Update Regarding Scam Emails

Notice to HWA Members When you fill out your profile on WildApricot, you set both "Public" and "Private" information. Members see more than the public, but the public can get your email if you put it in the "Public" section. This can be beneficial to you if an agent or other professional is looking to contact you. The drawback is you may receive the occasional spam email. We rarely have this happen, but it does. As many of you are aware, we recently were affected by a spam email message. As a reminder, if you received this message, claiming you've…
A Point of Pride: Interview with Robert Perez

A Point of Pride: Interview with Robert Perez

Robert Perez sleeps at the bottom of the ocean. Urban legend whispers that the writer can be summoned into your dreams if you read his work to a jack-o-lantern. You can find his poems and stories in the Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase Volumes II, III, IV (Special Mention), and V, The Literary Hatchet #13 & #14, Deadlights Magazine #1, Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove, and Community of Magic Pens. He is currently working on obtaining a master’s degree in counseling psychology at the University of Colorado Denver. Follow @_TheLeader on twitter to keep up with future projects. What inspired you…

Warning: Email Scam Alert

  The HWA is aware members are being sent unsolicited emails from a company claiming they’ve selected people for a medical writing interview, or some variant. Of course, these did not originate and have not been okayed by the HWA. DO NOT REPLY! Other writing organizations are also reporting their memberships have been targeted. Sit tight, don’t reply, and our web team are looking into this now. We will make any further statements necessary as we discover more.  

A Point of Pride: Interview with Edwin Brightwater

Edwin Brightwater lives in Taiwan. He was born in New Zealand in the 1970s and educated mostly in Australia. His native language is English. He is also fluent in Chinese, having learned the language in his late twenties. Edwin Brightwater writes horror and suspense fiction that incorporates the unreal—gothic, dark urban fantasy, the paranormal and the magical, thrilling stories of things bizarre, grotesque, or utterly impossible. His favorite authors are Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen and his oldest inspiration is “Doctor Who.” His preferred pastime is reading. His pseudonymous pen name, Edwin Brightwater, reflects his ancestry in the South Island…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Paula D. Ashe

Paula D. Ashe is a writer of dark fiction. Her debut collection, We Are Here to Hurt Each Other, was released in early 2022 from Nictitating Books. She lives in the Midwest with her family. What inspired you to start writing? I’ve been compelled to write since a very young age, I’m not sure why. I’ve always had an affinity for language, storytelling, and a big dark imagination. What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it? That’s the question, ain’t it? I don’t know what drew me in, but I know what keeps me is the…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Tenea D. Johnson

Tenea D. Johnson is a multimedia storyteller, musician, editor, arts & empowerment entrepreneur, and award-winning author of 7 speculative fiction works, including 2021’s releases, Frequencies, a Fiction Album and Broken Fevers, of which Publisher’s Weekly wrote “the 14 hard-hitting, memorable short stories and prose vignettes in this powerhouse collection … are astounding in their originality” (starred review). Her debut novel Smoketown won the Parallax Award for excellence in a speculative fiction work by a person of color while R/evolution earned an honorable mention that year as well. Her virtual home is teneadjohnson.com. Stop by anytime. What inspired you to start…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Avra Margariti

I'm Avra Margariti, a Rhysling and Pushcart-nominated author from Greece. My poetry has appeared in Vastarien, Asimov's, and is forthcoming from F&SF. My dark fiction appears in places such as The Arcanist and Daily Science Fiction. "The Saint of Witches", my debut collection of horror poetry, has been published by Weasel Press. What inspired you to start writing? I’ve always loved stories! Growing up in Greece, I listened to a lot of folktales and ballads preserved through oral tradition. Like most fairytales, these folk ballads included murder, monsters, and mayhem which I always found very appealing in storytelling. The first…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Maxwell I. Gold

Maxwell I. Gold is a multiple award-nominated author who writes prose poetry and short stories in weird and cosmic fiction. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines including Weirdbook Magazine, Space and Time Magazine, Startling Stories, Strange Horizons, Tales from OmniPArk Anthology, Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas and more. He’s the author of Oblivion in Flux: A Collection of Cyber Prose from Crystal Lake Publishing. He’s a proud Columbus, Ohio native and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Horror Writers Association as the organization’s Treasurer. What was it about the horror genre that…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Caitlin Marceau

Caitlin Marceau is a queer author and, and an active member of the HWA, whose work primarily showcases queer women and her debut collection, Palimpsest, was released this past March by Ghost Orchid Press. Her work has appeared in collections such as Beyond The Veil: Supernatural Tales Of Queer Love, Blood & Bone, and Dark Hearts. Her debut novella, This Is Where We Talk Things Out, is scheduled for release this summer by Dark Lit Press and they’re also set to publish her second collection, Femina (which focuses on the horror of womanhood), in early 2023. A full list of…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Nisi Shawl

Nisi Shawl co-authored Writing the Other: A Practical Approach, a standard text on inclusivity.  Their debut novel, an alternate history of Africa’s Congo region, was a Nebula Award finalist.  They wrote the Otherwise Award-winning short story collection Filter House, and edited the acclaimed anthology New Suns: Speculative Fiction by People of Color, winner of the World Fantasy, Locus, and Ignyte awards.  Their most recent story collections are Exploring Dark Short Fiction 3: A Primer to Nisi Shawl, and Talk Like a Man.  Shawl’s forthcoming titles include Speculation, a middle grade historical fantasy about redeeming a family curse; and Our Fruiting…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Dan B. Fierce

