Stamford Spookiness

… Some highlights from the HWA conference

Last week, I was in Stamford, CT, for StokerCon, the Horror Writers Association annual conference. Although the view out my hotel room window was of bland corporate buildings stretching into the distance, herring gulls swooped and called, a reminder that the city sits on Long Island Sound.

From Thursday morning through Saturday night’s awards ceremony, the con was packed with activities and sessions. One highlight was helping at the registration table. I’ve done that at previous conferences and highly recommend it as a way to meet a slew of people. For this con, that included nominees for awards, judges, and guests of honor. My fellow volunteers were a super bunch of folks from the New England chapter of HWA.

Joyce Carol Oates reading from her short story

Another highlight was attending a reading by Joyce Carol Oates, one of this year’s guests of honor. She read her short story “Mr. Stickum,” from her collection Zero-Sum Stories. In the Q&A afterward, she said that setting was crucial to her storytelling. The fun fact she shared about “Mr. Stickum”: It’s set in an abandoned glove factory near Lambertville, NJ, a town only about 20 minutes from where I live.

Here are a few other tidbits I took away from the conference:

• The classic gothic heroine is alive and well, transformed from “damsel in distress” to “deadly damsel.” (Love it!)

• Setting is a main character in the sub-genre of industrial gothic horror. Think decrepit factory, abandoned warehouse, or the Love Canal.

• Writers are often disappointed that more anthologies don’t have open calls, but an open call can be overwhelming for the anthology editor, with thousands of submissions pouring in.

Next year’s StokerCon will be in Pittsburgh, with a tentative guest of honor list including Linda D. Addison, Ann VanderMeer, John Shirley, and Billy Martin.

What I’m reading

Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction book Nomadland is a fascinating and sobering look at older adults (and some younger folks) who opt out of owning or renting a house to live in RVs, vans, and campers. They spend their “retirement years” working at low-paying, often physically demanding jobs to make ends meet. The book was made into a 2020 movie of the same name, starring Frances McDormand.

I just finished When the World Didn’t End, a memoir by Guinevere Turner, and the latest Reacher thriller by Lee and Andrew Child, In Too Deep.

What I’m writing

My latest manuscript is out with an editor, and I’m currently doing a deep dive into research for book three. For my novel Scream of the Silent Sun, I’ll be at ThrillerFest in New York this weekend, as part of the Debut Authors program. In July, I’ll be at the Authors Table for the Tinicum Arts Festival from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 12.

Thanks for reading -

Dianna