Book Cover Reveal of 13 Backyard Monsters

Here is the cover for 13 Backyard Monster anthology my story, "The Orange Bati," is included in. Also the back cover with the book blurb. It will be available as an eBook, print, and audiobook.

Author Appearance at Monster Fest in Chesapeake, Va. October 6, 2018

Monster Fest returns for its 15th year. The one-day horror convention's free and open to the public, family friendly, with panels, costume contests (one adult, other for children), trick-or-treating at some of the vendors form the kids (must sign up first), and movies. It will be held as always at Chesapeake Central Library, 298 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, Virginia.
I'll have two tables-one for my books that Ill be selling and will sign, and the other for Paranormal World Seekers paranormal reality show--with its DVDs for sale, including the new Barons Pub of Suffolk, Virginia investigation for sale. And I will be moderating a panel on Frankenstein the novel by Mary Shelley, joined by two other writers. It happens at 4:00 p.m.

For further information on programming and what vendors or guests will be there: www.MonsterFestVa.com 

Supernatural Friday: Binging on Horror: 13 Scary Films, Plus One More

I know there are many more good horror films, but here are thirteen, plus one more to get you started on binging for Halloween, beginning in September.

1. The Haunting (1963). Based on the novel, The Haunting of Hill House. Don’t rent the 90s stinkero remake. Get this one. But with Netflix to have The Haunting of Hill House as a TV series to binge watch beginning October 12, 2018, I think going back to watching the black and white film is perfect now. Premise: Dr. Markway, doing research to prove the existence of ghosts, investigates Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity. With him are the skeptical young Luke, who stands to inherit the house, the mysterious and clairvoyant Theodora and the insecure Eleanor, whose psychic abilities make her feel somehow attuned to whatever spirits inhabit the old mansion. As time goes by it becomes obvious that they have gotten more than they bargained for as the ghostly presence in the house manifests itself in horrific and deadly ways. The film doesn’t need special effects to scare you. So grab this film, turn off the lights, huddle on the couch or your favorite chair, and be prepared to be frightened.

2. Dog Soldiers (2002). No this is not a military film, though there are English soldiers in it. Plus a pack of werewolves they end up battling for their lives. And all set in the Scottish wilderness. Intense, this is one of the best werewolf horror films I have seen in a while. 

3.  An American Werewolf in London (1981). A horror film with werewolves that will make you think twice about traveling to English and hiking through it with your buddy at night and during a full moon.

4. Cabin the Woods (2011): The premise sounds old hat in horror films: “Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.” But honestly, it takes a surprising about-face, added with a dash of Lovecraft. I loved it. 

5.  30 Days of Night (2007). This is a vampire film that is intense from beginning to end. If you are looking for those breaks in humor, forget it, this movie won’t give it to you. If you’re looking for vampires that sparkle, forget it. These vamps are vicious and out for one thing you can give them, and it is not to love, but blood.

6.   Psycho (1960). Premise: a young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother. Though black and white, this Alfred Hitchcock film will scare you as only Hitchcock can. Famous for the shower scene.

7.  Evil Dead and Evil Dead II (1981 and 1987–both by Sam Raimi). First one is more grade-B horror, while the second one, a kind of remake has humor in it. The second one is the movie that made Bruce Campbell a B-movie icon and won Sam Raimi a whole lot more directing gigs. This film has equal parts humor and gore, but when the scares happen, they happen on a grand scale. Ever wondered what it would be like to fight your own hand? You won't have to wonder anymore after watching this movie. But still, I thought I point out the first one, too.

8.  28 Days Later (2002). Undead, or zombies as they are calling the ghouls of these films these days, this is a good one. Many movies have tried to recreate what a major city could look like after an apocalypse, but not many do it as hauntingly well as Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later." The terrifyingly fast zombie-like creatures roaming the landscape proved to be so effectively scary that the movie spawned a wave of movies featuring fast-paced zombies. And the zombies don’t have to die to change and are logical in why they act the way they do.

9.   The Descent (2005). This movie will terrify you if:  1) You’re claustrophobic. 2) You’re scared of the dark. 3) You have a fear of being trapped under the earth.  4) You have a fear of being trapped under the earth with vampire-like creatures that can see you but you can’t see them. netflix has the sequel that you can watch too.

