Sumiko Saulson's Blog, page 29
September 3, 2016
Sumiko Saulson’s Black Women in Horror Writing #16: Nisi Shawl
Filter House by Nisi Shawl Review by Bryan Cebulski (@BryanOnion) Nisi Shawl’s Filter House is kind of a wild collection of stories. I found two key observations on this book that serve as bo…
Source: Sumiko Saulson’s Black Women in Horror Writing #16: Nisi Shawl
August 20, 2016
Tales from the Lake, Volume 3.
My short story “Enclosures” will be included in the new Tales from the Lake, Volume 3. Please check it out. It doesn’t come out til August 26 but you can preorder it here.
Dive into the deep end of the lake with 19 tales of terror, selected by Monique Snyman.
Tales from the Lake Vol. 3 features ghosts, monsters, assassins, alternate dimensions, creatures from the deepest depths and the darkest parts of the universe.
Join “Maybelle” by Mere Joyce in a world where books become real enough to cause both pleasure and pain. Avoid the sounds of “The Cruel” by Harper Hull, lest you want to come to a terrifying end. Travel across the world to see what terrors lurk in an abandoned hospital with “Hush” by Sergio Pereira.
This non-themed horror anthology is filled with suspenseful stories, terrifying thrillers, tragic tales, mystifying mysteries, and memorable adventures that will leave you wanting more. Let these modern urban legends prickle your imagination, share it around a campfire, and revel in the magic of Crystal Lake’s exceptional authors.
The Owl Builder by D. Morgan Ballmer
Tragedy Park by Chris Pearce
Enclosures by Sumiko Saulson Woe
Violent Water by Lily Childs
The Cruel by Harper Hull
Red Scream with Little Smile by Paul Edmonds
Maybelle by Meredith Cleversey writing as Mere Joyce
Rodent in the Red Room by Matt Hayward
The Deeper I Go The Deeper I Fear by Natalie Carroll
The Pigmalion Pigs by Mark Allan Gunnells
Chemical Oasis by Tommy B. Smith
Hush by Sergio Pereira
The Reaper’s Fire by Kenneth W. Cain
Effigy by Kate Jonez
Scents of Fear by Steve Jenner
The Bet by Amy Grech
A Hand from the Depths by Dave-Brendon de Burgh
The Monster of Biscayne Bay by Roxanne Dent
The Song at the Edge of the Unfinished Road by Patrick Bates
Foreword by the editor, Monique Snyman.
Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing.
July 30, 2016
Sumiko Saulson’s Black Women in Horror Writing #15: Linda D. Addison
More coverage for 60 Black Women in Horror
How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend by Linda D. Addison
Review by Bryan Cebulski (@BryanOnion)
Linda D. Addison is the most joyous, playful writer I’ve yet encountered on this list. Her works are funny, horrific, grotesque and farcical in both content and structure. This particular collection, How to Recognize a Demon has Become Your Friend, flipflops between short stories and poems. Her short fictions range from the amusing (ie “Excerpts from the Unabridged Traveler’s Guide as UFOs in Galaxy A.G.2”, a piece about the ethics of aliens traveling to Earth which plays on a lot of X-Files-esque alien tropes) to the tragic (ie “The Power”, about girls learning how to use witchcraft), and often incorporate elements of both (ie“Artificial Unintelligence”, wherein a typo causes an AI “human” resources department to attempt to arrest an unsuspecting woman just trying to settling her retirement plan).
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June 30, 2016
Summer Sale at Smashwords
How the Program Works:
At one minute past midnight Pacific time on July 1, the special Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale promotion catalog goes live on the Smashwords home page. Readers can browse the catalog and search by coupon code levels and categories. At the stroke of midnight Pacific time on July 31, the catalog disappears.
The coupon codes only work at Smashwords, not at retailers served by Smashwords.
Sumiko Saulson on Smashwords
I would like to announcement my participation in the Smashwords summer sale. Here is a direct link to my Smashwords author page. Use the code SSW50 to get the books I have enrolled in the promo for 50% off.
