Liebe me, liebe me...

...say that you liebe me like Penelope Crowe, author of 100 Unfortunate Days does. Thanks, Ms. Crowe, for passing this Liebster on to me. Readers, if you're in the mood for something dark and quirky, check out a free sample of 100 Unfortunate Days; if this doesn't wig you out, I don't know what will, fo' shizzle.

There are numerous steps involved in the acceptance of a Liebster: stating 11 things about yourself, answering 11 questions asked by the person granting you the award, nominating 11 other bloggers for a Liebster and concocting 11 questions for them to answer. Well, if you've been following along this week, you know I worked crazy hours at my day job and am pretty dang beat. Also, I've received this bad boy a few times, now, and the third one (I think) very recently indeed. So I'll tackle the 11 questions asked of me but won't be tagging peeps or making up questions for them, this time around. Anyone interested in claiming this Liebster/answering these questions (even if only in the comments), please feel free to do so.

And now, to Ms. Crowe's questions:

1. What projects have you just finished--and what are you working on now?

I've been editing my Greek mythological romance, That Fatal Kiss, with an eye to self-publishing it later this year, possibly September. After that, I plan to work on a "sampler" of three short supernatural romances, two of which sort of introduce the location of, and a couple of characters from, my next novel, a contemporary supernatural romance called Bedeviled (this will be the first book in a trilogy).

2. Do you have any hidden talents?

Nah, but I got a couple of shekels in my piggy bank. (See what I did there? Talents/shekels were/are units of monetary currency. Didja geddit? Didja, didja, huh, huh???)

3. If you had NO limitations and were a guaranteed success--what project would you undertake?

I'd produce/direct a mini-series of my fave Jane Austen novel, Northanger Abbey. And I wouldn't just hire the eye candy du jour to play the leads, but folks I truly felt bring the roles to life (as Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth did for Pride and Prejudice).

4. Please tell us three things on your bucket list.

Uh...well, I'd love to visit Jerusalem and walk where Jesus walked. Hmmm...This is tough. All my crazy dreams are goals I intend to see through to fruition...maybe I don't get the point of bucket lists...

5. What is the best and worst part of writing?

The best: like sex, it engrosses and revs me up. (Woof!) The worst: like sex, I never want to stop doing it but reality will intrude, damn it...

6. What character in a book or movie do you relate to the most?

Little Red Riding Hood. I've lived a very sheltered life and fell prey to wolves before learning some very difficult and painful lessons.

7. Are you more athletic or aesthetic?

Aesthetic.

8. Do you believe in anything supernatural? If so, what.

I believe that everything's possible (ghosts, werewolves, vampires, sea creatures, legit wicked witches, etc.). The only supernatural beings I feel in my heart and soul to be real are God, His Holy Posse, plus the Devil and his cursed crew.

9. What makes you happy?

Singing my songs with like-music-minded band members backing me up, sex, writing, sex, reading, sex, chocolate, sex, live open-air concerts by my fave bands, sex, realio-trulio good coffee (light, with half and half), sex, losing myself in a theater to portrayals of humorous horror, sex...I did mention sex, right? I'd hate to leave it out, inadvertently.

10. If you could be smarter or better looking--which would you choose and why?

Hmmm! Actually, I'd choose to be brasher, less self-restrictive/censoring.

11.  Whom do you admire the most and how does this person inspire you?

Just generally, I admire people who feel particular passions burning inside their hearts and actively seek to release that fire into the world, despite the doubting voices (both internal and external).

So, yeah, if any of you are inclined to answer these questions, either on your own blog or here in the comments, I'd love to read whatcha gots to say. Meanwhile...

My Top 3 Goofy Zombie Novels! (Precious Monsters' Zombie Blog Hop)

Welcome, y'all, to my entry for the Zombie Blog Hop, hosted by Jolie du Pre of Precious Monsters! Participants can blog about anything zombie-esque, so I chose to tell youse guys about three zombie novels which make me giggle like a giddy schoolboy*.

*I believe in equal giggling opportunities for both sexes.

Click here to buy it! (The book, not me, obviously).

'K, so: first up is Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 (with a groovy one-year-later epilogue which is not to be missed). In TSA, Moore revisits the fictional town of Pine Cove, CA, in which tourists flock to the fake-Tudor-Christmasy-cheer while a local kid witnesses the accidental killing of "Santa Claus" (an Evil Developer and all-round douchebag, who totally had it coming). The titular angel, Raziel, grants the boy's Christmas wish that Santa return from the dead, while the Sheriff quits pot so he can afford a special gift for his wife (a schizophrenic ex-scream queen, who's gone off her meds so she can afford to get him something special), all while she's planning the town's annual Lonesome Christmas party, which just happens to take place at the Santa Rosa Chapel, which just happens to be located right next to a cemetery. You can see where this is going, right? I break this bad-boy out every December for another read, 'cause, you know, 'tis the season, and whatnot.

