The horror/supernatural/paranormal genre isn’t just for adults; kids also like to play in that sandbox. For that reason, I like to include both children’s and YA authors for the younger crowd (and readers who prefer a more kinder, gentler type of horror) in Bad Moon. As a zombie fan (anyone catch The Walking Dead last night?), I burst out in laughter when I first read the premise of this author’s book. What if you were a zombie – but vegetarian? Victoria Zigler and Vinnie are here today to brighten up your Monday!

Would you rather sleep in a coffin for one night or spend the night in a haunted house?

Spend the night in a haunted house for sure.  I hate the thought of being trapped in something like a coffin even for a short time.  I’ve even made it known among my family that I want to be cremated rather than buried when I die, because I hate the thought of ending up in a coffin – dead or alive.  But a haunted house… Well, that I could deal with.

I’m a firm believer in ghosts, having had encounters in the past.  However, half the time the hauntings aren’t real anyhow.  But even if they were, I’d much rather put up with a ghost for the night – even one with anger management issues, who causes all sorts of awful things to happen during that night – than be trapped in a coffin for even a few minutes.  Yeah, that’s how much I hate the idea of being in a coffin.  Besides, I’ve slept in haunted houses before.  Perhaps not the kind you’re thinking of from horror novels, but I’ve lived in places with ghosts in the building.  So, like I said, haunted house for sure.

Has a movie or book scared you so much you couldn’t sleep?  Which one?

This is very rare.  Mostly I don’t scare easily.  You’re talking to someone who watched “Nightmare on Elm Street” as a child, and “The Exorcist” as a teenager, without any problems going straight to bed afterwards.  Like I said, I don’t scare easily.

Having said that, there have been a couple of books that actually managed to scare me.  “Dark Matter” by Michelle Paver scared me so much I had nightmares during what sleep I actually got for days afterwards.  I’ve re-read it since, and it gets me every time.  “Thin Air” by Michelle Paver came close to following in its footsteps, and Teri Polen’s “Sarah” is one of the few other books to actually scare me (though Teri didn’t scare me quite as much as Michelle did… Sorry, Teri, but you came close, and that’s quite an achievement).

Would you rather put your hand in a box and feel something slimy or furry?

Furry.  Definitely furry! There are so many gross things that “slimy” could mean, and some of them I’d rather not even think about, let alone touch.  “Furry” is much more likely to be something pleasant.  Of course, there are no guarantees, but still.  Plus, at least if the furry thing is gross, I probably won’t be covered in nasty goo from touching it, which I definitely will be if the box contains something slimy.

If you had to give up snacks or drinks during writing sessions, which would be more difficult?

Drinks.  I don’t actually snack while writing.  I sometimes use getting snacks as an excuse to get up from the computer for a bit, and the rest of the time don’t even bother with a snack break (especially if the dogs, phone, etc, have been disturbing me a lot, and I’m trying to make the most of the time before something interrupts me again).  So giving up snacks would be easy.  But I like to have something to drink nearby, so it would be a harder habit to break.

*takes sip of tea before continuing*

 Do you write to music?

No.  It doesn’t matter if someone else has it on, or if there’s TV on, or whatever though.  I’m not one of those people who needs noise – or lack of it – to write.  I’m one of those people who can generally just tune out whatever else is going on around me and write, or listen to it and still focus on my writing, depending on which I want/need to do at any given time.  I say, “Generally,” because there are times it doesn’t work, and even I have my limits as to how much I can filter out.  But mostly I can do this.  If only I had the same control over the filtering of internal noise as I do external noise, and could pick and choose when and what my mind was focused on… Ah well, nobody’s perfect, and you can’t have everything.

 What was the hardest scene to write in your featured book?

The final scene.  I wanted to show what happened to both Vinnie and Annie at the end, but had to be careful with how I did so.  Partially because it’s a children’s story officially, and you have to be more delicate with that kind of thing in a children’s story, and partially because I’d taken pains to show that Vinnie wasn’t just another zombie out for brains, and had to take that in to account as well, which added an extra reason to tread carefully with what happens and how.

I can’t explain more clearly without spoilers, but if you read the book, hopefully you’ll see what I mean.  Perhaps you’ll even think I handled it well.  I sure hope that’s what you think anyhow.  But you’ll have to buy the book so you can judge that for yourself.

