Monday, February 25, 2013

Review of GUARDIAN OF ATLANTIS

Check out the awesome review of GUARDIAN OF ATLANTIS by Lisa over at Book Mark Belles.
Thank you Lisa for taking the time to read my book!!!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Sunday Catch UP

I'm in between manuscripts. How NOT to Train a Zombie!!! is out. If you haven't bought your copy, you need to head to Amazon and get it. If you have middle grade kids who like zombies, they'll love this story.

I finished the tagline and plot summary for the book 3 of The Children of Atlantis series. Now I'm working on the chapter outlines. These take a little longer to write. The book will be out sometimes this summer.

Okay, so back to working on the chapter outlines and watching the Daytona 500.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Guest at Honestly YA

I'm a guest over at Honestly YA today. 
Check out the blog and the giveaway. 
This is your chance to win a signed copy 
of How NOT to Train a Zombie!!!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Friday, February 15, 2013

Recap #5

It's Friday again. Where did my week go? What did I do?

My big new happened on Monday.
My first middle grade novel went live. How NOT to Train a Zombie!!! is available in both ebook and paperback at Amazon  and ebook at Barnes and Noble. I'm excited about it. Go check it out! Buy a copy! The ebook is only $2.99 and the paperback is only $9.99.

I've been sick all week. It's not the flu (I got tested), but it feels like it. I'm beginning to think it's my allergies in overdrive. I'll be glad when it's over. Cold. Allergies. It doesn't matter, I want it gone!   
If you haven't guessed, I'm a lousy sick person.

I'm starting to do some research I need for book three of The Children of Atlantis series. It will be out sometime this summer.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Monday, February 11, 2013

My Zombie book is LIVE!!!

I'm so excited!!!

My first zombie book is now available as an ebook over at Amazon.

In a day or so, it will be available as a paperback from Amazon too, as well as an ebook for Nook and through Kobo.

Check it out. There is a preview of the book at Amazon.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

A Few Zombie Facts

If you haven't noticed, I've been putting up a lot of zombie stuff. Well, it's because my zombie book , How NOT to Train a Zombie comes out next week. So, in celebration, I thought I would give you a few zombie facts today.

  • October 8 is World Zombie Day.
  • George A. Romero's 1968 movie, Night of the Living Dead, is credited as being the zombie movie from which all zombie movies today can trace their roots back to. The zombies in this movie are the result of radioactive contamination from a space probe returning from Venus that explodes in the Earth's atmosphere, and of course the resulting zombies are hungry for human flesh.
  • According to the zombie lore, the only way you can kill a zombie is to somehow damage its brain or cut off its head.
  • Yes, zombies are dead and they can move, but they don't have superpowers. In fact, zombies tend to have fewer abilities than when they were alive.
  • Zombies don't generate or heal, so any damage is permanent.
  • Zombies are affected by the same rate of decomposition as any other "normal" corpse. Eventually the top speed of a zombie will be reduced to a crawl or even get to a point they can't even move.
Some facts courtesy of Random Facts.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Weekly Recap #4

It was a bit of a fight last night, but I beat the program even after it ate my book cover for about the third time. I created my cover for How NOT to Train a Zombie. I like it!!! Sunday, I'll give you a look at it instead of putting up a teaser from the story.

The cover is ready, that means the manuscript is almost ready. Right now, it's going through another round of copy edits. The book will go live sometime during the week. I can't wait!

The plot and outline for Book 3 in The Children of Atlantis series is starting to take shape. By the end of the month I'm hoping to get started on the first draft.

In the next few days, you'll see more zombie stuff--all in honor of my zombie book.

Don't you just love zombies?

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Zombie Movies

Zombies seem to be the rage this year.

Warm Bodies is now in the theaters. I haven't read the book or seen the movie yet, though I have seen the movie trailer. I want to go see this movie!! Later this year World War Z will be out. I've seen the movie trailer. These zombies remind me of swarming ants.

Here are some zombie movies:
  • Night of the Living Dead (1968)
  • Dawn of the Dead (1978 and 2004)
  • Re-Animator (1985)
  • 28 Days Later (2002)
  • Shaun of the Dead (2004)
  • Dead Alive (1992)
  • Planet Terror (2007)
  • Dead Snow (2009)
  • Zombieland (2009)
  • Resident Evil (all the movies in the series)
Can you think of any other zombie movies?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Possible Zombie Types

When it comes to zombies, whether you read books about hem, watch movies or television shows about hem, or play video games with them in it, there is always one thing you can be sure about--everyone has a different take on zombies.

Most of the time the zombies typically fall into one of the five basic types:
  • "rise from the dead" zombies,
  • voodoo created zombies,
  • viral or parasitic zombies,
  • radiation created zombies, or
  • the experiment-gone-really-wrong zombies.
So where do the zombies in my book, How NOT to Train a Zombie, fall?

(And yes, I just revealed the title to my new ya zombie book that will be out in a couple of weeks!!!)

In my zombie world, a virus is what created my zombies. No one really knows how the virus started, it's just an accepted, highly contagious disease that must be dealt with. The virus causes dead humans to reanimate and go on a feeding frenzy. The virus is transmitted to living humans through zombie bites. If a human survives, he/she is doomed to turn into a zombie, which in turn, goes on a feeding frenzy.

