EVENT: Staying Home, Staying Creative at AllAccessCon
EVENTS
Jason and I are going to help you get into flow during the breakout sessions for the Staying Home, Staying Creative Workshop at All AccessCon on Thursday, April 23, 2020 (4:00 - 7:00 PM ET).
Are you feeling "stuck" at home in more ways than one?
Many of us always said that if only we could stay home we'd finally write that novel, learn a new writing skill, or revise that story or article and get it into the submission process. Now that we aren't being given a choice about staying home the situation isn't optimal and might even cause us to lose whatever creative momentum we had to begin with.
Join our panel of experts for a frank discussion about staying focused, creative, and successful in our new home environment, followed by a series of breakout sessions. This virtual workshop is presented by AllAccessCon at a reduced price to accommodate those economically impacted by COVID-19.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Matt Betts
Ohio native Matt Betts is a pop culture junkie—sometimes to levels that are considered unhealthy by the Surgeon General. He grew up on a steady diet of giant monsters, comic books, and horror novels, all of which creep into his own work. Matt’s speculative poetry and short fiction have appeared in a number of anthologies and journals. Matt’s first novel, the steampunk/zombie/alternate history adventure Odd Men Out was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award for excellence in independent publishing. He is also the author of the urban fantasy novel Indelible Ink the sci-fi novel The Shadow beneath the Waves and the forthcoming novel Red Gear 9. His poetry collections include See No Evil, Say No Evil and Underwater Fistfight.
John Edward Lawson
John Edward Lawson is the author of 16 books of fiction and poetry, and numerous chapbooks. Over 500 of his poems, stories, and articles have been published in magazines, anthologies, literary journals, and newspapers worldwide. He has been called “The forgotten black man of horror,” but he also regularly publishes science fiction, bizarro, mystery/thrillers, and literary fiction.
John was a winner of the 2001 Fiction International Emerging Writers Competition; in addition to being a finalist for the Stoker Award (2006, Superior Achievement in Poetry) and the Wonderland Award for Bizarro Fiction (2007, collected fiction), other award nominations include two for the Dwarf Stars Award, the Pushcart Prize, two for the Rhysling Award, and honorable mention for the 2015 Wonderland Award.
As an editor John is co-founder of Raw Dog Screaming Press, recognized by the Horror Writers Association in 2019 with their Specialty Press Award. He spent four years as editor-in-chief of The Dream People online literary journal of bizarro fiction and poetry. Other editorial projects include three print anthologies, four e-anthologies, and freelance work for such companies as National Lampoon and Double Dragon Publishing.
Heidi Ruby Miller
Heidi Ruby Miller is a travel writer turned novelist. She uses research for her stories as an excuse to roam the globe. Her books include the popular AMBASADORA series (Dog Star Books), MAN OF WAR (Meteor House), which is a sequel to Science Fiction Grandmaster Philip José Farmer's novel TWO HAWKS FROM EARTH, and the international award-winning writing guide MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT (Headline Books Inc.). In between trips, Heidi teaches creative writing at Seton Hill University, where she graduated from their renowned Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program the same month she appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Follow Heidi's writing journey with her husband, Jason Jack Miller, and their two cats in the newsletter Small Space, Big Life and find her on YouTube, her website, and Instagram all as Heidi Ruby Miller.
Jason Jack Miller
Jason Jack Miller knows it’s silly to hold onto the Bohemian ideals of literature, music, and love above all else. But he doesn’t care.
His own adventures paddling wild mountain rivers and playing Pearl Jam covers for less-than-enthusiastic crowds inspired his Murder Ballads and Whiskey Series. He wrote Hellbender as a student in Seton Hill University’s prestigious Writing Popular Fiction program, where he is now a mentor and adjunct instructor. The novel won the Arthur J. Rooney Award for Fiction, the MacLaughlin Scholarship, and was a finalist for the Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year Award.
When Jason isn’t writing, he’s with Heidi, his wife, either in Paris, perusing the bouquinistes or in the Cinque Terre trying to taste all of the focaccia. And for the rest of the year he plays the role of Mr. Miller, mild-mannered science teacher at Uniontown Area High School. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jasonjackmiller or email him at jasonjackmiller@gmail.com.
D. Harlan Wilson
D. Harlan Wilson is an American novelist, short-story writer, critic, screenwriter, playwright, editor and university professor whose body of work bridges the aesthetics of literary theory with various genres of speculative fiction. Critically referred to as “a genre unto himself” with a “fictional style that is completely without peer,” he is the author of over twenty book-length works of fiction and nonfiction, and hundreds of his stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in magazines, journals, and anthologies across the world in multiple languages. Wilson serves as reviews editor for Extrapolation, managing editor for Guide Dog Books, editor-in-chief of Anti-Oedipus Press, and director of the Humanities department at WSU-Lake Campus. For more biographical and bibliographic information, refer to Wilson’s entries at Goodreads, Amazon, Wikipedia and SF Encyclopedia.
