Author: Jennifer Barnes

  We had scheduled this panel discussion in February for Women in Horror Month but it was postponed due to a snowstorm. However any month of the year is a good time for a Q&A with some of the most creative minds in the field, so we hope you'll come out and join us. From horror poetry and short stories to novels and illustrations our panelists will make you check under the bed, twice! For up to date info join the Facebook event. Ukazoo Books: Dulaney Plaza Shopping Center, 730 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson, MD To prepare for this event we’ve done a series of spotlight interviews with each panelist. Here are links to those interviews: Stephanie Wytovich Donna Lynch Andrea Marie Jessica McHugh Damien Angelica Walters Deena Warner Bios…

Small Press Spotlight: Down and Out Books is bringing the hardest of hard-edged crime fiction to a new generation of readers The Down & Out Manifesto We are lovers of quality, well-written stories of crime. We look for and publish great writers … some you’ve heard of, some you haven’t. These are folks you should be reading. All titles are available as ebooks and several as trade paperbacks. History of the Press Publisher Eric Campbell describes himself as a fan first and has always enjoyed crime fiction, hardboiled, noir and detective novels. In his search for great reading he befriended a publisher, Dennis McMillan and learned about the business, then invested in Tyrus Books and finally founded his own press. Down & Out Books first started as a way to publish…

Today's spotlight is on Rooster Republic, a relatively new press in a relatively new genre, Bizarro. Give a brief overview of what you publish. Mostly bizarro but we’ve also dabbled in poetry and horror. As long as it’s strange (and good) it has a home at Rooster. What inspired you to go into publishing? I learned the business while working as a Staff Accountant at a small book factory named Thomson-Shore. I saw the way traditional publishers did business and I thought I could do it better. Honestly, from the outside looking in, publishing looks pretty easy. I was so wrong. So, so, sooooooo wrong. This is an incredibly difficult job and I wouldn’t recommend it for most people. What's a publishing pet peeve of yours? Authors and small presses…

Small press month continues with a spotlight on science fiction publisher Apex Publications Overview of Apex Apex Publications encompasses Apex Book Company, which offers a broad selection of books, and Apex Magazine, an online pro-zine published monthly. Apex's mission is provide quality stories for fans of genre fiction and to support budding authors through reference material. About the Magazine Apex Magazine is an online prose and poetry magazine of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mash-ups of all three. Works full of marrow and passion, stories that are twisted, strange, and beautiful. Creations where secret places and dreams are put on display. Apex Magazine received a Best Semiprozine Hugo nomination in 2012, 2013 and 2014 while also placing stories in the Nebula Award category of Best Short Story for several years. Nearly…

The third entry in our Small Press Month series is the unusual literary publisher Atticus Books. Give a brief overview of what you publish. Our mission at Atticus Books is to deliver a first-class experience to the reader. Period. We specialize in genre-busting literary fiction—i.e., titles that fall between the cracks of genre fiction and compelling narratives that feature memorable main characters. We publish books and regularly post original short stories, poems, literary essays and creative non-fiction on our website. What inspired you to go into publishing? Serendipity shined her bright light upon the publisher’s path on a journey he made to Virginia on his 43rd birthday. On this day, Dan Cafaro, the founder and publisher of Atticus Books, happened upon an ATTICUS BOOKS sign while antiquing in Leesburg, Va.…

Our second publisher spotlight for Small Press Month is the dynamic Valancourt Books. Give a brief overview of what you publish. At Valancourt, we specialize in the rediscovery of rare, neglected and out-of-print fiction. We have a strong focus on horror and supernatural but also bring back classic works of literary fiction. What inspired you to go into publishing? James and I had an interest in rare Gothic literature from early on. We were amazed by the lack of texts available to academic, scholars and general readers. Aside from a handful of titles published by university presses, there was nothing else. We started by bringing some of these rare texts back into print. Many of those titles were only known to exist in one or two copies worldwide. What's a…

April 10-13 • 2nd Bourbon Ridge Retreat in Hocking Hills, Ohio Join RDSP Friday, April 10th – Monday morning, April 13th for a weekend of writing hijinx! The primary focus will be on individual writing time but you’ll have the chance to talk with other editors and authors over meals and share your work in a group reading session. Accommodations are in a luxurious lodge in scenic Hocking Hills, OH. Get away from distractions and make time for your writing! We had a great experience the first time we stayed there and are looking forward to going back. See the pictures and read our recap here. But you don't have to take our word for it, get a participant's perspective from DailyNightmare.com. All meals are included, the total cost (covering…

FC2, A Small Press with a Big History March is Small Press Month so we figured that some posts to spotlight a few of the incredible small presses we know. Our first spotlight is on Fiction Collective 2 aka FC2. FC2 is a unique, author-run press with a long, accomplished history of publishing innovative fiction. It began in 1974 with 6 authors and now has over 100 members. The collective generally publishes between 6 and 10 books a year. Titles are selected from collective members, manuscripts sponsored by members and two contests per year open to anyone interested. What is FC2's mission? FC2 is devoted to publishing fiction considered by America's largest publishers too challenging, innovative, or heterodox for the commercial milieu/ FC2's mission has been and remains to publish…

