Rocky Wood

Infobox Writer
name = Rocky Wood


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birthdate = 19 October 1959
birthplace = Wellington, New Zealand
deathdate =
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occupation = Writer
nationality = New Zealander / Australian
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genre = Non-fiction
subject = Stephen King
UFOs
Environmental Politics
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influences = Stephen King
Erich von Daniken
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website = http://www.myspace.com/rockywood

Rocky Wood is an award-nominated [ [http://www.whc2007.org/stokers-nom01.htm World Horror Convention Stoker Award nominees announcement] ] Australian non-fiction writer known for his books about horror author Stephen King. Wood is based in Melbourne, Australia and has been a freelance writer for 30 years. His writing career began at university, where he wrote a national newspaper column in New Zealand on UFO-related phenomena and published other articles about the phenomenon worldwide [ "Did UFO Abduct Aircraft?", "Fate" magazine 32,3 (March 1979): 61-65 ] [New Zealand UFO Studies Centre: Kaikoura ufo controversy / edited by Rocky Wood. - Wellington (New Zealand) : New Zealand UFO Studies Centre, 1980. - 22 s. - (4th special issue) ] [ [http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/2323/ufo2.html Ufo Abduction ] ] [ "The UFO Phenomenon in New Zealand - A Brief Review" in "Erich von Daniken and UFOs in New Zealand" - Paraparaumu, New Zealand: ECRA Promotions, 1978 ] ; and had articles on the security industry published in the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand and South Africa.

tephen King works

In the Stephen King and horror communities, Rocky Wood is regarded as a leading expert on Stephen King’s work [http://ozhorrorscope.blogspot.com/2005/12/interview-rocky-wood.html Australian horror website ] . He is the co-author of "The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King" (Kanrock Partners, 2003, 2004) [ Melbourne, Australia: 2004, Kanrock Partners http://www.horrorking.com] ; "Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished" (Cemetery Dance Publications, 2006) [http://www.kanrockpublishing.com/book.html Melbourne, Australia: Kanrock Partners, 2006 and Abingdon, Maryland: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2006 ] ; "The Stephen King Collector's Guide" (Kanrock Partners, 2007 [ Melbourne, Australia: 2007, Kanrock Partners http://www.horrorking.com/collector] ); and "Stephen King: The Non-Fiction" (Cemetery Dance Publications, 2008) [ Abingdon, Maryland, 2007: Cemetery Dance Publications http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/wood02] . Wood has also written many articles on King that have appeared in such magazines as Cemetery Dance, "Dark Discoveries" [ 'The Joy of Stephen King' Vol 1, No 1 Spring 2004 p.31-36 www.darkdiscoveries.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=2&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1 "Dark Discoveries" website ] , and "Lighthouse" [ 'King's Neverending Story' in "Lighthouse IV" p.15-26; 'Stephen King: Why the Huge Fanbase?' in "Lighthouse V" p.20-28 ; www.locusmag.com/index/yr2005/t26.htm Table of Contents from Locus magazine] .

Wood was keynote speaker at the 2003 Stephen King (SKEMER) Conference held in Estes Park, Colorado at the site of the hotel that featured in The Shining (2003); Continuum 3 (2005) and Continuum 4 (2006) in Melbourne, Australia; Conflux in Canberra, Australia (2006); and at the Stephen King film festival held in King’s hometown of Bangor, Maine in October 2005.

In 2002, he traveled to Orono, Maine and spent three weeks researching the Stephen King Archives at the Special Collections Unit of the Raymond H Fogler Library at the University of Maine.

His first King book was "The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King", a 6000+ page encyclopedia on CD-ROM, which summarizes every story, every character, every place, and the entire timeline of King's work. In-depth information on all 270+ fiction works by Stephen King, 26,000 King characters, and 5,000 King places are included, along with adaptations of King’s work to the big and small screens. The "Guide" is even used by Stephen King's office for research [http://www.stephenking.com/credits.php Stephen King official website -credits] [ http://www.horrorking.com/graphics/BDN1.pdf 'Bangor Daily News' (Bangor, Maine) article] [ [http://www.horrorking.com/mediaresources/kingrelease.htm For Immediate Release ] ] .

In his research, Wood rediscovered previously unknown King stories [Article in Stonnigton Leader (Melbourne, Australia) http://www.horrorking.com/mediaresources/stonnington.jpg] [Article in Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/28/1085641712073.html ] , including two written in his high school years, of which even the author did not have a copy ['Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished' p.173 ff.] . King agreed to allow the inclusion of another two previously unpublished pieces, Sword in the Darkness and "Dino" [ [http://www.cemeterydance.com/sh/wood01.html Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished: Cemetery Dance Publications ] ] in "Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished". That book covered nearly 100 King stories that had never been published or appeared only in obscure venues. In 2005, he returned to Maine for a lengthy investigative trip into King’s non-fiction, discovering over 40 previously unknown pieces, again including lost material from King’s formative years, which he later provided to the author. King agreed to the inclusion of an obscure article, "My Little Serrated Security Blanket" in Wood's "Stephen King: The Non-Fiction", which covers more than 600 individual items [http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/wood02 Announcement ref. "My Little Serrated Security Blanket" ] . Wood returned to Maine in both 2007 and 2008 to continue his research. In 2008 he began writing the 'King of Horror' column in the Australian magazine, 'Black: Australian Dark Culture' ['King of Horror' in Issue #1, July 2008; 'Stephen King's The Dark Tower' in Issue #1, July 2008, ISSN: 1835-9248, http://www.blackmag.com.au/ ] .

Affiliations and awards

Rocky Wood is an Active member and Trustee of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), serving a two-year term from 1 November 2008, [HWA Members Web page http://www.horror.org/mempages.htm ] and was nominated for the HWA’s Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction for "Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished" (2006). He is also a member of the Australian Horror Writers Association [ http://www.australianhorror.com/member_pages.php?page=16 Australian Horror Writers Association member page] .

He is President of the Australian American Association (Victoria) in Australia; and a member of the Australian Logistics Council.

Media appearances and Memberships

Throughout his career, Wood has made many media appearances on TV, radio, and in the press, and has spoken at conferences in the US [ 'Earth Colonisation by Spacemen' at the Fifth World Conference of the Ancient Astronaut Society, Chicago, Illinois on 28 July 1978. From the Conference program, p.47 ] [World Horror Convention, Salt Lake City 27-30 Maqrch 2008, http://www.whc2008.org/programming.php] , Canada, UK, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Australia, and New Zealand [ 'Earth Colonisation Theory and Developments' at the Seventh World Conference of the Ancient Astronaut Society, Auckland, New Zealand on 12 July 1980. From the Conference program, p.17 ] .

Notes

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/rockywood Rocky Wood MySpace page]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/news/arts/articulate/200606/s1659014.htm Interview at ABC online news (Articulate)]