The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is proud to announce Bruce Boston as Poet Guest of Honor for the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend 2013, to be held in New Orleans from 13-16 June 2013.

Bruce Boston is the author of fifty books and chapbooks, including the novels The Guardener’s Tale and Stained Glass Rain. His poetry and fiction have appeared in hundreds of publications, including Asimov’s SF Magazine, Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Strange Horizons, Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and The Nebula Awards Showcase. One of the leading genre poets for more than a quarter century, Bruce has won a record four Bram Stoker Awards for Poetry, a record six Asimov’s Readers Awards for Poetry, and a record seven Rhysling Awards from the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA). He received the first Grandmaster Award of the SFPA in 1999. His fiction has received a Pushcart Prize and been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel and the Micro Award for flash fiction. Bruce lives in Ocala, Florida, once known as the City of Trees, with his wife, writer-artist Marge Simon, and the ghosts of two cats. Visit his website at www.bruceboston.com.

HWA President Rocky Wood said, “Bruce is one of the most respected genre poets of recent decades. His work is original, compelling and challenging. We are pleased he has agreed to share his knowledge and experience as a poet with the Convention and I know attendees will be looking forward to his Guest of Honor panel and his readings. It will be interesting to hear him expound on how he composes across genres and also writes prose, including award nominated novels. As well as being highly awarded Bruce is well known for giving back to the genre through his active participation in the Horror Writers Association and tirelessly working to promote the poetic form.”

“We are proud to have a Poet Guest of Honor, which recognizes the importance poetry has always played in the horror genre and undoubtedly always will,” Wood added.

Bruce joins Ramsey Campbell, John Joseph Adams, Jeff Strand, Caitlin R Kiernan, Jonathan Maberry and Glenn Chadbourne in a stellar lineup of author, editor, poet and artist Guests.

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce Glenn Chadbourne as the Artist Guest of Honor for the World Horror Convention (WHC) 2013. In 2013 the HWA is hosting WHC as part of the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend in New Orleans from 13-16 June.

Glenn Chadbourne is a freelance artist specialising in the horror/dark fantasy genres. His artwork has appeared in over fifty books and well as numerous magazines, comics, and computer games. His trademark pen and ink illustrations have accompanied the works of today’s best-selling horror writers, most notably Stephen King. He created the extensive artwork that appears in both volumes of King’s ‘The Secretary of Dreams’, as well as PS Publishing’s edition of ‘The Colorado Kid’. Chadbourne has a long standing relationship with Cemetery Dance Publications where a great body of his work can be seen in various books published by the company. He lives in Newcastle, Maine with his wife, Sheila and their pug dog, Rocket.

For more information, visit his website at www.glennchadbourne.com.

HWA President Rocky Wood said, “Glenn Chadbourne is a quiet achiever with a truly unique artistic style. I am fortunate to know him well – he is a character, a Mainer through and through and a true gentleman. He illustrated my first graphic novel, enhancing every word with astounding new views of such iconic characters as Frankenstein’s monster and Count Dracula, as well as authors such as Mary Shelley and HWA’s old friend, Bram Stoker. We are proud to have Glenn as WHC’s Artist Guest of Honor. Attendees are in for a real treat, viewing his artwork and getting to know the huge personality that is Glenn.”

Chadbourne joins previously announced Bram Stoker Awards Weekend Guests of Honor Ramsey Campbell and Jonathan Maberry; Toastmaster Jeff Strand; and WHC Guests of Honor Caitlyn R Kiernan and John Joseph Adams on the Guest list.

GalleyCat has gathered free samples of the scariest books of the year, those on the Bram Stoker Award® final ballot.

Pick your next read from this list.

Blogger Darkeva has posted a fascinating interview with World Horror Convention Guest of Honor Amber Benson.

Darkeva: In addition to your acting career, you’re also an accomplished film director, producer, and writer, but most people know you for your role as Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As urban fantasy and horror readers already knew you, how did that affect your transition to becoming a novelist?

AB: Well, I’d always written – mostly bad poetry and a few short stories and plays – but being on Buffy opened the door, as far as novel/prose is concerned, to a whole new world. It was through the show that I met Christopher Golden – who basically let me take Writing 101 at Chris Golden U! – and that’s how I learned I could write a book. Something I’d been scared to do up until that point.

