Ellie Heller – Ginny’s Capture

Please welcome a very special friend, Ellie Heller! Ellie is one of the wonderful, funny, and lovely ladies over at the ERAuthors Crit group AND, as of this week, a newbie author at Noble Romance! Her first book, Ginny’s Capture, was released through Noble on February 27th so she’s experiencing all of the joys and excitements of this happy, happy event.

If you don’t know Ellie, it is my pleasure to introduce her to you. 

Ellie, thanks for being here today! Can you tell the readers a little about yourself, when and why did you start writing?

I stated writing in the fifth grade when my english teacher, Mrs. Dora, would put up writing prompts and say we could write either a fiction or non-fiction response. I created a character, an intergalatic space alien, whose story revolved around the prompts. Needless to say the story line had no coherency, but I had a lot of fun.

Does listening to music and/ or looking at images influence on your writing? 

Typically, I don’t like listening to music when I write. Not big on images either, although once I have my characters set in my head, I’ll sometimes look for an image online which matches my mental write-up. My largest influence is odd things I see in everyday life. Like why would a casket company have a barbed wire fence? Why is that cop standing in the paper recyling dumpster sorting through papers? Why would an ambulance stop, lights flashing, in the middle of a forest preserve with no other vehicles around?

Any favorite authors? Who inspired you when you were young? And now?

Wow, favorite authors is hard. I read across a variety of genres. I do, however, have the following authors on my auto-buy list: Sharon Shinn, Tamora Pierce, Julia Quinn and Shelly Laurenston (both as herself and G.A. Aiken).  Inpsiration when I was younger would have been Craig Shaw Gardner, Anne McCaffery, Robin McKinley and Patricia McKillip.  Today, would have to be my father. He started to do print making in his sixties and found his passion for all too breif a time.

Do you ever get stalled in the middle of a story? If so how do you get past it?  

All the fracking time. One, I try NOT to stop stumped. Which means, for me, not staying up late to write that one last scene which is in my head. Wait and write it in the morning. Two, when I can I set the story aside for a week, then look at it with fresh eyes. I try to igure out why the characters are in the place they’re at in the story, and I then ask myself is that where they want/need to be (or am I going to have to redo the whole story line?) Or, more often, do I need this scene or can I skip at and sprinkle in any ‘needed’ information later? For instance, I had started what turned into Ginny’s Capture several times. It wasn’t until someone pointed me in the direction the Lesbian vs Zombie call that I had the ‘aha!’ and realized I had the wrong love interest for her. J

Who has been your favorite character to write to date and why?  

I think that’d be Gert, from Gotta Get Gert, my first ever complete novel (which I don’t ever plan to have see the light of day!). After working on the story for so long and learning so much about her snippy sacrcastic self it’s hard to let her go.  I do have to say, I’m rather fond of many of my heros too. Nic, Monroe, Aiden, Frank, Oh! Wait, I changed my mind. Randall, the Puck, is my favorite ‘cause he’s so innordinately fun to write. The fact that he costumes his barrell shaped body for every encounter is only half of it.

Quick fire questions:

Favorite color:  Red.

Satin or Lace:  Um, I’m a cotton kind of girl, to be honest. Athough, if you’d asked latex or leather…nah, still cotton.

Most attractive part of the body:  Smile.

Pantser or Plotter:  Start out as pantster with an idea/image/scene (see above!), but quickly morph to plotter.

Favorite place to write:  Recliner at home with the dogs nearby.

Thanks so much for playing along with me today Ellie! Before I let you go could you tell everyone what projects you’re working on?

I just had my first ever published story come out from Noble Romance. Ginny’s Capture is a novella from their Lesbian vs Zombie series. A bit of a break of the status quo for me, as I do write stories with lesbian characters, just not typically as the protagonist. And a bit of the same old, same old. Comtemporary fantasy with a romance and happily-ever-after.

