Zoe E. Whitten's Blog, page 94

Guest post: Kait Nolan

Today I have a guest post on the blog of Kait Nolan, author of Forsaken By Shadow, Devil's Eye, and Blindsight. My topic of choice this time is paranormal couples that I'd like to read about. (preferably from other authors.) I'm trying to be inspirational and toss out some ideas for mixed couples who will give a strong storyline and realistic characters. So I hope you'll check it out and offer your thoughts on couples you'd like to see in the comments.

Book review: Hollowland by Amanda Hocking

Hollowland is the second Amanda Hocking title I've picked up, though I didn't care much for my first foray into her work with Switched. This time around, I found more to like about the characters, but the story never quite caught on with me.

Remy is a much more realistic character to my mind, and her circumstances also make her initial selfishness perfectly validated. This is not a nice happy world anymore, and people have to make hard, sometimes selfish choices to survive. Remy feels guilt for the choices she makes right away, so this converts into a sort of mothering instinct toward her younger charge, Harlow. Then there's new arrivals Lazlo and blue, creating a sort of dysfunctional family. Or first, they get a pet lion. (No, really.) Then they pick up guys. So it's like Zombieland, but without the cute nerdy narration. Remy is a good narrator, don't get me wrong. But she's rarely funny, and when she is, it's more the scene she's describing that's funny than her delivery. Given the world she's in, her style of delivery is realistic.

So what's the problem? Well, the first obstacle the group faces is your standard religious fanatic. Given how the opening showed some new things going on with the zombies, I was really hoping this book might go in a new direction from other zombie books. But the first stop on the road trip is SOP for almost every single zombie book in existence. Got zombies? Then you've probably got a religious kook claiming this is proof or their visions/prophesies/interpretations of Revelations/whatever. So having it be almost the first stop on the trip dampened my enthusiasm a lot.

The story rolls through other pit stops, and some of them are more interesting than the cult leader. But nothing really stirred me like the early scenes of the book, like in the Las Vegas scene (Also a requirement for many zombie stories, a visit to the dead Sin City) where I was ready to start shouting instructions at Remy. ("No! It's a TRAP! Hide, Remy!")

The conclusion is…well it's good in that Remy shows a level of self-awareness that I admire. But the ending also left me feeling very meh. It makes sense, so I'm not really complaining. It just didn't move me that strongly. Overall, I liked the main characters and their dialogue was good. Scenery was described well enough as were the characters. It's solid writing, and I don't recall seeing any typos or major mistakes. There may have been some here and there, but the story was interesting enough to keep me from noting mechanical issues. The writing didn't get in the way of the story, in other words.

But I wasn't wowed by the story as it played out. Still it's not a bad read, and I would recommend it to fans of zombie fiction. The zombies here are fast and organized at times, kinda like the folks in 28 Days Later, so canon-rigid diehards might find a reason to complain. I thought the zombies were interesting and a good take on the trope, so I give Hollowland 3 stars. It's no Masterpiece Theater, but it's miles ahead of Zombie Strippers for substance.

Danny Miller interviews me about Zombie Punter

Last month horror author Andrew Wolter introduced me to Danny Miller a writer for Positive Lite who had read Zombie Punter and wanted to do an interview with me. I have to say, I LOVE this interview because Danny didn't send the standard "where do you get your idea from" type of interview. Instead, he came up with some really good questions about Zombie Punter, making me think long and hard about my answers. It's a great interview, so I hope you'll check it out.

Book review: The Company of Angels by K.H. Koehler

The Company of Angels is a grim story about one man's fight against a plague destroying his world, and the monster drawn to him for his fighting spirit. Chris is a priest and part-time microbiologist trying to find a cure for a plague that has laid waste to most of the population. His church is full of orphans, who Chris is trying to keep protected from the plague, and from the crumbling remains of society.

This is not a happy story even before the arrival of the fair and well-spoke Julian, but his presence frightens Chris, who sees Julian as a tool of the devil, or perhaps even the devil himself. But as Chris struggles to avoid Julian, his other fight against the plague also seems to be failing just as badly. Chris is ultimately fighting a losing battle, and everyone but him can admit it. Julian's efforts to take Chris away from this hell only makes him fight harder to change reality. That he can't is tragic, but realistic. So the dark ending should neither be surprising nor upsetting.

As a horror story, this excels for the grim atmosphere, and for several visually intense and gory scenes. It's a short ride, but one that packs a hard punch to the gut, and which may even draw some tears near the end. I give The Company of Angels 4 stars and recommend it to fans of horror and post-apoc fiction.