10. Trick 'r Treat (2007): Now it's after Labor Day, we can go full blown Halloween crazy. Premise: Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pulls a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband. Perfect Halloween horror tales that will make you nervous about answering the door to trick-or-treaters.

11.  Alien (1979): “No one can hear you scream,” as the crew is stuck on a mining spaceship nowhere near Earth, where they run across something on a planet, what remains of a giant alien and what appears to be eggs or weirdly shaped rocks. One of the objects opens and something leaps from it to clasp onto the helmet of the crewmembers. Nostromo battle something that proves ET is not so friendly.  

12. John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982): This science fiction body horror movie is based on the short story, “Who Goes There” by John W. Campbell that I had read back in college in an anthology, and John Carpenter's version is a more faithful adaptation than the 50s version with James Arness. It will make you question if your friend is really your friend or something that may want to take over the Earth.

13. A Quiet Place (2018):  Another science fiction horror movie with monstrous killing aliens. Premise: On a devastated Earth overrun by lethal and ever-hearing predators of a possible extraterrestrial origin, the Abbotts and their children struggles to survive in a desolate world in a new era of utter silence. As this new type of invader is attracted to noise, even the slightest of sounds can be deadly; however, it's been already twelve months since the powerful monsters' first sightings, and this resilient family still stands strong. To learn the rules of survival in this muted dystopia is essential; nevertheless, an otherwise joyous event is threatening an already frail stability. Now, more than ever, don't make a sound.

I am adding a 14th movie: Halloween (1978): with the new film by John Carpenter that says all but the first film never happened, where Jaime Lee Curtis returns and ready to battle Michael,  and releasing close to Halloween this October, this is a good time to watch the original film. Premise: This American slasher film directed and scored by John Carpenter, starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut. The film tells the story of Michael Myers, who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his older sister Judith Myers but escapes back the house he grew up in on Halloween.

Science Fiction Yard Sale Saturday, May 26, 2018 in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Just heard that the Science Fiction Yard Sale was in the Virginia Pilot today and the owner of the home, Liz Albitz, and Starfleet Atlantic president Joy Dean, were interviewed on a local news channel in Hampton Roads last right. You can watch it HERE. Last time after 20 years for this annual event, so come on down and check all the vendors out this Saturday, May 26th. I'll be there, selling my books and Paranormal World Seekers DVDs, plus some other things, too.

Buy a copy of this urban fantasy novel, get it signed, and you will also get a stuffed eyeball!

Supernatural Friday: However You Call It, It’s Still Aswang to Me!

The Aswang is a flesh-eating, shapeshifting monster. During the day, Aswangs appear as regular townspeople. Although they’re shy and somewhat reclusive, they can have jobs, friends, and even families. It’s at night people have to worry, for Aswangs shift into eerie predatory forms and go hunting for human prey, preferring children and pregnant women for their flesh and blood.

The Aswang is a cryptid born out of Philippine folklore. Stories of this terrifying creature date back as far back as the 16th century, when Spanish explorers created the first written record of the monster. The explorers noted that of all the monsters in the Philippine folklore, the Aswang was the most feared by native people.

The creature’s name comes from the Sanskrit word “asura,” meaning demon. This terrifying monster is also sometimes called the tik-tik or the wak-wak. These names come from the sinister sounds the monster is said to make while hunting.

It can take the form of a woman during the day, but at night, it might appear as a bird, a pig, or a dog. Different regional versions of the creature are said to take different forms. The tik-tik and wak-wak become large birds, while the zegben (sometimes described simply as a companion of the monster) takes on the form of a Tasmanian devil. And as I stated earlier, these monsters have also been reported shifting into pigs and dogs. No matter which animal form it takes, the Aswang differs from a regular animal in various disturbing ways. Most Aswangs have long, proboscis-like tongues, and are frequently described as walking with their feet backward. They have also been depicted as being so thin that they can hide behind bamboo posts. Both the wak-wak version of the Aswang and the manananggals, a different monster, leave behind half of their human torso when they transform into a predatory form during the night.

