Thursday, October 21, 2010

A Girl With Brains

This weekend I'm celebrating my first ever premiere and book signing event. Yay! I have a story appearing in a local anthology "Zombie Nation: St. Pete." You can read more about it here, and also about a contest I'm thinking of having to give away any extra copies of the book that I pick up. Also appearing in this book is Jeff Strand, who is sort of the Stephen King of Tampa Bay. He's that good. So, please visit this blog post titled: Creepy Things, Zombie Nation and a contest..., and leave a comment on how you would best enjoy participating in this contest. In honor of the release of "Zombie Nation: St. Pete," this weeks #fridayflash is a "resurrected" zombie drabble. Deanna Schrayer inspired me to use it with our "mushy love" tweets this week. I'm still going to write another "mushy love" story for you, Deanna. ;)


"Men!" Barbara shouted indignantly, to no one in particular. "They're so thickheaded. They only love my body and not my brains." Barbara's latest failed relationship had left her feeling somewhat jaded.

She pondered the absolute pointlessness of her love life. She'd had many lovers recently and none of them had understood or really satisfied her. But they were smart, and she’d learned something new from each one of them.

"After all," she sighed, "I loved them for their brains."

She lifted the oozing skull of her latest lover to her lips and, making loud slurping noises, sucked the brainpan clean.

31 comments:

  1. Ack! So it's brains not beauty that attracts Barbara. And I'm guessing that if a lover appreciated her brains, then he would keep his. :)

    Men are not that smart, though. Heh.

    Very good horror, Maria

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ahahaha! I just love the fact that I inspired this Maria, that in itself cracks me up.

    What a fun, fun story and so well told. Exactly what men's brains are made for. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh yea, I forgot to say - Congratulations! I'm off to read the contest post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heh, an icky end to this one. Nice.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It just cracks me up. A perfect story for an October weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nicely done. It's great that she can find a silver lining...or is that crimson?

    ReplyDelete
  7. "Gonna eat your brains and then get all your knowledge..."

    "We're coming to get you, Barbara!"

    So much fantastic zombie stuff...excellent flash!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Maybe if they shouldn't have come up to her place for a drink!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Zombies. They don't care what you look like, as long as you have a nice, big, juicy brain. Good story!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My kind of lady and I love the wicked humor here too.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Should have seen that "thickheadedness" coming...

    Good luck at the book signing!

    ReplyDelete
  12. EWE! lol Glad I finished my breakfast first! Congrats on the Zombie Nation book!

    ReplyDelete
  13. See... men do have great minds. Great tasting I guess. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Short and sweet... from a spooky perspective. We can learn much from a good brain.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Such a delicious story. I love this, especially that cracking last line! You've packed a lot to think about into 100 words. I really like that Barbara's absorbing the knowledge of her dates, even if they weren't smart enough to like her for her brain and possibly survive their fate?

    Congratulations on being included in the anthology and good luck at the signing!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dating can be so complex. Fun story, but best not before meals!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Nice one Maria. See, men's brains do come in useful for something, even if it's just dinner. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Marisa;

    Thanks for the comment. Poor Barbara, maybe she'll find the right zombie mate one day!

    Deanna;

    Yeh, glad you liked it. Going to write another mushy love story, maybe for next #fridayflash. Have Tuesday off from school this week so I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks for the congrats! I'm nervous as hell right now. The ad at the bottom of my story here as been the "Zombie Yourself" ad and it's only serving to make me more nervous!!'

    Tony;

    Thanks for stopping by and reading it. It is very squicky, indeed. But I can go squickier still.

    ReplyDelete
  19. James (The Four Part Land);

    Thanks for the comment. Glad you liked it!

    Jason Warden;

    Thanks for reading, commenting and RT'ing this back on Twitter. I'm glad you liked it. I think Barbara found a gray lining. As in gray matter.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Icy;

    I forgot you were a film student. I was hoping someone would get the reference to NotLD but I wasn't expecting anyone to get Planet Terror. Hell, I didn't even get that movie. Sweet. I'm glad you liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Jax;

    Yeah, she's kind of doing all the drinking, eh? Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! :)

    Eric;

    Exactly. Though the zombies in my Zombie Nation story also like some flesh to go with their brains. Well balanced diet, you see. Thanks for stopping in and I'm glad you liked it. Zombie Nation is headed your way soon. BTW, if you enter my contest and win the book, I'll apologize in advance right now: I kind of dis California in my story. Sorry.

    Rachel;

    She's my kinda girl, too. Jaded, heart-broken and beyond giving a sh-- anymore! But at least she gets a meal out of the deal, eh?

    Jim;

    I'm glad it made you smile. I know you said you were having a rough day. I hope it reminded you some of your road trip. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. John;

    Hahaha! Yeah, Barb is a bit of a male basher, sorry. Thanks for the good luck wishes. :D

    Shannon;

    Yea I was hunting for images for this one while eating breakfast and had to stop. Settled on this one, which isn't nearly as squicky as the story.

    Bill;

    Thanks for the comment. I think I'll pass on that taste test. :)

    David;

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Yes, we can learn from good brains. :)

    Kath;

    Thanks for the lovely comment. Glad we followed each other earlier this week and I'm glad you did #fridayflash. Hope your experience was a positive one and that you do some more. Thanks for the congrats and well-wishing on the signing. I'm nervous but I'm glad to get this over with early in my writing career. If I am ever blessed with getting to do it again, perhaps it won't be so scary!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Jason;

    Yes it can be, that's for sure. Been kind of nervous about putting myself back out in the field again but I have to sometime. I'd make a terrible nun! ;) Thanks for commenting and I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

    Steve;

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Kind of gives new meaning to take-out food, huh? And men's brains are just fine where they are IMHO. I don't share Barb's ...er...taste. :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Heheh, I could almost hear the schluuurp there at the end! At least she found them good for something, eh? Great little story.

    Kari @ The Best Place By The Fire

    ReplyDelete
  25. This must be a great story as I feel distinctly queasy having read it; it was your last line that did it. To make me feel ill in so few words, eight, to be precise, "making loud slurping noises, sucked the brainpan clean," is nothing short of amazing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Ah, young love. That was touching. ;)

    Nice drabble. Barbara should be glad they don't love her for her brains.

    Send me a DM on Twitter to remind me of you pub and I'll add it to the news section of the Friday Flash Report. I'm on the road now away from my own computer, so a DM will insure I don't forget by the time I get home.
    ~jon

    ReplyDelete
  27. 'Having' someone for dinner will never be the same again! She ough to be careful though: she might end up ingesting their personalities along with their knowledge. I'm with Sam, slurping and sucking brains: yuk. Great story.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Be careful when someone invites you in for a bite, you might be on the menu. :)

    ReplyDelete