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I don't remember my first scary story. Maybe it was the neighbor kid's retelling of The Tell-Tale Heart, or an edited-for-television Hammer movie. Whatever it was, It made my tiny kid brain light up and think Yes! That's for me!

A few decades later, I signed up for a horror writing workshop. When my husband Eric found out, he suggested StokerCon. I said that sounded like fun. So, here we are.

That was fast. Much faster than my writing, as it turns out.

See, when I read, I can tell when a story goes wrong. There's a word, a quote, some turn of phrase that boots you out of the book's world and back into your own. But when I write...hoo boy. Many pitfalls and moving parts. Where some of them are, I can only guess. It's enough to make Indiana Jones think twice.

I have a couple incomplete projects, and a few more ideas. Lately, though, I've been hiking the trail between Mount Procrastination and Insecurity Valley in search of a way out.

For my day job, I'm a tech writer. The writing I get paid to do is simple, precise, and boring. Sometimes there are pictures. Those are boring too.

You can talk to me about:

• The history of horror genre in literature, from the Castle of Otranto and The Monk to the present day.
• The gothic, fairy tale, and folk tale sub-genres.
• How horror is often used to discuss real-life trauma and disasters. 
• How well the horror genre does in short story form. I think horror may have helped keep the short story form alive,or vice versa. I have a few favorites; what are yours?
• Horror from marginalized groups. I am interested in reading authors who draw on their own spiritual or secular history and/or take prejudicial tropes and turn them on their head.