Saturday, June 17, 2006

Writers I Know

One of the best things about being a writer is getting to meet and talk with other creative people with similar interests. One of my links is to a blog by such a writer, a friend of mine named Sid Williams. I first met Sid around 1989 or so at a New Orleans Science Fiction Conference, where he was an invited guest and I just had to pay my way. He had already written a couple of novels while I’d only sold a few short stories. I met him sitting with a fellow named Robert Pettit in the hotel bar, and I was impressed with how friendly and down-to-earth these horror writers were. In fact, I’ve found that the sanest people with the best senses of humor at any conference are always the horror folks, although that may be because I’m biased by my own interests. Anyway, meeting Sid and Robert was a big reason why I started attending conferences regularly, and that helped my career.

Sid has written eight novels, and I’ve read all but one. I think Night Hunters and When Darkness Falls are my favorites of his, but there’s nary a clunker in the bunch. Three of his books are actually young adult horror novels written under the name Michael August. Sid has also written short stories and has scripted comic books. If you like good, atmospheric horror, check his stuff out some time.

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