President's Day Sale! :D Mayhem in Mexico: Zombie Infestation

Hey *waves*

I'm a lover of zombies. I got into The Walking Dead before I ever saw the show. My friends were all fans, and I loved what I heard. Plus, Norman Reedus, Michael Rooker? Nuf said. I wrote a long ass zombie action story. I had to redo it. Ever try to change something from first person present tense, to first person past tense? Yeah. No fun. Took me hours and hours and the help of quite a few friends. I'm not stupid by any means, but I couldn't see the forest for the trees, if you know what I mean.

Then, when I finally got finished with that, I had become published under the paranormal romance genre (Yay! The Ulfric's Mate, the start of a destiny I never imagined!). I submitted it to my friend's brand new publishing house, Just Ink. She said to rewrite it. Well, life happened. I had contracts already for three stories (Rick Sexed Up the Doc, The Captain's Christmas, and a short in an anthology, as well working on The Ulfric's Mate, and my short in Ravaged Vol 1, which had just released.) or I don't know what would have happened. I already have spoken of the highlights (or lowlights :P) here, but of course, those are just the tip of the iceberg.

Finally, finally, I finished my long zombie urban sci-fi action book rewrite. I sent it off and yay! Acceptance. *dances* 


I finally got to watch The Walking Dead (loved it like I knew I would! :D), still love all my zombie friends, and now have two books out with zombies!!!! The 88k one, which is titled, Mayhem in Mexico: Zombie Infestation, is going on sale for President's Day!! You want action and zombies for 99 cents? Get on board!

Ready for a little taste? Here's an excerpt:

I turned back to encounter the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen in person. I smiled wide, startling the other woman. Infected. Definitely Infected. The eyes of those with the Ultimate form of the Zombie Virus became luminescent. Not innocent and collaborating in the torture of an FBI agent. If I had to shoot her, it wouldn’t be collateral damage. Now the only person I had to worry about accidentally killing was Agent Connelly. I liked things easy. In. Kill. Out.

I looked down and scuffed a foot against the stained concrete. Nonchalantly the toe of my boot landed on the door jam. It brought me closer to the woman. “His name is Joseph.” Head lowered shyly so it appeared I stared at my feet, I watched the woman through my eyelashes. I was tempted to shoot this gorgeous zombie in the gut. However, I needed to get more information before killing off the players, no matter how tempting I found it.

“You have the right place.” The woman smiled. “Come in, my dear.”

I smiled back. “What’s your name and why are you here?”

“I’m Andrea. You could say I work with Joseph.”

I could say a lot of things. That didn’t make it true. “Oh really?” I replied with a touch of feigned interest mixed with anger. “What kind of work requires a hotel room,” I added, a little—okay, a lot—facetiously. I stepped inside, working it so my back stayed by the doorjamb, hiding my Magnum.

Once my eyes adjusted from the glaring sunlight to the dim hotel light, I didn’t have to pretend shock. Joseph sat tied to a chair, his eyes swollen nearly shut, his hands tied behind his back.

“Joseph! You’re hurt, darling.” I kept up the sweet act with a tinge of anger. “Why don’t you take a shower? It’ll help immensely.”

A quick smile flashed across his dimpled face—which had to hurt—white teeth shining against his tanned skin. “As soon as our guests leave, darling. I don’t want to be rude.”

I turned to assess the other three in the room more closely, my back facing the wall as I made sure my ass kept the gun out of eyesight, . Two men and the woman. The men looked military. Crew cuts, at-ease stance, weapons at their sides holstered. Interesting. Unless I was mistaken, and it rarely happens, they were clean. No exposure, no immunity. Straight humans.

I almost felt sorry for them. Until I looked back at Joseph’s face. “I’m sorry.”

I adjusted my stance so Andrea stayed in direct eye contact with me. “My boyfriend needs a shower and medical attention. I don’t mean to be rude.” My voice dripped with sarcasm. “But can you do this work you never elaborated about later?” Whatever this thing was they were up to, I doubted they’d take me up on my offer. I mentally shrugged.