The blurb:

Two years ago Deidra Montague royally screwed up with Guinevere. Now Dee secretly works for the fae council, breaking up potential zombie swarms, while Ginny–a mortal–attends grad school, preparing for a career helping survivors of zombie attacks.  Even apart, Dee still watches over Ginny. How could she not, after learning that the woman she betrayed has been blessed as her mate?  Now students from Ginny’s school are dropping out in alarming numbers and turning up infected with the zombie virus. When Dee finds out, she decides it’s time to extract her mate from the mounting peril. Only she arrives to find Ginny in the thick of things, trying to solve the problem herself. Just like old times. With drugged-up zombies everywhere, casket sales on the rise, and saccharine bubblegum pop constantly playing in the background, Dee decides it’s time to lay her heart on the line. Because she’s the only one who’s going to capture Ginny.

Buy Link: https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/399/Ginny’s-Capture

Currently I’m editing, and getting ready to submit, the first book in a seven book romantic contemporary fantasy series.  Hope to have more news on my progress this fall.

Thank you so much having me here today, Renee.  Hanging out with you was a blast as always.

You can find me on the web at http://elliewrites2.wordpress.com I also have been posting frequently on the Lesbian vs Zombie Blog: http://lvsz.wordpress.com .

D. Dye and the Zapocalypse

My guest today is Noble newbie D. Dye, a very talented lady who is also the newest member of the ERAuthors Critique Group. Stay tuned  as she’s giving away some great stuff.

Welcome D. Dye!!!

!!!!!!  NOW AVAILABLE  !!!!!

  

         

 From Noble Romance

https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/393/Zapocalypse–The-Midnight-Special

Zapocalypse-The Midnight Special

 

Blurb:

Who knew that two lesbians stuck in the middle of some hick ass town deep in the swamps of southern Georgia would become local legends, heroes in their own right?

Gina and Ginger sure as hell didn’t.

But that’s exactly what they became the night of The Midnight Special.

Stuck battling backwoods, redneck hypocrites on a nightly basis at the diner was bad, but battling those same inbreds that now happened to be zombies was a whole different breed of stupid.

With their iPods jacked up and some Creedence Clearwater Revival on, that’s just what they’re doing.

Kicking some serious zombie ass!

With half the town, looking out their backdoors, and the other half fearing the bad moon rising, Gina realizes she and Ginger are thrust into a fight for the town as well as their lives.

 

 

Since Zapocalypse-The Midnight Specials  release, I am very proud to say that it hit the #1 Spot on Noble Romance’s Top 10 Weekly Sales List as well as has accumulated some great reviews.

 

 

Find me all around the NetVerse;

www.vitchslair.com or Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/vitch36 or Facebook under Dana Dye here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002828496100&sk=wall

 

Want to WIN something?

 

Well D. Dye has offered up several cool prizes (multiple winners) for simply commenting what your worst ever valentines was? Can be bad-or maybe it was one of those OOPSIE blopper Moments.

Prizes to be passed out include;

 

• Zapocalypse-The Midnight Special (e-book only)
• I-Tunes Gift of (choose one) The Midnight Special, Bad Moon Rising or Looking out my Backdoor.
• Valentines Swag Bag

 

Also, for more fun the L vs Z  gang will be hosting a big Chat and giveaway over at Coffee Time Romance & More on Feb 15^th 9-11:00 pm EST. Also be sure and check out the L vs Z page here: http://lvsz.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/welcome-to-lesbians-vs-zombies/

And follow the Whole Gang on Twitter for more L vs Z updates under…

                         lsbns_vs_zmbis

 

 

 

 

 

K.B. Cutter and the Undead

Little introduction is needed for my guest today. K.B. Cutter was here recently with Margie Church to talk about their up and coming release RAZOR and we had such a great time that he insisted on coming back. 

Ok. I might have asked nicely…  Don’t give me that look… Fine! I might have bribed him with whiskey and a pillow fight, but nothing more than that.

To add to the fun today, K.B. has generously offered up some of his books to a lucky reader who leaves a comment an their email addy. Read through the post for details.

Welcome back K.B. It’s good to have you here today.

Who's got the dollah bills? Ladies?

Hey, Renee, thanks for having me back at your pad. I promise I’ll wear pants while I blo . . .  –looks down-   Sorry. You might have to settle for a snazzy leopard skin Speedo. However, this time I remembered to put the potato in the fron . . .