Reader's Choice 1st Round Voting This is the 2nd year for our Reader’s Choice Award and it includes all titles published by RDSP and its imprints in 2014. The first step is a poll anyone can vote in. Help us by choosing up to 3 books that you think should be considered for the award. This round of voting will narrow the field down to 4 titles. A team of readers will then read and evaluate all 4 books to choose a winner. If you would like to be considered for the judging team and do not know any of the authors personally email us. Reader's Choice Poll The Biographizer Trilogy (Hitler, Freud, Douglass) by D.Harlan Wilson Corpus Chrome, Inc. by S. Craig Zahler Embrace the Hideous Immaculate by Chad…

Maria Alexander on Horror Q: Horror seems to be the writing playground of 'the boys'. What made you chose to write horror or do you feel that you were chosen to write horror? Since I was a wee thing, I have always done “boy” things, it seems. I was attracted to so-called boys’ toys, like racecar sets and CB radios, and read just about all of The Hardy Boys books. Later, I played Dungeons & Dragons with my male teenage friends. I loved ghost stories, monster movies, WWII, vampires and Lovecraft. So when I started writing, I just started writing what I liked to read. But why horror? Well, one of my first stories was “The King of Shadows,” and I think it says something about where are my kinship…

The Bram Stoker Nominees Are… We are excited to announce that three of our titles have made it to the final ballot for the Bram Stoker Award: Mr. Wicker by Maria Alexander (Superior Achievement in a First Novel) Soft Apocalypses by Lucy A. Snyder (Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection) Mourning Jewelry by Stephanie Wytovich (Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection) See the full list of nominees here. The winners will be announced May 9 during the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet at the World Horror Convention in Atlanta, GA. Learn more about these wonderful nominees and their books by reading spotlight interviews with each author: Maria Alexander Lucy A. Snyder Stephanie Wytovich  

Women in Horror Panel Now on YouTube We had originally planned at Women in Horror panel discussion as a bookstore event at Ukazoo Books in Towson, MD. However, there was a big snowstorm the day of the event so we had to postpone that and decided to try doing a Google On Air Hangout instead. Though we had never done one before it turned out fabulously. All the panelists had amazing insights to share! Now you can watch the panel on YouTube. Read the individual spotlight interviews with these Women in Horror: Donna Lynch Jessica McHugh Damien Angelica Walters Deena Warner Stephanie Wytovich

You are invited! We have decided to make our Women in Horror event available to everyone worldwide instead of just limiting it to the crowd at Ukazoo Books in Towson, Maryland. You can now participate via the Goodle+ On Air Hangout scheduled from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today. February is Women in Horror month so we’re marking the occasion by having a panel discussion with several women working in the horror field. From poetry to short stories to novels and book illustrations these women will make you check under the bed, twice! Participants include Stephanie Wytovich, Jessica McHugh, Damien Angelica Walters & Deena Warner. Of course, the inclement weather helped us to make a decision to move the event online. I should also add that Ukazoo…

Three RDSP titles have been included on the preliminary Bram Stoker Award ballot The Horror Writers Association annual Stoker Award preliminary ballot has been announced, and RDSP titles made it into three different categories: Mr. Wicker by Maria Alexander (Superior Achievement in a First Novel Soft Apocalypses by Lucy A. Snyder (Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection) Mourning Jewelry by Stephanie Wytovich (Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection) We extend our congratulations to all of the authors who have work currently under consideration for the Stoker Award. 2014 was clearly a good year for horror publishing! More about the authors Maria Alexander writes pretty much every damned thing and gets paid to do it. She’s a produced screenwriter and playwright, published games writer, virtual world designer, award-winning copywriter, interactive theatre…

In Recognition of Women in Horror Month RDSP Presents: February is Women in Horror Month and we figured, what better way to mark the occasion than by having a Q&A with some of the most creative minds in the field. From horror poetry and short stories to novels and illustrations our panelists will make you check under the bed, twice! Ukazoo Books: Dulaney Plaza Shopping Center, 730 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson, MD To prepare for this event we've done a series of spotlight interviews with each panelist. Here are links to those interviews: Stephanie Wytovich Jessica McHugh Damien Angelica Walters Deena Warner Bios of the women participating: Moderator: Stephanie Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, a book reviewer for Nameless Magazine, and a well-known coffee addict.…

Tips for Planning a Writing Retreat When I decided to host a writing retreat I searched online to see if there was any advice for planning one. I found tons of articles by writers with tips about arranging writing weekends for themselves and possibly even sharing with another writer friend but I did not find much about planning a larger retreat. It turned out not to be too hard but here's a few things my experience taught me. Choose a great place Probably the most important thing is to pick a good place to hold your retreat. We splurged and went with a luxury lodge, and it was perfect. Bourbon Ridge Retreat had charm and lots of space, a kitchen and table big enough for the whole group to eat together…