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 Links

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

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Author Bio

Victoria Zigler is a blind vegan poet and children’s author who was born and raised in the Black Mountains of Wales, UK, and is now living on the South-East coast of England, UK, with her hubby, chinchilla, Westie, Cavapoo, and Hermann’s Tortoise.

Victoria – or Tori, if you prefer – has been writing since she knew how, and 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.

To date, Tori has published nine poetry books and 46 children’s books, with more planned for the future.  She makes her books available in multiple eBook formats, as well as in both paperback and audio.  She’s also contributed a story to the sci-fi and fantasy anthology Wyrd Worlds II, which is available in eBook only.

Additionally, Tori’s Hermann’s Tortoise, Artemis, was featured in both the Magnificent Pets Coloring Book For Children and the Magnificent Pets Mandala Coloring Book For Adults, which are available via Praise My Pet.

Social Media

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 online retailers.

Just a short post today.  My oldest son was here for a few days and instead of working on today’s post on Sunday per usual, I spent most of the day with him playing Xbox, catching Pokemon, and watching him play Friday the 13th (video game).  Saturday night, my youngest son was able to come for board games and dinner, so having both of them here was the best Mother’s Day gift I could ask for.  Well – that and the chocolate they gave me.  Have a great week and take care!

 

This weekend was a fun one.  Hubby and I had game night courtesy of Zoom with friends on Saturday.  We played Scattergories and Taboo while drinking our beverage of choice and laughed for two hours.  These are friends we get together with regularly, but times being what they are, we’ve really missed spending time with them.  Besides the games, we caught up with each other, talked about our kids (who are all close friends), and poked fun at quarantine beards.  A fantastic way to spend a Saturday night.

Y’all West, a young adult book festival more recently renamed Y’all Stay Home, was this weekend.  It was virtual (the new norm), and I watched two panels – Suckage is Part of Writing and Worldbuilding Beyond Wikipedia.  The first was moderated by Jay Kristoff – I’m so excited for the second book of his Aurora Rising series releasing next month!  His co-author of that series, Amie Kaufman, was also on the panel.  The second was moderated by Roshani Chokshi, author of The Gilded Wolves series – one of my favs.  Basically, all the authors admitted their first drafts suck – but that’s normal.  If you don’t get anything on the page, there’s nothing to edit and improve.  World-building is always interesting to me.  Where do writers begin?  How much do they research?  To what extent do they build?  Listening to other authors discuss their process always inspires me.

In honor of World Book Day, my publisher, Black Rose Writing, is having a 50% off sale on any order from their website HERE through May 3rd.  With a variety of genres, there’s something for everyone.  Use code IMAGINE50 to get the discount.

Take care and stay healthy!

How’s everyone doing – hanging in there?  We’re keeping busy here.  Spent the weekend pressure washing, mowing, finishing up the garage, and mopping the screened porch.  Bicycles that hadn’t been ridden in years were dragged out and ridden through the neighborhood – and that seat isn’t any more comfortable than the last time I rode it.  Still, it was a gorgeous weekend and nice to get out of the house.

My book club met last week!  On Zoom, of course.  We had about 14 members, and it was so good to see everyone and talk about books.  The first thirty minutes were spent just catching up and checking in on how everyone’s doing.  And our furry friends got to attend this meeting!  Dogs, cats, and one ceramic cat (she keeps plants, not pets) made appearances.  Bond was camera shy, which surprised me a little.  And there was wine (we usually meet at the library)!  The book topic this month was to read a retelling.  My choice was The Traitor Prince by C.J. Redwine – a retelling of an Arabian tale entitled The False Prince.  After more than two hours, fun was had by all and spirits were lifted.  And we plan to do it again next month – maybe even sooner.

Like most people, I’ve been getting a good bit of reading done.  This is probably the first time I’ve ever been ahead on my Goodreads challenge!  I haven’t made any progres on the sequel to Subject A36, but it’s coming.  I’m setting aside a couple hours tomorrow to read over what I wrote for NaNo.  It’s time my characters and I became reacquainted.

Stay safe and take care!

