Shades & Shadows

The puppets lie dormant, strings loose and untethered to a puppeteer. But there is life in these walls. Strange things, bizarre things, fantastic things are lying in wait for you.

Come join us on Saturday, May 21st, 2016, and find out what we’ve been working on in our secret lair.

Featuring:

Christopher Farnsworth is the author of five novels, including BLOOD OATH, THE ETERNAL WORLD, and coming August 9, KILLFILE. His work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Awl, The New York Post, and The New Republic. His novels have been translated into nine languages and published in over a dozen territories, and optioned for film and TV.

Lauren Miller wrote her debut, PARALLEL while on maternity leave from her law firm job and blogged about it, an experiment she called “embracing the detour” (also the name of her blog). Many people told her she was crazy. When she realized they were right, she told no one and kept writing. Her second novel, FREE TO FALL, was nominated for YALSA’s 2015 Best Fiction for Young Adults reading list and is currently being developed into a digital series by StyleHaul.

S. P. Hendrick is the author of two acclaimed fantasy series, The Glastonbury Chronicles and Tales Of The Dearg-Sidhe which so far have nine books in publication and more in preparation. A third companion series to those two, The Glastonbury Archives in the works, along with a deck of Tarot cards and accompanying book based on Celtic mythology, British folklore, and the worlds and characters she has created. Her latest novel is a stand-alone called Raven’s Daughter.

She lives in the San Fernando Valley with her husband Jay T. Mayer, entirely too many cats, and thirty-two overflowing bookcases. She can be found on her Amazon author’s page, and on Facebook.

Mercedes Yardley is a dark fantasist who wears poisonous flowers in her hair. She is the author of Pretty Little Dead Girls, the BONE ANGEL trilogy, and just won the 2015 Bram Stoker Award for her novelette Little Dead Red. Mercedes lives in Sin City and can be found at www.abrokenlaptop.com.

John Skipp is a New York Times bestselling novelist and editor turned filmmaker. His books have sold millions of copies in a dozen languages worldwide, pioneering the hardcore horror “splatterpunk” craze, and launching modern zombie fiction with 1989’s BOOK OF THE DEAD. His feature directing credits (with Andrew Kasch) include the anthology films TALES OF HALLOWEEN and MONSTERLAND. He’s also editor of the genre-mutating Fungasm Press.

Adrian Mendoza is a credentialed social science teacher, graduate student, and indie author. He was raised Chicano in Barrio Logan, San Diego and now lives in Silicon Valley with his wife and children. His novel, The Kaleidoscope, was recently featured as a homework assignment for the largest hacker convention in the world – DEFCON 24. The same title has been recognized for its dedication to diversity, socio-political outlook, and technological vision by, “That’s What She Said” Magazine of Bristol University, fellow authors and members at IACP Co-Opress, and a growing fan-base of artists and readers alike.

For more information, please visit: www.adrianmendoza.net

Hosted by Xach Fromson and Lauren Candia

Books will be available for purchase on-site, courtesy of the amazing folks at Skylight Books.

Doors at 7:30 p.m. Show at 8:00 p.m.
The Bob Baker Marionette Theater
1345 W. 1st St.
Los Angeles, California 90026

RSVP on Facebook HERE.

It’s an even bet whether the weather will treat us to a downpour or a Saharan dry spell, but whether the weather is cold, or whether the weather is hot, let’s get together–whatever the weather–to hear fiction of monsters and rot!

Join us once again as we present six amazing authors, reading live from their own works of science fiction, fantasy, horror, noir, and beyond! Shades & Shadows Reading Series is proud as hell to announce our 15th lineup, featuring some of the greatest talents the L.A. literary scene has to offer. We are pleased to bring you:

Ben Loory is the author of the collection Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, and a picture book for children, The Baseball Player and the Walrus. His fables and tales have appeared in The New Yorker, Fairy Tale Review, Tin House, and Weekly Reader’s READ Magazine, and been heard on This American Life and Selected Shorts. He lives in Los Angeles and is an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. www.benloory.com

Steph Cha is the author of “Follow Her Home,” “Beware Beware,” and “Dead Soon Enough,” all published by St.Martin’s Minotaur. She’s the noir editor for the L.A. Review of Books and a regular contributor to the L.A. Times. She lives in her native city of Los Angeles with her husband and basset hound.

Jim Ruland is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and the author of the novel Forest of Fortune, the short story collection Big Lonesome and co-author with Scott Campbell, Jr. of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch of Giving the Finger. He is currently collaborating with Keith Morris on his memoir My Damage about his life with Black Flag, Circle Jerks and OFF! which will be published by Da Capo later this year. Jim lives in Southern California where he runs the reading series Vermin on the Mount, now in its twelfth year.

Amelia Gray is the author of four books: AM/PM, Museum of the Weird, THREATS, and Gutshot. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Tin House, and VICE. She lives in Los Angeles.

