Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Are you still recovering from the holidays? I feel like I am, but unfortunately the holidays aren't quite over yet. We still have New Year's Eve and Day, belated Christmas parties, gift exchanges, holiday returns, and snatching up all those post-season sale deals at the stores! It's exhausting. So today, I have a simple video to share with you all. The holidays can be distracting, but make sure you never let your guard down... that's when the zombies strike! **Special thanks to my friend Shae for sharing this with me before Christmas. It was posted on Facebook, but I wanted to share it with you all here!**

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 read this month? The good news is I actually read more than one book this month! I managed to read five six books, with a couple of them sitting patiently waiting. The best title by far was Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. In case you haven't heard about this book, here's the blurb from Goodreads : Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours. But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal cr...

Credit Here on The Pie, Miranda and I support the arts. We know how much goes into the creation of anything. We aim not to heckle/poke fun/abuse any creative endeavor. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy when other people do. But Alicia, that's awful . Maybe, but sometimes it's so warranted. Oh, really? When? When it involves a little franchise called Twilight. Before you go off about how awesome Twilight is, how it's so romantic, blah blah blah, you should know I'm not going to listen. I'm firmly lodged in my belief that it's awful. Reasoning With Vampires backs me up. She breaks down Twilight* into separate chunks and corrects the grammar, questions word choices, and questions plot elements. If you're a true fan of Twilight and the subsequent books, you probably should stop reading. For an example of what she does, look at the passage below. Not every one is this long, but it does showcase what you can expect if you go onto the sit...

What you see is remnants of the first blizzard of the season on my ENCLOSED front porch. The snow is all over part of the tacky Christmas display giving it that real Christmas feel. It's still flurrying outside and it's very cold. The plus side is that I'm able to do the 9-5 job in my pajamas from the comfort of my bed today. Hope all of you in The Lurkdom enjoyed your Christmas.

This meme's shamelessly stolen from Kate Hart , who stole it from The Book Lady . Basically, the BBC thinks out of the 100 books listed, the average bear has or will read 6 of them. Oh, BBC, you've never been so wrong*. Anything bolded means I've read it. If it's purple, that means it's purchased and on my TBR. 1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 2. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien 3. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 4. Harry Potter Series – JK Rowling 5. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee 6. The Bible (I'm giving myself half a point for reading multiple pieces while not in church or CCD.) 7. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8. Nighteen Eighty Four – George Orwell 9. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens (I'm giving myself another half point since I've read exactly half.) 11. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 12. Tess of the D’Ubervilles – Thomas Hardy 13. Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 14. Complete Wo...

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Merry Christmas! I have a special holiday treat for everyone today! Normally, I stick to the realm of non-fiction writing. I feel like I lack the creativity to write a fictional story with a plot and characters and all that stuff. I like to cling to my research books like a loser and then make up outrageous hypotheses that may or may not have any validity to them. I've had an idea for awhile now to re-write a Christmas classic as a zombie story. This concept is, of course, not new territory at all. You may remember that last Christmas I shared with you all a book of re-written Zombie Christmas Carols . But I decided I wanted to work on the most famous Christmas poem of all-- The Night Before Christmas! Much to my dismay, I recently saw a book at Borders that was just that, The Zombie Night Before Christmas . I thought, "oh no! Someone else has already done this, and...

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 : Give a book character a Christmas present! Ah, YA Highway, you kill me. The question is deceivingly simple, but the one thing I would give could totally ruin an entire world. I'd give Susan Delgado back to Roland. SPOILERS BELOW, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. Credit Losing Susan was one of the biggest shapers in Roland's life. Cliche as it sounds, but part of him died once she left. When we first meet Roland, he's battle-hardened, world-weary, and all business. He wasn't always like that, as we learn in Wizard and Glass. We see a younger, more shiny-eyed Roland*. We watch him fall in love with Susan and plan for a future that isn't in the cards for him. Because I love that Roland, I want him to ...

"If I just keep on going, everything will turn out fine." - Big Bird, Follow That Bird I loved this movie growing up. Big Bird is sent off to live with the Dodo family in Illinois and far away from Sesame Street, but he doesn't like it there. He's homesick. He takes it upon himself to go back to his real home. It's a simple premise, but it's old school Sesame Street and created for little kids, not us big ones. The best part of the movie are the songs. My favorite is the song with Waylon Jennings* and Big Bird called "Ain't No Road Too Long." If your firewall's blocking the video, go here for the lyrics. ** The song speaks a lot to anyone on the journey to publication. At first you know nothing about the journey and think it will be super fast, then someone with more knowledge tells you how long it really takes. You think, "Crap. It'll never happen." Then Waylon Jennings breaks into song. When he tells you "...

