Sewickley Academy Teacher Up for Bram Stoker Award

Sewickley Academy writing and literature teacher, musician and author Lawrence Connolly does not watch television and writes nearly every day, which makes him able to finish books within a few months. 

Along with teaching at since 1988, Connolly has been writing fiction books and stories since the late 1970s.  His work “straddles” different genres, he says, including science fiction, fantasy and horror. 

His collection "This Way to Egress," as well as his second book, "Vipers" have both been recommended for inclusion on the preliminary ballot for the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Awards. 

The Bram Stoker Awards, named for the famous Irish author known best for "Dracula," honors superior achievement in horror writing. Previous winners include J.K. Rowling and Stephen King, which puts Connolly in great company.

The Horror Writers Association will cast a vote for the final ballot and announce the contenders in early March. The awards ceremony will take place in June in Long Island, NY.  Connolly plans to attend whether or not his work makes the cut for the final ballot.

Connolly is especially grateful to have his work recognized, as he has been writing for more than 30 years. 

“I read fantasy and science fiction intensely throughout the 70s,” he said.  “In 1978 or so, I thought to myself, ‘Maybe I should do this,’ so I gave myself a year and wrote about one story per month.  Eleven months into my first year, 'Amazing Stories' magazine picked up the second story I ever wrote.”

Soon after, "The Twilight Zone Magazine" also published Connolly’s work.  These stories and others came together to create the collection "This Way to Egress," which is included on the Bram Stoker Awards preliminary ballot. 

“The stories for this collection were all already written except for one,” Connolly said.  “So I just wrote an introduction and another story in order to pull the collection together.”

 "Vipers" is part of his "Veins Cycle" series, whch include the books "Veins, Vipers, and Vores," which Connolly is writing now. 

“Each book takes place in an eight-hour period in order to cover a full 24-hour cycle once the series is finished,” said Connolly. 

Connolly’s other passion -- music -- has found its way back into his life through the "Veins Cycle."

“I had been into music for just about all my life, but I had never found a way to put it together with writing.  Either the writing was taking away from the music or vice versa,” he said.

This changed when Fantasist Enterprises, who publishes the "Veins Cycle" books approached Connolly about creating a soundtrack inspired by "Veins."

 “Fantasist Enterprises knew that I had composed and produced music, so they asked me to do it.”

Through his teaching, music, and acclaimed writing, Connolly is a modern-day Renaissance man who has achieved success by doing what he loves and teaching others to do the same.