Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Welcome to part two of the Robert Englund Zombie Sex-tacular! Before we get to the zombies, let me tell you a brief story of when I was first introduced to Mr. Englund's awesome greatness. I must have been about eight years old (maybe younger) and I was on a trip with my aunts. We were staying in a hotel and had the television on late at night. There was a show on, just at the very end. I don't think my aunts quite knew what the show was, or else they probably wouldn't have let me watch it (then again, I also have very distinct memories of watching Ghoulies 2 and Killer Klowns... at my aunts' house, so they probably didn't care all that much). On the show, there ended up being a girl who was ripped to shreds by a clawed hand as her mother and sister looked on. That clawed glove belonged to Freddy Krueger and the show was Freddy's Nightmares. I remembered

In case you're not a book nerd, you might not know that it's Banned Books Week . I think it's important to recognize books that have been banned or challenged because they usually end up being some of the most influential books in terms of outlook or genre*. And without fail, they're challenged because they make you think, deal with magical-elements-which-means-they're-the-spawn-of-satan, or have gratuitous sex and drugs. Please. While we're at it, why don't we ban most of the shows on MTV, the CW, and FOX? Or is it perfectly acceptable for your 13 year old to watch Snooki be drunken mess and attempt to hook up with her housemates? Oh, is that hypocrisy on your face? It angers me. I think it's in within your right as a parent to decide what your child can or cannot read, but don't make that decision for my kid. (I'm look at you, Tara Wolstein**. Now that I've gotten off my soapbox, I present one of my favorite books that has been chal

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you link your blog in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question: What's the best book you've read this month? For once, the decision was easy. I only read 5 books this month, 4 being paranormal romance novels that require no effort other than turning the page. Ender's Game is my pick for September. I got in a magical box from Erinn right after I finished reading The Writer's Digest Guide to Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, which was partially written by Orson Scott Card. He explained things in that book so freaking well, I jumped with joy seeing Ender's Game.* I'll try not to dive into the story, because I'd hate to give anything away when I know a portion of the Lurkdom has this on their TBR list. First off, I hate Sci-Fi **. I never feel smart enough to read it and the only tak

Norton Antivirus, of course. And if you deny Dokken? And welcome to all of you who de-lurked yesterday. It's great to get to know the Lurkdom. ____ Last.fm hit of the day : Thunderkiss '65 by White Zombie

I've noticed there are a few more people in the Lurkdom as of late. *waves to all new faces* Because of this - and my lack of attention span - I want you guys to talk. Introduce yourself and tell me what brought you here. Tell me about your hobbies and if you blog, what you blog about. With 50 plus of you in the Lurkdom, there's no reason for not talking. Even if I know you, tell me something below. You could win some music , after all. I write YA and am seeking representation on my contemporary novel, FALLING TO NORMAL. I blog about writing, cats, my imaginary child, and anything else that amuses me. I have a co-host, Miranda, who runs the show on Thursdays where it's all things zombie. Now it's your turn. Tell me about yourself . ____ Last.fm hit of the day : ACT I: King of the Franks by Christopher Lee

ELANA JOHNSON!!!! Elana commented on The Many Layered Antagonist with: "Oh my heck! I HATED Team Rocket. And I watched a lot of Pokemon with my son. Holy crap. I thought those days were behind me. *shudder*" There was more, but this was the part that made me snort my soda. Elana I'm sorry I traumatized you, but please email me at ragdoll29 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Now with television references! As a participant of The Great Blogging Experiment (you should read the experiment name in a loud announcer voice), I'm supposed to talk about creating compelling characters. The most important thing to remember is that your characters can't be one dimensional. They all need to have some depth that helps them be relatable to the reader. Yes, even the spare change guy that tips off your hero in Chapter 3. Of course, not all the characters you come up with will have the same level of depth. The bigger the character, the more levels they should have. For me, the most compelling characters are always the antagonist of a story. This is because as a writer, we're trying to justify why the antagonist* is an ass. Almost by definition, antagonists have to be multi-faceted. After some thinking, all adversaries should have the following 4 levels of characterization. Surface Level. This what we see from jump. They're snarky, malicious, and

