ABC

• Beauty and the Beast starring Chris Egan (Resident Evil: Extinction) – a retelling of the classic fairytale
• Gotham – A female cop discovers magic in New York City
• As yet untitled drama from Roland Emmerich (ID4) and Harold Kloser starring Gabriella Wilde (Doctor Who), Max Thieriot (Jumper) and Martin Laudau (Space: 1999) – A New York astrophysics grad student discovers that he is the chosen one to destroy the forces of evil.
• As yet untitled comedy from Dan Fogelman, Aaron Kaplan and Chris Koch starring Lenny Venito (MIB II & III), Simon Templeman (Charmed) and Jami Gertz (The Lost Boys) – In a surprisingly affordable gated community, a New Jersey family discovers their neighbors are aliens.

CBS

• Elementary starring Jonny Lee Miller (Aeon Flux) as Sherlock and Lucy Liu (Rise: Blood Hunter) as Holmes — a modern take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic books.

CW

• Arrow starring Stephen Amel (The Vampire Diaries) as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow — a modern retelling of the comic book hero
• Beauty and the Beast starring Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) as Catherine and Jay Ryan (Terra Nova) as Vincent – an updated take on the popular CBS show from the 1980s
• The Selection starring Aimee Teegarden (Scream 4) — In the future, a poor young woman is chosen by lottery to compete for the role of Queen. Based on the forthcoming books by Kiera Cass.
• Joey Dakota starring Amber Stevens (Greek) — Based on the Israeli show Danny Hollywood, this is a time-travel romance story.

Fox

• Prodigy Bully starring Mike O’Malley (Glee) and Missi Pyle (Pushing Daisies) — A child prodigy with an attitude and his life with is working-class family and going to a Hogwarts-like academy.

NBC

• Beautiful People starring James Murray (Primeval) – In a near future world, families of androids serve humankind, but then begin to “awaken”
• Revolution, produced by J.J. Abrams, and starring Giancarlo Esposito (Once Upon a Time) — Set in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist, a group of people struggle to unite with loved ones.

Well, Hattie Cross, the protagonist of Lynn Messina’s new book within a book, The Girl’s Guide to Dating Zombies, has an answer: date zombies!

Now, I don’t know about you, but the idea of dating someone who really only wants to eat my brains doesn’t strike me as a good one. Besides, what about the whole rotting flesh issue? Ewww.

But apparently, dating a zombie has its perks. “According to Hattie,” says Messina, “it’s a toss-up between total career support — a zombie will never feel threatened by your job or how much money you make or complain if you cancel plans to work late — and never again having to wait by the phone for a guy to call.”

Boy, I know how that feels!

OK, so a zombie is probably a pretty stable date … if nothing else, he’ll be single minded. But what would possess an author to write a book about it? Lucky for you, Messina had some answers to share.

The Genre Traveler: What inspired you to write The Girls’ Guide To Dating Zombies?

Lynn Messina: Right after Little Vampire Women came out, I was having lunch with a magazine editor and we got onto the zombie trend, which I said had pretty much run its course. My friend countered with a seemingly endless list of zombie projects in the works — Walking Dead, World War Z, another Zombieland movie, on and on. So I started to think about zombies and what I could bring to the trend, what kind of personalized spin I could give it. Naturally, my thoughts turned to chick lit.

And then it hit me: an old-school chick lit dating saga with zombies as the romantic leads. It was completely absurd, which is why I loved it. When I started writing Little Vampire Women, I couldn’t imagine anything more absurd than turning the March girls into vampires, but the deeper I got into the story, the less crazy it seemed. By the end, I was convinced the March girls had been vampires all along; we simply didn’t realize it. So in many ways, The Girls’ Guide To Dating Zombies is my attempt at topping Little Vampire Women.

TGT: Speaking of the zombie trend, I’ve had this conversation with several guests on my podcast. Where do you see it going next?

LM: To be honest, I’m a little worried some people are going to point to The Girls’ Guide To Dating Zombies as the end of line for zombies. “Zombie boyfriends? OK, the zombie has officially jumped the shark.” But I like to think this book is just the beginning of a new, romantic direction for zombies. We’ve done scary and grotesque. I couldn’t watch The Walking Dead because the zombies were too unremittingly repellent. Looking at them, you could practically feel their molted flesh sliding off their boners like soggy bacon. My zombies are more like Night of the Living Dead zombies –regular folks with oatmeal on their faces. Those kind of zombies can go anywhere and do anything.

