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HALF PAST DEAD – FREE for Kindle & Nook!

Looks like they’ve got the ebook version of HALF PAST DEAD for FREE on both the Amazon and B&N site for a limited time. Get it now if you haven’t already!

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Half-Past-Dead-ebook/dp/B002ZFGK34

B&N link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Half-Past-Dead/Zoe-Archer/e/9780758256058

And don’t forget – A DARKER SHADE OF DEAD – has just been released! It’s the second in the zombie novels. For those of you who like to read in order, the series is as follows:

1. HALF PAST DEAD (novella titled Simon Says)

2. ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD

3. THE BEAST WITHIN (novella titled Smoke on the Water)

4. A DARKER SHADE OF DEAD

5. DEAD ALERT (to be released mid-2011)

A DARKER SHADE OF DEAD

Looks like my “November” release is already out! Wow! I didn’t expect that, but when I visited the Amazon page for it, I noticed it said it was already available. Weird, huh? So if you were wating for it – or even if you weren’t – go check it out!

Publishers Weekly gave it a really nice review too. They said, in part: “Zombie fighters find love in the light, sexy sequel to April 2010′s Once Bitten, Twice Dead….plenty of zombie action and steamy romance…”

And review phenom, Harriet Klausner, said: “Zombie fever fans will enjoy this entertaining romantic urban fantasy in which, as she did in Once Bitten, Twice Dead (whose leads support this tale), Bianca D’Arc refreshingly (and shockingly) has two humans fall in love. The story line is fast-paced…Readers will want to join the scientist and the soldier at the front trying to prevent a zombie pandemic even as they fall in love.”

Here’s the official blurb:

Intrigue, terrifying betrayals, and a dangerously commanding hero make Bianca D’Arc’s newest paranormal romance an irresistible temptation…

Tapped for a classified military program, Dr. Eileen McCormick has nothing left to lose. Bad enough her genetic experiments were used to turn innocent victims into zombies; worse still, a ruthless ex-colleague is threatening to expose her unless she joins his sinister research project. Now the only way she can set things right is to develop an antidote under the watchful blue eyes of Commander Matt Sykes. And the last thing Eileen needs is Matt’s penetrating gaze, easy understanding, and compelling kiss uncovering all her deepest secrets…

Matt has a sixth-sense for lies as well as danger, and Eileen promises plenty of both. She’s the only person who can eradicate the zombie virus before it reaches epidemic proportions, but he still can’t let her passionate determination affect his steely cool… or keep him from discovering where her true loyalties lie. But as the clock ticks down, Matt and Eileen’s uneasy trust may be their only way to avert catastrophe – if it doesn’t get them killed first…

You can get it now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble as well as most other online book stores. It should also be showing up in bookstores soon. The official release date was November 1st, so maybe they’ll be shelved around that time. I’d love to know if you see them in your local book store, so drop me a line if you do!

Lost Traditions

I’ve spent a lot of time these past months thinking about life, the universe and everything as Douglas Adams would have said. Recently, I’ve been doing research into the tradition of mourning. In our fast-paced modern world, it seems like if someone in your family dies, everyone else around you is assuming that after the funeral is over, you should just pick up and move on with your life. You’re supposed to go to work, go about your normal activities as if nothing happened. It’s all about YOU. As if that person had no impact at all on your life. As if there’s no gaping hole – no mortal wound in your own soul.

And I guess, for many people, that’s true. I’ve encountered many, many, many people whose sole focus is on their own lives and doings. Heck, I even have a number of them in my own family. My mother died and everyone but myself and my father were able to just keep chugging along in their own little lives, as if nothing really happened. Oh well. She’s gone. But enough about her, let’s talk more about ME.

We lost our matriarch. And she was that in every sense of the word. She was the glue that held our little family together. That role has fallen on my shoulders a bit and I chafe at the responsibility, but if I don’t make the effort nobody else will. Yet, I don’t really feel like doing ANYTHING lately. Once upon a time, less than a year ago, I was churning out books and enjoying the early bloom of my writing career. I was writing at a record pace and loving every minute of my busy schedule. Now, it’s a chore to get up every morning – to remember that she’s gone and face a world without her in it and try to struggle through another day.

I know part of this is depression. And part of this is good, old fashioned grief. Which is where the tradition of mourning comes in. I think our ancestors had it right. If you lost someone important in your life and were able to devote the time to it – meaning if you were of a sufficient economic class so as not to have to go to work each day – you were expected to spend at least a year in mourning. You would wear black and refrain from social activities like parties and balls. Depending on the culture there were varrying rules, but the basic idea is similar.

First of all, since losing my Mom, I can tell you it hasn’t been any kind of a hardship to refrain from partying. I don’t want to do anything. I have no energy. And the things that were fun before seem pointless now. I had to force myself to go to the few conferences I went to this year and they weren’t much fun. I would rather have hidden at home, watching TV or playing on the computer in an endless effort at distraction from my sorrowful thoughts.