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . **Today's Zombie Thursday post contains adult content and language. Not that I could stop you, but please don't read if you are underage or are easily offended by things like nudity, sex, stripping, and zombies. You have been warned.** The only thing that's better than one item about zombie sex is TWO things involving zombie sex! That's right, friends, today the Zombie Sex-tacular is back! Last night on the Facebooks, I posed a "trivia" question of sorts to my friends. I asked to see if anyone could guess the celebrity crush I will be writing about today. Not only were there no correct guesses, but those who I thought would be most likely to guess either didn't guess at all or were wrong. But that's okay, no worries. I'll have to come up with a better contest of sorts. Until then, I will be talking about two movies (this week and next) that

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you link your blog in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question: If you went to high school with your characters, would you be friends? The short answer of "no" has nothing to do with my characters as people, but everything to do with high school Alicia. If I didn't know you, I was quiet. If you were popular, I sure as hell didn't break the social structure and talk to you unless forced into a project together. If you were lower than me on the social structure, I ignored you. High School + Alicia = Misanthropic Bitch  It wasn't until I headed to college that I broke out of that shell and talked to pretty much anyone* and developed friendships with people that I wouldn't have done as a high schooler. Now that the disclaimer portion of RTW is out of the way... In FALLING TO NORMAL, Che

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday, but work deadlines encroach. It's been a while since I've talked about Phantasma, and I blame lack of communication from Tasma's new teacher.Still, I know she has fans in the Lurkdom. Because of that reason and because I love you all, I present Four For Friday: Little Phantasma Tuesday Edition The terrarium brought home from Beth lasted through July. When The Stripey One finally scared the final anole, we upgraded to hermit crabs. They are still kicking. During summer camp, Phantasma and Tessa Wolstein reached a shady truce so they could stand up to a grade 8 bully sadly named Buster. School has been in session for most of the month and Tasma hasn't brought home one assignment to date. Her new favorite lunch is open-faced Nutella and banana sandwiches. I'm looking for a volunteer to do email correspondence for Phantasma's 7th grade year. If you're interested in creating email notifications, email me at ragdo

ROBERT GUTHRIE & ERINN!!!! I tried to narrow it down, but sometimes two is better than one. Robert commented on the Squirrel Cuteness post saying: "In college, a squirrel fell into my room and onto my sleeping chest, making me bolt up and yell and the squirrel pea on me. Squirrels..." I almost peed myself reading it and he gets extra props for telling an entire story in one sentence. Erinn commented on last week's RTW post saying: "Athurian England isn't medieval England though, its' 500 AD. The Morte D'Arthur was written in 1400's but it was a romanticized version. Mallory was in prison when he wrote it. Sorry I spilled my history nerd info on you. I'll get you something to clean up the stain." I always think Erinn's funny, but her history nerd spillage did me in. Robert email me at ragdoll29 (at) yahoo (dot) com with your physical address.

It's Friday and the event planning dragons are totally breathing down my neck. What does that mean? If you're just joining the part that means no true post today. Well, that stinks. I know. Are you sure you're not in a Bejeweled vortex? While I have taken a Bejeweled break, I'm no way stuck in a vortex. I don't really believe you, but will play along. Thanks. So now what? A picture. Because that's how I roll. How awesome is this sign? It was on the lemur display at the Southwick Zoo. Unfortunately, we didn't see any babies wandering around, but there were tons of other cool things going on that I promise to blog about someday soon. Lurkdom, do you have any zoo stories for me? ____ Last.fm hit of the day : Evening by Calabrese

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Once the world is overrun by zombies, some of the comforts we've come to take for granted will be harder to get. One of these things will certainly be the internet and access to the web. So today, I am writing to you all in true post-apocalyptic fashion-- from stolen internet! It's hard to believe that I have been living in Chicago for exactly two months to the day. And I still don't have my own internet access. Usually I have to go to the nearest Starbucks or Borders to utilize their free WiFi. Every time I have bothered to turn on my own computer in my apartment, I have checked to see what my Airport (fancy Apple term for wireless picker-upper thingie) finds. It always finds about twelve different signals. Unfortunately, all these signals are always password protected. Until now! Someone in the building is actually too stupid to set a password up. So here I am

