About E.F. Watkins
E.F. Watkins: Growing up in Cranford, NJ, Eileen always aspired to write novels. As soon as she
could print, she began folding sheets of letter-sized paper in half, drawing cover illustrations and
attempting to write "books." Her earliest efforts involved adventure stories about horses. During
her high school years at Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, NJ, she moved on to Nancy Drew-
type mysteries.
In her freshman year at Marywood College in Scranton, PA, Eileen won first place in a college-
wide short story contest. The real turning point occurred later that year, when a friend lent her a
paperback of DRACULA. Eileen read it by flashlight during a thunderstorm and blackout in the
dorm, and instantly knew that was the kind of book she wanted to write. More contemporary
horror and suspense authors who have influenced her work since then include Ira Levin, Dean
Koontz and Barbara Michaels.
Since 2003, Eileen has published four novels with Amber Quill Press LLC, three of them
paranormal thrillers under the name "E. F. Watkins." Her first, DANCE WITH THE DRAGON,
received a 2004 EPPIE Award from the national organization EPIC (Electronically Published
Internet Connection.) as Best Horror Novel. Next came the "straight" romantic mystery RIDE A
DANCING HORSE (as “Eileen Watkins”). Her third book, BLACK FLOWERS, made it to the finals
in the Thriller category in both the 2006 EPPIE Awards and the 2007 Indie Excellence Book
Awards. Her latest is PARAGON.
Watkins is a founding member of the Garden State Horror Writers, and also belongs to the
mystery-writers’ group Sisters in Crime/Central Jersey and The Writer’s Workshop of Bergen
County, NJ. She has taught fiction-writing seminars for the adult school in Wayne, NJ.
F. Paul Wilson, best-selling author of THE KEEP and THE SELECT, has said “E. F. Watkins is a
writer to watch!” The Internet site Roundtable Reviews observed, “Watkins manages to combine
the supernatural with everyday issues to create a world that is horrifyingly like our own,” and the
magazine Eternal Night has called her "a true master of terror.”
A professional journalist for more than 30 years, Eileen has written about art, architecture, fine
crafts and interior design for daily newspapers and local, national and international magazines.
She shares her 1922 house in northern New Jersey with two cats--Bela and Harley--and
decorates it with furniture, fabrics and accessories from the 1930s-40s.
Visit Eileen's website at www.efwatkins.com.
E.F. Watkins: Growing up in Cranford, NJ, Eileen always aspired to write novels. As soon as she
could print, she began folding sheets of letter-sized paper in half, drawing cover illustrations and
attempting to write "books." Her earliest efforts involved adventure stories about horses. During
her high school years at Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, NJ, she moved on to Nancy Drew-
type mysteries.
In her freshman year at Marywood College in Scranton, PA, Eileen won first place in a college-
wide short story contest. The real turning point occurred later that year, when a friend lent her a
paperback of DRACULA. Eileen read it by flashlight during a thunderstorm and blackout in the
dorm, and instantly knew that was the kind of book she wanted to write. More contemporary
horror and suspense authors who have influenced her work since then include Ira Levin, Dean
Koontz and Barbara Michaels.
Since 2003, Eileen has published four novels with Amber Quill Press LLC, three of them
paranormal thrillers under the name "E. F. Watkins." Her first, DANCE WITH THE DRAGON,
received a 2004 EPPIE Award from the national organization EPIC (Electronically Published
Internet Connection.) as Best Horror Novel. Next came the "straight" romantic mystery RIDE A
DANCING HORSE (as “Eileen Watkins”). Her third book, BLACK FLOWERS, made it to the finals
in the Thriller category in both the 2006 EPPIE Awards and the 2007 Indie Excellence Book
Awards. Her latest is PARAGON.
Watkins is a founding member of the Garden State Horror Writers, and also belongs to the
mystery-writers’ group Sisters in Crime/Central Jersey and The Writer’s Workshop of Bergen
County, NJ. She has taught fiction-writing seminars for the adult school in Wayne, NJ.
