I’m excited to be an Attending Professional at DragonCon, September 1-5 in Atlanta! I’m on 8 panels and events this year, on the Horror Track, the Urban Fantasy Track, and the Writers Track. Here’s where I’ll be:

Thursday 7:00 pm, Westin Peachtree 1-2 (Horror Track)
Gothic Literature: Ruin and Evil
An examination of Gothic themes in literature and how they continue to inform modern writers.
Gail Z. Martin (Moderator), Beth Dolgner, Leanna Renee Hieber, Tony Sarrecchia, Darrell Z. Grizzle

Friday 1:00 pm, Westin Peachtree 1-2 (Horror Track)
Foundations of Fear: Building Haunted Houses in Fiction
A roundtable of authors discuss making the haunted house archetype relevant for modern readers.
Gail Z. Martin (M), Leanna Renee Hieber, Marie Whittaker, Hank Schwaeble, Darrell Z. Grizzle

Friday 7:00 pm, Westin Peachtree 1-2 (Horror Track)
Harvest of Dread: Conjuring Folk Horror in Fiction
Authors on incorporating themes of folk horror into fiction.
James R. Tuck (M), Gail Z. Martin, Jessica Nettles, D.J. Butler, Aaron Michael Ritchey, Darrell Z. Grizzle

Friday 10 pm, Westin Chastain 1-2 (Urban Fantasy)
Things That Go Bump in the Night (or Day): Ghosts & Spirits in Urban Fantasy
Ghosts in Urban Fantasy take many forms & have a variety of goals & purposes. Our panel will discuss those they employ in their work, as well as others they admire.|
Carol Malcolm (M), Delilah Dawson, Beth Dolgner, Leanna Renee Hieber, Stuart Jaffe, Darrell Z. Grizzle

Friday 10 pm, Westin Chastain 1-2 (Urban Fantasy)
Spooky Tales and Haunting Music
Our group of authors will each read a scary story, followed by a short concert of atmospheric music by Victorian Chamber Metal virtuosos, Valentine Wolfe.
Beth Dolgner, Leanna Renee Hieber, Valentine Wolfe, Darrell Z. Grizzle

Saturday 11:30 am, Westin Peachtree 1-2 (Horror Track)
Shattered Mirrors: Writing Human Monsters
It has been said that humans are the most dangerous animals of all. This panel will examine writing killers and other terrifying human evils.
Jessica Ann York (M), Jessica Nettles, Clay Gilbert, Delilah S. Dawson, D.J. Bodden, Darrell Z. Grizzle

Sunday 10:00 am, Westin Peachtree 1-2 (Horror Track)
Sinister Forces: Invoking Supernatural Horror
Authors discuss incorporating supernatural elements into horror fiction.
Darrell Z. Grizzle (M), Jessica Ann York, Bill Mulligan, Hank Schwaeble, Trisha J. Wooldridge

Sunday 2:30 pm, Hyatt Embassy EF (Writers Track)
Horror? Soft Horror? Things that make you jump out of your skin?!
Readers of horror vary in their tastes greatly. Some love a psychological tale while others look for the most blood-thirsty novels available. Where do you, as a writer, fit into this popular genre?
Nancy Knight (M), Gail Z. Martin, James R. Tuck, Erika Lance, David Boop, Darrell Z. Grizzle

I’m very happy to announce that I will be an Attending Professional at DragonCon this year, September 1-5, 2022, in Atlanta! Look for me on the Horror and Urban Fantasy tracks!

Moderating a vampire panel (V-Wars authors) on the Horror Track, DragonCon 2018.
L-R: me, James Tuck, Dacre Stoker, Scott Sigler, Keith DeCandido, Larry Correia

After much consideration, consultation with others, and even prayer, I’ve made the extremely difficult decision to not attend Dragon Con, Sept. 2-6, 2021. I deeply appreciate the safety precautions DragonCon has put in place, but I have several pre-existing medical conditions that put me at high risk, even being fully vaccinated as I am. I am grateful to Derek at the Dragon Con Horror Track and Carol at the Dragon Con Urban Fantasy Track. They were wonderful in creating a schedule for me that looks like spooky fun as well as helping me promote myself as a writer, and I appreciate that more than I can tell. I am also grateful to Valentine Wolfe for creating an ambient vocal music number to accompany the ghost poem I had planned to read at Spooky Tales & Haunting Music, Friday night at the con.

I look forward to seeing everyone at DragonCon 2022!

Join us at Monsterama, September 27-29, 2019! While DragonCon is my High Holy Days, Monsterama is my home! It’s a much smaller con, but it’s awesome, especially if you’re a monster kid or a fan of retro horror pop culture.