Besides shapeshifting, Aswangs also can transform into other objects. It’s common for an Aswang to transform plant material into a doppelganger of one of its victims, to hide the evidence of its feeding habits from locals. These doppelgangers might replace corpses, which Aswangs often consume, or they might replace living people. If the doppelganger replaces a living person, it will return to the person’s home, get sick, and die.

Another tactic Aswangs use to disguise themselves is to use sinister vocal tricks. The closer fearsome predator draws to its victim, its call grows quieter and quieter, so its victim is tricked into thinking the monster is getting further away.

The Aswang’s hunting prowess is almost as frightening as its ability to hide itself in plain sight. Aswangs do like to dine on corpses, fetuses, and small children. They often appear at funeral wakes or at the bedside of pregnant women to eat. The Aswang uses its proboscis like tongue to suck blood from its victims or suck a fetus from a pregnant woman’s womb. They also have superhuman strength during the nighttime.

A person transforms into this deadly predator by tying a fertilized chicken egg to his or her stomach. After some time, the chick passes from the egg into the stomach. Once this has happened, the remaining eggshell is buried in a bamboo tube, along with coconut oil and chicken dung. The person now has the powers of an Aswang.

A dying Aswang can also pass its powers along to someone else if it wishes. The Aswang holds its mouth close to a chosen person, and the chick inside the monster’s stomach hops into the mouth of the new person.

The first step towards ridding a town of this deadly assailant is identifying the monster. There are several ways in which you can do this. Aswangs generally have bloodshot eyes, since they have been awake hunting all night. In addition, it is said that if you look directly into an Aswang’s eyes, your reflection will appear upside-down. The most common method of detecting Aswangs, however, involves using albularyos oil, a special oil made of coconuts and holy plants. This oil is said to boil whenever an Aswang is near.

Aswangs are repelled by garlic and religious artifacts like western vampires are, and are at their weakest during the day, while in human form. They can be killed by decapitation or by being struck with a whip made from a sting ray’s tail.

Author Appearance at Mysticon in Roanoke, Virginia This Weekend

You can catch me at Mysticon this weekend, from February 23-25th, at the Holiday Inn-Tanglewood, 4468 Starkey Road, SW, Roanoke, Virginia 24018.  Registration opens Friday at 1:00 P.M. (The line may begin forming at 12:30. Lines will not be allowed to form before 12:30) And the convention hasn't sold out, so you might be able to get a walk-in membership, even one day, but check the website to be sure. 

Programming Schedule

Author Interviews for Women of Horror Month 2018 February 24th and 25th

I will be interviewed at https://storyteller-skgregory.weebly.com/blog this Saturday, February 24, 2108 for Women of Horror Month (each day, from February 2nd to the last day, there will be a difference woman horror author interviewed, so, do check them all out). 

On the last Sunday of this month, February 25th, I'm the Women of Horror for that day at The Hazel Hedge Facebook page The Hazel Hedge . So, if you're on Facebook, check out my slot that day. And be sure to check it out everyday, as a different female author will be on it, all for Women of Horror Month.

Author Reading Feb. 16th on Speculative Fiction Cantina Blogradio

I will be reading from my urban fantasy novel, How the Vortex Changed My Life (#8 runner up of the Top 10 in the Science Fiction/Fantasy poll of P&E Readers Poll 2017) during one of the half hours of the blogradio show, Speculative Fiction Cantina on February 16, 2018. The time of the show is 6:00-7:00 P.M. EST, with other time zones being at Central: 5:00 P.M., Mountain: 4:00 P.M., and Pacific: 3:00 P.M. Author Judith Howell is the other author reading from her novel during that hour also.  The link is here.  

Monster Fest This Saturday, October 7th

Join me and other authors, filmmakers and vendors at the 14th annual Monster Fest. It will be at the Chesapeake Central Library, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The address is 298 Cedar Rd., Chesapeake, Virginia. The event is free and open, family friendly too.

I will have a special giveaway connected to the premiere of my new urban fantasy novel, How the Vortex Changed My Life, where you get to meet Larry, the demonic eyeball in the book. Buy the book and get it signed and enter your name and cell number to contact you if you are not back at 3 p.m. when the name of the winner is drawn, and you are the winner. 

Supernatural Friday: Stygian Fiends (Original Poem)

Enjoy this original poem I wrote for the next to the last Supernatural Friday of September 2017. Do not share the poem, but do share the link to friends, so they can read it too.

