Category Archives: guest post
BOOK TOUR GUEST POST: A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
A Heart in a Body in the World
by Deb Caletti
YA Contemporary
Book Description
When everything has been taken from you, what else is there to do but run?
So that’s what Annabelle does—she runs from Seattle to Washington, DC, through mountain passes and suburban landscapes, from long lonely roads to college towns. She’s not ready to think about the why yet, just the how—muscles burning, heart pumping, feet pounding the earth. But no matter how hard she tries, she can’t outrun the tragedy from the past year, or the person—The Taker—that haunts her.
Followed by Grandpa Ed in his RV and backed by her brother and two friends (her self-appointed publicity team), Annabelle becomes a reluctant activist as people connect her journey to the trauma from her past. Her cross-country run gains media attention and she is cheered on as she crosses state borders, and is even thrown a block party and given gifts. The support would be nice, if Annabelle could escape the guilt and the shame from what happened back home. They say it isn’t her fault, but she can’t feel the truth of that.
Through welcome and unwelcome distractions, she just keeps running, to the destination that awaits her. There, she’ll finally face what lies behind her—the miles and love and loss…and what is to come.
Five quotes from A HEART IN A BODY IN THE WORLD
1. “There are songs about the heart and poems about the heart and legends about the heart and facts about the heart. And, it’s true – the heart sings and speaks and tells its story. There are exact miles of arteries; there is the exact force of its beat. But the heart is also quiet. It is also a mystery. No one really knows how it goes on after being broken.”
2. “We go forward. Sometimes against our will, sometimes against all odds, we go forward.”
3. “She remembers the muscles in her calves and the strength in her thighs, and she remembers the heat of the farmland and the slope of the mountains and the miles and miles she’s crossed. She remembers her strength.”
4. “The trip across the glacier and through the dark land of grief is crooked and dangerous but sometimes beautiful. The voyage past the last edges of the universe is frightening and impossible but sometimes astonishing…”
5. “She is a different person than the defeated Annabelle, the giving up Annabelle. She is sort of a victorious Annabelle, lying among rose petals on the honeymoon bed of the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel. You never know what a day will bring, which is both the good news and bad news of life.”
About the Author
Deb Caletti is an award-winning author and National Book Award finalist. Her many books for young adults include The Nature of Jade, Stay, The Last Forever, Essential Maps for the Lost, and Honey, Baby Sweetheart, winner of the Washington State Book award, the PNBA Best Book Award, and a finalist for the California Young Reader Medal and the PEN USA Award. Her books for adults include He’s Gone, The Secrets She Keeps, and her most recent release, What’s Become of Her.
Deb grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, and now lives with her family in Seattle.
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Super Middle Grade Mondays SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY: Jennie K. Brown #SuperMGMondays
Welcome to this week’s Super Middle Grade Mondays
presented by Tantrum Books/Month9books!
Today, we get up close and personal with
Jennie K. Brown
author of Poppy Mayberry, The Monday
a 2016 title coming from Tantrum Books!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
Jennie K. Brown is a high school English teacher by day, freelance magazine writer by night, and middlegrade/young adult author by late-night and weekend. When she isn’t teaching or writing, Jennie can be found reading a good book, traveling, or spending time with her awesome husband, amazing son and super-spoiled yorkie.In 2010, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) named Jennie the Pennsylvania English teacher of excellence, and she currently serves as President of the Pennsylvania Council for Teachers of English and Language Arts (PCTELA). She is also an active member of SCBWI, NCTE and ALAN.
Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram
Inspiration with Jennie K. Brown
Many people have asked me where I got the big idea about having magical powers based on the day of the week you’re born for my MG novel POPPY MAYBERRY, THE MONDAY. So, I’ve written a bit about my inspiration below!
The idea actually came to me when I was stopped at a red light in my hometown. I glanced up at the Starbucks on the corner across the street to see a young girl tossing a ball into the air. From the angle I watched, it looked as if the girl was controlling the ball with her mind. At pretty much the same time I asked myself, What day of the week is it? (I have a tendency to lose track of the days over the summer!) And then I put those thoughts together – What if a person had certain powers depending on the day of the week? Or what if a person had a special power specific to the day of the week in which they were born? And that’s where I got the concept for Poppy’s town of Nova. Then I took that a step further and gave certain powers to certain days of the week. If you check out this link, you can see what day of the week you were born and the power behind that day!