Read the rest at Darkeva’s blog.

As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting literacy, horror, and our members, the Horror Writers Association (HWA) has established a formal HWA Library Partnership Committee, which will focus on developing new readers in all age groups for the horror genre as well as working with libraries and library associations to support various literacy-related programs.

The new committee will be chaired by JG Faherty, who has been serving as Library Liaison for the past few months while the committee was formalized. JG is proud to announce that the first two committee members, Hillary Dodge and Delia Remington, have signed on. Hillary formerly served as the HWA’s Library Liaison and is the Head of Youth Services, Clearview Library District, in Greeley, Colorado. Delia is a Librarian hailing from Fayette, Missouri.

During the next 12 months, the Library Partnership Committee will be working with the Board, the YA Horror Page team, individual authors, the American Library Association, libraries, and other organizations to identify and initiate new programs that will benefit readers, libraries, and the HWA’s members. Some of the ideas under investigation include:

• Bringing regional chapters and libraries together for mutually beneficial activities such as using libraries for meeting places, putting on group reading presentations/signings, and participating in holiday-themed events.
• Expanding the HWA’s presence at different library organization and literacy organization events, including conferences, regional meetings, and book fairs.
• Establishing a program of virtual presentations, using Skype or alternate technologies, so that writers in one area of the country can partner with libraries nationwide on special events.
• Continuing to find resources the HWA and libraries can share, such as reading lists and event calendars.

The Horror Writers Association is a worldwide organization promoting dark literature and its creators. It has nearly 1000 members who write, edit and publish professionally in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, games, films, comics, and other media. The HWA is also responsible for the iconic Bram Stoker Awards® for Superior Achievement in horror literature. For more information about the HWA or the Bram Stoker Awards, please visit www.horror.org.

Individuals with questions or ideas are welcome to contact JG Faherty at libraries@horror.org.

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the Final Ballot for the 2012 Bram Stoker Awards®. The HWA (see www.horror.org ) is the premiere writers organization in the horror and dark fiction genre, with nearly 1000 members. We have presented the Bram Stoker Awards in various categories since 1987 (see http://www.horror.org/stokers.htm ).

The HWA Board and the Bram Stoker Awards Committee congratulate all these Bram Stoker Award Nominees.

Notes about the voting process appear after the ballot listing.

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL

Ethridge, Benjamin Kane – Bottled Abyss (Redrum Horror)
Everson, John – NightWhere (Samhain Publishing)
Kiernan, Caitlin R. – The Drowning Girl (Roc)
Little, Bentley – The Haunted (Signet)
McKinney, Joe – Inheritance (Evil Jester Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FIRST NOVEL

Boccacino, Michael – Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling (William Morrow)
Coates, Deborah – Wide Open (Tor Books)
Day, Charles – The Legend of the Pumpkin Thief (Noble YA Publishers LLC)
Dudar, Peter – A Requiem for Dead Flies (Nightscape Press)
Gropp, Richard – Bad Glass (Ballantine/Del Rey)
Soares, L.L. – Life Rage (Nightscape Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Bray, Libba – The Diviners (Little Brown)
Lyga, Barry – I Hunt Killers (Little Brown)
Maberry, Jonathan – Flesh & Bone (Simon & Schuster)
McCarty, Michael – I Kissed A Ghoul (Noble Romance Publishing)
Stiefvater, Maggie – The Raven Boys (Scholastic Press)
Strand, Jeff – A Bad Day for Voodoo (Sourcebooks)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A GRAPHIC NOVEL

Bunn, Cullen – The Sixth Gun Volume 3: Bound (Oni Press)
Moore, Terry – Rachel Rising Vol. 1: The Shadow of Death (Abstract Studio)
Thornton, Ravi – The Tale of Brin and Bent and Minno Marylebone (Jonathan Cape)
Wacks, Peter J., and Guy Anthony De Marco – Behind These Eyes (Villainous Press)
Wood, Rocky, and Lisa Morton – Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times (McFarland)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN LONG FICTION

Burke, Kealan Patrick – Thirty Miles South of Dry County (Delirium Books)
Ketchum, Jack, and Lucky McKee – I’m Not Sam (Sinister Grin Press)
McKinney, Joe, and Michael McCarty – Lost Girl of the Lake (Bad Moon Books)
O’Neill, Gene – The Blue Heron (Dark Regions Press)
Prentiss, Norman – The Fleshless Man (Delirium Books)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORT FICTION

