What I'm Reading Now: The Dark and Hollow Places

Happy Follow Friday!

Good morning everyone and welcome to another Follow Friday! This week's question from our host Parajunkee is:

Q. Keeping with the dystopian and apocalypse theme that seems to be running rampant on parajunkee.com, I have one very hard question for you: If you were stocking your bomb shelter, what books would you HAVE to include if you only had space for ten?

Wow. I actually had to go and sleep on that one and I am still not sure. Let's see if I can do this.

1. Hunger Games

2. Outlander

3. Forest of Hands and Teeth

4. My Nook (until the power goes out!)

5. Breathers

6. Twilight

7. Bird Sisters

8. Visual Guide to Crochet

9. Southern Living Cookbook

10. The Mists of Avalon

That was tough. I know I will change my mind and have to switch things out at least once. If it comes down to it, I was actually thinking about what you would need if it went all post apocalyptic. Has anyone read Life As We Knew It ? It is the book about the moon coming close to the earth and everything going crazy? The power goes out, volcanoes erupt and all the Walmarts run out of Twinkies. Wait. Maybe that was Zombieland. Whatever. Anyway. Twinkies. Or, in my case, vanilla zingers with cream filling. Orange cupcakes too. OMG. How would I live without orange cupcakes?

This week my washer went out and it has been the biggest pain ever. It reminded me of the hurricane a couple of years ago when we were out of power for several days and had to try and cook what we could from the freezer on the gas stove and grill outside. Kind of feels like that I guess. At least there is a laundry facility down the street even though I hate going there.

I digress. What would I need if the world did go nuts and I had to build a bomb shelter or at least start hording can goods or something? Ten things. Here we go.

1. Lots of can goods.

2. Orange cupcakes by the case.

3. Dog food by the ton. (furry kids)

4. Water. Lots of bottled water.

5. Granola Bars

6. Toilet Paper. (no comment)

7. Knitting needles, crochet hooks and yarn.

8. A weapon of some sort to kill anyone who threatened my zinger supply. (Just sayin.)

9. Soap and deodorant

10. A book on how to garden, because I think we may need more than canned yams eventually.

Now for more hopping...

"Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"

Wow. There are so many. The first one I am dying to get my hands on is the new Charlaine Harris book in the Sookie series. Dead Reckoning. It is my birthday Sunday, and it is on my list!

Thanks everyone for visiting on the Hop and Follow Friday! If you want to join the linky list, head over to:

http://www.parajunkee.com/

http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will "Like" the new Facebook fan page while you are here. I love my followers and twitter peeps, so I hope to see you around! Stay tuned for more awesome contests coming up soon! Have a great weekend Zombie Horde!



Contest: Warm Bodies

With all the excitement about the release this week of Warm Bodies the soon to be feature film, the publisher has given me the extreme pleasure of hosting a giveaway! One lucky person will win a copy of this amazing book!

Now for the rules:

* One entry per person.

* You must be over 13 to enter.

* Entries are counted from contest form only, but I do LOVE comments too.

*Publisher will be mailing out the prize. Winner will be notified by email and have three days to send a reply or the next lucky person will be chosen.

*One copy of Warm Bodies is the prize.

*Contest is from 4/27-5/15/11

Interview with S.G. Browne

For fans of Max Brooks’s The Zombie Survival Guide and zombie aficionados everywhere, a hilarious debut novel about life (and love) after death.

Meet Andy Warner, a recently deceased everyman and newly minted zombie. Resented by his parents, abandoned by his friends, and reviled by a society that no longer considers him human, Andy is having a bit of trouble adjusting to his new existence. But all that changes when he goes to an Undead Anonymous meeting and finds kindred souls in Rita, an impossibly sexy recent suicide with a taste for the formaldehyde in cosmetic products, and Jerry, a twenty-one-year-old car-crash victim with an exposed brain and a penchant for Renaissance pornography. When the group meets a rogue zombie who teaches them the joys of human flesh, things start to get messy, and Andy embarks on a journey of self-discovery that will take him from his casket to the SPCA to a media-driven class-action lawsuit on behalf of the rights of zombies everywhere.