Guest post: Louise Bohmer on Sex In Horror

Today you get a guest post from the lovely Louise Bohmer, author of The Black Act and an editor of considerable skill. Today, Louise would like to talk to you about sex, in horror. No, don't shy away, please. In fact, that's part of what Louise wants to talk about, the aversion to sex in any writing besides erotica. And on that note, I'll turn the floor over to Louise:

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The first sex scene I read in horror that I remember would be the scene near the end of It. I think we all know the one I'm talking about. I was sixteen, and to say it impacted me, shocked me, would be a fair assessment. But, to be honest, I never once thought of King as a pervert, or a misogynist, for the scene he wrote between Beverly and the boys. Did it make me uncomfortable? To some extent, yes, but it didn't color my perceptions of King. Fiction, after all, is fiction, and let's face it—sometimes we can't control what the muse shoots out of our head. His editor ultimately passed it, and, today, millions of people have read the controversial scene between Beverly and the boys at the end of It.

Growing up, I read horror that generally incorporated some level of sexuality in it, especially once I moved from King to Clive Barker in my mid-teens. A memorable scene in Imajica is when Gentle almost has sex with Pie 'Oh' Pah. Pie assumes the form of Judith to seduce Gentle, but, as they are coupling, Pie shifts to assume a more male form, and then a form that is more androgynous. It isn't until Judith phones, alerting Gentle she is not the lover with him, that Gentle rejects Pie, who then runs off into the night. In Gentle, we watch a conflict occur, as he enjoys the act with all facets of the shapeshifter, and wrestles with this conflict as to why he was not repulsed by the changes in gender, and the form of a genderless lover. It was around this time, I believe, Clive Barker came out as a gay man.

This scene sticks in my head to this day, and I count Imajica as one of my favorites among Clive's work. (On a related note: It also contains an emotional back story of a gay man who is dying of AIDS, and the lover he will leave behind. This man confesses to Gentle he has always wanted to be with Gentle, has always loved him, and the scenes, at least for me, truly tug at your heart strings.)

So what is all this blather from me about? I set this blog post up this way to illustrate that sex in horror, and discussing facets of sexuality in horror, has never seemed controversial or taboo to me. Then, I don't believe in censorship, and I believe we should challenge and engage our readers by discussing all facets of humanity within our fiction, be it horror or otherwise.

This is why I have a very hard time wrapping my head around the idea that sex in horror, or in any other genre besides erotic romance, is considered poor writing, exploitative, or even lazy writing by some people. Granted, a poorly written sex scene written simply for shock value is lazy and exploitative, in my humble opinion, but, at least for me, the context of a sex scene—a well crafted one—counts for something. Take the scene I illustrated above, from Barker's Imajica. At this point in his life, Barker was struggling with going public about his own sexuality, and he wanted to show the gay culture for what it truly was, rather than the stereotypes of freewheeling, sex-crazed fiends that was often perpetrated in the 80s and 90s. He wanted to show the heart and humanity of his culture, and illustrate the true internal conflict one goes through when coming to realizations about one's sexuality. To me, without the scene I illustrated above, Imajica would lack something—an emotional charge that sets Gentle off on an inner exploration of his own being.

I have seen it argued that there is no place for sex in any fiction beyond erotic romance, but I have to disagree with this assessment. As well, some have stated that sex in horror comes only in the 'fuck a stump' variety, which, again, I must disagree with. Granted, I'm not saying the 'fuck a stump' variety doesn't exist, but sex in horror can be much more than that, and can be used to illustrate a great many things, such as coming to grips with the still poor attitude much of humanity has toward the GLBT culture, realizing one's own sexual identity, and coming to terms with loss of love—the alienation one feels when a relationship falls apart, or a partner dies. Alternatively, it can be used to up the tension between characters, and reinforce a growing bond between them. A well written sex scene can be an emotionally charged facet of a book that adds just as much as a scene including gore and violence.

Often, through more graphic scenes, an author may be exploring their own fears, such as fears of subjugation, of being helpless, of anger, and loss of control. As Clive Barker once put it: "Sex is about a little madness – how often is horror about madness? Sex is about a little death – how often is horror about death? It's about the body – how often is horror about the body?" Sex is loss of control, and, often, in horror, people are faced with situations where, to some extent, they surrender their control and become vulnerable. Sex can be a convoluted, murky place, and anyone who has ever engaged in the rites of courtship will know this to be true. If you're a shy person, think about the first time you made love to the person you love. Weren't you terrified to death, as much as you were exhilarated by the concept?

So, I ask that we not pigeonhole sex in horror as always a bad idea, or something to be avoided. Also, let's not stereotype those who include a violent scene involving sex as always misogynistic or exploitative. To judge an author based on this is, in my humble opinion, a very narrow viewpoint. I do realize some authors may indeed be doing just this—exploiting the act for shock value—but not all of them are. Context counts for something, and we can't know the myriad motivations that went into the author's choice to craft sex scenes in their short stories or novels.

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*Clive Barker quote taken from his Revelations site: http://www.clivebarker.info/death.html and originally appeared in Give Me B-Movies or Give Me Death! By Douglas E. Winter, Faces of Fear, 1987

Bio: Louise Bohmer is a freelance editor and writer based in Sussex, New Brunswick. Her debut novel–The Black Act–is available from Library of Horror. You can read her short fiction in Old School, Tabloid Terrors 3, Courting Morpheus, and Into the Dreamlands. Her poetry can be read in Death In Common and the upcoming These Apparitions: Haunted Reflections on Ezra Pound.

A brief update on price and on a new work at Inkpop

As y'all may know, I raised my prices on my ebooks. I seem to have done this right around the time that a debate on price exploded, but I don't have much to add to the debate. (And a gasp of shock runs through the room.) I don't have a strong opinion on what other people should charge for their books. At least, not until someone wants to charge me a hardcover price for their ebook. The vast majority of major publishers who have hardcover prices on ebooks don't have that much new in stock to interest me. So me shouting at them to lower prices on books I wasn't gonna buy anyway seems like a level of petty anger that's beyond even a shallow bitch like me. Maybe next week, if I'm bored.

No, today, I want to give y'all the one month update and let you know that the price increase has not affected my sales one way or the other. I didn't expect a rush of new clients for a price increase, but I was scared that I would see greatly reduced sales. That didn't happen either. I've got 22 sales so far this month across all my titles. We still have a few weeks, so this could end up being a great month for me, or just an average month. (Fingers crossed that the original Zombie Punter readers get the sequel, but I haven't seen them yet.) What I take this to mean is, my choice to go with $1.99 and $2.99 on novellas and novels was not so high that I priced myself out of the market of curious readers. And, this is good. (I also take this to mean my month-long marketing attempts for the new book were an abject failure, since I only sold 5 copies on opening weekend. And this is bad. But it's my problem, not yours, so there you go.)

In other news, I decided to post a story on Inkpop. I'm hosting Sandy Morrison & the Pack of Pussies, and I've already put up the first 7 chapters. I'll update weekly on Saturdays or Sundays, but any typos or corrections you offer in comments will be fixed during the week, pronto and on the dot. Because I love you. Seriously, I'm hoping to get help from the Inkpop community to polish my story, and those of you on my blog who are Facebook users can sign in with your FB account to leave comments without setting up a full account. (Nudge, nudge)

In theory, I might make it to the top 5 site picks and get a reading with Harper Teen editors. But I would have to make the top picks on a LOT of peoples' shelves. Given my track record, I don't see this as likely, and I see a far more likely outcome that I get some advice from the readers I'm seeking with Sandy's story. With their advice and some more polish, I can put out the story on my own with a better cover. Then with a YA story that actually fits the designation, I can humbly approach the same kinds of readers that Amanda Hocking does. Cause right now, I don't think any of my other stories will work for them. But I have REALLY good feeling about Sandy, if only I can clean up her story just a bit more.

I'd really like to get the opinions of Sandy Morrison from my T and TG friends. I know we often say "why can't there be more positive trans characters in fiction?" Well I think that Sandy is a positive character even with her flaws and quirks. But of course I'm biased, and I'd like to see how outsiders react to Sandy.

This doesn't mean I don't want the impressions of other readers. This is meant to be an adventure story with a good mix of action, suspense, and a little humor and romance just to keep things interesting. I've had two beta readers go over the full story, and they both loved Sandy.

I admit that my use of werecats was inspired by the werecats in the paranormal romance novella Kept by Zoe Winters, but my cat clans are a bit different from hers, and they're one half of a war between werecats and witches. I think you'll like the story if you give it a shot, so please consider heading over to Inkpop and helping me out with a little kick of the tires, so to speak.

And on a final note, some people may say to me, "Slow down, Zoe! You put out more work than people can read all at once." Sorry about that, but my intention is not to sell all my work to the same readers. As an example, I had a reader approach me this weekend on Twitter who said, "I don't like zombies, but I would like to read something from you. What do you suggest?" I'm in the middle of ballyhooing for my zombie books, given that it was a release weekend for Confessions of a Zombie Lover. (Kindle version.) But here is a person who no amount of begging and pleading will convince, because zombies are not for them. So I recommended another book and said I hoped they liked it.

This is my point in writing so much across so many genres. Some of you don't like my horror or my adult dark fantasy books. Some of you wanted a fantasy story that wasn't so intense or pervasive, something that might fit in the YA market. I had to wait for the muse to pitch something to me that I felt would fit you. I think maybe this might. Maybe. And if it doesn't fit, and you want me to keep trying, feel free to say so. Don't you ever think that telling me "This is not for me" will result in a rant. I'm not for everyone. I say that all the time. So if this new story still isn't right for you, say so. Then I know I have to keep trying so I can make something that works for you. =^)

NOW ON SALE: Confessions of a Zombie Lover

Two years after the murder trial of Blaine Kerne, released microbiologist Eugene "G" O'Donnell is still no closer to finding Kate Brennan or his healed zombie "daughter" Susan. Forced to return to the Army for help, G begins new research with Reggie, a fresh zombie who resembles G's dead lover. While the soldiers search for Susan and Kate, G's experiments with Reggie yield a smarter zombie, but one more emotionally distant than G had observed with Susan. In spite of Reggie's stunted emotions, he becomes attracted to his savior, and G wrestles with feelings of attraction and guilt for "playing with his kid." But flirting with his patient may mean doom for the experiment.

Book 2 in the dark fantasy Zombie Era series – $1.99 on Smashwords or Kindle. Whichever store you buy a copy from, please consider adding a rating or review after you've read it. And if you're a Goodreads user, please add Confessions of a Zombie Lover and Zombie Punter to your to-read shelf.

Thanks in advance to everyone who picks up a copy on opening weekend, and I apologize in advance for the badgering that will take place the rest of this week. =^/ But I am really proud of G's story, and while there are zombies in this outing, there's not a lot of blood or gore. There's only a teeny tiny bit of sex in this, some of it gay, and some it straight. But for the most part, the story is all about G and his work with the undead. It's a great story, and I think if you give G a shot, you'll also find out, like others readers, that G is "one kick ass little nerd." (Actual reader opinion. Which makes me squee. ^_^ )

TWO guest posts!

Yes! I have two very different guest posts for you to look over today. On the Livejournal of dark fantasy writer and editor extraordinaire, Louise Bohmer, I talk about corrupting tropes. And over on the blog of dark fiction writer Maurice Broaddus on the topic of my faith. I meant to post them sooner today, but I got distracted doing the final proofing on Confessions of a Zombie Lover. (coming SOON!) I hope you find the article thought provoking, or at least a little interesting. =^)

Book review: Save My Soul by Zoe Winters

Save My Soul is the story of Anna, a woman who returns to her hometown for her father's funeral and rediscovers her obsession with an old house. Only after she's bought it and moved in does anyone clue her in that she's got a supernatural roommate, Luc, (short for Lucien) an incubus with gorgeous looks and a killer appetite for sex. Luc has been trapped in the house for a long time, and since Anna isn't interested in leaving, the demon wants her to help him escape by torching the house. And since Anna has been obsessed with the house since childhood, that's not happening.

Things become more complicated with the arrival of another incubus, Cain. Hoping to protect Anna from Cain, Luc performs blood magic on Anna that has far reaching consequences for both demon and human. More drama is added with the arrival of a witchy best friend and a harem of hookers. And that's before the book kicks you in the gut with its metaphysical premise about Earth being in one of many temporal dimensions.

There's so much to like in this story. The characters are challenging and yet it's still possible to relate to most everyone in the story. The pacing is fast, and the plot unfolds well without making any revelation feel jarring, even the surprise twists. The story builds to a tense conclusion, and then closes with a semisweet epilogue. Even the bit characters offered some nice character development in their tiny subplots, so this is a book that gives a lot for the short size.

Since I enjoyed the book so much, I'm giving Save My Soul 4.5 stars and would recommend it to fans of fantasy, dark fantasy, romance, and urban fantasy. I'm going back to read Claimed and Mated, and I can't wait for book 3 of this series to hit virtual book shelves soon.

Sudvu Take 5: Zombie Punter

Matt Staggs was kind enough to host me for the Sudvu Take 5 an ongoing series where authors are asked to to share five facts about their latest books. I asked if it would be okay to send in five facts for Zombie Punter, and Matt said that was okay. So, behold my brief moment of fame with Take 5!

I want to thank Matt for giving me the chance to pitch my book. Take 5 is kind cool, so after you finish my entry, you might want to wander back through the archives. The worst that can happen is, you might find something to read. (^_^)

Remember, Confession of a Zombie Lover comes out on Friday, March 18th. It now has a listing on Goodreads, so if you would add the book to your to-read shelf, it will help me with indirect promotion before the book's release.

And if you're a member of Twitter or Facebook, this week, I would love if you would copy and paste this status message once or twice:

Zombie Punter – Romance, parenting, microbiology…and zombies. – Smashwords: http://bit.ly/gpNz1o Kindle: http://amzn.to/ftxMyR

A HUGE thanks in advance to anyone willing to help out with promotions this week in any way, shape or form. I've paid down some of my smaller debts with the trickle of sales coming in, and with your continued support, I'm sure we'll get the back taxes cleared up soon. =^)