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After days, weeks, nearly a fortnight, of planning, Zombiepalooza is finally upon us, and I can't tell you how excited I am. As you may or may not know, Zombiepalooza is an event running from October 1st until October 31st here at my blog. It's going to be filled with guest blogs, short stories and flash fiction from thoughts of amazing authors, and tons of giveaways. Okay, the weight of the prizes won't literally equal a ton, but there are a lot of giveaways. (I'm even kicking off this post with a signed paperback giveaway, but I'll talk more about that in a minute.) For the full calender of events, please check out the Zombiepalooza tab at the top, or click: here . (It's too much to post. Because it's a LOT of things.) Here's is one treat you'll find under the Zombiepalooza tab from Bards and Sages Publishing :  Everything from angels to zombies since 2002 Take 50% off both the print and digital version of one of our bestsellers, Dead Men and Wom

I'll be honest: I hadn't heard of Banned Books Week . That makes me shamefaced because I am so anti-censorship, it's not even funny. In high school, I did not one, not two, but three separate presentations on censorship, because it was probably the only thing I was really passionate about in high school. I also want to take the time to mention something kinda cool and surprising - of the top 100 most banned and challenged classics according to the ALA , a total of 8 of them were required reading in my high school. Not optional reading. Definitely not banned. I had to read them to pass. And beyond that, the first time I read a number of authors - including Kurt Vonnegut, J. D. Salinger, Douglas Adams, Joseph Heller, Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemingway, and Virginia Wolfe - was when I checked out their books from my high school library. And, in steps further, when I was in high school, when I wrote short stories for my creative writing and English classes, nobody ever cared if I

Friday kicks off Zombiepalooza , so I've officially got my blog all decked out for Halloween. I have a calender  up in Zombiepalooza to showcase all the stuff going on in October. As things happen, I'll post links, and update the schedule. As you can see, I still have a few days open, so if you're interested in participating, let me know! Hollowland now has a fancy book trailer, the first chapter, a soundtrack, and the cover up, so you should check it out. I'm getting excited for October and Halloween. As you should be. It's going to be a hoot this year! A hoot, I tell you! I'm going as Poison Ivy. I know that's not very Zombiepalooza, but I'm doing theme costumes with friends this year and we're going as Batman villains. And I like Poison Ivy. I considered Harley Quinn, but her costume is lame. I want to post a comprehensive list of the best zombie and horror films/books. What do you think are the best zombie/horror films/books of all time?

RIP Jim Henson September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990

I got acquainted with Jonathan Coulton when I saw him perform during a live telecast when RiffTrax did a screening of Plan 9 From Outerspace. If you're not familiar with RiffTrax , they're the guys from MST3K. And if you don't know what that is, go to Amazon and buy a DVD of Mystery Science Theater 3000 right now! Hurry! I mention Jonathan Coulton because my blog title comes from his son " Re: Your Brain s," which is pretty awesome. You should listen to that too, when you're looking up MST3K stuff.  In an FYI about that - I'll be going to this this year:  Anyway - Zombieaplooza news : I've gotten a lot of great flash fiction and short stories submitted, plus a bunch of awesome giveaways. I've had a pleasure of reading all this stuff , and let me tell you, this whole zombie month is gonna be a real treat. Honest.  It's neat seeing the different way people have taken this whole thing. From dark and creepy to funny and light. We've definite

Once, I stole a window decal form a movie theater for the film I Heart Huckabees . It died with my car when they both went to the big trash heap in the sky (RIP Jameson Lyndale 1993-2006), and I've been sad about it ever since because of how much I enjoyed said film. Also, the decal was really pretty and rainbowy. The point is - I really enjoy I Heart Huckabees . If you haven't seen the film, you should, but I'm not going to explain it to you now. I'm only going to say the part that matters: Jude Law plays this super cocky guy who works at a store called Huckabees. He has this story that he tells about Shania Twain. Here's the story: "Shania hates mayo all right, and she can't eat chicken salad, thats no joke. We gave it to her once, she threw up in the limo - the lady hates chicken salad. So I bring out a bunch of tuna fish sandwiches - she still doesn't believe me - I say, Shania, I'm allergic to mayo - which, by the way, is a lie. Shania stil

My obsession with the Phoenix family has been long standing and unhealthy. Ever since I was ten and I saw River Phoenix, only to discover he'd already been dead for a year, I've been completely fascinated. The the story of River, Joaquin, and their sisters is so bizarre and tragic. (Fun fact: Joaquin has like 3 nephews, and they're all named after River. True story.) And since I'm a crazy person, I've felt oddly protective over Joaquin (well, as protective as a complete stranger can feel about a wealthy, successful man ten years her senior). So when this whole "retirement from acting" thing started happening, I immediately began freaking out. I did assume his breakdown was legit. Between the crazy cults, sexual abuse, living on the streets, being a child actor, watching his older brother die, and eventually winning an Oscar, I thought, it all finally came up. He'd lost it. Then I heard his brother-in-law Casey Affleck was filimg it, and I was like, &qu

As of... a few hours ago, I've sold over 20,000 books. This is all ebooks, of course, spread out over 5 different books sold in the last 5 months. I have sold a total of 101 paperbacks, though, which I've heard from the internet is pretty good for indie. I'm hoping this number goes up now that I was able to make the paperbacks more affordable (down from over $15 to under $10). My books are also available for free on online sites like Scribd and wattpad, and a number of other sites. I didn't put them up on any of them, and the versions are old and not as well edited (yeah, they're even LESS edited than what's out now). Since I'm didn't upload them, I have no idea how many free downloads they've had. The most I've sold for one title specifically is My Blood Approves , of which I've sold over 6,000 copies. In my last blog about writing an epic tale of how it happened , I basically just explained my personal journey to get here. I didn't expr

