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.

Creepy Things, Zombie Nation and a contest...

Well, lets get to the good stuff first.

I'm considering having a contest on my "Risky Fiction" blog for writers, in particular my #fridayflash friends. You will have a chance to win copies of the anthology "Zombie Nation: St. Pete." This is an anthology of local zombie fiction that will be released at a premiere party at the St. Petersburg Pier this Saturday. I get to go sign books and hobnob with great writers such as Jeff Strand and pretend I'm an author, too. My story "The Lust, the Flesh" is among the other great stories that local writers have put together for this really big event in my hometown. I'd like you, my friends, to help me celebrate...bust out the virtual champagne, all that.

Here is the book you'd receive if you are one of the winners:

There may be another prize in the offing as well for the very best (grand prize) of whatever contest I decide to do.

I need your help with this. Please leave a comment on this post about what you'd like to see happen with a contest. The idea I have so far from Jim Bronyaur involves me posting an excerpt of my story and then giving you all a story starter for another zombie story and having you write the story. People could then go to the Risky Fiction site and vote on their favorite stories. The top vote getters win. How does this sound? If you have other suggestions, please include them in your comments.

Those of you living in New York, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles have further reason to want to check this book out. Future "Zombie Nation" projects are scheduled for these areas. In fact, the submission deadline for "Zombie Nation: New York" is December 31st, 2010. Go here to learn more.

Now for other news:

I've received my copies of "Creepy Things," the anthology by "Static Movement" that published my former #fridayflash story "World Wide Web." This anthology is now available to purchase on Amazon.

Below is a picture of me holding the book at the mini-cafe on campus at St. Petersburg College, where I'm currently a full-time student.

I thank my friend in my Algebra class for taking this photo.

A post about upcoming posts...

It's been awhile since I posted any news on my blogs.

It's not that juicy news hasn't been happening, it's just that I've been buried up to my eyeballs in schoolwork and this is a scenario that is not likely to change anytime soon.

I have a couple of items I want to post about concerning upcoming stories of mine that are being published (think zombies, ghosts and a meteor strike).

The biggest news is my story 'The Lust, The Flesh' has been accepted for publication in the upcoming local anthology 'Zombie Nation: St. Pete.' I am working on a post with various news items and links about this project that could be a big step forward in my writing career.

I have other publication news to share also in that upcoming post. I'm working furiously between school studies trying to put together this post and another one, about a special memorial service that my husband's family had for him in Massachusetts last month.

About my college career. I attended an orientation meeting Monday afternoon for the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. I signed up to be a new member. Looking forward to the academic benefits of being a member of that organization.

These last couple days has been all about me joining organizations. Last Thursday, I became a two-year member of the Florida Writers Association, another group that is sure to benefit me greatly.

The future is looking very bright.