Monday – telekinetic powers (controlling things with your mind)
Tuesday – teleportation
Wednesday – energy/electricity manipulation
Thursday – mind reading (So cool!)
Friday – invisibility (disappearing!)
Saturday and Sunday – powerless (This is funny, because I was actually born on a Saturday myself!)
In POPPY MAYBERRY, THE MONDAY, the main character (Poppy Mayberry) is struggling with her telekinetic Monday power. Because of this she is sent to a remedial summer camp for the powerless – Power Academy – where she gets teamed up with her archrival, a mind reading Thursday, and a few other weekday hopefuls to combat the awful headmistress Clothes-too-tight Larriby and her equally awful sidekick. The novel is set to release in April 2016 with a sequel in December! Find out more and Jennie and her writing inspiration on her website jenniekbrown.com
🙂 Jennie
What if your teacher could read your mind just because she was born on a Thursday? Or the kid next to you in class could turn back the clock just because he was a ‘Wednesday”? In the quirky town of Nova, all of this is normal, but one thing is not—Poppy Mayberry. As an almost-eleven-year-old Monday, she should be able to pass notes in class or brush her dog, Pickle, without lifting a finger. But her Monday telekinesis still has some kinks, and that plate of spaghetti she’s passing may just end up on someone’s head. And if that’s not hard enough, practically perfect Ellie Preston is out to get her, and Principal Wible wants to send her to remedial summer school to work on her powers! It’s enough to make a girl want to disappear…if only she were a Friday.
“Whimsical, imaginative, and fun. Poppy Mayberry is a modern Annie – immediately likable, charming and spunky. Kids will be rooting for this wonderful heroine from page one.”
— Robert Beatty, New York Times Bestselling Author of SERAFINA AND THE BLACK CLOAK
Poppy Mayberry, The Monday
by Jennie K. Brown
Publication Date: September 2016
Publisher: Month9Books
Complete the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a digital copy of the book!
BOOK TOUR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: Destroyed by Krys Fenner
Destroyed
by Krys Fenner
YA Thriller
Book Description
Bella has lived a rather boring life, but that all quickly changes. A new position in school forces her to take charge. A new boyfriend (her first), Jeremiah, hands her a confidence she has never known before. A new role in her church’s Fall Production makes her a leader. But that all gets destroyed when an attack by her father’s enemy turns her into the center of attention. Bella believes things couldn’t get worse, but they do. Can she survive the road of destruction and emerge stronger? Or has all that she gained been destroyed forever?
Using Psychology in Writing
by Krys Fenner
There are two ways to use psychology in writing. One gets very technical, while the other is more descriptive and action-oriented. There are two questions I would ask. Whose perspective is the story being told? And who is your audience? Once those are answered, then you’ll know how much terminology should be included in the manuscript.
Theoretically a work of non-fiction directed at a psychology student, psychologists, psychiatrist, or any counselor will be filled with more terminology than say a work of fiction intended for a young adult (12-18), new adult (18-25), or adult (25+) audience. Pieces of fiction are more likely to be action-based than using terminology. However, this again depends on the point of view character and your audience.
If the novel is written from the perspective of a counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist then the use of technical terms is highly probable. But if the book is written from a character suffering a particular psychosis, the character isn’t going to think “I have an adjustment disorder with a depressed mood.” Instead, actions and words of that character will display the psychological issue. If I was an author writing this character, then I would take into consideration how to demonstrate their problem.
Let’s say Jane has just gotten divorced. To describe an adjustment disorder with depression, I would reference her problems sleeping or lack of appetite. I would write about Jane’s refusal to spend time with friends. Or how she misses time from work. I could show her crying a lot or getting frequent headaches. All of these things would be symptoms of the psychological issue without verbally giving it a name. So, what if the point of view were changed?
With all that is going on, Jane recognizes she has a problem and decides to go see a psychologist. The doctor Jane chooses consults with another psychologist in their practice. We’ll call Jane’s psychologist, Dr. Tracy. If I were writing the scene from Dr. Tracy’s point of view, then I am more likely going to use technical terms, especially if she is speaking to a colleague. However, as a writer I will take into consideration my audience. Who am I writing the story for? Do I expect people who read the novel to understand these terms? If not, I have two options: define the terms in the book or dumb the terminology down.