Boston, Bruce – Surrounded by the Mutant Rain Forest (Daily Science Fiction)
McKinney, Joe – Bury My Heart at Marvin Gardens (Best of Dark Moon Digest, Dark Moon Books)
Ochse, Weston – Righteous (Psychos, Black Dog and Leventhall Publication)
Palisano, John – Available Light (Lovecraft eZine, March 2012)
Snyder, Lucy – Magdala Amygdala (Dark Faith: Invocations, Apex Book Company)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SCREENPLAY

Goldman, Jane – The Woman in Black (Cross Creek Pictures)
Kim, Sang Kyu – The Walking Dead, “Killer Within” (AMC TV)
Minear, Tim – American Horror Story: Asylum, “Dark Cousin” (Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Productions)
Ross, Gary, Suzanne Collins, and Billy Ray – The Hunger Games (Lionsgate, Color Force)
Whedon, Joss, and Drew Goddard – The Cabin in the Woods (Mutant Enemy Productions, Lionsgate)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN ANTHOLOGY

Castle, Mort, and Sam Weller – Shadow Show (HarperCollins)
Guignard, Eric J. – Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations (Dark Moon Books)
Miller, Eric – Hell Comes to Hollywood (Big Time Books)
Scioneaux, Mark C., R.J. Cavender, and Robert S. Wilson – Horror for Good: A Charitable Anthology (Cutting Block Press)
Swanson, Stan – Slices of Flesh (Dark Moon Books)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN FICTION COLLECTION

Carroll, Jonathan – Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories (Subterranean Press)
Castle, Mort – New Moon on the Water (Dark Regions)
Hand, Elizabeth – Errantry: Strange Stories (Small Beer Press)
Hirshberg, Glen – The Janus Tree (Subterranean Press)
Oates, Joyce Carol – Black Dahlia and White Rose: Stories (Ecco)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN NON-FICTION

Collings, Michael – Writing Darkness (CreateSpace)
Klinger, Leslie S. – The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1 (Vertigo)
Morton, Lisa – Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween (Reaktion Books)
Paffenroth, Kim, and John W. Morehead – The Undead and Theology (Pickwick Publications)
Phillips, Kendall R. – Dark Directions: Romero, Craven, Carpenter, and the Modern Horror Film (Southern Illinois University Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN POETRY

Addison, Linda, and Stephen M. Wilson – Dark Duet (NECON eBooks)
Boston, Bruce, and Gary William Crawford – Notes from the Shadow City (Dark Regions Press)
Collings, Michael – A Verse to Horrors (Amazon Digital Services)
Simon, Marge – Vampires, Zombies & Wanton Souls (Elektrik Milk Bath Press)
Turzillo, Mary A. – Lovers & Killers (Dark Regions)

NOTE: In two categories there are six nominees because two works tied for fifth place.

Our voting members will now vote on this Final Ballot, with voting closing on March 31 (only Active and Lifetime Members are eligible to vote).

The Final Ballot will be sent to Lifetime and Active Members on February 28. If you are an Active or Lifetime Member and do NOT receive your electronic Ballot link by March 1, please first check your spam/junk mail filter and then email admin@horror.org . Note that Ballots are sent to the same email address as the Newsletter and the Internet Mailer. It is the responsibility of Members to keep their email address up to date by advising the administrator of any changes at admin@horror.org. Late Ballots cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

If your work (you are the author, agent, editor, publisher, or publicist) appears on the ballot and you wish to provide a link allowing Voting Members to read the work there will be a SPECIAL FINAL BALLOT INTERNET MAILER issued on or about February 28. If your work was listed on the Special Preliminary Ballot Internet Mailer it will be relisted automatically and you need not email or query. If your work was not previously listed, please email the Internet Mailer editor at imailer@horror.org with the details as soon as you can but no later than February 27 (links will not be accepted for this Special IM after February 27). You may offer to send electronic copies; provide reading copies on a website; or physical copies. Anyone validly representing a work appearing on the Preliminary Ballot may submit via this method, whether or not they are HWA members (this includes the author, agent, editor, publisher or publicist of the work).