Here are the books I have on sale at 50% off:
On Sale for $1.50
The Moon Cried Blood (Box Set)
On Sale for 99 Cents:
Things That Go Bump In My Head
June 5, 2016
At the Sacramento Black Book Fair today
I will be at the Sacramento Black Book Fair today. I have two events – a book chat, where I will be selling and signing books and answering questions about my books, if time allows, reading -and a panel discussion with two other writers, including featured guest writer Jay King.
My book chat will take place at Underground Books, 35th Street & Broadway in Sacramento, CA
The Special Writer’s Circle will take place at 4:30 pm at the Sacramento Food Bank, 3333 3rd Ave in Sacramento, CA.
June 4, 2016
Sumiko Saulson’s Black Women in Horror Writing #13: L.A. Banks
Minion by L.A. Banks Review by Bryan Cebulski (@BryanOnion) I have no particular interest in vampires. In fact I would go so far as to say I find very little genuinely interesting about them. Yet I…
Source: Sumiko Saulson’s Black Women in Horror Writing #13: L.A. Banks
Sumiko Saulson’s Black Women in Horror Writing #13: L.A. Banks
Another review from the 60 Black Women in Horror list…
Minion by L.A. Banks
Review by Bryan Cebulski (@BryanOnion)
I have no particular interest in vampires. In fact I would go so far as to say I find very little genuinely interesting about them. Yet I keep coming back to vampire stories. I’ve watched the entirety of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, but this is due to my fascination with the characters more than the monsters. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is one of my favorite videogames, but this is more out of respect for its gameplay and storyline. Nosferatu is one of my favorite movies, but that’s due to my admiration for the eerie aesthetic of German expressionism. I really want to read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and Tananarive Due’s African Immortals series, but that’s due to my ambition to be familiar with all horror genre touchstones and my appreciation for Tananarive Due as…
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May 23, 2016
Bad Egg by Sumiko Saulson
Bad Egg by Sumiko Saulson Susan Dunphy sniffed and frowned as she crossed the foyer. A putrid stench oozed into the room. It was the unmistakable stench of a rotten egg. She began to…
Source: Bad Egg by Sumiko Saulson
May 22, 2016
Adventures of a Goblin Princess at StokerCon
“Scholarship from Hell” winner Sumiko Saulson, runner-up Hillary Raque-Dodge
As many of you already know, I was the proud winner of the Scholarship from Hell for StokerCon 2016. I, along with runner up Hillary Raque Dodge (also a horror blogger, she is the wicked mind behind The Horror Librarian) , was given free entry to the four day convention in Las Vegas at the historic Flamingo Hotel, and an all-access pass to a series of exclusive educational workshops. As the first place winner, I also received a hotel room, airfare, and a limo ride two and from the airport, which as I posted on Facebook, made me feel like “a goblin princess.”
While I was at the convention, I had a book signing with four-time Bram Stoker Award Winner Linda Addison. If you are familiar with 60 Black Women in Horror, you probably know Linda as the first African American to win the coveted horror award. We were also on a diversity panel, which is listed on the StokerCon events schedule online this way:
11:30pm – 1pm Diversity & the HWA – Red Rock 4 Introduction: Lisa Morton / Moderator: Lucy A. Snyder / Panelists: Ellen Datlow * Guest of Honor, Shane McKenzie, Sumiko Saulson *Horror University Scholarship Winner, Linda Addison, Greg Herren, Angela Yuriko Smith
HWA Diversity Panel – Angela Yuriko Smith, Linda Addison, Greg Herren, Lucy A. Snyder, Ellen Datlow and Sumiko Saulson shown.
Gunnar Norskog wrote a very comprehensive blog post about the panel, which addressed diversity both from the point of view of how to reach out to diverse populations of writers, and from the view of how to populate works of fiction with diverse characters. I was extremely honored to be included in the panel. As a scholarship winner, I had no idea I would be invited to speak on such a subject which you, as a reader of my blog, already know is near and dear to my hear.
