Horror Realm is Coming!!!

Just a quick heads up about Horror Realm 2010 that will take place in Pittsburgh, PA on September 17-19. I will be appearing as a guest author at Horror Realm and sitting on an all female panel during the event. I will also be participating in some of the events leading up the convention during the preceding week.

I am very excited to be signing books and participating in discussion with Dr. Pus as Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Pittsburgh on Monday night, September 13, 2010. I think it will be a great night.

Here is the latest info on Horror Realm from the organizer herself, Miss Dee.

Get ready for Horror Realm week with events every night of the week leading up to the convention, including:

•A book signing event featuring Rhiannon Frater, author of As the World Dies, on Monday, September 13
•Pittsburgh Paranormal Society lecture/presentation on Tuesday, September 14
•Horror film program at The Oaks Theater on Wednesday, September 15
•Rock show at The Smiling Moose on Thursday, September 16

Details on each Horror Realm™ week event will be announced as they become available. All events will be scheduled in the evening (7 PM or later).

The following guests have just been confirmed to appear at Horror Realm™:
•John Saxon, a Golden Globe Award winning actor who has made hundreds of film and television appearances but is best known to horror fans for roles in the films Nightmare on Elm Street, Black Christmas, to name but a few.
•Beverly Bonner, who appeared in films by director Frank Henenlotter including Frankenhooker, Brain Damage, the entire Basket Case series. She is the third Basket Case alum on the guest list, joining Kevin Van Hentenryck and Terri Susan Smith (Ahu).
•David Crawford, who played Dr. Foster in the original version of Dawn of the Dead. Crawford joins fellow Dawn cast members Ken Foree, Sharon Ceccatti-Hill, Joe Shelby, Tony Buba and director of photography Mike Gornick.

On Saturday, September 18 there will be a monster costume ball in the evening after the dealer room closes (time TBA). Admission is free with the purchase of a weekend or Friday/Saturday day pass ($5 cover at the door without a convention admission). Come as your favorite zombie, vampire, werewolf, mummy or other horror character – or just be yourself. The ball will feature a cash bar, DJ, costume contest and silent auction to benefit United Cerebral Palsy and The Epilepsy Foundation. Anyone wishing to donate items for the auction should contact Miss Dee at info@horrorrealmcon.com.

Love,

Miss Dee

Keep updated on the latest on Horror Realm by checking out the website.

Recommended Zombie Reading -- Carrie Ryan

A lot of zombie genre fans have yet to hear of Carrie Ryan. The reason for this is most likely because her stand out first novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, is a young adult novel. I heard about it by accident, I believe on Goodreads, and purchased it as soon as I could find it. It was sold out in my local stores, but I finally found a copy after weeks of looking.

The cover is amazing!

You can read my original review here. Be warned of spoilers!

The premise of the series is very engaging. It is a hundred (or perhaps more) years into the future and humanity has been decimated by the undead plague. In a small village surrounded by chainlink fences, a teenage girl named Mary feels stifled by the iron rule of the Sisters. There are gates that lead out to paths that are lined with fences, but it is forbidden to leave the village. In fact, the villagers are told they are the only humans left in the world. The Unconsecrated (the zombies) roam the forest that surrounds the village and rattle the fences. Mary wants to escape into the greater world and find the ocean, which is considered a myth by everyone else. She finally gets her wish to be free of the village when a mysterious young woman appears and soon the fences are breached and Mary flees down the forbidden path.

I really loved the world building and lyrical beauty of many of the passages in the book, but loathed Mary. I had hoped to like her by the end of the book, but alas, this didn't happen. She's so horribly selfish and headstrong, it is very hard to cheer her on when her actions endanger the others around her. Yet, the story was really well-written and the plot was a lot of fun.

Though I had mixed feelings on the book as a whole, I loved the world enough to buy the second book, The Dead-Tossed Waves.



Happily, Mary is not the lead protagonist in this book and her daughter, Gabry, takes center stage. Gabry is a more sympathetic character and much more compassionate. At times her actions were questionable, but you could understand her motivations. The world that Gabry lives in is expanded upon in this book and a lot of the unanswered questions of the first book were answered in this one. Even Mary's difficult to like personality is addressed. This was a real page turner and I liked it even more than the original. Toward the end, the zombie scenes were truly epic. Loved it!

Again, I'm not sure if these books are for everyone since they are young adult and written from a teenage girl's viewpoint. If you don't have problem stepping into the mind of a teenage girl with all her emotional angst, then this is an awesome zombie book for you to read.

Highly recommend both.

BREAKING NEWS!! The As The World Dies Trilogy has been picked up by TOR!!!

Today my agent, Hannah Gordon and Senior Tor Editor, Melissa Singer, hammered out the last of the details on the deal!!! I'm so THRILLED to be a part of the Tor family and look forward to working with Melissa on the revisions of the trilogy!

Blog Block! Ugh!! Book Reviews!! Yay!

I spent the last few days trying to write a blog post that will probably end up deleted. It's a great idea to write about, but I can't seem to mold the words into coherent sentences. Last night, I sat down at my desk primed and ready to tackle the post one more time and my mind shut off. So I played Farmville instead!