Do NOT spam Voting Members, this is a severe breach of etiquette – Active and Lifetime (voting) members tend to notice such breaches and may consider them when determining which works to vote for on the Ballot.

You may also post the fact that your work is available to be read for Bram Stoker Award consideration ONCE, and only once, here: http://www.horror.org/private/smf/index.php?board=12.0 (Bram Stoker Eligible Work). If you had already posted your work here prior to the announcement of the Final Ballot you ARE entitled to post it again. Note: Only members may post at this Forum but members are encouraged to post on behalf of non-members who may appear on the Ballot.

The Bram Stoker Awards for the 2012 calendar year will be presented at the 26th annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet held during the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend 2013 Incorporating World Horror Convention in New Orleans on June 15.

Bookings and information at: http://www.stokers2013.org/ . Note: Banquet Tickets are separate from the Convention Membership and should be purchased directly from: http://stokers2013.horror.org/register.html .

When: February 11-16, 2013
Time: 3pm Pacific Daylight Time

Screenwriting (topic suggestion provided by Michaelbrent Collings).

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?

Special Guests:

Michaelbrent Collings – a bestselling novelist, produced screenwriter and WGA member, martial artist, and has a killer backhand on the badminton court (’cause he’s macho like that).

He published his first “paying” work – a short story for a local paper – at the age of 15. He won numerous awards and scholarships for creative writing while at college, and subsequently became the person who had more screenplays advance to quarterfinals and semifinals in the prestigious Nicholls Screenwriting competition in a single year than anyone else in the history of the competition.

His first produced script, Barricade, was made into a movie starring Eric McCormack of TV’sWill & Grace and Perception, and was released in 2012. Michaelbrent also wrote the screenplay for Darkroom, a movie starring Kaylee DeFer (Gossip Girl, Red State) and Elisabeth Rohm (Angel, Law & Order, Heroes). Darkroom is currently set for a 2013 release.

As a novelist, Michaelbrent has written numerous bestsellers, including Apparition, The Haunted, The Billy Saga, The Loon, Rising Fears, and others. In addition, he has also written dozens of non-fiction articles which have appeared in periodicals on several continents.

Michaelbrent is also a member of the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and in addition to selling, optioning, and doing rewrites on screenplays for major Hollywood production companies, he is currently developing several movies and television shows.

He hopes someday to develop superpowers, or, if that is out of the question, then at least to get a cool robot arm.

Michaelbrent has a wife and several kids, all of whom are much better looking than he is (though he admits that’s a low bar to set), and also cooler than he is.

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Signe Olynyk – President/CEO of Protagonist Pictures, Inc. in Los Angeles, and Twilight Pictures, Inc. in Canada. She has associate produced two feature films, as well as written and produced several documentaries, one hour specials, TV pilots, and a six part series. Her work has been seen on the CBC, Discovery Channel, FOX, the BBC, and she has professional credits on more than 120 productions. To write BELOW ZERO, she arranged to have herself locked in the slaughterhouse freezer where the film was shot. As the driving force behind BELOW ZERO, she brought that same level of dedication to all aspects of the production.

Signe created and founded the Great American PitchFest and the Great Canadian PitchFest as a way to help other writers meet the people they need to know for their careers to move forward. As a direct result, more than 60 writers have had their scripts optioned, been hired for writing assignments, or signed with agents or managers. The PitchFest has also allowed Signe to develop relationships with more than 500 industry executives around the world, and she routinely partners new writers with these companies and agencies for representation and script development. The first Great British PitchFest in London was recently held in partnership with the London Screenwriters Festival.

Signe is currently in pre-production on “Breakdown Lane” a zombie thriller written by her producing partner, Bob Schultz.

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Matt Lohr – A native of Pittsburgh, PA, MATT R. LOHR is an award-winning screenwriter, essayist and critic. He holds an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman University in Orange, CA, where he first met Dan O’Bannon and agreed to work with him on this book. His views on contemporary and classic cinema can be found on his blog, “The Movie Zombie”.

Matt is also the host of the forthcoming Dan O’Bannon Writing Workshops™, which will bring a hands-on presentation of Dan’s “dynamic structure” screenplay system to seminars, pitchfests and industry events worldwide. More information on these events, and on all upcoming projects and programs relating to Dan’s works and teaching, is available online at the official Dan O’Bannon website, www.danobannon.com. Matt can be contacted by email at matt@danobannon.com, and he is available on Twitter by following @TheMovieZombie.