Andrea gave me an unpleasant smile. Her eyes were flat. “We don’t mind if he cleans up. However, we must get what we came for first. Such a long trip to make for nothing.”

“We’d hate to have you go away with nothing to show for it.” I jerked my .357 up and shot Andrea in the knee. The barrel of my gun shifted to the men. I stepped to the side, closer to them.

I had to hand it to them. Their weapons were out, but they waited. For what, I couldn’t be sure. Andrea shrieked once, yet motioned her men back.

“Our pussy cat has claws,” she said to Connelly before turning back to me. “You hit me in the knee on purpose?”

“Yes,” I said without an iota of inflection in my voice.

“Then I applaud both your self-control and choice of hits. If you were a man, I might suspect you shot me to distract the others. But I suspect you shot me because you deduced I’m the strongest. Who are you, really?”

“Really? I’m a writer. I believe you asked for me?” I added, making a guess.

The shock on Andrea’s face almost made the extra stress worth it. Almost.

  

Blurb:

Getting kidnapped by the FBI is pretty low on my list of things I want to do. It’s right up there with meeting terrorist groups and writing their side of the story. Why a successful novelist like me? Turns out I’m a scapegoat for someone with some serious health issues—they’ve contracted the zombie virus.
I’m a zombie killer, killing them as quickly as I can. But I’m only one woman. You’d think being an Immune was great, but no. Ever since the government purposely tried to infect me with the zombie virus, they watch me closely to see if I turn. Not happening.
The FBI wants me to accomplish something big two thousand miles from home. When I arrive in El Paso, Texas after my strenuous drive from Washington, my contact agent, Joseph Connelly, isn’t available. Being tortured by a zombie for two days is an excuse I can accept after saving his ass. These aren’t your Hollywood zombies; not right away. They never get sick, their IQ triples, and their sex appeal? Off the charts. Until they die and resurrect as true horror flick zombies, with brains. Trouble is, some of them have developed a taste for meat—human meat—before they die.
Problem with governments screwing around with our DNA is things never go as planned. When terrorists kidnap my kids, all bets are off, and Agent Connelly agrees. If we don’t save my kids and steal the antivirus without getting killed, the whole world is going to have a really bad day.




Also, something I should probably add to my official bio, I write under LJ for my action/non romance books. Though there is a bit of "romance" here, there is no sex (sorry to my romance fans! lol).

May's Featured Writers

Undead is Not an Option

I started my life with these people with two conversations that overlapped with a whole lot of tongue biting going around. If you see BMT flying on tweets, then @jterzieff or I will probably be found lurking. For those of you not familiar with the phrase, I had to come up with it due to twitters lack of space. I mean biting my tongue is a whole lot of characters and B.M.T. is twice as many characters and makes it sound like you forgot your bacon on your B.L.T. if you know what I mean.

Anyway, like so many of my conversations involving her I digress :D (Which is a fun and happy past time, but I must move on!) What started as fandom for The Walking Dead Series has turned into something huge which has evolved into a website, live cons and *drum roll please* an anthology from members of The Zombie Survival Crew

A little about the book and its authors:

Zombie love, zombie hate, how to get your killing spree on - we've got it all. When the Zombie Survival Crew organized, we realized the talent pool we had at our fingertips and decided to put together this unique volume of work by the crew members. Short stories, educational pieces, and artwork combine to take you on the zombie-ride of your life and help you prepare to "meat" any challenge.
The following authors and artists have crafted some truly haunting material examining the many terrifying facets of a zombiepocalypse and what survival will ask of all of us:

Tasmin Bowerman, Jim Bronyaur, EC, Jessica Capelle, Natalie Cutrufello, Andrew Jack, Gary James, Maria Kelly, Samantha Lahue, Sonya May, RC Murphy, Chris Philbrook, Wendy Sparrow, Kelene Toups and Austin Wulf.