Right, wrong blog, so sorry.

Any-hoo, I’m here today to discuss my new release, ‘Undead Reflections in a Jaundiced Eye.’  Yes, the title is a bit of a mouthful. To simplify, how ’bout we call it URJE.  Oh. Hmm. Sounds like the name of the guy I called for tech support last weekend.  Right, skip it.  We’ll just call it ‘Undead’ for now.

Speaking of Undead, I originally wrote it for another anthology, an up and coming indie horror publisher, a while back. The story was a tad quirky (okay, more than a ‘tad’) and I opted to go more of a conventional route with another submission. Undead languished on my laptop, tucked away in Word like another can of beans on the grocery shelf.  I meant to finish it and self publish on Amazon Kindle like my other works, Dead Fall and Sins of the Sparrow.  Other projects consumed my time and Undead remained in its Microsoft crypt.

Fast-forward two years.  Ruby Green contacted me, inquiring if I’d like to contribute a zombie story for an anthology to be published by Noble Romance.  The parameters being: Lesbians, Zombies, music and a college type setting.  I was intrigued. The concept was quite original and it gave me an opportunity to resurrect ‘Undead.’

The original hook I was going to use for the horror anthology was the ambiguity of the main character’s gender/sexuality. Told in first-person, I wanted the reader to believe it was a hetero male until a crucial moment in the story. Alas, not meant to be, however, I’m happy to see my tale of a group of misfits holed up in a roadside dive during a Zombie Apocalypse reanimated!

I think it fitting to remind aspiring writers or those who are established, SAVE your stories.  You never know when they might be called upon to lumber out of Cyber Limbo!

I’d like to thank Ruby Green for dreaming up the concept and Jill Noble for taking a risk on publishing a non-traditional romance anthology.  I hope Undead provides readers with enough thrills, chills and shivers of sensual delight as well as some food for thought (no pun intended . . . okay, maybe a little).

It is not your usual Zombie fare or erotic romance.

And that is the way I write it!

Thanks also to Renee for hosting me today. The woman is generous, allowing me to ramble on, ‘cuz you never know what the hell I’m gonna say!

I’d like to share a Blurb and bit of an excerpt from Undead Reflections of a Jaundiced Eye.

Annnnndddd… a little treat to the pithiest comment, a trifecta of terror, PDF copies of my horror stories, some laced with simmering sexuality,deviant lust and bit o’ the red:  Dead Fall, Sins of the Sparrow and Killing Apathy.  Please provide your e-mail addy in the body of your post.

You can peek at my work or the inner workings of my twisted mind at: www.kbcutter.com, where there are links to all of my published work.

Blurb:

An undead infestation can be a real killjoy. For a group of misfit weekend bikers holed up in roadside dive, it is the understatement of the century.  One of them, a jaded misanthrope, examines her life as civilization crumbles.  Will true love finally pierce the cynical veil shrouding her heart before the zombie horde devours her flesh?

Excerpt:

Chapter One

A Zombie Apocalypse can be a real buzz-kill.

The jolly Captain Morgan and I, best mates, we were; however, the buccaneer was playing mischief with my sea legs. I stood with said legs slightly apart, swaying as if the bar’s floor were the wooden deck planks of a pirate sloop.

I spotted my prize leaning against the jukebox, booted foot tapping in rhythm to George Thorogood’s raspy lament of “one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer.” Her treasures, encased in snug tight blue jeans that accentuated the tantalizing curves of her ass, were mine for the plundering. Life was good, damn good at Red’s Roadside Tavern, until one of the locals burst through the door.

The first thing I noticed was his eyes. Aside from an unnervingly vacant stare, his irises bore the milky white of cataract-afflicted orbs. His mouth was a crooked maw of blackened gums and jagged teeth; hair matted to his skull, slick with sweat and rain.

At the time, we had no clue that he–it–was the infected, soon to be walking dead. None of us did.

Christ, who would have?

Buy link:

https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/390/Undead-Reflections