Killer Nashville Claymore Award Finalist

This summer, I was named a finalist for Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award for Best Unpublished Southern Gothic. At Killer Nashville’s Annual Writers’ Conference, I received Runner-Up and spoke at four panels on everything from what qualifies as Southern Gothic to what to expect in the first year of publication. Here’s a rundown of the event!

Panel: Blueprints for Other Worlds: Building Immersive Settings from Reality to Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror to Keep Readers Turning Pages

This panel was all about creating a setting that feels real to the reader. I talked about how I love planning out novels before I start writing them. I’m definitely an outliner with tons of notes on the setting’s history, maps, character charts, etc. As a writer, I need to have all this info ready to reference once my story gets going. No, I don’t include all the details in the finished project, but it helps to have a clear picture of the history, layout, and relationships before I write the actual novel.

Panel: Writing Stories that Actually Terrify

I love talking about horror in media. I think horror is an excellent way to show us the terrors that surround us in a way that’s far enough away to digest the horror and to allow the audience to see how we can defeat it. Monsters aren’t just monsters. Ghosts aren’t just apparitions. They are symbols for the things that haunt us as human beings. In a way, horror is one of the most hopeful genres because monsters can be defeated, ghosts can be set free, and killers can be apprehended before it’s too late. These stories let us know we can overcome the worst of life’s horrors and that we aren’t alone.

Panel: The Evolution of Gothic: Southern & Traditional

When my writing is sometimes classified as Southern Gothic, I always get the question, “What is Southern Gothic, exactly?” To me, Southern Gothic is a gothic tale that celebrates the beauty of a place while showing the grotesque underneath, and since it’s Southern, it’s set squarely in the South so that the setting feels as familiar and real as one of the characters. The pacing is slower than commercial fiction and relies on a sense of stacking dread. Similar to horror, the genre gives the audience a contained microcosm to let horrors play out, often showing that beauty and terror do not only coexist, but they are so entwined that you can’t truly have one without the other.

Debut Year from the Other Side: The Reality of Your First Year

This panel was fun since I got to dive into the importance of relationships in your first year of publishing. From connecting to indie bookstores and local libraries to larger readership online, we discussed how a collaborative approach can help you navigate your first year of publication. Reach out to authors in your genre, especially if they have a book releasing near your publication date. Get involved in the reading community online. Rely on your writing groups to help support you when things feel overwhelming. Above all, community can help you launch your book and help you stay sane in the process.

Claymore and Beyond

I was so excited to meet and learn from other authors during the Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference. Writers came from various countries to celebrate great writing. Whether their specialties were mystery, thriller, suspense, or horror, it was great to learn from authors in various genres to see how they are playing with story, character, structure, and form. I was blown away by the talent and was honored to receive Runner-Up for the Claymore Award for Best Unpublished Southern Gothic.

This fall, I hope to keep creating stories and stay involved in the writing community. I have several writing events and reader events on the horizon, so stay tuned for a glimpse behind the curtain on those! Are there any events you are looking forward to? What questions do you have about these panels?

Hope you soak up the last bits of summer and are excited for autumn!