Ancient Logic

I think this was one of my favorite Arisias. First off, I had a bunch of panels, including a reading panel. That's always fun. In addition, all of the panels I went to were interesting, well-run, and gave me a lot to think about. I can only hope that my own contributions to Arisia were as worthwhile to the audience. I certainly had my fill of stimulating conversations. As always, this convention gives me that singular chance to catch up with both friends and the state of SFF in general. I was happy to catch up with Matt, Alex, John, and Melanie, as well as Wendee and Dan. I got to see a few familiar faces from the con circuit: Gillian Daniels, Andrea Corbin, and Gillian Daniels and I met a bunch of awesome writers and reviewers. I even got in a great session of RPG, playing Masks, a superhero RPG powered by the Apocalypse. I was happy to see the Indie Expo return to the con even though the offerings were some what slim this year.  A few thoughts on the panels I participated o...

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 Chris Philbrook (moderator) , Hillary Monahan , Tom Deady , Douglas Wynne , Morgan Crooks 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 c...

Arisia 2018 Panels have been announced and it looks like I'm going to be on a bunch in 2018. Go me! Arisia, if you don't know, is a small fan-run, fan-centered annual SFF convention in Boston. I've had incredible experiences in the past taking part in panels on literature, media, gaming, and science.  Two of the panels, "Writing Horror, the Occult, and the Macabre" and "Emotional Impact — How to Make Readers Care," are the first writing panels I've been invited to. I'm not claiming mastery in either but with a few stories under my belt I hope I have a few useful things to share. I'm also on the "2017: The Year in Stephen King" panel which was my reach goal for the year. I count myself as an enormous fan of King's oeuvre and this has certainly been a banner year for the author from Bangor. From television series based on his work (Delores Claiborne and The Mist) to a pair of movies (one reportedly terrible and on...

The Woburn library is hosting two events that I think might be interesting to readers of this blog living in the Northshore. First up, this Friday the library is holding a "Board Game Night for Adults." The press release reads: Here's your chance to put your phone down and spend a lovely summer evening playing some excellent boardgames and meeting other boardgame enthusiasts. After the library closes for regular business on Friday, August 12th, it will reopen at 6 PM, having been magically transformed into an old school gaming parlor. We'll have some games on-hand (Chess, Checkers, Scattergories, Quelf, Scrabble and Bananagrams), but we're encouraging you to bring your favorite ones from home. If the weather cooperates, this will be an indoor/outdoor event (BYO picnic blanket). Register at the main desk by August 11th, or RSVP to rmeehan@minlib.net.I'm planning on being there to bring a few Euro-style games such as Agricola, Power Grid, and my new favorite ga...

I will be reading some of my work at the Woburn Public library this December 10th at 7pm. This event is shaping up to be an open mike with myself and Nick Mancuso (who runs the Woburn Writing Workshop) starting the festivities. I hope to see you there. Here is the press release for the event. Thank you to Andrea Bunker, the assistant librarian at Woburn for organizing this event. "On Thursday, December 10, at 7PM, read it, speak it, and own it at Woburn Public Library's first Open Mic Night for Writers! Come with a short piece or poem to share with a general audience, or simply join us to listen to works that may be meeting others' ears for the first time. Light refreshments will be served, and handicapped access can be arranged by calling (781) 933-0148. Connecting readers and writers since 1856, the Woburn Public Library is located at 45 Pleasant Street in Woburn, MA."

II mentioned a couple months ago that I will be reading some of my work at the Woburn Public Library and I now have a few more details to share. First off, the reading will not just be myself but will also feature the literary talents of Nick Mancuso, who is an incredibly talented writer. Second, the event will last 7:00 to 8:30pm and refreshments will be available. I hope to see you there! Lastly, within the next couple of months I'll have another development to share. It's hard to keep quiet about this but for the moment I'll have to be vague.  I'm including the posting from the Library's website in case your interested: Local Author Reading featuring Morgan Crooks and Nicholas Mancuso Thursday June 25, 2015 7:00 AM until 8:30 AM Join us on Thursday, June 25, at 7PM to celebrate the work of two local authors: Morgan Crooks and Nick Mancuso.  Morgan has had his stories  published in the Daily Science Fiction website as well as in anthologies release...

As part of a writing workshop I've joined, I'll be participating in a public reading of my work on June 25th, 2015 at the Woburn Public Library. The details are a little hazy at the moment, but it will be in the evening and I will be joining Nick Mancuso, a writer leading the Woburn Writing Workshop. Hopefully other participants of the workshop will also be reading, as I've had the good fortune to join of group of truly talented writers! I'll give a quick shout-out to Andrea Bunker, the Assistant Librarian at the Woburn Library, for being so receptive to this idea. As I've mentioned before, reading my work before audiences has been one of my absolute favorite aspects of writing so far. Hopefully there will be other possibilities to announce in the near future.