Darkly funny, surprisingly touching, and gory enough to satisfy even the most discerning reader, Breathers is a romantic zombie comedy (rom-zom-com, for short) that will leave you laughing, squirming, and clamoring for more. (Goodreads)

From the first paragraph, I knew I would love this book! Hilarious, thought provoking and amazing!

If you don't have it on your TBR pile, you need to, Zombie Horde!

Also check out S.G. Browne's new book, Fated.

From the acclaimed author of Breathers—an irreverent novel about fate, destiny, and the karmic consequences of getting involved with humans.

Over the past few thousand years, Fabio has come to hate his job. As Fate, he's in charge of assigning the fortunes and misfortunes that befall most of the human race-the 83% who keep screwing things up.
Frustrated with his endless parade of drug addicts and career politicians, Fate has to watch Destiny guide her people to Nobel Peace Prizes and Super Bowl MVPs. To make matters worse, he has a five- hundred-year-old feud with Death, and his best friends are Sloth and Gluttony. And worst of all? He's fallen in love with a human.

Getting involved with a human breaks Rule #1, and about ten others, setting off some cosmic-sized repercussions that could strip him of his immortality-or lead to a fate worse than death.

(Goodreads)

 

Corresponding with Scott Brown, I wanted to pick his brain (not eat it. Please!) about his life as a writer and what or who inspired him to start writing about zombies. Check out the interview:

Me: When did you first get interested in writing about zombies?

I started writing in 1990. Novels and short stories. Mostly supernatural horror ala Stephen King, Peter Straub, Robert McCammon, and F. Paul Wilson. For a number of years I kept trying to write a zombie story but nothing was working. Then, in 2001, I wondered what would happen if I reanimated from the dead. But rather than being your typical Hollywood zombie, staggering around and wanting to eat human flesh, I was instead just a reanimated corpse with no rights, I was gradually decomposing, and I needed some serious therapy. What would my existence be like? How would society treat me? Would there be self-help groups I could join? So I wrote this two-thousand-word short story titled “A Zombie’s Lament” which, several years later, I would expand into a full-length novel titled Breathers.


Me: What weird habits do you have when you are writing? (Box of cheese doodles, three cans of Mountain Dew, a stuffed cat named Herman...anything like that.) Me, I have to have my container of cashews, some chocolate, two bottles of water and my dog Tadpole sitting next to me. He is my puppy muse. Or something. He claws the crap out of me if I don't.

I don’t know if I have any habits that you would call weird, but I can’t write with any distractions. No people talking. No clowns juggling. So cafes and Cirque du Soliel are definitely out. Other than that, I’m pretty vanilla when it comes to my writing habits. And I don’t have a puppy muse. However, I do have two cats who stare at me like I’ve done something wrong. They’re doing it right now. It’s kind of creepy.


Me: What one thing would you tell someone who wants to be a writer?

Whatever you choose to write, make sure it resonates with you on some level. Write something that makes you laugh or cry or feel a cold finger of dread tracing its way along the length of your spine. Don’t write something just because you think it will sell. If it doesn’t resonate with you, it’s not going to resonate with anyone else.


Me: How do you balance your everyday life and writing time?

Balance? I’m supposed to have balance? Well, that explains a lot. What I try to do is limit myself to four hours of writing a day and a couple of hours of e-mail and social networking so that I can get out and get some exercise and interact with three-dimensional human beings. It doesn’t always work. It’s easy to get sucked into writing and end up spending ten hours without taking enough time to play or run errands or eat a healthy meal. So let’s just say it’s still a work in progress.


Me: In Fated, you are writing about Fate and the Deadly sins. What was your inspiration?

