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Updated Schedule for Arisia 2018


Next week is Arisia 2018 and I'm on a few panels you might be interested in. In addition to my first couple of writing panels, I'll be joining in conversations about ghosts, haunted houses, and Steven King. If you find yourself at the convention, please consider stopping by!

In order of occurrence with location, time, participants and brief panel description:


Writing Horror, the Occult, and the Macabre 
Bulfinch (3W), 8:30pm - 9:45pm
From the revival of Stephen King's dark fantasy series 'The Gunslinger' to long-running post-apocalyptic dramas such as 'The Walking Dead,' horror is hot ... it just lurks under different names. Come learn how to use the horror conventions to ramp up suspense, weave the supernatural into your stories, use real-life elements to prey upon your audience's fears, and how you can create your OWN dark and edgy worlds where no character is safe and morality is not always clear.

Horror Reading Panel 
Hale (3W), 10pm - 11:15pm
Douglas Wynne and I will be reading their own work of terror and suspense. My plan is to read excerpts from "Implicate Order" and two other flash pieces published this year. 

It Came From the Past…
Douglas (3W), 8:30am - 9:45am
Morven Westfield (moderator), ML Brennan, Hillary Monahan, Darcie Little Badger, Morgan Crooks Ghosts often appear in stories as signifiers of old crimes, guilt, and injustice that needs to be corrected. In this panel, we'll face the accusing ghosts, the avenging ghosts, and the ghosts who remind us of things done wrong. Why does the ghost work so well as a visitor from the past? How can ghosts lead readers to a better understanding of injustice and history? What ghosts need to be summoned to remind readers of what has gone on before?

Emotional Impact — How to Make Readers Care
Faneuil (3W), 1pm - 2:15pm
E. C. Ambrose (moderator), Timothy Goyette, ML Brennan, Jeanne Cavelos, Morgan Crooks No matter how great your plot is, if the readers don’t care, you’ll slip to the bottom to the to-be-read pile. Come learn how to use emotional stakes to add conflict to every page, use transformational arcs to create an inner struggle, delineate compelling flaws without losing reader sympathy, make your audience connect on a primal level, and create stories and characters that break readers’ hearts and keep them turning pages.

2017: The Year in Stephen King
Burroughs (3E), 8:30pm - 9:45pm
Griffin Ess (moderator), Genevieve Leonard, Tom Deady, Deirdre Crimmins, Morgan Crooks 2017 saw the release of both "The Dark Tower" and the first chapter of the remake of *It*, both long-awaited adaptations of two of Stephen King's most iconic properties. Additionally, "The Mist" made its way to television screens. It was a busy year for fans of King's stories, but was it a successful one?

Houses of the Dead: Haunted Houses in Fiction
Alcott (3W), 2:30pm - 3:45pm
Andrea Corbin (moderator), Gordon Linzner, Leigh Perry, Lauren M. Roy, Morgan Crooks Many popular genre staples, such as Shirley Jackson's "Haunting of Hill House," Mark Z. Danielewski’s "House of Leaves," and many of Stephen King's works, feature haunted houses. What is it about a confined haunted space draws us in and keeps us hooked? And what can this tell us about ourselves?

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