Zombie Walk

This is the absolute last thing I am going to post about Comic-Con. We took some video on the Zombie Walk, and I learned an important lesson. It is impossible for a zombie to hold a camera while attacking a city. But I have some footage for those of you who'd like to see the craziness of Zombie Walk. I apologize for the shaky camera. But if you'd like to watch, it's short. Just 43 seconds.

Sleep tight...

Comic-Con

We had big fun at Comic-Con, and met some new fans. Even Batman is now a fan of Never Slow Dance With A Zombie. A special thanks to the Zombiettes for helping get the word out.

*Sigh* But now it's time to get back to work. I'd like to finish the draft of the new book by the end of next week. Is this just wishful thinking? Hope not.

A Zombie Sighting @ Comic-Con

You've seen them before Click here: E's blog: Meet The Zombiettes, but now my street team is in full effect at Comic-Con. You do not want to slow dance with these young ladies.

Not too long ago, I was guy who had written a book and was lucky enough to find someone to publish it. But I knew NOTHING about the process: editing, galleys, getting blurbs. I didn't even know where I was supposed to sign the books, until some of you chimed in. But look at me now. I am starting to feel like a pro. I have lots of great news:

INTERNATIONAL

First off, Never Slow Dance With A Zombie has just been picked up by Pan Macmillan Australia. The book is now available for fans in Australia. Throw a few shrimp on the barbie--Australia! Wow! I don't think I have any fans is Australia--yet. But now that NSDWAZ is available there, who knows. Anyway, it's my first international sale, and I am thrilled.

BOOK FAIR

I have been booked to be on a panel at the West Hollywood Book Fair (Click here: West Hollywood Book Fair ) on Sunday October 4th from 1:45-2:45. I don't know who else is going to be on the panel, but I'm sure they will be way more important than me. The panel is being sponsored by Dark Delicacies, a wonderful book store in Burbank, California:Click here: Dark Delicacies . If you know of anyone who might be attending, please ask them to stop by and say hi. I will let you know more about the event as we get closer.

COMIC-CON

If you are attending Comic-Con and you'd like to find the Zombiettes they will be attending the Zombie Walk Thursday night. Click here: Zombie Walk: San Diego If you see them and say "Margot sent me," you qualify to win a free ARC of Never Slow Dance With A Zombie.

I will be at Comic Con on Saturday the 25th. I will be at the Black Panel Saturday morning. I won't be on the panel, but you can find me there. Or if you spot me on the floor please say hi.


The book comes out on August 18th, and remember I will be reading and signing at Book Soup on Sunset Boulevard Sunday August 22nd at 7PM..... Look at that. I'm like a real professional. Hawking my book like a carnival barker. Guys, I can't tell you how much fun I am having. Thanks again for coming along on this ride with me. Can't wait for the book to come out.

Sleep tight...

Meet The Zombiettes

If you or anyone you know is planning on attending Comic Con International, in San Diego next week (July 23-26) please look for the Never Slow Dance With A Zombie street team--The Zombiettes. I am very happy (and fortunate) to announce that the 3 lovely teens in the above photo (Left to right: Ingrid, Jasmine, Anisa) will be roaming the floor at Comic Con, giving out Never Slow Dance With A Zombie keepsakes (book marks & buttons. And maybe posters if I get them from my publisher in time). I call them the Zombiettes because that's the nick name Margot (the protagonist in my book) gave to the hated it- girl zombies.

I have a STREET TEAM! I can't believe my luck because I can't afford to hire a street team, but these girls were going to the Con (one of them is Tatiana's sister) and wanted something to do. Can you believe they volunteered? I am paying them a little something, but far less than anyone would pay a street team. How lucky am I, huh? So if you are going to the Con please look for them. They will be wearing Never Slow Dance With A Zombie t-shirts. If you see them please say hi, tell them what a great job they're doing, and grab some of the free swag they're giving away while it lasts.

Oh, and I have a new contest starting right now. If you say "Margot sent me" to any of the girls you could win a free NSDWAZ ARC. If only one person says the secret sentence they will win the book. If a bunch of you out there spot the girls, they will take your names and I will have a drawing for the ARC. If no one approaches them I will give the ARC away in another contest in a few weeks .

I will be at Comic Con myself Friday afternoon and Saturday. If you want to find me, I will be tweeting from the floor. If you're not following me on Twitter, now is a good reason to. I love going to Comic Con. San Diego is beautiful this time of year. The movie and TV panels are awesome, and they give away a boat load of cool, free swag. And to top it all off, I have a good friend who is a big shot in the comic book biz. It's great hanging out with him in his element. I kinda get the big shot treatment when I'm around him. Yeah! I Can't wait for next week. Hope to see some of you there.

A Thrilling Thriller Contest

If you've been hankering for a Zombie Love T-shirt but don't have the mula to buy one, you need to hustle on over to La Femme Readers Click here: /- LA FEMME READERS -/ where Eleni is hosting a Never Slow Dance With A Zombie/Michael Jackson Thriller Quiz. The first one to answer all the questions correctly wins. And don't worry if you're not up to speed on the Thriller video, you can watch it right on Eleni's site.

Yours truly and Eleni came up with the idea for the contest. I did the questions, and here's a clue--you will not find the answer to one of the questions in the video. Have I peaked you're interest? Then what are you still doing here. GO!