I was sitting in a shopping mall one day back in June of 2004, watching all of these people and wondering what they would be like in twenty years. So I wrote a scene from the point of view of someone who can actually see what their futures hold. It didn’t take long for me to decide that the main character would be Fate. That more or less became the first chapter. From there, I realized Fate needed some friends and co-workers, so as I went along I added Destiny, Death, Karma, Lady Luck, Honesty, Love, Failure, Integrity, Sloth, Gluttony, and the rest of the Deadly Sins, among others. They’re all immortal beings who are in charge of humans, yet they exhibit rather human qualities themselves. It’s a little bit like a modern day Greek mythology, only instead of gods I have immortal personifications of concepts. And instead of living on Mount Olympus, they live in Manhattan.


Me: What is your favorite zombie book or movie?

While I’m not the zombie geek that everyone assumes me to be, I do enjoy a good zombie film every now and then. And my favorite one would have to be the original Night of the Living Dead. It doesn’t necessarily holdup against some of today’s special effects and action, but it’sstill creepy and manages to get the job done without all of the hoopla.


Me: Do you listen to music as you write? If so, what?

For the most part, I listen to instrumental music. Not something you’d hear in an elevator. We’re not talking Air Supply muzak. Just good surf tunes or some classic R&B like TheVentures or Booker T. & the MG’s. Maybe throw in some Medeski, Martin, & Wood and The Dust Brothers from the Fight Club soundtrack. Though if I’m in the right mood, I enjoy writing to a mix of Green Day, Sublime, Morphine, and the Pixies.


Me: What are you working on now?

I’m working on the edits for my third novel, Lucky Bastard, which is tentatively due out sometime in Spring 2012. Like Breathers and Fated,it’s a bit of a dark comedy and social satire, but in this one the main character is a private detective who has the ability to steal luck, so it has some mystery/noir elements to it, as well. And it takes place all in one day,which was both fun and a challenge to write.


Me: How do you gauge your success each day as a writer? Page count?Word? Not falling off the chair in mid thought from lack of food?

On a good day, I like to get 1000 words written. Maybe 1500.  That’s enough for me. On a bad day, I’ll write for four hours and if I don’t hit my word count, I’ll go take a bike ride or go hit a bucket of balls at the driving range. But really, a successful day is one in which I get my words written and get a chance to play without feeling guilty about it.


Me: What is one thing readers should get from your books?

A good laugh. And hopefully a somewhat different way of looking at the world. I know, that’s two things, but I’m bad with math.

Many thanks to Scott for answering my questions. If you want to find out any more cool information, make sure you check out his website at:  http://www.sgbrowne.com

Warm Bodies in stores today!

Follow Friday for the Zombie Horde!

Welcome to another awesome Follow Friday!

Welcome to another Follow Friday and Blogger Hop. To sign up on the linky lists, make sure you visit our host's sites at: http://www.parajunkee.com/ and http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

This week's question from Parajunkee is:

What is on your playlist right now?

My newest thing as a blogger is to review music. I love it. http://muzikreviews.com/ is where you can find some of my reviews, along with my new music blog: http://bookgirlsmusicmusings.blogspot.com/.

Salon of Refuse is the review I just turned in and now my new favorite band. Check my site for posting on the review in the next couple of days. They have a free demo that is supremely awesome. The vocals soar and just stick in your head. I love them. You can find them on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Tell them Dana sent you!

"If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?"

Oh yeah! Books, chocolate and music!

Damn You Autocorrect!

Sh#@ Your Phone Says

"Damn You, Autocorrect!"

If you own an iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid, or any smartphone, there's a good chance you've screamed that phrase out at least once. In Damn You, Autocorrect! Pop-culture blogger Jillian Madison shows you are not alone.

Filled with submissions from readers of her popular website, this laugh-out-loud funny book features cringe-worthy exchanges with parents, friends, significant others, and co-workers that contain some of the most unintentionally hilarious—and mortifying—mistakes ever caused by Autocorrect. Inside, you'll find a husband who tells his wife that he just "laid" (paid) the babysitter, a dad who tells his daughter that he and her mom are going to "divorce" (Disney), and many more epic texting fails too raunchy to list here.

