My Own Personal Zombie Week: Why do we Love Zombies?

Rigor Amortis, an anthology of zombie romance, erotica, and horror from Absolute XPress, debuts on Friday. I'm very pleased to have a story appearing in the collection.

A good friend of mine asked me recently what attracted to me to zombies. Why did I write about them? I recoiled in horror. "I'm not attracted to them at all," I insisted. 

Frankly, zombies have never been my thing--I prefer (non-sparkly) vampires and werewolves, ghosts and unspeakable horrors from beyond. We all know how zombie stories end: we are consumed or we live to be consumed another day. Hey, just like real life. 

Of course, in recent years, there's a new breed of zombies shuffling down the block. Zombies in games like Left for Dead and films like Zombieland pursue their prey rather...vigorously. 

Back to my friend's question. Obviously my kneejerk answer isn't fully honest. I mean, I wrote a story about a zombie stripper, so I have to find them at least a little compelling, right?

I got to thinking about society's fascination with the undead, how these monsters mirror the angst of the culture they inhabit. You can't get a much better encapsulation of the Victorian psyche than the modern vampire. They are pale (almost consumptive), with unearthly beauty and a disdain for the rigid social and sexual mores of the late 19th century. In the 1950s, we start to see undead who are mindless, shuffling masses, or slaves to sinister masters with nefarious plans for wholesome young Americans. The zombie mythology was already firmly established, but I can't help wonder if fears of the "Communist Horde" didn't influence the way zombies were portrayed back then.

21st century zombies are brutal predators. No longer content to amble up to the brain-pan for a nosh, they leap out of the shadows and devour us with flashing teeth in explosions of blood and gore. We, the ultimate consumers, are just so much chum to be eaten.  

There's always something sexy about predators in the stories we tell ourselves, isn't there? And Power is a potent aphrodisiac. Compare the Victorian vampire versus the 21st Century Zombie. What does it say about our cultural state of mind when we invite these monsters to share the most intimate of embraces?

I'm looking forward to seeing what my fellow contributors say about that come Friday. 

I'd love to hear your own thoughts in the meantime. 

Rigor Amortis (putting the 'rot' in erotica)

I'm very pleased that my story "Take it Off" will appear in Absolute Xpress' upcoming zombie erotica anthology, Rigor Amortis. For some of you reading this blog (or watching my Twitter/Facebook streams), this is old news: but now I have a shiny new link to the official website! Click it, you know you want to!

I'm delighted to be included with so many talented (and twisted) authors. Many thanks and congrats are due to editors Jaym Gates and Erika Holt for all their hard work in bringing this anthology to, er, life.

You'll be able to get your copy starting October 1 on amazon.com and smashwords.com



(The author assumes no responsibility if you experience sudden cravings for brainnnnnssssss upon reading...) 

Unintended Benefits of Clarion West: No. 37 in a Series*

*(actually the first in a series, but there will be more.)

I expected to go to Clarion West and whip my writing into shape. I also expected that my body would surely suffer from lack of sleep, the endless hours of slaving away at an overheating laptop, my body sustained by poor choices of sustenance such as Fritos, moon pies and ice cream.**

As it turns out, I lost about 8lbs at Clarion West, and it wasn't due to stress, either. I didn't have a car in Seattle, so most of the time I walked wherever it was I needed to go:  the coffee shops to write, to fantastic Korean hot-pot shops to slurp noodles, to the zoo (with a little help from the bus)...

I probably walked 2-3 miles a day and sometimes more. It made a big difference to my mood, my stamina, and general well-being. I've found that since I've gotten back to L.A. ("Nobody walks in L.A!") that I've been restless without those daily walks.  I'm going to the gym 3-4 times a week, but it just isn't quite the same.  Pushing for more active weekends helps.

My diet has changed a bit, too. I'm eating a lot less meat now--something I've been trying to do for awhile. Some of my fellow Clarionites were definitely an influence -- when you share meals you learn to enjoy what other folks love.

When I posted a couple of weeks ago that Clarion West changed my life, I wasn't just talking about the writing and the great new friends. This is the best I've felt in a long time, and I'm going to do everything I can to keep feeling this way.


**many gallons of ice cream were consumed at Clarion West. You have been warned, future workshop attendees.