I am registered for the Kerrytown Book Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Come on out and see me on Sunday, September 9, 2012, from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. I will be promoting/selling all my books: Writing exercises, anthology of horror stories, two thriller novels, and my latest creation: Fetch, the Journal of a Genius Dog (as dictated to me by my precious and very intelligent Border Collie).

My next book, Sevenfold, will be available (hopefully) in October. I will start taking pre-orders for it soon.

Until we meet again!

Shelby

Interview with a Zombie

In lieu of all the recent zombie scares lately, I went on a search to locate such a creature and found out what they are really like, and I have to say, some of them are just scared citizens who had a tripwire released inside their brains and are now poising a non-real threat to local communities everywhere. I was fortunate enough to find a zombie willing to talk, and not eat, me. It's not as bad as we thought. Here is how it went:


SP: When did you first realize you had become a zombie?


ZOM: I woke up one morning with this horrific headache. My alarm had been going off for some time, so I reached over and ended up smashing it to pieces. I felt real sluggish and didn't want to get out of bed. Work was calling, but seeing as how I was already late, I just didn't care. I ambled my way down to the kitchen and had trouble processing where I was and why I was there. It didn't matter that a plate of eggs and bacon was waiting. I ate with ferocity, turned to my significant other, and said "I...I...no work...today." And I didn't go ever again; instead, I found new friends and hung out in the park, apparently scaring people with my lifeless eyes and gaunt expression.


SP: Is anyone else in your family or circle of friends a zombie?


ZOM: Absolutely not! I spent years of misery with them. Why would I want to spend the rest of my zombie years like that?


SP: Can you tell us what being a zombie is all about?


ZOM: I stumble around, half the time not knowing where I am. It's the all-time high. I feel invincible. The only time I feel any emotion at all is when people are running scared when they see me. Sometimes I get the urge to feed upon that hunger, but as long as they stay away during those times, I'm good.


SP: What kind of effect has the media "zombies" had on the real zombie community today?


ZOM: It's horrible, I tell you. They portray us as brain-eating undead animals who should be taken down with a bullet to the head. 


SP: And you're not?

ZOM: Would I be sitting here talking to you now if I was? I'd be smacking on your flesh right about now. We have gotten a poor rap because of television, books, and newspapers. I'll agree, though, that there are some renegade zombies out there who enjoy ripping chunks of flesh from their victims faces, but most of us are just regular citizens who want to be left alone. We get hungry and can't help it, so share some food with us, and we'll be good, or else we have to hunt and grab our own, if you know what I mean.


SP: What do you like best about being a zombie? What do you like the least of?

ZOM: The best thing is not having a care in the world. No responsibilities; no jobs; no relationships. It's just me and the world. As for my least favorite thing is the kids who throw stones at me and the gun-toters that try to kill me.


SP: There have been several zombie-related stories in the news lately. Do you have any comments about that?


ZOM: It's the drugs, man. Kids, stay away from drugs or you just may end up eating someone's face off.


SP: How did you become a zombie?

ZOM: I don't know. Something inside my brain just snapped and I didn't want to do anything anymore. It's like lying on a beach watching the ocean come rolling in day after day. I'm at peace now and it feels really good. 


SP: Thank you for a wonderful interview. Do you have any last comments to share with our readers?


ZOM: Yes, as a matter of fact I do. Stop the stereotyping. We are just like any other group. Some of us are bad to the bone; others just want go about their business. Don't hunt us down like dogs just because we choose to wear the title ZOMBIE. We are ordinary citizens like you, except that we are lazy and sluggish -- the bane of all human existence. So what if we look scary? I've seen some pretty mean looking lawyers in my time but we don't go around shooting them, do we? A few bad apples may spoil the bunch, but if people keep doing what they are doing, eventually the bunch will turn sour and then there really will be a zombie apocalypse to worry about.

School Texts Claim Loch Ness Monster Is Real In Effort To Disprove Darwinism

Some students at private schools in Louisiana are being taught that Scotland's fabled Loch Ness monster is real, a claim that is then held as evidence disproving Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the Scotsman reports.

Thousands of students across the state are eligible to receive publicly funded vouchers to allow them to attend private Christian schools where textbooks published by Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) claim the monster was actually a dinosaur that existed at the same time as man, an assertion which conflicts with the theory of evolution.

The Times Educational Supplement, a British publication for teachers, published an article in 2009 that included an excerpt from Accelerated Christian Education's Biology 1099 textbook, which was published in 1995:

Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the `Loch Ness Monster' in Scotland? `Nessie,' for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.

Could a fish have developed into a dinosaur? As astonishing as it may seem, many evolutionists theorize that fish evolved into amphibians and amphibians into reptiles. This gradual change from fish to reptiles has no scientific basis. No transitional fossils have been or ever will be discovered because God created each type of fish, amphibian, and reptile as separate, unique animals. Any similarities that exist among them are due to the fact that one Master Craftsmen fashioned them all."

Loch Ness monster tour guide Tony Drummond, 47, told the Scottish Sun the curriculum is "ridiculous propaganda."

And Bruce Wilson, a researcher specializing in the American political religious right, told the Scotsman that one of the texts also claims "dinosaurs were fire-breathing dragons."

"It has little to do with science as we currently understand. It’s more like medieval scholasticism," Wilson told the paper.

According to Scotland's the Herald, one of the textbooks also provides a somewhat controversial look at the Ku Klux Klan.

"The [Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross ... In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians," the textbook reads, according to the Herald.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/louisiana-students-loch-ness-monster-disprove-evolution_n_1624643.html

Writing and Marketing Resources

Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing: Resources: This is the Writing and Marketing Tool Page. You'll find some helpful resources, groups, sites, books, and article links.

Slurpee and a Kindle?

Slurpee and a Kindle?: Amazon Lockers in Virginia 7-Elevens

Hawthorn Moon Online Sneak Peek Event

Bestselling fantasy author Gail Z. Martin is holding a sneak peek for her new book, Ice Forged, and we’ve got the goodies! Gail Z. Martin is the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series, published by Solaris Books, and The Fallen Kings Cycle from Orbit Books. Her short stories have appeared in numerous U.S. and UK anthologies.

Gail is unveiling the new cover for Ice Forged (coming from Orbit Books in January, 2013), and throwing her annual Hawthorn Moon Online Sneak Peek Event, which includes more than a dozen partner sites with exclusive excerpts, author and character interviews, audios, and more!

Ice Forged will take readers to an entirely new world with completely new characters.  “It’s a totally different series,” Martin says.  “I’m having a lot of fun building it and I’m looking forward to sharing it with readers.

Here’s the story: Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine “Mick” McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor’s mages keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists.

Now, McFadden and the people of Velant decide their fate. They can remain in their icy prison, removed from the devastation of the outside world, but facing a subsistence-level existence, or they can return to the ruins of the kingdom that they once called home. Either way, destruction lies ahead…

Get your exclusive excerpt from Ice Forged here:  http://www.4shared.com/office/VJ9BoRdD/Ice_Forged_Excerpt_3.html

To get in on all the action, including the other three unique excerpts, find out more on Gail’s site, www.AscendantKingdoms.com

Nathan Fillion Reveals Why He's Hooked on Books | Parade.com

Nathan Fillion Reveals Why He's Hooked on Books | Parade.com