Reading

Today I went to a reading/signing of my friend and USC colleague, Madelyn Cain's new biography Laffit. It's the true story of Laffit Pincay Jr.,hall of fame jockey. The reading was held at Vroman's book store in Pasadena, California. It was a hot day here in LA, and even hotter in Pasadena. But the ride to Pasadena was pleasant. No traffic. No traffic is a God send in Southern Cal.

Madelyn was happy to see me. In private she told me she woke up in the middle of the night fearing nobody would show up. I told her I have the same fears for my reading in August. But she had no reason to fear. The reading was very well attended, by at least 50 people, and many of them bought books, So I know Vroman's was happy.

Madelyn read one short chapter from the book, then brought Laffit up to take questions with her. Afterwards they both signed books. I didn't hang around to chat, and since I was first in line to get my book signed, I was back on the road in about an hour.

I was happy to support another writer, and even happier to support a friend and colleague. But I had a double secret reason for going to the reading. While I have attended many readings over the years, I have never paid attention to the details. I'm the kind of guy that as a passenger in a car can go to a place 10 times and still not know how to get there. Once I drive I'm cool, but as a passenger, I don't pay attention. [I know ladies, you hate this about men. I've heard it before] Anyway, now that I'm about to have a reading of my own coming up, I observed everything: what kind of refreshments; how long she read; how long they answered questions; what kind of support the book store offered. Everything!

Before the reading, Madelyn told me she was going to read for fourteen minutes. Isn't that rather short? I want to read a little longer, but I did like how things moved along at her reading. How long should I read? I'd like to hear your thoughts. I'm sure you guys have been to lots of readings and probably paid better attention than I did. Let's face it, the last thing I want to do is read to the point of boredom. The chapter that Madelyn read was short but gripping. If you'd like to know more about her book, or buy it, go here:Click here: Amazon.com: LAFFIT: Anatomy of a Winner: Madelyn Cain: Books

On another note I Heart Monster showcased Never Slow Dance With A Zombie in the website's Ambitious Edition. I saw it this morning, and was really pleased. Thanks Shesten for doing this. I really appreciate it. Those of you who'd like to check it out please click on the link.

By the way, the photo at the top is of Laura Ingles, famed author of Little House In The Big Woods, surrounded by adoring fans.


All for now. Sleep tight, don't forget to write.

Photo Contest Ends

Well, the photo contest came to an end with a bit of a whimper. I just didn't get that many entries. That's cool. Now I know all my readers are slackers. Jut kidding. I thank all who entered.

One reader who wasn't a slacker was Lauren, who sent two photos. But this one of a zombie reading her favorite book holds a special place in my heart. Thanks, Lauren. Unfortunately the contest had just one winner whose awesome Swag Bag went out today, A.B Moyer. Her photo was on the blog last week. If you missed it go here: Click here: E. Van Lowe and click on the photo at the center of the page. A.B's bag included and autographed copy of Never Slow Dance With A Zombie, a Zombie Love T-shirt, a $20 Starbucks Red card (5 cents of each dollar spent goes to the Red Cross) and a package of 10 Zombie Love note cards. Congratulations A.B.

There's another contest coming up soon. It's a quiz in honor of Michael Jackson and Thriller. The Thriller song plays a roll in my book. The new contest will be hosted by Eleni at La Femme Readers http://lafemmereaders.blogspot.com/. I will let you know when it begins.

For those of you who'd like to purchase some of the awesome swag I've been giving away, E's Shop (Click here: E's Shop) at Cafe Press is open for business. You can purchase things I've never given away, like NSDWAZ tees or a Zombie Love tote. Or, if you haven't been able to win one, the cool Zombie Love tees I've been giving away. Right now the prices are what they charge me. No markup. Eventually there will be a small markup and the difference will go the charity. But if you don't want to pay the markup, why not drop by the shop now. I think there's some neat stuff there. I just bought some note cards myself.

That's it for now, you zombie slackers!

Next

I had an awesome 4th of July.

We hung out at our place in Palm Springs with friends; eating, swimming, playing games; I a had a margarita or two, and I read. I sat outside by the pool in the mornings, listening to the birds sing, and I read. I LOVE summer time. It's my favorite time of year. I'm reading Patient Zero by John Maberry.

Click here: Macmillan: Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel Jonathan Maberry: Books It's another zombie book that came highly recommended. It's not a YA, and I'm about a third of the way through and not sure how I feel about it. Maybe I read too many YAs. I was told it was going to be a roller coaster ride, but the ride hasn't started yet. I'm not saying don't read this book. I just don't know how I feel about it yet. I'll read some more tonight.

I'm also a huge tennis fan, and over the weekend I ODd on Wimbeldon, where I got to see Serena beat Venus. I was rooting for Venus. And Roger Federer beat Andy Roddick. I like them both, but Roddick is an American who had never won Wimbeldon. Federer has won 5 times. All in all it was a pretty cool weekend. But now I'm back in LA, working on a short term production that shoots on Wednesday... and I have a book launching in less than two months. Can you believe it?

I want to take a moment to thank you all for coming along on this journey with me. I started blogging in January about my road to publication. I had no followers. Now I have a bunch of new friends whose blogs I read, and who I share this journey with. It's almost over guys. What happens next? I guess I hope I sell some books, do some readings, and shed some joy... And have Boyfriend From Hell (my second novel) published. Whatever it is, I am looking forward to what happens next. I hope you will stay on the journey with me. I love having you along. You're kind of like my security blanket.

Sleep tight...