#BadMoonRising Vinnie the Vegetarian by Victoria Zigler #childrensbooks #zombie

On By Teri PolenIn Bad Moon Rising

BMR isn’t just for adults. I always enjoy featuring books for a variety of ages, and this isn’t the first time this one has been promoted here. As a big zombie fan, I adore the idea of one being a vegetarian – what a twist! The author is certain she and her main character would get along – it’s a win/win for both of them. Welcome Victoria Zigler!

Would you rather dunk for apples or carve a Jack o’ lantern?

I’d rather carve a jack-o-lantern.  In fact, I carve one most years (even the years we lived several floors up in an apartment where no trick-or-treaters were even slightly likely to show up).  But I have issues with things being near my face, so the one time I did bob for apples I didn’t find it even slightly fun, and I’m definitely in no hurry to do it again.  So, I think I’ll stick to carving my Mr. Pumpkin-Heads, which is what each jack-o-lantern has been called since I wrote the poem “Mr. Pumpkin-Head” back in 2008.  And, just for fun, here’s the poem:

Mr. Pumpkin-Head

© 2008 Victoria “Tori” Zigler

In a pumpkin patch

Near a big red barn

Looking out over the fields

Of a very big farm

Lived Mr Pumpkin-Head

All day he’d sit in the pumpkin patch

Wishing he could do something good

“If only,” he said to himself one night

“Pumpkins could be more than just food.”

Then one day, when the air was chilly

And the trees were almost bare

Someone came to the pumpkin patch

Who’d never before been seen there

She was just a child – no more than six

With hair the colour of gold

Wearing a pretty little pink coat

To protect herself from the cold

She looked at Mr Pumpkin-Head

And all his friends in the ground

Then knelt beside Mr Pumpkin-Head

Making hardly a sound

She put her hand upon him

And smiling said, “You’ll do!

You’re coming home with me, you are.

I’ll make a jack-o-lantern out of you!”

And now…

In the window sill

Of a little house

Looking out of the window

Beside an ornamental mouse

Sits Mr Pumpkin-Head

His smile may be carved on

But inside he’s grinning too

For he thinks a Jack-O-Lantern is

A great job for a pumpkin to do

That’s why you’ll never see a pumpkin smile

As wide as Mr Pumpkin-Head

Candy apple or candy corn?

I’ve never had candy corn.  The closest we have over here is sweet popcorn that’s basically caramel or toffee sauce allowed to set on popcorn, and I’m not a huge fan of it to be honest.  I’m told candy corn is loads better, and it probably is, but I’m still going with candy apples, because I know I love those.

If you watch horror movies, are you the person who yells at the characters, covers your eyes, or falls asleep?

None of the above.  Well, unless I’m really tired, and then I might fall asleep, but that can happen with any kind of movie if I’m tired enough, even movies I love.  Usually though I’m the person sitting quietly observing, and sometimes also wondering what I’d do if I was the person currently on screen and in the same situation.  I’m not sure if it’s the writer in me, the fact I don’t find most horror movies scary, or something else, but it’s what I generally end up doing.  Don’t get me wrong, I love horror movies.  I just don’t see any reason to attempt to hide from what’s on the screen, and know the only thing yelling at the characters will achieve is to make me potentially miss hearing something that may be happening on screen (and since, being blind, I rely on my hearing to know what’s going on, that would be a very bad thing).

Would you and your main character get along?

I expect so.  Vinnie and I both love our veggies, so I’d have plenty of them on hand that he could help himself to if he showed up at my house, which would make him one happy zombie.  And not being zombie-chow would make me happy too; as I’m sure you can appreciate.  Both of us being happy while enjoying some fresh fruits and veggies sounds like getting along to me.  What do you think?

Which book have you read more than once?

There are several I’ve read more than once, some in particular I consider favourites so constantly re-read.  I’ve read the entire “Harry Potter” series so many times I’ve lost count.  In fact, I’m just finishing up my latest re-read of that series.  I’ve also read Michelle Pavers “Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness” series and her book “Dark Matter” a couple of times.  Oh, and Jean M Auel’s “Earth’s Children” series and Bernard Cornwall’s “Stonehenge” are favourites of mine I’ve read too many times to count as well.  There are others, but I think that’s enough to be getting on with.

What are you working on now?

The last two years haven’t been the best when it comes to writing progress for me, though I did manage to write enough poetry to publish some new poetry collections earlier this year.  I had some genuine reasons for a lot of the time, but then procrastination took over.  The result being that I’ve got a load of stories I’ve started, which I’d hoped to make decent progress on this year, but it hasn’t happened.  So, what I’m actually working on right now is tackling my procrastination issues, which formed when I let genuine reasons become excuses, and allowed too much time to go by before forcing myself to put my butt back in the chair and get to work.  The trouble is, I keep getting… Ooohhh… Shiny!

When Vinnie the zombie smashes his way in to the fruit and vegetable shop where six year old Annie is waiting in hiding for her Mother to come back for her, Annie isn’t sure what to do.  But Vinnie isn’t like other zombies.  A vegetarian in life, it looks like Vinnie may also be one in death, and it may not be Annie who’s in danger after all.