When I wasn't paying attention, 2010 blew past me. Only one of my goals made it to fruition, which has me wondering if I suck at long-term planning. No matter. I decided that 2011 is the year. If I can stay focused (and positive), I'm going to snag an agent. I outlined my plan to Hubby today and it sounds doable. As long as I stay focused. I'll have a tight time line which I'll have to break out into smaller steps this weekend, but I'll need something to do when all the family together time is done. January: Complete current draft of Phoenix Rising. February: Hubby will look it over. March: Revise and edit Phoenix Rising once more before sending it out for critique*. April: Catch up on sleep. This is as far as I've gotten in my plan, but it's only an hour old. Lurkdom, I hope you'll hold me responsible. What is your big goal for 2011? * Speaking of, I'll need some volunteers. If you're interested in critiquing a paranormal, let me...

I'm busy today due to procrastination, so talking about dialogue will have to wait again. (Blame Paranormalcy, as that sucked up all my time today.) However, check out these awesome trees. Boxwood Trees = best part of floral design As seen at the creepy mall. And, if you like a little more metal in your Christmas, check out this awesome light display. _____ Last.fm hit of the day: Renegade by Styx

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . We're just a little bit over a week away from the big day! How is your shopping going? To be honest, mine has been not good. Lack of time, lack of money, lack of ideas... yeah, I'm not looking too good. If you're having trouble as well, today I am compiling a list of some awesome gifts that you could get for the zombie lover in your life! Because we all know that everyone loves zombies, so these gifts cannot fail on December 25th-- Build-a-Zombie Calendar! Probably one of the most popular and most bought gifts for the holidays is a calendar! Even though we all have crazy smart phones and iPads and whatever else, everyone still needs a good old fashioned calendar to put on their wall. This calendar provides twelve months of date keeping PLUS twelve paper zombie crafting projects, enough to help you build your own horde. The patterns and paper are included, but you'...

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 : You spot Santa at the mall, climb onto his lap, and whisper that you've been a good boy or girl in his ear. What do you want Santa to bring you this year?  Santa and I have a sketchy history that started when I discovered my Lite Brite was from either a flea market or yard sale.With that non-repressible memory in mind, I don't trust any arrangement we would have. That doesn't mean a girl can't have wishes, and believe you me, I gots them. If realism, money, and time weren't a factor, I'd ask Santa to bring me the following things: A winning Powerball ticket with a large take . I don't want to go out and buy it, he should be able to get it for me. Since I don't have a stocking, he could place it in my sn...

I'd like to reiterate something those new to the Lurkdom might not know: I love Tacky Christmas. I love tacky lawn ornaments*. I love all things tacky . We got that. Why? The simple answer is "it's awesome." There's more than that, however. When life gets too serious and in the way of more fun things, something as simple as a multi-colored decorative chicken is enjoyable. The point of tacky is to be able to laugh and enjoy the awfulness that only human can produce. Do you need to have a sense of humor to embrace tacky? It doesn't hurt to have one, but the main thing is to be able to laugh at yourself**. Of course, there's a downside to tacky. When tacky goes hideously bad or wrong. A prime example of this would be the dollar pregnancy test and ovulation kit. ( For reals .) There's also a fine line between "tacky" and "whimsical," and it changes on the viewer. A picture of dogs playing poker? Tacky. Fairies? Whimsical? It...

Remember how back in July I told you about my love of goth even though I laugh at how seriously bad the poems are? It's time for Round 2. photo © 2009 Anya Driscoll | more info (via: Wylio ) #2 Darkness falls around Tortured angels cowering In dusk green corpses Sorry it's not Christmas-themed, but I did include the color green*. I do have a Christmas poem, but it's in a box somewhere.   Give me your best haiku below. * Who knew angels hid amongst zombies? ________ Last.fm hit of the day: Sacred Worlds by Blind Guardian

It's no secret that winter and I are arch enemies. Every year it comes around and I'm miserable until March-ish. It's dark. It's cold. There's snow . Since I'm an eternal pessimist, it's easy for me to find the faults of living in New England during our arctic season, but it's much harder to focus the flip side. Today I'll do just that. Four For Friday: The "Hooray for Winter!" Edition My current scarf, via  Old Navy . 1. Scarves. I have a totebag full of them. They're warm, oftentimes snuggly, and full of awesome colors. I have a preference for bright colors these days. 2. Crochet. Now that NaNoWriMo is over and it's no longer too hot to be immersed in yarn, I can pick up my skillz where I left off. I'm nowhere ready to tackle socks, but instead will take on some bags, scarves, and possibly some critters. 3. An excuse to wear fleece pants. Not that I really need the excuse, but it does look silly to rock them in J...

