcoming from Tekno Books,WitchWay to the Mall?, Friesner, ed), and “Damned Inspiration” (forthcoming, Siren Songs, Ackley-McPhail, ed). She is a member of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Garden State Horror Writers.

She lives in New Jersey with one husband, David, one daughter, Rayanne, and one Bichon Frise, Frosty. She is a freelance consultant who develops corporate training and marketing communications materials for high-tech companies throughout the U.S.

The GSHW is a multi-genre writers group catering to the needs of writers from all walks of life. We offer monthly meetings, critique groups, guideline and sample copy libraries, national short story contests, and much more. Members also receive the acclaimed monthly newsletter, The New Jersey Graveline, containing market news, reviews, essays, interviews, writing tips, humor and whatever else we can fit inside. The group is dedicated to helping writers of all types of fiction perfect their skills.

GHSW meets on the second Saturday (unless otherwise noted) at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters in Manalapan on Symmes Drive, off Route 9. Business meetings begin at 11 a.m. and guest speakers at noon. Guests, new members and press are always welcome. For more information, call (973) 237-1770 or visit the web site, www.gshw.net.

It’s been almost two years since I made the switch to full-time freelancing. Since then, I’ve kept pretty busy writing about environmental issues and cutting-edge technology. Here are just a few of the places you can find my articles on a weekly basis:

Plenty Magazine - Extinction Blog

Green Tech column @ RiverWired.com

GreenUpgrader

Experience.com’s Engineering Careers blog

For links to all of my recent articles, you can check out the John Platt Article Library.

Coming soon: announcements of several new short stories!

Welcome to the new GSHW WordPress Blog. If you are a GSHW member and would like to be a contributor, I’ll need your first & last name, preferred email address, the URL of your site, if any. I will assign your username & password. Send to webmaster@gshw.net

Thanks!

Jack

Admin of the GSHW Blog!