Last month, a super brave Sarah Enni gave up her first page for a beta read . We loved the experiment so much, we've decided to make it a monthly thing. This time around, I'm the one up for crit with my urban fantasy WIP, Phoenix Rising. So go check out what the beta club has to say. Sarah Enni Raven Ashley Kate Hart Cory Jackson Meredith Primeau Windy Aphayrath And if you're interested in joining Round 3, drop a comment on any of our blogs or Twitter. And, it's Zombie Thursday to boot! Definitely come back later to see what Miranda will talk about. I'm betting DragonCon. ____ Last.fm hit of the day : Dawn of the Dead* by Murderdolls * Last.fm knows it's Zombie Thursday too, I guess. REMINDER - Music Month is still happening. The best comment of the week gets a mix CD.

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you link your blog in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question :  If you could travel back to any historical era for research purposes, which would you choose? Damn you, YA Highway! Why did you have to specify this was for research? I could've gone so many ways if you left a gaping whole of possibility. I could go back to the 80s and truly appreciate the hair metal scene, for instance. The second runner up is revolutionary France because my inner goth likes the concept of all that bloodshed and I harbor a deep love for A Tale of Two Cities. But for research? Marty, you want to go WHERE? I'm not a big historical fiction person. I read it from time to time, but never thought of writing it myself, mainly because laziness has ruled my ass since I left college on the research front*. However, if I can use the

Being the devious monsters they are, squirrels are no doubt adaptable. They can creep into almost any situation and get away with it. Oh, really? Like what? Like pretending to be a cat of course. Hubby showed me this and I could forgive being stalked by the furry devils every day of my undergraduate career. Since it's just a baby, it has no clue about it's inherent evil. Some things are definitely learned. Squirrel paranoia aside, have you experienced anything where nature is overruled by nuture? _____ Last.fm hit of the day : Send Me An Angel by Deadstar Assembly

Yesterday Hubby and I went to King Richard's Faire with a few friends. KRF is the renaissance faire that happens every weekend in September and October in Massachusetts. There are only two reasons I go. Historically inaccurate costumes, and The big cat show (To be honest, if we didn't have half off tickets courtesy of Groupon, I probably wouldn't have gone. It's overpriced, cheesy, and you have to pay for tons of stuff once you get inside anyway.) That out of the way, I have something to say to those in the Lurkdom who go to Ren faires and decide to dress up: please dress per the time. In recent years, I've seen Sith lords, Obi Wan, and medieval vikings to name a few. People, it's a renaissance faire . That means if you decide to dress, you dress in things like this: Image taken from here . Well, maybe not that extreme, but definitely you don't get tarted up in barely there clothing or go as a modern day ninja. Commit yourself, people. Pleas

Amparo Ortiz! Amparo commented on the 80s Four For Friday post saying: "Since I was born in the late 80's, I sort of don't have anything I miss :( But I TOTALLY love seeing VH1's shows on the decade. Those make me very thankful I can't remember a thing. :)" The final sentence killed me. Amparo email me at ragdoll29 (at) yahoo (dot) com with your address.

Show me a person who doesn't love food and you're showing me an anorexic. I know, probably the worst blog opening in history, but it works for today. If you're not a food lover, you might want to skip the rest of this entry and read about Sidney . Chances are if you read this blog, you're either a friend, girl, writer, or a combination of the three. From what I read during the latest Road Trip Wednesday involving DUFF Kits , we all like a good smack of comfort food. The Cutting Edge of Ordinary definitely covers this. The Cutting Edge of Ordinary is primarily a blog showcasing recipes that Lisa has tried. She intersperses these with photos she's taken and stories of her life. But the food, especially desserts... Food smut is the best description. I mean, seriously. Look at the brownies. (Yep, she took the picture too.) Brownies on steroids, courtesy of The Cutting Edge of Ordinary . Brownies. Seriously. Lisa take great stills of her garden, family, an