TGT: OK. Given the key point that zombies are basically reanimated and decaying corpses, what, for you, was the hardest part of making zombies date material?

LM: The sex scene, of course. Zombies are, by all accounts, unrelentingly stinky blobs of rotting flesh that — unlike, say, the noble vampire who resembles a regular human for the vast majority of time. So the biggest challenge was figuring out how to make a nonsquidgy, nonrancid, nonputrid zombie that a human female wouldn’t be entirely repulsed to touch — and to do so without creating an implausible zombie-lite version.

After several nonstarts, I finally came up with a viable solution: treat the zombie as if it were just another human being with a crippling mental condition. Zombified neurological decay is simply another type of chemical imbalance in the brain. The right regimen of zombaceuticals can not only control appetite and modify behavior but it can minimize odor, slow down decay and firm up a zombie’s skin so that the thought of zombie sex isn’t one hundred percent disgusting.

TGT: Let’s talk about the book as a whole. You’re calling this book zombie chick lit. Why?

LM: If Pride and Prejudice was indeed the first chick lit novel, then Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was the first zombie chick lit novel. The Girl’s Guide to Dating Zombies simply picks up where Seth Grahame-Smith left off — mining the comedy inherent in the marriage of zombies and women’s fiction. And, trust me, there is a lot of comedy to be mined. I owe Grahame-Smith a lot for showing me the way.

TGT: Your protagonist, Hattie Cross wrote a book called The Girls’ Guide to Dating Zombies, and chapters from her book are excerpted in yours. What was your process for writing these fake chapters?

LM: The first thing I had to do is figure out what I wanted to say in these chapters. I identified basic topics that needed to be covered: how to meet a zombie, how to communicate with a zombie and, of course, how to have sex with a zombie. Then I had to make each chapter relate to the narrative that immediately followed. So the chapter on how to meet a zombie (“Chapter 13: Let’s Get It On — Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Zombie Sex But Were Too Grossed Out to Ask”) immediately precedes the scene in which Hattie and her new zombie boyfriend consummate their relationship.

Once I sorted that out, the fun began because I had a total blast writing in fake-advice-column style. I work in women’s magazines, so I know the tone very well and how to mix it up — one chapter is a quiz, another is a chart, a third is a list of misconceptions. The absolute best part was poking fun at guys and relationships by exploring all the ways a relationship with a zombie resembles a relationship with a man.

As the author of The Girls’ Guide, Hattie Cross is a zombie apologist, and she constantly takes little digs at human men, implying that zombies aren’t that much worse. For example, she concedes that, no, your zombie boyfriend won’t notice your fabulous new do, but, she points out, when was the last time your human boyfriend noticed you got your hair cut? At one point, she even implies that dating a zombie is better than dating a man.
 
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The Girls’ Guide To Dating Zombies is available in paperback from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as in both Kindle and Nook editions.
 
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Novel Publicity Blog Tour Notes:

Get The Girls’ Guide to Dating Zombies on Amazon or Barnes & Noble – you know you want to!

And please vote for The Genre Traveler blog in the traffic-breaker poll for this tour. The blogger with the most votes wins a free promotional twitterview and a special winner’s badge. I want that winner to be me! You can vote in the poll by visiting the official Girls’ Guide to Dating Zombies blog tour page and scrolling all the way to the bottom.

Be sure to enter for your chance to win an autographed copy of The Girls’ Guide to Dating Zombies: ENTER HERE.

Check out this amazing book trailer!

 
Lynn Messina is the author of six novels, including Little Vampire Women and Fashionistas, which has been translated into 15 languages and is in development as a feature film. She attended Washington University in St. Louis where she studied English Literature. Her writing has also appeared in Self and Modern Bride, among other publications. She lives in New York City with her husband and sons. Connect with Lynn on her website, blog, Twitter or GoodReads.
 
Join us for a live twitterview with the author on Saturday, March 10th at 4pm EST. Search #emlyn on Twitter, and bring your questions for this lively chat.
 
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Related Posts & Information:

• Podcast Episode 65: Horror, Humor and the Love of Slime
• Review: Film Festival in a Box – Zombies
• Podcast Episode 23: Zombie Drugs
• Podcast Episode 21: Attack of the Nanite Zombies
• Travel Reads: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Zombies
• Podcast Episode 8: Behind Night of the Living Dead
• Do You Like Zombies?

