Originally uploaded by zhadi Two of my favorite cards ever. Maureen (the other half of the Murder for Hire team and my best friend since high school) sent these to me. Mo is a nanny and we joke about them being ‘her’ kids (and they both are eerily like her in different ways). So she superimposed their heads and hers on the card. THEN she sent the one with my head and the cats. I’m not sure which card cracks me up more… But I felt like sharing. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read the captions. 🙂
When I first heard about Lynne Murray‘s new book Bride of the Living Dead and the fact she was looking for blogs to host her on her upcoming blog tour for BotLD’s release, I admit I jumped up and down and shouted “Me! Me! MY blog!” partly because I fully expected zombies. I anxiously awaited my preview copy (I ripped open the envelope with all the eagerness and ferocity of a ghoul really wanting to get to the best gooey parts inside…) and settled in to read it right away once it arrived.
I kept expecting zombies to show up even after the first few zombie free chapters. After all, the heroine Daria loves horror movies (I love her T-shirt collection depicting old movie posters) so it stood to reason there would be monsters coming along at some point.
As I reached the mid-point, however, I finally realized this book was zombie free. And I found I didn’t care. Daria’s tale of true love, wedding planning trauma, crazy exes, and her relationship with her anorexic control-freak sister didn’t need flesh-eating ghouls to entertain me. Funny, touching and unique, Bride of the Living Dead was a joy to read and I am delighted to welcome Lynne here to the Den as she talks about:
What’s in a Title?
A book title, like a book cover, has a job to do. Its primary assignment is to get the reader to physically pick up the book, or if it’s viewed online to click on the link to find out more. At that point the words in the short description of what the book take center stage. At any point the reader can move to away from the book, so these are very important words.
The title, Bride of the Living Dead, has changed since I wrote the book. For a long time it was called A Guide for the Dysfunctional Bride. When the book found a home at Pearlsong Press both the publisher and I felt that it sounded too much like a nonfiction how-to book. We had fun brainstorming possible titles and one candidate became a chapter heading–Attack of the 50-Foot Wedding Planner. However Bride of the Living Dead won out over the rest.
The main worry I had was that fans of books like Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies might think that there be disappointed to find no zombies or similar undead creatures in the book. The heroine, Daria, loves old movies that feature such critters, which is why she views the effort to turn her into the Stepford Bride as a horror movie in action, aiming to transforming her into a rose-petal pink, mindless bridal creature. People have asked if Daria is a Bridezilla, super-demanding bride, but the truth is that she needs to find a way to access her inner giant reptile. We all need that monster sometimes to help us fight for what we want.
Fortunately those who demand zombies and other undead creatures in their fiction have not (so far) been roused to form a mob, light torches and hunt me down for impersonating a zombie in a romantic comedy. It might help that I live on an extremely steep hill in a windy part of town-very hard on torches.
I am an avid reader of urban paranormal books and I moved deeper into the real realms of the fictional undead in the book that followed Bride of the Living Dead. Vampires and other paranormal creatures inhabit my next book, The Falstaff Vampire Files, which will be published by Pearlsong Press (though the publication date isn’t yet set). The book has humor, ghosts, vampires and life-sucking entities from another dimension, creatures that humankind was never meant to encounter, that seize upon the slightest invitation to prey upon the living and the undead.
The charming creator of this blog was kind enough to say that she “came for the zombies and stayed for the humor.” Thanks for that, Dana, it was my fondest hope for the title.
Lynne Murray, author of the romantic comedy, Bride of the Living Dead, has had six mysteries published. Larger Than Death, the first book featuring Josephine Fuller, sleuth of size who doesn’t apologize won the Distinguished Achievement Award from NAAFA (the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance). She has written three ebooks of encouragement for writers as well as essays, interviews and reviews on subjects that rouse her passions, many of those can be found under “Rants and Raves” on her web site at http://www.lmurray.com. Lynne lives in San Francisco and when not writing she enjoys reading, watching DVD film directors’ commentaries and spoiling her cats, all of whom are rescued or formerly feral felines.Want to know how to reach Lynne and/or find out more about what she’s doing? See below for links a plenty! Web page: http://www.lmurray.com
At least for THIS week. I haven’t figured out how to embed a video in my blog yet (the last time I tried, the formatting went ALL to hell in handbasket), so please click on the link here. This is for all my non-Facebook pals (although this will be shunted over to Facebook too, so those of you who saw my link there can ignore this). Jack, I think you will be especially amused…
I’m ending this challenge on a humorous note, along with a heartfelt statement of how much I’ve enjoyed participating in this challenge and what fun it’s been to get to know all of my fellow Blog Challengees. What a wonderful bunch of diverse, talented and inspirational writers! I look forward to continuing to get to know you via your blogs and wish you all nothing but good things!
This is something to think about when negative people are doing their
best to rain on your parade. So remember this story the next time
someone who knows nothing, and cares less, tries to make your life
miserable.A woman was at her hair dresser’s getting her hair styled for a trip to
Rome with her husband She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who
responded:
“Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It’s crowded and dirty.
You’re crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?”
“We’re taking Continental,” was the reply. “We got a great rate!”“Continental?” exclaimed the hairdresser. “That’s a terrible airline.
Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they’re
always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?”
“We’ll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome’s Tiber River
called Teste.”
“Don’t go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be
something special and exclusive, but it’s really a dump, the worst hotel
in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly, and
they’re overpriced. So, whatcha’ do ing when you get there?”
“We’re going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope.”
“That’s rich,” laughed the hairdresser. “You and a million other people
trying to see him. He’ll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You’re going to need it.”
A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser
asked her about her trip to Rome.
“It was wonderful,” explained the woman, “not only were we on time in
one of Continental’s brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they
bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had
a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.”
And the hotel was great! They’d just finished a $5 million remodeling
job, and now it’s a jewel, the finest hotel in the city They, too, were
overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner’s suite at no
extra charge!”
“Well,” muttered the hairdresser, “that’s all well and good, but I
know you didn’t get to see the Pope.”
“Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a
Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes
to meet some of the visitors, and if I’d be so kind as to step into his
private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.
Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and
shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me.”
Some people are like slinkies - not really good for anything but they
bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
Does this make me a bad person?
Excuse the brevity of this post. It was not sent from my handheld, but it WAS sent from my parents’ house in San Diego where I’m on vacation and not inclined to spend much time on my computer.