Stygian Fiends

By

Pamela K. Kinney

The world is

not as it

should appear.

There is a

hidden, dark truth.

Dead things 

among us,

hunt us,

wanting us,

so, they can

feed upon

our souls.

Eat us,

Become us,

Their darkness

Overcoming our essence,

sucking us dry,

until, no more

do we exist.

Author Appearance/Signing at Suffolk, Virginia Mystery Author Festival This Saturday!

I'll be at the Suffolk, Virginia Mystery Authors Festival this Saturday the 12th, from 1:45-6 p.m at the New Author Expo with my ghosts books, horror fiction, and even a copy of my erotic urban fantasy, The Witch and The Familiar by me under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan. http://www.suffolkmysteryauthorsfestival.com/

Schedule of everything at the event(begins at 1 p.m.: http://www.suffolkmysteryauthorsfestival.com/full-festival-schedule.html

Supernatural Friday: Ghoul or Zombie: It's All How You Look at It

"They are neither man nor woman

They are neither brute nor human

They are Ghouls"

— Edgar Allan Poe

When George Romero's Night of the Living Dead came out, the press called the undead in it,  zombies. Except Romero never coined them by that term. Instead, he                  called them ghouls. Which would be the right term, as zombies are connected to voodoo and are people drugged and controlled, not flesh eating monsters.

What are ghouls? A ghoul is a legendary evil being that robs graves and feeds on corpses.  It is one who shows morbid interest in things considered shocking or repulsive and supposedly lives in burial grounds. In Arabic folklore, ghouls are a type of jinn that could change their shapes but had one unchanging feature: donkey's hooves for feet. Even more horrible, it kills young children and even can lure unwary folk into abandoned places. By extension, the word ghoul is also used derogatorily to refer to a person who delights in the macabre, or whose profession is linked directly to death, such as a gravedigger.
Ghoul is from the Arabic ghul, from ghala "to seize." It is even thought to come from Gallu, a Mesopotamian demon. In Sumerian and Akkadian  mythology, the Gallus (also called gallu demons or gallas[Akkadian: gallû]) were great demons/devils of the underworld. Their job was to haul off unfortunate victims to the underworld and even accompanied Istar when she headed down to the underworld.
The ghul is a fiendish type of jinn believed to be sired by Iblis, known to the Devil in Islam. A ghoul is a desert-dwelling shapeshifting demon that can assume the guise of an animal especially a hyena. It lures unwary people into the desert wastes or abandoned places to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on young children, drinks blood, steals coins, and eats the dead, taking the form of the person most recently eaten. In the Arabic language, the female form is given as ghouleh and the plural is ghilan. In colloquial Arabic, the term is sometimes used to describe a greedy or gluttonous individual.
In stories and films, I think Gollum as closest to the idea of a ghoul, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is what Tolkien had in mind when he wrote him into The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. What other beings in books or TV or film, do you believe are ghouls?

Author Appearance at Scares That Cares July 22, 2017

I will be at the charity horror convention, Scares That Cares this coming Saturday, July 22nd, most of the time at the Horror Writers Association Virginia table in the dealers room at the Doubletree Hotel in Williamsburg, VA. You can purchase and get signed by me, one of my nonfiction ghost books (one concerns Williamsburg-Virginia's Haunted Historic Triangle) or my collection of horror short stories, Spectre Nightmares and Visitations. Plus 8:30pm – 9:30pm – I will be at the HWA Virginia Meet & Greet in rooms A and B. Information on cost, plus address of the hotel, what actors are guests, other authors, and more can be found here: http://scaresthatcareweekend.com/

Supernatural Friday: ReadaScare This Summer

The first day of summer will be here June 21st.  People are thinking of swimming at the pools while others will spend their vacation time at the beach or camping in the mountains. Others will get their thrills and scares on riding roller coasters at amusement parks. Lounging at the pool or at the beach, even camping, will be time for those to catch up on their reading. Many will read scary reads even though Halloween and autumn is over four months away. Horror books are as good a read for the beach or to read indoors in the AC as that latest bestseller by James Patterson. 