Here’s my tentative schedule for the con:

Friday 9/27, 4:30 pm The Bomb Under the Table: Writing Suspense: Amanda DeWees, John Hornor Jacobs, Darrell Z. Grizzle

Friday 9/27, 9:30 pm Author Readings: Charles R. Rutledge, Jeff Strand, John Hornor Jacobs, Darrell Z. Grizzle

Saturday 9/28, 10 am Terror Down South: Nancy Collins, John Hornor Jacobs, Charles R. Rutledge, Darrell Z. Grizzle

I’ll be on three panels on the DragonCon Horror Track, and I’ll be reading one of my short stories at a late-night event, “Spooky Tales & Haunting Music.” If you’re going to DragonCon, check it out! And feel free to send me a friend code on the DragonCon app.

My DragonCon Schedule (tentative):

Friday 8/30, 1:00 pm Unearthly Visitations 
Horror Track, Westin, Peachtree 1-2
Intrusions of the unreal into our world is a hallmark of the horror genre. On this panel, authors will discuss how to effectively present these scenarios in order to elicit chills.
Gail Martin, Moderator. Tentative Panelists: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Anya Martin, Thomas Sniegoski, Tim Powers, Darrell Z. Grizzle.

Friday 8/30, 11:30 pm Spooky Tales & Haunting Music 
Urban Fantasy Track, Westin, Chastain 1-2
Our group of authors will each read a scary story or tell a creepy urban legend, and the time in between each presenter will be filled with atmospheric music by Victorian Chamber Metal virtuosos Valentine Wolfe.
Tentative Panelists: E.j. Stevens, David Boop, Valerie Hampton, Holly Sullivan McClure, Corinne O’Flynn, Valentine Wolfe, Darrell Z. Grizzle.

2019 is off to a great start! In January I was one of the authors featured in readings at Days of the Dead in Atlanta, where I read the title story from my short story collection “I Never Meant to Start a Murder Cult” and sold several copies of the book!

And in February I attended Con-Tagion 2019, a new con in Charlotte, NC, focused on professional development for writers and other creatives. I sat through some very informative writers’ workshops conducted by Gail Z. Martin, Jeff Strand, and John Hartness, the coordinator of the con.

Selfie at Con-Tagion 2019 with friends and fellow writers Lynn Hansen, John Hartness, Jeff Strand, Jessica Nettles, and Richard Dansky.

At Con-Tagion with Nicole Givens Kurtz, whose new collection of Weird Western stories, “Sisters of the Wild Sage,” will be published this Spring!

…and with Gail Z. Martin. I’m a big fan of Gail’s urban fantasy novels (check out her latest, “Sons of Darkness”) and the gay paranormal romance/action novels she writes under the pen name Morgan Brice (check out “Badlands”).

Me drinking coffee and being cool at Smelly Cat Coffeehouse in Charlotte, NC.

[Updated] I was on three panels this year at the DragonCon Horror Track, including my first-ever panel as moderator. All three panels went well and were a lot of fun! Hope to see you at DragonCon 2019!

Friday 8/31, 1:00 pm, Westin, Peachtree 1-2
V-Wars (picture below) 
This year, we’re helping to fill the Jonathan Maberry-sized hole in the schedule by assembling authors who have contributed to his V-Wars (Vampire Wars) anthologies.
V-Wars is coming soon to Netflix!
James R. Tuck, Dacre Stoker, Scott Sigler, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Larry Correia (moderator Darrell Grizzle)

Sunday 9/2, 2:30 pm, Westin, Peachtree 1-2
Collaborative Storytelling from Hell!
A roundtable of authors contribute to a collaborative story that is sure to put the “corpse” in “exquisite corpse.”
E.J. Stevens, Eric Asher, Shawnee Small. Darrell Grizzle (moderator David Maynor)

Sunday 9/2, 5:30 pm, Westin, Peachtree 1-2
Candles in the Night: Christians in Dark Fantasy
Authors discuss the role of Christianity in Horror & Dark Fantasy.
Katherine Kurtz, Faith Hunter, Tim Powers, Clay Gilbert, Darrell Grizzle (moderator James R. Tuck)

My first author reading went extremely well! The reading was on February 4, 2018, at the Days of the Dead convention in Atlanta. The two stories I read were very well received, and it was an honor and pleasure to share the panel with Jeff Strand and Nancy Collins. I read my ghost story from Mad Scientist Journal (Summer 2017) and a macabre humor piece that recently sold to a major sci-fi market and will be published soon. Several people took my author business cards and said they look forward to reading more of my work. We had a much larger audience than we expected, especially for the very last time slot on the last day of the con.

Many thanks to friend and filmmaker Lynne Hanson for this pic of the reading (L-R: Nancy Collins, me, Jeff Strand)

and this pic of (L-R) me, Jeff Strand, Days of the Dead Blue Track director Nathan Hamilton, and Nancy Collins:

Here’s my favorite photo from the con! Jeff Strand, me, and Lynn Hanson with a giant Yeti!