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Okay... I have NO idea what this is or why it was made. But seriously, it is so horrible it is wonderfully entertaining! I especially love how the trailer is five minutes long and basically shows everything about this film. I can't believe there may be at least another sixty minutes or more that exists of this! But I definitely have a lot of respect that these people went out there and made the film they wanted. Time to get into the holiday spirit! What are you getting your favorite zombies for the season?

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 : Write your six-word memoir. I'm beginning to think the girls over at YA Highway might be sadists because this topic haunted me all night. How can you distill your life down to six meaningful words? The trick is to distill a chapter of your life that way. Still hard, but a wee bit more manageable. Take The White One for example: Covered in oil, rescued by love. For those who don't know, the shelter we adopted Lucky from had found him covered in oil in a courthouse parking lot. Hubby fell in love with him as soon as we saw him. Again, I have to think about those evil six words for me this time. After some thought, I finally got it figured it out. A bored brain creates great things*. What would your six-word memoir say? Don...

Friday, Holly blogged about her writing Christmas wish list . This spawned comments about how we all want time. Then, this happened: So Holly , Erinn , and I've been talking. We're going to organize a writer's retreat for our blog friends. Yes, I'm serious. No, I haven't lost my mind*. Here's the idea:  Bunches of blogging buddies, one trip, loads of laughs and learning along the way.  Critique sessions, all-night giggle fests, whatever your heart desires from the friends you only thought existed online!  If you're interested in being included in the awesomeness, give us your name and email address below.  Alicia is going to send out an email to everyone who responds with a survey.  We're using the survey to determine the where, when, and how so that the most people possible can be accommodated. <p>Loading...</p> The three of us are super excited about the possibility of meeting all of you in person! * ...

Dear Kleenex Product Design Team, Some things shouldn't pose as food. I know this is hard to accept, but it's true. If this sat on my desk, I'd think about red velvet cake and cupcakes all day. Why in god's name did you design this? Hungrily curious, Alicia _____ Last.fm hit of the day : Burn Down Heaven by Straftanz

Back in college, I acted*. Every winter break I would begin the work I would need to do for whatever bit part I was casted as in whatever Shakespeare production the director decided on. Once the semester started, I'd be eyes deep in rehearsal and any other theatre related class was required for that production** for three months; this didn't include all regularly scheduled classes. Credit Once the production came and went, and I recovered from my four day coma and predictable immune system collapse, I would say "I have so much free time that I have no clue what to do." NaNoWriMo is kinda like that. Chances are you've recovered from the November writing and food coma and are now wondering what to do with this first NaNo-free weekend, writing-wise. Whatever you do, don't query your 2010 project. Just. Don't. As agent Scott Eagan said , it needs a lot of work. Instead of mail-bombing every agent you can find, let your manuscript sit. This is the mo...

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Okay... did I forget that yesterday was Thursday? Yes, yes I did. How is that possible? I'm not entirely sure. A part of me knew it was Thursday, on some level, but another part of me didn't even register that I knew it was Thursday. In the end, it's best not to ask. Go on thinking I am a total dork. Which I am. So it's all good! * Moving on! Lately I have been trying to read more. Keep in mind that I am a voracious reader (typically). I love books and I love my words. But sometimes life gets in the way and I don't always have the time to sit down and read like I'd want to. As such, I've had several zombie books sitting around for over a year now . They've been sitting on my book shelf sad and unread. Until now! These past few weeks I've been reading the awesome World War Z-- an Oral History of the Zombie War by zombie author extraordi...

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 movie do you wish had been a book first? (And if it WERE a book, who should have written it?) I thought this was going to be a hard question. When I first saw it I was like "Really guys? You mean I have to like a movie enough to want to read the book tie-in?" Because I've done that before and it ruined the movie for me. I was in eighth grade and read the book adaptation of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. My friend Jen loved it. I thought there was too much exposition*. So if we're going to do a book adaptation of a movie, it would have to be kick ass: tight writing, fabulous dialogue that was both witty and dead-on for the character, and worth while jaunts into the "internal life" of said character. Without any m...