What is horror? Horror fiction, horror literature and horror fantasy is a genre of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, scare or startle viewers/readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. The genre has ancient origins which were reformulated in the 18th century as Gothic horror, with publication of the Castle of Otranto(1764) by Horace Walpole.

The reader can even revisit old classics. Like Dracula by Bram Stoker, H P. Lovecraft’s tales, those scary tales by Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson's ghost story, The Haunting of Hill House, and many others. Today, horror has changed into many different ways. From urban fantasy. psychological, to gory fiction to weird, science fiction horror, paranormal romance, and Johnny-come-lately term, cozy horror (can being scared ever be called cozy?). 

 

So many ways to give yourself shuddering palpitations of the heart.

So, what are you planning to read this summer? Leave a comment, so others can find these great reads in their local library, or at their bookstore or online estore.

Happy Haunting. . .I mean Reading! 

 

Author Appearance at Galacticon, May 20, 2017, in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Find me at Galacticon this upcoming Saturday, May 20th, fro 10:00 a.m to 4:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.  The one-day mini convention will be held at the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library, 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd,
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452. Library's phone: 757-385-0150. http://www.communitywalk.com/vblibraries#000423cC

As part of Paranormal World Seekers, we will be doing a panel: Paranormal Evidence: Is it Valid? A debate on the Paranormal

Author Appearance at Galacticon and Science Fiction Yard Sale, Both on Virginia Beach, Virginia

Find me at both Galacticon May 20th, and at the Starfleet Atlantic Science Fiction Yard Sale May 27th (raindate June3rd-if happens, I won't be at this on this date). Both are free and open to the public. 

Galacticon (10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.): Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452. Library's  Phone: 757-385-0150. Location map:  http://www.communitywalk.com/vblibraries#000423cC

Science Fiction Yard Sale (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.): 4844 Linshaw Lane (Haygood/Aragona Village Area), Virginia Beach, Virginia 23445. (Phone for information and directions, plus if want to sel there-it's $5.00 for a spot): 757-499-2359. Info on flyers below.

Supernatural Friday: World Building in Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

I have always been fascinated by world building. From science fiction to fantasy to horror, there must be reasons why a character or a whole slew of characters would

react as they do in their world. Their actions, their thoughts, the reason they fall in love with the person they do, it’s all about how their universe revolves.

It determines what kind of story you’re writing. Like Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. She built a whole world, making it hard science fiction. She gave reasons for why the dragons were needed and how the alien world and its people were. Now, The Witch and the Familiar by Sapphire Phelan, is set otherwise in a city that Tina Epson lives in.  Other scenes are set in Hell. Readers find that Tina works for an independent bookstore in town, Cup of Tea and a Book. She lives in an apartment she moved in after leaving her parents’ house. Except for a few friends, she lives alone in town, as her parents had moved to Florida after retiring. She’s mortal in the first book and likes to live a normal life. But in this world building, this character never gets a chance for that, as unusual circumstances make her come to a decision for normalcy or not.

World building makes the author research the myths, legends, and fairytales. If you want to know about vampires, then nonfiction books and online websites about vampires are a good place to start. Some of it will find its way into the book; more snippets later will sneak in. A lot of the author’s research may never find their way into the storyline. But it’s good for the author to have all the information for their own use, to look at when writing. One more thing with world building is readers bring expectations to reading, like rules of beings and creatures of myth, legend, and fairytales. The reader will have these in their mind. You will have to take the vampire, werewolf, god, or ghost, and make the reader go past these rules and believe you made another way these beings to behave. Your explanations do not have to be the most fantastic, but you do have to have them.

World building should include something else: background. Think of a movie. You have the main actors. But you also have the extras, or background as they are called in the movie business. You’re thinking, “No, extras aren’t that important, not when your hero or heroine is the real focus of the story.” But let’s look at the newest movie out, Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen volunteers to be in the games as tribute to save her younger sister whose name had been drawn from the girls’ bowl for the Reaping. When Effie Trinker says, “Let’s give a big applause to our newest tribute,” no one says a word or claps. You know what they are truly saying. So those extras are important to the scene. The same goes for the book or short story you are working on. Later in The Witch and The Familiar, Tina and the demon bunny, Fluffy, are traveling through Tantalus, a part of Hell, encountering demons and lost spirits. These characters may not be in the story again, but at this point and time, they flesh out Hell, as much as descriptions of this version of the Pit looks like do.

