New vampire series launches

I am happy to report that my new vampire series will be launching soon with a short story teaser, Vampires aRe ReaL. Seven year old Allie Carter goes on the adventure of a lifetime and discovers her parents lied to her. Vampires are real and she has found them living in her backyard. The thought should scare her, but Allie is fascinated by them and wants to learn more. Join her on her adventures in the new series with the launch of the first book, The Lost Vampire Princess.

Sugar Baby Watermelons

Thought I might update my garden photos.

This is the edge of my garden. Above you see five Sugar Baby Watermelons. I think they are too large. I assumed they would be the size of a canteloupe, but two of these guys are a foot across.

I pulled this one and cut it open. I was afraid I had  watered too much and it would be overripe and mushy. It turned out okay.

And, last but not least, I grew two other types of melons with my Sugar Babies.

The top left is an Orangelo, they are orange inside. I thought they were round but I have four of them and they are all long like that one. In the bottom center, the small round guy on the bottom is a Yellow Tiger. If grown with Sugar Babies, they are seedless and yellow inside. This is the only one I have so I will take care to make sure it is ripe before pulling. On top of the Yellow Tiger is of course a Sugar Baby, one of six that size.

Reviewer Challenge

I am in need of hot, hot,  hot  reviews. LoL. Anyone who posts a review of Zombie Zora will receive a free copy of Book 2-ZOMBIE INVASION.

Simply post your review on Goodreads or Amazon, let me know when and where it is, and let me know what ereader form you would like to receive ZOMBIE INVASION in.

Thank you for reading and spreading the word about my series to others through your reviews.

PS. If you have already placed a review, let me know and collect your copy of book 2 in the series.

Again, Thanks.

Hooray For Gardeners and Gardening!

Why, you may ask? Because it’s fun, rewarding, and puts idle time to good use. A gardener has a busy life, yet he or she takes time out to nurture something tiny, a seed, an idea, a dream. See where I’m going? Gardeners take the necessary steps to bring forth that which is in the head into fruition. By the way, I love fruit.

It all begins with an idea, a thought. You look at a piece of greeny grass and envision a garden in full bloom. First, you lay the ground work. I have no tiller for my small garden so I borrowed my neighbors to carve out a twelve by twelve area.

Next, comes the separation and clarity of direction. I decide if the size is too big or small and make adjustments. Then I rake out the grass, put it in a pile to burn, and smooth out my fresh Earth.

Next, I imagine crops in full bloom, though I haven’t planted a thing. How much space does each plant need to grow? What kind of irrigation system will I use to water? What kind of fertilizer to buy? What exactly to plant and what will it all cost?

Now that I have taken care of the hard stuff, it is time to get going with the actual manual labor. A labor of love. I make my rows, plant and water, then go inside under the cold air-conditioning. It is time to kick back and marvel at the feat I have accomplished. Daily, I venture out to the garden and water. Then weed and rake. Nurturing. When my garden blooms, I notice too many plants in one area and not enough in another. Time for adjustments, I thin and replant.

Now, I have nothing to do but water and wait for the first blooms. I can go about my daily business, stopping to check, ever so often until the next stage. After my garden has brought forth its bounty and I partake of my Harvest (enjoying some now and putting up the remainder for leaner times) comes the last stage, removing everything and preparing for next year. I think back on what I did right and what I did wrong and note ways of improving the next garden, next year. My mind is ablaze with scenarios.  Here it is winter, and I can’t wait for summer to get started. This garden will be ten times better than the last. Why? I’ve done it once, it was a challenge, but I made it through and now no how to do it better.

One of the pleasures of gardening is the time I get to rest and relax. This is when I get ideas for my stories. Rarely am I stuck, but if so, gardening offers the diversion and environment I need to find my solution. Things just come to me while I’m gardening. I love gardening. How about you?

The Perfect Heroine

I have seen so many books that have a heroine who happens to be the most beautiful creature in the world. I mean every guy, animal, or whatever the case may be wants to have sex with her or possess her. She is so irresistible and get this, it is nothing she is doing on purpose, it’s just that “whatever factor”––she happens to possess it. Sorry to all the struggling women out there, you’re just out of luck if she shows up on the scene.

I have also seen, I guess I should say read for clarity, too many stories where she is the smallest thing, yet whips men twice as big as she. She always has to be the biggest and boldest badass in the room. Don’t worry, somehow, someway, she will save the day all by her lonesome. She has to, no one else is capable of setting things right, remember. Ridicules. I hate that recipe.