Whether you love technology, texting humor, or taking just a little bit of pleasure in the misfortune of others, Damn You, Autocorrect! will leave you laughing until you cry, and thankful that nothing this embarrassing has happened to you. Yet.

Jillian Madison is the founder of the Pophangover network, a collection of twelve snarky pop-culture blogs. The sites are visited by tens of millions of people every month, and her content is frequently retweeted by celebrities and referenced by media giants like Huffington Post, Gawker, and Funny or Die. She lives in coastal Connecticut. (Goodreads)

Okay, before you even say it. There are no zombies in this article. Nope. Not one. Why did I blog about this, zombie horde? Because it is so funny, you will have to be careful not to laugh so hard that body parts will start falling off. Not kidding.

True story:

I received this book from the publisher for a review and almost had bladder control issues as I was reading it. Laugh out loud, shrieking behind my hand laughter. Yep. Ha! I thought. I will put this on the bathroom bookshelf and see if my husband likes it. One day, behind the closed door, I heard the screams of laughter I was waiting for. He emerged and was holding the book, tears streaming out of his eyes. "Oh my Gawd!" He shook his head.  "That was hilarious!" He promptly stole my book and went upstairs to his man cave. I heard more laughter and shrieking wafting down the stairs. Mission accomplished. Book=Awesome.

So, if you haven't grabbed yourself a copy, do. You will just love the cellphone misadventures. I just had another one the other day and had to snicker to myself that it would have been the perfect candidate for this book.

Mystery question of the day: Why are cell phones even programmed with some of the words that accidentally pop out? I mean really. It can be mortifying. Thoughts?

If you want to see more amazing autocorrect horrors: http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/



We Have Our Zombie Horde Winners!

Good evening Zombie Horde! We have our winners for the Zombie Autopsies contest!

nfmgirl

MaryAnn McDonald

Clay Weir

Jennifer C.

Wanda B.

Winners have just been notified by email and have three days to reply, or the zombie horde will pick another lucky winner.

If you didn't win this round, never fear. There will be more contests where that came from. Thank you to everyone who participated. Your support for Zombie Girl Shambling makes my little undead heart beat happy tunes.

Don't forget to visit our Facebook Fan Page and "Like" it.

Have an awesome weekend! Remember, no biting.

Follow Friday for the Zombie Horde!

Happy Follow Friday everyone! Welcome back to the members of the horde and hello to all the visitors out there. Hope you stop to stay a minute. Just get ready to run if one of the horde looks hungry. We have a no biting policy, but you just want to be on the safe side.

Join in the fun and sign up on the linky list. Stay a minute for some comment love and follow the horde on Facebook. There is always something new happening on the fan page.

Happy Follow Friday everyone! Let me tell you a little bit about this HOP. Every friday or really Thursday evening we all get together and say HI! But, we need to know how to find you, so please leave your link in the Mr. Linky below. Also on Follow Friday we have a Feature...because alliteration is the way we roll. Each week is a different feature from the book blogging community. They are picked randomly or I give in after multiple harassing emails. Just depends on the week. If you want to be next weeks feature...leave your link. Also, I've had a recent rash of people signing up on the linky weeks later, which sort of defeats the purpose. If you want to participate check back here on the next Friday!

Our feature this week is...

Marie and Brie @ Romance Around the Corner

Our names are Marie and Brie, and we both are behind Romance Around the Corner. We divided the responsibility of telling you about our blog and so Brie wrote the first paragraph and Marie the second one.

We met a long time ago on the first day of college, and we have been best friends ever since. Every time we saw each other we talked about the books we were reading, I recommended a new author to her, she recommended one to me, and that’s pretty much all we talked about, well, besides gossips and men -and Brad Pitt cheating on Jennifer Anniston (I told you we met a long time ago)-. Now Marie is overseas and we decided to start the blog mostly as a way to keep with the tradition of talking about books (and because Marie just couldn’t live without me and was really sad and depressed, I’m that great!), also because I’ve been a blog stalker for years and I like reading reviews almost as much as I love reading the books, and we always wanted to participate in the romance community as more than silent readers.

