The Zombie Dating Guide website

Ahhhh, that feels better. I've unleashed The Zombie Dating Guide's website tonight and I'm gearing up for the next step in my platform. Undead Fred drinking games. No? Hmmm... I'll work on it.

Please stop by the site and tell me what you think! I'll be adding more sections as we go along: merchandise (shot glasses for the aforementioned drinking games maybe?), videos a la Love Connection, zombie hookups- because who can resist a zombie getting his groove on, eh?

A big thank you to my Testimoooooanial zombies: Melanie Avila, Dana Fredsti, David Fitzgerald and Jan Kozlowski. And the lovely and talented Jason Tudor for his skill in Zombie Tarot (we WILL get that project off the ground!) and flowerpicking without getting caught in the graveyard.

xoxo
Undead Fred & Stace

Undead Fred

The time has come to at least point a shaky finger at branding THE ZOMBIE DATING GUIDE'S mascot, Undead Fred. The website is this.close to being finished and I'm only waiting for lightning to strike before showing its bad thang off. Well, not that bad thang. So, what am I waiting for? My own inept ability to do graphics for myself. I have had the incredible luck to work with artist/writer Jason Tudor on the Zombie Tarot, which is featured on the site, but I want to brand this sucker on my own. T-shirts, buttons, stickers for contests - it's all going into building the platform that my poor Fred will stand on before editors. It's my job to make him as steady as possible when he gets poked by the curious.

So - will Undead Fred be a zombie looker? Slick and a playah? How about nerdy and insecure? Nah. He's an extension of myself so smart-assed and quick and I need to find a representation that will embody the essence of his rotting matchmaking ways. I have a soft spot for the ugly and unloved so don't expect an Undead Hugh Jackman (I'd keep him for myself anyway) but hopefully I can either draw or find Fred online so he'll be my champion in New York.

Long live, er... meh, whatever, Undead Fred!

How do you see Undead Fred?

I love the rainy nights -- oooh. oooh.

Ahhh, I love rain. I spent my teenage years/early adulthood in Oregon and rainy days have always affected me creatively. I think it's the reduction in sunlight. Suddenly reality become a little less defined and life is slower. People are calmer and everyone wants to snuggle. This weekend was spent working on the Zombie Dating Guide website and watching movies with the kids while it poured outside. I.loved.every.minute.

Since moving to the East Coast, many of my soft rainy days have been replaced with oppressive humidity and comehither sunshine that demands attention. My hobbies have changed from crafting and reading to more writing and ghost chasing - does the extra Vitamin D have something to do with increased activity or am I just running after more kids? ;) As the rain moved in this weekend, I crawled back into Oregon mode and enjoyed my webbed feet once more.

This, naturally, brings me to today's question. If you were hit by a meteorite on your wedding day and became a 50 ft woman, what would you call yourself as your new superhero name? Wait. Sorry. I'm watching Monsters v. Aliens with Vyolette and that kind of slipped in there. (I'd probably stick with Susan. Or be thinking about where the heck I'd find a bra in a size 465 ZZZ) Oooor, we could go with: how does the weather effect your creativity? Do you find where you are makes no difference in how you approach projects or do they change with the climate?


photo courtesy of freefoto.com

Scentsy Wickless Candle giveaway on MomGadget!

Just in time for Father’s Day, Scentsy has offered readers of my blog and MomGadget a great giveaway! Your choice of one of these great sporty warmers and three scents chosen by the experts at Scentsy from their Scentsy Man collection. A great practical gift for fathers, grandfathers and brothers, we’ll get that man cave smelling awesome again.

Ways to win:

- Become a fan of Scentsy on facebook
- Become a fan of MomGadget on facebook
- Follow me on twitter
- Friend me on facebook
- Follow my blog

Be sure to let me know which methods you’ve entered in the comments section, one comment per entry please. Winner will be announced May 26, 2010.

Good luck!

Stacey and Scentsy

To order something from the catalog or learn more about becoming a consultant, visit Kendra Braden for more information!

STET and the single girl

Okay, I'm married but who can pass up a blog title like that?

My blog post on book proposals is featured on Backspace's STET! blog today and I couldn't be more thrilled. This is my second time on STET! and I love rubbing elbows with great writers, thanks so much!

My zombies bring all the boys to the yard...

With THE ZOMBIE DATING GUIDE out the door to editors, I'm settling down to focus on marketing for both Ermas and building a platform for ZDG, a new website for ZDG (and possibly Ermas), and trying to over-prepare for when/if publication presents itself.

The zombie website is a bit of a pickle. Here's what I'm working on:

• Advice column by Undead Fred with reader interaction
• Forum for fans/chatty Undead singles
• YouTube videos on how to pick up dead chicks (reader submitted as well)
• Contests
• Merchandise
• Author/book promo section so people can reach out and poke the dead things
• Matchmaking site
• Helpful makeup tips to help humans blend in with the dead sexy zombie crowd
• Dating tips, naturally

What am I missing?

Zombielicious cupcakes!

My eldest daughter and I love to bake and cupcakes top the list (next to granola) so this Mother's Day we had a zombie cupcake THROWDOWN. Yes, I enjoy capitalizing random words when it pertains to food items.

We used double chocolate cake mix and added our own innards of choice: strawberry jam (hers) and fresh strawberries (mine) for texture. My children ate the candies I had set aside for decoration so we had to stick with making strawberry frosting redder with food coloring but here are the pictorial steps below for your own zombielicious cakes!








My agent just wrote to tell me THE ZOMBIE DATING GUIDE has left the building for editors, cross your fingers for us! Dawn gets the biggest cupcake tonight!! Thank you!!!

Author bios = A fun filled day of delicious treats! Okay, maybe not so much...

First of all, Elana Johnson is the shiznit. Please do yourself a great favor and visit her blog and website for advice on writing and publishing. She's a pocket of information by breaking things down into small words that even I could wrap my head around.

She recently re-tweeted an article of hers dealing with writing your author bio for her gig at QueryTracker's blog (another excellent resource) and since I've been futzing around with mine for the last.... month on the the blog, I thought I'd try some of her tips for both websites and in the dreaded query.

Highlights (my interpretation):

• Use your voice. Agents and visitors want to get to know your style, here's a fine way of shaking your bad thing without it resulting in a restraining order.
• Reign in some of your awesomeness the minute you find yourself detailing every.bit.of.your.life. Leave that for your personal blog unless it pertains to your work so keep it brief!
• Read other bios of authors you enjoy. It can give you ideas on what an effective bio should sound like.

I've re-vamped my "about me" page, I'd love to see a link to yours (queries and websites/blogs)!