sexy viking vampire tuesday

happy Vladurday!

sexy viking vampire tuesday

so why aren't there flame throwers in zombie stories?

the above picture is how suspected zombies are dealt with on Spongebob Squarepants. I'm trying to develop a fondness for zombies. now I have posted about how zombies make me very nervous and post apocalyptic stories push some paranoid button in my psyche. so I am watching the Walking Dead marathon on AMC. I've already had a few issues. one of the main issues is why does no one ever have a flame thrower for a weapon? I am pretty certain that nothing survives fire. my boyfriend, who is a zombie enthusiast and author of zombie fiction informed my novice self that a flamethrower was not a good weapon and that a burning zombie chasing you would be a terrifying problem. now, from what I know from anatomy and physiology and 16 years as a nurse, I think that fire is slowing anything down, even a zombie. reality is being a buzzkill for me watching this.
as an author, I ask readers to suspend their sense of disbelief when they start reading my stories. it's part of a trust between a reader and an author. however I guess I'm not going to be able to do that with the zombies. probably because they scare something in me that I can't let go of my always planning on how I would deal with something like that. it doesn't happen with vampires or werewolves. I guess I like those paranormal creatures too much.

happy Vladurday!

sexy viking vampire tuesday

Prague, Heydrich and me

so here I am in front of one of the fireplaces in the now abandoned villa of Reinhard Heydrich when he was the Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia. this stop was just one of the many astounding and emotional places we visited on the tour I took of the sites associated with the assassination of Heydrich in July and August. it was a big deal to be allowed into this house as it is now in private hands on the site of some sort of industrial complex. one doesn't simply waltz into industrial areas in the Czech republic, even now that communism is over.
anyway, I've been wanting to write about my trip over there because the tour for me had many purposes. one, it fed the hungry history nerd in me. I got to see places that the average person doesn't see. and I saw places that I only had seen in books. especially the books I had been reading in my research for my second and third installations in my series The Primigenio Tales. the main purpose the tour served was to help me to come to terms with writing about such an evil person who was real. I have been driving myself nuts with guilt and other mixed emotions while writing him as a main character. I've had to create a vampire version of a reviled person from history but also someone who was known as "papa" to his children. oddly enough I felt a great deal of worry about how his descendants would feel about me choosing to use him as a fictional character. would they think I was just using him to make a buck? and would people vilify me for taking someone who was so notorious and making him into a complex and sometimes even likable character? all that remains to be seen but seeing the places he lived and touching things he was part of helped me come to terms with him and his place in my books' universe. also seeing the horrific things he was part of helped remind me of what he dedicated his life to.

anyway, my trip to Prague was epic and I will never forget it. I hate to post such a downer of a post but I had been meaning to do this. I'll be back with my usual goofiness this week.

happy Vladurday!

sexy viking vampire tueday

happy October!!!

woo hoo! it's the first day of October! and it starts the countdown to my favorite holiday...Halloween. I just love October. I love pumpkins and mums and corn mazes. they all make me think of when I was a kid and the homemade decorations we would make at school. yes  this was before Halloween was forbidden at school and any celebration related to it was named the fall festival. but I digress. usually my mind shifts to a more gothic and dark frame and my creativity seems to just FLOW during October. and lately I need this because my creativity has been locked up tight.
so hopefully, as the weather cools and the leaves turn, I'll feel the spirit of fall and Halloween.

happy Vladurday!

german with a southern accent

or it comes out with a southern accent. so I've decided that I want to learn to speak German. this is because if I want to go to grad school, I have to speak a historically significant second language. apparently Spanish is not significant and I don't get that. also, two of my characters are German and sometimes think in German and I don't trust Google Translate. another reason is because I just want to learn another language. this isn't exactly easy where I live despite the fact that the University of Florida is here. so I've been investigating programs like Rosetta Stone and the like. I don't know how successful that will be because I think if you can't learn it in a classroom, the next best way is to just have your ass dropped off in the country and force yourself to learn it but that won't be happening any time soon. if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations for me, let me know.

it's getting closer now!

so I finished my edits and now it has gone to internal design. I'm getting so excited because it is actually happening!! I have ISBN numbers, a lovely cover and my edits are done. WOW. now I have to come up for my marketing blitz when it releases. I plan on touring but I am definitely going to give away some sweet vampire related things along with my book on my blog when the time comes.
also, I want to host some of my sister Cambridge Press authors as guests here next month and in Novemeber. so stay tuned!!

sexy viking vampire tuesdays

tuesdays are hereby dedicated to the sexy viking vampire on True Blood Eric Northman played by Alexander Skarsgard.

super exciting fall line up!!

I am SUPER excited to show you the lineup of fall releases from my publisher, Cambridge Press US. please Cambridge Press's website to read about them. there are some kick ass stories written by some brilliant writers. I am honored to be in the same line up with them!!!

Cambridge Press US