For the next stop of my Blood Street blog tour is a guest post of my top 5 gangster novels of all time on Benjamin Kane Ethridge‘s blog at Benjamin Kane Ethridge.
Jun
16
After a late night walking Bourbon Street and attending the various after parties and a hearty workout at the gym in the morning, day 2 began for me at the pre-pitch panels moderated by RJ Cavender. RJ even looked and sounded sober despite the early hour of the morning. I had the opportunity to talk to editors from Dark Regions Press, Random House, and Nightscape, as well as an agent from Writer’s House about some of my novels. Special thanks to Mercedes Yardley for doing a fantastic job coordinating the pitch session.
After a quick bite to eat (more Jambalaya), I was on my first ever panel about Reclaiming the Vampire. It was a thrill to be on the panel. Nancy Kilpatrick did a terrific job moderating and Bev Vincent provided great insight with his knowledge of vampire literature. We had a great turn-out and the crowd was lively and interactive. For some reason, all four of the panelists, myself included, seemed to have a strong disdain for the sparkly Twilight style vampires.
Later, I attended Journalstone’s pre-banquet get together. Chris Payne did a great job of organizing the event. At the Stokers banquet, Jeff Strand once more rocked as the emcee. I was thrilled that Mort Castle got not one but two Stokers. After talking to Mort later, I was amazed to find out that these were the first Stokers he had ever won. I figured he had a dozen by now.
It was a late night afterward starting with the Samhain Publishing after-party. I followed that up with a trip on Bourbon Street with Ed Kurtz, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Eric Guignard and others. Our first stop was the Dungeon. We lasted about thirty seconds. I like my music loud, but I thought my eardrums would burst. We then went to the bar next door, which was more low key. A great time was had by all, and I look forward to attending the next WHC in Portland.
Jun
15
After getting about three and a half hours of sleep after arriving late in New Orleans the previous night, I was ready to go. My first workshop was Marketing Yourself as Author with Matt Schwartz, the Vice President of Digital Marketing at Random House. This was one of the best workshops I’ve ever attended. Matt Schwartz is a wealth of marketing knowledge, and I was glad to absorb some of that knowledge.
After a break for some jambalaya on Bourbon Street, it was back to back to back panels. I attended a panel on selling short stories moderated by Ellen Datlow with JG Faherty and John Joseph Adams among others in the panel. The highlight was Tom Monteleone with his sharp wit and no holds barred comments. Next up was a panel moderated by Anita Siraki regarding Social Media, something I’m still trying to get a handle on. To complete the trifecta was a marketing panel led by the Queen of Horror Nanci Kalanta. The guests were fantastic including Matt Schwartz and Chris Payne from Journalstone. Listening to David Morrell’s years of wisdom and his approach to Facebook was a real treat.
After the mass author signings, the first round of parties began. I got a chance to renew some old acquaintances with Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Adam Cesare, and Brad Carpenter. The most bizarre thing I saw was outside of the Hotel Monteleone around midnight,where out of nowhere a parade complete with Mariachi bands came marching down the street from a wedding party. That’s when I knew I wasn’t in Central Pennsylvania anymore.
Jun
12
On the next stop on my Blood Street blog tour is a guest post I wrote on Fang-tastic books about how I combined vampires and the Mafia in my novel Blood Street at Fang-tastic Books.
Jun
08
On the next stop on my Blood Street blog tour is a guest post on Moonlight Gleam about why I write horror. You can read it at Moonlight Gleam.
Jun
06
On the next stop of my blog tour is an awesome review of my novel Blood Street at House of a la Mode. Check it out at House of a La Mode.
Jun
04
On the next stop of my Blood Street blog tour is a post on My Shelf Confessions about my experiences watching The Exorcist at My Shelf Confessions.
Jun
02
On the next stop on my Blood Street blog tour is a guest post I wrote for Midnyte Reader about my favorite character in my novel Blood Street. Check it out at Midnyte Reader.
Jun
01
The next stop on my Blood Street blog tour is an interview I did on Dark Eva’s Dark Delights. Check it out at Dark Eva.
May
31
On the first stop of my Blood Street blog tour is a review of my novel Blood Street in Dark Eva’s Dark Delights at Dark Eva.