Coffin Hopping: How to Scare the Neighborhood Children

It's that time of year again...Yeah, baby! Zombies are coming, as well as vampires and werewolves, witches, ghosts, ghouls, demons and devils (and some pretty things, too, but those aren't nearly so much fun, are they?) In honor of the upcoming holiday, I've joined the Coffin Hop Web Tour again this year. In case you hadn't noticed by all the badges and banners...credit to atrtink for those, obvs I couldn't do something that cool...this is a huge event with artists and authors giving away hundreds of prizes on their sights. So hop on over to the list of horror authors and join us for some scartitivites.
 
As my family debated Halloween costumes this year, I got to thinking about the trendiness that Halloween has taken on. And more generally, the fall season. As soon as October begins, everyone is clamoring to post the first colored leaf photo, Tweeting about their pumpkin spice lattes (#PSL, of course) and instagramming pics of their newly dusted off Ugg boots and flannels. (Don't be offended, I'm poking fun at myself here, too). Fall is the hot new season, and it has been for several years now. Poor summer. So neglected.

When I was a kid, I don't remember adults dressing for Halloween. Perhaps my mom would find an old black skirt and a turtleneck, top it off with a straw hat, and call herself a witch, but the adult costumes were always kept to a minimum, made up of things they already had in the closet. Nowadays, Halloween is an all-ages event, with adult participation and enthusiasm (at least) as high as the kids'.

If you're not going to a party but stuck handing out candy, and you still want to dress up, consider scaring the neighborhood children. Oh yes. It might take a little more work than grabbing something off the shelf, but with the right makeup, face paint, and even items out of your closet, you can piece together a grim and gruesome costume.

You can go above and beyond and spend lots of money, but if you're like me, finances are tight this time of year with the holidays coming up. Zombies are still hot this year, as they have been for the past five or so years, and talk about a cheap and easy costume. Got an old t-shirt, a pair of ripped jeans and some dirt outside your house? All you need is some fake blood and maybe a makeup kit if you want to smear some white and black on your face. Smear the blood around your mouth, grime up your clothes a bit, dribble fake blood down the front of your shirt. Smudge some makeup (Halloween makeup or just regular old eyeliner) around your eyes, then go wait on your lawn. It's even better if you have a whole family or some friends willing to join you in this endeavor. When the kiddos start coming along your walk, begin lurching towards them (someone should also fall and army crawl, that's always a good one) growling and expressing your general desire for brains. If you want to go above and beyond, you could even make a few quick "coffins" out of scrap wood or pallets and have a couple people pop up out of those for effect. Then, watch the neighborhood kids scream in terror...just don't expect to be popular with the neighborhood parents!

 In case you were wondering, I still haven't decided on a costume, but I will definitely be in costume come Halloween night. Until then, I'll be hopping around reading scary stories on some of the author blogs over at the Coffin Hop, as well as giving away free copies of my own books. For the five days before Halloween, The Superiors will be free on Amazon, so pick it up if you like dark vampire stories (no explicit sex). And if you want to read the second book or third, I'll be giving away copies to Coffin Hoppers exclusively. The first person to comment each day this week will receive a free ecopy of any of my books. Just leave your name and contact info (email, twitter handle, fb, etc) and I'll get you a free copy.

Thanks for hopping in my coffin with me.

Edit: for length and relevance to topic.

Book News

I've been making some changes in my published books lately, as well as my approach.

I re-released a heavily edited version of The Superiors in paperback and Kindle editions on Sunday. If you have it on your Kindle, you should be able to get the updated version free. Trust me, it was embarrassing to read back over the one I had on there. I will never stop finding awkward phrases, etc.

If you don't have The Superiors yet, it will be free on Amazon March 13-18. So click on the link over there to the right, and it will take you right to it.

I've taken The Superiors off sale everywhere but Amazon for the time being. The Renegades is also exclusively available on Amazon. It's that link over there to the right, too.

Next project? Rewriting my new YA novel, which I hope to release later this year under a pen name. Also, writing the next book in the series, rewriting Book Four in the Superiors Series, and editing Book Two for re-release.

Guess it's time to get off the internet...

Read an Ebook Week: Review: The Day the World Ended, by Anna O'Hare

The Day the World Ended by Anna O'Hare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4.5 stars

Okay, confession time. I haven’t read many indies. When I first started publishing, I did a few review swaps, but that made me very uncomfortable. First off, I don’t like to write bad reviews, and since I know how hard it is for indie authors, I’m even more hesitant to add a bad review, even if it is deserving. Secondly, there’s the fear of retribution when you’re trading reviews. So, after trading 3 or 4 reviews, I’d had enough. This came about for two reasons, the main one being I received a book that was riddled with typos and just plain bad—it looked like the author published a first draft. I was left struggling to find something nice to say beyond, “I’m sorry I’m not going to review your book because it should never have been published,” or “Please for the sake of other indie authors, hire an editor or bribe an English teacher, or at least learn to use spell check. You’re making us all look bad.”

However, that’s a silly reason not to read indies (though I will not be trading reviews probably ever). Since I’m an indie author, it seems traitorous not to read other indies. So, after seeing a thread on Goodreads asking for reviews, I discovered this little gem (free on Smashwords, and more than worth your time). I will admit, I was a little hesitant to read something that’s supposed to be ya sci-fi (burned out on the genre), but I lost all reservations as I devoured the first chapters without pause. Because the end of the world here is simply a catalyst. It’s not the focus of the story, but what drives each story.