Well, I think to remember things a bit differently, Brie nagged at me until I agreed to do the blog (to be honest it didn’t take that much convincing for me to agree), anyway. What we are trying to do with our Blog is write the type of reviews that we like to read, we explain why we love a book or why it didn’t work for us. We are fans of romance, we particularly love happy endings and steamy sex scenes (although I have read my fair share of books with bittersweet endings). In our Blog you are going to find reviews about everything that has some romance in it: Contemporary, Paranormal, YA, Women’s Fiction, Erotica, Historical, Suspense, GBLT and everything in between. We do have our preferences, Brie loves Contemporary and Erotica and I love pretty much everything, but if I had to choose one subgenre it would be Romantic Suspense, and YA, and Paranormal, and Comedy, Brie says that I’m a book’s garbage disposal because I’ll read and like pretty much anything, I guess she’s right!

Q. Do you have anyone that you can discuss books with IRL? Tell us about him/her.

Let me tell you a little something about my mom's neighbor. You see in my area of town we like to sit on porches and drink. Drink wine. Why go anywhere else when you have these big beautiful porches and this great weather. My mother has a great porch and I bring my 3 year old over there and she plays with the neighbor's kids and I sit on the porch and book gossip with my mom's neighbor and her tons of sisters that stop by and say hello. Think BIG Italian family, lot of kids, lots of loudness. It is so much fun. Last weekend we discussed Karen Marie Moning and the hotness that is Barrons...how much fun is that. The tipsier you get the raunchier the conversation gets, until my mom walked out on us and we were discussing The Harlequin (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 15) and why we stopped reading the series.

My answer:

My Mom and sister both love "vampire smut." I used to read it more than I do now. They love to tell me about the latest book they have found and how hot the guy is. I still read it from time to time, but I am in a YA mode right now.

To comment on the Anita Blake series, I used to really like it until it became so focused on extreme erotica. I like that, to a point. You just have to have a plot and focus on that. A little bit of love scene goes a long way. If it is every other page, you are going to lose me as a reader.

Now for the Follow Fun!

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://romance-around-the-corner.blogspot.com/
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you're new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Happy Follow Friday!

Follow it up with your twitter address if you want to get that one out!

*********

 

"Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her."

My answer:

I just finished Vanished by Sophie Jordan. This is the second book in the Firelight series. The main character's name is Jacinda. She is a Draki, part human/part dragon. She is also the only fire breather in her pride. Because of her unique talent, she is a prize.

In Firelight Jacinda's mother takes her and her sister Tamra away from the pride to live in the desert, hoping to kill the Draki within Jacinda. Tamra had no manifestations, and reveled in the human world. Jacinda was miserable and wanted nothing more than to go back. Until she met Will.

Jacinda is a strong character. She makes the Firelight series a real page turner. Her devotion to Will conflicts with the need to save the pride from danger, and as a reader, you think you know where she is going but are continually surprised by the outcome of events.

This book is being made into a movie and I can't wait to see who the lucky redhead will be! Jacinda is a force of nature and I will be one of the first in line to see this wonderful character brought even more to life on the big screen.

In case you missed it: The Forest of Hands and Teeth Trailer

Beautiful Dead

The Last Day to Enter!

This is the last day to enter the contest everyone!

Zombie Feltie Book Trailer

The coolest book ever gets the coolest trailer ever...

Follow the Zombie Friday

It is time for another Follow Friday. Today we are witnessing a short film of a bunny/zombie massacre. Watch out, zombie horde. They can be vicious!

Feature & Follow Friday #40

Happy Follow Friday everyone! Let me tell you a little bit about this HOP. Every friday or really Thursday evening we all get together and say HI! But, we need to know how to find you, so please leave your link in the Mr. Linky below. Also on Follow Friday we have a Feature...because alliteration is the way we roll. Each week is a different feature from the book blogging community. They are picked randomly or I give in after multiple harassing emails. Just depends on the week. If you want to be next weeks feature...leave your link. Also, I've had a recent rash of people signing up on the linky weeks later, which sort of defeats the purpose. If you want to participate check back here on the next Friday!