Buy PP&Z here!

Next is the book which sparked a new(ish) genre, the literary mash-up: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. As I noted in my Amazon.com review for this book, what I adore about it is the juxtaposition of well-known and well-turned phrases against the ludicrous. And Dudes, it's HILARIOUSLY funny. READ IT, if for nothing else but the helpful Reader's Discussion Guide (Question #7: Does Mrs. Bennet have a single redeeming quality?). Or for the nifty illustrations sprinkled throughout (with captions such as "Elizabeth lifted her skirt, disregarding modesty, and delivered a swift kick to the creature's head.") OR for sentences like the one Catherine De Bourgh utters near the end of the book, "Well? Have you anything to say before I remit you to Satan?" Too, when zombies (here referred to as the "Unmentionables" or "The Zed Word") crash the ball at which Darcy first disses Lizzy, Mr. Bennet urges his daughters to take them out by forming the "Pentagram of Death." C'mon, like that's not hysterically funny. (It's bloody well funny-as-hell to me, at any rate, and that's all I actually care about anyways, so...)

Click here to buy a good time! (Uh...you know what I mean.)

Finally, we have The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten by Harrison Geillor. Now, I have to admit it's been quite some time since I first read this Prairie Home Companion parody, plus I've got Momnesia, so details are fuzzy for me. However, I do recall that it features a meteor which starts the whole mess, a murderess, dueling clergy, bachelor farmers, a serial killer, a dominatrix, and of course, the "zomboes," as one character calls them. Possibly the funniest thing about this book is how these stalwart Minnesotans manage to take the zombie apocalypse in stride and go about the business of living. *I* should be so hard-to-rattle!

The Booker Award!

Catherine Stine of Idea City bestowed The Booker Award on me, which was super sweet of her - thanks so much, Catherine! Please check out her blog here.

The Booker Award goes to "...those who refuse to live in the real world." (That is sooooo  me!) To receive this award, the blog must be at least 50% about books (reading or writing is OK). Along with receiving this award, you must also share your top five favorite books. (More than five is OK.) You must give this award to 5-10 other lucky book blogs you adore.

Now, I hate having to narrow down my readerly passions to just five  but, as we all know, I'm lazy. So here they be, in alpha order by author's last name:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (It's a parody of things Gothic, so of course  I dig it.)

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Ohmigosh, it's set in an alternative reality in which crimes against literature are avenged by an arse-kicking Brit heroine who winds up leaping into the story of Jane Eyre  to take care of business! W00T!)

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (How can I not luuurve a book featuring a heroine who stutters and a duel fought over a hat?) (Not by the heroine.) (It wasn't really over a hat, that was just the cover story.) (Ha ha, geddit? Cover story? Hat? A hat covers  your head?) (C'mon, that was at least mildly amusing, worthy of a titter, surely?) ~ tied with  ~ These Old Shades by the same author (The Duke of Avon = WOOF!)

Howliday Inn by James Howe (The 2nd book in the Bunnicula series. I go back to it to revel in the comfort of simpler days, when everybody and their Aunt Agatha didn't want a piece of me. Plus, it's HIGH-larious, and I just la-la-love Harold and Chester.)

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore (Parce que j'adore le  whimsical horror, y'all!) (You may wonder at my use of French and Southern U.S.A. slang in the same sentence. You see, at college, a very learned prof found me attempting to learn some French art song or other, and gave me some pointers on my pronunciation. On the word, "parle," he suggested I drawl like I was from Georgia, and from then on, nearly every time I've spoken my pseudo-French it's been with a southern accent. A really bad one, sure, but still. A girl's gotta amuse herself somehow...)

Right, so—that business sorted, I now present The Booker Award to these groovy gals:

Annalisa Crawford - Wake up, eat, write, sleep

Aurian - boeklogboek

Jackie Felger - Bouquet of Books

Kendra - Flame Writer

Lori - Romancing the Darkside

OK, that's it for me, folks. Thanks for stopping by and y'all come back soon, now, entendez-vous? (You're totally having a go at saying, "entendez-vous" with a Southern accent yourself now, aintcha? Don't try to deny it, I know you are.)