We are also absolutely thrilled to announce that cast members from AMC’s hit television show The Walking Dead have graciously agreed to increase Undead Is Not An Option’s creep factor with contributions of their own!! Huge thanks to IronE Singleton, Neil Brown Jr., Anthony Guajardo, and everyone else for their participation.

For pre-orders/orders go here: http://zombiesurvivalcrew.bigcartel.com/product/zsc-anthology

Pre-orders get a discount so get yours right away!


My next author is one whose blogged I've lurked over for some time. I was bouncing around my blogs trying to catch up on everything when I saw she had another release. She writes a fabulous mix of genres. Friendly, generous, and ready to help. Listed here is only a sampling of her work:

Marva Dasef

Mixed Bag II: All the great stories from Mixed Bag plus ten more. Science fiction, horror, fantasy, romance, literary, humor: A little something for every taste.
First Duty: Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.
Tales of a Texas Hero: Little Eddie tells some almost true Tall Tales set in West Texas of the 1930s. Guess what's true and what Eddie fudged on. Was it about the bear? Cage McNatt's prize sow? The skunk in the cornpatch? Guaranteed for a chuckle. NEW BONUS STORY: Ma Yote and Her Cubs

Here's a link to these fabulous books and more. Just remember she writes a variety of genres. Your best bet is to probably pick up one of her Mixed Bags and see which of her styles you prefer :D
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mgdasef

Bio: Marva Dasef is a writer living in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and a fat white cat. Retired from thirty-five years in the software industry, she has now turned her energies to writing fiction and finds it a much more satisfying occupation. Marva has published more than forty stories in a number of on-line and print magazines, with her stories included in several Best of anthologies. She has eight published books. See a complete list of her work at http://marvadasef.com/.

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Gurina
Follow me on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/MarvaDasef?ref=profile
Visit my blog at http://mgddasef.blogspot.com/

Last, but certainly not the least, of my May's featured writers is Sharon Gerlach. I've had the honor of being published in the online magazine, Forever Nocturne, she has with @Jinxie_G as both an artist and a writer. The two have opened a new small indie publishing company. The first books out of the gates are FINALLY ready. One is even released after a bit of formatting issues with the cover.
Sharon Gerlach was in training to be a ninja, but a dismaying lack of physical grace and balance—not to mention the inability to keep her big mouth shut—ended her ninja career before it had really begun. Now she writes. She doesn’t write about ninjas because that’s obviously a sore subject. But she writes about other really cool things and figures someone else will cover the ninjas. Life’s really not all about ninjas, anyway. Sharon lives on the dry side of the Pacific Northwest with her husband (who must really be fond of her as he hasn’t left her yet despite her ninja failings); two of her three kids (none of whom possess ninja qualities either); and a Border collie who suffers the presence of seven cats. Yes, you guessed it—ninja cats!

Malakh is her first published work, with two women’s fiction novels to be released in late 2011. Be sure to check Running Ink Press’s website [http://runninginkpress.com] for information on upcoming releases.

HE HUNTS, SILENT AND UNSEEN
The string of mutilated bodies points to a madman, but the police are stymied. Trace evidence yields no DNA, animal or human. Male, female, young, old—the victims fall without a struggle to the killer in the shadows.
HIS NEXT VICTIM HAS BEEN CHOSEN
For a brief time, Suzanne Harper wielded supernatural abilities and super-human athletic prowess, but that was while she had been the lover of an angel. The murders point to her former lover, and the trail of bodies tells a terrifying tale: he’s working his way to her.
PREY BECOMES PREDATOR
Icarus, an angel who hunts those of his kind who have fallen from grace, enlists Suzanne’s help to stop the killer, for only one as close as a lover can anticipate his next move. Now she must reconcile her heart’s longing for her lost love with her sense of justice and honor, and she must do it fast … because the next murder could be hers.
And here are the links to purchase:

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52440
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Malakh-ebook/dp/B004VXK0NO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1302986173&sr=8-1
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Malakh/dp/B004VXK0NO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1302986242&sr=8-1

Donate Buttons

As I said in earlier post, I've layed back on the posting a bit this month. Will get back to it. I miss it :D I've had an idea floating in the back of my mind since I saw a random twitter comment last month. Once in a while, it would float to the top but I wasn't hearing it. Today, I'm hearing it.

