SUBJECT:
Book Signing Benefiting Parkinson’s Disease Research
April 17, 2004, 2-4 p.m.
Burke Used Books, West Falls Church Outlet Center
7395-F Lee Hwy, Falls Church, VA 22042 (corner Lee Hwy & West St.)
Free admission. Public contact ph. 703-206-9230

Scares for a Good Cause

FALLS CHURCH, VA -- Sure, they scare people for a living, but a group of local horror novelists know that life can be as frightening as fiction. That’s why they are holding a book signing on April 17, from 2 to 4 p.m., at Burke Used Books to benefit Parkinson’s disease research. In addition to horror, these popular mass-market and small-press authors also write medical thrillers, crime-suspense, science fiction, biography, and historical fiction for young adults.

Local authors at the signing will include:

1. Steven Spruill (Arlington, VA), author of 13 novels, including Daughter of Darkness, Sleeper, and My Soul to Take
2. Douglas E. Winter (Oakton, VA), acclaimed editor, author of Run, and biographer of Clive Barker and Stephen King
3. Matthew Warner (Falls Church, VA), author of The Organ Donor
4. L. Marie Wood (Herndon, VA), author of Crescendo and Caliginy
5. A. B. Wallace (Fairfax, VA), author of Mark of the Werewolf

Traveling in for the event are: F. Paul Wilson, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the acclaimed Repairman Jack series, which is being adapted into a movie by Touchstone Films; Elizabeth Massie, Bram Stoker Award-winning Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelist; Brian Keene, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the bestselling new novel, The Rising; J.F. Gonzalez, author of Clickers and Maternal Instinct; and Mary SanGiovanni, author of Under Cover of Night.

A portion of their sales proceeds will be given to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (www.michaeljfox.org). Burke Used Books, which has locations in Falls Church and Burke, has traditionally given to the Foundation, beginning with the revenue from its candy machine. “I have customers who have Parkinson’s,” owner Trish Nyhus said. “My husband and I admire the work of this particular charity.”

This isn’t the first time authors have banded together for a good cause. All of the sales proceeds from the Tales From the Gorezone anthology coming this spring from Apartment 42 Publications will be donated to the National Association to Protect Children (www.protect.org), a child-welfare organization whose supporters include the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix), novelist Andrew Vachss, and online horror bookseller Shocklines.com. And last September, the First Annual Matthew's Miles Walkathon (www.matthewsmiles.org), organized by horror novelist John Passarella in honor of his son Matthew, raised $15,000 for brain tumor research.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is not affiliated with Burke Used Books or the Mid-Atlantic Horror Professionals (MAHP) (www.midatlantichorror.org). The MAHP is a mutual-support network for those in the Mid-Atlantic region with a professional interest in the horror genre.