And let us not forget the ever-present triangle where the girl is human and the two guys or not. Perhaps one is shall we say dead for centuries, wow, great necrophilia story. I mean I would definitely want my teenage daughter to go to a graveyard and dig up a corpse and have sex with it. I’m a good parent, after all. I digress. Let’s get back to our perfect heroine. While one is possibly dead, the other is shall we say some type of beast or transformative being. I double hate that recipe. I know its fantasy and my mind stretches quite nicely, but I like more believable romance. For instance, I like Harry Potter for the simple reason that it’s an average-looking, nerdy boy, desperately searching for a girl, as clumsily as possible and she happens to be human. He may save the world, but girls don’t lose every shred of decorum and throw themselves at his feet, as if she will die if he doesn’t want her.  I know that is not the plot, it is the plot I like though.

For my series, I chose Zora to be a woman of average looks. She is not the most special woman in the world and quite frankly, there is nothing remotely exciting about her. She makes due by highlighting her strengths like loyalty, stubbornness, dedication, but her many weaknesses creep into everyday life causing her problems. I chose to give the title of super badass to another. I chose to give the title of most beautiful and desirable to another. So how can our heroine become the perfect heroine without these props? She doesn’t need them. In due time, she will make decisions that are selfless and prove her worth. She will see how her tunnel vision leads her astray and learns to get out of her comfort zone and step out onto a high wire with no safety net below. She will willingly put her life in the hands of others and find that it doesn’t make her weak, in fact, it strengthens her. These are the things I want to get across and make a heroine, a perfect heroine.

Now, as to likeablity—for the record—I planned on making her not likeable in the beginning. I wanted a break from the many stories of the sexy badass who gets the most attractive man. It’s played out and I refuse to go there. I want the reader to hate her first and then grow to love her, realizing she is a product of environment. Around the right influences, she shines.

So, the perfect heroine is a work in progress as far as I am concerned. She cannot start off in a position of power, she evolves into it. It is okay for her to help save the world, but to single handedly do it while others helplessly watch, no, no, no, no, no. As big as this world is, no single person can save it themselves. Now, you are stretching my suspension of disbelief to its max. I refuse to go there. I’m not alone.

Make a perfect heroine. Give her challenges to overcome and keep moving the goal posts. Before she wins, she has to lose, because when she finally wins, you have reached the end of the story.

Kill Happy

Book 3 will be released soon.

Kill Happy: We're The Future!  (Book 3 – Zora Baker)

If you thought Children of the Corn were bad, wait until you meet these children.

Something strange is happening. It’s not the constant zombie threat, this is something new, something sinister. Camp Brandt’s children are Kill Happy and long to slash a zombie with their machetes. But that’s not it, not entirely. Zora Baker keeps hearing the phrase “We’re the Future.” From adults it is wrong, but from the children, eerie.

The evil Doctor Blake is doing something to the kids, Zora (Zee) knows it in her gut. These kids are already dealing with the loss of their parents – eaten by zombies. Now they have to be subjected to God knows what from a monster like Blake.

The children are aglow with their blind worship of the man. Is it a cult or other nefarious activity that has ensnared these innocents? Zee knows it’s not right and she is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and set these kids free. If that means putting Blake down, she will.

Fall 2012

Zombie Jokes

I have been sharing a few Zombie Jokes over on twitter. Thought I might post a few here:

Zombie Jokes no.1 -What kind of streets do zombies like the best?  Dead Ends.

Zombie Jokes no.2- What is a zombie's favorite toy? A Deady bear!

Zombie Jokes no.3-Why did the zombie cross the road?  He wanted to eat the chicken.

Zombie Jokes no.4 -Do zombies eat candy with their fingers? No, they eat the fingers separately.

Zombie Jokes no.5 -What do vegetarian zombies crave? GRAAAINS...more GRAAAAAAINS!

Zombie Jokes no.6 - What is black, white & red all over? A zombie in a penguin suit.

Zombie Jokes no.7-What did the zombie say to the girl with the knife? Go ahead, stab me, I bite you back. 

Zombie Jokes no.8 -What did one zombie say to the other zombie when they were eating a comedien? This tastes funny!

Zombie Jokes no.9-Who won the zombie war? Nobody, it was a DEAD tie!

Zombie Jokes no.10-Why did the zombie cross the road? He wanted to EAT the chicken!