It isn’t hard to write a book using psychological issues without technological terms. You just have to know who your audience is and whose perspective the story should be told from. The difficulty is in making sure the actions and feelings the character displays are accurate and appropriate for the situation. If you can do that successfully, the terminology won’t matter; the story will.
About the Author
At the age of 16, Krys Fenner fell in love with Psychology and Creative Writing. At that time she wrote her first short story dealing with sexual abuse and forgiveness. Psychological issues in her family filled her with the desire to help others using her own experiences. So in 2004, she earned an Associate of Arts in Psychology. And while her sister is the one with dreams of becoming a Psychologist, Krys Fenner returned to Creative Writing. She is currently working on a Bachelor of Arts and plans to continue on to a Masters degree, where she can major in her first love (Creative Writing) and minor in her second (Psychology).
Author Links:
- 3 Grand Prize Giveaways: Each includes books from other authors, signed copy of Destroyed, plus swag.
- 5 paperback copies and 5 e-books
- 5 T-shirts
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
BOOK TOUR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: The Last Changeling by Chelsea Pitcher
The Last Changeling
by Chelsea Pitcher
Faerie Revolutions Series, Book One
Book Description
Why I Chose to Write About Faeries
by Chelsea Pitcher
I’ve always loved faeries. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been reading stories about the different kinds of fae. Tall, elegant, soulless faeries. Elemental beings who resided in the petals of flowers and the trunks of trees. I read old, epic poems and modern interpretations. I read urban fantasy and magical realism and paranormal romance. And somewhere along the line, I started to get an idea of what faeries really were—I mean, if they did exist, I started to understand the “who” and the “why” of it.
Their origin story, if you will.
I also started to accept that some faerie stories made more sense to me than others. For example, the idea of faeries-as-elemental-beings resonated with me much more than faeries who didn’t have souls. And, in all of my readings, there was one theory I just couldn’t make sense of no matter how hard I tried: the high faerie courts.
Now, don’t get me wrong; the idea of faerie courts is incredibly compelling. But I never understood the reason for them. If faeries are anarchic, the physical embodiment of nature, why would they need rules? Why would they need courts?
In my idea of Faerie, the creatures are wild, streaking through the trees, eating, dancing, and making love as they please. To me, this was much more exiting than the idea of courts. Certainly, the gowns would be beautiful, but why bind yourself up when you could run naked through the forest? Why sit, with a rigid back and a stony face, in an uncomfortable throne, when you could be diving into icy waters and soaring through the sky? Why confine yourself when you could be free?
These were the questions that raced through my mind as I sat down to write THE LAST CHANGELING. On the one hand, I could’ve just written about these chaotic, free-spirited faeries from the start. But I didn’t want to discard hundreds of years of literature that spoke of faerie courts. I didn’t want to be disrespectful to the mythology. I wanted to understand it.
And so it went. Instead of writing about a faerie realm without courts, I started to ask myself questions: why did the courts come into being? Who did it benefit? Was it a communal decision, or were a few corrupt players pulling the strings? Soon, answers began to blossom in my mind, and my story unfolded. The courts were in place, and I understood the deep, dark secret that led to their creation.
After that, I just needed a faerie who wanted to take them down . . .
About the Author
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY: The Divinicus Nex Chronicles by A & E Kirk
The Divinicus Nex Chronicles
by A & E Kirk
YA Paranormal
Book One: Demons at Deadnight
Book Description
For seventeen-year-old Aurora Lahey, survival is a lifestyle.
DEMONIC DESTINY
Aurora has the crappiest superpower on the planet. And it’s just unleashed a hit squad from hell. Demons are on the hunt, salivating to carve her carcass into confetti.
CHARISMATIC KILLERS
The Hex Boys—mysterious, hunky, and notorious for their trails of destruction—have the answers Aurora needs to survive. But their overload of deadly secrets and suspicious motives makes trusting them a potentially fatal move.
LETHAL ALLIES
The battle to save her family, herself, and stop demonic domination may cost Aurora everything worth living for, and force her to reveal her own dark secrets. But no worries. She needs the Hex Boys to pull this off, and, chances are, teaming up with these guys will get her killed anyway.
