What's Going On: Authors congregate in Putnam to fight domestic abuse

Jul. 22—It's mostly a horror show.

But when a couple dozen local authors get together from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 27, at Charlee Bravo's Bar & Grill in Putnam, that will be OK, because it's all for a good cause: to fight the horrors of domestic violence.

The Authors Against Abuse event, featuring 15 horror writers but also others focusing on fantasy, romance and even suspense, was the brainchild of author Laura Bilodeau, who grew up in Danielson and went to Killingly High and Nichols College. But I found out about it thanks to a note from Preston author D.M. Foley, who specializes in psychological thrillers such as "Deric Dream Changer," which is the first book of her Dream Walkers series.

The author confab has been in the planning stages since late last year, but all the spots were filled by the time Foley got around to contacting Bilodeau, a writer of extreme horror and psychological thrillers. But she was offered a chance to participate as a "non-attending author," by having a limited number of signed copies of her books available to purchase, with Foley deciding to offer 10% of sales for the fundraiser.

"VIP ticket purchasers will receive a signed bookmark in their goodie bags from me, and I am also donating a signed hardcover copy of 'The Killer Trip' to be raffled off," Foley said.

Bilodeau said in an email that she attended the horror-themed event MonstahXpo in New Hampshire last year and wanted to do something similar in this area. Foley reports that she picked United Services Inc. as the recipient of fundraising dollars because of personal experience with the nonprofit that aids people affected by domestic abuse.

"In her area, the quiet corner of Connecticut, there aren't many events for readers to connect with local authors," Foley said. "One of her goals with organizing Authors Against Abuse is to change that."

Authors are not charged for participating in the event, but they could choose to give part of their sales to fight domestic abuse, as Foley did.

Bilodeau, who lives in Dayville, said there are currently 26 authors planning to attend, many of them well known throughout New England. The only one from New London County is Kristin Jacques, a science fiction/fantasy writer, though Reed Alexander formerly lived in Norwich and J.J. Alo lives nearby in Middlesex County.

As part of the event, horror author Mark Tullius, a trained Jiu-Jitsu master, will be giving a self-defense demonstration.

Despite her best efforts, Bilodeau has reported difficulties in garnering ticket sales, which include a general admission ticket at $23.18 and a VIP ticket for $39.19, both sold through Eventbite.com.

"The VIP pass includes exclusive event merchandise and goodies from participating authors," Foley said.

While the majority of authors at the event are in the horror realm, there are a smattering of other writers represented, including a few that cross genres. Bilodeau is hoping that the event will include a greater range of writers in the future, as she expects it to develop into an annual event.

This year's confab includes one other surprise: the father-daughter duo L.M. Kaplin and Lyla Diamond, who both write in the suspense/thriller genre. Lyla, by the way, is in sixth grade and has already published her first book, "Ruby's Cube."

Putnam may be a bit of a trek for folks on the shoreline, but who wouldn't like to see a group of local authors all together talking about their stories. Far from a horror, this would be a writer's dream come true.

Lee Howard is The Day's business editor. To reach him, email [email protected].