Appearances:

I’ll be reading at Bookcourt in Brooklyn Heights on Tuesday, March 11th, along with MARIAN FONTANA, NINA HERZOG, and STACY MORRISON. Audience choice– I’ll bring all three books, as well as a back-up short story, and I’ll read whatever you’re in the mood for.

Bookcourt is about five blocks from the main, Borough Hall subway hub.

I’ll be on a panel and teaching a workshop at the Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference at the Woodbridge Hotel and Conference Center in Iselin, NJ on March 13, 2010. The two-hour workshop starts at 9:30am, and its subject is: “Where Plot, Character, and Voice Collide: Painting Yourself into Corners, and Writing Yourself Out.”

Description: Writing novels is all about juggling plot, character, and voice. When one weighs too heavily, the whole thing falls apart. Using examples from Elmore Leonard, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, and Walter Tevis, this workshop will be about finding ways to edit first drafts in ways that serve story.

For more information or to register, go here

It’s not too early to register for the World Horror Convention, 2011 in Austin, where I’ll be one of the guests of honor.

News:

AUDREY’S DOOR is a Bram Stoker nominee for outstanding novel. Hooray. Click here for the full list, and good luck to all.

A very cool new review of AD is up at Strange Horizons. It’s not all positive, and makes some valid points about potential homophobia, but it’s well researched and very insightful– my favorite type of review. Contains spoilers, though. So only read the first couple of paragraphs if you haven’t yet read the book.

Have a great couple of weeks, and watch out for the ides of March!

Yours,

Sarah Langan

AUDREY’S DOOR made the HWA’s final ballot for the Bram Stoker Award in outstanding novel. Hooray! Congrats and good luck to all the nominees. Deadlines and motherhood have sadly limited my time, so I haven’t read the other contenders, but intend to remedy that shortly. In other categories, I’ve read:

Damnable by Hank Schwaeble (Jove)

The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay (Henry Holt)

In the Closet, Under the Bed by Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe Press)

The Stephen King Illustrated Companion by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)

Happily, I can recommend every one of them, because they are fantastic!

In other news, I’ve got an interview up at Fatally Yours.

Hope you all are good.

One question: anybody know what “Black and White Cat, Black and White Cake” is supposed to mean?

http://www.locusmag.com/Magazine/2010/Issue02_RecommendedReadingList.html

In addition, I found out this morning that AD made the preliminary ballot for the Horror Writers’ Association 2009 Bram Stoker Award for outstanding novel. Hooray. Wish me luck. Or, hey, read up and vote.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10032/1032635-82.stm

Yours sincerely,
Langan

I’ll be at the main branch of the NYPL (455 Fifth Avenue [at 40th Street] Phone: 917-ASK-NYPL (917-275-6975) tonight for a panel discussion at 6:30pm. The details:

“Legal, Medical, and Psychological Thrillers: How Professionals Use Their Inside Knowledge When They Write,” with moderator, Lawrence Light and panelists, Charles Atkins, MD, Roberta Isleib, Sarah Langan, Justin Peacock and Elizabeth Zelvin of Mystery Writers of America / New York Chapter.

Write what you know. Harnessing that age-old dictum, many working professionals directed their “day-job” know-how into crime fiction. Learn how our panelists, seasoned pros from various disciplines, used this knowledge to enrich their plots and hook readers. What are the promises – and perils – of knowing your subject cold and trying to translate it into edge-of-your-seat mysteries?

Be there or be a stinker.