Horror Roundtable
Get yourself a drink and pull up a seat. Put your feet up. Welcome to the Roundtable, a public discussion about all things writing–a monthly virtual horror panel that will be run right here on the HWA Blog.
If you have an idea for a topic for discussion or would like to participate, please contact Marty Young on martyyoung2002@yahoo.com. We’re always after new topics–and guests!
The Next Roundtable:
HWA Horror Roundtable 9 (the Roundtable can be accessed by clicking HERE - this link will be active once the Roundtable begins)
When: June 8, 2013
Time: 12 noon EST (use the Time Zone Converter to find your local time)
The Future of Agents
Do you think all the recent technological advances in publishing are sounding the death knell for the literary agent? Agents used to be the gatekeepers in the classical publishing model, deciding who gets through and who remains in obscurity, but that barrier seems full of holes now. If literary agents are to remain part of the publishing process, how will they need to adapt?
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Special Guests:
Joe McKinney – bio to come
Doug Grad – bio to come
Robert L. Fleck – bio to come
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Here’s how the HWA’s Horror Roundtable works:
1. The Horror Roundtable will run every month right here on the HWA blog. There will be an active link to the Roundtable set up on this page just prior to the start of each Roundtable. You do not need to register to follow the discussion, or to post comments/questions.
2. Each event will last for one week.
3. For each Roundtable, a group of special guests will be invited to participate in a discussion on a selected topic. Our guests’ profiles will be posted on the Dark Whispers blog prior to each Roundtable, along with the topic of discussion.
4. The Horror Roundtable will begin with our guests discussing the topic.
5. After the first hour, the Roundtable will be opened for the general public to contribute, and it will remain this way for the duration of the week. During this time, anyone can join in the discussion to ask questions or offer their own views. Our Guests will be available directly after the Roundtable to answer or respond to any immediate questions or comments that come in from the public, and they will also check back in from time to time during the week to provide further comments.
6. At the end of the week, the Roundtable will be closed, but it will remain online so people can go back and read it at their own leisure. No further comments will be allowed.
7. An announcement about the next Horror Roundtable, including the next set of guest profiles, will be posted towards the end of each month.
The HWA Horror Roundtable was the brainchild of Weston Ochse and is managed by Marty Young. If you would like to take part or have a topic that would make for an interesting discussion, please contact Marty at martyyoung2002@yahoo.com.
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Past Roundtables
Note: due to gremlins in the system, we are in the process of reconstructing past Roundtable discussions 1-4. Please check back soon to access them.
Horror Roundtable 1: Is Cross-Genre Writing More Popular Now?
When: June 4-10, 2012
Special Guests: Nancy Holder, Christopher C. Payne, and Weston Ochse.
There was a time when publishers were stumped on how to market works that conformed to more than one genre. Not only did they not know how to market something that was both science fiction and horror fiction (for instance), but with bookstore chains having separate shelves for each, they weren’t sure how to provide shelving guidance. But recent science fiction-horror smash hits such as Justin Cronin’s The Passage and Stephen King’s 11/22/1963 have demonstrated that readers want more genres. Books such as Daryl Gregory’s The Devil’s Alphabet (science fiction and literary fiction) and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (historical fiction and horror fiction) have also found critical acclaim. Cross-genre fiction is now what readers want; should we give it to them? What are the challenges of writing cross-genre works and how are those best dealt with?
Horror Roundtable 2: Ray Bradbury – an appreciation.
When: July 8-14, 2012
Special Guests: William F Nolan, Mort Castle, Sam Weller, and Jason V Brock.
Ray Douglas Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012) was, and will remain, a legend. He was a prolific writer whose works included Fahrenheit 451, ‘The Martian Chronicles,’ ‘The Illustrated Man,’ and Something Wicked This Way Comes, amongst hundreds of short stories, almost 50 novels, plus poems, essays, operas, plays, and more. He was nominated for an Academy Award and won numerous other awards through a highly distinguished career that spanned more than seventy years. His work has inspired many writers, and will continue to do so for a long time to come. He was, as The New York Times stated in his obituary, “the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream.” He died during a rare transit of Venus and left behind a legacy that will never be matched.
