Category Archives for Hungry For You

Winners, Radio Shows and Other Insanity

It’s NEWS time, baby!

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1. Blog Tour Cage Match
Remember the blog tour I took part in?

Well, I didn’t win — that honor went to Ann Charles and her excellent novel Nearly Departed in Deadwood — but I had a blast taking part, and got to meet a bunch of new people, so I feel like a winner anyway.

But some of you don’t need to be content with just feeling like winners. Some of you ARE winners… of my Hungry For You giveaway!

I pulled in all the comments from my sponsor’s websites (infinite amount of thanks to them: Hopeless Bibliophile, Attack of the Book, Black Sun Reviews, The Itzel Library, ParaYourNormal, and The Pen & Muse) and pulled out a trusty random number generator.

Then I realised there were over 60 people entered to win, and felt a little guilty. So I decided to DOUBLE the prizes. (Yep, I’m crazy.)

Without further ado, congratulations to:

  • Ally and Andii, for winning signed paperback copies of Hungry For You, a surprise ebook, and limited edition postcards;
  • Heather Powers, Summer, Lisa, Elena Gray, Alexisread & Eileen for winning a postcard and surprise ebook each!

I’ll be emailing the winners for their details. And thank you all for taking part!

2. Other Insanity
If you didn’t win and are feeling a little sad, never fear!

Over at 1889 Labs (my publisher), we’re running Party Like It’s 1889, a month-long promotion with over a dozen prizes up to grabs and loads of ways to take part. Prizes include a KINDLE, and even VIP tickets which will get you free advance ebook copies of every book we publish this year. #yesreally

My week of promotion on site begins May 16th and I’ve got some fun stuff lined up, but feel free to swing by now and win prizes!

3. Kindle Nation Daily
My big KND day I mentioned in my last post is next Monday (gasp!) and right now I’m sitting at 11 reviews on Amazon.com. If you’re one of four kind-hearted people who want to help bring that number up to 15, please swing by Amazon (it’s got to be the US site) to leave a 2-line review. I’ll love you forever.

4. Radio!
On Sunday at 9:30pm (4:30pm EDT), I’m going to be interviewed on Jake Rakestraw Talks, a weekend online radio show dedicated to interviewing authors about their passions, writing, and publishing. Due to time differences, the show will be pre-recorded, but I’ll make sure to be online while it’s airing. I hope you’ll stop by and listen in!

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So that’s what’s up with me. What’s new with you?

Help Me Conquer the World! (Please?)

“I have a surprise for you!” my publisher said, grinning manically. Well, I assume he was grinning manically; he lives in Canada and the conversation was over Google chat, so I can’t be sure. “May 9 is your day!” he added.

A long pause. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, trying to decide how best to insult him. Instead I settled for: “Okay.”

As expected, my (apparent) lack of enthusiasm prompted him into leaking more details — he’s a little like a child, desperate for a reaction. So I kept playing the hard-to-get game until he revealed all: I was to be featured on Kindle Nation Daily.

For those of you unfamiliar with KND, it’s a great little site with a considerable subscriber base that offers daily emails listing free and bargain books available on the Kindle. Authors and publishers can sponsor the site, and in return get a great deal of exposure for their book, which then hopefully leads to finding a whole new set of readers.

In short: this is a great opportunity to get Hungry For You in front of an entirely new audience. And it’s a solid step in my grand master plan of taking over the world!

But taking over the world is a difficult business, and it’s impossible to do alone. This is where you come in.

Taking Over The World – Part 1

The more reviews a book has on the day of its Kindle Nation Daily spotlight, the better that book tends to do. This is, after all, the age of peer reviews. As a reader, you have never had more power in your hands.

So if you’ve taken the time to read Hungry For You, or even have already written a review on your blog, you would have my undying gratitude if you posted a line or two on amazon.com (it’s got to be the US site).

I would really like to get up to 15 reviews on there by next Monday, May 9th.

It doesn’t have to be anything complicated: even just a sentence or two of how the book made you feel would help.

Hungry For You currently has 8 reviews up, so I only need 7 trusty helpers to take over the world. Up for grabs, as compensation, are high-ranking positions in the new world government I’ll establish. You pick your job title (except Chief Chocolate Taster; I’ve taken that one already).

What are you waiting for? Let’s show Amazon just what us zombie fans are capable of!

All’s Fair in Love and Zombies

Had you told me one year ago that I would become know as ‘the zombie girl’, I would have laughed in your face. Or punched you, depending on hormone levels.

“What?” I hear you cry. “But you’re the freaky zombie love anthology writer everyone is raving about a couple people have vaguely heard about!”

“Errrr,” I respond eloquently. “I suppose I am.”

But see, you know how in school, you didn’t really set out to become known as the girl who could turn grown men into little crying puddles — or the one who could fold her tongue backwards, or do something else noteworthy and unusual — but somehow it happened anyway?

Well, I didn’t really set out to become ‘that zombie girl’.

As a matter of fact, zombies terrify me. Which, of course, begs the question as to why my debut is a collection of zombie stories.

Rather embarrassingly, the main reason is sheer hard-headedness on my part. I’m terrified of zombies, so why not challenge myself to write about them?

That was how Hungry For You started. At least, that was my original reasoning, but as I wrote one story, and then another, and then another, I began to fall under the zombie spell.

For some people, the appeal of these decaying, disgusting, ever-hungry once-humans must be hard to fathom. But I’ve given the matter some thought, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason zombies are so fascinating is because they turn our fears into something we can fight.

A zombie represents our elemental fears — fear of the unknown, of death, of sickness, of danger — while also giving us a safe way to tackle those fears. We know how to fight a zombie; it’s a a monster we can understand. Shoot it in the head and move on.

