Zombie links!
So, I decided that I should go looking for groups of people interested in zombies to share my short story collections with them, and I found a lot of really cool links to share with you!
First up: a Library Journal roundup of current zombie fiction. 
I’m definitely thinking about picking up a copy of By the Blood of Heroes when it comes out in May.
Next, a couple of zombie discussion forums:
Your Zombie Plan is a place to share and discuss plans for the zombie apocalypse, and other zombie-related topics.
All Things Zombie appears to be exactly what it says, with tons of discussion boards on zombies and horror.
I even found a couple of interesting looking Facebook groups:
The Zombie and Post-Apocalyptic Fan Club and ZombieHub.
Enjoy!
Free Braiiiiins!
Well, free zombie stories, anyway. 
Zombie Variations
Zombies – ravening, mindless monsters? Or just misunderstood?
Zombie Variations collects three short stories from the zombie’s point of view, and three very different types of zombies.
2795 words, ~ 10 pages
Normally $0.99, you can download a free copy in the format of your choice from Smashwords using coupon code YM57T, up until April 27, 2012.
As with the Refuge coupon, (which expires April 23, 2012) feel free to share with friends – if you have time, though, I’d appreciate reviews on Amazon, Smashwords, or Goodreads! Reviews help people who’ve never heard of me to decide whether an e-book is worth spending their time and money on. 
Thanks everyone! I don’t know if I could have made it this far without you!
Happy Easter! Here, have some zombies. :-D
Refuge: Tales from a Zombie Apocalypse is finally published! It’s currently up on Smashwords for $2.99 and pending on Amazon, and B&N should be following some time soonish.
Edit: It’s up on Amazon now too.
When a terrorist attack unleashed a new strain of the bird flu, people worried.
When the resulting pandemic killed millions, it felt like the end of the world.
Then the dead started to rise…
Refuge: Tales from a Zombie Apocalypse collects seven short stories about normal people living in extraordinary times – and how they keep going when everyone who dies rises up to attack the living.
~70 pages
As a thank you to all of you who have helped me keep going since I first started this blog and the Story a Week Challenge, I’ve set up a coupon on Smashwords for you to download a complementary copy in whatever format you prefer. (including .mobi format for Kindle)
Just enter coupon code WW55T at checkout before Monday, April 23rd to get your free copy!
Feel free to share this coupon with friends, family, and anyone you think might enjoy the stories. All I ask is that if you have time, you post a review on Amazon, Smashwords, or Goodreads. Reviews will help people who don’t already know me to decide whether the collection is worth taking a look at.
Tree Lobsters, Dark Matter, and Zombies, oh my!
And zombies…
I’ve finished the last of the stories for Refuge: Tales from a Zombie Apocalyps, for a given value of “finished.” There will be seven stories in total, all set in the same world. The collection includes the long-time favorite “Corpse Pose,” and was, in fact, inspired by it.
I still have major revisions to make on one of the stories, plus a polish for all the others, but I’m hoping to publish the whole shebang next weekend, after getting comments back from a couple of patient, generous, and long-suffering beta-readers.
(If you’d like to join them, and expect to have time this week, shoot me an email and we’ll see what we can do.)
Oh, wow… take a look at this new book!
Not mine, though I did just buy a copy on my Kindle
The Weird, A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories
It’s got over 100 stories, from the past hundred years or so, in chronological order, which I think is pretty cool. I just skipped ahead to read the contribution by Neil Gaiman, and it was amazing. VERY creepy.
Take a look! Just $15 for the e-book version.
Found via http://jaylake.livejournal.com/ and http://www.jeffvandermeer.com. This is a big part of why I love following links from blogs.
Coming soon, to an ebookseller near you :)
I’m still working on finishing up the stories, editing and so on, but I hope to have this published to Smashwords, Amazon, and B&N in a week or so. I’m also planning to offer a coupon here so that all of you can get it for free this time.
Learn to code in 2012!
Codeacademy presents a full year of interactive online programming lessons for beginners!
Here’s an article on it from Slate: You Need to Learn how to Program.
I figure at one lesson a week, it shouldn’t interfere with my writing time any more than random websurfing, tv-watching and reading do, and I definitely buy the argument that basic programming is becoming as important a skill as being able to type.
(No judgments from me on *how* you type – hunt and peck gets the job done just fine with enough practice, though I do find touch typing to be convenient.)
Writing is communicating with other people, programming is communicating with computers, not just in terms of telling, but of understanding.
Signal boost: EBooks for Breast Cancer Screening and Education
John Scalzi and Subterranean Press are donating all proceeds from the sales of his ebooks published by them for the next week to Planned Parenthood’s breast cancer screening and education activities, a gesture inspired by the way the Susan G Komen Foundation recently withdrew their funding for the same.
You can read all about it, and find links to the ebooks, at his post.
There are several shorter works available for $0.99, as well as a couple of longer options for a few dollars more. I’ve read The God Engines, and it was quite good, even if I wasn’t sure about the ending.
Mars, Status Update, and Planning…
First off, happy belated 8th anniversary to the Mars Rover Opportunity! I think it’s so very awesome that it’s still going!
Status Update:
OK, so I haven’t written since Sunday, because of going away for a trade show for work Monday through Wednesday, and being too darned tired to write yesterday or this morning… But leaving that aside, I think my first month has gone very well.
The first draft has 20,528 words, and while it isn’t *finished,* I have a good idea of how the last part of the story goes. So I’m going to settle for writing a summary of what happens next in case I come back to it later, and move on to the next one in accordance with my plan.
I definitely think I’ve learned from the experience of my first month, though nothing solid enough to really talk about. I’m looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring!
Planning:
Speaking of which, for February I’m going to try to pattern my writing as follows:
First week: Introduce the characters, the world, and the key problems, as well as complications.
Second week: The characters try to address their problems and make things worse, but there are hints of what the final resolution will be.
Third week: Achieve the final resolution and tie up loose ends.
Week four: Work on short stories, and maybe put one up for sale on Amazon. This’ll give me a chance to let go of the last long story and its pattern before starting the next one. It’ll also let me start building up a body of work for sale, for readers to find me by.
In fact, I think that’s what I’m going to work on this coming week, as January ends and February begins. I think I might take a fresh look at Changing Course.
I’ve been seeing a lot of short stories published as stand-alones for $0.99, and even bought a couple, so it seems like a more reasonable idea to me than it once did. What do you guys think? A decent way to put stuff out there for new readers to find?
10,000 Hours…
This is so cool – someone’s specifically testing the 10,000 hour idea in his efforts to go from 30-year-old commercial photographer and golfing novice to pro golfer. Dan of “The Dan Plan”started in April of 2010, and is about 2,400 hours into the project, and blogging the experience every step of the way.
His about page also says that “Through his journey Dan hopes to inspire others to start exploring the possibilities life affords them.”
Very cool!
© 2010 Catherine Wechsler, used with permission.
