How to Find Ideas: Horror Authors Panel Discussion

“I think that ideas occur to you when you’re not necessarily looking for them.”

In October 2022, Book and Author Society hosted a panel discussion with popular horror authors. Moderator Becky Spratford talked with Linda Addison, Hailey Piper, Chuck Wendig, Lisa Morton, and Cynthia Pelayo.

Watch the discussion below...

Horror Authors Panel Discussion | Book and Author Society

About the guests:

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Linda D. Addison is a poet and writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. The first African-American winner of the Bram Stoker Award, she has so far won it five times for her collections Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes (2001); Being Full of Light, Insubstantial (2007); How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend (2011); Four Elements (2014); and The Place of Broken Things (2019, with Alessandro Manzetti). The Horror Writers Association has given Addison the HWA Mentor of the Year Award and the HWA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, she was designated as the Science-Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) 2020 Grand Master. Find out more about her books at her Amazon author page.

Related links:

• Interview: Poetic Voices of Horror: Award Winning Poet Linda D. Addison

• 13 Updates Linda D. Addison—horror poet and author of ‘The Place of Broken Things’

• Panel: Black Women Who Write Dark Fiction and Poetry [Video]

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Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Worm and His King books, No Gods for Drowning, Queen of Teeth, Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, Benny Rose the Cannibal King, and The Possession of Natalie Glasgow. She is an active member of the Horror Writers Assocation, with dozens of short stories appearing in Pseudopod, Vastarien, Dark Matter Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and other publications. An avid reader and lifelong Godzilla fangirl, find out more about her books at her Amazon author page.

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Chuck Wendig is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wanderers books, the Star Wars: Aftermath series, The Book of Accidents, Black River Orchard, the cyber espionage Zer0es series, and the paranormal thriller Miriam Black series. Wendig also weote one of the books in the Gods and Monsters series, along with Stephen Blackmoore, Hillary Monahan, and Cassandra Khaw. Wendig has also written comics, games, film, and more. A finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the cowriter of the Emmy-nominated digital narrative Collapsus, he is also known for his popular blog, terribleminds.com, and his books about writing. Find out more about his books at his Amazon author page.

Related link: Writing Tips from 31 Horror Authors

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Lisa Morton is a screenwriter, author of non-fiction books, award-winning prose writer, and Halloween expert who is a six-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a recipient of the Black Quill Award, and winner of the 2012 Grand Prize from the Halloween Book Festival. Her debut novel The Castle of Los Angeles appeared on numerous “Best of the Year” lists. Her book The Halloween Encyclopedia (now in an expanded second edition) was described as “the most complete reference to the holiday available.” Morton has been interviewed by The History Channel and in Wall Street Journal as a Halloween authority. Find out more about her books at her Amazon author page.

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Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo is an International Latino Book Award-winning and three-time Bram Stoker Awards-nominated poet and author. Her work includes the Chicago Saga books, Lotería, and the true crime poetry collection Into The Forest And All The Way Through, which explores the cases of more than one hundred missing and murdered women in the United States. Find out more about her books at Amazon.

Related link: Cynthia Pelayo on ‘Children of Chicago’— “There was magic in our neighborhood”

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