As soon as I realised this, it was no great leap to mix zombies and love together, and from there more and more story ideas kept coming, until I had an anthology in my hands and a newly-minted ‘that zombie girl’ badge. Go figure.

“Zombies and love?” you say. “Still not seeing the connection.”

Put it this way: the zombies in Hungry For You represent our fears about love — fear of loneliness, of heartbreak, of relationships gone sour, of bitterness and betrayal. They turn these fears into something you can manage, something you can fight.

And if a zombie breaks your heart, at least you know how to fight this monster. Shoot him in the head and move on.

After all, all’s fair in love and zombies.

Hungry for WIN!

Creative commons via Hryck

The long-awaited day is here.

You know what I’m talking about. Today’s the day you, your mom, your hairdresser and your dog are going to help me show Suzanne Adair just how unstoppable the undead can be.

I can already see the newspaper headlines: ZOMBIES KILLED THE BLOG TOUR STAR.

All you’ve got to do is leave a comment here on this very post, today.

You see, this week isn’t about literary merit and similar nonsense. This is an author cage match, down and dirty, gritty and grimy. The author who earns the most relevant comments gets the Championship title, and I want that author to be me.

But there’s some stiff competition out there. My zombie hordes sure enjoyed reading Monogamy Sucks, and Plain Jane was another tasty meal read. Not to mention the title coming up tomorrow, Nearly Departed in Deadwood, which has enough dead bodies to keep any horde happy.

Sure, my opponent’s read, Paper Woman, is pretty thrilling. Award-winning, in fact. The kickass heroine overcomes bandits, assassins and slaves during the turbulent American Revolution in order to unearth the truth about her father’s murder.

But let’s face it, no woman — paper or otherwise — can be stiff competition to a zombie. Because zombies are the essence of stiff. Like, everywhere. Nevermind. Carry on.

On to the fun stuff: PRIZES!

1. Comment here for an instant win! Tell me how you’d survive the zombie apocalypse and win an ebook copy of Hungry For You. Remember to include your email address! [Oops! Too late. BUT I could still be tempted to give you a copy, if you promise to leave a review on Amazon.com…. hinthintnudgenudge!]

2. Pick your favourite post about of Hungry For You (between Hopeless Bibliophile, Attack of the Book, Black Sun Reviews, The Itzel Library, ParaYourNormal, and/or The Pen & Muse) and comment there with the phrase “I’m hungry for print!” to be entered to win an awesome goodie bag, including a signed paperback, limited edition postcards, and more surprises! Plus three runner-ups will receive a surprise gift, too! (Open worldwide till May 1st). [Winners announced!]

3. Every relevant comment – on this and any of the posts linked above – counts as an entry toward the Kindle grand prize! Want extra entries? Like my facebook page or follow me on twitter! [Sorry guys, this prize is now gone!]

4. I am also giving away one ebook from the 1889 Labs library. That’s right! You can pick any title you want, and I’ll send my horde of zombies off to collect a copy for you. You can’t say no to a free book! All you’ve got to do is like the 1889 facebook page, and leave a comment on the wall saying, “I’m dying for a free book!” [Congrats to winners Bill Kamerer & Jaimemarie Grissum!]

That’s it! Now get commenting, and help this zombie kick blog tour ass!
Leave a comment now!

How To Sign A Book

I have done it.

I have signed my first book.

And let me tell you, it was very weird.

It’s one of the perks of being an author, supposedly: people come up to you with copies of your book, wanting your signature, a message, a dedication…. Wanting a piece of you, in a nice, non-zombie-chomping way.

And yes, it is a great thrill. But at the same time, I think a part of me will always feel confused and a little amused, because why would anyone want lil old me scribbling all over those fresh, crisp pages? Seriously. I have the handwriting of a seven-year-old, in that rounded, overly careful way.

Anyway. Here I was, sitting down at a table, copy of Hungry For You in my hand and ready to be signed, and that’s when I froze. Why? Because I actually didn’t know how to sign a book. I hadn’t planned for this. And — I looked to either side — nope, no spontaneous zombie apocalypse was going to rescue me from this mission.

First things first. I smiled nervously, opened the book, pen hovering. Inside cover? No, that wasn’t the right page. Definitely not on the dedication or the table of contents. Title page, then, under my name in print? Or the flyleaf — the first page of the book, which had the title but not my name? I settled for the latter out of panic.

I lowered my pen, rested the nub against the page, froze again. How to begin? Dear? To? For?

When in doubt, my theory is to run away. It works with the zombies, it worked with the book signing. I plunged straight into writing my message, entirely skipping the issue of whether or not to address it to someone in particular. I didn’t even give myself time to think about where on the page I’d write the dedication, opting for the bottom right corner because it was nearest.

Then another dreaded pause. My instinct told me to sign ‘Anna Harte’, but since my official author name is ‘A.M. Harte’, I wasn’t sure which to go for. Anna is more personal, A.M. is more author-y. Dilemmas upon dilemmas!

And then, to make matters worse, I panicked about whether I was supposed to date the message. And if so, where would I write the date? Above or under the message? And in what format?

See, this is why, whenever someone gifts me with a really lovely notebook, the notebook ends up in dusty drawer, unused. I like scrap paper because I don’t feel guilty about scribbling on it. I don’t want to ruin the nice notebook, and the feeling is only intensified when presented with a copy of my own work, because writing in a book-book is so much more daunting and permanent.

When in doubt, my theory is to run away. So I handed the book back, smiled widely, and ran away.

The Moral:
Be grateful if the first person to ask you to sign their book is a family member, because they won’t mind if you panic for half an hour about doing it wrong.