Matt currently lives in Los Angeles.

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Brad Hodson – Originally from Knoxville, TN, Brad C. Hodson lives in Los Angeles. He’s written several award winning short films and has a few feature options out there. He co-wrote (and co-funded) the low budget horror comedy George: A Zombie Intervention and his first novel, Darling, was recently released from Bad Moon Books.

When not writing, he sneaks into your house and watches you sleep. It’s a little creepy. You might want to think about getting a dog.

Check out his work and musings on various topics over at www.brad-hodson.com.

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Pen Densham- Oscar nominated Writer, Producer, Director and co-founder of Trilogy Entertainment Group, Pen started in films in the UK at the age of four – riding an alligator in a theatrical short they made. He has produced 15 features and 300+ hours of TV with his producing partner, John Watson, including ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES, MOLL FLANDERS, THE OUTER LIMITS and TWILIGHT ZONE revivals. His first solo directing gig was THE KISS a horror movie! His latest feature as a Producer, PHANTOM (Written and Directed by Todd Robinson – starring Ed Harris, David Duchovny) will be released March 1st on 3,000 screens in the US. (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/phantom/) Pen occasionally lectures at USC Film School. His impassioned educational book on screenwriting is “Riding the Alligator”. A free chapter aimed to inspire creativity can be downloaded here – ridingthealligator.com.

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You can follow the Roundtable discussion in the comments section of this post.

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Rules and Etiquette

Please be respectful when posting a comment.

Any spam or comments posted for the sole purpose of self-promotion will be deleted, and will see you banned from further Roundtable involvement.

Centipede Press, of Lakewood, Colorado, will receive the Horror Writers Association’s Specialty Press Award for 2012. The Award will be presented during the Bram Stoker Awards® Banquet, to be held this year in New Orleans on June 15.

The annual Specialty Press Award recognizes a publisher outside the mainstream New York City publishing community that specializes in dark-themed fiction. Winners are typically “small presses” specializing in limited editions, small print runs, or the work of new and relatively unknown authors. The winner of the award is determined by a majority vote of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) Board.

Jerad Walters’ Centipede Press started in 2001 and specializes in horror, crime and science fiction, as well as art books, career retrospectives, and critical studies on horror films. Authors they’ve published include Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, H.P. Lovecraft, Patrick McGrath, Jim Thompson and Cornell Woolrich. Centipede Press titles strive to be excellent examples of bookmaking, with superior design, page layout, and dust jackets. For more information about Centipede Press, please visit http://centipedepress.com.

Past winners of the Specialty Press Award include Dark Regions Press, Tartarus Press, Delirium Books, Bad Moon Books, PS Publishing and Cemetery Dance.

The Bram Stoker Awards and the Specialty Press Award will be presented at the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet, which is part of the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend, incorporating the World Horror Convention 2013 is available at http://www.stokers2013.org. Press inquiries to president@horror.org.

Oscar-nominated Pen Densham is our final guest for the HWA Roundtable on Screenwriting, which kicks off at 3pm on the 11th of February (Pacific Daylight Time) on the HWA’s blog, and he called by to answer a few questions before the Roundtable begins.

Here’s the Roundtable topic in full:

Screenwriting: 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?

Special Guests: Michaelbrent Collings, Signe Olynyk, Matt Lohr, Brad Hodson, and Pen Densham.

Marty: Penn, what are you currently working on now?

Pen Densham: I have two personal feature projects we are aiming to get produced. An adaption of Simon Clark’s Blood Crazy. The script is by my son, Nevin. And a murder mystery wrote set in New Mexico with slight supernatural tones.

Marty: Writers are often asked who inspired them when they were growing up. What about screenwriters? Are there legends of the industry who inspire new rising stars? Who inspired you?

Penn: I was inspired by my folks making short movies for the UK theaters. I remember seeing Quatermass and the Pit on TV as tiny child. But – clearly seeing the Beatles Help was the final nail in the coffin — It was so much fun — I had to be in the movie business. Today David Lean, Hitchcock and Billy Wilder all rate highly. I was present when special screening of Sunset Boulevard was set up for Billy to see his movie one last time before he died. An amazingly moving experience.