Book Two: Drop Dead Demons
Book Description
Survival. It’s an on-going battle.
GOING ON A TREASURE HUNT…
Aurora Lahey finally knows why supernatural slayers salivate to slaughter her, but how to stop them? Not so much. Sure, she’s discovered her own lethal powers, and has six sexy, super-charged, demon hunting Hex Boys watching her back–the hottest one watching every part of her. But when a seductive stranger delivers a deadly ultimatum, Aurora and the Hex Boys plunge into a do-or-die hunt for a legendary Mandatum treasure, which will finally shift power in their favor. Or unleash hell on earth.
NEX MARKS THE SPOT…
Pursued by demons of mythical proportions, Aurora and the Hex Boys race deeper into the shadowy world of a centuries-old mystery and brutal conspiracy, where no one and nothing is what it seems. Where love and betrayal go hand-in-hand, and trusting the wrong person not only breaks your heart, but gets you killed.
DEMONS ON YOUR TAIL…
Uncovering shocking secrets from the Hex Boys’ past, hiding her Divinicus Nex identity, lying to her pretend-wish-he-were-real boyfriend, dodging demons, breaking into ancient tombs, taking the unexpected side trip to the dark depths of the Waiting World, tracking a traitor, and passing Physics…Aurora could do that in her sleep. Or more likely, die trying.
DON’T GET CAUGHT!
From DEMONS AT DEADNIGHT:
Like a mini-firework, a glittering orb of pale purple burst above Tristan’s head. From the sparkling puff, a lavender fairy materialized and flitted in spastic figure-eights, dust flying, tiny wings humming a nervous beat.
“Her dad’s coming,” she said, voice shrill.
“What?” we all said in unison.
Tristan, Ayden and the fairy looked at me and said, “What?”
“What?” I repeated, panicked and irritated at my lack of control in responding to a fairy I wasn’t supposed to see or hear.
“What?” came their reply.
“What?” I continued the theme of repetition because I lacked any form of explanation.
Ayden held up a hand for silence. “Why are you ‘whatting’?”
“What?”
The hand again. “Okay, stop that,” Ayden said. Tristan smirked. “Why did you just say ‘what’?”
“Beeeecaaause,” I stalled. “I want to knoooooow,” pause, “whaaaaaat,” another pause, “you thought I saw?” The last came out in a rush as I finally thought of a sensible thing to say.
“Aurora, dinner!” Dad called from the garage. He saw our group and headed our way before I could stop him. “Oh, hi, Tristan.”
Super. “Nothing about the…thing,” I whispered.
Dad shook Tristan’s hand and Ayden offered his. “Hi, Mr. Lahey. I’m Ayden Ishida. You probably don’t remember me.”
Dad took his hand. “Of course I do. You’re one of Aurora’s old boyfriends.”
Oh, just tie on the anchor and throw me overboard.
To his credit, Dad quickly discerned my embarrassment and did his best.
“Well, not boyfriend-boyfriend.” He twirled his hands in a backward rotation like he could erase his error in word choice and my mortification. “You know, just a friend. Just an old friend.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “So what’re you guys up to?”
About the Authors
This mother-daughter duo were in and out of inter-dimensional paranormal prisons until they finally quit making up cover stories for secret societies and started writing novels. The Supernatural Continuum Warlords of the Supernatural Continuum Warlordian High Command had pity upon them, and instead of having them slaughtered by the slow, tortuous flesh eating underwater, earthworm squid, they transported them into a habitationally friendly dimension called OOARCHTOHUTHLAMADILFRUMP, also known as 21st Century Earth.
Due to a demon infestation in their sleepy mountain California town, and a lack of sexy Hex Boys to stop them, Alyssa and Eileen were forced to relocate to Los Angeles. The Amazon best seller, DEMONS AT DEADNIGHT, is book one in the DIVINICUS NEX CHRONICLES series, and the first of their exclusive re-creations of supernatural society secrets. You can uncover more paranormal, inter-dimensional classified information at AEKIRK.com and Facebook.com/AandEKirk.com.
Citizens of Earth, you are welcome.
Website | Twitter Alyssa | Twitter Eileen | Facebook | Pinterest
PURCHASE:
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
Logan, dancer Hextraordinaire, is the new pro on the Dancing with the Stars TV show and you are his partner! What is the dance you most want him to teach you?
GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: Ellie Jordan: Ghost Trapper by JL Bryan
Ellie Jordan: Ghost Trapper
by JL Bryan
Paranormal Urban Fantasy
Book Description
Ellie Jordan’s job is to catch and remove unwanted ghosts. Part detective, part paranormal exterminator, Ellie operates out of Savannah, Georgia, one of the oldest and most haunted cities in North America.
When a family contacts her to deal with a disturbing presence in the old mansion they’ve recently purchased, Ellie first believes it to be a typical, by-the-book specter, a residual haunting by a restless spirit. Instead, she finds herself confronting an evil older and more powerful than she’d ever expected, rooted in the house’s long and sordid history of luxury, sin, and murder. The dangerous entity seems particularly interested in her clients’ ten-year-old daughter.
Soon her own life is in danger, and Ellie must find a way to exorcise the darkness of the house before it can kill her, her clients, or their frightened young child.
Tools of the Ghost Trade
by JL Bryan
Are you tired of slogging away at the same old dead-end day job? Do you want a career with flexible hours, iffy benefits, and lots of contact with angry dead spirits? Ghost catching might be the job for you!
At Metaphysical Manufacturing, Ltd., we fully support and encourage your efforts to enter into the dream job that we’ve just now suggested! Part of the reason is that you’ll have to buy lots of products from us in order to be a professional ghost trapper, but we also care about you as a person and stuff.
So what will you need?
Ghost Training: We recommend you order our complete twelve-book, nineteen-video training course, which includes such useful manuals as Boogeyman Basics and How Not to Get Your Soul Ripped From Your Flesh. After filling out our correspondence-course exam and sending us a large check, you’ll get your official ghost-grabber certification!
Ghost Sensors: Several devices can help you determine whether a ghost is in the room with you…maybe even right behind you! The most basic is an electromagnetic frequency (EMF) meter. Ghosts have electromagnetic fields, probably, and these can be detected with modern scientific instruments, maybe. Definitely buy one! We recommend you also pick up our special motion detectors and ghost thermometers—which measure how warm or cold the room is!
Ghost Goggles: Sooner or later, you’ll want to see the ghosts you’re hunting. We recommend sooner! We offer both night vision and thermal imaging goggles to help you find elusive spirits. You can buy one or the other, but it’s best if you buy both!
Ghost Microphone: Use a high-powered, ultra-sensitive microphone (like the ones we sell!) to help you pick up whispers and guttural threats from the Other Side. Spend hours recording, and countless more hours listening and trying to find voices in the static! You’ll never have so much fun again!
Ghost Trap: This is the final “must-have” piece of gear. Your customers will pay you to remove unwanted spirits from their homes, so you’ll want some way to do that. We sell a range of affordable traps, from simple lead-glass jars to phone-booth-sized Faraday cages that create a solid electromagnetic barrier no wicked wraith can escape! We recommend you buy them all.
With these simple purchases, totaling less than eighty thousand dollars, you can become a professional ghost trapper, too! Visit our website to learn (or buy) more!
About the Author
J.L. Bryan studied English literature at the University of Georgia and at Oxford, with a focus on the English Renaissance and the Romantic period. He also studied screenwriting at UCLA. He enjoys remixing elements of paranormal, supernatural, fantasy, horror and science fiction into new kinds of stories. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, his son, and some dogs and cats.
To hear about future books by J.L. Bryan, sign up for his new release newsletter: http://eepurl.com/mizJH
Website: www.jlbryanbooks.com
Twitter: @jlbryanbooks
GUEST POST: Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader for Kids by Bathroom Readers’ Institute
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader for Kids
by Bathroom Readers Institute
Children’s Nonfiction
Book Description
Normally, a blooper reel is a collection of outtakes from a comedy. What I’d like to see are funny outtakes from movies whose topics are so serious that I can’t imagine any of the actors laughing or having fun. With that in mind, here are five movies I wish had a blooper reel.
1. The Godfather
2. The Shining
3. 12 Years a Slave
4. Ghandi
5. Silence of the Lambs
The life of Gordon “Uncle John” Javna, editor-in-chief and publisher of the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series, reads like one of his books. There’s a lot of fun, intriguing—often odd—information lurking around every corner. He went to art school, and then went on to become a musician, real-estate developer, writer, restaurateur, president of a pre-school, brew pub owner, and editor—not all at once, mind you, but he has been all of these things.