Carlos Allende is the author of Love, or the Witches of Windward Circle, a horror farce set in Venice, California, throughout the first half of the 20th Century. He was born in Mexico City in 1974, but can pull off 1985 under the proper light. He has three elder sisters, none of whom practices magic. Since he was a kid, he knew he liked boys and that he wanted to be a writer. However, he was too much of a coward to study writing: his BA is in Economics and he has a Master’s in Global Management. He makes a living taking care of the finances for a vacation rental company in Venice, and is currently enrolled in a Master in Media Psychology. He lives in Santa Monica with his husband. Currently, he’s working on Coffe, Shopping, Murder, Love, an epistolary novel about coffee, shopping, incidental murder, and love.

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of All the Birds in the Sky, the L.A. Times-bestselling novel about a mad scientist and a witch who
grow up together and maybe find love. Her story “Six Months, Three Days” won a 2012 Hugo Award. She edits the science fiction blog
io9.com and organizes the popular Writers With Drinks reading series.

Hosted by Lauren Candia and Xach Fromson

Doors at 7:30 p.m.
Show at 8:00 p.m.

Bob Baker Marionette Theater!
1345 W. 1st St.
Los Angeles, California 90026

Books will be sold on site, courtesy of Skylight Books!

And RSVP on Facebook HERE.

Autumn is over. The holidays are a foggy, eggnog-flavored memory that smells vaguely of overripe family and stale cheer. We find ourselves standing now in the dead of winter. Waterlogged trees scrape at the sky with leafless branches, our concrete channel of a river is swollen to bursting from the storms, ferrying detritus of civilization to unknown destinations and doom. Soulless chain stores waft chemical analogs of peppermint at us from every product on every shelf.

It’s the perfect weather to come join us for some creepy stories, wouldn’t you agree?

Fortunately, we have just the lineup in store for you! Come join us as we ring in 2016 with an exquisite offering from astounding authors! Featuring the talents of:

ELISE FORIER EDIE worked as a playwright for many years, before turning to writing speculative fiction. Her most recent publications include short stories, “You-Go-Back” in Strange Tales V (Tartarus Press), and “Leonora” in Chilling Horror Short Stories (Flame Tree Publications). She is also the author of a paranormal romance novella, The Devil in Midwinter, which was released in 2014 by World Weaver Press. Elise is a member of the Horror Writer’s Association, Los Angeles (HWA) and the Authors Guild and a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. She currently heads up the Theater Arts program at West Los Angeles College, where she teaches playwriting.

DAVID GERROLD is the author of over 50 books, hundreds of articles and columns, and over a dozen television episodes. He is a classic sci-fi writer who will go down in history as having created some of the most popular and redefining scripts, books, and short stories in the genre.

JOSHUA SCHER has written for the stage and screen since 2006. He holds a BA with Honors in Creative Writing from Brown University and an MFA in playwriting from Yale University. His play, The Footage, has been produced from NYC to Australia and its cinematic adaptation was developed by Pressman Film. Scher’s television pilot, JiGsAw, was developed by Danny Glover with Louveture Films and his film, I’m Ok, starring Dot-Marie Jones, is in post-production, set for a 2016 festival run. His first novel, Here & There, launched in November. io9 says, ““For people who do take the plunge, an incredible payoff awaits…Anyone interested in quantum physics, data encryption, and advanced computing will relish Here and There’s deep meditations on these topics.”

SHERRI L. SMITH is the award-winning author of YA novels LUCY THE GIANT, SPARROW, HOT SOUR SALTY SWEET, FLYGIRL and ORLEANS. In October 2015, she makes her middle grade debut with THE TOYMAKER’S APPRENTICE from G.P. Putnam and Sons for Penguin Random House.

XACH FROMSON is a Los Angeles native who has been obsessed with horror and dark fiction from a very young age. He received his BA in Creative Writing from California State University Northridge in 2009. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of California Riverside’s Palm Desert program. He appeared on stage at Dirty Laundry Lit in February 2013 and has a short story in the 2014 anthology, Halloween Tales. He is currently in various stages of working on a ton of projects. He is co-founder and co-host of Shades & Shadows…and once, he slew a dragon.

STEPHANIE DIAZ  Twenty-three-year-old Stephanie Diaz wrote her first novel at age nine. Ten years later, she landed a publishing deal for a YA science fiction series, Extraction, while studying filmmaking at San Diego State University. She has since written the two sequels, Rebellion and Evolution. When she isn’t lost in books, she can be found singing, marveling at the night sky, or fan-girling over TV shows. Visit her online at www.stephaniediazbooks.com and follow her on twitter @StephanieEDiaz.

Hosted by Lauren Candia and Xach Fromson!

$10 online or at the door.

Doors at 7:30 p.m.
Show at 8:00 p.m.

Mimoda Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010

RSVP on Facebook HERE.