Marty: When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing? (other than reading or watching movies!)

Penn: I am working on very impressionistic water photography that is exhibited by two galleries in Los Angeles.

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Oscar nominated Writer, Producer, Director and co-founder of Trilogy Entertainment Group, Pen started in films in the UK at the age of four – riding an alligator in a theatrical short they made. He has produced 15 features and 300+ hours of TV with his producing partner, John Watson, including ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES, MOLL FLANDERS, THE OUTER LIMITS and TWILIGHT ZONE revivals. His first solo directing gig was THE KISS a horror movie! His latest feature as a Producer, PHANTOM (Written and Directed by Todd Robinson – starring Ed Harris, David Duchovny) will be released March 1^st on 3,000 screens in the US. (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/phantom/) Pen occasionally lectures at USC Film School. His impassioned educational book on screenwriting is “Riding the Alligator”. A free chapter aimed to inspire creativity can be downloaded here – ridingthealligator.com.

Brad Hodson dropped by my virtual office today for a quick Q and A over some tea and scones. Brad will be one of our Special Guests for the HWA Roundtable on Screenwriting, which kicks off on the 11th of February right here on the HWA’s blog.

Here’s the topic in full:

Screenwriting: 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?

Special Guests: Michaelbrent Collings, Signe Olynyk, Matt Lohr, Brad Hodson, and Pen Densham.

Marty: Brad, what are you currently working on now?

Brad Hodson: Screenplay-wise, I’m working on a film inspired by the life of Harry Houdini. It’s slow going as I focus on another novel, but it is coming together nicely and I enjoy playing in the early twentieth century and seeing how magic, espionage, and undercover policing come together. I’ve got a few screenplays out there right now I’m waiting to hear about, and even more on my desktop I need to get out into circulation. The writing is fun and, for the most part, comes easy. It’s the business side of it all that usually leaves me flinging feces.

Not literally, of course. That would be another problem altogether.

Marty: Writers are often asked who inspired them when they were growing up. What about screenwriters? Are there legends of the industry who inspire new rising stars? Who inspired you?

Brad: I can’t imagine a screenwriter who, at some point, hasn’t been inspired by William Goldman. Goldman’s work is amazing but his books on screenwriting constitute a strong foundation of what most fledglings seem to know about the business. The scripts of the Coen Brothers gave me a strong push, too. They’re phenomenal directors but it’s their screenplays that really showcase their genius.

The indie boom of the nineties also gave me a nice push. Filmmakers like Tarantino, Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, all of the various Andersons – they not only wrote their own scripts but appeared in magazines and on talk shows (and, in some cases, even wrote books) on this wacky little enterprise. As a movie nerd, ahem, movie buff in high school during this boom it was a dream that seemed ever more achievable.

And, as a horror writer, I would be remiss not to mention William Peter Blatty. Blatty’s scripts for The Exorcist, The Exorcist III, and The Ninth Configuration are pure poetry. No one writes dialogue like that man. Watch George C. Scott discuss the carp in his bathtub and not be inspired. It’s impossible.

Marty: When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing? (other than reading or watching movies!)

Brad: I’m an amateur powerlifter. I also have a few amateur MMA bouts under my belt. Staying active, especially in any way that allows me to pretend I’m a Viking, is a big part of my life. Though a newborn has put the brakes on that for a couple of months. Those baby things don’t like it when you sleep…

Cooking is a big hobby of mine. Travel, too. Those two things go together well. You head to a new place, try some amazing food you’ve never heard of before, and then spend the next six months trashing your kitchen trying to figure out how to reproduce it. And the best part is that even the failures are pretty tasty. Well, most of the time.

I’m also a big history geek. I probably spend as much time with my head in Ancient Rome as I do with it here in Los Angeles. Oddly enough, Ancient Rome smells a lot better on most days.

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Originally from Knoxville, TN, Brad C. Hodson lives in Los Angeles. He’s written several award winning short films and has a few feature options out there. He co-wrote (and co-funded) the low budget horror comedy George: A Zombie Intervention and his first novel, Darling, was recently released from Bad Moon Books.

When not writing, he sneaks into your house and watches you sleep. It’s a little creepy. You might want to think about getting a dog.

Check out his work and musings on various topics over at www.brad-hodson.com.