2001 - 05/2001 Meeting

Page Created: 09/25/10. Last Updated: 10/28/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 05/21/08.

BARRY HOFFMAN

Novels:

Blindsided

Born Bad

Eyes of Prey

Hungry Eyes

Judas Eyes

Collections:

Guardian of Lost Souls

Love Hurts

Author's Website: http://www.gauntletpress.com/cgi-bin/gauntletpress/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=thispage&thispage=psdbi/BarryHoffman.html&ORDER_ID=275263003

Gauntlet Press Website: http://www.gauntletpress.com/cgi-bin/gauntletpress/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=ENTER&thispage=psdbi/GMainPg.html&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID!

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: May 12, 2001.

Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Official Attendance: 38.

Meeting Program: Talk by Horror Writer/Small Press Publisher.

Notes:

The size of the Newsletter Accounts vary greatly from issue to issue. The June 2001 issue did not have space to carry more than a very brief write up of the meeting.

Meeting Memories:

Newsletter Account:

The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2001 Philip J De Parto

The May 12, 2001 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Author and small press publisher Barry Hoffman was the featured speaker.

Pre meeting activities consisted of the club book sale, viewing anime, and a truncated viewing of the broadcast of ANDROMEDA. It was not possible to watch EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT as the show had been pre empted by a Met's game (they lost). Our thanks to everyone who helped with the set up and clean up of the events.

Mr Hoffman began his talk by characterizing his fiction as psychological horror rather than supernatural horror. He often takes real life tales of horror and abuse, fictionalizes them, and extrapolates. His novel HUNGRY EYES, for example, is modeled on the kidnap of an 11 year old girl. What would she be like when she grew up, he wondered. Not liking traditional series format, when the request came for a sequel, he worked around it by making the hero of the first book the supporting character in the sequel.

He had many informative and/or amusing things to say about writing, publishing, Amazon.com, censorship and horror. For example, he mortified his daughter by accompanying her to a college she had under consideration and asking the school staffers all sorts of bizarre questions as he intended to use it as a setting for one of his books. Unfortunately, there is neither the time nor space to report more fully on his talk in this newsletter.