F. Paul Wilson, best-selling author of THE KEEP and THE SELECT, has said “E. F. Watkins is a
writer to watch!” The Internet site Roundtable Reviews observed, “Watkins manages to combine
the supernatural with everyday issues to create a world that is horrifyingly like our own,” and the
magazine Eternal Night has called her "a true master of terror.”
A professional journalist for more than 30 years, Eileen has written about art, architecture, fine
crafts and interior design for daily newspapers and local, national and international magazines.
She shares her 1922 house in northern New Jersey with two cats--Bela and Harley--and
decorates it with furniture, fabrics and accessories from the 1930s-40s.
Visit Eileen's website at www.efwatkins.com.
E. F. Watkins -- August 8, 2009
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Saturday, August 8, 2009, 8p
Borders Books, Music & Cafe
Ramsey, NJ 07446
201.760.1967
Borders Books, Music & Cafe
Ramsey, NJ 07446
201.760.1967
Event Recap
We had a great time Saturday, 8/8/09 at Face the Fiction with our guest E.F. (Eileen) Watkins. Ms. Watkins wears several hats: Eppie Award winning author, founding member of the Garden State Horror Writers, member of the mystery-writers’ group Sisters in Crime/Central Jersey, member of The Writer’s Workshop of Bergen County, NJ, and teacher (taught fiction-writing seminars for the adult school in Wayne, NJ). Ms. Watkins also put together the Deadly Ink conference in 2008 that had Todd and Sandy Schlosser (who took time off from writing her most recent Spooky Series book to join us) on a panel about the blending of genres.
Ms. Watkins opened her presentation with a brief background, her path to being published and provided brief descriptions of her books. Her books include her latest, Danu’s Children; Dance With the Dragon (an Eppie Award winner in 2004), Paragon, Black Flowers and Ride A Dancing Horse.
After giving us descriptions of each book, Eileen explained her research techniques, influences and even her preferences for good, old-fashioned horror rather than the contemporary leaning towards ‘slasher’ films. The audience agreed. We had a great time talking ‘vampires’ for well over an hour! We covered vampires in film, books, legend and then some. Ms. Watkins was extremely knowledgeable and gave insight to some things we hadn’t previously considered. Her book, Dance With The Dragon has vampires, so of course we had to know every detail about her specific vampires. We were thrilled to find out her vamps are much closer to the vamps we prefer – hers is a cult leader who does some ‘creative recruiting’ for his cult. Chilling.
The discussion ran the gamut from books, movies, cults and why you should never drink the Kool-Aid – lol. Ms. Watkins> kept us well entertained. This was a fun night. After discussing her books, characters, research, settings and rationale, we asked Ms. Watkins to read a passage. We were fortunate enough to have passages from two of her books read to us.
First up was a passage from Danu’s Children. We sat quietly and listened as a character experiences a not-so-usual road trip. We’re experiencing the harrowing journey through the characters eyes and then Ms. Watkins stopped!! Poor Chris couldn’t believe it, he sat there saying, “What! What happens!” You know we laughed at his misery.
Next up was a passage from Dance With The Dragon. Ms. Watkins read a passage that has the cult leader (aka the vampire) bringing back a cult member – from the dead. The scene was creepy. Of course, Eileen stopped just as ‘reinvigorated’ member starts getting up from her coffin!! Did she go on a rampage looking for blood?! Do the cult members think this is a miracle and have no clue this is a vampire – those blood-sucking fiends of myth?! We were hooked. After the readings, the floor was opened for questions. Ms. Watkins gave information about the publishing process, keeping your characters/storylin es true/consistent, and being able to accept some criticism. We got a heads-up regarding her upcoming book about a haunted house and the psychic unfortunate enough to live in it. Ms. Watkins combined humor with her vast knowledge and was a wonderful guest.
She closed the meeting and we started getting up to make our purchases and chat with Ms. Watkins. I swear I took two steps when my phone rang – I kid you not – it was Todd!! Even from Rhode Island he managed to be the first in line to buy the book! I couldn’t believe it – lol. I answered the phone to hear, “Can you get me a book?” Does he have radar? Talk about a paranormal moment. We made our purchases and chatted with Ms. Watkins. Aurelia purchased Danu’s Children with Suspense Central in mind. We look forward to Ms. Watkins joining us to discuss the book – and poor Chris can finally have his questions resolved.