Dan B. Fierce loves humor and horror alike, and many things in between. A long-time fan of authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Edgar Alan Poe, he lets his darker side come out in the macabre, "Revenge," demonstrates the tension caused by the corona virus with "Mistaken," and gives the reader a taste of dark humor with "Warning Shot," all contained between the covers of the 2020 Indie Authors’ Short Story Anthology. His suspense-filled story “Abandoned Bikes” was published in Crimes and Culprits: An Anthology by the Indie Author Group. Both books were put out by Heathory Press. He…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Holly Lyn Walrath

Holly Lyn Walrath is a writer, editor, and publisher. Her poetry and short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, Analog, and Flash Fiction Online. She is the author of several books of poetry including Glimmerglass Girl (2018), Numinose Lapidi (2020), and The Smallest of Bones (2021). She holds a B.A. in English from The University of Texas and a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Denver. In 2019, she launched Interstellar Flight Press, an indie SFF publisher dedicated to publishing underrepresented genres and voices. What inspired you to start writing? I started writing very much as…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Eva Roslin

Eva Roslin is a disabled horror writer from Canada with a penchant for Southern Gothic themes. She received the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship from the Horror Writers Association in 2017, a Ladies of Horror Fiction Grant in 2021, and is a Supporting HWA member. Her work has appeared in such publications as Love Bites (Mischief Publishing), Dark Heroes (Pill Hill Press), Murky Depths, Ghostlight Magazine and others. She is a librarian, instructor, and researcher with a focus on 19th century American history. My website: https://roslineva.wordpress.com What inspired you to start writing? I think like a lot of kids that didn’t…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Ron Gabriel

Ron Gabriel is a magazine industry veteran and author of supernatural fiction. He grew up in northern New England where he loved exploring old graveyards and places rumored to be haunted. He has a BA in Journalism from the University of Maine, and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association. What inspired you to start writing? I’ve always loved when reality surrenders to fantasy and creation. And writing is such a satisfying challenge, a multi-layered puzzle with no shortcuts. Filtered thoughts and hard decisions turn…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Jose Nateras

Jose Nateras is an L.A.-based Writer and Filmmaker from Chicago. An actor, screenwriter, playwright, journalist and more, Jose prides himself on his versatility as an artist. Jose is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago, has his MFA in Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and is also a freelance journalist, a published novelist, and screenwriter/playwright. One of his feature-length screenplays, "Zero Feet Away" was recently a finalist in the screenwriting competitions of the NOLA Horror Film Festival, the Los Angeles Crime and Horror Film Festival, the Lit Scares International Horror Festival, and was included on…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Lee Allen Howard

Lee Allen Howard’s dark fiction spans the genres of horror, LGBTQ+ horror, supernatural crime, psychological thrillers, and dark mystery. He’s written six novels—The Sixth Seed, Death Perception, The Adamson Family, The Bedwetter: Journal of a Budding Psychopath, The Covenant Sacrifice, The Prosperity Society—and a collection of early short stories, Perpetual Nightmares. Howard earned a BA in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. He’s been a professional writer in the software industry since 1985. As a fiction editor, Howard is the founder and editor at Dark Cloud Press, publisher of…

A Point of Pride: Interview with April A. Taylor

April A. Taylor is an award-winning, #1 best-selling multi-genre author. Her debut horror novel, The Haunting of Cabin Green, was featured on four "Best Horror Books of 2018" lists (PopSugar, Inquisitr, Bored Panda, and Ranker). She has written nine books to date. April lives in Michigan with her huge black cat, Riley. If her life was a cartoon, she'd be Lisa Simpson. What inspired you to start writing? I’d been writing since early childhood, but what inspired me to actually publish my stories was going through a housefire. What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it? The…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Allison Church

Allison Church (a.k.a. DONALD ALLEN KIRCH) is a Transgender Author who lives in the Midwest of the United States. She is an avid lover of horror, science fiction, and fantasy and will challenge ANYONE on her knowledge of TV “pop” culture. A die-hard fan of “Star Trek,” “Babylon 5,” and “Doctor Who,” she does not believe in the “NO Win” scenario! She LOVES everything about the Paranormal! What inspired you to start writing? I have always LOVED the role of a Storyteller. The power to hold a person’s attention is a rare and wonderful thing in our times. However, with…

A Point of Pride: Interview with C.R. Langille

C.R. Langille spent many a Saturday afternoon watching monster movies with their mother. It wasn't long before they started crafting nightmares to share with their readers. They are a retired, disabled veteran with a deep love for weird and creepy tales. This prompted them to form Timber Ghost Press in January of 2021. They are an affiliate member of the Horror Writer's Association, a member of the League of Utah Writers, and they received their MFA: Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. https://biolinks.heropost.io/CRLangille What inspired you to start writing? When I was in the 6th grade, I picked up…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam’s fiction has appeared in over 90 publications such as LeVar Burton Reads and Popular Science, as well as in six languages. By night, she has been a finalist for the Nebula Award. By day, she works as a Narrative Designer writing romance games. Her first horror novella and short story collection will be published in 2022. What inspired you to start writing? The strong emotions I got from hearing stories as a kid. I loved fairy tales, horror stories, sad endings, and awe-inspiring descriptions—and when I figured out that I could inspire emotions in other people, I…