Of all the types of zombies out there, what's your favorite kind?

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Sunday W(ork) I(n) P(rogress) Zombie #5

I'm working on the last chapter of the zombie book. It will be out on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo really soon.


From Chapter 2



Max walked over to the table in the back of the room where Eddy sat,  put his backpack on the floor, and plopped down in the empty chair.

Eddy looked up from the science book, shook his head and went back to reading.

“What are you reading?” asked Max.

Eddy ignored the question and kept reading.

Max rolled his eyes. “I’ve got a really cool idea for a science project.”

“I’ve already got a project.”

“But you haven’t even heard what my idea is.”

Eddy looked up from the science book. “If it has anything to do with zombies, I don’t want to hear it. That’s all I’ve heard about since dad spoke at Career Day yesterday.” He turned his attention back to the book.

Max bit his lip. “Then you’ll like my idea, because it has nothing to do with zombies.” He put on his best smile. The same smile he used when he was trying to convince his mom he wasn’t up to something.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Ghosts Stories Inspired by These Places

When I wrote my collection of ghost stories (NO REST FOR THE SPIRIT AND OTHER GHOSTLY TALES), I placed the stories around the town I was currently living in--Cameron, Texas. I grew up in a smaller town about nine miles away, so I'm fairly familiar with the area.

I haven't lived in the area for around ten years, and a lot of changes have taken place. In many ways, it's a very different town. In Ledbetter Park, the swimming pool is gone--no trace remains. The old cemetery behind it that was neglected--overgrown with brush, weeds and trees--has been cleaned out. I actually walked through the cemetery for the first time about two months ago. Marlow Bridge is no longer sitting over Little River in the Marlow community. It's been moved, and now sits over a section of the pond or mini lake (which ever you want to call it) in Ledbetter Park.

All these places and many more were the inspirations for my ghost stories.


 This picture is one view of the pond/mini lake that is the center of Ledbetter Park in Cameron, Texas. It is a pretty place to go out and have a picnic. The short story 'Lost Spirits' is set here.




 Here are two views of Marlow Bridge. As you can see, the bridge is designed as a single lane bridge--one car at a time. Many of these type of bridges are still in use throughout Milam County (Texas). And I am totally scared of them! I have no problem driving across the Houston Ship Channel, going through one of the tunnels under the channel, or driving onto a ferry, but I can not drive across one of these bridges. They creak and groan. Sometimes you can see between the boards, and of course the boards do move a bit. I don't really know why I'm so terrified of them, I just am. Maybe it's partly because I don't know how to swim.

Before I took this picture, I did something I never thought I would do--I walked across this bridge. Yes, I was terrified. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I did it. Am I going to look for one to purposely drive across--NO WAY!!!


 Even though it looks like you could still drive across it, they've fixed the bridge so that only foot traffic can go across. This bridge is featured in my short story 'Marlow Bridge Specter' because it's the perfect place to have a ghost or two wandering around.



 I was actually standing in the cemetery when I took this picture. When I was a teenager, I couldn't have done this unless I cut my way through the brush, weeds, and trees. Walking through the cemetery, I have no idea how many of the graves are now unmarked.


Many of the tombstones are damaged or have started sinking into the ground. I tripped many times over stumps and pieces of tombstones.

'No Rest for the Spirit' was inspired by this cemetery.






I wrote about this topic over at Downtown YA. If you haven't checked out the article, go take a look.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Weekly Recap #3

It's been a very busy week.

I've been working really hard on my zombie book. I've got one chapter left to write and then it will be finished. I've started working on the design idea for the cover. I like the sketch I did earlier this evening, now I need to "fine tune" it. I also have another idea I want to try in the interior of the book. Fingers crossed it will work.

I've been a guest blogger over at Leisure Reads. Thanks Henrietta! I was interviewed by Dalene at her blog, A Date With a Book. Thanks Dalene. If you haven't done so, stop by A Date With a Book and enter the giveaway for a signed copy of GUARDIAN OF ATLANTIS or WRATH OF HADES. It's my birthday present to you.

Yeah, yesterday was my birthday. I actually had a nice day, until I found something on the Internet that made me very angry. I came across a site that lets you download ebooks if you complete a survey or ad or something else along those lines. One of my books is on this site. I DID NOT AUTHORIZE THIS!!! And this is what makes me angry.

If I went into your wallet or purse and took out $3.00, you would be angry and call me a thief. You would want justice. Right? Yet there are people who are stealing from me and they think it is okay--that they have a right to do this. These people are going to the site I found and are downloading my book illegally.

Yes, I want people to read my books, but I want to be able to pay my bills with my writing. If you download an illegal copy, you are stealing from me, preventing me from earning a living and paying my bills, and you are stealing from every other author whose books you've illegally downloaded. 

I hope your conscious is bothering you.
You need to delete the illegally downloaded book.
You need to do the right thing and go to Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes and Noble and pay for a legal download of my book.
I believe in Karma. If you don't do the right thing, Karma will bite you in the butt.