When you build your world, another thing is that you must be consistent in your rules. That means keeping them as you began them. Editing will help in catching these kinds of mistakes. A good critique partner for just this would be another great thing to have. I have files on various important characters in my stories, their traits, what they do, etc… and use these to go back to if something comes up that I’ve forgotten about my character. After all, if what you’ve written goes against any of the rules you’ve created in your world, then there has to be a logical, rational reason it happens differently at the time, reasonable to you and the readers. Such as if iron is poisonous to the fey, but suddenly later in the story, the character can pass through a fence of iron, there must be a reason why they can do this time (maybe they had found a spell that enables them to). Don’t just have them unable to do something because it isn’t convenient to your story. Being consistent is what makes the suspension of disbelief your readers are willing to have held together.

Your world’s historical past should not overwhelm or dominate your current story. If it does, then you will bore your readers, most of all, you’re writing the wrong fiction. A paragraph of it will be all you need.

Is there an inventive language in your story? It’s okay, but don’t make it so difficult for your reader to understand that they can’t follow along or have to wade through it. If it makes your reader stop to figure out and ponder about it, well, it isn’t helping your pacing. The reader needs to be engrossed in the story so much they can’t put it down, and at no time, should it make them stop and close that cover. If the reader needs a degree to understand your book, then you lost the battle to keep most readers engrossed in your tale. Glossaries are a useful way to deal with this, but better if you don’t make your reader stop so much your reader to keep reading ahead. That’s not to say you can’t. But nothing that will stop the reader reading.

World building is fun, as long as you think about presenting your world right. It’s all about drawing in your readers and keeping them coming back for more. It’s about giving them a vacation from reality they can suspend disbelief and enjoy.

Join Me at Marscon This Weekend

I will  be a guest at Marscon at the Doubletree Hotel, 50 Kingsmill Road in Williamsburg, Virginia this upcoming Martin Luther King Weekend (January 13th through 15th). I have my schedule (below), plus you can view what other panels, workshops and more will be happening during the convention: http://www.marscon.net/wp/index.php/marscon-2017-programming-schedule/

My schedule

Friday 9pm – Ghost Hunt--meet in the hotel lobby (yes, I am leading this and you can bring your own camera, camcorders and recorders to record for yourself too)

Saturday 10am – Fantastic Beasts and How to Write Them - How do you describe the movement of a dragon? What happens when a shapeshifter becomes a sea wyvern? These authors discuss the technicalities of creating larger than life creatures realistically. Panelists: Todd McCaffrey, Mari Mancusi, Pamela K. Kinney, D.C. McLaughlin

Saturday 2pm – Cosplay: Old School vs. New School - Before it became known as Cosplay it was simply known as Costuming - What is the difference or is there any? Panelists: Birdy, Erica Bortnick, Cheralyn Lambeth, Mera Babineaux, Pamela Kinney

Saturday 7pm – Dragons in Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction - Panelists will talk about how dragons are incorporated in these genre fiction and what makes the dragon a hot commodity for them. Panelists: Pamela K. Kinney, Margaret S. McGraw, Mari Mancusi, Joelle Presby

Sunday 10am – A World full of Monsters - From Blutbads to Zauberbiest, La Llorna & The Jersey Devil - join us as we explore the worlds of Grimm, Supernatural, and Teen Wolf and their use of the many creatures from history and other diverse cultures. Monsters such as the Kitsune of Japan, the Djinn of the Middle East, or the Chupacabra of Mexico and they have been used in these shows’ interpretations as well as some of the cultures that brought them. See what it takes to defend humanity from creatures that do more than just go bump in the night. Panelists: Pamela K. Kinney, D.C. McLaughlin

Sunday 12noon – Indie Publishing: Getting Known as an Author - Most people understand what marketing is, but far fewer understand the role that publicity pays in selling your work. One without the other often falls flat…but when your local newspaper won’t talk to you, how do you get publicity? Come hear how our experts do it. Panelists: Chris Kennedy, Pamela K. Kinney, Kim Headlee, Tabitha Grace Challis, D.C. McLaughlin