Hubby and I finally started on the garage this weekend and got a section cleaned out.  We discovered a huge Christmas tree storage bag, but where it came from is a complete mystery to both of us.  It’s brand new, still in the wrapper.  Maybe Santa just left it in the wrong spot his last trip here.  We also found serving platters/trays of unknown origins.  No idea where they came from.  One thing I came across was an olive oil dipping set given to me years ago by a dear friend who passed away recently.  That’s something I’ll treasure.

A friend and I donated blood last week.  We honestly didn’t know what to expect as far as turnout.  Would people take a chance and leave their homes?  Was social distancing even possible in that situation?  I was thrilled to discover people in our community showed up.  The Red Cross turned us away from the first place because they were so busy, but the second location was able to fit us in.  With only a few employees working, folks had to wait a little longer, but no one minded.  Everyone was in good spirits and seemed happy they could do something to help.  Traffic was steady while we were there, and chairs were placed far enough apart that social distancing wasn’t a problem.  Cookies and a juice box were waiting for me when it was over!

Ozark season 3 dropped on Netflix last week, so that’s on my viewing schedule for this week.  I had my doubts about the first few episodes of last season, but then the story took turns I didn’t expect, so I’m really excited to see what happens.

Take care and stay healthy!

With most of us hanging close to home, both adults and kids may find themselves bored.  For us introverts, not so much.  I have a list of things I’ve been meaning to get to, and now looks like the perfect time.

Read books and more books (seriously, you had to see this one coming).  Maybe I can finally make a serious dent in the TBR pile.  Less errands to run = more time to curl up with good reads.

Clear out the Netflix list.  I’ve added several things I want to watch (still haven’t gotten to Witcher) but haven’t had time to get to.  I just noticed they added a second season of Altered Carbon, and season 3 of Ozark drops March 27th.  With Disney+, I’m still trying to watch The Mandalorian – technical difficulties have prevented my viewing so far.  ESPN+ is no problem – hubby and I are making our way through Peyton’s Places and loving it.

Our garage and storage area could use a good cleaning out.  We’re not hoarders by any means, but the boys have stashed sports equipment and art supplies they no longer need/use in the garage, college moves have resulted in unused/unwanted furniture, and hubby could probably open a golf store with what he has on the shelves.  Old Christmas decorations and some toys could be removed from the storage area.  Last time I was up there, I discovered the youngest son had added several boxes without telling us.  We just thought he finally cleaned out his bedroom.  Should have known better.

Don’t even get me started on the yard.  I bought weed killer a couple weeks ago, but we’ve had so much rain I haven’t been able to spray.  We also lost several bushes over the winter that need to be dug up, and others need to be trimmed.

The list goes on, but I won’t bore you with everything.

Last week before everyone hunkered down, the oldest son and I saw Ben Affleck’s new movie, The Way Back.  Affleck turned in a fantastic performance, and the story contained both comedic moments with the high school boys he coached and heartfelt situations involving his struggle with alcohol addiction and grief over the loss of a child.  We’d both recommend it.

Have a great week and wash those hands!

Happy Friday 13th!  Some people may be wary of these Fridays, but when you have a son born on a Friday 13th and a black cat, I think they only bring good things my way.

Subject A36 has been featured on a couple of blogs recently, and I wanted to include the links here.  The first was an interview with sci-fi and fantasy author Phoebe Darqueling about world-building HERE.  While you’re there, take a look at Phoebe’s books.  Her latest release is No Rest for the Wicked, a historical fantasy novel.

The second came as a wonderful surprise to me on this dreary Friday morning.  I’m Featured On the Reef at Sarah Brentyn’s blog HERE.  If you haven’t read her books of short fiction/flash fiction, don’t deprive yourself any longer.  What Sarah conveys in so few words is astounding.  Also being a lover of chocolate, cheese, and wine, she’s good people.

I’ve mentioned my cat, Bond, many times here, and if you follow my Instagram, you’ve seen him in countless humorous poses and situations.  Today, he’s finally getting the attention and fame he deserves (his words, not mine) on Tori Zigler’s blog.  Lilie, her Westie, is interviewing Bond for Friends of Furkid Friday.  Hop over to read their interview HERE.  While you’re there, check out Tori’s extensive collection of children’s books and other interviews with authors’ furry friends.  And Happy Valentine’s Day!