The good news is that my business is doing well so I’m very busy.

The bad news is that it is taking away the time I used to have to edit the podcast. I’m still only 10 minutes into the episode that was scheduled for Monday passed.

Therefore, I’ve decided to switch the podcast to a biweekly rather than weekly schedule. That means the episodes will be posted every other Monday until such a time as I can find someone to help me edit them. If you know someone who would like to volunteer for that post, please send them my way!

Download this episode (right click and save)

 
Mentioned in this Episode:

Laurell K. Hamilton
This American fantasy and romance writer is best known for her Anita Blake series of novels featuring a professional vampire hunter, necromancer and supernatural consultant for the police. Her other work includes the Merry Gentry series of urban fantasy novels in which the world of faerie interacts with our world.
 
 
“After Life”
In the third episode of Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy has to readjust to being alive after being resurrected by her friends. Spike, a vampire, has been in love with Buffy for a long time. When she asks, “How long was I gone?” He responds with “147 days yesterday. Uh, 148 today. Except today doesn’t count, does it?” Jean Marie uses this as an example of how what isn’t said in fiction can be more powerful than what is actually said.

Diane Whiteside
According to her website, Whiteside is a “spicy romance author of western historicals and paranormals, including the Texas Vampires trilogy.” The vampire series features Don Rafael Perez, originally a 13th-century Spanish knight, now a vampire living in Texas.
 
 
 
Good Reads
This social network for bibliophiles supports readers and authors in connecting and sharing their love of books and good stories. All the books in The Genre Traveler’s book review queue are listed in my account on Good Reads, as well as the book(s) I’m currently reading. Also, whenever I post a book review here or at the New York Journal of books, I add a link to it on Good Reads.

For more information about Jean Marie Ward:

• www.jeanmarieward.com

 
Related Reading (and listening):

• Podcast Episode 61: One Bad Ass Genre Writer (with Danielle Ackley-McPhail)
• Writing honest book reviews

I apologize for the late notice on the first one … I’ve been swamped this week! But I hope if you happen to be in Austin this weekend, you’ll have the opportunity to check it out and have some fun.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

	Clockwork con Jan. 20-22 Austin, TX   Steam Powered Giraffe will be there. I saw them perform last Friday and was really impressed. Other guests include O.M. Grey, who I met at the Symposium. A very nice and approachable lady.
	Lady Mari’s Costumed Walkabout April 14 11am to 3pm Del Mar Fairgrounds San Diego, CA   Lady Mari is a woman with a big personality. I saw her modeling an outfit at the Symposium’s fashion show. I bet she’s a lot of fun to hang out with.
	Gaslight Gathering May 11-13 Town & Country Hotel San Diego, CA   This event bills itself as Southern California’s first dedicated steampunk and Victoriana convention.
	Clockwork Alchemy May 25-28 Doubletree Hotel San Jose, CA   This is a new convention for steampunk fans put on by FanimeCon.
	Steamcon IV October 24-26 Hyatt Regency Bellevue, WA   Each year has a theme and because this year it is close to Halloween, the theme is “Victorian Monsters.”

This is very personal list. These episodes were memorable for me … as were many that didn’t make it to this list. I just felt the need to keep it to 10. If I had to give some “honorable mentions” they would go to Bud Sparhawk and Jennifer Brozek (just off the top of my head).

I’m more of an intellectual speculative fiction fan, so many of these episodes I found intellectually stimulating, which is why I so fondly remember them. Others were just plain fun and you’ll probably hear a lot of laughter during the episode. And many were both at the same time!