Most of you may not know that I have spent the last week and a half on vacation. I'm still technically on vacation! Unfortunately, the places I have stayed during my trip (my parents' house, my brother's house, and a Westin hotel) have not had internet access. Not even the hotel had free WiFi! So I'm very sorry to have missed posting last week, and feel bad because this post is being made from my BlackBerry and isn't nearly as thorough as my usual Zombie Thursday postings. But at least it's something! The majority of my vacation was spent in Atlanta at the annual Dragon*Con convention. This year marked my second time at the event. I had a great time this year and got to do and see some cool zombie stuff!! I can't wait to do a better update, but it will require the use of my actual computer and real internet. Until then, here is a small teaser of my time at Zombie Prom! http://plixi.com/p/43110172 Stop on by next week when I get my life and Zombie Thursdays b

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you link your blog in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday.  Today's question : What's in your DUFF kit ? Some of you in the Lurkdom might be asking, "Besides the beer Homer drinks, what the hell is a DUFF kit?" DUFF is short for Designated Ugly Fat Friend and you can learn more about it by picking up The Duff. A DUFF kit is a bunch of things you keep handy for night when you're hanging out. It can contain: Your favorite drink Your most comfy and old shoes Movies featuring your favorite male actor Your favorite junk food Your most comfortable piece of clothing. So as long as it's comfy and familiar, it's a go. I got to admit, I have something pretty similar handy, and use it whenever I'm sick/ feel utterly useless/ working diligently. Here are the highlights of my kit: Drink . Even though

Image courtesy of cause=time . It's Music Month over on Erinn's blog and because I'm SUCH a follower, I'm doing the same here only a week delayed. What is it? There's tons of albums and music DVDs coming out this month that have to be heard. That's Erinn's reason anyway. For me, let's just say my biggest musical purchase of the year already happened and I'm celebrating it by giving away mix tapes. Is it really a tape? No. "Mix tape" just sounds much cooler than "mix CD." Fine. What's on this tape? Don't know. I haven't made it yet, but don't worry it won't be chockful of black metal or goth music. I do listen to other things, believe it or not. One thing I do know is that it's going to be full of awesome. Right. How do I enter? Read and comment. That means you, Lurkdom. The best comment of the week will win. Everyone's welcome to join in. You can comment on both old and new posts. I cons

When I wasn't working while watching Friday Night Lights this week, I had VH1 on as my background noise and yesterday evening didn't disappoint. They covered the greatest one hit wonders, most of which came out when I was still in single digits and got me nostalgic about that era. Four For Friday: 80s Edition 1. Take On Me by A-ha. Greatest. Video. Ever. Turns out my love of Scandinavian music runs deep. 2. Strawberry Shortcake. I wasn't into her, but that didn't stop my mother from getting me the sleeping bag*. 3. Boy George. My introduction to gay men. Of course, my parents couldn't explain why he wore make up if he was a boy. Not the actual ones I had 4. Neon crayons. Even though I loved the colors, the colors never really shone through. What are your four 80s things? * Still in usable condition, it's slept on many a dorm room floor. _______ Last.fm hit of the day : Nightmare by London After Midnight

While Miranda traipses around the wilds of DragonCon and I lose bits of my creative soul in the office, I present you with today's Zombie Thursday using my final two minutes of work. As you know, I'm a bit of a fangirl when it comes to Wednesday 13. While reading one of the hundreds of current interviews, this popped up during an interview at Soundsphere : OK now your random question – in the event of a zombie outbreak, what weapons would you use to defend yourselves and why? Miranda's talked about this before. For a recap, click here . To find out his answer, continue below. Probably a hammer and a tomahawk because there both about the same weight and easy to move around, and I’ve always wanted to hit someone with a hammer. I’m a big zombie movie fan and I watch a lot of stuff. I was watching 'Zombieland' not too long ago and there was a guy with all of these weapons in the back of his truck, and he just uses his favourite ones like the hedge clippers or wh

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you link your blog in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question : What's the best book you've read this month? I read some pretty good books in August like Stephen King's On Writing and a collection of short stories by Sherrilyn Kenyon, but the best of the month is an old favorite - The Austin Family Chronicles by Madeleine L'Engle. In it's day, the series was considered contemporary, but now not so much. (Mentions of The Cold War will do that.) Even with some of the more dated material, L'Engle tackles big subjects in such a way that they're timeless - especially on the subjects of death and faith. As some of you know, my cousin Danny passed away on July 20th. He was 28. While I wasn't close to him, the news still hurt and I spent the rest of July passing through shock. His wake and f