Quick reminder: Don't forget to check out my gigantic massive awesome contest. It is awesome. And gigantically massive. Now, down to business: I'm releasing my super awesome zombie novel Hollowland in October. So I thought it would be fun to have a big zombie-apolooza in October, because of Halloween and me releasing a book. But I'm not limiting it to just zombies. Zombies are awesome, but they aren't the only thing that goes bump in the night. So - to everyone out there: If you want to do a guest blog talking about zombies, monsters, ghosts, etc, or write a bit of scary flash fiction, or want to donate anything for a giveaway (i.e. books, movies, limbs) any time in the month of October. You can even do a review of your favorite scary book or movie. Whatever you'd like, as long as its in the spirit of Halloween. Also, in really good news, my books are now available in paperback for a MUCH lower price than before. I think My Blood Approves used to be $15.49. It

If you haven't checked out my gigantic massive awesome contest , you should. Cause I'm giving away lots of books and swags. Check it out: here . Today, I cleaned up my office. And for no apparent reason, I took pictures of it share with you.  This is where the magic happens, right there at that desk. The corkboard helps me keep track of what projects I'm working on and has proposed release dates. That's Christian Bale staring down at me above Heath Ledger poster. Christian Bale - he's always watching and keeping me on track. That stack are rough drafts of all my books that are in the editing stage, along with a few copies of the MBA series on top. I also have a stack of CD's next to a framed picture of Travis Barker form when I met him. On the left side is an (+44) CD insert autographed by Travis Barker and Craig Fairbaugh, along with a limited editon blue .45 of "Cliffing Diving" by (+44). That picture is by Victoria soembody. She does really amazing

Okay. So, I love this band called Black Lab that not enough people listen to, even though they should, because they're awesome. But anyway, they have this really beautiful song called "Ten Million Years." I think it fits really with My Blood Approves . So for any of you with time on your hands and a knowledge of things, I'd love to see a fan made video or some kind of book trailer for My Blood Approves set to "Ten Million Years" by Black Lab. (Or I'd also enjoy "This Night" by Black Lab.) So, if you're interested, here's what I propose: 1. Make a video anytime now until say... September 24th. You can still make a video after that if you want, but it won't be entered. The only requirements for the video are: I want it to be set to "Ten Million Years" by Black Lab or "This Night" by Black Lab, and it has to be in relation to My Blood Approves . Either the first book or the series as a whole or any book in the seri

Dear Jonathan Taylor Thomas: On you're twenty-ninth birthday (or the day after, when this posts), I think its time to take a moment to reflect upon your life. All the things you've accomplished. Six or seven seasons on Home Improvement , the voice of Simba , maintaing flawless skin throughout your teenage years, graduating from Columbia with a degree in something science-y, and successfully avoiding the pitfalls of young Hollywood. So kudos to you for doing something that only about 4 other actors have done before you. (I'm thinking Natalie Portman, Claire Danes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Neil Patrick Harris. So you're in very good company.) (But why do all the boys have 3 names?) But you know what the rest of those people did differently than you? They still act. Don't get me wrong. That's not a bash against you. I just think that it's time you come back. You took some time off. You grew up off-camera for awhile. But it's been at least 5 years since I&

There's a couple things I wanna say before I tell you the greatest true story ever told (not really). First, I've got things sorted out, and all my books are being published through Createspace. This means that in a couple days, they'll be available in paperback form at a reasonable price. The first three books in the My Blood Approves series and Switched are all $8.99, and Wisdom is $9.99. (That's a savings of over $6 for the first three books each, and this also marks the first time Switched will be publicly available in paperback.) I will let you know once they go live, and I'll be sure to update the links on my blog and what not. Secondly, in a note related to the first, if you have a local library that you would like to see stocked with any of my books, let me know. I'd like to try to contact a few of them, and see if they'd be interested in purchasing them or I can donate a few copies. Thirdly, I've got some family stuff going on lately. It'

Have you seen the video for "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem and Rhianna? I love the song, so I thought I'd check out the video. Dominic Monaghan eats Megan Fox's face. Not kidding. He's all Jennifer's Body on that thing. Check it out: Also, I'm getting pretty excited about the Jim Henson exhibit. (Only 52 days until I see it!) Here's a pretty fancy video about the exhibit. It's shot in Orlando, but the one I'll see will be in Chicago, but it's the same stuff.

Hi. Here's what happened: My brain shut off. It got too overwhelmed, and it said, "Nope. I'm not doing anything. I don't know when I'll do anything again, but for the next few days, if you try to make do something, it's not happening." This is why I haven't been replying to emails properly or responding to comments or writing or doing much of anything useful. I did watch three episodes of MST3K and take my cousin to see Sesame Street Live, so it wasn't a total loss of brain shutting-down ness. I also watched the Michael Wincott parts of three different movies, because Michael Wincott is the best part of any movie. Ever. But here I am. My brain's still working at about 50% power, but that's enough time off. We had a long weekend, and that was great. But I've got stuff to do, and I need my brain to do it. So tomorrow, we'll be back. At 100%. I promise.  Also, in a post related to the last one - a lot of people had made the valid poin