Eventually, though, he realized that because of his love of fascinating facts (and being a bathroom reader himself), he was naturally suited, perhaps even destined, to bring the joy of trivia to the world in a fun, informative way. He assumed the pseudonym Uncle John for the Bathroom Reader series and since then, Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader has become the longest-running, most popular series of its kind in the publishing industry. To date, there are more than 15 million Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers in print and his fanatical flock of followers span from Australia to the United Kingdom and beyond.
Guided by their obsession with unusual trivia, amazing origins, and forgotten history, Gordon “Uncle John” Javna and his staff at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute have made Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers a must-have for book and gift stores worldwide for over two decades. Gordon continues to expand his porcelain province from his throne room in Ashland, Oregon.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Google+
PURCHASE
Tour Schedule
Monday, June 30th – Candace’s Book Blog
Tuesday, July 1st – Cindy’s Love of Books
Wednesday, July 2nd – Proud Book Nerd
Thursday, July 3rd – Bumbles and Fairy-Tales
Friday July 4th – Cassandra M’s Place
Monday, July 7th – Sweet Southern Home
Tuesday, July 8th – Confessions of a Book Addict
Wednesday, July 9th – Little Red Reads
Thursday, July 10th – Me, My Shelf and I
Friday July 11th – Bewitched Bookworms
Monday, July 14th – Kindle and Me
Tuesday, July 15th – Snowdrop Dreams of Books
Wednesday, July 16th – Hott Books
Thursday, July 17th – alwaysjoart
Friday July 18th – Captivated Reading
Summer of Zombie Tour: Glimpses of the Undead by Julianne Snow
The stench of rotting flesh is in the air! Welcome to the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour 2014, with 33 of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of June.
I’m super excited to be a part of this year’s Summer of Zombie Blog Tour!
Today I would like to welcome Julianne Snow and her novel Glimpses of the Undead to Sweet Southern Home.
Book Description
From the mind of Julianne Snow comes an undead collection of stories that feature the gamut of emotions and situations. Presented in flash fiction and short stories, the tales are sure to leave you wanting more and checking over your shoulder.
How would a group of children handle an uprising of the undead? What would you do to save a loved one only to find out that you’re facing a different threat altogether? How would a country react to a timely warning at the end of a war? What happens when a vampiric Romeo hits on an unsuspecting human? In a world where the undead are common place and protected, what happens when speed dating produces a love match?
Featuring:
The Treehouse
Kamikaze
Vanier’s Blueprint: A Zombie Tale
Must Love Zombies
Flash Fiction Duo: Fight and Hunger
EXIT
BITE
FLICKER
HORSE
BELOW
AGONY
BLOAT
ELBOW
Love Bites: A Valentine’s Day Misadventure
An Excerpt from Days with the Undead: Book One
There’s Diversity in the Zombie Genre—I Swear!
by Julianne Snow
Zombie stories are like people.
No really, they are. Every story is different, unique, and for the most part so are people. Sure you have roving hordes of cookie-cutter copies, but you can find that within the genre as well if it’s what you’re looking for.
What does this mean for the reader? Well it means you have a lot to choose from, that’s pretty obvious. But it also means there are numerous stories and series for you to fall in love with. Characters to root for and undead action to wish you never live to see. The diversity is astounding and indicative of the creativity that exists among the talented authors who pen tales of walking corpses intent on spreading the infection.
So what sets my short story collection, Glimpses of the Undead apart? Why should you take a chance on it?
Well, the tales are written by yours truly and they cross a few different genres. What you’ll find are stories that take place during the impending disaster, those that develop once zombies are a part of society, as well as a tale that explores the possibility the undead aren’t out to infect us. Oh and I’ll mention there’s just a smidge of an erotic story line thrown in for good measure—just a little something to make you wonder what would happen if Zombies (and I capitalized it here for a reason but you’ll need to read the story to find out why) couldn’t and wouldn’t infect us if we were to come into contact with them.
So let me leave you with a little something to whet your appetite for some Zombie action:
BELOW
Above them they hear the shuffling, the halting steps over the rough boards. There is nothing they could do but wait them out.
