| E.F. Watkins August 8, 2009 |
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.
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 $$).
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |  |  |  |