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Photos from THE SHADOWS BEHIND release party
Last Saturday I was lucky enough to celebrate the release of my short story collection, The Shadows Behind, with a party at my house. Here are photos from the event!
SETTING UP
THE CAKE Read the rest of this entry
It’s release day! Special preview of THE SHADOWS BEHIND
Man, I did NOT want to cut this gorgeous cake! It was worth it, though: a thick layer of cream cheese frosting sandwiched inside yellow cake, smothered in butter creme icing! YUM! Photo by Tom Libonate.
It seemed like it would never come, but it’s here: release day for my short story collection, The Shadows Behind! Want a preview? Here’s a reading of the first half of the short story, “Roots,” at the release party this past weekend.
You can get your copies where books are sold or through Amazon here: http://bit.ly/shadowsbehind
If you’d like a signed copy shipped directly to you instead, drop me a line through my contact page with your email and we can make arrangements.
I have a talented sister-in-law…
My sister-in-law, Rebecca Avery-Petersen, spent countless hours making me these special cookies for THE SHADOWS BEHIND release party.
My sister-in-law, Rebecca Avery-Petersen, loves to bake, and is really good at at it (much like my late mom). One day a few weeks ago, she messaged me and said she’d been playing around with doing something out of her comfort zone with her sugar cookies: my book cover.
If you’ve seen the book cover for The Shadows Behind, you know this is not a small undertaking. I really loved them, and she then volunteered to send me a few dozen for my release event this weekend.
I had to share, because she’s amazing. That’s a pretty cool person who just volunteers to take on that kind of thing out of pure love and passion. And suffice it to say the only thing I can bake is the stuff that comes out of those round tubes!
Happy Easter! Easter decorations can be terrifying…
This isn’t the electric bunny my family had when I was a kid, but it’s similar.
Whether or not you celebrate this holiday, I don’t think any of us can deny that sometimes, Easter decorations—especially vintage ones—can be creepy.
Growing up, we had a rather freaky plastic Easter Bunny that lit up. I have no Read the rest of this entry
THE SHADOWS BEHIND: copies are here; Amazon pre-order
It’s been an exciting few days! The first shipment of copies of my new short story collection, The Shadows Behind, arrived on Wednesday. I’ve also received many requests for signed copies and have shipped them or am in the process of shipping them out!
In other news, Amazon now has the paperback available for pre-order (the Kindle edition will be available for pre-order shortly). Both will ship/deliver on April 30, Books and Boos Press’ official release date. You can check that out here: http://bit.ly/shadowsbehind
If you’d like a signed copy shipped directly to you instead, drop me a line through my contact page with your email and we can make arrangements.
THE SHADOWS BEHIND cover reveal!
I’m thrilled to show off the cover for my forthcoming short story collection, The Shadows Behind, coming from Books and Boos Press on April 30, 2019! The cover’s art is by A.L. Cortez, who had some interesting things to say about its creation. You can read that on the press’ website here: https://booksandboospress.com/2019/03/21/the-shadows-behind-cover-reveal/
This collection, which is foreworded by Damnation Island author Stacy Horn, contains six long out-of-print favorites, among them “Doors” (Carpe Articulum, 2010), as well as four featured in various, esoterically-themed anthologies (which, if you didn’t buy those anthologies, you probably haven’t read).
What’s most exciting are the seven new Read the rest of this entry
Books and Boos Press signs THE SHADOWS BEHIND!
I’m over the moon to announce that I’ve signed the contract for Books and Boos Press to publish my collection of short stories, The Shadows Behind. The original announcement is on the Books and Boos Press website here.
Release date is set right now for April 30, 2019, and there will be some signings, along with a special one up at Howe Caverns in Howe’s Cave, New York, next summer!
Although the Table of Contents is still being finalized, this collection will contain a few long out-of-print favorites, among them “Deconstructing Fireflies,” (co-written with Nathan Schoonover), “Candle Garden,” and “How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love the Bunny,” which was originally published in Citizen Culture back in 2005.
It will also include some pieces which are only available in single anthologies, and several brand new stories as well as a preview for an upcoming novella.
I’ll keep you posted!
Summer road trip? Get TRICKS AND TREATS on audio!
Nothing makes a road trip go faster than a good audio book…Tricks & Treats: A Collection of Spooky Tales by Connecticut Authors–which contains my short story “Crawl” and was selected as Best Anthology in Preditors and Editors Readers’ Poll 2016 — is now available in audio format; you can pick it up here: http://a.co/hP5G4l5
IF YOU ARE A REVIEWER, WE HAVE CODES AVAILABLE! Please reach out to me through my Contact Page.
With a Foreword by writer Rob Watts, Read the rest of this entry
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
My story “Crawl” now available in TRICKS AND TREATS, signings slated, check out the trailer!
Sometimes babysitting on Halloween in a centuries-old house isn’t a good idea.
My short story, “Crawl,” is now available in Tricks & Treats: A Collection of Spooky Tales by Connecticut Authors. Published by Books & Boos Press, it’s available at several bookstores in the state, but the easiest place to pick it up is probably on Amazon. You can get it in print or for Kindle here: https://amzn.com/0997932902
With a Foreword by writer Rob Watts, also in the collection are stories by Connecticut writers Stacey Longo (Amston), Melissa Crandall (Hebron), G. Elmer Munson (Vernon), Dan Foley (Manchester), John Valeri (Portland), and Ryanne Strong (Norwich), but what makes this collection really stand out is the appearance of a couple of lesser-heralded creepy stories by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Twain’s rarely-discussed “The Californian’s Tale” is a ghost story (of sorts) that’s really about the nature of grief, while Stowe’s framed narrative (very typical of the ghost stories of the time) is one with a moral bent.
Gilman’s “The Giant Wistaria” (a personal fave of mine) is only one of three ghost stories she wrote; the other two, I believe, are “The Rocking Chair” and “The Yellow Wall-Paper.” “The Giant Wistaria” pre-dates her infamous “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” for which she’s most known, and it, too, has early feminist themes. It’s atmospheric and disturbing.
A giant wistaria vine.
Finishing out the book is John G.C. Brainard’s poem “Maniac’s Song.” Brainard was a poet and lawyer who was born and lived in Connecticut in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Come and meet the (still living, ha!) writers and hear some samples to whet your appetite for the spooky at a couple of pre-Halloween readings/signings! We’ll be at the Whiton branch of the Manchester library (N. Main Street) in Manchester, CT (http://library.townofmanchester.org/) on Monday, October 24, at 6:30 p.m. We’ll also be at Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT, on Wednesday, October 26, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Here’s hoping I see you there!
Read more about this exciting seasonal collection in the Hartford Courant: http://www.courant.com/community/hebron/hc-ugc-article-new-halloween-anthology-comprised-of-all-conn-2016-09-05-story.html, and watch the official trailer here: https://youtu.be/GkaGyqts8oE