In recent times, there has been so many tragedies and we're all trying to help. That's great. Awesome. Keep it up. No really, keep it up. That's a seperate category, although it does overlap a little with the bit I'm going on about.

The Random Twitter Comment:

I don't like seeing a donate button on an author's website.

I was taken aback and tried to figure out why. The only reason I can come up with is this person didn't like someone asking for money, as if they're a beggar. It's possible someone really is just begging. They may have set up a pretty blog then added the donate buuton and ignored it--no new blogs, no new freebie shorts, no helpful hints, etc. It's possible.

However, I don't believe it's likely. From what I've seen, the people with a donate button were reluctant to put it up but had to do it. Examples:

1. @CJRedwine She put a donate button up asking for help in covering the enormous cost of adopting. In her case it was overseas. Before you get into a hoorah about adopting outside of the country when they're are so many in need here, go online, find your congressman or representative and complain to him. Many agencie make it nearly impossible for people to adopt for so many reasons--gay couple, too old, too young, interracial, etc. The list goes on and the process is arduous before you're even given a chance to see a child. There ar exceptions and there are private adoptions, but keep your soap box away from this issue. She has my full support and this is my blog :D

Anyways, the process keeps getting more and more complicated. And the costs are astronomical. These costs went up for CJ's family. I don't know how much for sure, but I know that it was a taxing load for them. She added a donate button so her family and friends could help out. How's that a bad thing? It's not. It's perfect. She doesn't have to beg, she keeps giving information, providing funny blogs, unique intervies, etc and those who found her story touching or appreciated her things could donate. Perfect in my mind.

The next person who's added a donate button in the course of time I've followed them is @AuthoressAnon.

She is wonderful. She's set up all kinds of contests, submissions for auctions etc. It was on one big auction for an agent that she finally added the donate button. And she waited until she was sure no one thought they had to donate to participate even though she would have had more exposure by putting the button up earlier.

She puts in literally hundreds of hours reading slush piles, making judgment calls that could get her hated, or unfollowed. She went to a lot of work organizing that huge one and it was a fantastic success. She's providing a service and giving up large quantities of time and emotional energy. She provides an avenue that's unique and allows author's voices to be heard who might otherwise have been missed. She's providing a service.

So, rather than charge people to enter, she's asked for donations. The amount of time she puts in, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to charge a small fee to enter. But I think something in the contest and the way she likes to do things would've been lost. And how she likes to do things works. She's proven it. Again, I'm not seeing the problem with the donate button.

The next example is @RCMurphy.

Now her button was up when I first went to her site, but she tells her stories on line and offers them up for free. It's beautiful and her stories are wonderful. I don't know all the details of her life, but I do know she has a kid and she tries to work from home. She's providing entertainment and she doesn't ask for particular payment. She has a donate button on the side, quietly saying, "Hey, if you like it, help keep it coming!"

She's a writer. And, as most of my followers are writers or friends with one, they'd agree that getting paid to write is a good thing. so again, no seeing the problem with the donate button.

If you're out their cruising blogs, before you make a broad sweeping judgment, maybe you should really think about the big picture. Who is the site holder hurting? no one. Are they scamming you? no. Are they providing somethign? Yes.

Think before you say things that might come back and haunt you. And please, if you enjoy their sites and have an extra dollar or two give. Especially since there are so many of us who can't. Help keep people like them doing their services for free.

After all, we don't want everyone ending up like the NYT do we? :P