Zombiemania!

Is it me, or is zombiemania sweeping the nation? A recent article in a major newspaper (either the New York Times or the LA Times, I don't remember) claimed that zombies are replacing vampires. In other words, zombies are the next big thing. Bye bye, Twilight (Yeah, right!) hello, zombies.

The zombie comic book, Deadworld:Click here: Deadworld: Comics and Graphic Novels of the zombie classic! from creator Gary Reed, is about to become a major motion picture. Max Brooks' World War Z shows up on movie screens later this year. There's the game Zombies you can play on Facebook, and even the retelling of Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice has been zombified with best selling Pride And Prejudice and Zombies.

When I set out to write Never Slow Dance With A Zombie, almost three years ago, I had no idea zombies were in the zeitgeist. It's amazing how so many people can be thinking the same thing at the same time.

Three weeks ago Lauren, at Shooting Stars Magazine, asked me to review a song called Zombies Everywhere :Click here: Shooting Stars Mag: (Party) "Zombies Everywhere"- Authors Talk! When I saw the post with my review I discovered two other fun, zombie novels I knew nothing about: Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, written by S. G. Browne http://www.undeadanonymous.com/ , and The Zombie Queen of Newbury High, by Amanda Ashby http://amandaashby.com/. I am planning to get in touch with Amanda Ashby soon, to see if she'd like to do a reading event together when she's in the US.

Wow! So many zombies. It's a bit daunting. I am either in the right place at the right time... a place I rarely am, or my book is coming out amidst a glut of zombie projects. I'm going with right place at the right time. It's better to be optimistic. And I am in such a good space right now, I am not going to bring myself down with negative zombie thoughts. Is there such a thing as positive zombie thoughts? If you have a zombie novel coming out in September, yes, there is. That's all for now. If you like zombies check some of these out, and if you know of other zombie projects or books that are coming out or have just come out, I'd love to hear about them. It won't bring me down. It will just reinforce my belief that I am at the crest of a zombie tidal wave that will be crashing to the shores September 1st.

Sleep tight, don't let the zombies bite... There are so many of them ;)

News & Thanks

The weekend is over, and I survived the shoot. The early mornings, the long days, the lousy food and getting rained on for part of an exterior. But everyone is happy. And like I said, I survived! Yay!

Breaking News

I have some exciting news. Never Slow Dance With A Zombie has just been sold to Scholastic book clubs and fairs. My editor tells me they don't offer many YA books, and usually don't take as many copies as they ordered. She tells me this is a GREAT sale for Tor. I remember The Scholastic Book Club from when I was in school. Back then circulars were handed out in class and we'd choose the books we wanted to order based on cover art and short blurbs. I think you got points that led to prizes for certain books, but it's too long ago for me to remember. Does anyone know how it works today? Is it still like that?

Anyway, I am over the moon with the size of the Scholastic order. Thanks Tor sales staff for getting NSDWAZ off to such a good start.

More Thanks

I would also like to take a moment to thank some bloggers who have been incredibly helpful to me in getting the word out about NSDWAZ . Carrie, of Carrie's Bookshelf, Velvet, of VVB Reads, and Lauren of Shooting Stars Magazine. I really appreciate you ladies mentioning my book in your blogs. I am both honored and flattered. Thank you all. And If I left anyone out, I apologize. Also, I recently did an interview for The Book Resort. It was my first. I will add a link when the interview is posted so you can read it. I don't think I did too badly, but I will let you decide. If I did, please let me know.

And finally, I spoke with my publicist, Amber today. She is trying to book me for signings at the Northern California Regional Trade Show, the Southern California Regional Trade Show, and a book store in the San Fernando valley. Both shows take place in October. I will let you know if I am lucky enough to get booked or a signing.

I am grateful for those of you who have been following and advising me on this journey toward publication. It has been at times both daunting and exhilarating. My very first post lamented that publication was "ten whole months away." Now we're just three months from publication, and I am too excited... and nervous. But that's a story for another time. All for now.

Sleep tight, don't let the zombies bite.

Tired

I am tired.

I'm helping out with the rewrites of the scripts for a web series that begins shooting on Saturday. This week I've put my manuscript aside and have been working closely with the director to ensure he has a great script to work from. It's almost 10 at night. I've been at it almost all day, but my day is not over. I am sitting here waiting for the director to email or call me and tell me he has approved the changes I made.

We had an actor fall out (translation--he got a better gig), and today they cast another actor, who's actually a bigger name than the guy who fell out--go figure. And so tomorrow I will have to change all his lines to suit him. Ahh, Hollywood. I love it *through gritted teeth*

The rest of this week is pretty much shot as far as completing the first Hollyweird book goes. I suppose some of this stuff is research for Hollyweird, and that's good. And at the end of the day, I am writing. I am a professional writer. I am achieving my childhood dream. And somewhere in all this mess, it's fun.

Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be on the set 6:30 Saturday morning. I like getting up early... like 6:30. For me, that's early. But to be on the set at 6:30, fueled by enough coffee so that I'm not a walking zombie, means getting up at like 5:00. FIVE AM!!! Do the three exclamation marks scream my point? Ugh! Like I said... chalk it up to research.

Sleep tight all. Me, I am waiting for changes. And I'm tired.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Last night I had dinner with my good friend Robin, whom I chose to select the names of the winners in the Zombie Love t-shirt contest. She picked the winners out of a hat. The names are now posted on my website. Why not drop by and click on the photo of Robin, with her hand in the hat, to see if you or a friend has won. http://evanlowe.com/ I had to click the refresh button a few times to get the page to show up properly. So if you're still getting the old home page that says Contests, try refreshing it.

Thanks to all of you who participated. I had a fun time with the contest, and now have lots of new subscriber friends to share my journey with. For those of you who didn't win, I have a really neat zombie photo contest starting in a few weeks, and the prizes are awesome. So stay tuned.

... don't let the zombies bite.

BEA

Today is the first official day of Book Expo America being held at the Javits Center in New York. For Those of us who love books and authors, BEA is the Superbowl. Meg Cabot spoke this morning at the Children's Book and Author Breakfast. Those of you who have been following me from the beginning know how I feel about Meg Cabot. Man, I wish I was there. I feel like the kid who goes to the Garden to watch the Knicks and says to himself 'one day... one day'. For a complete listing of the BEA schedule go here BEA website.

While I am not at BEA, hob-knobbing with book lovers and authors, I am still going to spend some time today talking about one of my great loves--books. I took a few books with me when we went on vacation--to Atlantis in The Bahamas. It was a beautiful place, but it rained every day we were there, which is why there are no photos of me outdoors. The rain gave me plenty of time to read... and discover my favorite new (new to me) TV show, Jon And Kate Plus Eight.

The first book I read The Brightest Moon of the Century, is the first novel by my friend and fellow USC Professional Writing alum, Christopher Meeks. It follows the life of Edward from childhood, until he has children of his own. My favorite part is when Minnesotan, Edward, and a friend decide to manage a mini mart in a trailer park in Alabama. They take the job without ever having visited the place, and go to Alabama looking for adventure... And boy do they find it. This is a terrific read, a fun yet touching book. If you'd like to purchase the book or see some reviews Click here: Amazon.com: The Brightest Moon of the Century: Christopher Meeks: Books

Another book I read is the Pulitzer Prize winning. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. Wow! What a truly amazing book. It's the sad story of overweight day dreamer, Oscar, and the de Leon family from The Dominican Republic, now settled in New Jersey. I bought this book last year and just go around to reading it. I caution you that at times it's quite sad, but it is the best book I've read in a long time. Click here: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz - Penguin Group (USA)

And so with vacation over, and books on the brain, I head off to do some writing of my own.

Sleep tight, don't let the zombies bite.

I Have A Publicist

While I was away, I got an email introducing Amber, the publicist Tor has assigned to Never Slow Dance With A Zombie. In the email Amber asked if I'd mind doing a local signing or two in early September. Mind? I'd give my left arm (of course then I couldn't sign anything, I'm left handed, but you get my drift) to be sitting in a book store in early September signing MY BOOK. Hello? I wrote back quickly that I was indeed available for signings. My reply was very subdued, and not the HELLZ YEAH! that was bubbling in my brain.

Wow. So now I'm a published author who may have a local signing or two coming up. Amber also said, and this is a direct quote: I’ve also check out your website, and it is honestly one of the best YA author websites out there- Bravo! Did Amber just tell me my website rocks? She's right, you know (Thank you, Tatiana). And if you haven't checked it out yet, please do Click here: E. Van Lowe. There's a subscription contest on right now that ends Sunday, a very cool photo contest to follow, and in the next few weeks I am going to post an outtake from Never Slow Dance With A Zombie.

The outtakes are things I liked that my editor asked me to cut (Take that, Susan... just kidding). There are just a few that I really loved. Cutting them did make the book tighter. And now you'll get to see my lopped off babies between now and September on my website.

Back when I had my autograph dilemma on which panel to sign, the very talented writer and blogger, Samantha (Wuthering Life) suggested I go out and buy myself a fancy, pretentious book-signing pen. At the time I laughed. But you know what, if I'm going to be at a signing in public I probably shouldn't use the cheap hotel pen I used on the ARCs. However, I'm not off to buy a pen just yet. Let Amber book a signing or two first. For now, I'll just bask in the glory that I have a publicist... while I get back to work on Hollyweird.

For those of you who have been trying to guess from the photos where we went on vacation--tomorrow. Until then...

Sleep tight, don't let the zombies bite.

Where's E? #3

More fishies.