This book is about three groups of kids who are waiting for the end of the world (which is happening in a few days). What would you do if the world was ending in four days? Would you go find an abandoned house and make it your hideout, so you and your friends could hang out there, eat junk food and watch TV, have food fights, and be together? Would you seek revenge on a group of bullies who killed a classmate? Would you formulate a plan to break in to you rival high school and hang your school’s banner from the roof?

Each story drew me in. At first, I liked the story of the younger kids in the abandoned house the most. I liked how they kept their morals and didn’t succumb to anarchy. They had a food fight, but then they cleaned up the house, because if they were going to hang out there for the next few days, they wanted it nice. I hurried through some of the sections about the other kids so I could get back to this group. (view spoiler)[ Then, at the end, when they found the old woman and took care of her, I had all new respect for them. They all wanted to spend the end of the world together, and they did…along with a dead body. I did want to hear a bit about her, but I liked how a bit in each story was never answered.  (hide spoiler)] Their story felt the most complete to me.

The second storyline is about a girl, her little brother, and her cousin, who idolizes her, seeking revenge on some bullies. I would have liked if the boy the bullies killed had been Grace’s friend or crush, so that she had a reason for wanting to seek revenge so much. It seemed a bit odd that she just decided to dole out the punishment on behalf of some kid she’d only talked to one time. This storyline ended up feeling a bit weird to me. Still, it drew me in enough that I’d always want to keep reading to find out what revenge she’d dole out to the next boy, as her punishments grow increasingly alarming as the story goes on, until you realize that Grace is a complete psychopath. I kept waiting for her companions to stand up to her and realize she’s lost it and say no, they’re not going to go through with her escalating terror. Because it soon becomes apparent that Grace is a huge bully herself—not only to the boys she’s seeking revenge against, but to her little brother and cousin, too. (view spoiler)[ But when they finally stood up to her, and her cousin puts his arms around the little brother and says he’ll be there with him at the end, I burst into tears. (Okay, so maybe I have a soft spot for stories about brotherly love, but it was still sweet).  (hide spoiler)]

The third story, about the group of poor high school kids, started out as the one that didn’t grab my immediate interest, but ended up being my favorite. I didn’t like it at first because I didn’t like the main character, who is a teenager who is good at everything, has life all figured out, and is completely at peace. Which I don’t believe exists. But, as the story went on and the characters developed, I really enjoyed it. All the schools have closed, since the world is ending, except the poor kids’ school, because they don’t have anywhere else to go (perfect!) I loved their two teachers, and the weird morose kid, the snarky girl, the perfect couple, etc. All the characters came alive and seemed exactly like real people you’d know at a high school. (view spoiler)[ I was hoping Christian would come to realize he didn’t have life all figured out, but he never does. Still, as they sit on the roof singing, waiting for the world to end, it was absolutely perfect.  (hide spoiler)]

For a grammar nazi like me, I can’t read a book without noticing the mistakes, even in traditionally published books. There were a few in here, but the story was so compulsively readable that they were easily overlooked. I’m so used to editing that any mistake tends to jump out at me. There were a few times when I wasn’t sure if something was a mistake or British slang. Overall, the grammar was fine and the mistakes were few.

The storyline was easy to follow and addictive. I was reading this on my phone as I walked at the track every day, and I’d find myself reading it as I walked to my car afterwards, sometimes sitting in my car reading a few more minutes because I was at an exciting part and couldn’t stop reading.

The characters were mostly well-developed, at least the main players. Since the three stories have different characters, and some have dozens, obviously all are not completely rounded, but every character is unique and wonderful. Overall, this was a fast-paced character focused YA that would appeal to readers of sci-fi as well as contemporary YA. And if you hurry, it’s free on Smashwords (if you aren’t familiar, you should be—they format for download to any device), so grab it while you can, because it’s a steal.

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View all my reviews

Read an Ebook Week

For those unaware, this is Read an Ebook Week. In celebration, Smashwords (if you don't know this site and you read ebooks, get acquainted!) has a huge site-wide sale, with tons of books free and discounted this week. Among those that are free, The Superiors and The Vigilantes. The Renegades, just published on Smashwords yesterday, is half off for the week. Tons and tons of other books are free, and it's free to sign up for an account if you don't have one already. You can download any version on the site--mobi, epub, even pdf. So go explore a bit and find some free books. The coupon codes to get the books free or half off are listed under the 'Buy' button on each book's page.

I'll be posting an ebook review on Wednesday in celebration of Read an Ebook Week.

Get The Renegades Ebook Free

Hey everyone!

If you missed The Renegades Release Party last month, you can get it free this week on Amazon. This is the only week to get it free, as it's an Amazon promo. So head over and grab it while you can! Click on the cover below to link to the Amazon page.

Renegades Release Party winners

Well, I saw some posts up around the web, but no one posted in the comments section, so I'm having a time tracking down my winners. If you posted about the release, please comment below or email me at lenahillbrand@yahoo.com or message me so I can get your prizes out.
For those of you who have already contacted me, your prizes should be on the way.