Today, during my break, I prepped myself to dive in once again and ended up clicking on "new post" instead. I'm declaring the other half-written post dead in the water.

So instead of writing about the value of finding a good community of writers to offer guidance, advice and support as you try to shape your career, I'm going to just share quick reviews of the two books I recently read.

David Dunwoody Scares Me
I recently purchased Unbound and Other Tales. The second Dr. Pus of the Library of the Living Dead Press announced it on his forum, I rushed over to the estore on Createspace (the publishing on demand printer Doc uses for his books) and snagged a copy. I am so glad I did. This book is truly awesome. The first story (and the one that takes up most of the pages of the book) is a gruesome, horrific tale that just snags you instantly and keeps you in its evil clutches. I really loved it, despite the nightmares it bestowed upon me. The rest of the tales are shorter, but just as horrific and intense. "Clowns" made my skin crawl.

I sincerely feel that THE DUNWOODY has elevated himself to a whole new level with this collection. Frankly, he reminds me of the very best of Stephen King.

Buy this book!

Kim Harrison Thrills Me, Yet Guts Me

I will admit that I was slow to become a fan of the Rachel Morgan novels. I stopped reading the first one after a few chapters and didn't return to it until I literally had nothing else to read. I pushed my way through the novel and was surprised at the end to discover I had fallen in love with The Hollows, Rachel the witch, Jenks the pixie and Ivy the living vampire. I didn't love the book's plot or pace, but I loved the world building and the characters. I slogged through the second book, still not in love with the plot, but in love with the promise of the world and the characters. It was the third novel, Every Which Way But Dead, that pulled me firmly into The Hollows fandom. I stayed firmly a fan, snatching up all the novels and becoming a hard back cover fan (those of us who buy the book the second it hits the shelves), until book six or seven. My annoyance with Rachel's character was reaching epic proportions by then and I seriously considered abandoning the series like I had the Anita Blake series.

Kim brought me right back into the fold with the next book, pushing Rachel to take another step in her evolution. For the first time ever, I pre-ordered a Rachel Morgan book when I heard Black Magic Sanction would soon hit the shelves.

What I like about the Rachel Morgan series are the following:

1. The world building is well done
2. The magic system makes sense
3. The characters are well developed
4. Jenks the pixie is just funny as hell. I love his curses. "Tink's a Disney whore!" is my fav.
5. Ivy is a tragic, beautiful heroine. A living vampire, she is doomed to lose her soul when she dies and become one of the cruel "dead" vampires. She hopes Rachel can find a way to save her soul and is in love with the redheaded witch.
6. Rachel..sometimes. She sometimes does things that makes me want to strangle her. And that is okay as long as she evolves and grows. This doesn't always happen book to book, but I do like her...most of the time.
7. Al, the bastard demon. He's just...EVIL. And funny.
8. The passionate, yet denied love between Ivy and Rachel. There one kiss was the single hottest moment in all of the books. I've been waiting for Rachel to get over her "but I'm straight" protest for books.

In the new book, all the elements I love are present and accounted for except for Ivy and the smoldering undercurrents in her relationship with Rachel. After great advances in their complicated relationship in previous books, Ivy is suddenly seeing another character (which makes zero sense) and Rachel is mooning over a new guy. Pierce feels like a character created ONLY to keep Ivy and Rachel apart. His presence in the world just doesn't ring true.

BUT..the plot as a whole was very good and I enjoyed the story immensely (except for Pierce, who sucks). If you like the Rachel Morgan series, make sure to catch this one. If you like urban fantasy, you'll probably love this series, but you may have to shove through the first book. A lot of other fans have often said the first one is the weakest.

By this book!

So, there you go! Two books that rocked my world this last week!

Now, hopefully my blog block will be over!!!

Publishing Links from Across the Internet

Here are some links to some of my favorite articles on publishing from around the web.

First off, huge news! Critically acclaimed author and National Book Award finalist, John Edgar Wideman, is publishing a collection of short stories via Lulu, the self publishing turnkey service. AMAZING! Publishers Weekly has the scoop!

J A Koranth has an article up on his blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, that talks about how he sold 30,000 books in less than a year using Kindle. Again, this is an established author that is self publishing his work.

Bestselling author, Alison Winn Scotch, explains what a movie option is and how it works on her blog. Both As The World Dies and Pretty When She Dies are optioned for TV/Film and I really enjoyed this short article.

As someone of mixed ethnicity, I found this update on a recent controversy on the Karen Knows Best Blog to be interesting.

Book deals have a language all their own. Announcements are often filled with vague terminology such as "nice" "significant" and "major." But what do they mean? This post at Just Write a Book Blog explains what those terms mean.

The always amazing Charles Stross (Iron Sunrise rocked!! has been writing a new series of blog posts on publishing. I really enjoyed his first one about common misconceptions about publishing. It's a must read if you want to be a writer.

Author Timothy Long has a really fun interview with David Dunwoody, author of Empire. Check it out here, then make sure to pre-order David's rerelease of Empire.



