Wednesday Review: The Walking Dead

Finally managed to finish the series. I don't like horror, I don't thrive on it, laugh at it, or collect it. I think the last horror movie I saw was Halloween H20...and it was bad. This is my horror level, get it?

But zombies. I wasn't going to watch this, I was perfectly happy ignoring the latest in the zombie trend. But then I heard everyone (and I do mean that literally) talking about it. Not just zombie lovers, but people I wouldn't have thought knew what a zombie was.

So I caved.

And it was pretty good! AMC did a great job with the characterization, with the aftermath, and unlike The Road (2 thumbs down!) they explained the overall world and what happened. Whereas The Road left the apocalypse as a vague explanation you had to guess at and were left wondering if the water they drank and the air they breathed was contaminated or not, The Walking Dead (based on the long-running comic series) created a disease.

A mysterious, deadly, infectious disease, but one that left the survivors unscathed and able to survive without those pesky is-this-safe? questions.

Granted, the sheriff, was entirely too stupid to live, and should have stayed with the always stellar Lennie James, but alas. Because of course I'm going to ride into Atlanta (or any city for that matter!) on a horse amidst a zombie outbreak, with all the cars leaving town now burnt out shells, and not one damn sign of human life.

That's beside the point...it's about the survivors, which all the best post-apocalyptic stories are about. Give it a try, it's worth it.

Hungry for Your Love: An Anthology of Zombie Romance

Got zombie?

Homepage of the Dead...yup, you read right! It's a website dedicated to zombies, zombies, and more zombies. They're giving away a copy of Hungry for Your Love, so if you have ANY interest in zombies, stop on by!

From their about us page:

This site is dedicated to the horror films comprising the George A. Romero "Dead" series of films, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead.

And don't forget my Title Contest!

Review: Hungry for your Love

Just found a new review for my Zombified story in Hungry for your Love from Bitten by Books. Overall, they gave it 3.5 Tombstones, but specifically of Zombified:

The collection does have several excellent pieces that stand out from the rest. In Zombified by Isabel Roman, an FBI agent and a doctor with a family connection inherit an unusual old mansion in the wilds of Martinique.

Yes, there are others that stand out, but I'll let you read the review yourself.

Excerpt Monday Got zombie?

Got Hungry for your Love? You should! Halloween approaches, and in the true spirit (if not tradition) of the holiday, everyone should have a zombie romance anthology. :)

Excerpt from Zombified:

Three shrunken voodoo heads, a single gold doubloon, an ancient German Luger, and one and a half wooden legs later, they gave up. The rest of the house was as dusty as the entryway, so they opened the shutters, unpacked their camping gear and set up camp before the unused fireplace.

Before Rebecca knew what was happening, Griffin’s lips were on hers and they’d made love in an abandoned mansion in the middle of Martinique. It was the most pleasurable day she could remember spending in a long while.

“No pirate treasure,” she sighed, propping her head on one hand and looking at him.

“No, but lots of dust.”

Rebecca frowned at his frown and traced the line of his jaw. “What do you expect?” she asked. “The place has been closed up for years.”

She swept her arm out to encompass the end tables, coffee table, piano, and old style chairs—some wicker, some old enough to be certifiable antiques. Not that she had any real notion of what a certifiable antique looked like.

“Dust is created by human skin,” he mumbled. Shaking his head, he grasped her hips and pulled her atop him. “Are you sure you want to stay here for the night? Or do you want to drive back?”

“Na,” she kissed his lips. “Let’s just stay here. We haven’t explored a fraction of the place. Plus,” her lips trailed along his jaw, and Rebecca wondered when she’d become so fascinated with a man’s jaw line. “Plus we’ll just have to drive back out tomorrow. What’s the point?”

“Definitely not an ordinary woman,” he said against her mouth. “Most I know would rather head back to the hotel than stay here. In the middle of nowhere.”

“Hey,” she smiled, “at least we have electricity.”

4 stars from Romantic Times
4 cups of coffee from Coffee Time
4.5 hearts from Night Owl Romance

Zombie love anyone?

Never thought you'd read those words, did you. Welcome to the new writing world, where anything goes. I'm not mocking, and not cause I'm in this particular anthology. Or not just. We are in an age where the confines of that pesky box are no longer.

• Want to write your time travel Civil War romance? Go right ahead.


• Or a forward time travel (traveling forward in time rather than backwards) from Ireland to Texas? Go for it!
• Zombies, werewolves, vampires, oh my! I don't have statistics, but I recently read that paranormal is the largest romance sub genre. Yup. I so believe that.


• Menage? M/M? F/F? There's a market, a huge one, and it's no longer under Anonymous, or in Penthouse, or anything else you don't want it to be. Talk about a large romance sub genre!
• (When I say sub genre I mean under the romance umbrella, since that's pretty all encompassing.)

With the explosion of e-publishing, stories the 'regular' print publishers refused to look at are now getting attention. They're not only being picked up but they're selling well. So why not Quirk Press's Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (needed more zombies and less plot holes) or Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (haven't read it, so can't comment)?

Don't believe me? I just read a post on this very thing. (Granted I wrote this blog on Tuesday and read the post on Wednesday but the timing was perfect!)

Hungry for your Love is the zombie romance anthology from Ravenous Romance and St. Martin's Press. St. Martin's Press bought the print distribution rights to Ravenous's zombie e-book. Tells you something, huh: zombies (and that outside the box thing) are everywhere.


My story, Zombified, admittedly has the zombies cast as the bad guys, there's an excerpt on my site, just follow the link. Don't believe you'll like it? Want to see what else is out there? Contact the other authors for the first couple pages of their story-or the e-book is available from ravenous for $4.99. Trust me, it's well worth it.

Hungry for your Love

New cover! Isn't it gorgeous? In a zombie-love kind of way? Forget zombies as mindless eaters, eating minds, and think of the zombie possibilities. Go with me here...OK? Now, isn't it a gorgeous zombie-loving cover? There...that's better.

Sure, my story, Zombified, is all about the mindless eaters, eating minds, but that's because I read it straight off reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Evil scientist, much pop-culture phrases, 2 lovers on a deserted plantation in the middle of Martinique. What's not to be creepy?

This is the St. Martin's Press hardback cover due out September 28, 2010 (according to the B&N website). Reserve your copy today!

4.5 Hearts from Night Owl Romance:
Excerpt: Roman gets mad props for cramming so many pop culture references into this story I almost couldn't keep up. Everything from Freddy Kruger to Scooby-Doo gets it own little mention. Zombies are only present in the last third of the story, but they make up for it in numbers at least!