Jason and I are going to help you get into flow during the breakout sessions for the Staying Home, Staying Creative Workshop at All AccessCon on Thursday, April 23, 2020 (4:00 - 7:00 PM ET).
Are you feeling "stuck" at home in more ways than one?
Many of us always said that if only we could stay home we'd finally write that novel, learn a new writing skill, or revise that story or article and get it into the submission process. Now that we aren't being given a choice about staying home the situation isn't optimal and might even cause us to lose whatever creative momentum we had to begin with.
Join our panel of experts for a frank discussion about staying focused, creative, and successful in our new home environment, followed by a series of breakout sessions. This virtual workshop is presented by AllAccessCon at a reduced price to accommodate those economically impacted by COVID-19.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Matt Betts
Ohio native Matt Betts is a pop culture junkie—sometimes to levels that are considered unhealthy by the Surgeon General. He grew up on a steady diet of giant monsters, comic books, and horror novels, all of which creep into his own work. Matt’s speculative poetry and short fiction have appeared in a number of anthologies and journals. Matt’s first novel, the steampunk/zombie/alternate history adventure Odd Men Out was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award for excellence in independent publishing. He is also the author of the urban fantasy novel Indelible Ink the sci-fi novel The Shadow beneath the Waves and the forthcoming novel Red Gear 9. His poetry collections include See No Evil, Say No Evil and Underwater Fistfight.
John Edward Lawson
John Edward Lawson is the author of 16 books of fiction and poetry, and numerous chapbooks. Over 500 of his poems, stories, and articles have been published in magazines, anthologies, literary journals, and newspapers worldwide. He has been called “The forgotten black man of horror,” but he also regularly publishes science fiction, bizarro, mystery/thrillers, and literary fiction.
John was a winner of the 2001 Fiction International Emerging Writers Competition; in addition to being a finalist for the Stoker Award (2006, Superior Achievement in Poetry) and the Wonderland Award for Bizarro Fiction (2007, collected fiction), other award nominations include two for the Dwarf Stars Award, the Pushcart Prize, two for the Rhysling Award, and honorable mention for the 2015 Wonderland Award.
As an editor John is co-founder of Raw Dog Screaming Press, recognized by the Horror Writers Association in 2019 with their Specialty Press Award. He spent four years as editor-in-chief of The Dream People online literary journal of bizarro fiction and poetry. Other editorial projects include three print anthologies, four e-anthologies, and freelance work for such companies as National Lampoon and Double Dragon Publishing.
Heidi Ruby Miller
Heidi Ruby Miller is a travel writer turned novelist. She uses research for her stories as an excuse to roam the globe. Her books include the popular AMBASADORA series (Dog Star Books), MAN OF WAR (Meteor House), which is a sequel to Science Fiction Grandmaster Philip José Farmer's novel TWO HAWKS FROM EARTH, and the international award-winning writing guide MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT (Headline Books Inc.). In between trips, Heidi teaches creative writing at Seton Hill University, where she graduated from their renowned Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program the same month she appeared on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Follow Heidi's writing journey with her husband, Jason Jack Miller, and their two cats in the newsletter Small Space, Big Life and find her on YouTube, her website, and Instagram all as Heidi Ruby Miller.
Jason Jack Miller
Jason Jack Miller knows it’s silly to hold onto the Bohemian ideals of literature, music, and love above all else. But he doesn’t care.
His own adventures paddling wild mountain rivers and playing Pearl Jam covers for less-than-enthusiastic crowds inspired his Murder Ballads and Whiskey Series. He wrote Hellbender as a student in Seton Hill University’s prestigious Writing Popular Fiction program, where he is now a mentor and adjunct instructor. The novel won the Arthur J. Rooney Award for Fiction, the MacLaughlin Scholarship, and was a finalist for the Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year Award.
When Jason isn’t writing, he’s with Heidi, his wife, either in Paris, perusing the bouquinistes or in the Cinque Terre trying to taste all of the focaccia. And for the rest of the year he plays the role of Mr. Miller, mild-mannered science teacher at Uniontown Area High School. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jasonjackmiller or email him at jasonjackmiller@gmail.com.
D. Harlan Wilson
D. Harlan Wilson is an American novelist, short-story writer, critic, screenwriter, playwright, editor and university professor whose body of work bridges the aesthetics of literary theory with various genres of speculative fiction. Critically referred to as “a genre unto himself” with a “fictional style that is completely without peer,” he is the author of over twenty book-length works of fiction and nonfiction, and hundreds of his stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in magazines, journals, and anthologies across the world in multiple languages. Wilson serves as reviews editor for Extrapolation, managing editor for Guide Dog Books, editor-in-chief of Anti-Oedipus Press, and director of the Humanities department at WSU-Lake Campus. For more biographical and bibliographic information, refer to Wilson’s entries at Goodreads, Amazon, Wikipedia and SF Encyclopedia.