Just a quick reminder, tonight is my interview with Dr. Pus for the Library of Horror Podcast. The details are here if you would like to listen in or even call and ask a question.

Empire is coming! Pre-Order Now!!

David's photo of his new book cover from his facebook page

Recently I interviewed author David Dunwoody and we spoke briefly about the upcoming release of his zombie novel Empire. It is now available in pre-order on Amazon.com. I ordered my new copy yesterday!

David is an awesome author, so please hop on over to Amazon.com and grab a copy of his fabulous book!

"EMPIRE is one hell of a post-apocalyptic joy ride... Treat yourself to all the weird and wonderful things Dunwoody has to show you, because you will not be disappointed."--Skull Ring

"The macabre mixture of mythology and modern horror, along with a cast of weirdly entertaining characters and gore-a-plenty, make this zombie book well worth digging into."--Dark Realms

"A strange and intriguing novel from first page to last, EMPIRE is a top pick for horror fans."--Small Press Bookwatch

Into a Swan--Ugly Duckling No More!

This song really captures my mood of late. I am completely floored by the changes that have occurred in my life since the publication of As The World Dies: The First Days. The events of the last year have transformed me not only as a writer, but as a person.

Self publishing the As The World Dies trilogy with my husband has been a very positive experience. So as my writing career continues an upward path, I want to say thank you not only to my family and friends, but the readers who have supported the story since it's inception in 2005 online.

What in the world is happening?
What in the world could this be?
I'm on the verge of an awakening
A new kind of strength for me

I feel a force I've never felt before
I don't want to fight it anymore
Feelings so strong can't be ignored
I burst out - I'm transformed

Rising up, shaking it off
The yesterday dreary
Graceful and strong, No more forlorn
Today's a jubilee
Don't be surprised
This change is my design

I feel a force I've never felt before
I don't want to fight it anymore
Feelings so strong can't be ignored
I burst out - I'm transformed

I feel a force I've never felt before
I can't hold it down I've just got to soar
And laugh in the face that is vulture law
I burst out, I'm transformed

I feel a force I've never felt before
I don't want to fight it anymore
Feelings so strong can't be ignored
I burst out - I'm transformed

I feel a force I've never felt before
I can't hold it down I've just got to soar
And laugh in the face that is vulture law
I burst out - I'm transformed
I burst right out - Into a swan
I burst out into a swan

To Forum or Not To Forum....Eh, Let's Forum!

More than once last year, people asked me when I was going to start my own forum. Each time I shot the idea down, dismissing it as not necessary. I had a subforum at the time on the Permuted Press forums that I sometimes remembered to update, but not very often. A few fans tracked me down and joined the Permuted Press forum. I had no moderation rights over the subforum and didn't really think much about it as a whole. It was just another cog in the social network I had built up over time to support my writing.

Soon after the As The World Dies Option was signed and I had signed on with my literary agent, I realized it was time to grow up as a writer. I purchased astheworlddies.com and rhiannonfrater.com, asked Permuted Press to close my subforum down, and set about building a new platform for my writing career.

The astheworlddies.com website is still up and being tweaked. I hope to have rhiannonfrater.com up sometime this month as well.

Originally I had told myself I didn't need a forum. A lot of the author forums I have visited in the past are sporadic in their posts and usually have the most activity right at a new book's release. My personal Facebook page and the fan page for As The World Dies have been a good way of communicating with with fans. Yet, it was the fans asking for the forum. So what if it was sporadically posted on or only busy when a new release comes out. If the fans are happy, that is what counts.

Now that Brad (of Don't Look in the Podcast) has helped me get a very nice forum going, I'm really glad we did it. A forum does provide a very different experience than Twitter and Facebook.

So, if you have the desire to ask a questions, discuss the books, or just connect with other fans, please feel free to join us at the forum (aka The Fort) and dive right in.

Interview this Friday LIVE with Dr. Pus and the Library of the Living Dead

I am very excited to announce that I will be interviewed by Dr. Pus of the Library of the Living Dead Podcast LIVE and on the air at blogtalkradio. Dr. Pus is not only my publisher via the Library of Horror Press, but a very good friend and staunch supporter of my writing. He was one of the very first people in the zombie/horror genre to support the As The World Dies novels by reviewing the first book then presenting an amazing dramatization of the first few chapters on his podcast. Over time, he has also become a friend and someone I can depend on to knock sense into my head when I need it.

Our interviews are always a lot of fun and open to everyone to call in. Please call if you'd like to make a comment on my work or ask me a question.

Here is the announcement from Dr. Pus:

Make sure you leave time on Friday, March 5th for our Blog Talk interview with Rhiannon Frater. We'll be discussing her new "Library of Horror Press" novel "Tale of the Vampire Bride."

Here's the link to the show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/library_of_the_living_dead

Call ins will start after the interview for you to ask Rhiannon questions. That number is (646) 595-3754.

Show starts Friday, March 5th at 9PM Eastern.

Please try to be there to support Rhiannon!

Undead love,

Doc