A small, soft whimper escapes the lips of the smallest child. A hand roughly flattens itself across the offending mouth, startling her even more. A louder cry is somewhat muffled by the fingers but it’s too late.
They’ve heard and are trying to locate the source of the noise.
Panic spreads quickly through the bodies cramped into the space, a palpable feeling that sets more nerves on edge and creates additional nervous energy.
The energy translates into more panic, and more panic into noise. The clamour from above is deafening as the dead scramble to get at the living.
There is nowhere to go but up. Their earthen cellar nothing but a tomb they now want to escape.
And then it is quiet. No sound, no scraping. Just the absence of noise.
It is the calm before the storm. The moment before the fall.
With a resounding crack, the wooden planks overhead crumble downward, pinning some, killing others. Pandemonium ensues as the living try to fight, but they have been relegated to the bottom of the food chain.
About the Author
Julianne Snow is the author of the Days with the Undead series. She writes within the realms of speculative fiction, has roots that go deep into horror and is a member of the Horror Writers Association. Julianne has pieces of short fiction in publications from Sirens Call Publications, Open Casket Press, James Ward Kirk Publishing and Hazardous Press as well as the forthcoming shorts in anthologies from 7DS Books, Phrenic Press, and the Coffin Hop charity anthology Death by Drive-In. Be on the lookout for her contributions to a number of collaborative projects to be announced shortly.
Stop by the event page on Facebook so you don’t miss an interview, guest post or teaser… and pick up some great swag as well! Giveaways galore from most of the authors as well as interaction with them! #SummerZombie
Summer of Zombie Tour: Path of the Dead by Timothy Baker
The stench of rotting flesh is in the air! Welcome to the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour 2014, with 33 of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of June.
I’m super excited to be a part of this year’s Summer of Zombie Blog Tour!
Today I would like to welcome Timothy Baker and his novel Path of the Dead to Sweet Southern Home.
Book Description
Nestled on the foot of Tibet’s sacred Seche La Mountain is the village of Dagzê. The normally quiet streets are bustling with the steady stream of arrivals and preparations for the coming Festival of the Medicine King; a time of celebration, healing, and renewal. But a shadow is sweeping the world, a plague of apocalyptic proportions—the dead are rising and devouring the living, and no place is safe where humanity thrives.
As Dagzê burns, overtaken by the hungry undead, five people come together: Lama Tenzin, an elder monk; Gu-lang, the silent warrior nun and Tenzin’s protector; Cheung, a private in The People’s Army, driver and escort of the Lama; ten-year-old Chodren Dawa, witness to his sister’s death and rising; and Dorje Cetan, a Shaolin-trained hermit monk of Seche La and a dreamer of a dark portent. Together they must fight their way out of Dagzê to an abandoned Buddhist hermitage clinging to the mist-shrouded cliffs of Seche La.
With the undead following and gathering at Eagle’s Nest gate, they barricade themselves inside their dead-end haven, and are soon forced to battle the beasts without, as well as the ones within.
Zombie Times
By Timothy Baker
One of the most memorable scenes from a zombie film, and one of the most telling, is out of Shaun of the Dead. The apocalypse of the undead is in high gear, the streets populated by zombies, walking where they once walked alive. Our protagonist is oblivious to it all, stepping out his door on a hangover morning, walking to the corner store for a cold drink and a Nutter Butter cone. There and back, he walks, head down, unaware of the smashed car windows, the body in the bushes, and the walking dead shuffling on sidewalks and in the streets. One he even mistakes for a panhandler, brushing him off with an I’m broke line. He makes it home unscathed and still unaware, plops on the couch, pops open his drink, and turns on the television. It makes me question his obliviousness. It could be that he just doesn’t care. That is, not until they’re clawing at this door.
Zombies are everywhere. Not a news flash, right? They’re almost ubiquitous. You can’t turn around without their rancid breath in your face. We’re getting pretty used to them, though, and only pay attention when their particularly mangled or doing something goofy like trying to play a trombone or when they’re eating someone’s fake boobs off. But we love them little flesh eating scamps like we love kittens. We’ve made zombies the biggest, most famous monsters in the history of horror.