As you can see, they made a very big fuss about me. They showed runner up Hillary Raque Dodge a lot of love, too. I am not being falsely modest when I say this: I am still at the bottom rungs of the ladder. I am a support level member of the HWA, and although I’m sure I will be an associate member before summer is over, it may be years before I attain the highest, voting level: active membership. I am still relatively, early in my career, and the encouragement and support meant a lot to me. It also seems very much in the spirit of the educational, outreach and mentoring focus that the HWA has embraced to encourage new writers.
Ace Antonio Hall, Suzanne Paul, Steven Van Patten, Linda Addison and Sumiko Saulson at the Stoker Awards After Party.
I learned a lot while at StokerCon, and just only from the fabulous and comprehensive workshop series for which I was awarded the scholarship. The readings I attended taught me a great deal about how authors can work together and entertain. I also learned that being easy to work with is a plus in the business. All of the actually famous people were super easy going. The few people I met who copped any kind an attitude didn’t have anything published (or even self-published). I guess when you’re really busy you don’t have time for high-school shenanigans or a chip on your shoulder.
Guest of Honor Jack Ketchum was at a signing table next to me and Linda Addison and was so low-key I didn’t even notice him there until Linda introduced us. Guest of Honor Ellen Datlow, who paneled with us earlier, let Linda and I bogart her table when she wasn’t there. I tabled with Ellen and we had a heated discussion with a young man, a fan of hers who stopped by the booth, about Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and the Democratic Party primary which was going on in Las Vegas pretty much while we were in town for StokerCon.
Speaking of Linda Addison, I was really very fortunate that she looked out for me the whole time I was there. She introduced me to a lot of cool people who were present, and I was happy to get to spend time with her, and Ace Antonio Hall who she introduced me to.
Linda Addison, Ace Antonia Hall and Sumiko Saulson
In case you are noting a theme here: I got a lot of support from other writers, especially other women. Although the HWA still has work to do on ethnic diversity, women were very present and prominent at StokerCon, discrediting the outdated myth that women do not write horror.
I received a lot of moral support from women I already knew through Women in Horror Month, via social media, and through this blog, including Guest of Honor Marge Simon. I was introduced to Marge and Linda by Rain Graves. She’s one of the writers who is a part of the Bram Stoker Award Winning Four Elements. Rain is a local author here in the Bay Area, and we met through longtime mutual friend Serena Toxicat. I also met Elizabeth Black, who like me is currently working a short story for Killion Slade’s The Market Place anthology, in person for the first time. Our stories in The Market Place involve a lot of character crossover.
Marge Simon and Sumiko Saulson
One of the subjects we touched on during the diversity panel was how people naturally reach out to people they know. Women who know about anthologies and post to their women in horror groups make other women aware then there are more submissions from women. The same holds true with people of color reaching out to other people of color. 60 Black Women in Horror was written as a part of a blog series I did as an ambassador for Women in Horror Month, but I have as a result of it, come in touch with a lot of other black writers, not just women.
Women are starting to close the gap. Three women won Stoker Awards in 2016, as did one minority (Latino) and one non-English speaking (Italian) author.
During closing statements for the event, President Lisa Morton reported that of the 79 applicants for the Scholarship from Hell, fifty were women. The fact that two women; Hillary Raque Dodge and myself, is less surprising, but not any less amazing in this context. The closing panelists attributed this in part to the Horror Writers Association’s mentorship programs and the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship.
May 20, 2016
LIVE TWEET Tonight! @horroraddicts13
Join us tonight for the live tweet, and see us next weekend at BayCon!
Join us
TONIGHT!
Friday, May 20th, 2016
7pm-9pm PST
on Twitter for a LIVE Tweet event!
To celebrate the release of Once Upon a Scream, we’ll be watching our favorite fairy tale movie and live tweeting during it. Join us by watching your favorite fairy tale and including @horroraddicts13 and #OnceUponScream.
Don’t miss a minute of the fun, follow us now:
