C.A. Verstraete's Blog, page 61

#1LineWed - #Horror #mystery #Zombie

It's another #1LineWed - 1 Line Wednesday - so I have several authors sharing their "one lines."


  1Line from the just released Zombie World (Book 4) by Mark Cusco Ailes, fifth book in the  Zombie Park series.

"I'm not going to make the same mistakes my parents made."

About the Book:


Think Jurassic Park, Zombie-style. Zombie World provides a tropical-island habitat for an array of genetically zombiefied humans and animals including tigers, polar bears and gorillas. Professor Ted Hollman has perfected his parent’s serum and has created zombies that will attract people from around the world. With tight security measures in place, he believes he has created the greatest and safest zombie park in the world. 
(Oh, and we know what happens next, don't we?)
  * See how it all starts in the prequel, Creation of the Living Dead. (Free on Amazon.) 


 If you're into role-playing games... Jean Rabe has a new mystery, Shadowrun RPG: Shadows Down Under . Here's 1Line:

Don’t like weather in Sydney? Ninn recalled an old local comedienne quipping. Stick around a minute or two. It will change for the worse.

About the Book: 
 Someone - or something - is killing nightclub entertainers in Kings Cross, Australia, wrapping the colorful community in a thick blanket of terror. Ninniniru `Ninn` Tossinn, a troubled private investigator, joins forces with Barega, an elderly Aborigine shaman, to uncover the truth behind the malevolent force - and put themselves on the Cross Slayer`s list! But can they defeat the darkness, survive Sydney`s powerful mana storm, and reach the true heart of the evil threatening the city?


* Shifters by Jaime Johnesee, book 1 in the Samantha Reece Mystery Series. Here's her 1Line:

It prompts me to remember that you can pick yourself off the junkyard floor and make something of yourself. 

About the Book:When a serial killer begins leaving remains of victims in hotel bathtubs all over town FBI Agent Samantha Reece makes it her business to stop him. This detective's got an ace up her sleeve - her ability to shift into the guise of a were panther.


  1Line from Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter (coming Sept. 13!)

As if sensing its victory, the creature shuffled faster, dragging its bony feet across the paving stones with a sickening scrape.

About the Book:
What if Lizzie Borden did do it... because she had no other choice??
Every family has its secrets…
One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become zombies?
    Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.

Coming #Horror #Apocalypse Books!

(Holy cow, it's August!!! Where'd the summer go?? )

To make you feel better, there are some GREAT-sounding books coming out soon!  (I'll also be posting on some recent new releases next time.) 

For now, take a look at some of the to-be-published books I found:




  Infection - (Aug 19 - pre-order) M.P. McDonald - When Cole Evans first heard about the "flu" outbreak at a military base on a remote island, he was certain it wasn't the common flu. As a former Navy epidemiologist, he was well aware of the horrible diseases the military studied. And, knowing first-hand the government's stance on sharing information with the public, if the media already learned about the disease, then it was too late to stop the spread.

Cole's only chance to save his family is to establish a safe haven. He knows the perfect location -- isolated, hard to reach, and with enough space for his brother's family as well -- but his son, Hunter, is on the other side of the country. Can they all reach it in time...  
 The Monster Pit - (Aug 15 - pre-order) Robert W. Walker -  In an abandoned construction site sits a monstrous pit designed to spawn the tallest building in the U.S., the Chicago Spire. But the pit now harbors something far more sinister…  
   Detective Aubrey (Brie) Hamilton and her team of retired detectives, the Old Fart Squad, are called in to investigate the disappearance of people and pets who have wandered too close to the gaping hole. When a mother and child come forward with film footage of the pit, Brie, Wiz, Reggie and the others realize that whatever lurks at the bottom is something otherworldly—and dangerous. 
   Armed with a special weapon, Brie’s team of unsung heroes descends into the hellish abyss and its tunnels and come face-to-face with nightmarish creatures. 
   Can the Old Fart Squad succeed where SWAT and the National Guard have failed? And what exactly dwells deep within what locals call “The Monster Pit”? 
Shadyside  - C. Le Mroch - Coming Fall 2016...A storm. A stranded couple. A ghost town haunted by mannequins. Or is the escaped mental patient moving them around?








Other Upcoming Books:

** Laurell K. Hamilton's 25th Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter adventure -  Crimson Death  -  comes out (Oct. 11). (Info and photo not  up yet.)

** Also coming out (Feb. 7, 2017): The Burning World -  Warm Bodies Series book 3 by Isaac Marion. (Info and photo not up yet.)

** I also just saw that Diana Rowland has a new zombie novel coming - White Trash Zombie Unchained - (April 4, 2017.)  (Info and photo not up yet.)






** Don't forget LIZZIE BORDEN, ZOMBIE HUNTER!! coming Sept. 13! (Pre-order coming soon!!!) 

AuthorFest - Today! Round Lake Beach IL

I'll be among 25+ authors participating at AuthorFest! TODAY at the Civic Center in Round Lake Beach, Ill.  Stop by and say hello!

 Sponsored by the fantastic This Old Book, there'll be books of all genres, free kid's activities, music and more! Come spend the day!! (Check out the fest info and authors here.)

 


  Featuring Andra Watkins, NY Times Bestselling author of Not  Without My Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace and To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis.






AuthorFestSaturday, July 30th at 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.Open to the Public - FreeRound Lake Beach Cultural & Civic Center (Located south of the Meijer store off  Rte. 83 ) -  2007 N Civic Center Way, Round Lake Beach, Ill. 

10:00-4:00 Children’s Activity Tent
Edison the Elf coloring page and activity sheet, Sci-fi coloring sheet, Build a Bug, Invent a Gadget, Color a Cookie, Spider Web Art, Creative Writing pages. Face painting
Scavanger hunt for both Children and Adults- Join the Hunt, Win a Prize!
10:15-10:30 Opening Remarks by Robb Chase
10:30-1:30 Various Children’s Book Readings
10:45-12:00 Music by Edison Blake
12:30-2:30 Music by Deezguize at theGazebo
2:30-3:15 Presentation by Andra Watkins
4:00 Close of Authorfest

AuthorFest authors' panel

AuthorFest! will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Cultural and Civic Center, 2007 N. Civic Center Way, (south of the Meijer store off Rte. 83) in  Round Lake Beach, IL.  (The fun of events like this is getting to find out about all kinds of different books you might not have found otherwise!) 

Sponsored by This Old Book, the event features 25+ authors of all genres, free kid's activities, music and more! Come spend the day!! (Check out the fest info and authors here.)

** Here are some highlights from the pre-fest author panel moderated by author/organizer Robb Chase that was held on Wednesday. Featured authors included:


 


   **  Andra Watkins , NY Times Bestselling author of Not  Without My Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace and To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis.  (She'll be the keynote speaker Saturday afternoon.) 




* Mark Spreyer, executive director of the 80-acre Stillman Nature Center, South Barrington, Ill. and author of Natural Digressions: Natural History for the 21st Century. The book features essays on raptors, insects and nature. Book sale proceeds are donated to the center, which offers classes, environmental education and sanctuary to injured raptors, animals and feathered friends. 


 * Robb Chase, event organizer and author of Broken Dagger: Adventures of Annuvin Book 12. Chase enjoys writing stories with a fantasy-sci-fi twist that mirror real life.

* John F. Wasik, author of   The Merchant of Power:  Sam Insull, Thomas Edison, and the Creation of the Modern Metropolis. Wasik details the story of former Edison right-hand man and creator behind the national power grid, written with access to Insull's documents.  Wasik also tells the story of another manufacturing giant Nikola Tesla in Lightning Strikes: Timeless Lessons in Creativity from the Life and Work of Nikola Tesla (Coming Oct. 11.) 


 * Christian A. Larsen , author of the sci-fi-flavored Losing Touch about a man discovering he an walk through walls (with a foreword by Piers Anthony),  and The Blackening of Flesh , about a teen's home being haunted by Prohibition-era gangster ghosts. 

* Michelle Cox, author of   A Girl Like You: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard , a murder mystery set in 1930s Chicago, part of a series. (She also has interesting stories of forgotten Chicagoans on her blog.)




Some Fun Q&A's (moderated by Robb Chase):


*What person would you liked to have talked to or learned more about?
Watkins: "Meriwether Lewis so he could tell me how he really died. He may have killed himself, or he may have been murdered." (Lewis finished the first American expedition across the West with William Clark in 1806 at age 32. He was dead at age 35, shot twice, once in the head.)

Wasik: "I would have liked to communicate with Tesla. He came over from Europe. (Thomas) Edison put him to work as a repairman. He completely redesigned Edison's power plant. He was promised a $50,000 bonus and Edison said he was 'just kidding. You don't understand American humor.'  Edison refused to see Tesla had the superior technology."

* What would you say is more important, character or plot?
Watkins: "If you don't have complex characters, I don't think people will read far in the book."

Larsen: "What draws me into a story isn't so much what's happening as (being able to have) identification with the people in the story."

Chase: "Long John Silver comes to mind."

* What scares you?
Larsen: "I'm kind of difficult to scare. I was 11 years old and saw Return of the Living Dead. I didn't stop hearing those zombies for six years."

Wasik: "The scariest thing to me are editors. You can submit a book you spent a year on it, and they'll say this is not what they want."

Watkins: "I think the scariest things are the things that can really happen. I was miles away in this cabin, I picked up a book to read. It was Deliverance."

Chase: "I remember the movie, Willard. I was a little boy when I saw it."

Cox: "I saw the movie, The Exorcist when I was 15. It took me about eight years to get over that thing."

* What one word would you say is most important to your readers?
Watkins: "Escape. I write because I want you to take a glass of wine, sit in the sun for an hour and escape."

Spreyer: "Curiosity. I want them to be curious about things around them."

Wasik: "Insight. Even the best novels provoke you to think in a different way."

Larsen: "Kinship. I want readers to experience stories through the characters' eyes."

Cox: "Intrigue. I like readers to come away really wanting to know what happens in the book."

Chase: "Acceptance. All too often we focus on the dust of our differences instead of how we're all the same."

** Be sure to come out Saturday to check out their books and meet all 29 authors (including me!) 

#1LineWed, 1 Line Wednesday, Lizzie Borden, #Zombie Hunter

It's another #1LineWed - 1 Line Wednesday  - so here's a favorite line from the upcoming  LIZZIE BORDEN, #ZOMBIE HUNTER

Lizzie Borden, #Zombie Hunter Full Cover!

Yes! The full front and back for Lizzie Borden, #Zombie Hunter! 
Whatdya think?  I think it's pretty cool!
I'm reading the PDF proof now for the last corrections! 
And for my dollhouse friends, a mini cover for your dollhouse too!  (Personal use only, please!) 
About the book:
Every family has its secrets…
 One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become zombies?
 
Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.


   

Cosplay at Comic Con!

Went to the Milwaukee Comic Con Sunday. Interesting event as far as cosplay goes. Too bad I didn't have any copies of Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter as I could've sold quite a few!

For a break, enjoy some of the interesting characters I spotted. The event had a costume contest, too.

(For me, the rug guy was the best!)

Lizzie Borden, #Zombie Hunter Cover! Really!

Yes, here is the front cover for Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter!  The full flat will come probably by Monday.
What do you think?? (The colors likely will look different on the actual book.)

Lizzie Borden, #Zombie Hunter Full Book Cover!

AND... here it is...

Oh wait. Kind of... 


** BONUS:  I wanna hear what you think! Give me a reaction in the comments to be entered to win one of the first signed print copies!!!! (US shipping only, sorry.)  Be sure to leave a way to contact you! 

Isn't this exciting???  (Now, no grumbling!!)



Are you SCARED yet??????? 

I wanted to extend the fun a bit since the full cover isn't quite done yet (blurbs and reviews are being added and part of the image was being tweaked slightly....)
So in the meantime.... go and see if you can assemble this puzzle -- then you'll see what there is (so far...) I hope the link works right... it did for me.
Hey! Now, I even reduced the number of puzzle pieces for you! I started out with 160 much smaller pieces... heh heh... C'mon, have fun with me!!!




The back copy is the description I've been sharing below.   I'll be showing the finished full cover once it's done...  
 I CAN'T WAIT!!! CAN YOU???
COMING SEPT 13! 


  About  Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter:  by C.A. Verstraete


Every family has its secrets…
One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become zombies?
Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.

Lizzie Borden, #Zombie Hunter Book Cover Reveal 2!

Yes! The cover reveal is  HERE! 

So, meanie, I am - haaa! - I'm giving you tiny glimpses... 

Keep coming back for more!! 

** BONUS:  I wanna hear what you think! Give me a reaction in the comments to be entered to win one of the first signed print copies!!!! (US shipping only, sorry.) 

Isn't this exciting??? 

*  See the preview  here. - See part 1 here.  Coming: the full cover! 


Are you SCARED yet??????? 
Part 2: 






COMING SEPT 13! 


  About  Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter:  by C.A. Verstraete


Every family has its secrets…
One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become zombies?
Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.