And as horror writers that delve into the zombie genre, we are set to the difficult task of keeping it fresh and interesting. It’s not easy. For one thing, zombies are generally boring as characters. Frankenstein’s monster had more personality than a corral of zombies. Bub from Romero’s Day of the Dead was a fracking zombie genius, somehow learning to control his hunger for fleshy humans. Now that’s interesting. But how many of those are you going to come across in the land of the dead?
So in general, a writer can’t use a zombie as a character. They are what they are, singular in their hunger, a monster too big to see whole. They become a condition of the world, a natural event–albeit a gruesome, horrific one–no different from the events in disaster stories like Earthquake and Deep Impact. We have to turn to the survivors for our drama, and that’s what readers really love, the hook that keeps them voluntarily locked in that nightmare world.
Shaun of the Dead is a parody, of course, but it stays true to what came before it: this western perspective of the undead event, an urban world-view of our existence, tainted and cynicized by a media-monster onslaught of violence–it’s at your door–a time in which no one can be trusted, and everyone is on an existential journey of survival of the fittest.
Now this brings me to my debut novel, Path of the Dead (Hungry Ghosts). (See? I finally got to the point, my hidden agenda revealed. Here comes the pitch…) When I warily approached the idea of writing a zompoc novel, it had to be different or it wasn’t happen’n. I began to wonder how rural survivors would view and react to the worldwide disaster, with a culture steeped in a religion of myths and gods and demons and the living spirits of rock, tree, and animal. Would they act so different from us, the western urbanite? What would be the implications for them? Would they be aborigines? An Amazon River jungle tribe? Eskimos? Naaawww. Tibet? TIBET–top of the world, modern and rural, the culture of Maoism and Tibetan Buddhism in clash. Now that would be interesting and different.
Take that world, a place on the opposite of the globe, and throw a good old Romero zombie plague upon it, complete with gnashing teeth, horrific dismemberment, headshots, and zombie gorging. Then add the unexpected spice of a skeptical Chinese soldier; a mute warrior nun, with a flashing, boomerang blade; a young boy in shock after witnessing the death and rising of his sister; and a Shaolin trained monk whose yearning for a lost love stands in the way of his search for Nirvana.
Path of the Dead is a flat out battle with chaos, a tale of survival, and a spiritual journey that promises possible transcendence, or eternal walking death.
It’s not your Daddy’s ole zombie story.
About the Author
Timothy Baker is a retired firefighter and an aspiring, perspiring, horror writer. Here to rant on random subjects and the art and pains of writing. He is published in Fading Light: Anthology of the Monstrous, published by Angelic Knight Press and edited by Tim Marquitz. Tim also received a commendation in the Australian Horror Writer’s Association 2009 Short Story Competition.
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BOOK TOUR GUEST POST: Summer on the Short Bus by Bethany Crandell
Summer on the Short Bus
by Bethany Crandell
YA Contemporary
Book Description
Cricket Montgomery has been thrown under the short bus. Shipped off to a summer camp by her father, Cricket is forced to play babysitter to a bunch of whiny kids—or so she thinks. When she realizes this camp is actually for teens with special needs, Cricket doubts she has what it takes to endure twenty-four hours, let alone two weeks.
Thanks to her dangerously cute co-counselor, Quinn, there may be a slim chance for survival. However, between the campers’ unpredictability and disregard for personal space, Cricket’s limits get pushed. She will have to decide if suffering through her own handicapped hell is worth a summer romance—and losing her sanity.
hamster who lives inside my brain.
hair!)
over,
the protection of intellectual property, obviously).
Anyway, there’s so much activity going on in those ten minutes I spend under the dryer each morning, it’s no wonder Melvin has to gorge himself when he’s done.
I could say that he’s awesome, talented, ambitious, inspiring, loyal…
I wish I had some mysterious secret to reveal about myself in hopes that you’d find me interesting…but I don’t. When it comes to me, what you see is what you get. And what you get is an irreverent, sarcastic and emotional girl who writes stories about characters with these same traits.
I live in San Diego with my husband, two kiddos, and a chocolate lab who has no regard for personal space. I’m slightly obsessed with John Hughes and the wonderful collection of films he left behind, and I’m confident that Jake Ryan will be showing up on my doorstep any day now…
I firmly believe that prayer solves problems, and that laughter is the best medicine. Along with avocados. Avocados make the world a better place.
I’m represented by Rachael Dugas of Talcott Notch Literary Agency.
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