Thank you EF Watkins for a nice time! Please check out www.efwatkins.com for book info and more.
We headed out and a group of us had a great time at TGIFriday (Thanks to Gene for the awesome coupon that saved us all $$).
We had a great time Saturday, 8/8/09 at Face the Fiction with our guest E.F. (Eileen) Watkins. Ms. Watkins wears several hats: Eppie Award winning author, founding member of the Garden State Horror Writers, member of the mystery-writers’ group Sisters in Crime/Central Jersey, member of The Writer’s Workshop of Bergen County, NJ, and teacher (taught fiction-writing seminars for the adult school in Wayne, NJ). Ms. Watkins also put together the Deadly Ink conference in 2008 that had Todd and Sandy Schlosser (who took time off from writing her most recent Spooky Series book to join us) on a panel about the blending of genres.
Ms. Watkins opened her presentation with a brief background, her path to being published and provided brief descriptions of her books. Her books include her latest, Danu’s Children; Dance With the Dragon (an Eppie Award winner in 2004), Paragon, Black Flowers and Ride A Dancing Horse.
After giving us descriptions of each book, Eileen explained her research techniques, influences and even her preferences for good, old-fashioned horror rather than the contemporary leaning towards ‘slasher’ films. The audience agreed. We had a great time talking ‘vampires’ for well over an hour! We covered vampires in film, books, legend and then some. Ms. Watkins was extremely knowledgeable and gave insight to some things we hadn’t previously considered. Her book, Dance With The Dragon has vampires, so of course we had to know every detail about her specific vampires. We were thrilled to find out her vamps are much closer to the vamps we prefer – hers is a cult leader who does some ‘creative recruiting’ for his cult. Chilling.
The discussion ran the gamut from books, movies, cults and why you should never drink the Kool-Aid – lol. Ms. Watkins> kept us well entertained. This was a fun night. After discussing her books, characters, research, settings and rationale, we asked Ms. Watkins to read a passage. We were fortunate enough to have passages from two of her books read to us.
First up was a passage from Danu’s Children. We sat quietly and listened as a character experiences a not-so-usual road trip. We’re experiencing the harrowing journey through the characters eyes and then Ms. Watkins stopped!! Poor Chris couldn’t believe it, he sat there saying, “What! What happens!” You know we laughed at his misery.
Next up was a passage from Dance With The Dragon. Ms. Watkins read a passage that has the cult leader (aka the vampire) bringing back a cult member – from the dead. The scene was creepy. Of course, Eileen stopped just as ‘reinvigorated’ member starts getting up from her coffin!! Did she go on a rampage looking for blood?! Do the cult members think this is a miracle and have no clue this is a vampire – those blood-sucking fiends of myth?! We were hooked. After the readings, the floor was opened for questions. Ms. Watkins gave information about the publishing process, keeping your characters/storylin es true/consistent, and being able to accept some criticism. We got a heads-up regarding her upcoming book about a haunted house and the psychic unfortunate enough to live in it. Ms. Watkins combined humor with her vast knowledge and was a wonderful guest.
She closed the meeting and we started getting up to make our purchases and chat with Ms. Watkins. I swear I took two steps when my phone rang – I kid you not – it was Todd!! Even from Rhode Island he managed to be the first in line to buy the book! I couldn’t believe it – lol. I answered the phone to hear, “Can you get me a book?” Does he have radar? Talk about a paranormal moment. We made our purchases and chatted with Ms. Watkins. Aurelia purchased Danu’s Children with Suspense Central in mind. We look forward to Ms. Watkins joining us to discuss the book – and poor Chris can finally have his questions resolved.
Thank you EF Watkins for a nice time! Please check out www.efwatkins.com for book info and more.
We headed out and a group of us had a great time at TGIFriday (Thanks to Gene for the awesome coupon that saved us all $$).
