My husband got me these lovely flowers in celebration of… well, okay, he buys me flowers like every week. But anyway, this bouquet is particularly lovely. I hope you all have a wonderful spring!
Author Archives: kristipetersenschoonover
Announcing 34 ORCHARD’s Autumn 2025 ToC—COMING MONDAY!
The ToC for 34 Orchard Issue #12, Autumn 2025, has arrived! The issue will be released this coming MONDAY, November 10, 2025.
In Issue 12, twenty artists wander the corridors of longing.
When we think of longing, we think of desire, nostalgia, hope, regret, tenderness, desperation, and resignation. But its power shouldn’t be underestimated—it can change the course of our lives. It can drive us to take a job or leave it, marry or divorce, cling to an addiction or let one go, end something or start something new—or, in my case, it can Read the rest of this entry
On my hometown’s green today for the LITCHFIELD COUNTY ARTISANS FESTIVAL
Today’s the day! So thrilled to be on my hometown of New Milford, Connecticut’s green with over a hundred stellar artisans and craftsmen.
I will have many copies of several of my titles, among them Out of Time: True Encounters of the Paranormal, which has true ghost encounters from the house I grew up in (and comes with a special something extra).
Consider spending some time here, get some cool gifts, eat from food trucks, hear live music…and find my space and say hello! Festival has done an amazing job preparing the ultimate hometown experience for you…don’t miss it!
Schoonover & Out: Leaving the Job for the Last Time
Hello all!
This past Tuesday, I got laid off. Strangely, although I’m sad to lose my job of twenty-five years, I know there are tons of opportunities for me. This is what I’ve been waiting for: the universe to tell me IT’S TIME. In the meantime, if anyone needs editing work, I’m open. And I’m looking right now to change my entire life. So hit me up if you have any ideas.
Here’s me yesterday, leaving my office for the very last time.
CANDLEWOOD movie available to stream, DD interviews director, behind-the-scenes and my hometown location notes (spoiler and review free)
The horror movie Candlewood—which was filmed in my hometown of New Milford, Connecticut, and in which I was an extra a while back—is now available to rent or view on many streaming platforms, including Prime and Apple TV!
Produced by Bandstand Pictures, directed by Myke Furhman, and written by Victoria Flores-Argue and Joseph Patrick Conroy, Candlewood, from the official description, “follows a blended family that moves from New York City to a small, isolated town in Connecticut. Once there, a local urban legend wreaks havoc, fracturing their family dynamic and causing them to go insane.” The film runs an hour and half.
To watch the trailer, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ze6srALIQ8
To visit the Candlewood website, click here: https://www.candlewoodfilm.com/
To check out Candlewood branded gear, visit here: https://www.candlewoodgear.com/candlewood-they-were-here-first
I appeared in the supermarket scene. What was really the most fun Read the rest of this entry
HAPPY RELEASE DAY! 34 ORCHARD ISSUE 11 HAS ARRIVED!
Thrilled to announce that 34 Orchard Issue 11 is now available!
In Issue 11, a frustrated Frito-Lay worker indulges the alternate reality he’s spent years avoiding, and an Alaskan detective’s fresh beginning in the City of Angels might have more to do with endings than he’d expected. A retiring Christmas elf forced to break tradition discovers that no sacrifice he makes will avoid disaster. A crooked prospector refuses an honest life out of fear, a paramedic must accept that she cannot change people’s fates, and a soon-to-be park ranger in a South American forest finds her employment aspirations require giving up more than she may be willing. Read the rest of this entry
Announcing 34 ORCHARD’s Spring 2025 ToC!
The ToC for 34 Orchard Issue #11, Spring 2025, has arrived! The issue will be released on Friday, April 25, 2025.
In Issue 11, twenty-two artists tackle the challenges of “turning over a new leaf.” While the phrase may refer to flipping to a book’s blank page, it makes the work of taking a new direction sound too easy. It’s much more like the leaves of trees in an approaching storm: you’re going to get jostled around, twisted, and beaten up. In this issue, we not only have work from the US, Canada, and the UK, but from Read the rest of this entry
My last project of 2024…
I only wrote one short story this year, and it went for its final polish (usually the third) on December 30. Here’s a photo of the drafts and notes I kept during the process… works out to about two inches thick. If you’re a writer, what/how do you keep your notes, if any? What do you do with them all afterward?
Here’s hoping 2025 brings all of us lots of piles of drafts and notes!
WICKED SICK receives six Best-of-’23-Horror mentions
THRILLED to discover that not one, not two, but SIX of the stories that co-editor Scott Goudsward and I selected for the New England Horror Writers’ Wicked Sick anthology are on the recommended reading list for Ellen Datlow’s 2023 Best Horror of the Year, Volume Sixteen! It’s the highest number of stories selected in a single volume in the Wicked series (and also the only one I edited).
Stephen Mark Rainey—who appeared in 34 Orchard’s Spring 2020 issue with the moving piece “Night Crier”—wrote a generous introduction for Wicked Sick, writing that “these authors reach into your Read the rest of this entry
