Beyond The Darkness 12
Southbound and Way Down
Can you believe it?
After nearly a year of waiting, AuthorCon is now less than ONE WEEK AWAY! To say I am excited is an understatement. Last year’s show (Year One) was easily one of the best shows I’ve ever taken part in. The showrunners are awesome, the readers were fantastic, and the authors were excited and thrilled to be there. Last year there were less than one hundred writer there vending books. This year? Nearly one hundred and seventy-five. Yep, you read that right. The full list of authors is in the picture below.
Here’s my full schedule for the weekend:
Friday: Panel 6:45pm – 7:45pm (Second Floor, Room 16): Collaborations – Stephen Kozeniewski (moderator), Wile E. Young, Wesley Southard, Ruthanne Jagge, Daron Kappauff, and RJ Roles discuss the ins-and-outs of writing with a partner.
Reading 8:30pm – 9:30pm (Second Floor, Room 8): Wesley Southard, Lucas Mangum, and John Wayne Comunale
Saturday: Panel 1:00pm – 2:00pm (Second Floor, Room 16): Road Dogs – What are some tips for setting up a book signing? How can one plan an economical book signing tour? What are the do’s-and-dont’s of setting up at conventions? Wesley Southard (moderator), Gemma Amor, Ronald Malfi, Joseph Pesavento, John Wayne Comunale.
As far as the books I’m bringing with me, I’ll have plenty of copies of literally every single book I have in-print. I’ll even have a few hardcover copies of my Imadjinn Award-Winning novel CRUEL SUMMER and my novella TRY AGAIN.
Scares That Care is a charity that is very near and dear to my heart. I have been vending and taking part of their convention shows since 2017, and every year the show got better and better. I’ve met so many amazing people and created so many friendships because of that show. If you can, please come out an support the show and the charity.
All info and tickets can be found here: https://scaresthatcare.org/authorcon
Hope to see you there!
Speaking of the Imadjinn Awards, I found out my recent short story collection THEY MOSTLY COME AT NIGHT: COLLECTED SHORT FICTION has been nominated for Best Short Story Collection. I’m extremely honored to once again be nominated. I’m really proud of my book and all the work the publisher and I put into.
If you haven’t checked it out yourself yet, the paperback and e-book are available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/They-Mostly-Come-Night-Collected/dp/B0BDT7CQZR/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=wesley+southard&qid=1679768374&sr=8-1
Depending on how many I have left after next weekend, I will have signed copies back up on my webstore (More on that in the next section).
I’m also super excited to say my good friends Somer Canon, Wile E. Young, and Stephen Kozeniewski have also been nominated for Imadjinn Awards in the Novel and Short Story catagories.
All the info and nominees can be found here: https://www.entertheimaginarium.com/2023/03/23/2023-imadjinn-awards-finalists-announced/?fbclid=IwAR1De_ll2pbvnIEmto3_NI_Voziy3o8H9K21pzd4IZpW26F0El6Q6N9NPVI
If you haven’t noticed, my webstore (www.wesleysouthardhorror.com) has been down for a few weeks now. In order to prepare for AuthorCon, I had to close the store while I packed up all my inventory for the show. I will definitely have the store back up and open on Monday April 3rd. I have no idea what sort of stock I’ll have left after the show, but I come home with will be available for purchase.
My Tales from the Crypt full series re-watch continues…
None but the Lonely Heart (S4, E1)
A con artist meets and weds a wealthy old widows through a dating service, then murders them and takes the inheritance, finally gets the date of his dreams―the very worst of them. This episode was right down the middle of being just perfectly fine. It had all the usual tropes of a TFTC tale with gold digging, murder, dude with an attitude problem, then the abrupt supernatural ending. A very interesting cast though with Treat Williams, Frances Sternhagen, and Tom Hanks, who actually directed the episode. I did love the make-up effects at the end.
This’ll Kill Ya (S4, E2)
In a research lab, when two colleagues accidentally inject an experimental virus into their sleazy boss that will eventually kill him, he tries to get revenge on them, believing it was no accident. This one was actually a bit too much like Abra Cadaver from Season 3, with the whole “prank gone wrong” angle that goes way too far. Dylan McDermott plays his typical smartass dickhead role he’s become known for. It was also nice to see Cleavon Little in what turns out to be his final acting role before he passed away.
On a Deadman’s Chest (S4, E3)
Danny Darwin learns that his new tattoo might be more than just a tattoo. I feel like this entire episode was four people just screaming at one another for thirty straight minutes. The band’s singer is pissed the guitarist had a wife and he hates her because…? I don’t know. This was another episode with some interesting casting. The always lovely Tia Carrere is the wife, and of all people Heavy D stars as the tattooist, which completely threw me off guard. I did love the weird dragon monster that came out of his chest, and how he was holding his own section of chest flesh at the end.
Currently Watching: City of the Living Dead (My new 4k edition from Cauldron Films came in and it looks beautiful.)
Currently Reading: Still reading Alien Enemy of my Enemy (my reading has been brutally slow lately)
Currently Listening to: Killswitch Engage “Atonement” (gearing up for their concert next month)
Currently Playing: A super-secret beta version of a game based on a Kozeniewski property
No newsletter next week, as I will still be at AuthorCon. See you in two weeks!