Wearing black was a sinch too. I’m a native New Yorker and always wore a lot of black anyway, but I remember dressing the day after my mother died – Christmas Eve, it was – and I consciously thought “I’m going to wear black all the time now.” It felt right. Respectful. How could I wear bright, cheerful colors when my best friend had been taken from me? When my heart was broken. When part of my soul had left. I didn’t feel like wearing any sort of colors at all. I put away my whites, yellows, reds and brighter colored shirts and found a stash of black shirts my Mom had bought (she dressed similar to the way I do) but had never used. I’ve been wearing them ever since. I even put away my blue jeans and traded them for black. If I wear any colors, they are dark ones – forest green or dark purple. Colors of sadness.

Mourning makes sense to me. At least these parts of it. Wearing dark colors seems both respectful and appropriate for me. I’m not saying other people should do this. Not unless they feel it. Adhering to these traditions when they don’t resonate with you isn’t worth doing. For me, this works.

I remember a story from my mother’s family, where tales of psychic events abound. My grandmother, as a small child, saw her father’s spirit on the night he died at sea. She told her mother the next morning and without further evidence, my great-grandmother immediately pulled down the shades and went into mourning. She knew in her heart that her husband was gone. A Belgian pilot, he’d gone down with his ship in a storm the night before. The family went into mourning out of respect for their lost patriarch.

Having worked a high-pressure job in Manhattan for several years, I know for a fact I could not have handled that sort of schedule after the loss of my mother. She was my rock. My foundation. My heart and soul. If I’d had to depend on a 9-5 job for my living, I’m fairly certain I could not have pulled it off. Being a writer, my flexible schedule made it easy to drop everything and nurse her when she needed me most. And it’s given me some lattitude to grieve. I thank God every day that I made the leap to writing. I didn’t know how badly I would need that flexibility and I truly feel I was guided into this kind of work so that I could be there for my Mom. I know many people are not so fortunate and my heart goes out to them.

But as for mourning… I think it’s a tradition that makes sense for those, like me, who’ve lost someone who was so central to our lives that their loss nearly incapacitates us for an extended length of time. It makes sense to refrain from too much activity when your mental energy is so low and depression and grief are your constant companions. I’m not saying it’s good to wallow in self-pity, but giving yourself time and space to grieve is a good thing. And the symbolism of wearing black is a quirk that works for me. It may not work for others, but I’m into symbolism.

Speaking of which, there was often a period when people would go into half-mourning, where ladies could wear grey or lavender to signify that they were still in mourning, but perhaps nearing the end of the mourning period. Perhaps it was a way to ease back into society. Perhaps the symbolism allowed those around them to know when to push and when to leave someone alone. That obvious reminder of stark black must’ve been quite shocking in Victorian England or France before the Terror. Nowadays, black is fashionable, so that particular effect is lost, but the inward symbolism still appeals to me.

Just For Fun

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Just For Fun

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Vote for Lisa!

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to introduce you to my mentee in the Writing With The Stars contest sponsored by RT Magazine and Kensingtong Brava. Her name is Lisa Kessler and her book is called MOONLIGHT – and it needs your votes to get to the next round! Here’s a little blog from Lisa so you can get to know her…

Hi everyone –

The day I got the call from Megan Records at Kensington that Moonlight was a finalist in the Writing with the Stars contest, I was shocked, and for a little while all I could do was wonder how she got my cell phone number. (Yep, I’m a dork.)

Anyway, once blood flowed back into my brain, I remembered I would be assigned a “mentor” to partner up with me for the finals. When I asked about my mentor, Megan replied, “I can’t tell you yet, but she’s fabulous! Really great!”

And Megan was completely right!

When I met Bianca I was so excited! Not only did she write in my genre, but she seemed to really “get” my book. As we churned through the challenges, her editing suggestions were spot-on and by the time we were done, I was proud of the work we did.

But Moonlight needs your votes in order to make it to the next challenge.

It’s nerve-wracking, wondering how the voting is going, but at the same time it’s also a really cool path to publication. I feel like it’s a huge team effort. I wrote the novel, and I gave Adam and Lana a story to share, but in order for the dream to become an actual book, I need your help…

You can vote for Moonlight here…

http://www.rtbookreviews.com/content/writing-stars-vote-first-paragraph-and-last-line

It’s super easy! No registering, no entering your email address, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click for Moonlight… Simple!

I can’t thank Bianca enough for all her time and support!!!

And thank you for caring about a dream and voting!

See you next month for the 2nd round… I hope!

Lisa

Time To Vote for Lisa!

Kensington is sponsoring a contest for new writers in conjunction with RT Magazine called Writing With The Stars. I’m one of the mentors that is assigned to each of the new writers. I was lucky enough to be paired up with Lisa Kessler and her paranormal romance called MOONLIGHT. We’d both love it if you went over to the contest page and registered your vote!

http://www.rtbookreviews.com/content/writing-stars-vote-first-paragraph-and-last-line

There will be a new vote each month, so please help her make it to the next round! Thanks!

Just For Fun

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Just For Fun

Their tails make a heart.

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