	1. Robert J. Sawyer Podcast Episode 30, April 18, 2011 I found Sawyer to be a very interesting conversationalist, filled with lots of historical and literary information. In addition, he was personable and just plain nice. I bet he makes a very good friend.
	2. Matt Cardin Podcast Episode 50, September 6, 2011 I was talking about this episode for days after recording it. I generally like this topic, but Cardin really made it pop. He is smart, knowledgeable and was really fun to talk with.
	3. Fiona Broome Podcast Episode 64, December 12, 2011 The information Broome shared about paranormal activity was really interesting, and new, to me. It also gave me some seeds of ideas for stories I might write in the future.
	4. Mark McLaughlin Podcast Episode 65, December 19, 2011 McLaughlin is a very funny man … and he writes horror! I really enjoyed this conversation, especially all the stuff about slime.
	5. Gabrielle Faust Podcast Episode 27, March 28, 2011 My conversation with Faust was just plain interesting. We waxed philosophical about vampires, artificial intelligence and horror literature in general. I had a great time recording this episode.
	6. Jonathan Ball Podcast Episode 39, June 20, 2011 This episode is definitely not for everyone. Ball writes some cutting edge stuff and our conversation got kind of philosophical and esoteric. I had a great time!
	7. A.P. Fuchs Podcast Episode 45, August 1, 2011 I’ll admit it … Fuchs made it to this list in part because I think he’s cute. But he was also an interesting conversationalist with a lot of knowledge beyond his years. I bet he’d be fun to hang out with.
	8. Carol and Adam Kunz Podcast Episode 38, June 13, 2011 This mother and son team is inspiring … and a lot of fun to talk with. I had such a great time talking with them that we continued the conversation past the recording. I look forward to reading their book.
	9. Joseph Picard Podcast Episode 21, February 14, 2011 Picard has a quirky way of looking at the world and it shows in his fiction, as well as conversation. We had a fun time talking about nanite zombies, people made out of fish and not getting pigeon holed as the guy who writes lesbian protagonists. Good times!
	10. Jonathon Rosenthal Podcast Episode 34, May 16, 2011 I’m not a big Harry Potter fan, but Rosenthal made looking into this particular fandom fascinating. Who knew that Quidditch was becoming such a popular sport outside of the Harry Potter universe?

This week I chat with Cathy Udovch, also known as Garfeimao, a long time staffer at TheOneRing.net, the largest Tolkien fan website on the internet. During the podcast, we talk about the new The Hobbit films, how the story is being fleshed out from Tolkien’s original version, the necessity of maps for epic fantasy, how critic received Tolkien’s work when The Lord of the Rings first came out, how movies encourage reading, Andy Serkis and more.

Download this episode (right click and save)

Mentioned in this Episode:
 

 
Martin Freeman
The Hobbit had to take a break in filming last year because Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins in the two-part The Hobbit film, also plays Dr. John Watson on the BBC series Sherlock.
 
 
 
A Ring of Truth
In the a 1977 animated version of The Hobbit, after Bilbo escapes from Gollum with the ring and has told his somewhat modified version of his adventure tale to the dwarves, Gandalf says …
 

 
Did you catch that wink at the end?

Wagnerian Stories
In this episode, Cathy compares the original Hobbit tale to the fantasy operas of Richard Wagner. Wagner has been compared to Tolkien, primarily for his mythic storytelling, his ability to make completely fictional stories feel like they are much older.

Midnight in Paris
This 2011 Woody Allen romantic comedy centers on a group of Americans visiting Paris. Gil (Owen Wilson), the lead character, is a screenwriter who is trying to finish his first novel. His fiancee, Inez (Rachel McAdams), dismisses his ambition as a romantic daydream. One midnight he gets drunk and wanders the city and then finds himself transported to the 1920s. Among the people he meets are F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) and Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates).

The Eyes of the Dragon
This 1987 novel was a surprise deviation for author Stephen King when it came out. Unlike his other work, this story was a classic fantasy with magic and a clearly established battle between good and evil. Characters from this book also become involved in King’s later Dark Tower series. Interestingly enough, the villain in The Eyes of the Dragon, Randall Flagg, first made his appearance in The Stand, which was first published in 1978 and later re-released in 1990.
 
 
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
In the 2011 re-imagining of this film, Andy Serkis (who plays Gollum in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings films) plays Caesar, the chimpanzee who gains increased intelligence due to genetic experiments and lead the ape revolt.

The Adventures of Tintin
Based on a series of classic comic books created by George Remi (under the pen name Herge) from 1907 to 1983, this 2011 animated film is directed by Steven Spielberg. Unlike most animated films, Tintin is created through performance capture techniques used to create such digital characters as Gollum (The Hobbit) and Caeser (Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Andy Serkis, who played both those characters portrays Captain Haddock, Tintin’s best friend.

Dragonheart
Sean Connery was the voice of Draco the dragon in this 1996 fantasy film directed by Rob Cohen. The animators were inspired by Connery’s actual performance in animating Draco’s facial expressions.
 