Join us as we celebrate the man and his work, and the inspiration he has been and will continue to be to generations of writers.
Horror Roundtable 3: Author Promotion.
When: August 6-12, 2012
Special Guests: Jonathan Maberry, Scott Sigler, Roy Robbins, and Theresa DeLucci.
There can be so much author promotion now that we almost don’t see what’s being advertised or pay any attention to it anymore. We will explore how a writer should (or could) go about successfully promoting themselves and their work, and how much promotion is too much. We will also look at what the best platforms are for promotion, and how much a publisher does, or should do. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about promoting yourself, we’ll discuss it.
Horror Roundtable 4: The Darkness of Being Human.
When: September 10-16, 2012
Special Guests: Lisa Morton, Rick Hautala, Christopher Conlon, and Joseph Nassise.
How do you create characters that end up walking down dark and dangerous paths? Also, taking it a little further, what makes a good villain or ‘bad guy’ in fiction? We’ll cover some memorable antagonists and discuss what makes them so good—or bad. Like that saying, a madman who knows he is mad, isn’t, some of the best ‘baddies’ are those who don’t know they’re bad, or who aren’t bad but aren’t exactly doing good things.
Let’s explore the dark side of a character’s humanity, in all its shadowy guises…
HWA Horror Roundtable 5: The Editor and The Writer
When: November 18-24, 2012
Special Guests: Ellen Datlow, John Joseph Adams, Jason V Brock, and John Langan.
What’s it like, as a writer, to have your work selected and shaped by an editor? And as an editor, what are the perils and rewards of editing the work of others? Are writers under any obligations to self-edit and get work into a professional shape before they submit anywhere? What about editors who compile versus editors who use a more hands-on approach? What are the lines delineated between writers and editors, and where are they blurred? How can a good editor help a talented writer?
HWA Horror Roundtable 6: Screenwriting
When: February 11-16, 2013
Special Guests: Michaelbrent Collings, Signe Olynyk, Matt Lohr, Brad Hodson, and Pen Densham.
How to get involved in the industry, the pitfalls and problems, the success stories. Screenwriting is a natural extension of story writing, but it is also a completely different art form. Let’s look at how it differs, and how difficult it is to create visual scenes for filming. And the end result; is it always how you viewed it would be? Are there any tips or suggestions you can offer for those just starting out, things you’ve learned along the way?
HWA Horror Roundtable 7: The Future of Writing
When: March 18-24, 2013
Special Guests: William F Nolan, Taylor Grant, Brad Hodson, Peter Giglio, and Christopher C Payne.
Technology has surged ahead over the past few years and technological advances show no sign of slowing. We’re living in the future. What does this mean for us writers? Does it open new pathways to success and unlimited options to explore our imaginations and present these worlds to our readers, or will it have an adverse effect? If there are always stories to tell, how will they be told in years to come? Will the written word alone be good enough?
HWA Horror Roundtable 8: Writing a Series
When: June 8, 2013
Special Guests: Kelley Armstrong, Nancy Holder, F. Paul Wilson, and Kim Newman.
What do writers owe their readers when they write books in series? Or do they not owe anything at all? The readers are the people who buy the books and “pay” the writer with eventual [we hope!] royalties. The people and situations in a book and a series are the writer’s creation and for themselves foremost … but if a writer isn’t thinking of potential readers, then why bother sending the book to an agent or publisher? Why try to get it published? And … what does a writer owe her own characters? Did she form them and breathe life into them only to cut things off in a matter of a few books? Of course, we can think of Sherlock Holmes who died but was brought back after Doyle got a lot of Victorian flak.
3 Responses to “Horror Roundtable”
I would really like you to become a guest poster on my blog.*”*:
Looking forward to it. If the slimy witch that haunts my laptop doesn’t try to stop me, I’ll be there. Oh my God! She heard me! I’m sorry…please…no…Slimy can be a compliment!
Thanks for this.
I appreciate this idea and look forward to the meeting in Nov. I am just finding my way around the HWA.
See you the week of the 18th.
Penelope Crowe