Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Rain (Also: World Horror Convention 2016!)


The weather has been cloudy, wet, and dreary in Utah as of late, and I'm loving it. Writing while it's raining outside, and I'm nice and cozy inside, is one of my favorite things.

There's rain in them thar hills.

It's also perfect weather for the WORLD HORROR CONVENTION*! (Cue crash of lightning and Vincent Price-style dramatic musical intro)

It so happens that the 2016 World Horror Convention is right in my backyard this year in Provo, UT--which means, of course, I'll be attending! I'm fortunate enough to have made it onto a few panels as well. I'm pretty excited about the whole experience--I've never been to WHC before, despite the con taking place in Salt Lake City just a few years ago. I think this will be a slightly different experience from the normal Sci-Fi/Fantasy and media cons I usually attend, and I'm looking forward to that.

Here's my official schedule for WHC 2016 (descriptions in quotations marks "" are WHC's descriptions of each panel):

Thursday 28 April at 2:00 PM - "Horrific Fantasy: A Touch of the Macabre"
"Dark fantasy as a sub-genre that often dances across the line between fantasy and horror. Is there a line, and how can you effectively cross it?" I'm very much looking forward to this panel. I usually tell people I write "epic dark fantasy." A large part of why I classify my work as "dark fantasy" is the fact that I like to integrate elements of horror into my writing.

Friday 29 April at 9:00 AM - "Using Social Media Effectively"
"Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Goodreads, etc. are all good places to promote  yourself as a writer, but how do you do so effectively?" This will be an interesting panel, as I'll get to represent the group of writers who maybe have a book deal in the works or a book coming out soon, but have not had much of a social media presence before breaking in to the industry. I've done quite a bit of research on this, and have a solid plan for moving forward on social media before, during, and after the release of my first book.

Sunday 1 May at 9:00 AM - "Graduate School Possibilities for Writers"
"For those who are interested, there are a lot of places you can get an M.A. or M.F.A. that will help you as a writer. Come find out some of the possibilities." Considering I have an MFA in Creative Writing, and that I learned about the process of preparing, choosing, and applying to MFA and MA programs (both through research and trial and error), I think I'm an ideal candidate for this panel, and I'm looking forward to sharing what I've learned.

I'll also be attending other panels and presentations, and generally just stalking the halls of the hotel looking for fun things to do and interesting people to talk to. It'll be a good time.

So if horror, dark fantasy, and awesome authors and artists strike your fancy, you should definitely come check out WHC 2016.



* Notate bene: correct pronunciation is key, here. Don't make the same mistake I did and accidentally tell someone that you're attending the "World Whore Convention."

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