Our feature this week is...

Lesley @ My keeper shelf

Hi there, my name is Lesley from My keeper shelf, I live in Scotland in the UK.

I'm fairly new to the world of blogging although I have always checked out other blogs for what to read next suggestions. It kind of started with joining Goodreads last year to help me keep a track of all the books I had read and to find suggestions for fab new books from like minded paranormal romance and urban fantasy readers. I then progressed into joining a few groups on Goodreads to discuss my favourite authors (Karen Marie Moning, Stacia Kane, Ilona Andrews and Nalini Singh to name but a few.) and was then inspired to start my own blog focusing on the types of books I love the most- paranormal romance and urban fantasy (although I do love a good smexy cowboy book now and then!)

I love reviewing books but I am in no way a professional reviewer providing amazingly insightful critique, I like to keep it simple. I'm a reader first and foremost. I pick up a book because something about it interests me: the story, the authors previous work or the gorgeous cover. I absolutely love to drool over book covers and have realised that I often, ok I admit it always, judge a book by it's cover so I like to include new covers on my blog and well, drool.

I came up with the name my keeper shelf as that's how I categorise books. If I love a book it goes on my keeper shelf. This usually means I have folded down or bookmarked pages at the "good bits" and I will go back time and time again to reread my favourite pages. My blog is simple but fun (hopefully!) I would love it if you would come over and say hi.

Q. Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm a graphic designer, to me things should look pretty. If a cover is so bad, I won't even pick up the book. I have been surprised though. A book that I thought had a horrendous cover...I really enjoyed. Here it is, what do you think? Great book though...

My answer:

I have judged wrongly by a cover before. Take The Hunger Games. Not the best cover in the world. It makes sense now, but in the beginning, I didn't get it. Just looked like a boring cover that didn't appeal. How wrong was I? Totally! It rocked. So, now I have to tell everyone.

Stay tuned for a Book Blog Hop entry tomorrow. Have an awesome night and don't forget to stop by the Facebook Fan Page to say hi!

Zombie Girl Shambling gets a Facebook Fan Page!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zombie-Girl-Shambling/137117863025914

A celebration is in order! We have our own fan page on Facebook! Share some zombie horde love and pop over to give it a "Like".

Zombie Bunnies

Greetings zombie horde! For the fun of it, here are some fierce zombie style bunnies to make you smile.

Award for the coolest sounding book ever.

 Good morning zombie horde. If there was ever an award for the coolest book ever to be played over a store intercom system after the store was closed, it would be this book. Complete with jaunts to the gym, coffee house and other cool places, Steve Mackus does a brilliant job with vocalizing the needs of zombies everywhere. Thumbs up Steve. It rocks.

5 out of 5.

The Undertakers

On a sunny Wednesday morning in October, a day that would mark the end of one life and the beginning of another, I found out my grouchy next door neighbor was the walking dead. When you turn around expecting to see something familiar, and instead see something else altogether, it takes a little while for your brain to catch up with your eyes. I call it the 'Holy Crap Factor.'A" Forced to flee his home and family, twelve-year-old Will Ritter falls in with the Undertakers--a rag-tag army of teenage resistance fighters, who've banded together to battle the corpses.

Goodreads

This book is a middle grade age book, but has a good voice and interesting characters. When the publisher sent me this in the mail, knowing how much I love zombie books, I was thrilled. Normally middle grade is a bit young for me, but this one was something else. 

 I enjoyed it because it had kind of a different take on the zombie theme. Very good and you don't feel that you are reading down, if that makes any sense. Some middle grade books leave me wanting. This one did not. It kept my interest and I really enjoyed it. It had a different kind of flair and made me keep reading! I will be looking for more from this author. Check out the book trailer below from Sourcebooks.

Excellent read! 4 out of 5. Out today! April 5th!

Ty Drago is on Goodreads and has his own website.

http://www.tydrago.com/ Check it out and sign the guestbook on his website.