Purchase Link

Audible: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Children/Vinnie-the-Vegetarian-Zombie-Audiobook/B07CX44QY6

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/459076

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vinnie-the-vegetarian-zombie-victoria-zigler/1119982818

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/vinnie-the-vegetarian-zombie

Chapters-Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/vinnie-the-vegetarian-zombie/9781311948908-item.html

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/vinnie-the-vegetarian-zombie/id900774428

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/audiobook/vinnie-the-vegetarian-zombie-unabridged/id1383256619

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Vinnie-Vegetarian-Zombie-Victoria-Zigler/1512324256/

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/d/cka/Vinnie-Vegetarian-Zombie-Victoria-Zigler/1512324256/

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/d/cka/Vinnie-Vegetarian-Zombie-Victoria-Zigler/1512324256/

The Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Vinnie-Vegetarian-Zombie-Victoria-Zigler/9781512324259

Author Bio and Social Media

Victoria Zigler is a blind vegan poet and children’s author.  Born and raised in the shadow of the Black Mountains of Wales, UK, she moved away from Wales three times: once to spend six months living in Alberta, Canada, the other times to spend a few years living near Hastings on the South-East coast of England, UK, each time returning to Wales.  Now she lives in Wales again, along with a chinchilla named Mollie, a West Highland White Terrier named Lilie, a Cavapoo named Logan, a Hermann’s Tortoise named Artemis, and her Canadian husband, Kelly.

Despite spending far too much time in hospital, and eventually losing her sight to Congenital Glaucoma, Victoria – or Tori, if you prefer – has been writing since she knew how, with no plans to stop any time soon.  So far she has published 11 poetry books and 46 children’s books.  Tori is also a contributor of the sci-fi and fantasy anthology Wyrd Worlds II, as well as the Poetry Treasures anthology.  Additionally, her Hermann’s Tortoise, Artemis, was featured in both the Magnificent Pets Coloring Book For Children and the Magnificent Pets Mandala Coloring Book For Adults.

Vegan due to both a love for animals and dairy allergy, as well as an Eclectic Pagan, Tori describes herself as a combination of Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter books: Hermione’s thirst for knowledge and love of books, combined with Luna’s wandering mind and alternative way of looking at the world.  She has a wide variety of interests, designed to exercise both the creative and logical sides of her brain, and dabbles in them at random depending on what she feels like doing at any given time, but is most likely to be found playing with her petkids, curled up somewhere with a cup of tea and a book, or trying to keep one step ahead of those pesky typo fairies while writing her own books.

Links:

Website: http://www.zigler.co.uk

Blog: https://ziglernews.blogspot.co.uk

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/toriz

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-Zigler/424999294215717

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/victoriazigler

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCakYxH7BNyc2Lxr1g1nbP9w

Find Tori’s books on…

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/toriz

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Victoria-Zigler/e/B00BHS9DQ6/

…Along with a variety of other retailers, such as Audible, iTunes, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble.

63 thoughts on “#BadMoonRising Vinnie the Vegetarian by Victoria Zigler #childrensbooks #zombie”

  6. What a lovely interview, Teri and Victoria. The poem is just too cute and I love what Victoria said about how she watches movies. I find myself doing the same thing, so yes, I think it’s the writer in us. 🙂 Thank you for sharing!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  7. I love that Vinnie is a vegetarian zombie. ❤️. How fresh and original! And, I too have reread the whole Harry Potter series multiple times. Each time I feel like I understand the complexities of Snape a little better (oddly enough).

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    1. Victoria Zigler

      Thanks, Miriam. Yes, I can also imagine why they wrote it the way they did. I’ve actually had conversations with my hubby after a movie where he’s said it’s stupid a character did something when they should have done something else, and I’ve replied that, “Logically, that makes sense, and I would have done this instead of that myself. But what they did makes sense for the kind of character, and also for where the plot was heading, so I can see why that happened.” LOL!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Your response to your hubby was exactly right, Victoria. We do see some real people with illogical decisions though. I didn’t understand some of my friends’ decisions. But when they’re in the middle of the situation, they may not think logically. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply
        1. Victoria Zigler

          Exactly. And that’s where character personalities and types come in, since it depends on the type of character to how they’d react, or how logical they could manage to be under certain circumstances.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  18. Wonderful getting to know more about Tori, Teri. (Say that last bit fast a few times! 😁) And I absolutely love the concept of a vegetarian zombie! Perfect for children’s books. Maybe even a series of them?

    Sorry I’m late, but Real Life has been getting in the way of my blogging this week. Will be catching up as soon as I can!

    Great post, Tori, and fun poem, too! 🤗💗

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    1. Victoria Zigler

      Thanks, Marcia. Unfortunately, I don’t see Vinnie’s story becoming part of a series. However, I do have an idea I’m playing with – which I’ll hopefully actually work on one of these days – I hope will be as popular. And no worries. I know how it is when life gets in the way.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  19. Pingback: #BadMoonRising – Post 14 Featuring Victoria Zigler and 15 Featuring Michael Scott Hopkins | The Write Stuff

  20. alexcraigie

    The concept and the cover for Vinnie are wonderful, Tori! Like many of the others, i found your ‘oooh….shiny’ wickedly funny and tragically familiar! Also great to see a fellow compatriot from Cymru here!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
    2. Victoria Zigler

      Thanks, Robbie. I’m glad you enjoyed the book. And, as Teri says, you’re unlikely to find people so eager to bob for apples these days, so we’re safe from the yucky activity.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  25. Victoria, loved your poem. Such an interesting interview. you seem to be a seeker, all that travel and adventure overseas. Good luck with your writing and everything and have a fabulous week. Oh, and as a lover of my veggies I am looking anew at them and, I have to say, I am a little scared!! xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Victoria Zigler

      Thanks, Jane. I was much more fond of travelling in the past than I am these days… These days I like to stay home. As for the veggies: just make sure you keep some for if Vinnie comes visiting and you’ll be fine… He’s especially fond of cabbages. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

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