 
 
Annual Events

• Jan. 3 – Tolkien Birthday Toast
• March 25 – Tolkien Reading Day
• September 22 – Baggins’ Birthday Bash
• October/November – Hall of Fire

For more information about Cathy Udovch:

• www.theonering.net

NOTE: The volume for this week’s guests recorded very low. In order to match it with my voice and allow you to hear what they were saying I had to increase their volume. This brought with it some hissing back ground noise. Therefore the quality of this recording is not great, but listenable.

Download this episode (right click and save)

Sourdough Jackson’s Torpedo Junction is available in paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon.com. You can view a preview of Karen Morrissey’s Fisher King: Percival’s Descent here.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Erwin Rommel
Popularly known as the Desert Fox, Rommel was a German Field Marshal during the second World War. He got his nick name for his time leading the German and Italian forces in the North African campaign. He proved to be one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in that conflict. He was respected as a humane and professional officer, treating captured soldiers humanely and ignoring orders to kill captured commandos and Jewish soldiers and civilians. Later, he was linked to the conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. For this treason, Hitler decided to eliminate Rommel, but quietly because of his renown. In exchange for assurances that his family would be spared, Rommel agreed to commit suicide.

Anson MacDonald
One of Robert A. Heinlein’s pen names was Anson MacDonald, created by Scot John W. Campbell Jr., the editor of Astounding Science Fiction during Heinlein’s early career. Anson was Heinlein’s middle name and MacDonald was taken from Heinlein’s second wife’s maiden name. He closely guarded his reputation under both his name and Anson’s, reserving his top tier work for these names.

Harry Turtledove
Author Harry Turtledove is probably best known for his alternate history stories, although he also writes historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. His first two novels were published in 1979 under the pen name “Eric G. Iverson” because his publisher felt that people wouldn’t believe that “Turtledove” was a real name. Dubbed “The Master of Alternate History,” his novels have been credited with bringing the genre into the mainstream.

Leslie Fish
Leslie Fish is one of the most well-known filk musicians. In 1976, she created the first commercial filk recording, followed by another in 1977. Her best known song is “Banned from Argo,” which has spawned more than 80 variants and parodies.

The Fisher King
The Fisher or Wounded King is a character from Arthurian legend charged with keeping the Holy Grail. Specifics vary, but his is always wounded in the legs or groin make it impossible for him to move on his own. His land suffers as he does and all he can do is fish from the river near his castle. Some works even separate this character into two … a father and son or grandfather and grandson. In those versions, the older of the two never leaves the castle, while the younger can see guests and goes fishing. Both are always wounded.
 
 
Scott Edelman
Edelman was the founding editor of Science Fiction Age, published 1992 to 2000, and later became editor of SCI FI Magazine, the official magazine of the Sci Fi Channel (now SyFy). He has edited the channel’s online magazine, Science Fiction Weekly since 2000. Other publications he has edited include Last Wave (semi-professional, 1982-1985), Rampage (covered pro-wrestling), Sci-Fi Universe, Sci-Fi Flix and Satellite Orbit. In the 1970s, he worked in comic books, writing horror comics for both Marvel and DC. He created Scarecrow for Marvel and has written several short stories, as well as the Lambda Award-nominated novel The Gift.

Sentient Stuffed Animals
Toys that are somehow alive or sentient is not a new them in literature. There are plenty of stories out there featuring them, such as Winnie-the-Pooh, The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy and The Indian in the Cupboard. You can find lists of sentient toys in fiction on GoodReads.com and Wikipedia.com. Many children go through a phase where they believe on some level that their toys are alive. I mentioned my story of Tigger in this podcast. Here is a picture of me and my Tigger. To have a larger view, click on the image.

For more information about Karen Morrissey and Sourdough Jackson:

• www.thursdaynightpress.com

Related Posts & Information:

• Podcast Episode 62: Military Science Fiction
• Podcast Episode 60: A Map of Contents
• SF subgenres: What is alternate history?
• SF subgenres: What is space opera?

The series, which tells the story of Calla, the alpha female of a shape-shifting wolf pack, started with Nighshade in 2010. Bloodrose, the third and final book will be out on January 3, 2012.

Along with the two books was an announcement that Cremer will be signing books at two locations in Southern California, and I thought I’d share.

Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
7 pm
Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Ave. #110
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Friday, Jan. 13
4-6 pm
Pages: A Bookstore
904 Manhattan Ave.
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266