Monthly Archives: January 2017
Literature Without…
A decade ago (I can’t believe it’s been THAT long), I was lucky enough to do the teaching practicum required for my Goddard MFA at Gibbs College in Norwalk (thanks to my friend Chris Emmerson-Pace). I taught Comp 101, which required this book which was expensive as hell (as most college textbooks are): Literature Without Borders.
Despite the book’s cost, it was the absolute cheapest thing I’d ever seen. Pages–in sections–started falling out. By Week Four of teaching, I had to use an elastic band just to hold the pages in. By the end of the semester, there wasn’t one page attached to the binding or the cover. It might as well have been a loose stack of manuscript pages.
I’d forgotten about it, but last weekend, I was looking for another book when I discovered it in the bottom of one of my many bins of books. Apparently I was annoyed, because look what I did to it.
New release: Read “Blood on the Snow” in INK STAINS 3!
My ghost story “Blood on the Snow” is now available in Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Literary Anthology Volume 3, published by Dark Alley Press!
You can pick up the print edition here: http://a.co/7RWaa1Q and the Kindle edition here: http://a.co/3l03pco.
Angevine Farm, 2002
“Blood on the Snow” takes place on an abandoned Christmas tree farm in rural Connecticut. I’m not going to give anything away, but here’s a link to the story’s real-world (and very much still in business!) counterpart: Angevine Farm. My family, however much it’s changed over the years, has been getting our Christmas trees there since the 1970s. I don’t have many photos from that time period, but here’s a montage of the pix I do have — notice some of the landscapes, particularly on a gray day with snow. It’s the perfect place for a ghost story.
If you love ghost stories–and stories about being haunted by the past–then Ink Stains Vol. 3 is for you! Here’s the full Table of Contents: Read the rest of this entry
Writers: SCRIBEDelivery January Unbox!
The contents of SCRIBEdelivery’s January 2017 box!
Have any of you heard of the SCRIBEdelivery Monthly Subscription? I hadn’t until a very generous coworker gave me a three-month trial membership for Christmas…and if you’re a writer (and/or an office supply geek) then this is for you!
SCRIBEdelivery is a monthly box of themed goodies especially for writers or lovers of notebooks, pens, and the like. Each “box” is carefully curated by people who love the stuff just like we do!
I’ll let Chris and Holly tell their story in their own words…you can find out more, and get your subscription, here: http://www.scribedelivery.com/.
That said, here’s the January Unbox…the theme of which is “Organization.”
THIS WRITING LIFE EP 6 and 7: There’s always a party…
It’s often thought that writers love solitude. I can safely say that we do…when it’s appropriate and we need to work. But then there’s this other part of the writing life called socializing–when it’s with other writers especially, it can profoundly inspire.
In Episode 6: Hangin’ with Sasquatch, we surprise writer Andrea Schicke Hirsch with a release party for her YA novel Sasquatch (which you can purchase here!) In Episode 7: Words at a Wedding, the partying leads to some new projects on the horizon.
Check out Episode 6 here: https://youtu.be/B19dlTm_otg
Check out Episode 7 here: https://youtu.be/zbRuiAHR2X8
Enjoy!
A screenshot from Episode 7: Words at a Wedding.
The problem with being fascinated…
…is that you buy stuff. Now that I finally read that book on Freedomland–the “Disneyland of the East” that lasted for just five seasons on the site in the Bronx where Co-op City stands now–I wanted a piece of it. I found a program they would’ve handed out to guests on Ebay for a reasonable price (well, $30 is reasonable because this stuff is hard to come by). It’s not in the greatest shape, but it’s good enough for me to get a sense of the experience. The descriptions of the attractions are particularly fascinating, as they put the stress on the guest “being there,” in much the same way WDW used to in its earlier ephemera. This dates to 1960.
Dark Discussions looks forward to 2017!
The crew of Dark Discussions picks its most anticipated horror movies of 2017! Listen/download on ITunes, Stitcher, or here: http://www.darkdiscussions.com/Pages/podcast_266.html
TRICKS & TREATS named Best Anthology in P&E Poll
Some of the contributors of TRICKS AND TREATS signing at Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT, October 26, 2016. From left: Dan Foley, Melissa Crandall, John B. Valeri, Ryanne Strong, Stacey Longo, me (Kristi Petersen Schoonover).
I’m pleased to announce that Tricks and Treats: A Collection of Spooky Stories by Connecticut Authors–which contains my story “Crawl”–has been named Best Anthology in Preditors and Editors Readers’ Poll 2016! You can see the results (as well as the results for the other categories) here: http://critters.org/predpoll/final_tally_antho.ht
The collection includes stories by Stacey Longo (Amston), Melissa Crandall (Hebron), G. Elmer Munson (Vernon), Dan Foley (Manchester) and John Valeri (Portland) and Ryanne Strong (Norwich). It also includes lesser-heralded ghost stories by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
In the fall of 2016, several of us did readings around the state. I was able to participate in one at the Whiton branch of the Manchester library, and one in Mystic at Bank Square Books. What a blast we had!
Raising a glass! Left to right: Stacey, me, Melissa. Photo by Jason Harris.
At Bank Square Books, we group-signed many copies. At some point I started signing Stacey’s name. Duh. Photo by Stacey Longo Harris.
Signing at the Whiton branch of the Manchester Library, October 24, 2016. Left to right: me (Kristi Petersen Schoonover), Melissa Crandall, Ryanne Strong, Dan Foley.
If you’ve not picked up your copy of Tricks and Treats, it’s available in several bookstores around the state–or you can order it on Amazon here: http://a.co/8kFkXAf
INK STAINS 3 — which includes my story “Blood on the Snow” — releases next week!
How amazing is this cover?
My short story “Blood on the Snow” will be available in Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Literary Anthology Volume 3, published by Dark Alley Press, on Tuesday, January 24!
If you love ghost stories–and stories about being haunted by the past–then this collection is for you! Here’s the full Table of Contents: Read the rest of this entry
…going to Jurassic World!
Super excited that Nathan and I–along with our friend Bruce Shillinglaw (MAJOR paleontology nut!)–will be going to Jurassic World: The Exhibition at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in April.
This is the exhibition’s North American premiere, and it’s probably the closest anyone’s going to come to Read the rest of this entry
